It is a seemingly desolate planet that is far away from the human world, and she is known to human astronomers as "Yi". Because her appearance is like the ancient Book of Changes, full of mystery and mystery. People don't know where she came from and where she went. It is only a limited indication that she may be able to bypass the center of the galaxy and fly back into the depths of the universe after countless centuries.

She has no stars, probably because of some celestial collision that stripped her from her original star and forced her to wander the universe. Today, she is entering the Milky Way galaxy at a rotational speed that exceeds the fourth cosmic velocity, and is still more than 1,500 light-years away from the human world Perseus Spiral Arm.

Now, the interstellar planet, surrounded by dense hydrogen gas, is gradually being unveiled by curious humans. However, before her true face was revealed to the world, humanity was already fighting for her. In the eyes of some, this planet, which has nothing to fully enjoy the blessings of the light of the stars, is like a black hole, attracting the lives and honor of countless people.

As many as 2,000 warships and supply ships of various types are being divided into multiple ship groups at this time, surrounding the "Yi" planet.

After the Wehrmacht Admiral Henning Gessler seized control of the planet "Yi", he did not let up, and immediately joined up with the arriving supply fleet to step up the supply rest. He is well aware that his opponents will never give up what once belonged to them easily. Therefore, he deployed the original right-wing ship group of the Thirteenth Fleet, the third detachment under the command of Rear Admiral Aida Pollock, in the direction where the New Roman Imperial Army was most likely to appear. He led the rest of his forces to defend the planet "Yi". At the same time, he also dispatched a large number of unmanned reconnaissance ships and notification ships to guard the space within a radius of 1,000 astronomical units.

Switching from attacker to defender, there is nothing wrong with Geisler. Although his own side had lost more than his opponent in the previous battles, his fleet still had twice the absolute superiority of the enemy, so he was still confident in the possible battle that would take place. As long as the enemy does not receive enough reinforcements, he is more than capable of easily defeating or even completely destroying the opponent.

It's just that both he and Pollock have a lingering shadow in their hearts. During the morning battle, their ship groups were inexplicably swept into faster-than-light fluctuations one after another. Taking advantage of the gap in command work, Aida Pollock specially communicated with his commander to discuss countermeasures.

"Sir, I think the enemy must have used Space Storm. It is the 'space storm' mentioned in the joint report of Nicholas Wolfensohn and Gunther Oswald of the tracking fleet. Aida Pollock affirmed.

"At first, I thought I was encountering the enemy's new weapon." Henning Geisler realized.

"It's a new tactic. It uses the Accuberi engine to intensively excite the faster-than-light warp bubble, but the ship itself does not enter the warp bubble. Dense warp bubbles form violent and disordered spatial fluctuations, engulfing everything they encounter. In his report, Oswald elaborated on the characteristics of this new tactic. It will blow our formations apart, which in turn will give the enemy an advantage over us. ”

"That's how they blew us ten AU away in the morning, plunging us into confusion and collision, and then calmly encircled Brita's group." Geisler judged.

"That's how it should be. Although we still have the advantage of troops, if the enemy uses this tactic against us again, we will still be able to effectively form a local advantage over our troops, and then break them individually. "Sir, we're on the defensive right now. I think we should increase the intensity of reconnaissance and the frequency of sorties of notification ships. ”

"You mean to try to find the enemy's fleet that launched a space storm as soon as possible?"

"Yes. From the report of the tracking fleet to our encounter in the morning, it reflects a problem, the distance from which the enemy launched a space storm is kept at hundreds of thousands of kilometers, but not more than a million kilometers. The enemy must rely on unmanned spacecraft to conduct high-frequency reconnaissance of us in order to accurately locate our position in order to successfully raid us. Therefore, it is suggested that while increasing reconnaissance, we should organize at least four patrol fleets to conduct uninterrupted combat patrols around our fleet of 300,000 to 1 million kilometers. As soon as the enemy is detected, strike in time. Pollock gushed on and on, apparently thinking about the issue for a long time.

However, Henning Gessler did not have time to adopt Pollock's advice.

With the frequent appearance of a large number of unmanned reconnaissance ships of the Imperial Army, the enemy situation has also become clear. The tense atmosphere, accompanied by the transmission of combat readiness orders, spread to every soldier in the radio communication system.

At 21:30 on June 22, 2918, the fleet of nearly 500 battleships of the "Cyrus" fleet of the new Roman Imperial Army appeared in space about two astronomical units away from the interstellar planet "Yi", and only more than 20 million kilometers away from the nearest federal ship group.

Under the personal command of General Muhammad Ahmat, the Imperial battleships quickly formed a dense cone formation and rushed towards the enemy at one-half the speed of light.

Admiral Henning Geisler was confused by the hostile information transmitted by the unmanned reconnaissance ship. A mere 500 battleships are coming to recapture the planet "Yi". Geisler believed that the other party was either killing himself or was deceiving him, and came to lure him into falling for it. In his heart, he remembered the so-called space storm tactic again.

Therefore, he quickly ordered Pollock, who was in the front, to lead his team to attack, and he himself led his own group of ships to maintain vigilance in a spherical formation to further observe the enemy's movements. At the same time, he had Brigadier Elisabeth de Savoy command the supply fleet to quickly withdraw from the battlefield.

Faced with the enemy's typical offensive formation, Rear Admiral Aida Pollock commanded the ships of the third detachment to complete the formation while advancing at high speed. More than half a minute later, the two sides were approaching an effective combat distance of 300,000 kilometers, and the ships of the Federation Army's forward had formed a tight umbrella formation to cover the opponent.

The distance was further reduced, and the fleets of both sides almost simultaneously slowed down sharply and attacked.

The intertwined light of death once again flashed in the "Yi" star field.

In terms of numbers, the third detachment of the 13th Fleet was similar to the opponent, but nearly 30 percent of them were cruisers with weak firepower, so although they had the advantage of formation, they were still inferior to the opponent in terms of strike strength. However, Aida Pollock and his officers and men were undaunted, and the strength of the enemy only aroused their fighting spirit, and they responded with more efficient and accurate firepower.

"Hit me hard and pierce through the enemy's formation!" Muhammad Ahmad raised his voice to urge his men. After speaking, the old general stared at the three-dimensional image showing the situation of the enemy with anxious eyes, expecting the cruiser commanded by Jiang Ziyue to appear on the enemy's side as scheduled.

According to the pre-battle deployment, the enemy's ship group has already formed a position in front of the capital ship group, and the cruiser fleet commanded by Jiang Ziyue should appear on the enemy's flank, using the battleship's Akuberi engine to cause a space storm and blow away at least half of the enemy ships.

But Jiang Ziyue's cruiser fleet did not quickly appear on the flanks of the Pollock ship group. However, the main forces of the Bundeswehr fleet behind the Pollock ship group quickly arrived.

When Pollock's third detachment began to bombard the opponent, Henning Gessler saw that no other troops of the opponent could be found in the nearly 1,000 astronomical units around, and the third detachment seemed to be lacking in firepower, so he changed his previous thoughts* and led the nearly 700 remaining battleships of his team to form a larger umbrella formation and go to support.

The Bundeswehr, one in front and one behind, one large and one small, if they succeed in rendezvous, will undoubtedly bring about the destruction of the Imperial battleship group, which is completely weak in numbers. On the battleship "Yang Willy", Admiral Henning Geessler was ready to show the majesty and domineering of the weak in the future. In the morning battle, the Bundeswehr, which had been superior, was never able to form a numerical superiority over the Imperial Army, but allowed the opponent to annihilate the left flank group with superior forces locally. Now he can finally retaliate with a tooth for a tooth.

When the huge umbrella formation of nearly 700 "Admiral"-class battleships led by Gesler was only a million kilometers away from the Pollock ship group, a group of Imperial cruisers suddenly appeared nearly 300,000 kilometers to their right.

These slender warships were able to move faster than light at an average distance of less than 1,000 kilometers, forming a parabolic formation that stood on the side of the Federation Army.

"Turn right and attack the enemy!" Geisler screamed in horror.

Some of the battleships, located on the right edge of the umbrella formation, were already the first to shoot from the side side. But it was already too late, and the Akuberi engines in the bow of the Imperial cruisers were already spewing light. The invisible faster-than-light warp bubbles collided and squeezed each other, and in an instant, they flew into the distant deep space with countless Federation battleships.

When he set off from 1,500 astronomical units, Jiang Ziyue received new information from the reconnaissance ship, changed his decision temporarily, and rushed straight to Geisler's battleship group.

The gravitational pull excited by strong space fluctuations quickly reached the gravitational detection system of the Pollock ship group ahead.

"The enemy did it anyway!" Pollock sighed angrily and hatefully, but he then quickly gave the order: "Charge into the enemy line at full speed, release the Marines, and prepare to take over!" "This is a bloody command! It not only means that the battle of the large and orderly fleet will turn into a bloody melee, but also shows the heroic and fearless spirit of the soldiers.

By radio, General Pollock's deep voice struck the eardrums of every officer and soldier in the Bundeswehr's right-wing group. Almost everyone knows that there is a great deal of danger involved in engaging in a high-intensity battle with the enemy. Perhaps the moment he was ejected out of the hatch, he was killed by heavy fire. The Marines' power armor is like a small egg in front of a cannon in front of the battleship's super-powered particle cannons and laser cannons.

Therefore, some subordinates questioned: "Sir, is this necessary?" ”

"We have to entangle the enemy, or we will be blown away by their space storm! Execute the order and engage in the broadside battle! Without hesitation, Pollock repeated his command.

Although the Bundeswehr Thirteenth Fleet has an overall absolute superiority, the strength of the Third Bundeswehr is slightly inferior to that of the other side. It can barely be carried on, but if you let the other party blow the formation away with a space storm, the situation will completely slip. In Pollock's abacus, the marines were dispatched to engage in broadside battles, on the one hand, forcing the other side to also dispatch marines to meet the battle, the ships of the two sides fell into a stalemate, and the other party's cruiser fleet was not easy to start a space storm; On the other hand, the dispatch of the marines by the enemy can compensate for the water potential on the firepower of the ship group to a certain extent, and the damage caused by landing on the surface of the enemy ship to carry out blasting is often more deadly than a simple artillery battle, but the cost of life is greater.

"In order to defend the freedom and equality of our Perseus Star Federation, we have no choice!" General Pollock shouted and agitated, "I order, release the marines, and take up the gunwales!" ”

The firm will of the commander allowed every officer and soldier to faithfully carry out the order.

Admiral Aida Pollock, having given the order, then handed over command to the deputy on another battleship, and then left the tactical command center of his flagship, the Berserker, and headed for the adjacent escape pod. Here, heavily armed marines are already hung on electromagnetic launch belts, ready to be shot into space at any moment.

Pollock quickly climbed into the power armor that had been made for him, and moved himself to the front of the ejection belt with the help of a manipulator on the roof of the cabin.

Nearly forty years old, Aida Pollock was 2.20 meters tall and weighed more than 180 kilograms, making it impossible for standard power armor to accommodate his giant-like body. As a result, the Bundeswehr's largest equipment supplier, the Causeway Industrial Group, has developed 18 sets of extra-large power armor for him with enhanced protection and firepower. In addition to Pollock, the only active federal military member who enjoys special clothing mechs is the current Secretary of Defense, General Bloomberg, a five-star general.

In keeping with his skin tone, Pollock painted his costume mechs all jet black, as opposed to the green standard for Bundeswehr Power Armor. The general also painted a Zulu warrior with a shield and spear on his chest and back in power armor to declare his lineage and indomitable spirit to his comrades and enemies alike.

Pollock, dressed in a costume, hangs at the front of the ejection belt, like a legendary Titan warrior. The three-and-a-half-meter-tall man, the particle cannon and missile box on his shoulder, the rocket thruster behind him, the multi-functional weapon unit on his arm, and the missile box on his waist and thighs do not show his strong combat effectiveness in proportion to his body.

The general checked all the systems, then turned on the command channel belonging to the Marine Corps of the battleship "Berserker" and asked in a loud voice: "Soldiers, are you ready?" What do we say? ”

The communication system immediately provoked all the Marines to chant in unison: "Hoha-ho-ha-" The air in the escape capsule was quickly pumped away, and the heavy hatches were opened one by one. Most of the escape pods are designed to face the stern of the ship and form a 60-degree angle to the ship's longitudinal axis, so that the exiter can avoid crashing into the high-speed mothership when exiting the capsule.

Pollock was doubly excited by the high morale, and he shouted, "Great, soldiers, enjoy the Imperial Alloy Sandwich with me!" ”

As soon as the words fell, he activated the ejection belt, was shot out of the hatch, and flew into the arms of space. The other Marines followed closely behind and also quickly flew out of the hatch.

While maintaining the intensity of firepower, the Federation warships accelerated towards the enemy fleet more than 200,000 kilometers away, while releasing a large number of marines into space. Soon, the space was densely packed with Marines. Relying on inertia and their own rocket propulsion system, they followed the fleet and rushed desperately to the enemy fleet with only a few hundred thousand kilometers.

Admiral Muhammad Ahmaiti, commander of the "Cyrus" fleet of the New Roman Imperial Army, quickly learned of the opponent's release of the Interstellar Marines.

"Raised like this bitch, it's finally a bit like a battle!" Ahmaiti exclaimed excitedly.

"Sir, we should immediately retreat and distance ourselves from the enemy." The staff officer under his command reminded loudly. Although the courage of engaging in a fierce hand-to-board battle with the enemy is commendable, and even makes the blood of some officers and men who like to compete boil, it is so easy to get entangled with the other side and fall into an unfavorable situation.

"What could be more exciting?!" Admiral Ahmaiti screamed loudly, completely ignoring the advice of his staff. For a veteran who has already fought for honor, what could be more adrenaline-pumping than the old clash fight? What's more, Jiang Ziyue had already blown away the enemy's most threatening battleship group with a space storm, and now he was facing an opponent who was not dominant. There is no reason not to let him fight with the enemy vigorously.

"Slow down! Unleash the Marines, meet the enemy, and get ready to take the ship! Ahmaiti quickly gave the order.

Then, he also handed over the command of the fleet to his deputy, preparing to go to the power armor to be directly involved in the broadside battle.

"Sir, it's too dangerous for you to do this." The deputy reminded worriedly.

"The enemy has fought desperately, can I be a turtle with a shrunken head?" Ahmaiti said lightly. Then hop on the self-propelled pole and head to the escape pod next to the Tactical Center, where he will join the interstellar marines waiting there.

Veteran General Muhammad Ahmaiti unloaded his space combat suit and burrowed into a silver-gray power armor. After the power armor's operating system was activated, an image of a *** woman holding a little boy in a headscarf was projected in one corner of the head-gray display.

It was Ahmaiti's wife and son, but they had been killed thirty years ago in a crime by a Perseus Star Federation warship attacking a civilian ship in New Rome. It was the infamous "Euphrates Incident". A Federation cruiser opened fire on the Imperial civilian ship Euphrates that strayed into the Aegis field without warning, resulting in the tragic death of more than 1,000 civilians and all crew members on board who had gone to the Perseus Commonwealth to visit their families. This tragedy also made the already tense situation between the two countries worse, and it was considered a rehearsal for the future "Zheng He" star field conflict.

So, for Ahmat, who has spent the past thirty years in sorrow and loneliness, in addition to fighting for honor, there are deeper reasons and stronger beliefs that motivate him to attack the enemy desperately.

At a distance of more than 100,000 kilometers, thousands of dead lights and missiles were once again fired out of the gun doors and hatches, pouring energy and death on the electromagnetic shield and ceramic armor of the opposing warship. Both sides fired at each other with accurate and heavy artillery fire, striving to destroy as many ships as possible before the two armies could come into exchange. Some of the unlucky Marines were bombarded into powder and particles by the powerful directional energy fire of the opposing side or even their own side as soon as they left the cabin.

On the battleship "Gustav II", when Colonel Gus Whitehead received the notice of the transfer of command, he immediately instructed the signal sergeant: "Send a notification ship and tell Major Jiang Ziyue that Admiral Ahmati has forgotten his advice, and in any case ask him not to get involved in the melee of the main fleet." Let him keep an eye on the enemy's battlefleet, and if they regroup, blow them away with a space storm once again. In short, they must be prevented from coming for reinforcements. ”

"But, sir, you don't seem to have the authority to command beyond the confines of our sub-detachment." The communications non-commissioned officer reminded.

"You explained in the message that it was my suggestion." Gus sighed, "If he does what I say, we might have a glimmer of hope for survival." ”

Because he saw that his prophecy was likely to come true, he felt helpless. Ahmat was determined to die, and it was likely that all of their men would be buried with him. But in terms of the ratio of forces, there is still a glimmer of hope for the Imperial Army, which is to achieve a crushing victory in the end. The premise, of course, is that the Federation Army's fleet of nearly 700 new battleships does not come to support.

"However, with less than two hundred cruisers under Jiang Ziyue's hands, can he successfully block the opponent's huge battlefleet?" Gus was questioned.

"Theoretically, the space storm can delay the opponent for about half an hour. We're already half an hour into it. If Major Jiang is able to delay for at least two hours, I expect that we will win this sidewalk battle with heavy casualties and get out of the battlefield without any problems. Gus explained in a cold tone.

The void of space soon became full and complex, with both the Federation and the Imperial Army releasing the Marines while bombarding their opponents while rapidly approaching each other.

The distance soon narrowed, and the Conical Fleet of the Federation and the Conical Group of the Imperial Army and the Marines in between them merged. The warships of both sides quickly slowed down and bombarded each other at a distance of less than a kilometer, while the marines of both sides definitely maneuvered, flew to the opposing warships, fought the other side's marines with various equipment, and blasted the weapon launch windows and important peripherals of the enemy warships.

The originally orderly fleet artillery battle quickly turned into a human-ship melee, with flying interstellar Marine power armor shuttling through a network of firepower intertwined with laser beams and particle beams. Some rushed to the opposing ships, while others engaged in a battle with the enemy's marines in the air or on the ships.