Chapter 551, Unknown Battle Group
Under the ferocious firepower of the two battle barges, the three Alliance battle cruisers were damaged again.
The opponent did not give priority to starting the engine and shield, but chose to concentrate on turning on the fire system first to complete target locking and concentrated fire. This was very quick and quick.
But, it works too.
Under the damage, Bai Qifan, as the fleet commander, realized that the situation was almost desperate.
Although the three battle cruisers subsequently started their engines and shields, the Flying Wing among them had suffered considerable damage in the previous attack.
Moreover, this time, unfortunately, the damage to the Flying Wing definitely affected the speed.
The three battle cruisers started running away after starting their engines. The two battle barges of the Raging Flame Fleet pursued them and opened fire ferociously before being pulled away.
Of course, the three battle cruisers did not just run away without fighting back.
Didn't you take a risk and turn on the firepower and engine first, causing the shield to turn on slowly?
This is also a great time to counterattack.
The two battle barges also received several solid shots.
However, the armor of the flagships of these two battle groups is no worse than that of serious battleships. Even without shields, one ship received one shot and the other received two shots, and there was no particularly obvious situation. .
And then, when the shields are on, it's even more so.
This further proved that Bai Qifan's previous judgment was completely correct. Relying on three battle cruisers, there was no way to engage in a head-on confrontation with the enemy.
But what's worse is that during the subsequent chase and escape, the Alliance's power-damaged Flying Wing not only failed to solve the problem, but the power damage became more and more serious!
According to the report, not only was a power cabin damaged in the previous shot, but also the area where multiple pipe damage technical teams were located was affected by internal explosions, resulting in serious casualties.
The lack of time to deploy manpower prevented the ship's losses from being controlled at the first time, and even became more widespread with the intense operation of subsequent ships.
In this situation, a very painful choice was placed in front of Bai Qifan: Should I give up the Flying Wing?
If the Raging Owl he was personally riding on, and the Koroga next to it, moved at full speed, they would be able to escape the pursuit of the Raging Flame Fleet. But in that case, if the increasingly damaged Flying Wing is left behind, it will definitely die.
But if they continue to cover each other, the entire fleet, which is seriously slowed down, will probably be entangled by the two Space Marine battle barges all the way to the jump point, with no way to get rid of it.
Before the jump point, it is estimated that it can barely stay within the limit of other people's shooting range, so the enemy's hit rate is generally not high. But when you reach the transition point, enter the transition state, and switch engines, it is a fatal moment.
If we can't get rid of the enemy, maybe all three warships will be destroyed together!
what to do?
Should we give up one ship and keep the other two, or take the risk and go with all three?
The anxiety in Bai Qifan's heart made him feel like his body was numb.
But then, a strange communication request was received.
"Are you an Alliance ship?"
A voice with a strange accent and a rather hoarse voice sounded throughout the center of the bridge as the signal was connected.
At the same time, in front of Bai Qifan's eyes, the speaker's 'face' appeared on a virtual screen.
The reason why I use quotation marks is because the opponent is wearing a helmet and his face cannot be seen; however, the helmet itself is already very recognizable:
That's what the Space Marine MK.8, the helmet of the Skyhawk type power armor looks like.
However, this set of painting was something Bai Qifan had never seen before.
The only Space Marine he has seen the most is naturally the Phoenix. There are a hundred people in each of his three battle cruisers.
At this moment, what appeared in front of him was that only his head was exposed, so he couldn't see the whole body paint. He could only see a silver-gray helmet. On the top of the helmet, there was a trace of blood red on the forehead. Location.
The strange interstellar warriors and the emotionless and indifferent words made Bai Qifan feel a little nervous, but also had some hope in his heart because of this special change.
He admitted: "Yes, we are an alliance, please..."
Before he could ask his question, the other person interrupted him and asked the next question: "Are the two traitors, the Raging Flames and the New World Torch, chasing you?"
Hearing the word 'traitor', Bai Qifan felt more at ease.
He replied: "Yes, please..."
But this time, he still couldn't ask the question, and the other party silently cut off the communication.
Bai Qifan was confused, what's going on?
Now, he could roughly judge from the word "traitor" that this group of unknown space warriors who appeared out of nowhere should be from his own camp.
But other than that, he knew nothing.
who are they? Where did it come from? What's the purpose? How strong is it? Can you help yourself?
It's all unknown.
But the unknown is also good.
With the current situation of the fleet, any help would be good.
Five minutes after the communication ended, the Astropath sent a message: a fast fleet was detected and suddenly appeared on the side of the ships on both sides.
On these silver-gray painted ships, there is a large blood-red shark profile pattern.
Their fleet was not many, only eight; but there were almost no small boats. The leader was a ship that really looked like a huge shark swimming in space. It should be a battle barge. The other seven are all Space Marine strike cruisers.
The Strike Cruiser Alliance also has some, which belong to the Phoenix Chapter sequence and are directly allocated to the Chapter, but they must accept the joint leadership of the Alliance Navy, so Bai Qifan recognized this kind of ship.
The strike cruiser is superior to the Moon-class cruiser in terms of firepower, maneuverability, etc., and as an exclusive ship for Space Marines, it is also equipped with equipment for neural connection that can only be made by genetically modified Space Marines.
Except for the fact that the armor thickness may be slightly worse than that of the Lunar class, the strike cruiser is almost better than the Lunar class in almost all aspects.
As for this fleet, the goal was already clear the moment it appeared: it was heading towards the Raging Flame Fleet behind it.
Bai Qifan was overjoyed!
There's help!
But then, he fell into hesitation again.
Even so...can you survive it?
It’s really hard to say!
Calculated in this way, excluding the small and medium-sized ships, and looking only at the main large ships, the ratio is now four to two. Three of our own battle cruisers can fight against one battle barge. This new group of unknown space warriors will be exchanged with the other one.
Looking at it this way, the strengths of both sides are roughly equal.
However, the number of the opponent's moon-class and strike cruisers is greater than the number of unknown battle groups. More than thirty destroyers and fast frigates were also brought out.
In a confrontation, we not only look at the comparison between the main battleships, but also look at the strength of the entire fleet. Our own side is somewhat inferior.
Moreover, Bai Qifan did not forget that the enemy also had a battleship and a larger fleet, but due to their slow speed, they were chasing after them hard. But if the current battle lasts a little longer and the two sides fight, it may really be delayed until the opponent's battleship arrives on the battlefield.
At that time, the battlefield situation will change instantly.
In this case, looking at the unknown warship rushing towards the enemy with impatience, can it be that... we can escape first?
In the communication just now, they neither reported their identities nor made any cooperation requirements for the alliance fleet, right? Then if we withdraw, it doesn't seem to be a big deal.
While this unknown war group is fighting the enemy, wouldn't it be safe to lead the team and run away quickly? Didn't he achieve his most desired goal of preserving three battle cruisers at the same time?
However, Bai Qifan felt embarrassed that someone else came to help him and led his team to escape, betraying his friendly forces.
Although it is a common sense saying that when a general is in charge, he should not be in charge of troops. If you need to break your wrist, break your wrist. What's more, the wrist you break is a friend's wrist, not your own...
However, just from a profit perspective, this is not very appropriate.
On the one hand, it is the reputation of the alliance;
On the other hand, if this unidentified but seemingly friendly force is sold, will the Alliance ships be safe? If the Raging Flame Fleet destroys or repels this unknown battle group at a relatively low cost, I am afraid they will continue to pursue their own side. Since the Flying Wing is already lame, it might still be caught up later.
In addition, if I run away, what will happen if the unknown war group sees that the alliance is so unloyal and stops fighting?
What's more, if this is a friendly force, if we can add a fleet with a battle barge as the core, and an unknown number of space warriors can join our camp to fight against the Raging Flame Chapter, it will also have a great impact on future battles. It's quite helpful.
If you help, you will gain, if you don't help, you will lose; if you help, there are risks, but if you don't help, there are also risks.
After weighing the left and right, Bai Qifan eliminated the hesitation in his heart and made a decision:
Fuck you!
Of course, if you want to do this, you don't have to be stupid and turn your head immediately, charge back, and hit him head-on.
Still need to talk about strategy.
Battlecruisers still have to take advantage of the battlecruiser's own advantages. It is quite stupid to engage in a head-on battle with an enemy who is obviously stronger in frontal combat capabilities than itself.
The three battle cruisers started maneuvering and gradually distanced themselves.
The Koroga protected the damaged Flying Wing, cruising along the edge of the battlefield, pulling and firing at extreme distances. As long as the enemy's target is not on them, they will suddenly close the distance and attack the enemy with stronger firepower, making it impossible to ignore their threat; but once the enemy's target turns to them, they will immediately stay away, using mobility and optimal range to avoid enemies in exchange for greater survivability.
This pulling style is a classic tactic developed from the ship characteristics of the battle cruiser.
This tactic is also contemptuously called the "fly tactic" by the naval theorists of the "Decisive Battle Doctrine".
It doesn't sound good, but it has some image.
The fly tactic is not only applicable to battle cruisers, any ship or formation that lacks frontal combat power but has excellent maneuverability can use this tactic.
However, if the battle patrol is a fly, then the fly is a bit big and can bite people, but it is not as light and harmless as a fly or mosquito.
As for the other alliance warship, the Furious Owl, which Bai Qifan personally commanded and served as captain, broke away from the previous formation and moved behind the gray fleet.
This is another use of battle patrol.
No matter what kind of ship it is, except for aircraft carriers, the closer it is, the stronger the firepower it can exert.
After all, it takes time from the time the firepower is fired to the time it hits the target. There is no immediate result after firing, even if the light spear is no exception.
The closer you are, the more accurate the fire lock is, which also means less room for dodge.
The battle cruiser is relatively fragile, and its firepower is not as good as it is. So how to take advantage of its firepower?
near.
But as we get closer, the space for maneuverability becomes smaller and the vulnerability problem is magnified. What should we do?
Find a big brother who can carry it in front of you.
The best condition is of course to have a battleship in front, so that the battle cruiser can steal output unscrupulously from behind, exerting half the firepower of a battleship, but not getting beaten; if not, find a bunch of frigates to support it in front, although The frigate will be lost, but it's cheaper and better than letting the battlecruiser take a beating.
And now, this is what Bai Qifan wants to do.
He regarded the battle barge of the Gray Fleet as his big brother.
He wanted to turn the Raging Owl into the opponent's 'shadow', accompanying his actions and increasing his firepower.
Whatever the Gray Fleet's battle barges were targeting, the Raging Owl would accompany them. Under coordinated operations, the pursuit is to quickly reduce the enemy's numbers.
In order to achieve better cooperation, Bai Qifan tried to get in touch with the gray fleet many times.
If both parties can maintain communication at all times, then mutual coordination will definitely become better.
However, nearly all of his communication requests were denied.
However, the gray fleet did not make any resistance to his arrival.
There is a saying: you can do whatever you want, don't expect me to cooperate, just don't get in my way.
Bai Qifan was a little helpless.
This unknown battle group that suddenly appeared is really... unique.
However, he had no other options.
Now, since we are inheriting family ties, we can only pinch our noses and try our best to cooperate.
Be the best you can be.
The Raging Owl followed the battle barges of the Gray Fleet and focused its firepower on the Triumphal Fire, the flagship of the Raging Flames Chapter.
In addition, the Koroga and the Flying Wing, which were engaged in tug-and-pull operations in the distance, also had the same goal of triumphant fire. Although, due to problems with fly tactics, their firepower is not concentrated and their hit rate is not high, but as two battle cruisers, they are definitely useful.
The Fire of Triumph must be fighting back as much as possible.
Another flagship of the New Age Torch, the Torch Light, was also fiercely attacking the flagship of the Gray Fleet. However, their firepower only lasted for a short while, and then suddenly stopped halfway.
The entire ship's movements became chaotic and sluggish, as if it were sick or drunk.
————
There is one more chapter, probably a little later.
(End of chapter)