Chapter 2116: Fighting here and there
From the moment the opponent came to him, Huron never really wanted to hand over the Blackstone Fortress to the opponent, no matter what it was, after all, there are not many such things in the galaxy now. This may be his key asset to dominate the Maelstrom and compete with Abaddon in the future.
How can you hand over something like this if your life or death is at risk?
So if Soshyan can be defeated without Blackstone Fortress, then there is still a way to say who the Blackstone Fortress belongs to. The conditions we negotiated with the other party actually said that the war would end. As long as it does not end, then— —
Huron's confidence is not for nothing. He believes that his existing strength combined with the death map will definitely catch Soshi Yang by surprise.
Soshyan was indeed a little surprised by the sudden appearance of the second mysterious hulk, but after looking at the power at hand, he felt that this problem was not that big. After all, he also had his own A killer one.
After several divisions, the central fleet led by him still has 68 capital ships!
This huge fleet includes 2 Oberon-class battleships of the Sun Fleet, 1 Emperor-class battleship, 1 Apocalypse-class battleship, 1 Jupiter-class battlecruiser, and 4 Vengeances -class large cruisers, 3 Dictator-class cruisers and 5 Moon-class cruisers, a total of 17 capital ships, and each battle group has a total of more than 20 battle barges, among which the Minotaur battle group alone has 3 battle barges, and They are all transformed from battleships. At the same time, they also have 8 strike cruisers. They are the most powerful fleet among the dozen or so participating battle groups.
The next is the Astral Knight, which has 1 battle barge (Soulbringer) and 3 large cruisers (Eternal Loyalty, Unbound Soul, Silver Redemption - the original Red Pirate Executioner-class large The cruiser Scarlet Glory, which was damaged and captured in the first Battle of Angerstom, basically completed the repair work before the decisive battle, left the dock at Angstrom and joined the battle order), 2 Moon-class cruisers, There are 6 strike cruisers (only 2 were left after the Second Battle of Angstrom, Reza added 2, and Ulan Huda added 2), then there is the White Templar, with 9 capital ships, and then The future battle groups will basically consist of 2-4 battleships, in addition to some battleships of the Mechanicum.
The number of small and medium-sized warships is 110.
In terms of absolute quantity, it is less than the Huron, but in terms of firepower and quality, it can definitely crush the Huron. But that huge hulk is a big trouble. The Red Pirates can use its cover. If the battle line is dragged far enough to launch gang-hopping, then the empire's great disadvantage in military strength will be reflected. The number of Space Marines Soshyan can command is not enough to defend every capital ship, let alone those small and medium-sized ones. Once a battleship is jumped, it will quickly lose its combat effectiveness.
So it is easy to be blindly optimistic just by looking at the strength of the fleet. The actual situation is actually very serious.
However, the Red Pirates' fleet also has some serious problems. The first is that the space hulk is not fast. It is obviously difficult for such a big thing to get up fast, and the Red Pirates are known for their... As a support point, it must move around it, and the entire fleet's activity space is greatly restricted.
The second is that the combat readiness of the Red Pirate warships is poor, and many of them have experienced the second Battle of Angstrom and have not been completely repaired, and some of them have been used from the ships sealed in New Badab. Yes, the commander and the crew are not completely familiar with each other, which leads to a large difference in the speed of each Red Pirate ship. Once it takes action or is hit by a sudden attack, it is easy for the formation to loosen.
The biggest advantage of the imperial fleet is that it is in good combat readiness. The condition of each ship has been adjusted to its peak before the war, and Soshyan believes that everyone will execute every order he gives unconditionally. Under this judgment, Soshyan formulated a "very classical" tactic and ordered the Minotaur fleet at the end of the fleet to launch an assault from one side to the side of the Red Pirates fleet. At the same time, the main fleet followed the Red Pirates fleet in a single column. Turn to the right.
If you don’t know the inside story, you might think that Soshyan is trying to kill someone with a borrowed knife. Although he does hate these guys, the reality is that only they can execute this tactic because the Minotaur owns a fleet. They are the three battle barges with the fastest speed and the thickest armor, and they are also the battle group that is best at this kind of group assault tactics.
Asterion had no objection or reply to Soshyan's order, but their fleet quickly broke away from the main fleet and used its speed advantage to quickly maneuver to one side.
At this time, the two sides have begun to exchange fire. The Apocalypse-class battleship with the longest range in the Imperial fleet opened fire first. This type of battleship is equipped with the most powerful tracking fire control sensor and a special energy processing device, which can briefly to double the range of the light spear arrays on its sides.
The dazzling red beam penetrated the darkness and hit the huge space hulk, but was blocked by the black energy shield.
More battleships and large cruisers followed suit, creating a dazzling light show in space. In response, the capital ships of the Red Corsair fleet fired back, but many of them were hiding behind the hulks. Or on the side or even below, its shooting range is disturbed to a certain extent.
The fierce shelling from both sides quickly slowed down the space hulk, and some fire-piercing shields hit its twisted shell, whether it was a brass pyramid or a crystal tower. , were directly wiped out, and those crazy demons were helplessly strangled in the physical universe, and eventually returned to the subspace to wait to do evil again.
However, this is not enough to eliminate this huge tumor.
In less than twenty minutes of fighting, both sides began to suffer losses. On the Imperial Fleet's side, two Lunar-class cruisers were sunk, and one Vengeance-class large cruiser was sunk. The battle barge storm from the Weeper The Daughter's engine was damaged and one-third of the deck was caught in fire and had to withdraw from the battle. Eleven small and medium-sized ships were sunk or withdrawn from the battle. On the Red Pirate side, one large cruiser was sunk and three The cruiser was sunk and seriously damaged, and the Absolution suffered heavy damage. The upper deck was caught in a fire and her speed was reduced. More than twenty small and medium-sized battleships and Demon battleships were sunk.
From the battle damage point of view, the Empire suffered a slight loss, but if you look at the hull of the ruined ship that has been beaten into smoke, you know that it absorbed most of the firepower released by the Empire's single column array.
Almost at the same time, the Minotaur fleet also launched their attack. Asterion put up a crazy formation, led by the flagship Daedalus, with two other battle barges forming the jaw, and eight strike cruisers. Forming horns, it rushed straight to the side and rear of the red pirate, its engines burning at full speed, and its macro cannon and light spear turret unleashing a hellish bombardment, completely regardless of what was blocking its path.
(End of this chapter)