Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1139
Would the Star Glory Federation still exist in one and a half months?
Wan Guqing's feelings were all hidden in the deep wrinkles, like every day in the past ten years. He seemed to be an old camel that was moving unhurriedly although it had encountered a black storm in the desert, as if the dense light spots on the hundreds of light beams were nothing more than some annoying sand.
His attitude, which was so calm that it bordered on sluggish, had an amazing reaction with the slightly panicked atmosphere inside the Defense Counsel. Gradually, all the anxious and agitated people around were influenced by him and slowed down. They were even looking at him, full of expectation!
Almost a hundred enormous light beams were connected to the telescopes that were located in the satellites and asteroids. They were depicting the terrible scenes that were happening in space from different levels through different ways of probing.
On the 3D images sent back by the telescopes whose main probe approaches were gravity change and space ripple capture, the deep, profound space was like a vulnerable eggshell that had been broken abruptly by a certain object. The pieces of the eggshell were flying out clearly and did not die down until more than ten seconds later.
The telescopes that mainly detected spiritual energy and heat, on the other hand, discovered dozens, hundreds, and then thousands of butterflies that looked like stars. They were surrounded by raging, glamorous brilliance, which interweaved and melted, illuminating the entire dark universe!
Some other crystal cameras that had been deployed at the periphery of the Heaven's Origin Sector for reconnaissance purposes managed to send back some close-distance images before they were disrupted and destroyed. The real appearance of the arrivers was obvious on them.
The arrivers were super starships that were pure black, with bodies as even and smooth as a mirror and as clear as glass. On the two sides of the head, the trident lightning emblem and the black storm emblem were embedded!
After a long distance jump that covered dozens of lightyears, the arrivers, ripping apart the four-dimensional space and barging into the core area of the Star Glory Federation with invisible but overwhelming flames of spiritual energy, still maintained the most even, dense, and organized formation in the array that was almost ten thousand kilometers long. They aimed at the home planet of the Heaven's Origin Sector in the strictest square.
The solemn, grave, and rigorous battle formation declared in the most majestic way the unparalleled performance of the starships of the Imperium of True Human Beings and the toughness of the Immortal Cultivators from the Imperium who were piloting them!
"High—High-energy reaction!"
"More than three thousand starships from the Imperium are arriving at the Heaven's Origin Sector through space jumps. This must only be the vanguard. More troops are still waiting to be teleported!"
"The periphery area of the Heaven's Origin Sector has turned into a pot of hot soup. The entire space has been churned into a turbulent area!"
"Not good. Our aim has failed!"
Space jumps were long processes, like when an enormous dinosaur passed through a narrow valley. Even the three thousand starships in the vanguard could not be teleported all in one jump. Despite the signs of intense reactions of spiritual energy, they were still in a highly unstable space superposition state. To some extent, most of them were both in the Heaven's Origin Sector and at the orbit of the brown dwarf simultaneously.
It was their most vulnerable moment. It was also the best opportunity for the defenders to attack.
However, on the surveillance and the aiming light beams, the gravitational waves, space ripples, and aftershock of spiritual energy and heat raised by the Black Wind Fleet were all blurred. Although the behemoth did not completely vanish, it was now covered in thick mist, making the best weapons deployed on the home plant and the star fortresses in orbit lose their target!
Chapter 1763: Space Battle! |
The moment the Black Wind Fleet's vanguard jumped to the Heaven's Origin Sector, the Heaven's Origin Sector launched its counterattack, mostly by the orbit defense troops of the home planet.
The armed forces of the Star Glory Federation could be classified into four levels. At the top of the pyramid was certainly the Deep Sky Fleets, which could perform dozens of space jumps across multiple Sectors, pose a threat to a hundred lightyears away, and cruise and fight independently for several years.
The Deep Sky Fleets were similar to the Black Wind Fleet. They were much more than simple 'fleets'. With their perfect self-circulation, survival, and develop abilities, they could exist independently as a tiny starship civilization to some extent.
From the Star Ocean Imperium to the Star Ocean Republic to the Imperium of True Human Beings and the Star Glory Federation, all the Deep Sky Fleets had an unspoken rule. The ratio of the female marines on board should be no lower than thirty percent. That way, if the motherland suffered a destructive strike while the Deep Sky Fleets were cruising in space, the Deep Sky Fleets alone would be able to pass on the civilization of the motherland!
It was not hard to imagine the capabilities and configuration of such fleets. They often gathered the most elite warriors, the wisest commanders, the most advanced starships, the most powerful crystal suits, and even the unique Colossi from the motherland. They were both the most precious mobile force in a space battle for a civilization and the home to all the elites!
In the Star Glory Federation, there were only two troops that were qualified to be called 'Deep Sky Fleets', namely the 'Burning Prairie Fleet' as the ace troop and the 'Big Bai Fleet', which was best at unexpected attacks as a rapid-response troop.
The troops one tier below the Deep Sky Fleets would be the guardian fleets stationed in the many Sectors, for example, the 'Heaven's Origin Fleet' that guarded the capital.
Although their names might sound awesome, the starships of the guardian fleets were often small. Their spiritual shield, armor, and firepower were rather weak, too. Most importantly of all, their structure was relatively simple and vulnerable, and they could not withstand the ripping and regrouping caused by super long-distance space jumps. Therefore, it was difficult for them to launch attacks across Sectors.
The range of their attack was usually the world that they guarded. If it was a small world such as the Heaven's Origin Sector, the range of their activity would be restricted to that system. They even preferred to stay in the central area close to the star where the resources were more abundant and barely set foot in the barren, desolate, undeveloped lands at the edge of the system.
Although the Heaven's Origin Fleet was the garrison for the capital, it actually did not have too many starships and soldiers, because the Star Glory Federation had expanded too fast in the past hundred years, and the seven Sectors as well as the Hundred Flowers Space Zone and the Dragon Snake Space Zone all needed to be defended. There were never enough troops.
Besides, the Heaven's Origin Sector was a classic single-system world. More than ninety percent of the resources were focused on the home planet and the two planets before and behind it. In terms of defense, it was both unnecessary and impossible to maintain an ace troop that was as powerful as the Burning Prairie Fleet.
Therefore, compared with the worlds such as the Flying Star Sector and the Uranian Ring Sector that had a long history of starship production and could even be considered starship civilizations, the Heaven's Origin Sector only had a mediocre fleet.
The real guardians for the home planet of the Heaven's Origin Sector, which reassured the misters in the parliament and the tens of billions of people living on the planet, were the third defense forces of the federation—the orbit troops.
The orbit troops of the Heaven's Origin Sector were centered at the nine asteroid fortresses that were deployed in the orbit of the home planet of the Heaven's Origin Sector.
Those asteroids had all been slowly pushed to this place over the past hundred years after being installed with enormous power rune arrays when they were still at the periphery of the Heaven's Origin Sector. Captured by the gravity sphere of the home planet, they became tiny 'satellites'.
They had all been resource planets in the beginning. The original purpose of pushing them toward the orbit of the home planet was to collect the crystals and mother lodes inside the asteroids more conveniently. They provided the material support for the explosive development of the Heaven's Origin Sector in the 'golden century'.
However, after all the crystals and mother lodes were cleaned up, and the asteroids were turned into empty shells that were riddled with holes, the military, parliament, and Refiners' Association realized at the same time that, instead of going through the trouble of moving them away or destroying them, they might as well be transformed into war fortresses as impenetrable barriers to protect the capital!
It had been thirty years since the modification on the first asteroid began, but the project was still not complete. Nevertheless, the nine asteroids had all been turned into awe-inspiring iron hedgehogs.
The old mining holes were transformed into arsenals deeply buried underground, where the super heavy crystal cannons lurked. A lot of space shuttle bases and Exo bases had been established on the surface of the asteroids, too. Most of the soldiers of the garrison were deployed in the bases on the asteroids, ready to get rid of the insignificant gravity and march into the space anytime.
Together with the torpedo area made of countless forsaken starships and space torpedoes among the asteroids, a deadly line of defense that was second to none in the seven Sectors was created!
The orbit defense line, known as 'Wall of Heaven's Origin', was the greatest reliance for the home planet of the Heaven's Origin Sector.
For most of the people in the capital, with such an impenetrable, indestructible defense line, even the fourth tier and last tier of the defense forces seemed to be insignificant.
The vanguard of the Black Wind Fleet had arrived at the resourceful area almost at the center of the Heaven's Origin Sector under the navigation of the space gate. The intruder and the defender were almost at a distance of melee combat the moment they met. Therefore, before the intruder was freed from the dizziness caused by the teleportation, they suffered the brutal attacks from the Wall of Heaven's Origin.
From the nine asteroid fortresses and the half-fixed arsenals modified by a lot of forsaken starships, colorful streaks of brilliance so dense that they appeared concrete covered the distance of hundreds of thousands of kilometers in the middle within the moment before they stormed on the Black Wind Fleet overwhelmingly.
The first wave of attack lasted sixty seconds, but the result was not satisfactory. Both the high-frequency mystic rays of a short wavelength and the high-energy particles were consumed by the fog that wreathed the Black Wind Fleet.
The war fog seemed to disrupt and disperse spiritual energy. The straight rays of light would lose their way like headless flies after they entered the area, reflecting and dispersing randomly. They either passed through the Black Wind Fleet's battle formation without hitting any target or turned into colorful light stripes that decorated the war fog with glamorous colors, as if they were donning the Black Wind Fleet with a majestic battle robe!
It was not until this moment that the super alloy cannonballs pushed by surging magnetic forces arrived to launch strikes at the Black Wind Fleet.
However, the war fog carried very powerful effects of force field disruption. Most of the cannonballs were simply 'pushed' away by the arced force field and slid off on the surface of the warships of the Black Wind Fleet!
"The enemy's stealth technology, force field disruption technology, and spiritual shield technology are all above ours. Ninety-nine percent of our previous attacks missed the targets!
"But the preliminary scanning on the enemy's starships was completed during the moment of attack. More than twenty main-force warships have been identified, including 'Black Swirl', the flagship that is the largest in scale. Is the Black Wind Fleet mad? They have teleported the flagship in the first wave of attack. Are they planning to start a strategic battle with us?
"The enemy's warships are changing their battle formation from the jump state to the combat state. Their target is the 22.45.28 area, which is… the place where our No. 1 space gate is located!
"By the analysis of the General Staff, the Black Wind Fleet's tactical target is to seize the No. 1 space gate so that the following warships of the fleet can be teleported incessantly!"
Cold voices were echoing inside the command center of the Defense Counsel. The starry spots on the light beams that represented the Black Wind Fleet were now clearer and more active!
The appearance of Black Swirl, flagship of the Black Wind Fleet, made everyone realize that it was not a bluff, a feint attack, or a distraction. It was an out-and-out final, strategic battle!
"Everyone, this is a great opportunity for our enemy."
Speaker Wan Guqing lowered his eyes and looked at the generals and experts who were perspiring hard. Even at this moment, his voice was not loud or convincing at all, but his calmness was surprisingly reassuring.
"As we all know, the Black Wind Fleet is definitely not the only enemy we are going to face. It is totally possible for the Imperium of True Human Beings to send out a second expedition army in a few years.
"Dealing with the Black Wind Fleet for years and struggling to secure a victory after a protracted war is of zero significance for the survival of the federation."
"We can only try to crush the enemy's main force in a strategic battle to which both parties devote all their troops and finish the war cleanly and neatly, as a way to demonstrate the federation's power and buy us another ten to twenty years to catch our breath. This is the only hope for us!
"Therefore, in the past few years, we have been contemplating how to drag the Black Wind Fleet into a strategic battle, but we never found a perfect opportunity.
"But right now, the Black Wind Fleet has sent its flagship to our door, and the final battle has already broken out. This is a great blessing for the federation. Why are you so ill at ease, everybody?
"The situation is very clear right now. The Black Wind Fleet intends to occupy and destroy the three space gates that are around the home planet of the Heaven's Origin Sector to prevent the Burning Prairie Fleet from reinforcing us so that they can completely occupy the home planet before the Burning Prairie Fleet arrives!
"For our enemy, as long as we can guard the space gates, stop the follow-up troops of the Black Wind Fleet, and allow the Burning Prairie Fleet to jump back in time, we will be able to destroy the main-force warships on the enemy's side including Black Swirl with the combined forces of the Burning Prairie Fleet, the Big Bai Fleet, the Heaven's Origin Fleet, and the orbit defense troops. After that, the Black Wind Fleet will completely lose the ability to launch a second assault!
"The Heaven's Origin Fleet, the Big Bai Fleet, and the orbit defense troops must hamstring the Black Wind Fleet at whatever cost until the Burning Prairie Fleet shows up! This battle will decide the fate of the federation. It will also be the most important battle during the rise of the federation. The efforts of so many predecessors and compatriots in the past hundred years will depend on the battle. Let's work hard, everyone!"
Chapter 1764: Unkillable Rabid Dog! |
In a space battle, thousands of starships would have glamorous competitions with all their barrels glowing. It was the most brilliant, splendid, blood-boiling, and soul-stirring form of war in the history of mankind!
The universe was a boundless place. Both human beings themselves and the warships, the seemingly enormous war machines created by them, were nothing but insignificant specks of dust in the grand universe.
If two fleets did not intend to run into each other, they would be like two needles floating in an ocean. It would be practically impossible for them to detect each other, much less hunt each other and get involved in a fight.
The Imperium of True Human Beings had gathered a lot of troops in the past thousand years to capture a tiny Firefly, but none of the attempts had succeeded, which was the best example.
However, the hide-and-seek where neither party could see or catch each other was entirely meaningless in most cases, because the space suitable for the survival of mankind was only less than one billionth of the entire universe despite its vastness. The only 'oases' that could provide warmth for human beings in the cold sea of stars were the strategic locations for any civilization.
In a certain glorious moment that would decide the fate of billions of people, in order to take over the resource planets, the critical sailing routes, the important industry and training bases, the prehistoric relics or the stable jump points, the main forces of two parties jumped out at the same time and communicated with each other with their bullets as their words in an open, epic fight. That would be a real space battle!
It was exactly the case for the battle today, which was a classic confrontation due to the competition over jump points.
The three space gates around the home planet of the Heaven's Origin Sector were the critical locations that controlled the entrance and exit of all the mobile forces in the Heaven's Origin Sector and the other six Sectors. They were equivalent to the 'pass' in the ancient times.
At this time, most of the warships of the Black Wind Fleet and the Burning Prairie Fleet were not in the Heaven's Origin Sector. They required the navigation of the space gates in order to jump over quickly in an orderly fashion for reinforcement.
Whoever controlled the three space gates would control the passes to enter and exit the Heaven's Origin Sector. The follow-up troops on their side would be able to arrive at the place incessantly and completely annihilate the available forces on the enemy's side!
Without the navigation of the space gates, although space jumps were not entirely unavailable, given that both parties had the star map and the coordinates of the Heaven's Origin Sector, it would be like sailing into a port without the guidance of the lighthouses. The precision and time of such space jumps would be difficult to control. It was quite possible that the warships would jump to a random point in the vast area of the Heaven's Origin Sector.
