This naval battle lasted for a day and a night. In the end, as expected, the Swarm, being at a numerical disadvantage, was completely wiped out.
But before that happened, Xia Jin confirmed that over forty enemy vessels had been sunk.
Among them were only one carrier and two battleships. The reason more large ships weren't sunk was primarily due to the sheer number of enemy escort ships and their dense anti-aircraft fire, which made it difficult for the Swarm's aerial forces to break through.
The mutalisks were mainly used to engage the enemy's air force, shooting down a total of 6,000 magic fighters.
Such a loss was undoubtedly a significant blow to the Dawn Empire.
Although the Swarm's aerial units were eventually exhausted, Xia Jin was not particularly worried.
Back at the rear, production was increasing at a rate of approximately one standard fleet per day (including four Carrier Bugs and ten Escort Carrier Bugs).
The production speed of these marine Zerg units was bound to accelerate in the future because the creep was constantly expanding, causing the daily yield of standard energy to increase steadily.
The new naval forces emerging from Xia Jin's side were essentially deployed into the sea immediately.
Over the next two days, several fleets of various sizes from the Dawn Empire appeared in the eastern coastal area of the city states.
The enemy blockaded the entire sea region, essentially cutting off any possibility of the Swarm's main fleet controlling the maritime trade routes.
The East and West continents were isolated from each other.
The landing fleet located on the East Continent had actually all sunk after a decisive battle with one of the Empire's main battle groups.
Although every encounter ended in total destruction, the performance of the Zerg in each instance was exceptional, constantly depleting the Empire's active forces.
After every battle, the enemy's naval admirals felt as if a chunk of flesh had been bitten off their fleets.
Furthermore, because the Swarm possessed so many aerial units, the large-scale air battles resulted in the Empire's carriers losing their planes at an incredibly fast rate.
The losses easily started at a thousand planes per engagement.
This made the high-ranking officials of the Empire realize that they could no longer watch the situation with the Zerg unfold as calmly as they had in the past.
Mobilization was necessary.
Then, on that very day, the Dawn Empire officially issued a Level One war order, initiating a general mobilization.
Almost on the same day, the nation began extensive recruitment.
In the capital's great plaza, the Emperor delivered a speech to the entire nation.
“This war will make the Dawn Empire the only superpower in the world; the entire world will be under our control. All powerful enemies will pay the price, and we will gain a better life and precious resources from all over the globe. Even the poor will be able to enjoy unlimited delicacies.”
“In the past two hundred years, our grain production has increased nearly tenfold. Sunlight and soil created through magic crystals have allowed us to build massive food production bases underground. Today, the Empire's population has reached 300 million. We can no longer be confined to a single corner; we must set our sights on the entire planet, and even the stars above.”
This speech painted a beautiful blueprint for all the people of the Empire.
The Emperor promised everyone a wonderful life after the war and also pledged to develop space equipment to explore the universe. Regardless of whether people believed it, the enthusiasm of many was successfully ignited.
Despite already having millions in their main legions and reserves, the Empire still issued a conscription requirement of at least 6 million people.
Because the goal was the entire world and they faced enemies of unknown strength like the Zerg and magic beasts, the high-ranking officials believed that even a total force exceeding 10 million would still be far from enough.
“Our production capacity cannot keep up. To equip so many people, we must put more people into production. The training of mages must also be accelerated.”
In a meeting overheard by Xia Jin's scouting mosquitoes, the officials spoke these words.
The poor high-ranking officials of the Empire were completely unaware that, aside from the most classified intelligence, Xia Jin knew almost everything.
After all, they guarded against everything on land and in the sky, but who would have thought they needed to guard against the mosquitoes flying around them?
...
Following the speech and the meeting, the entire Empire was in a frenzy of military expansion and war preparation from south to north.
Previously, the nation had maintained a compulsory military service system to combat the demons, so the efficiency of gathering veterans and reservists was extremely high. Legions were formed in various regions and rapidly moved to the front lines.
The reserve weapons stored in armories everywhere were brought out, either for training or to be immediately equipped by the soldiers.
The factories had already increased their production capacity several times before, and this time, it was put to perfect use.
This period of preparation for them was exactly the window of opportunity for the Zerg to prepare for an all-out offensive.
In fact, it was foreseeable that once the Empire was defeated, the strength of the Zerg would be incomparable to what it once was. At that point, steamrolling the Border Forest would become exceptionally easy.
One must remember that even before the magic industrial revolution, the Dawn Empire's strength was enough to contend with magic beasts.
It could be said that defeating the Dawn Empire was as good as having one foot through the door of global unification.
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