Chen Weiyin and the landed scientific expedition team returned smoothly, so that Jiang Ziyue had no psychological burden and worries at all, and devoted all his energy to dealing with the enemy's new strategy.

In terms of the current situation, his Task Force 9 still lags behind the other side in terms of strength and firepower. So far, the Federation fleet has lost nearly thirty warships, but the remaining strength still exceeds the Imperial Army, especially more than twenty battleships, and the firepower is very strong. For the Ninth Task Force, which did not have battleships, it was a formidable pressure.

Previously, Jiang Ziyue proposed a "faster-than-light raid" and focused on attacking the opponent's battleships, hoping to take the enemy by surprise with speed. The swift counterattack of the USS Cuthbert Collingwood showed that this was a dangerous approach.

Although he had successfully destroyed the two battleships "John Paul Jones" and "John Jericho" by taking advantage of the enemy's loss of control, Jiang Ziyue still fully realized that it was quite risky to directly confront the enemy battleships.

The second "Space Storm" succeeded in disrupting the enemy's battle formation, forcibly dispersing the opponent's forces, and it is unlikely that the opponent's fleet will be dismantled again in this way.

When he was struggling with a plan, the report reached the bridge of the "Siegfried": "The Federal unmanned reconnaissance ship has been discovered. ”

This means that the advance point of 1,500 AU away from the "easy" planet has been exposed. The Bundeswehr fleet, which has already been beaten, is likely to take the initiative and pounce on it with all its might.

Thinking of this, Jiang Ziyue couldn't help but happily give an order: "Connect the communication of the captains for me, this time we will give the enemy a draw." ”

At half past ten on May 20, more than 50 warships of the Federation Tracking Fleet changed to faster than light and appeared in the space where the advance point of the Imperial Task Force was located.

However, the place was empty, and there was not even a shadow of the Imperial warship.

"The enemy has all fled?" Nicholas Wolfensohn angrily and hatefully questioned his men.

"The reconnaissance ship reported that the enemy had fled five minutes earlier." Gunther Wolfensohn hurriedly reported.

Judging from the information provided by the unmanned reconnaissance ship, the largest supply ship of the Imperial Army left the formation first and entered the speed of light, followed by other supply ships and scientific research ships. According to the data before it entered the superluminal speed, it flew towards the space of about 2,000 astronomical units in the direction of the interstellar arm of the Perseus Spiral Arm.

The cruiser in an independent formation entered the speed of light from the other direction, flying towards the space outside the center of the Milky Way with the Perseus spiral arm far from the center of the galaxy, and the estimated destination was 3,000 astronomical units away.

"Immediately pursue the enemy's cruiser formation." Brigadier General Nicholas Wolfensohn gave the order eagerly.

"Sir." Lieutenant Colonel Gunther Oswald interrupted his superior, "Our supply fleet is still in the 'easy' star field, and if the enemy takes this opportunity to attack our supply fleet, we will be in a more passive situation. ”

"Gunther, don't you see in which direction the enemy's cruiser formation is running?" Wolfensohn asked dissatisfiedly, "We're chasing after us now, even if they do run to attack our supply fleet, it's still under our control." ”

Wolfensohn's idea was not very thoughtful, and if he lost the trace of his opponent after changing the estimated space to faster than the speed of light, the situation would become difficult to manage. Even if he returned to the Yi star field quickly, he might not have time to protect the supply fleet. But Wolfensohn didn't care about this, he was bent on finding the other party as soon as possible and having a decisive battle.

Brigadier General Nicholas Wolfensohn was still clear-headed, even skeptical of the Imperial Task Force's motives for exploring "Antnest" before the two sides made official contact. But now, after being humiliated by his opponents one after another, he is completely in impulse and anger.

Oswald saw the transformation of his superiors, and the ancient adage of not being arrogant in victory and not being discouraged in defeat did not work for him. Let the army dominated by sensibility and spirit will not be far from the abyss of total defeat. Oswald, on the other hand, could not stop the commander from sliding into the abyss with the fleet.

One by one, the Federation ships went faster than the speed of light and tracked in the direction of the enemy's retreat.

In the vast interstellar outer space of the Perseus Spiral Arm, the two fleets are constantly entering and changing beyond the speed of light. The Imperial cruiser formations constantly changed their speeds of light to change their destinations, and the Bundeswehr fleet changed the direction of their tracking, staging a faster-than-light chase battle.

As soon as the chase began, the Federation fleet appeared at the same location about minutes after the Imperial cruiser formation had re-entered the faster-than-light node at the safety node. Gradually, the Imperial cruiser formations slowly pulled away from the Federation fleet. Later, it would take dozens of minutes for the Imperial cruiser formation to leave the safe node before the Federation fleet could arrive.

At about 2 o'clock on the 21st, a depressing report reached the flagship of the Federation fleet, the Nimitz, that the target was missing. The reconnaissance ships could not find the whereabouts of the cruiser formations of the Imperial Army.

At this time, they were already more than a million AU away from the planet "Yi", but their opponent was missing.

"There are reconnaissance ships in the house, be sure to find the enemy." Nicholas Wolfensohn gave the order impatiently.

"Sir, I think we should return to Planet Yi right away and join up with the supply fleet." Gunther Oswald said worriedly. He was always concerned about the safety of the supply fleet that remained near the planet Yi.

Those precious supply ships are the capital for them to continue to fight in this vast space, but now there are only ten cruisers to escort them, although the supply ships themselves have a certain combat effectiveness, but if they encounter the enemy's cruiser formation, it is still more than lucky.

Wolfensohn didn't think that his opponent had been chased by them for nearly a day, and he could quickly fly back to the "easy" planet. So he emphasized to his subordinates: "They should not be able to run far, search for me!" ”

At the current distance, it will take nearly three hours to fly back to the "easy" planet at the speed of Akuberi at level 5. So Wolfensohn didn't believe he had fallen for the other party's plan to divert the tiger. The brigadier general, who was eager to eliminate the opponent and relieve his hatred, did not realize that he had already distanced himself from his opponent in the previous chase - the distance from the "easy" planet.

At the same time, the Imperial cruiser formation, which had already been tracked by the Federation fleet, flew back to the planet Yi at the speed of the fifth-level Akuberi.

At about 16 o'clock on May 20, the Imperial cruisers changed their speed of light one after another and suddenly appeared in front of the airspace Federation logistics supply fleet near the interstellar planet "Yi". At this time, the main force of the Federation tracking fleet was still in distant space.

"Free Fire!" Jiang Ziyue's excited and smug shouts came from the communication circuit of the Imperial cruiser formation.

In response to the sound, the dead light is staggered, and the brilliance is overflowing.

Despite their numerical superiority, the Federation's supply ships were almost exclusively equipped with the "Akuberi Cannons", and their protection was far inferior to that of combat ships. Therefore, the Imperial Army cruiser formation, which had absolute superiority in firepower, destroyed the Federation's cruisers and all supply ships in less than half an hour.

For a time, the space around the interstellar planet "Yi" was filled with countless alloy fragments, broken hulls, and even human stumps and broken arms.

In the face of a new round of victory, the officers and men of the empire once again gave enthusiastic cheers.

However, Jiang Ziyue was very calm and gave an order in time: "Immediately evacuate the battlefield and set off to the first assembly point on the return flight." ”

"Sir, why don't we wait here and fight the main force of the enemy's fleet." The captain of the ship excitedly asked for battle.

"Yes, sir. The enemy's supply fleet has been destroyed by us, and morale and morale must have been greatly affected. Even Captain Lota Stoldt seemed too excited and impulsive in the face of successive victories.

"Don't forget, we're still facing an enemy with superiority. Although the supply fleet is finished, the enemy's battleships have a strong ability to fight for a long time. And when we come back, we will definitely be fierce and have high fighting spirit, and our current strength cannot fight with them, so we must temporarily avoid their edge. Jiang Ziyue explained to his subordinates.

Destroying the enemy's supply fleet is tantamount to driving them into a corner. As the saying goes, a rabbit bites when it's in a hurry, not to mention the well-trained Bundeswehr. In the case of successive defeats and logistical cut-offs, a battle to the death is bound to be sent.

Jiang Ziyue knew very well that he was indeed giving the enemy a trick to draw salary, but at the same time, he also created an opportunity for the opponent to break the kettle. Moreover, his fleet is very tired after continuous faster-than-light flight and fighting, and it is even more inappropriate to confront an opponent who has fallen into a state of rage due to successive blows.

"Attention ships, evacuate the battlefield as soon as possible!" Jiang Ziyue emphasized loudly. The Commander of the Federation Fleet should have come to his senses at this point, he didn't want to be caught by an angry opponent because of the pride of victory.

With the annihilation of positive and negative hydrogen particles ejected from the Akuberi engine, the cruiser of the New Roman Imperial Army quickly entered the faster-than-light "warp bubble" and flew into the distant universe.

Jiang Ziyue, who returned to his room, was wearing a space combat suit and was fixed on the seat next to the bed.

What to do next is how to deal with the remaining fifty or so warships of the Bundeswehr. But it was this question that made him feel very tricky. By this time, their own forces and firepower were still at an absolute disadvantage. There were only twenty-one battle-ready cruisers left in Task Force 9, still less than half of them.

Opponents who have suffered successive losses have not only become aggressive, but should also become smarter in defeat. It is estimated that the use of "space storms" and other means such as diverting tigers from mountains will not have any effect. This hard bone is really hard to gnaw. At the moment, it seems that the only effective way to do this is to deal with the enemy, use the time to wear down his fighting spirit, and make his supplies not give up. But this approach is quite negative, and the timing is fair. It is likely that the enemy's morale and supplies were crushed before their reinforcements arrived.

Jiang Ziyue realized at this time that there was no one around him who could propose effective countermeasures to the current situation. I had discussed it with First Mate Captain Joseph Dietrich, but the other man was not very skilled, and like many captains, he thought that he should wait for the other party to arrive and give him a head-on attack. In the face of successive victories, Captain Lota Stoddt was also carried away.

Speaking of Lota Stoldt, Jiang Ziyue couldn't help but think of what she said in her radio communication when she left the first assembly point on the 19th.

She said that her mother urged her to find a man to marry, and she said that she was bald, and she in turn retorted that she was bald. "Aren't you bald too!" This sentence lingered in Jiang Ziyue's mind. Although I couldn't see her expression at the time, my tone contained resentment and dissatisfaction, and it was quite shy and joyful. But it would be too arbitrary and to feel good about herself to speculate that she was showing her love to herself based on this sentence.

is different from Jiang Ziyue's life trajectory. Lota Staudert comes from a military family, and her father was killed in a border conflict a decade ago. Determined to follow in her father's footsteps, Lota Staudert entered the Imperial Military Command Academy after completing her compulsory education. On the day of the new students' admission, Lota Staudert was led by Jiang Ziyue to get to know the campus. From that day on, they became good friends until now.

When he met Lota for the first time, Jiang Ziyue's eyes lit up. Lota Stold, a tall man with short ear-length hair, has a typical **** face, with clear lines, a slightly upturned nose, and a pair of deep-set blue eyes glowing with cold light. But that's where the feeling ends. Although Jiang Ziyue is also half of European ancestry, his aesthetics and taste for women are completely Oriental.

He has never been able to forget his ex-girlfriend Chen Weiyin. The girl had long bright flowing black hair, a goose-egg-shaped face with a fresh breath, and she also had a pair of small dimples with strong gravitational pull, which was irresistible to Jiang Ziyue. Chen Weiyin is not as slender as Lotta, but petite and delicate, which is very suitable for the aesthetic sense of most Chinese men who are influenced by traditional culture.

It's a pity that Chen Weiyin doesn't have too deep feelings for herself. Judging by the date on the "Olympus", she behaved hesitantly, as if she lacked feelings for herself.

Love can be seen as an extension and development of the human reproductive instinct, and is therefore overshadowed by complex utilitarian and non-utilitarian overtones. For Jiang Ziyue, Chen Weiyin is a woman who completely conforms to her point of view, and she is a person who hopes to live together in the future, form a family, and grow old together for life. And Rota, Jiang Ziyue only has a good impression of her, only regards her as a good friend, and even the so-called love has not germinated.

If Lota is really in love with herself, what about herself?

From fighting a war to thinking of a woman, to thinking of another woman. As the faster-than-light spaceship passed through the ethereal space, Jiang Ziyue's thoughts drifted away from reality at a high speed.

Even in the faster-than-light interstellar age, there is still a considerable gap between men and women in terms of thinking, and although there is no difference between men and women in terms of economy and politics, the overall social thinking is still in the coherence of traditional patriarchal society.

Most of the reasons why a man wants to start a family is because he needs a family to support his career; Women want to start a family, mostly because they see the family as their destiny. To use an inappropriate analogy, men regard the family as a logistical supply base, and the family as the backing to support their careers, while women regard the establishment and maintenance of the family as their career.

If the utilitarian purpose of love, marrying and starting a family, is put in the first place, then who you love becomes less important. Because the main problem between the two is the future life, not the current feelings. In that case, Lota Staudert might be the better choice. Chen Weiyin has a completely different job than herself, and she is always so willful and does whatever she wants. Lota is different, she is full of admiration for herself, and she is a comrade-in-arms who was born and died together, and she is also very aware of the pressure and hardship of soldiers, and she may be more empathetic in comparison.

At this time, Jiang Ziyue realized that he was so self-righteous and wishful thinking. I don't know what Lota meant in the first place, so she just came to ask for her friend's opinion. But then again, Lota Stoddt doesn't seem to have been in a relationship with anyone. Although marriage does not have to go through love, this phenomenon is very rare after all.

Jiang Ziyue finally stopped thinking about the woman and connected to the bridge Joseph Dietrich: "Joseph, I'll take a break, wake me up when I get to the meeting point, and inform the captains to go to the 'Olympus' to discuss the next move." ”

"Yes, sir."

One can imagine how angry Brigadier General Nicholas Wolfensohn was when he returned to the "Yi" star field and saw his own logistics being destroyed by the fleet.

"Sir, please calm your anger." Gunther Oswald persuaded the commander who had been pushed to the pinnacle of his rage.

"Damn bastards, I'm going to crush those Empire dog mongrels!" Wolfensohn gritted his teeth.

"Sir, let's withdraw to the Commonwealth for the time being." Oswald suggested.

Hearing his subordinates' suggestion to retreat, Wolfensohn immediately roared: "What? Withdraw to the homeland! ”

This is unbearable for him, and when he still has an advantage in strength and firepower, giving up the "easy" planet in his hands like this is tantamount to admitting that he is completely defeated. Not only will his career come to an end of humiliation, but the days to come will also be spent in ridicule and accusations.

Lieutenant Colonel Gunther Oswald felt the same way, but he was better at controlling his emotions than his superiors and was more likely to keep his mind clear in times of crisis. He went on to explain to Wolfensohn: "Sir, we can't hold out for long without all the supply ships. The battleship was in a better situation, but the cruiser ......"

"Gunther, we can't just give up." Wolfensohn interrupted the chief of staff and said solemnly, "We still have absolute superiority and can crush the enemy." You give the order to go down, and the reconnaissance ships are stationed in the police to search for the enemy fleet with all your might. In addition, the fleet was divided into three parts, each part of which was a mixture of battleships and cruisers, which were placed in three orbits of the interstellar planets, and the quota was replenished, and the part of the cruiser that was insufficient was supported by battleships. ”

"Even then, we're afraid we won't be able to last long." Oswald said worriedly.

"I know." "The enemy now has a maximum of twenty cruisers at hand, and even if they put supply ships and research ships into battle, we still have the upper hand." Divided into three forces, even if they use the 'Space Storm' to break up two forces, our remaining force still has the firepower to rival them. If they dare to come to challenge, it will be to die. If we dare not come, we will hold out until reinforcements arrive. ”

Seeing that Nicholas Wolfensohn had made up his mind, Gunther Oswald replied firmly, "Yes, sir." ”

Jiang Ziyue, who returned to the first meeting point on the return voyage, also discussed with his subordinates.

"I guess the enemy will become smarter and won't discharge dense formations or spherical formations anymore, giving us the opportunity to use the 'space storm' to blow up the formation." Jiang Ziyue explained his judgment to his captain, "It is likely that they will be divided into several small fleets that can support each other to protect the planet 'Yi' and search for our location with all their might. ”

"Wouldn't it be easier for us to destroy them?" Optimistic ideas were proposed.

"The enemy won't give us every chance to break through." Jiang Ziyue denied the idea of his subordinates, "Their commander will not be stupid. According to my estimates, they will arrange the battleships with the cruisers in three formations, so that the firepower of each formation can be compared with ours. Therefore, even if we create a 'space storm' again, with the number of ships we have, we will not be able to eat the remaining one formation in one bite. ”

"Didn't we destroy their fleet of more than twenty cruisers and two battleships on the twentieth? Based on the current size of the enemy, it is divided into three formations, and each formation should have less than twenty warships. ”

"That's right, there are fewer warships. But let's not forget that the enemy still has more than twenty battleships, and apart, each formation can have seven or eight, and it can even overwhelm us in firepower. Jiang Ziyue deduced with certainty, "Our reconnaissance ship has not returned yet, but I am very confident in my judgment." ”

"If that's the case, it's hard for us to do it."

"It's not good for us to drag it out. Although the enemy has lost its supply fleet, their battleships still have a lot of supplies to last for a while. ”

"Our forces and firepower are still at a disadvantage, and it's really hard to manage."

The captains have spoken out about the current difficulties.

"But we can't give up so easily." Jiang Ziyue emphasized, "The duty entrusted to us by the Senate is to search for 'Antnest', although the interstellar planet 'Yi' seems to have nothing to do with 'Antnest', but the federal army attaches so much importance to it, we can't take it lightly." ”

Jiang Ziyue didn't know that the reason why the interstellar planet "Yi" was valued by the Bundeswehr was entirely because of the actions of the Imperial Army, which made the Federal Army think that the planet "Yi" had a close and important relationship with "Antnest".

These poor soldiers, unwittingly, fell into a strange circle. Their exploration of the "easy" planet caused the Federation to pay attention to the "easy" planet, and the Federation army's emphasis on the "easy" planet became an important motivation for them to continue to fight on the "easy" planet. It's as grotesque and absurd as a circular argument.

"But we used all the tactics and methods we could use." Captain Lota Stott, who had not spoken before, also spoke, "The enemy should now be aware of their superiority in strength and firepower, and I think they will do their best to find us, and on the other hand, they will hold on to the 'easy' planet as much as possible, so as not to be led by our nose like the previous two times." ”

"So, we really can't do anything about them." Someone sighed helplessly.

"I think we should be satisfied." Speaking was Captain Ernst Kinsky, captain of the supply ship "Mount Olympus", who "managed to escape the enemy's siege in the face of extremely unfavorable and disparity in forces, destroying nearly thirty enemy warships and more than twenty supply ships one after another, at the cost of only ten cruisers." It has beautifully created an example of winning more with less. ”

In fact, Captain Ernst Kinski spoke the minds of most cruiser captains. In the eyes of many, they have achieved extraordinary results and no longer have to fight the enemy.

But their commander, Major von Jiang Ziyue, was not satisfied. In his eyes, the enemy still has a strong force, and his own series of successes cannot be considered victories.

"Ernst, your words inspire me." Jiang Ziyue stared at Captain Ernst Kinski and said, "To be exact, it was your identity that inspired me. ”

"Sir, what do you mean......" Guinski asked, puzzled.

I saw Jiang Ziyue's eyes shining with excitement, and a bold plan had been formed in his mind.