Chapter 1422: Chapter 535: Formation Change (Part 2)

Right at this moment, Fudin saw, through the optical system, another friendly fleet near the frontal interception fleet’s sector suddenly erupt in bursts of intense light, and his expression twisted.

After a long moment, he finally cursed in his heart.

"Fuck."

He didn’t even know who to blame.

It turned out that a large volley of long‑range weapons launched in concentrated fire by another friendly fleet from the rear, belonging to a different Five Elder Clan, had happened to slam into the elite main fleet of the Pakuiao Pirate Group, which had been intending to close in and reinforce the crumbling interception fleet’s defensive line.

Was this an internal feud?

Not quite.

That Five Elder Clan fleet was simply too far from the Command Flagship; transmitting information via laser and manual identification codes was too slow, so the delay in the orders that friendly fleet received was far too long, and they were still executing the earliest operational Plan issued by the military command system.

In that Plan, the friendly forces were indeed supposed to provide long‑range fire support at this time point, pre‑aiming and locking onto this sector in order to strike at the Red Blade Assault Fleet which would "inevitably" fail in its frontal charge and then attempt to maneuver laterally and drive straight at the command core.

If nothing unexpected had happened, this volley of fire should have neatly covered the entire Red Blade Assault Fleet within its lethal envelope.

Instead it turned out like this: not only had the enemy’s frontal charge suffered no setback, it had gone so smoothly it exceeded expectations, and Fudin, making mistakes in the chaos, had forgotten about this, and just so happened to let a friendly fleet pass through here at this exact moment in an attempt to rescue them.

"Marshal! This..." A cry of alarm rang out in the flagship’s Staff Department. "We have to send someone to rescue them immediately!"

The voice belonged to Fudin’s deputy chief of staff. His eldest son, whom he valued most, was serving in that main fleet which had just been heavily hit by friendly fire.

"Shut up! This is war, not a vacation. Anyone can die, including you and me. How are we supposed to save them? Who do we send? The fire strike over there isn’t even finished; they can’t be saved!" To steady the Staff Department, Fudin Pacquiao, unwilling as he was, still sent a message through a private channel to this deputy chief of staff who had lost his composure out of concern and was showing a complete lack of professionalism.

Before sending the message, Fudin carefully switched channels to prevent anyone else from hearing it.

After nearly ten seconds, the Staff Department finally relayed back the deputy chief of staff’s somewhat weary response: "Understood."

It was obvious this father had accepted the reality of losing his son.

Although issuing broader, more global orders at this point already seemed a bit late, even if it was just mending the pen after the sheep were lost, it still had to be done.

The frontline engagement zone on this side had already completely broken away from the original battle plan; in that case, the bulk of the fleets from Red Blade Star behind them would inevitably focus on exploiting this gap, continuing to work it. If they continued to let the Pirate Alliance fight strictly according to the original plan, the final outcome of this battle was destined to be total defeat.

Rather than knowingly persisting in error, it was better to put up a desperate fight: lay the situation out clearly in one go, let the various levels of Commanders under the Alliance Fleet truly understand what was happening, then break up the command center into scattered elements, and have the various Warships enter the battle in the pirate joint‑hunting mode they were each most accustomed to—each fighting their own way. That offered at least a bit more hope.

"Pass down the order: use laser communication to inform all Five Elder Clan fleets and the other Alliance fleets. The situation has changed; the enemy’s overall strength is beyond anything we imagined, and they have completely wrecked our original operational Plan. From this moment on, all fleets are to completely abandon the original Plan and instead contact the Commanders of their respective factions, forming a decentralized command model based primarily on factional boundaries, allowing Commanders at every level to make decisions on the spot. Tell the heads of the other four Five Elder Clan families and of all pirate groups above a certain size that I, Fudin Pacquiao, have only one demand of them. No matter what happens, you absolutely must not retreat or run. We have already wagered everything; there is no road back. Once this mission fails, Nanxiang Marquis Liu An will not spare us, and Earl Red Blade’s revenge is not something we can bear. This day is the battle of life and death for the Shattered Star Ring Pirates Grand Alliance: if we win, we soar to glory; if we lose, we die and our clans are wiped out. There is no second possibility! Therefore, you not only must maintain the attack, you must also, after rebuilding your command chains, promptly abandon your turf squabbles, and complete rapid coordination and allocation according to sectors, to prevent each fighting their own battle and dragging each other down. You must unite, and you must endure."

A moment later, the Staff Department informed Fudin that the orders had been fully transmitted and were rapidly spreading in a fission pattern; it was estimated they would reach the ears of all Alliance commanders at or above the detachment level within forty minutes.

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