not planning -Welcome, my friend, and thank you for helping me once again.
Teleren said the moment he and Andrew met face to face.
-Don't mention it.
The emperor said with a smile.
By then, the elven fleet was already on its way to the warzone, accompanying Arien's fleet.
The young elf fleet commander was not that happy to be placed under an unknown admiral's command, but she could do nothing about it, as the order came straight from Teleren.
-What do you think of my fleet?
The merchant asked as they walked to the command center.
-Not much I can say for now.
We will see how they do during the battle, but whatever the outcome, I'm sure that they will learn some valuable lessons from this.
-Good.
Tearing down their idealised assumptions and arrogance by replacing them with a real combat experience is exactly what I want to achieve.
The elf said with a hard expression on his face
-To tell you the truth, the battleverse is getting very volatile lately, and I think that there is another war period coming soon, and I want to ensure that my fiancée is protected by people who know what a war looks like.
-Wait, shouldn't the guild issue the warnings about the war period if it's really coming?
Andrew asked, not believing what his friend just said.
The war period was treated in the battleverse like a natural disaster, during which the conflicts and wars erupted all over the place at once, plunging the already chaotic battleverse into a state of true anarchy, and it usually rewrote the whole political map once it ended.
A few times, it also signaled the changes on the first thousand list, with some old empires falling and new ones assuming their place.
-The guild sees the warning signs, but they said it's still too early to say if the true war period will ensue or if it will be just a localized chaos period, so for now, they will not be sending any warnings to anyone.
The elf explained.
-I simply don't want to take any chances, especially since, as you know, the Moon elf star empire didn't have to fight a war or even a battle in a very long time, and even our invasions were luckily enough placed in desolate parts of the universes we invaded.
Taking all that into consideration, we have little to no fleets or officers with recent combat experience.
-Then what about the elves who fought in the past?
Andrew asked.
-You guys are unaffected by the passage of time, so there should be some officers and crews left with combat experience from the past.
-There are some, but the battlefield had evolved, and their experience is mostly useless.
You might remember that our empire made a series of simulations after you saved us from the pirates in the past.
The emperor nodded, recalling the elf telling him about that.
-The best officers we have were defeated, in similar scenarios, simply because they have a hard time adjusting to the new reality.
It's the same, with the video games we bought from you, as training materials.
They simply get annihilated in every skirmish scenario on difficulty harder than easy and are unable to adapt to the different combat conditions, no matter how many times they try.
The younger generations are doing a little better, but they are still influenced by the older generations' teachings, so the difference is not that great.
-Well, they are about to see firsthand how the real war looks, and if they don't adapt, then your fiancée will need to get herself a new fleet.
As they talked, they arrived at the command center.
There were no changes on the battlefield while Andrew was gone.
It took some time for Arien's fleet to arrive back at the portal she was defending and switch out with the reserve fleet that took their place a day ago.
The elven fleet was in awe, seeing as ships swapped places, replacing each other, with ease.
Less than an hour after their arrival, the whole reserve fleet was replaced and was preparing to return to the main system.
-I'm sorry to disturb you during the beetle Admiral, but I have a few questions I'd like to ask you if it's possible.
The Elven fleet commander contacted Arien once the swap was completed, and her fleet was left in the back lines for now.
-That's no problem, the emperor said that you might have some questions, and the fleet does not require my full attention right now.
Arien answered.
-Thank you, Admiral.
The first question I want to ask is about the Empire's battle doctrine.
This is the first time I've seen or heard of anyone just sitting there and destroying the enemy forces, just as they emerge from the portal.
The fleet commander asked, feeling like an idiot for even asking.
-Let me guess, the Moon elf empire's doctrine allows the enemy to pass, and then meeting the enemy in a great battle?
Arien asked, surprising the young elf.
-Yes, or at least that's what we were taught in the academy.
-Well, if we used that approach, then we would have been destroyed a long time ago.
The enemy has an overwhelming numerical advantage, supported by the technological advantage, that our empire simply had no time to catch up to yet.
So keeping the enemy bottled up inside the portals is our only chance of winning this.
Additionally, even if we had the forces to fight with the Kinokians as equals, it would be beyond stupid not to use the advantage that we have by holding the portals and decimating the enemy forces with minimal losses on our side.
The admiral explained calmly.
She understood where the young elf was coming from, since she was also a student in a military academy and even an officer in her former homeland's navy.
The difference was that she saw the battlefield more than once, even before she became a pirate, and her delusions of honorable battles and glorious victories were quickly shattered when the reality of combat collided with them like a wrecking ball.
-Fleet commander, let me give you some advice.
Arien said after a moment of silence.
-Instead of focusing on finding honor and glory on the battlefield, you should focus on surviving it.
The same goes for all your subordinates.
The admiral said, seriously.
-And on that note, I think it's time to see what your fleet is capable of.
She added sending the young fleet commander a set of coordinates.
-You will take positions there and prepare for battle.
The moment you are ready, we will let a few enemy ships slip through.
It is your job to destroy them, as quickly and efficiently as possible.
-Yes, Admiral.
Was the only reply of the young elf, who immediately recognized that this was a test and she never failed any test in her life, and she was not planning to start now.