I Am The Swarm-Chapter 523: Insufficiency

The massive movements of the coalition forces naturally did not go unnoticed by the Swarm on the other side. A meeting of Blades was convened, with numerous Blades gathering in the Swarm Network conference room to discuss countermeasures.

“The Interstellar Technological Confederation is coming at us with full force this time, and they have the participation of many more advanced civilizations. The Troi civilization, which was once a formidable opponent, is now only of medium strength. Our forces might be at a disadvantage due to their superior speed and weapon range.”

“Exactly. Not only has the overall technological level of the enemy improved significantly, but their numbers are also incomparable to before.”

“There’s no need to worry about that. The Overlord has already arranged for the frontline troops to undergo self-upgrades. Once the upgrades are complete, the speed and weapon range of the Primordial-class units will be enhanced. Moreover, the Overlord has granted us command authority over all forces in this star sector. I have already mobilized some troops from the rear to the frontlines. In terms of numbers, we won’t be at a disadvantage. However, they are still en route and will take some time to arrive,” Sarah said calmly in response to the Blades’ concerns.

With the support of the Swarm’s numerous intelligent entities, the Swarm’s technological research and growth rate far surpass that of any other foreign civilization, including the Ji race.

Additionally, many of the Swarm’s current technologies have not yet reached their limits, leaving significant room for improvement. The Swarm has long been capable of a major upgrade.

However, since their previous technological level was sufficient to handle their enemies, the Swarm had not revealed too much. Now that the enemy has improved, the Swarm must also advance its technology.

Since the upgrades involve adjustments and improvements based on existing frameworks rather than adding new modules or organs, Luo Wen only needed to grant remote authorization. The Space Octopuses could then absorb energy in close stellar orbits to complete their mutations, making the process very convenient.

As for numbers, the Swarm’s initial offensive forces were drawn from the Riken Star System, Neighboring Star System, Genesis System, as well as the Sandstorm, Golden Horn, White Grub, and Red Ant Star Systems.

These star systems were the earliest territories occupied by the Swarm and had developed earlier, allowing them to stockpile a significant number of troops to support the Swarm’s first wave of attacks. Subsequently, these star systems continued to produce troops, and along with the newly occupied star systems, they expanded outward.

However, the forces on the other side of the Swarm’s territory had never been mobilized. Initially, apart from the Earth River and Black God Star Systems, the other star systems were occupied later. The Earth River and Black God Star Systems had to continuously send troops to expand and occupy new star systems, leaving no resources to support the other side.

Later, when the newly occupied star systems developed and it became clear that the other side had stabilized and no longer needed support, the excess troops were sent out to conquer new territories.

This is why, on one side, the Swarm had only captured a little over twenty star systems, while on the other side, they had occupied nearly two hundred. In addition to the lack of interference, this was also due to the large number of troops sent out.

But now, facing the overwhelming coalition forces, the troops from the twenty-plus star systems on this side were insufficient. Therefore, Luo Wen granted the Blades authority to use the forces from the other side of the Swarm’s territory to provide support.

With the backing of over a hundred star systems, plus the original twenty-plus, the Swarm would not be at a numerical disadvantage for the time being.

However, due to the vast span of their territory, the farthest Swarm base from the frontlines was over 100 light-years away. Even with the upgraded propulsion systems of the Primordial-class units, it would take over twenty years to cross this distance.

Thus, while reinforcements were available, they would not arrive immediately. The Blades needed to make flexible arrangements based on this fact.

“According to intelligence, the coalition’s fleet has reached over three billion ships, and we have nine star systems exposed on the frontlines. On average, each star system will face an attack from three to four hundred million ships.”

“Our current forces on this frontline number less than four billion. Even if they are all upgraded, they still won’t be able to withstand an attack from a coalition fleet of nearly equal size.”

Due to size differences, the individual combat power of the coalition’s ships far exceeds that of the Swarm’s Primordial-class units.

The ships in the coalition’s offensive fleet vary in length depending on the race and technological level, with conventional ships ranging from two to four kilometers in length. They are equipped with eight to ninety-six main guns and thirty-two to four hundred secondary guns.

Some special flagships or functional ships are equipped with even more main and secondary guns. Their superior energy and transmission systems allow them to support the simultaneous firing of multiple guns.

In contrast, the Swarm’s Primordial bodies typically carry two to four main guns, with secondary guns carried by Mature bodies. The difference in firepower between the two sides is evident just from these numbers.

Previously, the highest level of opponent the Swarm had faced was at the level of the Troi civilization. Their main battleships were equipped with only about twenty main guns. The Moto race’s main battleships had only eight main guns.

Under these circumstances, the Swarm relied on their agility, powerful regenerative abilities, and the harassment of countless Mature and Larval bodies to win several battles, but only when they had numerical superiority and continuous reinforcements.

Now, expecting to win this war with the previous military ratio is pure fantasy. The Swarm’s forces must outnumber the enemy several times over to achieve a balance in firepower.

Luo Wen has also noticed the current high degree of homogeneity in the Swarm’s space forces. All combat is carried out by Space Octopuses of various sizes. The diversity of units and the level of coordination are far inferior to that of ground forces.

The reason for this is that Space Octopuses combine close combat, long-range combat, and transportation functions. When there is no combat, their flexible tentacles allow them to serve as engineering units.

Additionally, their Fungal Carpet template gives them astonishing vitality and strong compatibility. By all accounts, they are a nearly perfect unit.

But as the Swarm’s enemies have grown stronger, the Space Octopuses, while versatile, have become increasingly inadequate in certain areas. Their jack-of-all-trades nature means they are master of none, making them less effective against advanced enemies.

Luo Wen has already noticed this issue and is currently redesigning some more specialized units. For example, units that abandon close combat and transportation capabilities to carry more weapons, focusing entirely on long-range firepower output.

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There are also other units with highly specialized functions and targeted capabilities.

However, most of these are still in the conceptual stage. To bring them to life and deploy them on the battlefield, many issues need to be resolved. The most critical of these is the development of a more efficient energy system.