Chapter 161: Final Battle — In the Lull
Dawson observed the battlefield schematic, reading Alma Major's combat tactics in opposition to the SU Navy.
"Indeed, entrusting command to Major Miiko would have been incorrect. Assigning it to Alma Major was the right choice."
Alma Major had driven the pirates into the fire zone, forcing them into battle by any means necessary.
Watching Alma Major's skill, Dawson felt reassured.
In reality, using pirates as subordinates presented several issues.
Lack of training and coordination. Inconsistent equipment quality. A fundamental lack of discipline, prone to breaking under pressure.
More critical than these was the pirates' low endurance for sustained combat.
Military personnel are trained and prepared for prolonged warfare. Pirate operations, by nature, are short-term endeavors.
Dawson’s method of tracking prey, launching an attack, recovering spoils, and returning could be completed in about ten days.
Pirates, by contrast, avoid such effort. They position themselves at a marked location, wait with rest periods included, and attack when prey appears. If the prey does not arrive, the ambush may last for an extended period. In such cases, they can abandon the operation and return to their base quickly.
In either case, combat with the prey itself concludes within a day. A light-duty operation.
Thus, prolonged fleet battles common in large-scale warfare remain unfamiliar to pirates.
Though they have been trained prior to this decisive engagement, and their endurance has been improved, they lack the capacity to sustain combat over several days.
The uncertainty in their sustained combat capability is precisely why Dawson could not employ the strategy of encircling the enemy to cut off their retreat, thereby forcing a delayed withdrawal.
Whether aware of Dawson’s intentions or simply eager to end the battle quickly, Major Alma is pushing her pirate subordinates into combat with forceful tactics.
“Since they’re ready, we can’t fall behind. Has resupply been completed?”
“Completed. We are combat-ready in terms of supplies.”
“Spoke with the pirates. They seem a bit worn out.”
From Bera’s report, as expected, the pirates’ physical endurance in combat was confirmed to be low.
“Did breaking off combat once make them aware of their fatigue?”
Dawson nearly muttered in frustration at his own mistake, but reconsidered. Supplying torpedoes and other provisions had been necessary. His judgment had not been flawed.
“Once the fervor of battle has faded, it can be reignited. Relay to the pirates: combat will resume. Begin with light artillery fire.”
Dawson structured the next phase of engagement in his mind, then executed it.
What Dawson needed to do to restore the pirates’ momentum.
It was to exchange fire with the enemy, redirecting the pirates’ focus back to combat.
The excitement of firing artillery. The fear of being struck in return.
The alternating warmth of excitement and cold of fear. Repeating this cycle gradually increased pleasure-inducing substances in the pirates’ brains.
"Once stopped, warmth is required. Pirates are like old machinery."
"Hah. Even old ship generators don't usually take this long to restart."
Dawson smiles faintly at the assessment from someone who has worked on the ship's engine for years.
"Have you heard that moving an old vessel requires tricks and workarounds?"
"Of course. Things passed down from senior to junior—unwritten in manuals."
"Any method that would work on a clumsy pirate?"
"If it's this unresponsive, the direct approach is the fastest path."
Dawson waits quietly, observing the pirates' heads as pleasure from combat begins to circulate.
Even during this preparation time, fierce fighting continues under Major Alma's command.
"Major Alma is harsh in her treatment of subordinates. Or perhaps she simply has no intention of showing leniency toward pirates on foreign worlds?"
Dawson muttered a question before he could stop himself. The way Major Alma fought was brutal.
Two or three enemy vessels are destroyed for every one of our own lost.
In a way, it represents the ideal combat ratio for war—demonstrating what is difficult to achieve.
The driving force behind the achievement was undoubtedly the fact that Dawson was applying the same method to the pirates.
"Is that it—casting the pirates into the crucible, flooding their minds with excitement and fear, so that all they see is the enemy, and nothing but defeating them?"
A human whose mind is dominated by fervor for war thinks only of the pleasure derived from combat, and ceases to care when a comrade explodes beside them.
The fervor was deliberately cultivated by Major Alma. She directed the troublesome force of pirates to absorb damage, breaking down the numerically superior SU Space Fleet vessels.
"Similar to my tactics, though slightly different in approach."
Dawson could deduce Alma’s strategy because, as he had said aloud, the operational pattern matched his own.
Thus Dawson understood.
Had he been Captain of an Amato Imperial Japan battleship for this single engagement, he would have done the same.
That is, preserving usable personnel and artificial intelligences—those expendable, whose loss causes no personal pain—by sacrificing pirates, criminal outcasts, and their destruction.
Dawson, as he is now, is simultaneously a Special Lieutenant of Amato Imperial Japan and one of the pirates in the Orion Arm.
Considering future developments, a significant reduction in pirate numbers would not be favorable.
"Establishing a pirate state in the Orion Arm is intended to cause prolonged instability. The more pirates, the better."
Power, like in war, is determined by the number and capability of citizens.
If numbers are too low, even establishing a pirate state would result in a weak national structure.
Dawson shakes his head, considering such a future.
It is more important to achieve victory in the immediate battle than to speculate on what comes after.
"Besides, I have decided to leave matters concerning General Alma to her. A commanding officer bears responsibility for the outcome, including the process."
Dawson decided not to concern himself with what became of the pirates on the other side.
Instead, he chose to take care that the pirates he used caused as little damage as possible.