Chapter 561 Amber, you are not behind the comet at all!
Amid the "anticipation" of many forces, the real large-scale fleet battle between the Atlas Group and the Federation has finally begun.
During the electronic attack stage before the official exchange of fire between the two sides, the four fleets affiliated with the Federation Grand Fleet, which were almost completely suppressed, had actually begun to suffer from communication chaos.
Afterwards, the quantum entanglement communication equipment in the four fleets also failed at the same time.
This also caused these federal fleets to lose the ability to communicate in real time with the federal naval command and other friendly forces.
However, this kind of "disconnection" situation has long been expected by Major General Stoner and others. After all, this set of ultra-long-distance real-time communication technology was developed by Atlas Group.
After the Federation and Atlas completely broke up and even wanted to go to war head-on, it was only natural for Atlas Group to impose restrictions in this area.
This is also an important reason why the Federation wants to take down the Atlas Group this time - that is, it wants to lift its own 'tightening' on quantum entanglement communication technology. Otherwise, as long as the Federation cannot If a breakthrough is made in this area, it will be restricted by Atlas Group.
As for the federal fleet, which is at a disadvantage in the electronic warfare of "appetizing before the war", its warships can only rely on blue and green lasers and light signals to communicate with nearby friendly forces for a long time. This is also The coordinated attack of the entire fleet relies heavily on the combat deployment before the battle begins.
At this point, whether it was the joint operation of the four fleet commanders or the implementation of the combat deployment by the four fleets, nearly a thousand warships in the entire fleet were able to launch an attack after launching the attack. There was no confusion.
As the two sides entered a distance of 50,000 kilometers, the fleets on both sides also began to make final adjustments to their formations.
The distance between the battleships of both sides began to become wider and wider, leaving room for each other to maneuver and evade, and all the light cruisers, destroyers and frigates also began to shrink to the sides and rear of the formation. .
After all, in a fleet battle of this scale, the survivability of this kind of non-main ship has reached an extremely low level. Even naval researchers from the Federation and the Empire have begun to envision a future naval fleet with a full main force. The possibility of warship-ification is gone.
Soon, the four fleets of the Federation Navy formed a huge cone-shaped array. The huge battleships shone brightly under the starlight, and the continuously activated weapon units on the ships were like the weapons of gods in mythology. Authority exudes a chilling aura of destruction.
The central area of the cone array is entirely composed of battleships, heavy cruisers and other battleships. The flagships of the four fleets are lined up. This will also be a key area for output and defense, and will also be the center of the storm. center.
The two unmanned fleets on Atlas's side are like silent steel ghosts, quietly suspended in the space domain to form a similar formation, but they are nearly half smaller in size than the federal navy's conical formation.
Although these unmanned warships are modified from various warships currently in service by humans, no matter who sees them for the first time, they will feel the difference between them and the manned fleet.
The lines of each battleship are simple and rigid, exuding a cold metallic luster. The only 'intelligent life' on the ship - those high-level shipboard control personalities, they have no life temperature and no Emotional fluctuations, but the precise execution of the preset program, he is the most ruthless executor on this battlefield, and the best choice among the Atlas combat fleet to perform the 'resistance line' mission.
Behind the unmanned fleet, the third task force is temporarily on standby here.
Although these battleships under Randall's command are scarred, they still exude an unyielding atmosphere. The battleships covered with scratches and dents are tired but still majestic.
The lights in the portholes of the battleships flickered in the darkness, as if the unyielding souls of these steel giants were burning. Every bullet mark left by a kinetic energy warhead is a memory of a battle, and every gap torn apart by heavy particle cannons and then refilled is a test of life and death.
The oldest destroyers among these battleships, their participation in the war can even be traced back to the "War of the Three Idiots".
They have been on the battlefield of Atlas many times Charged into battle, these warships are now once again standing at the forefront of the war, ready to burn themselves out for this battle that will determine the future of Atlas.
“Ten seconds to enter the 40,000-kilometer combat distance!” Serena’s voice sounded on the bridge of the ‘Infinity’.
On the flagships of the four fleets of the Federation Navy, the respective shipboard control personalities reported the same information at almost the same time.
"Attention everyone, prepare to meet the enemy!"
Randall's voice sounded in the communication channel, calm and powerful.
After receiving training on vocal techniques provided by the elves, his voice was like the sound of war drums coming from the depths of the universe. It was firm and full of confidence, as if telling every Attra As members of the Si Battle Fleet, they must win this battle.
“10987654321!!!”
“Fire!”
The countdown reached zero, and under the orders of the commanders-in-chief of both fleets, the battle broke out in an instant.
In this level of fleet duel, the effect of using high-energy lasers or charged particle beams to kill is already very average, so both sides did not hesitate at all. The main guns of the entire fleet fired a salvo. .
The energy generated by nuclear fusion in the battleship fusion furnace is absorbed by heavy metal particles by bombarding special alloys. Then, under the constraints of the directional magnetic field, it is accelerated through a long orbit. The aura that destroyed the world was pointed directly at the target tens of thousands of kilometers away.
The dense blue-white 'beams' produced when a large number of heavy particle cannons were fired in a salvo, streaked through the dark space like a meteor shower and headed towards the position of the opponent's fleet.
Ten seconds later, a continuous burst of lightning erupted from the battle lines of both sides. This was the 'light curtain' formed when the deflection force fields of the battleships on both sides were activated to resist heavy metal particles.
The whole fleet's main gun salvo at the beginning of the battle can basically be regarded as the most powerful punch ever thrown by a fleet, and such a punch is destined to have the desired effect.
So immediately afterwards, there were ‘fireballs’ that kept appearing on the battle line. Each fireball symbolized that a warship was unfortunately sunk in the first round of salvo.
The two unmanned fleets, which are at an absolute disadvantage in terms of the number of battleships, are obviously unable to match the federal fleet in terms of firepower projection capabilities. Therefore, when the battleships on the Atlas side were sunk, The number of 'fireballs' that exploded was obviously more than that of the Federation fleet.
But for the commander of the unmanned fleet - the command artificial intelligence 'Selene', these sunken warships are just updated numbers in the loss list.
“Start to alternate cover and adjust their respective combat positions.”
As her cold orders were issued, those warships whose deflection field generators were overloaded after the first salvo, but were lucky enough not to be sunk, sent out the 'worker bees' inside the hull to perform damage control and began to use liquids. Helium coolant was used for emergency heat dissipation, and under the action of the attitude control nozzle, it began to exchange battle positions with another battleship in good condition.
The precise and fast characteristics of the unmanned fleet were vividly demonstrated in the twenty seconds before the second round of salvo started.
The Third Task Force, which was still behind the unmanned fleet for the time being, looked at the front of the two huge fleets of nearly 500 warships in surprise, and it was completed as smoothly as a preset program. 'Alternation of battle positions'.
Relying on the exquisite control of the attitude control nozzles, these giant steel ships can 'pass by' friendly ships dozens of kilometers away in the shortest distance. The whole process can be said to be smooth and smooth, without any sense of lag, and even more No accidents occurred.
So when the second round of salvoes from both sides began, the unmanned fleet that had made emergency adjustments to their battle positions, the battleships at the front were all the ones in the best condition.
On the other hand, although the four fleets of the Federation Navy will also perform "battle position switching" operations during battle, they are not currently able to do so.
Because it is obvious that a warship controlled by humans cannot complete this series of delicate and dangerous operations within 20 seconds, let alone in a large fleet with thousands of warships.
Soon, both fleets started firing their second main gun salvo, and the entire battle space once again turned into a world of light.
Even on Lubion 5, if you are on the hemisphere facing the battlefield at this time, you only need to look up at the sky, and you will find that a certain location is constantly flashing with stars.
Although those "melon-eating people" who were driven away by the peripheral ships of both sides were extremely far away from the warring space at this time, they were still able to capture the salvos of the two fleets.
However, when they wanted to send messages to the outside world, they discovered that the quantum entanglement communication equipment on their respective ships had been suspended.
The equipment workbench pops up "Due to technical reasons, the Rubian galaxy and some surrounding areas are temporarily out of service. If you have any questions, please contact your sales consultant~". Such a prompt also made all parties concerned. Reconnaissance ships and spy ships can suffer this hidden loss
After the second round of salvos, fireballs of warships exploding appeared on the battle lines of both fleets again.
Only this time, there were obviously more fireballs appearing on the federal fleet front.
“The Seventeenth Fleet, the Steadfast and the Resolute were sunk in battle!”
"The 23rd Fleet, the Holy Grail, the Exile, and the King of Propulsion were sunk in battle!" "The 24th Fleet, the Eagle Horn and Samira were sunk in battle!"
"Eighteenth Fleet, Quetzalcoatl and Bard sank in battle!"
On the main screen of the bridge of the Eighteenth Fleet's flagship 'Galileo', lines of fleets flashed continuously Loss of information, Rear Admiral Stoner on the captain's seat looked at the information with a serious expression and remained silent.
At the same time, the voice of the fleet communications officer sounded on the command channel:
"Report! The deflection field generator of the flagship of the 24th Fleet, the USS Revenge, has reached a critical value. In order to ensure that it can continue to command the fleet in the future, the fleet commander, Rear Admiral Barak, applied for a battle position adjustment with the battleship USS Utah. !"
Stone said calmly: "Adjustment is allowed. There is no need to notify the flagship if it needs to be adjusted. It can be adjusted according to the real-time situation."
"Yes!"
Whether it is in the Federation Navy or the Imperial Royal Navy, the flagship serves as the command core and 'morale maintenance tool' of a fleet. Generally speaking, it will not leave its fighting position unless it is absolutely necessary.
So although the flagships of each fleet are all active battleships, they have been greatly upgraded in terms of protection and communications.
Judging from the model, performance, and power of the deflection field generator alone, it is much higher than that of ships of the same class. In the process of fleet-level shooting, the survivability is actually very strong.
But now it is only the second salvo, and the deflection field generator of the flagship of the 24th Fleet, the Revenge, is close to overload. This shows that the Atlas combat fleet on the opposite side has not only obtained The location of the flagship, and the conscious concentration of high-intensity fire
The extremely high artillery accuracy of the unmanned fleet also caused a large number of the federal fleet to lose the deflection field protection in the first salvo. The battleship, which had no time to adjust its fighting position, was furious on the spot.
It was not that Stoner and others did not expect it. On the contrary, they had already judged that this situation would occur at the pre-war meeting, so he was not surprised.
What really surprised him was that after the second salvo, the opposite Atlas fleet did not suffer more losses.
The attack assessment team concluded that the losses suffered by the opponent in the second round of salvos were basically the same as those in the first round. It is suspected that there was a large-scale alternation of battle positions during the interval between the two rounds of salvos< br>
“Is this the true use of the unmanned fleet?”
The federal rear admiral, who had fought side by side with the unmanned fleet, said silently in his heart.
Because in his previous battles with unmanned fleets, these cold warships were used in most cases to perform auxiliary attacks or suicide attacks
"Why does the commander of Atlas seem to be more familiar with these unmanned warships than we are?"
A series of questions came to Major General Stoner's mind, but he quickly suppressed them because he had to focus on this battle at the moment.
Generally speaking, after the second salvo ends, the two warring parties will temporarily deactivate the main guns and take the opportunity to perform other tactical actions, such as releasing HCP or activating the electromagnetic reconnection gun, or firing Plasma torpedoes and heavy anti-ship missiles.
So Major General Stoner issued new instructions just like the battles he had experienced before.
“Each ship adjusts its battle position according to the status of the deflection field generator, and continues to fire salvos after the main guns have completed cooling!
At the same time, torpedoes and anti-ship missiles are released according to the combat plan, and each ship HCP troops are ready to attack!
The fleet immediately executed a 'full deck attack' after crossing the 20,000-kilometer contact line, outflanking it from both wings and launching an attack! "
"Yes, General! The order has been conveyed! "
Then, Major General Stoner turned his head and looked at the officer on duty beside him, and asked:
"Where is the target comet? Did the astronomical observation team discover anything? "
The officer on duty seemed to have guessed that Stoner would ask this question, so he was already prepared and answered immediately:
"Report to the general, the Comet Hyakutake is about to pass the closest position to Rubian 5, but we have not yet found any trace of the enemy fleet near the comet and the tail!"
At this point, the officer on duty hesitated for a moment. , then quickly glanced at Major General Stoner's expression, and said cautiously:
"According to the judgment of the Fleet Joint Command Center, Atlas's fleet may not be hiding behind the comet. Of course, there is another possibility that the huge tail fragments interfered with our investigation. We may need to continue the investigation for a while before we can draw a definite conclusion!"
"I understand. Continue the investigation."
Major General Stoner said calmly, but his heart had begun to become uneasy.
Because what he expected - the scene of Atlas's fleet rushing out from behind the tail of Comet Hyakutake when it passed Rubion 5 - did not appear.
Although the Fleet Joint Command Center has not yet made a final judgment, Major General Stoner knows that there is a high probability that the Atlas fleet did not approach with the help of a comet.
"Where will it appear? Are you just giving up the battle and fleeing?"
This idea only existed in Major General Stoner's mind for less than a second, and then he immediately excluded by him.
Although he has never met the 'Boss' of the Atlas Group, nor has he had any contact with him, it can be known from the intelligence sent by the Navy Command that the person on the opposite side This 'Boss' can never do such a thing
When two fleets fight head-on in space, the distance of tens of thousands of kilometers between them is actually very short, so before Major General Stoner can think of anything, the federal fleet has already crossed the 20,000-kilometer contact line. .
Soon, each warship released all the HCPs it carried. In addition to leaving a group of HCPs with the ship to perform air defense operations, other HCPs quickly formed two attack groups on the left and right. At the initial speed given by the orbit, he lit up his plasma propulsion array and pounced towards the two wings of the Atlas fleet.
Like a swarm of fireflies on a summer night.
Same gorgeous, just as short-lived.
But it’s not that romantic.
No one knows how many HCPs will come back after the war, not even the HCP pilots themselves.
These pure soldiers from the federal navy have only one goal in their minds at the moment - to break into the enemy's formation with all their strength, attack the side of the enemy fleet, and add another weight to the victory of this battle.
But at this moment, a piece of news from the Tactical Information Coordinator made Major General Stoner freeze in the command seat.
"Report! The fourth drive escort detachment on the periphery of the lower half of the formation reported that a suspected fleet target was found in the direction of the bottom! It is approaching at high speed!"
The next second, from the tenth The communication of the flagship of the Seventh Fleet was also connected. As soon as the face of the fleet commander Rear Admiral Bonelli appeared on the communication screen, he said eagerly:
"Stoner! A target suspected of being an enemy fleet was found directly below our fleet!"
Words like 'below' do not seem to be suitable for appearing in space, especially in complex space activities.
However, due to humankind’s traditional understanding of space and in space operations, fleets generally establish a coordinate system with themselves as the center of the circle and confirm the X, Y, and Z directions.
So the ‘up, down, left, and back’ that has made humans more adaptable has also appeared again in colloquial reports on space activities.
Immediately afterwards, Rear Admiral Muller of the 23rd Fleet and Rear Admiral Barak of the 24th Fleet also reported the same information.
By this time, Stoner also realized that he had made a huge misjudgment.
He looked at the 'unknown target' approaching from 'directly below' on the three-dimensional battlefield situation map, and a familiar yet unfamiliar term suddenly popped into his mind.
“This is the ‘ecliptic vertical attack tactic’?!”
(End of this chapter)