"Your Excellency, what kind of actions will our army take after the announcement and rumors are issued?" Diego Gatto asked.

"I will personally lead the fleet to fight a decisive battle with the enemy!" Jiang Ziyue replied in response, "As for the specific tactics, please wait and see." For now, I can only reveal to you the battle codename: 'Tyrant's Roar'! ”

His tone was full of confidence in victory. So, his two former superiors, Blackett Carrios and Fernández de Zurbarán, seemed convinced, and said in unison: "Yes, Your Excellency. ”

However, the two civilian-born subordinates, Diego Gato and Otto Bateman, were somewhat skeptical.

Gatto said: "Your Excellency, with all due respect, you haven't even explained the full content of the 'Chang Kaishen-Huayuankou' plan, and now there is a 'Tyrant's Roar', we have no doubt about your ability, but we still hope that you can make it clear." ”

In fact, Gato did not have any psychological disadvantage to Jiang Ziyue, the dictator. Jiang Ziyue, who was barely regarded as his former comrade-in-arms in the battle of the "New Rhine" planet, is now able to become an unprecedented dictator of national salvation and war thanks to his efforts.

However, in terms of military talent, it is not comparable to 10 million Diego Gato. At this point, Gato is very sober.

But Jiang Ziyue didn't care what his subordinates who were once on an equal footing with him thought of him. "Our cost may be great," he said, "but we will inflict heavy damage on the enemy's fleet." ”

He then quickly ended the communications meeting and ordered the Siegfried to sail out of the space near the busy planet "New Byzantium" to join the frontier fleet gathered outside the stellar sheath of the "Himalayas" before disappearing into deep space.

In this way, the dictator, the flagship, full of glory, and his fleet were seen.

At the same time, the dictator's military assistants, Karios and Zubaran, two generals, flew aboard their flagship cruiser "Griffin" to the radiant star "Himalayas". Galto and Bateman, political assistants, were hidden in the retreating fleet on two official ships, the "Enlai" and the "Franklin D. Roosevelt", respectively.

Gato did not hesitate to carry out Jiang Ziyue's order. The Imperial Announcer made a pretended calm announcement to the people of New Rome through public broadcasts, saying that the enemy's expeditionary fleet had appeared less than a hundred light-years away, but that the fleet under the command of the Senate would also be attacked, and everyone was asked to follow the order to board and evacuate.

However, as soon as the announcement was issued, rumors of unknown origin spread among the retreating flotilla and the crowd, accompanied by frequent and intensive radio communications, to the planet "New Byzantium" and every corner of its environs.

Chaos also came as expected.

Some people with privileged positions began to disregard the order, control the aerospace planes and spacecraft in their control, deviate from the routes designated by the government and the military, and flee into deep space, making the already crowded near-Earth space even more chaotic and even causing some unnecessary accidents.

Diego Gato came forward to refute the rumors, but to little avail, because the dictator Jiang Ziyue did not come forward, and many people saw his flagship Siegfried fly out of the sun sheath of the "Himalaya" star earlier in the morning.

Naturally, the new situation of the great retreat of the planetary "New Byzantium", which was becoming more and more chaotic, soon reached the Federation fleet that had arrived from the expedition. The Wehrmacht's unmanned reconnaissance ships also confirmed that the main forces of the Imperial Border Fleet, totaling about seven thousand cruisers, had also left the "Himalaya" sheath and were missing.

But Manuel Velaskos did not hesitate and decisively led his team to accelerate and prepare to enter the stellar sheath of the "Himalayas".

At about 6 o'clock on December 5, 2920, less than 24 hours after Jiang Ziyue's Siegfried left, the battleship Yopara 2, the flagship of the Bundesmail Task Force "Klaus Liszt" was the first to rush into the sheath of the star "Himalayas". And its commander, Colonel Robb, once again became the vanguard officer of the federal army that killed the city of "New Byzantium", the capital of the new Roman Empire, which can be described as a double goal.

Robbo, who was robbing the credit, actually did not fully carry out Berascos's orders. His fleet moved too fast, breaking away from the bow shock wave that the large forces preemptively entered and crossed the stars.

At this time, nearly 200,000 civilian ships and countless aerospace planes and special aircraft are circling the planet "New Byzantium" and shuttling between its 18 huge space stations.

Thousands of people are being transported by aerospace planes from the "neo-Byzantine" planetary ground onto huge spacecraft. Critically ill patients and pregnant women are placed nearby on a large space station with artificial gravity effects created by rotation. Military and police aerospace planes and patrol boats are arranged in a certain formation on various tracks, striving to maintain order and safety during the retreat.

The strict political organization and efficient centralized system of the new Roman Empire ensured that this unprecedented retreat of the human world proceeded smoothly on the whole. The retreat was led by the new dictator, but the specific command and organization was entrusted to the Senate and the Roman People's Planetary City Law Enforcement Director Zhang Qingliang and his urban management troops.

Jiang Ziyue, who is invincible on the battlefield, has no experience or even understanding of internal affairs management, especially crisis management at the national level. But his wisdom lies in the fact that he puts this power in the hands of the right people. Zhang Qingliang, who directly governs the 300,000 imperial city management of the capital, is not only an experienced technocrat but also an out-and-out workaholic.

At this time, Zhang Qingliang, who was still sitting in the underground command center of the New Rome City Hall, became the spokesman of the dictator in the world. He calmly accepted reports from all over the place, methodically issued instructions to his subordinates inside and outside the atmosphere, and unceremoniously refused the requests of various magnates for priority care. Even his former immediate superior, veteran Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz, could only watch his actions silently as an adviser.

At this stage, all work is focused on the evacuation of personnel. The officers and soldiers of the Imperial Chengguan were evacuating the people of New Rome from all over the world, with the support and cooperation of the Senate Guard, the Public Security Police, and the militia of state-owned enterprises. Children, students, and the sick were first taken to the space station on space planes, young adults were picked up on cargo ships and passenger and cargo ships with poor living conditions, and the old and weak were transported to passenger ships and evacuated to other planets under the command of the Senate.

The evacuation of personnel from state-owned enterprises and public institutions was relatively orderly and efficient, while many normally unorganized communities and scattered residents appeared inefficient and chaotic, and even riots and other law and order incidents occurred in many places, so that strong measures had to be taken to ensure that the retreat continued. In particular, the arrival of reports of the invasion of the enemy fleet and the rumors of the dictator's escape spread even more pressure on the retreat.

But in any case, as a great human migration of unprecedented scale and time, this is a tragic process. According to Jiang Ziyue's previous plan to the imperial city management - "Chang Kaishen-Huayuankou", in addition to organizing the retreat of the people, they will also carry out an extremely dangerous war operation in the future.

When the news came that the battleship of the Immortal Interstellar Bundesmail Force "Yupara" No. 2 was the first to rush into the stellar sheath of the "Himalayas", Zhang Qingliang immediately stood up from his throne as the director of the Imperial Urban Management Bureau, and gave a loud order without hesitation: "The second part of the 'Chang Kaishen-Huayuankou' plan will be launched immediately!" ”

Nearly half of the people in the command center immediately got up and left.

In less than half an hour, more than 20,000 civilian transport ships of various types in space took the lead in breaking away from their original orbits and dense companions and flying straight to the star "Himalayas".

At the same time, many passenger ships and cargo ships that were already full of passengers and were flying to the edge of the stellar sun sheath also adjusted their bows to the direction in which the Perseus Federation Force appeared.

Soon, on the battleship "Yupara" No. 2 of the Bundeswehr, the vanguard officer of the expeditionary fleet, Robbo, who was full of ambition, received a flood of information and reports like snowflakes:

Jiang Ziyue, the dictator of the New Roman Empire, led a fleet to flee to the border planet "Isellon......

Imperial senators and dignitaries fled with their wealth on 10,000 transports, preparing to escape from the Commonwealth under the cover of the stars......

A large number of retreating civilian ships asked for surrender......

The evacuation of civilian ships reported sick patients and requested humanitarian assistance......

Rumors are circulating in the retreating fleet of 10,000 transports laden with metallic hydrogen ready to bombard the star Himalayas......

The propaganda wing under the Imperial Propaganda Officer trumpeted that the Central Fleet's "Mao Ze Dong" squadron had counterattacked into the territory of the Perseus Star Federation......

Anti-imperial activists reported that there were a large number of camouflaged warships in the retreating fleet, ready to launch a surprise attack on the occasion of the surrender of the Union forces......

Rumors were received that Jiang Ziyue had invented new tactics that were far more powerful than the "Space Storm......

These complex and even contradictory intelligence and reports made it difficult for Robb to judge for a while, but he decisively issued a "three noes" order to the fleet that had all been changed to faster-than-light sailing:

No approach or surrender of any Imperial ship is permitted; Ignore the fleeing boats; Do not move until you join the main force.

After the order was issued, he also added one more - send all the unmanned reconnaissance ships and unmanned notification ships of the fleet to establish an umbrella reconnaissance and alert network in the space of one to five astronomical units in the direction of the fleet facing the star, so as to prevent the Imperial Army from launching "faster-than-light raids" and "space storms".

After confirming that all the orders had been carried out, Robb said to his deputy, Scati Tiassi, with some ease:

"There are rumors among the people of New Rome that Jiang Ziyue has escaped, but I believe that he must be hiding somewhere now, ready to ambush us."

"So, the rumors that he hid his fleet in the civilian fleet should be credible?" Skati Tiassi's reaction was quick, but his tone was skeptical. Apparently she also lacked confidence in her own speculation.

"Let's see." Robb pointed to the situation map of the "New Byzantine" planet and the surrounding space on the stereoscopic image, "This small planet is already crammed with nearly 200,000 spaceships, and the dead bald head hides his small cruiser fleet in it, and it is difficult for our reconnaissance ships to quickly identify it." ”

"I think that we should not let most of the reconnaissance ships stand guard in front of the fleet, but should be sent out to find Jiang Ziyue's fleet." Scati suggested.

"I would have done it before." Robb said, "But in this situation, even if we find him, we may not be able to bite him." If he scatters his fleet in a civilian fleet, we will attack rashly, and we will be easily ambushed and flanked. ”

Robb's concerns are very justified. If Jiang Ziyue really dispersed the warships into this huge group of nearly 200,000 civilian ships, with the current strength of the "Klaus Liszt" task force, it would not only be unrealistic to rush into the group and annihilate them, but it would probably fall into the dense fire of the hostile civilian ships.

At this point, Scati Tiassi thought for a moment and then proposed: "Sir, I think we have one more move that can deal a devastating blow to the enemy......

Robb interrupted her with a wave of his hand, and said categorically, "Skaty, there's no way I'm going to carry out that kind of battle plan. ”

He knew what Scati Tiassi was going to say. In fact, he also has a poisonous plan, that is, according to the original plan formulated by Luo Xiaochen, to carry out indiscriminate slaughter of the huge ship regiment of the new Roman Empire from a long distance, and destroy the imperial army hidden in it - but this is the path he will never choose, and the number of troops is not enough.

But the reality seems to be up to him.

"It has been reported that more than 1,000 new Roman civilian ships have penetrated our cordon network and are heading towards our fleet, 'Akuberi' at zero speed." The intelligence officer of the tactical command center reported loudly.

The stereoscopic imaging immediately showed the "enemy situation" transmitted by the unmanned notification ship. The zero-level speed of "Akuberi" is 0.5 times the speed of light. This is the current ultimate speed of human spacecraft reaction propulsion, and it is also a necessary condition for firing the "Akuberi" engine into a faster-than-light state at any time.

"There's more to come." The intelligence officer hurriedly added, "They also sent out a distress signal that they were being pursued by Imperial warships. ”

"Do you want to intercept it, sir?" Skati Tiassi immediately asked.

Robb looked like he was in the middle of his chest, and calmly gave an order: "Reply to the signal to warn them not to approach, and at the same time increase the distance between the ships to prevent the enemy from launching a space storm." ”

However, the warning was given, and the civilian ships of the New Roman Empire did not stop moving or change course, and still rushed towards the "Klaus Liszt" task force at full speed.

More than 1,000 large and variously looking civilian cargo ships and passenger ships flew straight into the air in a tightly ordered cone-shaped formation—the assault formation used by the Central Fleet of the New Roman Empire—spewing the orange tail flames that were common to the civilian ships of the Empire.

This behavior that approximates a fleet charge is accompanied by a dense and complex radio distress signal.

Each ship in the "Klaus Liszt" task force received a large number of distress signals from the interstellar universal rescue channel, with a variety of contents.

The distance is shrinking dramatically.

The federal officers and soldiers who had penetrated deep into the enemy territory suddenly felt nervous. This is something they have never encountered before.

"Widen the distance between the ships! Be vigilant! ”

In the quantum encrypted communication system transmitted by the laser, Commander Robb's pretended calm order came, "As long as they don't fire, let him pass!" As soon as they fired, we fired freely and annihilated them.

The task force immediately re-moved, and the ships quickly mobilized their attitude controllers to widen the distance between them.

This is not only to prevent those civilian ships from suddenly launching a troublesome space storm, but also to allow them to pass through their formations harmlessly.

"The enemy national ship regiment is about to enter the firing range!"

The early warning officer screamed loudly.

"Steady!" Robb commanded in a low voice.

"Sir......

Scati Tiassi was about to make a suggestion, but Robb, who was staring at the holographic 3D display, had already raised his hand to signal her to silence.

The Senate and the fleeing militia of the Roman people galloped into the loose cone formation of the Bundeswehr fleet of the Immortals "Klaus Liszt".

The feared suicide attack on the civilian ships did not happen, and in the blink of an eye, the Imperial civilian ships pierced through the array of Federation ships, rowed out a brilliant orange ion tail flame, and flew into deep space.

Almost all Union servicemen let out a long sigh of relief.

The army of the new Roman Empire under the authoritarian dictatorship was not as evil as it had been imagined, and used civilian ships to launch counterattacks.

However, just a few minutes later, a new alarm was heard again - more than 5,000 civilian ships broke through the warning net and rushed towards the task force at full speed.

There are more of them, but the formation is much looser and more disorderly.

"Sir, what the hell is the enemy up to? Scare us with civilian boats? Scati Tiassi said suspiciously.

"Either Jiang Ziyue's slippery head came up with a new trick, or we just happened to be in the way of the civilian ships fleeing." Robb was also puzzled.

"So what are we going to do? Redeployment, or use fire to force these civilian ships to divert their course? ”

Rob hesitated for a moment and said, "No, let's continue to be vigilant and wait and see what happens." Wait for the main fleet to catch up, and then make a decision. ”

In the current situation, especially with the complex retreat and seemingly chaotic scenes surrounding the planet "Neo-Byzantium" and around the entire "Himalaya" star, there is really nowhere to start for Robb, the vanguard officer of the Bundeswehr fleet, and his fleet, who are too quick to throw off the main force of the Bundeswehr fleet. For he could not find the fleet of the Imperial army, nor could he rush into the crowd of civilian ships full of refugees.

So, under Robb's clear instructions, the Immortal Star Bundeswehr task force upheld the chivalrous demeanor and allowed the fleeing New Roman Empire civilian ships to penetrate their own fleet and leave.

There was a first, there was a second, and of course there was a third and more.

The third group of about 2,000 civilian ships came one after another. Only this time it was slightly different, this group of civilian ships divided into two groups, and did not directly penetrate the formation of the "Klaus Liszt" task force like the previous two groups, but swept through the flanks, but this time the formation was far less regular than the previous two groups.

Fortunately, in this third group, the same frightening encounter with the Federation warship, in the chaotic radio call for help and non-war announcement, quickly left.

"It seems that we are really blocking the evacuation route of civilian ships."

Seeing the Imperial Civilian Fleet departing peacefully again, Major Scati Tiassi said with relief.

"Then we'll adjust the ship formation and let them get right." At this time, Luo Bo also seemed quite relaxed, "Order everyone to spread out twice the distance again, and arrange the No. 4 plan according to the plan, double umbrella formation." ”

As soon as the words fell, the intelligence officer shouted: "The enemy national ship is approaching again!" ”