Chapter 124 Bad Choice
While Chen Ming and Yu Hui's robots were fighting.
The factory director hurriedly contacted the chairman again, but this time it was not the chairman who answered the call, but his secretary.
"Mr. Lu, the chairman is in a meeting now. If you have anything, you can tell me."
The factory director knew that the chairman's secretary also knew quite a bit, so he asked directly: "Has the rescue operation with the 14th Army Corps begun?"
Just as the secretary was about to answer, the factory director heard the chairman's voice from the other side coming from far away.
"Xiao Lu, the operation on the Fourteenth Army Corps has already begun."
"You are calling this time because you said you wanted to inform you about this, right?"
The chairman knew what the factory director meant, so the factory director stopped talking and waited for the chairman to explain to him.
"I did forget about this matter. I want to apologize to you first, but I just had something more important to deal with."
The factory director also knew that it had already happened and there was no point in bringing it up again. He followed the chairman's words and asked: "What happened?"
"The company has just learned about the situation with the Fourteenth Army. There is bad news. There is an internal problem within them. Bai Quan, the original commander, is missing."
"Their statement is that Bai Quan was seriously injured and comatose due to an accident while performing official duties, and the entire rescue mission of Chen Ming was handed over to another person."
The factory director frowned and asked: "What is this?"
"I also want to know what this is, so as soon as I know this situation, I have to prepare materials and hold an emergency meeting to discuss the impact this incident will have on the company. I am a little too busy with other things now."
"Seriously, this is just like the Immortal Dance."
"If Bai Quan turns around and dies, then all the agreements we made with the Fourteenth Army that were not explicitly written may be ignored by them."
"Sky Steel?"
"Yes, the galaxy mining rights certificate has always been in our hands, and it can be said that Sky Steel has always been openly ours."
"It's just that the military used disgraceful means to block the galaxy, so that's why there was such a situation."
"So now the Fourteenth Legion can do the same if they want."
"The company has been cheated, but we still can't take the initiative to violate the previous agreement, otherwise the reason is not on our side, and the conflict between us and the 14th Army is definitely not a good thing."
"We can only wait until the matter is over and then listen to their explanations and see their movements."
The factory director couldn't help but asked: "The company is still not running after everything is like this?"
"The Conqueror-class captain we sent out said that although the person taking over Baiquan's mission is not as good as Baiquan, he seems to have a good subordinate who can continue to complete the mission."
"Then those of us sitting in the rear must follow his ideas on the front."
"And we were previously tasked with a simple attention-getting task."
"As long as we attract Yu Hui's capital ship, the rest will be none of our business. We can just run away and that's it."
"Well, let's do this for now. I just came out to get something. The meeting is not over yet, so I don't have time to continue talking to you."
The chairman's voice disappeared from the other end of the communication.
The secretary also hung up the communication after confirming with the factory director that she had nothing more to ask.
The factory director, on his side, said to the other terminal in his hand that was in contact with Chen Ming: "Xiao Ming, I have some news. There is a problem within the Fourteenth Army."
He quickly explained to the terminal what he had just heard from the chairman, but after finishing speaking, he did not get any response.
"Xiao Ming? Xiao Ming?"
The factory director suddenly felt that the situation was not good, but he had no way to help Chen Ming at this time. He could only sigh and sit behind his desk and wait anxiously.
Just as the factory director was worried about Chen Ming's safety.
In the outer space of Chen Ming's planet, the battle between Yuhui and the United Fleet has entered a fierce stage.
The combined total of at least a thousand battleships from both sides has sunk in space. Even the losses of cruisers have exceeded a hundred, and the losses of destroyers and escorts are countless.
Even because of the scale of the battlefield, the frigates were unable to take action at all. So far, among the warships lost by both sides, the destroyers have suffered the most losses.
However, no matter how many destroyers are lost, no one or afterglow cares about it now.
All those involved in this battle and Yuhui's attention were focused on the core of the entire battlefield.
That is where the seven battleships are.
There are three capital ships here in Afterglow, all of the same model. They are all radiation-class unmanned battleships that are most common in Afterglow and human battlefields.
As for the Fourteenth Legion, except for a model-class battleship from Tachyon Technology.
The remaining three ships are two offensive-class heavy battleships developed by the Fourteenth Legion themselves, and a legion-class aviation battleship that combines the functions of a battleship and an aircraft carrier.
The two offensive-class ships were located in the center of the entire battle line, unfolding two giant crimson shields, blocking the afterglow like two flaming mountains.
The Legion-class aviation battleship is located behind the battle line.
It fell behind the other battleships and all the ships in the entire fleet.
If an aircraft carrier is under the protection of a fleet, there is nothing wrong with being located at the rear of the fleet.
But now the legion level is doing a very strange thing, that is, the direction its shield is aimed at after unfolding is also the rear.
And that's not all.
At this time, the resonant frequencies of the shields of several battleships of the Fourteenth Legion were surprisingly consistent with the resonant frequencies of the shields of all ships in the entire fleet.
So much so that now, there is even a special shield that is visible to the naked eye like a phantom covering the shields of all ships below the capital ship level, protecting the spacecraft.
Although the phantom shield covers all directions around the spacecraft like a sphere.
But if you look closely, you will find that the phantom shield protects the spacecraft on the shield sphere.
The rear hemisphere is purely the same red as the legion-level shield.
But on the front hemisphere, in addition to maintaining the same flaming crimson color as the offensive level, there are also some blue ripples flashing like the blue shield of the radiation level.
It was as if this phantom shield covering the entire fleet was maintained by several capital ships.
And that's exactly what happened.
The reason why such a situation occurs lies in the battleship itself.
When a battleship-level ship joins a battlefield, the battle pattern of the entire battlefield will inevitably undergo some changes.
The capital ship's capital-class weapons are devastating to any ship below the capital ship.
Even if it is a cruiser, even if it is a special ruler-class heavy cruiser that directly forced the original sector military to capture the Fourteenth Legion with a single spaceship.
The outcome is the same in the face of any battleship's main weapon.
However, although the main-level weapons of the battleship have terrifying destructive power, the hull and weapons of the battleship are still of normal structure.
This means that as long as the attack is powerful enough, low-level spacecraft can also pose a threat to it.
The cruiser's large weapons are pretty much the minimum weapons that can cause damage to a capital ship.
Therefore, in a battle involving capital ship-level spaceships, victory depends not only on the capital ship itself, but also on the fleet following the capital ship.
Protect these low-level ships so that they can survive the battle, and rely on their weapons that can threaten the capital ship to help your own capital ship put additional pressure on the opposite capital ship.
The joint shield produced by the resonance of the capital ship-level shield and the shield of an ordinary spaceship at a specific resonance frequency is the best way of protection.
Under normal circumstances, the connected shield will always maintain a phantom-like existence.
Only when the protected spacecraft is triggered by an attack above a certain energy level, that is, when it is attacked by a main-level weapon, will it solidify directly and bear the attack.
It will not block attacks below a certain energy level.
The purpose of this design is also very simple.
After all, the continuous shield itself is actually the battleship helping other spaceships bear the damage of the enemy's battleship.
So if it is really going to be attacked by low-level spacecraft, then the shield itself has no meaning.
On the contrary, it makes it more convenient for the enemy and allows more enemies to attack the shield of one's own capital ship.
The legion's shield is now aimed at the rear, giving all spaceships on the entire front line protection from the rear.
The main reason is to protect Yuhui from the attack of the battleship.
There are two reasons why we need to guard against the backside when the battle lines are already stretched. One is that Yuhui’s subsequent support may sneak attack from behind.
The other one is the afterglow's flashing engine that exists even on capital ships.
The existence of the flash engine forced the combined fleet to take precautions.
At this time, in the corps-level general command room.
Tang Shi, the temporary fleet commander who replaced Bai Quan, was here.
Tang Shi looked to be in his thirties and approaching forty. He was looking at the panel with complicated data in front of him and listening to the reports that kept ringing in his ears.
The movements of his hands were somewhat stiff as he kept clicking on the control panel while issuing instructions.
A few beads of sweat were flowing slightly on his forehead, and he looked extremely nervous.
Just then.
The side door of the general command room opened, and his deputy Zhang Feng returned to the command room.
Tang Shi suddenly seemed to have seen a savior, and his tension was instantly relieved.
Zhang Feng naturally came to his side to help analyze intelligence and make decisions, so that the somewhat chaotic battlefield situation could be sorted out again.
But this is only apparent. In fact, all major decisions are actually made by Zhang Feng as his deputy.
Although Tang Shi and Zhang Feng were nominally commanders and deputies, they were actually doing the opposite.
The reason is also very simple. Zhang Feng was placed in this position.
So now, although he is doing good things, his heart is full of all kinds of negative thoughts.
He has the ability to command an entire combined fleet, but now he can only serve as a deputy, as a so-called think tank.
Wiping the butt of a man who became a major general because of his connections, so he cannot convince the public, but there is no better candidate who can convince the public.
He even needs to follow the requirements from above and find opportunities to develop his on-the-spot adaptability and hone his command skills under the current circumstances.
And although it is not said that there were no objections within the legion, these objections were quickly suppressed, and these people with opinions never raised any objections again.
This is also the reason why Zhang Feng is here now and continues to study with the prince honestly.
Zhang Feng knew that although he and the people above Tang Shi could not directly reach into the Fourteenth Army Corps, it was not difficult to reach into a small force that was separated from the Fourteenth Army Corps.
Especially since this force has not yet established itself and even needs to use other forces to form a joint fleet, it will be even more difficult to intervene.
So much so that Zhang Feng now even doubted whether Bai Quan's accident was premeditated.
Otherwise, under normal circumstances, the troops of the Fourteenth Legion would not have been able to conceal the news with such high efficiency, and at the same time, they would have completely suppressed all objections.
However, even just knowing about this matter would pose a considerable threat to his life safety.
Therefore, Zhang Feng was just guessing, and he kept the contents of his guess deep in his heart and would not mention it to anyone.
At the same time, he continued to help this sludge of practical ability, so he could only rely on his years of accumulated experience and the power behind him to become a senior general.
Zhang Feng quickly arranged the emergency situation on the front, and saw that the war was not as urgent as before.
He finally had time to say something else to Tang Shi.
What the people above just explained to him.
There is a separate space between the commander-in-chief and other people present in the general command room.
Therefore, Zhang Feng was not worried that what he said later would be exposed, and said directly to Tang Shi: "Commander Tang, I need to tell you about our future plans."
"Arrangement? Isn't it to rescue Chen Ming?"
"No, our goal is not to rescue Chen Ming, because his living will not do us any good, let alone the people above us."
"It was his existence that caused us to lose our share of sky steel."
"Is there still such a thing?"
Zhang Feng nodded and continued: "So we can just pretend to save Chen Ming, but we can't really save him."
"And it's almost time now. It's too late and impossible for Chen Ming to save him."
"Why do you say that?"
Zhang Feng explained patiently: "Because our original plan was to raid the planet in front of us, and before Yuhui could react, we sent army troops to rescue based on Chen Ming's coordinates."
"But now, the battlefield has entered a head-on confrontation. It is definitely impossible for us to break through in a short time, and it is impossible for the army landing force to bypass such a front and land directly."
"This gives Yu Hui time to take action against Chen Ming. Whether it's a transfer or something else, Yu Hui will never give us another chance to save him."
"So until now, the mission to rescue Chen Ming has failed."
"We have only one purpose left now, to attract Yuhui's attention, continue to delay time to find opportunities, prepare to jump, and raid Kletka."
"This is the key, this is the merit." Zhang Feng hesitated for a moment, and then said the last sentence: "Your merit."
Tang Shi said with some hesitation on his face: "But I saw that there is still a coordinate signal sent by Chen Ming on the colony. He should not have been transferred yet."
"And I'm not sure if I can command well. To be honest, I don't want to at all..."
Zhang Feng suddenly stretched out his hand and patted his shoulder to interrupt him. At the same time, he said with a serious expression: "You are in danger now. There are many people who are expecting you to achieve this feat."
"And I'll help you too, just do it."
"...Okay."
Tang Shi reluctantly responded, and Zhang Feng took over the command of the fleet.
He began to command the entire combined fleet in the commander's communication channel as a nominal deputy.
The captains of several capital ships on the battlefield were all inside the communication channel at this time.
They all acquiesced to Zhang Feng's replacement of Tang Shi's command.
In other words, it was because of Tang Shi's existence that they acquiesced in this matter.
The captains of several ships were of high status, and they all knew that something was wrong with the entire incident.
But since Baiquan's arrangements were clear, they didn't dare to do anything more than immediately notify the legion in private and wait for the legion to respond.
As for the captain of the model-class battleship dispatched by Tachyon Technology, he does not have this problem.
After all, if he died here, the Fourteenth Legion would have to give Tachyon Technology an explanation.
The Fourteenth Legion will definitely find trouble with Tang Shi, a man who joined the Fourteenth Legion through normal channels, but whose status gradually rose through special means from outside.
But for him, since it has reached the last moment, if he gives up, it will be equivalent to all the previous investment being wasted.
The sunk cost of launching a capital ship is no small sum.
And although the major general who took over Baiquan's mission was trash, his deputy was different.
Although he was unknown, his commanding ability allowed the representatives of all the forces in the joint meeting to accept it in a short period of time, and they saw hope of completing the mission.
Otherwise, no matter how much investment they make, the loss will not be as great as the loss of one battleship, and they would have run away long ago.
Of course, this mission refers to the mission to Kletka, not to Chen Ming.
Since the previous joint meeting, all parties have already distributed the interests of the task.
Chen Ming's affiliation had been decided from the beginning and assigned to the 14th Army Corps.
So now there is a split within the Fourteenth Army, and the part that has a grudge against Chen Ming still controls this part of the Fourteenth Army fleet.
Except for the government that has not actually participated in the battle, which may still have thoughts about Chen Ming, other forces will not try to find Chen Ming for the sake of their established interests.
Even if there were, one would think that Chen Ming would eventually be taken away by the Fourteenth Legion, so why waste energy on it?
Therefore, for Zhang Feng, the next thing the combined fleet has to do is simply to pretend to be retreating.
Chen Ming will naturally be tricked to death.
There is a high probability that Afterglow will relax some of their vigilance, and they can also find an opportunity to jump directly to the galaxy where the Kletka supercomputer replica is located next to them.
Zhang Feng quickly took control of the battle situation under his command, and was able to completely withdraw immediately and look for opportunities to jump.
He is bound to win the Kletka simulator.
Just when the front line was further stretched.
Suddenly, Zhang Feng noticed that behind their battle lines, there was a characteristic of space distortion before the jump engine was about to arrive.
He immediately commanded the fleet to be on alert.
Soon, another 10,000-meter-class Afterglow battleship, the Radiation-class, appeared behind them.
Although there are countless large, heavy and small weapons on the ship, the most dangerous weapons on the radiation level are always the two main weapons.
Microsievert-class optical radiation cannon.
This is the main-level weapon that is designed for every battleship when it is designed and is adapted to the ship.
The name "microsievert" is the smallest unit of measurement for radiation value.
When this radiation-class ship appeared behind the combined fleet, its two microsievert-class optical radiation cannons had already opened fire.
Two slender rays of deep purple, almost purple-black, criss-crossed across the edge of the battle line, hitting countless United Fleet warships on the battle line.
Although it is not visible to the naked eye, it can be detected through sensors.
The purple beam visible to the naked eye on the optical radiation line is only a part of this optical radiation cannon. The main energy of the optical radiation line it emits is all concentrated on ultraviolet radiation.
The power of these energies hidden from the naked eye is far greater than it seems.
And although these two light radiation lines look very slender, their actual diameter exceeds that of the tachyon spear.
A large number of ships below the capital ship level were hit, which put a huge pressure on the legion-level shield that maintained the rear-mounted shield, and its radiation system was almost close to the upper limit.
However, Zhang Feng was not worried at all at this time.
Because the radiation class that arrived was in very bad condition.
As long as you think about it for a moment, you can understand that their four battleships do not need to be moved at all, and there is no need to be distracted to deal with them.
Because they also have a large number of cruisers with shields activated, which can activate a large number of large weapons carried on the ships.
At the same time, they also have a large number of fighter planes designed purely for combat carried by the legions who are looking after their own rear.
The fighter aircraft that can be carried in battleships at the capital ship level are not like Heavy Rain and Cattle Driver, which can only carry fighters that are a few meters or more than ten meters long.
The fighters it can carry can at least compete with cruisers.
What's more, in fact, most of these fighters, which are designed purely for combat, often have more powerful combat capabilities than cruisers.
Therefore, this radiation class without a ship will definitely not have time to carry out the second round of output.
Even if they want to activate the blink engine to escape, they will never give it this chance. What's more, the blink engine is not unlimited and can be used at will.
No matter how you look at it, the combined fleet can manipulate it at will and create a locally advantageous matchup.
So here, Zhang Feng simply followed the instructions above and left this kind of decision to Tang Shi to handle, which only required simple brain analysis to make the optimal solution and was not very dangerous at the same time.
Zhang Feng asked Tang Shi directly: "What should be done here?"
Tang Shi, who was just watching from the side, suddenly panicked.
It's like a candidate who didn't study hard and then found out during the exam that he couldn't understand the paper at all.
And when he raised his head, he suddenly found that the exam time was about to end. Such tension made his brain a little confused for a while.
Zhang Feng saw his situation and could only say helplessly and patiently: "Calm down, think slowly, you make the decision, you are the commander now."
For a moment, cold sweat started to flow from Tang Shi's forehead again.
He had never commanded such a battle before, and even the simplest things seemed extremely difficult to him now.
Anxiety and irritability constantly squeezed the few sanity he had that could think clearly.
Finally, he issued this order: "Carry out emergency radiation removal at the legion level! Prevent overloading!"
Zhang Feng's pupils suddenly shrank and he quickly shouted: "Wait!"
But the legion was their vehicle, and orders were conveyed immediately.
The legion level activated emergency radiation discharge, and all equipment that needed to consume radiation energy was locked. The radiation energy accumulated due to the radiation level attack began to be completely dissipated and could not be stopped.
Just at this moment.
A radiation-class vessel that originally did not dare to move in front of the battle line due to the pressure of the number of battleships instantly started its flash engine and circled behind them.
At this time, the legion level has entered an emergency spoke state, and the empty door at the rear is wide open.
The command communication channel, especially the most advanced command communication channel, suddenly fell into silence.
Only the livid-faced Tachyon Technology Captain left two words: "Idiot!"
The captain of Tachyon Technology had known Zhang Feng, who was actually acting as the commander, before, and he knew that Zhang Feng's ability would make it impossible for him to make such a stupid operation.
The only explanation is the order given by the nominal commander himself.
The flashing radiation-class ship did not hesitate at all, and also activated the two microsievert-class light radiation cannons.
The two beams of light swept across the entire front again, and the fire from a series of continuous explosions that almost spanned the human front could be clearly seen even on the planet behind the afterglow.
A full third of the combined fleet's ships disappeared into space because of this stupid operation.
The battle at the battleship level currently mainly depends on two places to determine the outcome.
One is to see if the battleship can withstand it, and the other is to see if the small ships brought by both sides of the battle can suppress the opponent and not give the opposite small ship a chance to help the battleship attack one's own battleship.
If the battleship cannot hold it, the remaining small boats will be scum in the eyes of the local battleship.
If a small ship is suppressed by the opponent, it is equivalent to allowing the opponent to focus fire on one's own capital ship.
No matter how powerful the ship is, if it is set on fire, it will inevitably lead to an accident.
As for the United Fleet, a big problem has arisen on the small boat at this time.
This wave of losses cannot be said to be a hamstring, it can only be said to be a complete loss.
The war situation has begun to inevitably tilt towards the afterglow.
The combined fleet itself has invaded Yuhui's territory. There are only so many in total, and one loss means one.
But Yuhui is different. Their hometown is here and they have a steady stream of support.
Even a one-to-two exchange loss ratio would be a loss, let alone a unilateral loss directly close to one-third.
That's why Zhang Feng has been planning the fleet's retreat to prepare for more substantial benefits later.
As a result, he never expected that Tang Shi would actually make such a move that could be said to be completely mindless.
Expose your most vulnerable part to the enemy.
Zhang Feng's face gradually turned livid, and Tang Shi's brain gradually calmed down after making the decision, making Tang Shi realize what a stupid decision he had just made.
Tang Shi, sweating profusely, glanced at the fleet and environment inside the galaxy on the sensor at this time, and knew clearly that the defeat of the combined fleet was certain.
Although the subsequent plan to raid Kletka is still possible.
However, if a mistake is made, at least half of the ships will be lost, including the capital ships.
There was nothing more they could do but leave.
Zhang Feng gradually calmed down his mentality. He ignored Tang Shi beside him and calmly organized the fleet quickly in the command channel and began to adjust the formation.
While resisting the frontal pressure given by the afterglow, he just ate the radiation-class ship that had just passed through the flash engine.
However, another radiation-class ship that arrived through the jump successfully escaped from the siege of the combined fleet by relying on its jump engine.
As this afterglow joined the frontal battlefield, the combined fleet could no longer bear the pressure exerted by the ordinary ships of this afterglow.
Zhang Feng could only say in the command channel: "Get ready to retreat."
But there was one last thing he had to do before leaving the galaxy.
Zhang Feng found the coordinate signal that Chen Ming's signal generator had been sending on the control panel.
Tang Shi, who was not under any psychological pressure, immediately realized what he was going to do and said, "This is the last resort..."
Zhang Feng interrupted him directly, and said in a low voice as if he wanted to eat someone: "Isn't now the most necessary time? Don't forget our original purpose."
When he wasn't paying attention to Tang, he continued to do what he wanted to do.
Soon, among the combined fleet.
One of the ships was just brushed by the rays of the microsievert-class optical radiation cannon. The ruler was lucky enough to have only part of the hull damaged. He suddenly stopped following the fleet's retreat, and instead suddenly started the jump engine at a dangerous distance. .
Yu Hui wanted to stop this sudden and strange operation, but was immediately blocked by other warships from the surrounding combined fleet that acted according to Zhang Feng's orders.
In the end, the ruler disappeared into the fleet.
The destination of this ruler's jump is not elsewhere, but behind the battle line of Afterglow, just like the two radiation-class ships just now.
At the moment the jump ended, the Dominator-class activated the only three remaining large-scale weapons Gauss cannons on its ship that were capable of precise long-distance attacks.
After aiming at the coordinates sent by the positioning signal on the planet, the ruler opened fire.
It only fired one round before being directly destroyed by Yuhui's fleet.
But the three large-mass live ammunition with exaggerated caliber fired by the Gauss cannon had already flown towards the planet without the protection of the atmosphere.
The security systems Sunset had installed on the planet were too late to prepare for the attack by the ruler, who almost jumped to his face in a suicide attack.
Three Gaussian shells accurately flew towards the research institute, which was still sending coordinates to the outside world.
I feel a little dizzy, I feel so dizzy writing this chapter
If there is anything poorly written, please tell me in the comments and I will correct it
(End of chapter)