Chapter 397: The First Battle of Divine Vessel

Shenzhou Era 12386.

Humanity, aligned with the Dinosaur Civilization, chose to break through the Guardian Civilization's defense line 20 light years beyond the edge of the Black Fog City Wall.

At the end of the Black Fog City Wall, countless wars had erupted; areas too close to the wall were almost entirely warped by the warfare. Navigating through them, annihilation was always possible, and travel was extremely slow.

If the distance was too great, the scarcity of constant stars made it difficult to detect hidden dangers. Most space traps would affect the radiation spectrum of light, which could be detected through multi-angle observation to determine the range of warped space. This is why interstellar wars often erupt within ten light years of a constant star.

If the Guardian Civilization truly lay in ambush within this vast ocean of stars, then, the most likely place they would choose to hide would be within this range. For any civilization attempting to break through from any direction, it was the perfect stage to deliver a fatal blow.

The best tactical approach to this battle would actually be to draw out the Guardian Civilization first, defeat them, or even annihilate them completely. Therefore, the initial direction of the breakthrough chosen by Humanity and the Dinosaur Civilization was precisely where the Guardian Civilization was most likely to be found.

This battle was not only the first true interstellar campaign of the Divine Vessel Civilization but also a declaration from the Divine Vessel to this long-slumbering starfield, announcing its stunning entrance.

There was another reason: the Divine Vessel alliance had lasted over ten thousand years, and although signs of internal division were beginning to emerge, this battle would also serve as a crucible to reforge unity and consolidate the Divine Vessel's strength.

In preparation for this decisive battle, the members of the Divine Vessel Civilization had long been getting ready, infiltrating multiple star systems, and vastly expanding their military might. The combined fleet of Humanity and Dinosaur Civilization had as many as five million warships, divided into five groups, each like a spectacular and dazzling galaxy, intertwining the cold detachment of technology with the unbridled wildness of primal ferocity, majestically heading towards the battlefield.

These five fleets did not strike all at once, but assembled in pairs hundreds of astronomical units apart, spanning nearly a thousand astronomical units of area.

Each fleet, like droplets of sparkling crystal, was set against the endless darkness, with each warship separated by tens of millions of kilometers, and entire formations spanning tens of astronomical units.

On this interstellar scale, tens of millions of kilometers were but a stone's throw away, and for these warships equipped with cutting-edge technology, such distances could be covered in an instant.

The warships utilized space expansion engines, capable of completing a light-speed jump in just a dozen seconds. The term "light-speed jump" refers to short-distance faster-than-light travel. Long-distance faster-than-light travel is almost impractical, as encountering warped space would lead immediately to the destruction of the ship and the loss of life; only by finding suitable flat space can faster-than-light travel be attempted, and militarily this method is also referred to as a "light-speed jump."

This completely changed the nature of interstellar warfare, but that did not mean warships no longer used conventional propulsion. Conventional propulsion remained a major operational mode for warships.

At full speed, warships' conventional travel could reach 34% of the speed of light, and tens of millions of kilometers could be traversed in just one minute.

Equipped with superluminal communication, the arrangement of warships and their distances were no longer a simple physical configuration, but rather a layout based on tactical intelligence, aimed at maximizing the destructive power of each warship, together weaving a lethal web of death.

When it came to striking power, the capabilities displayed by these warships far exceeded what Humanity could have imagined during the Crisis Era. They typically used large-scale offensive measures, capable of annihilating any space within a broad range of tens of astronomical units, reducing any material within a diameter of one astronomical unit to nothingness in an instant.

On this vast battlefield, the greatest test of wisdom was finding the enemy's traces. Even if one were fortunate enough to catch the faintest hints of the enemy, by the time the attack orders traversed dozens of astronomical units, time had already passed stealthily by, and the long wait of four to five hours was enough for the battlefield situation to undergo myriad changes, with each minute and second filled with the unknown and the challenge.

This mode of battlefield operation was beyond what Humanity from the Crisis Era could have conceived.

As for the warships themselves, compared to their counterparts from the Doomsday War Period, they had expanded by more than a full size and their weight was almost five to six times greater.

Nevertheless, operating these behemoths required a surprisingly streamlined crew: just three dinosaurs, a hundred humans, plus the precise cooperation of artificial intelligence and robots, were enough to maneuver these warships with the ease of moving one's own limbs.

The entire warship was an integrated platform of weaponry, powered by the strongest propulsion systems, ready to unleash a destructive radiance into the abyss of the universe at any moment.

Humanity and the Dinosaurs operating on the same warship and committing the vast majority of their forces from the get-go were influenced by two main factors.

One was the revelation from countless simulated battles; the Dinosaurs, creatures that had danced with war since ancient times, had a war instinct that far surpassed the limits of human intelligence.

Having undergone the trials of war since prehistoric times, even after wandering the stars for sixty million years and facing the trials of conflicts with countless civilizations, each time they encountered an opponent of comparable strength, they were always able to grasp victory firmly in their hands through their nearly miraculous war instincts.

In the fog of war at a 2.0-level civilization, when both sides are hidden, and data and information become scarce resources, the art of war turns into a contest of instincts. The Dinosaurs were the sharpest blades in this chaos, although a bit rough around the tactical edges, they relied on human cunning to be finely crafted.

At that time, the warship command mode of "Humanity plans, Dinosaurs act" came into being through the complementarity and integration of these aspects.

Moreover, wars between civilizations are actually ghostly gambles with unknown enemies. The scales of victory often tip in favor of the side that first penetrates the true identity of the opponent.

Therefore, strategies that use a small number of fleets as bait to lure the enemy out of hiding and then annihilate them are considered taboo here, as they amount to exposing one's weaknesses on the interstellar chessboard.

The most taboo tactic on the interstellar battlefield is the fuel-adding strategy. Once the strength of warships is gradually revealed, the opponent can quickly discern your civilization's level and the reality of your entire military system.

Secondly, it delays the Guardian Civilization's realization that Divine Vessel is a multi-civilization alliance.

If two different styles of warships appear on the battlefield, it would immediately reveal to the Guardian Civilization that Divine Vessel is a multi-civilization alliance. The strategy for dealing with a multi-civilization alliance is completely different from that for a single civilization.

In fact, once a civilization is exposed, the Guardians would also be able to roughly judge the opposing side's technological level and military strength, and even the number of warships.

According to cosmic sociology, usually, a civilization, especially an interstellar civilization, is unlikely to have an infinite number of warships, as this involves the problem of civilization's carrying capacity. If the expansion of military force is pursued blindly, internal fractures will inevitably become rampant within the civilization, eventually leading to its division and collapse.

Only socially structured civilizations like the Mountain Civilization and the Trisolaran Civilization are capable of uncontrollable military expansion. Thus, other civilizations can roughly judge their military strength and warship count based on their own technological level.

However, Divine Vessel has two advantages that make it possible to misjudge its real military potential.

Firstly, Divine Vessel is not a Starship Civilization, but a carrier civilization that is deeply rooted in the soil of the "homeland." This attachment to the homeland has constructed an indestructible cohesion for Divine Vessel Civilization, far superior to that of those displaced Starship Civilizations.

It is this cohesion that allows Divine Vessel to build up a large-scale and powerful military force while maintaining internal stability within the civilization.

Secondly, Divine Vessel is a multi-civilization alliance, an incredibly inclusive multi-civilization alliance. This unprecedented inclusiveness allows Divine Vessel to absorb the essence of various civilizations, integrating all kinds of advanced concepts and technologies, and thus build up a more diverse and intense military system with greater ease.

On the cruel stage of civilization wars, sheer numbers often fail to determine victory. The strategies of troop deployment in ancient human wars seem pale and powerless on the vast scale of interstellar warfare. Numbers only play a decisive role when the technological levels of the civilizations differ by no more than 0.2 levels. In this starfield, as a Guardian Civilization, their technological level undeniably far surpasses that of Divine Vessel.

But Divine Vessel is not without a chance of victory. The difference in technological levels does not completely determine the lethality of lower-level civilization weapons against higher-level civilizations. Just as ancient archers could, under certain conditions, still inflict considerable damage on modern rifle troops.

Therefore, a vast number can be useful under certain circumstances.

Ultimately, all of Divine Vessel Civilization's strategic goals are aimed at that final strike launched by the Mo and Micro Civilizations. That is the true key to decisive victory.

However, Divine Vessel's disadvantages are also quite apparent, not in terms of technological level, but in their understanding of battlefield information. The outcome of the war often largely depends on precisely grasping the battlefield environment.

In this battlefield, Guardian Civilization knows every inch of space like the back of their hand; they know where light-speed jumps can be made, where vast space storms are lurking... they even cleverly use the characteristics of space to set numerous deadly traps.

Stepping into this battlefield is like entering a minefield. Guardian Civilization has complete control over the location and trigger mechanism of every mine. In this battlefield of their design, defeating them is nearly an impossible task.

Without exaggeration, in this battlefield, Guardian Civilization is fully capable of challenging civilizations with a technological level 0.2 higher than their own.

In summary, Divine Vessel Civilization's move is undoubtedly challenging civilizations with technological levels 0.2 to 0.4 levels higher than its own. Just like the gap between Humanity and Trisolaris in the early years of the Crisis Era, it is almost an impossible task, akin to a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Yet, this battle is an unavoidable fate for Divine Vessel Civilization. According to human cosmic sociology studies, if they choose to retreat and continue hiding in the dark corners of the universe, silently developing technology, then the path of technological progress for Divine Vessel Civilization will likely fall into endless stagnation. In fact, Human Civilization has already been stagnant for thousands of years.

Moreover, the current battlefield situation may not be as desperate as it seems on the surface; there may only be a few Guardian Battleships here.

With the right strategy and exquisite tactics, Divine Vessel Civilization might still find that glimmer of hope for victory in what seems to be an impossible battle. After all, miracles always arrive with challenges and risks on the vast stage of the universe.