The battle was fierce, Madam Zheng had long ago sent the signal for all the units under her to converge on her position as it was deemed a situation of utmost importance. She was by far, the most skilled within her own Forever Pirates faction, but without the help and expertise, her capabilities were cut by at least 25%. It's just that everything that these two usually took care of for her, she had to do herself now, and with such a huge battlefield to manage, she didn't have enough skilled people to do the job as effectively as she had wanted.
Once she heard that Zheng Jing had arrived on the scene with 3,000 of his personal ships, she felt a sigh of relief consume her. The arrival of this elder would signal the arrival of her two husbands, all she had to do was to keep pushing the enemy back as much as she could until her two husbands came to relieve her of some of her duties. Zheng Zhi Long heard that Zheng Jing had come back and left immediately to meet up with him.
These two had been together since almost the first day that they came to planet 4 and they had made a pact to help each other out whenever possible. Their bond was quite an oddity as backstabbing and betrayals were all too common on this godforsaken planet.
Zheng Jing had a little talk with Zheng Zhi Long and updated him on the situation that took place in the last few days. Both of them returned back to Madam Zheng so that Zheng Jing was able to report back to her too. Time was of the essence as the battle was still raging around them.
(MZ) "What's the situation?" Madam Zheng asked with furrowed brows.
(ZJ) "Ma'am, the First and Second will be here soon, I'd guess about another half day at most. I'm not too sure if you got the message we sent to you last time, but the person that we have found out that is working together with Zheng He is quite the naval genius. It's quite possible that she was the one that called for this attack." Zheng Jing responded politeness.
(MZ) "Tell me, what happened that made all of you blunder so hard?"
(ZJ) "Well, I believe that we overestimated our own worth is what had happened. The enemy had set up a supertight smoke screen on the first day and we were not able to detect them with neither sight nor technology. We had thought that the enemy was setting up to a big plan when they did not attack us on the first day, it turns out that they just did it to stall us and leave us then and there to overthink everything."
(MZ) "Laughable, we will deal with that later. Now is the time to act, you two will accompany Zi Bo and Zi Ji Ge to deal with this group of ships here. Then move to the target directly diagonal to them, and after that point, keep targeting the easiest targets until you reach this point which is deep into enemy territory. There will be several more groups doing the same thing and will all stop at the same spot as you. Once there, there will be a very noticeable sign of where all of you should focus your firepower on."
(ZZL) "Got it, ma'am." Zheng Zhi Long responded.
(ZJ) "That sounds like a solid plan, let's hope whatever else you have planned don't miss their timing, we will only be able to stay at that point for a short period before the enemy forces swarm us to no end."
(MZ) "You worry about getting there, I'll worry about everything else."
(ZJ) "Roger."
Zheng Zhi Long and Zheng Jing left and headed to where the Zi siblings had their ships already prepped and raring to go. After a short exchange, the 4 of them all headed out at the same time to follow the plan that Madam Zheng had told them to follow, no questions asked. To their surprise, this simple tactic allowed not just their group but many other neighboring ones to efficiently cut through the fleets of the Vesper faction. It seemed that the trick that this tactic uses is confusing the enemy into not knowing which group would attack them and make them trip up. Simple, but ingenious nonetheless.
After a hard-fought few hours, they had gained the upper hand and were now mowing down the enemy even faster than before. Granted, their ships were much more technologically advanced but coupled with this way of fighting allowed them to achieve so much more. There would only be a few more hours of sunlight left and if they were to advance any further today, they would have to wait for the signal that Madam Zheng had promised them. The four of them, the elite guards, and the other groups had done their job splendidly and were now also waiting for what to do next.
A few minutes later, Zheng Jing and the others were able to make out a fleet that resembled their numbers but not one that matched their inferior ships. This new group was likely the First, Second, or possibly even Madam Zheng's personal fleet and everyone who witnessed was amazed by the sheer presence it commanded. Suddenly, a smoke signal was fired towards their enemy, red for advance all forces.
Seeing such a strong navy lead them made the morale of the seamen rise even more than defeating all of their enemies ever could. The groups of elders that were all waiting for something excitedly gave the order to proceed. Zheng Jing, Zheng Zhi Long, Zi Bo, and Zi Ji Ge included. Being led by such titans of naval warfare assured everyone that they would emerge victorious at the end of the day. It was quite a sight to see, over 25,000 ships from many different eras of human history, and strategists as well.