Chapter 205: Final Preparations
Several seconds later, the first wave of dense bombs arrived beside that super battleship.
The subsequent explosions emitted intense white light that instantly engulfed the entire battlefield.
Thousands of dense bombs exploded at close range, releasing energy that in that instant even had a massive impact on the nearby Punisher Battleship.
Shortly after, when the explosion’s glow dissipated, the scene before them left everyone watching this battlefield silent.
That warship was unscathed, like a god descending to earth.
Wang Wei watched this scene, a trace of despair rising in his heart.
Through years of exercise training, he had rich space combat experience, but at this moment he truly had no way out.
The electromagnetic railgun could inflict minor damage on it, but under the repair capability of the opponent’s armor repairer, that bit of damage was negligible and instantly fully repaired.
He glanced at the fleet data; in the short dozens of seconds of engagement, dozens of Punisher ships had already been destroyed and exploded.
He immediately said:
“Order: Young Dragon, enter the field and do your utmost to rescue combat personnel exposed in space.”
Wang Wei didn’t know if there would be any survivors after the Punisher’s explosion, but even if there was the slightest chance, he wouldn’t give up.
After all, the nano-coat equipped on today’s combat personnel had undergone several upgrades and was the top-tier nano combat suit in terms of defense.
Blue Star Space Hub, Space Force Command Headquarters.
Fan Ren watched the tragic scene 4.1 billion kilometers away, his eyes red and fists clenched tightly.
Each of those exploding fireworks was like bursting in his heart, causing him endless pain.
“Commander Liu, immediately order Legion Commander Wang Wei to withdraw from the battlefield. Continuing to consume forces is meaningless!”
He quickly wiped the moisture from the corner of his eye, turned to Liu Shengzhan beside him, and for once used a commanding tone.
Liu Shengzhan turned to look at Fan Ren, slightly stunned.
Then he nodded lightly.
“This is Space Force’s Liu Shengzhan. Wang Wei, I order you to immediately lead your fleet out of the battlefield and preserve your forces by returning directly to Blue Star Headquarters!”
His order would take several seconds to reach that battlefield.
But even those short few seconds felt extremely long to Fan Ren.
“Azure Dragon Legion received; returning immediately.”
After a few more seconds, Wang Wei’s voice sounded again, though this time his response carried a hint of sorrow and guilt.
“Very sorry, this is the best we could do.”
Fan Ren immediately said loudly: “Legion Commander Wang, you did very well. No one could have done better than you. On behalf of all Great Xia People, I extend our sincerest gratitude to you and your subordinates!”
Hearing this, Liu Shengzhan’s pupils flashed with a trace of excitement.
This kid who had always holed up in Xinghai Laboratory had finally stepped forward for the first time today, speaking formally in that exalted identity.
At this moment, Liu Shengzhan turned to look; Fan Ren’s face was solemn, without his usual reticence.
“On behalf of all combat personnel of Azure Dragon Legion, we thank you.”
Wang Wei’s response was extremely formal and very concise.
Being in that battlefield at the moment, he had no extra time to consider other implications.
Soon, Fan Ren saw the remaining nearly 4000 Punisher Battleships beginning to disengage from the battlefield periphery in a circling formation.
Frontline battlefield.
As the distance pulled away, Wang Wei found that at 500 kilometers away, that super battleship no longer posed a threat to them.
He breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, then said: “A’dai, take over Young Dragon’s operations and control them to quickly rescue our combat personnel.”
After saying that, he looked at the data panel, and his face couldn’t help but freeze.
5000 Punisher ships had been destroyed over 700 in these few minutes of combat duration, leaving only just over 4200 now.
These were humanity’s most powerful warships built to date.
Even the previous batch of Punisher ships, built without reinforced material silver-like super metal.
Any one pulled out could dominate Blue Star, bulldozing all military equipment of all forces.
But now, the Punisher built with stronger materials couldn’t even withstand a single unknown ammunition fired by that super battleship.
The only thing known was that this ammunition had extremely strong penetration, and after penetrating the ship hull armor, it would cause a violent explosion.
Completely no match.
Thinking this, the remaining Punisher ships behind him gradually gathered toward him, reforming a circular combat formation, and rapidly navigating toward Blue Star.
Further back, A’dai was controlling tens of thousands of Young Dragon C-type shuttles that had been useless in the previous battle, shuttling across the battlefield to rescue combat personnel exposed in space due to ship explosions, unsure if they were still alive, back into the cabins.
Not far away, on that small spaceship.
Commander Fox watched this tragic scene, thinking of something, his face losing its slyness and instead showing some sadness.
Then he perked up and said: “Alright, they’ve retreated. Shut down the war fortress equipment.”
“Fortress shutting down, force field expected to fully disappear in one hour.”
“Commander, these battleships are too fragile; they can’t even block one of our shells. But the civilization here is quite strange.”
Deputy Leader Beng Ju’s response came through the voice link, and hearing it, Commander Fox couldn’t help but frown.
Indeed, that was the case.
This fleet’s commander undoubtedly possessed very high combat literacy and command ability.
But in the battle just now, the opponent’s extremely unprofessional performance puzzled him greatly.
At the moment the dreadnought’s force field rose, they still risked charging forward to try close-range attacks, hoping to break the force field’s defense that way; he could understand that.
After all, this relatively backward civilization’s lack of understanding of the unknown leading to an exploratory spirit was normal.
But in the following few minutes, they continued futile useless attacks without any intention of retreating.
In these short few minutes, their losses jumped from just dozens of warships to over 700.
He couldn’t understand this lack of calm in command at all.
They could have withdrawn the moment they understood the force field’s performance, so why not retreat?
“Commander, what now? Our dreadnought can’t catch up to their battleships.”
Hearing the deputy leader’s words, Fox snapped back and began thinking.
This galaxy’s civilization development had already reached the threshold for entering Tier 2 Civilization; currently, their weapon research seemed very backward.
And through detailed scanning of the entire galaxy, their largest ships could only be built to this size; building larger would lack material strength to support the structural stresses, let alone space navigation.
However, there was good news: this civilization’s space industry development trend was very positive.
At that large hub 3.6 billion kilometers away, the entire industrial zone was planned and arranged orderly without any chaos.
Very high development potential.
Perhaps, this place could become a new base for their legion.
“Ignore them. After the force field disappears, head directly to their home star hub and occupy it. This place might become our new home in the future.”
Commander Fox issued the order, then heard the deputy’s excited voice.
“Commander, is this place extremely wealthy? Should we use it as a development base and enslave the civilization here?”
“Shut your mouth. When have I ever let you suffer losses following me? After the force field disappears, follow me in warp. It’s that blue planet. Warp directly to 200 kilometers from the planet.”
Commander Fox impatiently cut him off. He hadn’t decided the next choice yet, but no matter what, this 50-year mission wouldn’t be a loss.
He looked back at the messy battlefield.
There, small backward spaceships were rescuing their combat personnel, a scene that gave Commander Fox a slight favorable impression.
An hour later, when the force field effect completely disappeared.
He hesitated no longer, maneuvering the spaceship to point its bow at the azure blue planet 4.1 billion kilometers away.
“Warp engine activated.”
Occupy there first!
Huomu Space Hub, Azure Phoenix Legion.
The tragic scene from the frontline battlefield was also transmitted to the command ship where Li Jian was.
Young Marshal Wang Wei, once his subordinate, hadn’t disappointed him with today’s choice.
But at the same time, the combat personnel who sacrificed when their ships were destroyed filled him with infinite heartache.
These combat personnel were not only his compatriots but also his comrades, brothers who had struggled together with him on the training grounds.
“Attention: opponent’s two spaceships beginning warp. Prepare for current drop point.”
A’dai’s voice lacked much emotion.
Li Jian knew that though an electronic life, its emotional personality was basically unchanged from when it was ‘alive’; this sudden shift meant it was now discarding all emotional influences to push its computer brain to full capacity.
“Order: Azure Phoenix Legion’s three fleets immediately head at full speed to their respective defense zones.”
His expression unchanged, he calmly issued the command order, awaiting the arrival of the unknown moment.
Blue Star Space Hub, Space Force Command Headquarters.
“Go prepare. Next, it’s all on you.”
The moment A’dai reported the opponent entering warp, Liu Shengzhan turned to stare solemnly at Fan Ren, his eyes full of endless expectation.
At this moment, Fan Ren felt no fluctuations in his heart for some reason; he nodded lightly and said: “Rest assured.”
Then he turned and walked out.
Watching his departing back, Liu Shengzhan’s hands behind his back trembled slightly.
“Order: Azure Phoenix Legion abandon the second defense line and immediately head at full speed to Blue Star Space Hub!”
He would only issue this order after Fan Ren left.
Liu Shengzhan was extremely calm.
After seeing that frontline battlefield scene, the second defense line had already lost all meaning.
Better to concentrate all living forces at Blue Star Hub to respond to the possible final deathmatch.
