Chapter 917 The Miscalculated Admiral
From the moment the enemy fleet signal appeared, Admiral Kalanswo realized that things were not developing as he had imagined.
From the first impression, it seemed believable that the Chaos fleet might just be passing by by accident or looking for their lost warship, but an hour after the initial warp rift was detected, And when the size of the enemy increased to 13 enemy ships, this speculation was immediately proven to be extremely wrong.
On the Revenge, the great flagship, Admiral Kalansworth had to admit that he had made a miscalculation.
All the high-ranking officers came to the bridge and discussed the emergence of enemy ships one after another. Only Admiral Kalanswo remained quiet.
"This is undoubtedly a deliberate attempt to eliminate us."
The fleet chief of staff grimaced, looking away from the screen to address his colleagues.
“Look at their arrangement, running straight through the shortest route to the edge of the asteroid.”
“I bet that as soon as we start moving in other directions, there will be There will be other boats coming out ahead of us and they are trying to herd us together like hunting ducks."
"We need to spread out."
The first mate looked shocked by the chief of staff's conclusion, but the chief of staff put an end to any protest before he could express it.
“We are far outmatched.”
“We have time to call in more ships.”
The deputy chief of staff suggested:
“ It’s not that far from Gaia.”
"The question is, how much strength does Gaiya have? It is still unknown whether the Reliable Servant will return, and the base also needs defense forces."
"If we are destroyed, then even those few frigates can't protect us. Base. "
The chief of staff took a step back and took a deep breath.
"Impossible...how did we hit them?"
"More importantly, how did they find us? All our ships must have followed the correct With the communication security protocol, no one can detect our signal after setting off from the base.”
"Ah, of course, the base, maybe our loophole lies here."
"Sir, are you saying there are heretical spies in the base?"
"Yes, heretics are the most dangerous. The trick is to deceive people, and wherever they appear, lies will also appear."
The chief of staff rubbed his forehead, feeling disturbed by the turn of events.
“As long as there is a little bit of dissatisfaction, it can lead to betrayal, maybe someone who hopes to profit from the heresy.”
"Well, there's no point in second guessing, but we can still fight, and if they think they can drive us to the slaughterhouse like docile Grox, then we're going to give him a taste of his unpleasantness! A coordinated attack, Directly attack their main fleet and let's see if they have the courage to fight a real battle."
"We don't"
The Chief of Staff said calmly. Once again, all the officers were shocked.
"At least, not here, nor now. We are unprepared, have insufficient troops, and have no intelligence. We cannot throw the fleet into a gamble. If we lose, the Pandora galaxy will completely become a piece of cake. Sores, as long as we can retreat to the base, maybe-"
"And this is exactly what our enemies want." Finally, Admiral Kalanswo, who had been silent for a long time, spoke, and everyone instantly spoke. He became quiet and looked at the officer.
"They think we are weak, and we will prove them wrong."
He looked at the officers in the strategy room and lowered his voice.
“The enemy’s surprise attack is intended to break our morale and let us throw away the opportunity in a meaningless gesture of resistance. We may not have an overwhelming advantage, but it is not as the heretics think. Being so weak, since these traitors have turned their guns on the Pandora Galaxy, they have been able to achieve small victories most of the time, which makes them confident, but it will also be their weakness."
Ka. Admiral Lansworth saw the desire to argue further in the eyes of the Chief of Staff. He knew that his old friend had always been cautious, but caution could not win the war,
Bravery, resourcefulness, and no hesitation at critical moments are the keys to victory in war.
“Perhaps this is not a sure-win war.”
Clearly recalling the stubborn young man he once was as the Chief of Staff, Admiral Kalanswo put a hand on the other side. on the shoulders.
“But we have no choice.”
The chief of staff looked at his old commander, then sighed softly, raised his chest and raised his head.
"Sir, waiting for your order!"
All officers immediately stood at attention and waited for the order.
Admiral Kalanswo nodded, turned around and walked to the side of the communicator, and said solemnly:
“Order the fleet to prepare a formation to meet the enemy! For the sake of the Emperor, we will Don’t give up!”
As the order was issued, the imperial fleet quickly changed from a gathering posture to a single column.
In this battle, the Pandora battle group was fully equipped. Except for the Dictator-class cruiser [Reliable Servant], which did not participate in the battle due to escort, all main battleships joined the battle, including the Emperor-class battleship [Vengeance], the Dominator-class battleship Cruiser [Anvil], Lunar-class cruisers [Leviathan] and [Lord of the Solar System], in addition to 2 Dreadnaught-class light cruisers, 1 Endeavor-class light cruiser, and 3 swords of the Gamma Squadron -class frigates, five Scimitar-class frigates of the 89th Guard Division, a total of fifteen warships.
When the Empire took up its stance, the Black Legion's fleet was already in place. This time they also deployed their main force, including the flagship of the fleet, the Desolation Messenger-class battleship [Endless Fury], and the Ugly-class large cruiser [Holy]. Corrosion], Styx-class heavy cruiser [Ruthless Destroyer], Killer-class cruiser [Grudge] were all present, as well as 4 Imagebreaker-class destroyers, 5 Believer-class plunderers, a total of thirteen battleships .
The person commanding this fleet is the Chaos Lord Eighta Irongraspeer. He is also the leading naval combat master in the Black Legion. He was already famous as the Eye of Terror before joining the Black Legion.
From a numerical point of view, the Imperial side has the advantage, but Admiral Kalansworth is well aware of the dangerous situation he is in.
Although the small ships of the Pandora Battle Group will be able to match the Chaos Fleet in terms of numbers, they are extremely disadvantageous in terms of firepower of the main ships. The Revenge is a modified aircraft carrier and cannot compete with the opponent's incompetent ships. The Hugh Resentment competes in firepower.
The only advantage that Admiral Kalansworth has is that the fighter jets carried by the Revenge have an absolute numerical advantage over Chaos.
The Revenge has 4 flight launch platforms, each platform has 2 sets of flight decks, which can take off 8 flight squadrons at the same time, and its hangar can accommodate 32 flight squadrons, that is, 320 aircraft carriers Carrier aircraft!
In order to maximize this advantage, Kalansworth decided to keep the Vengeance behind the battle line and let other ships attack the Chaos fleet.
When the fleets of both sides begin to exchange fire, multiple attack planes taking off from the Revenge can cross the battle line, swamp the escort fleet of the Chaos fleet, and ultimately cause as much damage to the Chaos fleet as possible.
As long as the attack aircraft can cause enough damage, it can make up for the unfavorable situation in the fleet artillery battle.
Moreover, Admiral Kalanswo decided to focus the carrier-based attack on the enemy's flagship. He prepared a formation of 4 squadrons of Starhawk torpedo aircraft for this purpose. When other carrier-based aircraft attracted enemy anti-aircraft firepower, this would Become a deadly dagger.
Unfortunately, Karanswar's plan, while it seemed feasible, lacked the pretense of tactical intent.
And he didn’t know that the other party had far more information than he imagined——
(End of Chapter)