Chapter 530 The Admiral’s Decision
The garrison fleet guarding the ‘jump escape point’ has conducted multiple confirmation communications with the federal fleet in the past few days.
This kind of confirmation communication that has exceeded the normal confirmation frequency also makes the commander of the Galaxy Guard Fleet, Rear Admiral Kimmel, very unhappy.
In his opinion, the federal fleet commanders hiding in the distance are more like a bunch of guys who were frightened by the war than 'veterans' who have fought all the time since the war began. .
With the exception of a few large colonial and industrial satellite cities, the space in the Lubion Galaxy is currently basically in the hands of the galaxy defense fleet. In theory, there are no hidden dangers.
Moreover, the other parties are two fully-staffed main fleets of the federal navy, and they are not a tourist boat group carrying a bunch of rich old men and old ladies. If there is any problem, the thousands of heavy particle cannons in the two fleets are not used to set off fireworks. of.
Although Kimmel complained to the autonomous government many times, the federal fleet was doing a useless job. After dragging the main force of the garrison fleet here, it not only made the rebel warships become more and more bold, but also It also cannot form an effective deterrent to Atlas's fleet.
However, the autonomous government still repeatedly emphasized that the garrison fleet must act in accordance with the instructions of the federal fleet, and warned Major General Kimmel not to make any arbitrary decisions.
Because Secretary of State Davis was attacked on the Lubion 5, it is still not clear who did it. The background identities of the soldiers who were shot dead in the anti-aircraft vehicle are clear.
Even so clean that it’s a little unusual.
Therefore, the Lubyan Autonomous Government is still digging for clues, and has even taken the initiative to invite the Federal Central Intelligence Agency to participate in the investigation to prove its innocence.
And this is just one of the ‘combination punches’ thrown by Alex, the administrator of the Lubion system, in order to prove his innocence.
After the incident, he contacted the federal government for an explanation as soon as possible. After that, he lowered his stance significantly, fearing that something went wrong and the federation would call directly.
So for Major General Kimmel’s complaints, he scolded him directly in the channel’s precious encrypted real-time communication.
Originally, the federal government has never given up its doubts about the autonomous government. At this time, you did not do what others asked, but instead kept letting the opponent's fleet directly enter the field. If this makes the federal government think that the garrison fleet is here It's funny because he plans to 'invite you into the urn'.
——
“How long until the next scheduled communication confirmation time?”
“One hour and twenty-eight minutes, General!”
Hearing the flagship below my feet After the captain's answer, fleet commander Kimmel was slightly relieved because the time was shortened, and then felt secretly happy because of the title of 'General'.
Especially because this title was spoken by his previous ‘old rival’—another officer at the same time who competed with him for the commander of the Lubion System Guard Fleet.
Both of them were captains of the battleships in the garrison fleet at the time, and they were also one of the two candidates finalized by the autonomous government.
However, because Kimmel is more social on weekdays and is closer to some of the main officials in the autonomous government, including Alex, the responsibility of fleet commander finally fell to him. On the head
"'General'. What a wonderful title~"
Kimmel smiled secretly in his heart, and he did not think there was anything wrong with his method.
To be fair, there is no difference in business capabilities between him and his competitors. Whoever is in the top position makes no difference to the garrison fleet.
And he believes that handling interpersonal relationships within the autonomous government is an ability that a fleet commander should possess. Otherwise, why would so much funds be allocated to the fleet every year?
After the short period of excitement, Kimmel also returned to his state. After two and a half hours of fear and still no sign of the Atlas Group fleet, the garrison fleet commander Guan Li's heart slowly relaxed again.
He even began to wonder if the other party had already jumped out of the galaxy. After all, the scale of the Atlas Group fleet that came to the Lubion Galaxy was so large. It faced two federal main fleets and a galaxy garrison. The fleet is like hitting a stone with an egg.
And he believed that the Atlas Group had the intelligence-gathering ability to monitor the whole world according to the 'rumored legend', and had definitely obtained the news that the Federation fleet was about to arrive.
So the other party is very likely to decide to withdraw the fleet at the last moment. Otherwise, when the federal fleet arrives, it will not be so easy to leave.
Thinking of this, the commander made a decision in his mind:
"Inform the various clearance squadrons in the orbit of Rubian 5 to conduct another reconnaissance of the area between the 'earth and the moon' and the lunar orbit. , don’t”
But before he could finish his order, he heard the tactical information coordination officer issue a warning.
“Report! The long-wave radar discovered a large number of unknown units in the G9 area! The distance is too far and it cannot be identified with the signature database for the time being, but the personality of the shipboard controller is suspected to be a large fleet!”
Jin Mei When the captain next to Er heard this, he immediately turned to look at him. Although he was a little unhappy about losing to Kimmel in the competition, the captain still maintained 100% cooperation during the battle.
"Have you found anything in the optical and infrared/ultraviolet surveillance images?"
"Sorry, General! This area is facing the star 'Great Rubion', and the optical, infrared/ultraviolet surveillance units are temporarily unable to identify it!"
Hearing this, Kimmel immediately looked at the holographic projection platform in the center of the bridge. The three-dimensional model above had already marked a yellow mark representing 'unknown unit' in the G9 area.
The garrison fleet, the yellow mark, and the Great Lubion star were also in a three-point-one-line state at this time, so the background of the universe captured by the optical and infrared sensors was not cold and black, but like a large The searchlight-like 'Big Rubion'.
In addition, under the influence of the light radiation emitted by stars, the surfaces of these 'unknown units' will also heat up rapidly, which also causes the identification effect to become extremely limited.
"A large fleet. Could it be that Atlas's main fleet arrived early?" The flagship captain on the side suddenly asked at this time.
Faced with this question, Kimmel could not give an accurate answer now, so he could only shake his head helplessly:
“I can’t give any answer without conclusive evidence. The answer is definitely yes, but from an analytical perspective, it is indeed possible."
Kimmel paused, seeming to think about the countermeasures for a few seconds, and then said in 'Fleet Commander' He directly spoke from his seat and ordered:
"Synchronize the information, and at the same time, the second escort detachment breaks away from the fleet formation, approaches the G9 area and is on guard! The entire fleet adjusts its formation to a box formation, and the heading is not the same. Change, the ship's axis is adjusted 30 degrees toward the target area."
Under Kimmel's order, the main force of the garrison fleet, which was originally cruising on a fixed route, came to life again and adjusted its formation like a school of sardines in the sea.
Almost at the same time that the entire garrison fleet completed the axial adjustment, the tactical information coordination officer also reported a new message:
"The Fourth Liquidation Squadron reported that they were in A communication relay satellite disguised as a wreckage was discovered in the high orbit of Lubion 5, and a communication from the Atlas fleet was intercepted!”
Kimmel’s eyes widened when he heard the news! Liang: "Has the decryption been completed?"
"Report to the general, the Fourth Suppression Squadron has violently decrypted part of the information through the 'parallel' decryption method of the shipboard control personality!"
"Read."
"Flagship Assault. Stellar Backlight Attack Feint Direction Plan C"
The Tactical Information Coordinator reported a series of intermittent keywords, although it became completely impossible after reporting. I understand, but these keywords decrypted earlier still made the faces of Kimmel and the flagship captain beside him become more and more serious.
"Are you really going to attack us?" the flagship captain asked.
"The premise is that the disguised satellite discovered by the squadron is real, and the intercepted communication is also real." Kimmel squeezed out the word "Chuan" between his eyebrows, and at the same time, he always felt that something was wrong:< br>
"Don't you think that the process of intercepting this communication and decrypting it was a little too smooth? And it is such an important combat deployment, and it was discovered so easily by us?"
Flagship The captain also nodded: "It is indeed too easy, and it happens to be stuck at this point in time. Can such a coincidence happen?"
This Kimmel's defeated general ' He also realized that something was not right, but before he could continue to think about it, he heard Kimmel suddenly say:
"Palau, what did we do after we discovered the unknown target just now?" Operation? ”
"You sent a escort detachment forward for reconnaissance, and at the same time ordered the fleet to adjust its formation, adjust the battleship's axis without changing its course, etc.!"
The flagship captain who was called Palau suddenly Realizing something, he suddenly looked at the three-dimensional model on the holographic projection platform, and immediately asked the shipboard control personality to substitute some parameters for calculations.
Soon, a red virtual route began to extend from the direction of Rubian 5, and with a less obvious arc, it hit the blue battleship logo representing the garrison fleet.
Judging from the last known position of the Atlas fleet, assuming that the opponent is maneuvering in this direction after entering the covert action state, it can be circumvented during the period after losing the trace. Go to the vicinity of the 'scheduled jump escape point'.
Looking at the trajectory lines calculated based on the personality of the shipboard controller on the holographic projection platform, the flagship captain looked at Kimmel again:
"General, if this intercepted communication is used to confuse us, then it is very likely that the direction of the Grand Rubian is the feint attack direction that attracts our attention, and the direction of the fleet just now is the enemy's real main attack direction!"
Hearing Palau's words, Kimmel did not immediately express his affirmation, but instead issued a new order:
"Communications staff, synchronize the calculated enemy's predicted trajectory to the left wing The squadron, let them readjust the axis of the battleship, and then release the tactical probe to form a detection matrix to detect the direction of the track line! "
"Yes, General! Attention Second Squadron, this is the flagship 'Balkan'."
The communications staff responsible for fleet communications immediately synchronized the relevant information, and then conveyed the instructions from the fleet commander to the second squadron on the left wing in the pointing communication channel.
Kimmel also displayed on the huge screen on the side of the command level of the bridge the images synthesized by the processing of the optical, infrared sensors and synthetic aperture radar detection units on the left side of the flagship.
After multiple zooms, everyone on the bridge quickly saw the ships of the Second Squadron slowly turning in the designated direction as if they were spinning in circles, and then zoomed in again. The distance between ships.
Immediately afterwards, the ‘small green triangles’ were released from inside the battleship, and formed matrices near their respective battleships.
Although everyone can only see the signs automatically marked by these systems, they also know that this is the Second Squadron deploying a fleet-level detection matrix.
This large matrix, composed of all the battleship detection units of the squadron and the released combat probes, was like a quickly assembled flashlight that illuminated the "pitch black" front.
The detection accuracy of this fleet-level detection matrix cannot be said to be very high, but the extremely high detection distance and large detection area still make it an ideal choice for independent fleets to guard against unknown airspace. A good helper.
Because this long-distance alert is more about allowing the fleet to find targets at long distances and be prepared to deal with emergencies, rather than locking in the specific location of the target.
And as the distance gets closer, other more targeted sensors and detection units equipped on the warship will also enter their 'comfort zone' and then gradually come in handy.
Soon, the Second Squadron sent back news that made Kimmel and Palau a little excited.
"The Second Squadron reported that a large number of unknown units suspected of being a fleet were detected in the V6 area, and judging from the echo characteristics, it seems to be a fleet pointing axially towards us!"
In tactical information coordination At the same time as the officer's report, the radar imaging picture returned by the Second Squadron's detection matrix also appeared on a screen on the bridge.
Those white patterns that are highly similar to the features of the projection plane directly in front or behind the battleship are densely filled with the entire screen.
"Sure enough."
Kimmel couldn't help clenching his fists. If he hadn't noticed the problem, he might have been fooled by the opponent just now, and then flanked the entire fleet. Exposed to enemy gunfire.
He didn't even dare to think about what kind of disaster his fleet would suffer.
Palau next to him also let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Kimmel noticed something was wrong in advance, and then continued to speak. :
"General, this size is much higher than the number of Atlas fleets we detected before. Is it really their support fleet that arrived early?"
" I don’t know, after all, we have not detected the arrival of the opponent’s support fleet, but we cannot rule out the possibility that the opponent has indeed entered the scene secretly.”
Kimmel answered Palau’s question. But in fact, I began to struggle with new problems
What if that intercepted communication was genuine?
What if Atlas’s combat fleet really attacks from the direction of Grand Rubian with backlight?
What if the opponent’s commander is a master of psychological warfare and ‘prejudges’ his own ‘prejudgement’ in advance and deliberately sets this trap waiting for him to step into it?
When such questions came to mind, Kimmel immediately began to become a little uncertain.
He found himself doing a 'choice question' that was related to the life and death of the fleet.
If you make the right choice, then the pre-war game of this battle will most likely be written into the textbooks of future generations, and you will also leave your name in history.
If you choose the wrong one.
It will still leave a mark in history, but it will become the background of the Atlas fleet.
Kimmel did not realize that he was putting pressure on himself at this time. He just felt that his choice and next orders would become extremely important.
At this moment, the newly promoted major general finally felt what the legendary 'admiral's decision' was like - this critical moment that haunts all naval commanders. experience.
On the bridge of the Balkans, the flagship of the Lubion Galaxy Guard Fleet, everyone realized that now was a critical moment that could determine everyone's future.
They all unanimously turned their attention to Kimmel, who was in the most conspicuous place on the bridge. The entire bridge suddenly became quiet, with only the sound of some instruments running.
I don’t know how long this tense atmosphere that made the air freeze lasted, just after some crew members had unconsciously held their breath under the influence of this atmosphere
Fleet Command Official Kimmel finally made his decision.
“The second drive escort detachment maintains vigilance in the G9 area and provides early warning of unknown units in the G9 area in the flank direction. The other fleets adjust their axes to keep pace with the second squadron.”
Having said this, Kimmel paused, and then said word by word:
"Release General Quarters"
When this short phrase engraved in the bones of all navies appeared Finally, the bridge of the Balkans exploded immediately like a group of high explosives being thrown into a calm lake.
Everyone immediately entered another state, focusing entirely on the workbench in front of them, and the sound coming from the ship-wide broadcasts of all the battleships in the garrison fleet instantly Everyone on the ship tensed up.
"Full combat readiness, full combat readiness, everyone entering combat positions, we are about to make contact with a target suspected of being an enemy fleet."
(End of this chapter)