Interstellar Super Planter

There are all sorts of opinions, but with the recent reduction in missions, many mercenaries haven't received suitable missions for a long time. Without missions, they can't earn money, which is more terrifying than death for many mercenaries.

Some mercenaries decided to evacuate with the military, while most took on new missions to intercept the Zerg army that was helping them retreat.

Many mercenaries had no idea that this was not a simple rescue mission, but a direct confrontation with an elite Zerg army, which might be a one-way trip.

They thought it would be the same as before, with the army at the front and them following behind to catch any stragglers, and if they couldn't win, they could escape.

"Commander, we need to evacuate. So far, more than nine million mercenaries have taken on rescue missions."

Qi Changfeng looked away from the screen and nodded.

"Depart!" At this command, except for the guards, the entire logistics force set off.
With a series of clicking sounds, countless warships simultaneously retracted their interconnected passageways, closed their hatches, activated their power systems, and the massive fleet vanished in the blink of an eye, heading towards the rear.

Of the countless warships that were originally anchored in the void, less than a third remain.

Watching the logistics fleet withdraw, the logistics escort captain's face turned cold, and he asked in a deep voice, "Is communication working smoothly?"

"Report: All warships are connected and communications are normal."

"Let's go, full speed ahead!"

"Yes." The soldier in charge of relaying the order quickly sent it to each warship.

In an instant, all the warships, led by the military escort, rushed towards the front line.

Qi Changfeng's mission was to intercept the Zerg and provide support for the retreating army.

As the legions retreat from the front lines, many warships will run out of energy and it will take time to recharge. They are meant to give the retreating legions a respite, allowing them to replenish their energy and continue fighting.

Less than half a day into the voyage, they encountered transport ships and medical ships evacuating from the front lines. After a brief exchange, they passed each other.

Ye Zhi Qiu looked at the fleets passing by. This was the first wave of evacuation. They hadn't participated in the battle and there were no signs of combat. The fleets he encountered next would be different.

In the Violet's cockpit, besides the warship's crew, there were many other people sitting and standing in the hall;
Aside from the space pirates, everyone of note in the fleet was present. Su Qing, Bai Qian, and Yang Wei also put aside their work to listen to Ye Zhi Qiu and others discuss the battle situation.

Yang Wei has been focused on alchemy for years, which has made him much less skilled in martial arts. If it weren't for the powerful techniques Su Qing taught him, his combat strength would be the lowest in the fleet.

Facing an imminent major battle, he finally emerged from the alchemy room, ready to treat the wounded at any moment.

Pharmacists are doctors who treat ability users. Yang Wei is the only pharmacist in the fleet and needs to treat injured ability users. Ordinary space pirates die and that's it, but ability users can be saved if possible.

Although Yang Wei's combat strength is not good, he still has various equipment provided by Su Qing, so he has a way to protect himself. Since he doesn't go to the battlefield, he can treat the wounded without any problem.

The crew on the Violet was a mixed bag, including the original laborers and guards who worked for the Su family, several children adopted by Old Zhu, mercenaries from Leng Ye, and some space pirates.
After several years of integration, everyone became die-hard loyalists of the Violet Ship. Su Qing also devoted himself to cultivating them, carefully selecting cultivation techniques and pills that suited them.
Everyone in the empire practices martial arts, even though they are all common and uncommon techniques. Because they have been practicing since childhood, everyone is in excellent physical condition.
After being guided by Su Qing, these people's martial arts abilities improved rapidly. However, due to the limitations of their own talents, some people could only cultivate to the level of a martial arts grandmaster, while others had excellent talents and could at least reach the level of Elder Zhu. These people were considered the most capable fighters in the fleet.

Everyone was gathered in the cockpit lobby, whispering among themselves. Ye Zhi Qiu, Old Zhu, and other experienced members of the mercenary group, such as Old Zhang and Old Li, were discussing the upcoming battle.

"Commander Ye, this time it's not like before. We just followed the army and fired warships. The front-line legion was defeated and definitely has no will to fight. If we want to stop the overwhelming Zerg, we need more than ten times the number of troops. If we send mercenaries to support, we might be lucky if 20% of them come back alive."

Zhu Lao did not have any more military intelligence data, but only analyzed based on his past war experience;

The First Army was powerful and well-equipped. They fought the Zerg for more than a decade, but were still being chased by the Zerg.

The strength of these legions is far inferior to that of the First Legion. They are definitely unable to organize a new defensive line when being chased by the Zerg army, unless there is a large number of reinforcements.
Unfortunately, reinforcements will take time to arrive. Sending these mercenaries to hold the line looks impressive in numbers, but it's all just for show. It's hard to say how long they can hold out.

Ye Zhi Qiu frowned. "Several large mercenary groups have arrived. The army and mercenaries combined have nearly ten million troops. Even if they are just there to support the main force and hold them off for a while, giving the frontline troops a little respite, how many casualties can they suffer? The mercenaries are not that weak, are they?"

Old Zhu shook his head. "Mercenaries and the army are not on the same level. Their experience in killing the Zerg is mostly in land warfare. If they can hold off a wave of Zerg armies in the void, that's already good enough. You've seen the battle between the First Army and the Zerg. It's something mercenaries simply can't handle."

Ye Zhiqiu thought of the First Army's combat strength and excellent equipment, and then thought of the fleet composed of mercenaries. Although it looked numerous, the warships were old and the weapons and equipment were poor.

They're fine for killing Zerg on land, but it's hard to say about fighting on space. Without the cooperation of other units, even if they're all mechs, they can't stop the Zerg army. Besides, mech pilots don't make up a large proportion of mercenaries.

The proportion of mech pilots is too low, and their space combat capabilities are far inferior to those of the military. They rely entirely on battleship cannons to kill the Zerg, which consumes a huge amount of energy. How will they replenish their energy reserves in the future?

Most importantly, the millions of mercenaries are too diverse, making unified command difficult. They are used to fighting independently and have extremely poor coordination.

Ye Zhi Qiu's excited heart calmed down. Could it be that the military really wanted to use millions of mercenaries as cannon fodder?

Mercenaries may not be strong in combat, but they are numerous, with over a hundred thousand warships alone. They should be able to hold off the Zerg for a while.
Even if the Queen is strong, it will take time to kill millions of people. There are still millions of Zerg soldiers to deal with. Mercenaries may not have an advantage, but there is still the army!

"Old Zhu, with the logistics troops, plus nine million mercenaries, and the troops withdrawn from the front lines, there are at least twenty million people. The human population should be larger than the Zerg, so we should be able to hold them off and rebuild our defenses."

Old Zhu wasn't from a military background; he was just older and more experienced. He said that the current war situation was that humanity couldn't defeat the Zerg. It was already quite an achievement that the Zerg had managed to hold out for a year without occupying more star systems.

Old Zhu shook his head, "The frontline troops have been fighting for so long, they are already exhausted. Who knows how many casualties they will suffer after the retreat? Without reinforcements, they can't stop the Zerg."

This massive Zerg offensive is not something that can be easily stopped. A few million mercenaries won't be of much use, so why did the military issue this mission?
Ye Zhi Qiu and Zhu Lao had previously discussed that if the front line collapsed and the military logistics were to withdraw, they would follow the front-line legion to resist the Zerg for a period of time, as a form of training.

It was an accident that Ye Zhi Qiu was able to take on this task. There was a commission for killing insects, so he accepted it without much thought.

"Thinking about it now, it's a bit strange," Ye Zhi Qiu continued.

"We'll just follow orders and take it one step at a time. Our goal is to kill the Zerg and save people. We can't worry about anything else."

Old Zhu nodded, "And also, we must protect our own people's lives. Don't be foolish enough to rush headlong into the insect horde and get surrounded by the insectoids. No one will come to our rescue."

Leng Ye was inconspicuous within the entire army, and in a large-scale battlefield, he could easily be surrounded by the Zerg. Although they had various trump cards, they tried to use them sparingly and reduce their reliance on them in order to grow stronger. (End of Chapter)