On the bridge of the cruiser "Siegfried" of the New Roman Imperial Army, Major Jiang Ziyue proudly watched the group of federal ships disappear from the stereoscopic image.

A second later, a large number of Perseus Commonwealth battleships came into view, this was the new battleship formation of the Thirteenth Fleet under the personal command of Admiral Henning Gessler. They were advancing at a maximum reaction speed of half the speed of light, forming a dense long linear formation, pursuing the Imperial "Cyrus" fleet in front. At this time, their left end was just facing the front of Jiang Ziyue's cruiser umbrella array.

The sudden disappearance of Aida Pollock's right-wing ship group and the warning of spatial fluctuations filled the tactical command center and bridge of the Federation battleship. But Admiral Henning Geisler simply did not have time to react effectively, and he did not even have time to figure out what was really going on with the right-wing ship group. His battleship formation was only more than 200,000 kilometers away from the original right-wing ship group, and in just over a second, it flew again in front of the Akuberi cannon of the enemy cruiser on the left flank.

Without Jiang Ziyue re-ordering, two hundred and twenty-one low-speed cruisers once again erupted positive and negative hydrogen jets from the bow, triggering a superluminal warp bubble and forming a powerful space storm.

All the Federation soldiers had no idea what was going on, and they were instantly sent ten astronomical units away in the middle of the spinning world.

The two space storms launched in the same position and direction not only completely disintegrated the pursuit of the "Cyrus" fleet by the main force of the 13th Fleet of the Federation Army, but also plunged it into a terrifying disaster.

The early space storm blew ten astronomical units away, and the right-wing ship group was thrown into chaos. Most of the ships lost control and rolled sharply after the space fluctuations disappeared. Before the crew and control computers could stabilize the battleship, nearly a thousand battleships were forcefully coerced by the space storm. The originally chaotic space, which instantly more than doubled in mass and larger warships, immediately became extremely crowded and dangerous.

These out-of-control warships quickly produced a series of violent collisions and frictions. In May, the tragedy of the tracking fleet under the command of Commodore Nicholas Wolfensohn in its first space storm was repeated.

Some of the high-speed and longitudinal "Mingjiang"-class battleships were like wooden sticks flying in the air, breaking the old battleships and seriously damaging themselves. Some battleships swung like swinging bats, ricocheting cruisers that were only a few hundred meters long.

Even the flagship of the 13th Fleet, the "Young Willy", was not spared, as it crashed headlong into the amidships of an old battleship that was rolling at high speed, causing serious damage to its hull structure and accelerating to bounce off, and then its tail brushed against the bow of another new battleship, causing serious damage to the reaction propulsion system.

For a time, the anti-collision alarm, damage alarm, and the swearing of personnel filled the internal and communication circuits of the entire Thirteenth Fleet of the Federation Army.

The two space storms launched by Jiang Ziyue's cruiser fleet more than a second apart completely reversed the situation on the battlefield. Now in the space within the range of the Astro unit, the Bundeswehr is left with a left-wing group of nearly seven hundred warships. The group, commanded by Rear Admiral Anthony Britta, was more than four million kilometers away from the "Cyrus" fleet.

Because of this distance, Admiral Britta was unable to learn in time that his other two ship groups had been blown away by the space storm. He commanded a total of 699 old battleships and cruisers in a dense line formation, chasing the "Cyrus" fleet at full speed.

After penetrating General Pollock's group of ships, Muhammad Ahmaiti, who was chased and beaten to the bottom, immediately terminated the plan to disperse and enter the faster-than-light after discovering from the gravitational wave detection system that the pursuers behind him had disappeared, regrouped the fleet, and rendezvous with Jiang Ziyue's cruiser.

Full of joy, Jiang Ziyue connected the communication with Admiral Ahmaiti, and proudly reported: "General, my cruiser fleet has blown both enemy fleets ten astronomical units away with a space storm. Now the enemy is definitely in a mess, and it will not be possible to recover the formation without dozens of minutes. I suggest that we immediately launch an attack on the remaining enemy ship groups. ”

"Major, your carving insect skills can only cause the enemy to fall into temporary chaos." General Ahmat pretended to be calm, "But your suggestion makes sense. ”

The good-faced old general was obviously reluctant to put down his posture to thank a small major for his non-mainstream style of play, but the fact made him have to agree with the other party's approach and statement.

Then Admiral Ahmaiti said in a trusting and cordial tone: "Major Jiang Ziyue, all your cruisers are immediately incorporated into the 'Cyrus' fleet, and are ready to annihilate the remaining fleet of the enemy. ”

The change in the general's attitude made Jiang Ziyue and his subordinates very happy, and it was a great thing for the officers and men of the border fleet who had been discriminated against to gain the affirmation and trust of the senior generals of the Central Fleet.

So, Jiang Ziyue responded excitedly: "Yes, sir!" ”

With that, he immediately lifted the safety buckle on the captain's seat, stood up, and saluted a standard new Roman military salute. Even wearing a heavy space combat suit, Jiang Ziyue saluted seriously and solemnly.

But he ignored the fact that at this time the "Cyrus" fleet had only more than 900 warships that could continue to fight. Ahmat incorporated his cruiser fleet into the fray, more out of the need to expand his advantage over the enemy and increase his chances of victory, rather than out of genuine trust in them, the border guards who had been raised by his mother.

Soon, the Imperial fleet turned around and lined up in an umbrella formation, meeting the Left Flank of the Federation Army at full speed.

Just after 10 o'clock on June 22, Rear Admiral Anthony Britta, commander of the left wing ship group of the 13th Fleet of the Bundeswehr, finally learned the "bad news" of the sudden disappearance of two other formations on the battlefield through the gravitational detection system.

"What? It's all gone......" Britta was so stunned that she even stammered. Fortunately, the dark protective helmet concealed his frightened expression and did not affect his subordinates too much.

On the stereoscopic imaging, the icons indicating the formation of new battleships and the right-wing ship group have all disappeared, but the blue-green ship-shaped icons representing the enemy are clearly visible from more than 2 million kilometers away.

"The enemy used a new weapon?" General Bretta's first thought was a new weapon. This rather traditional mindset of generals does not realize that in many cases, a new tactic is often far more powerful than a new weapon.

"Sir, in fourteen seconds, we'll be at an effective combat distance from the enemy." The subordinate hurriedly reminded.

"The enemy still has more than a thousand warships, and we are completely at a disadvantage." Britta looked a little helpless, but her tone was not cowardly.

"Sir, why don't you retreat for the time being, and then attack after figuring out the situation of the other two formations." The subordinates made what seemed like a wise suggestion. The disappearance of friendly forces may be a sudden leap to faster-than-light speed, but if so, a notification ship or radio signal will be dispatched. If you don't have either, then the possibility of sudden destruction of friendly forces is very high.

"No, none of our comrades know where to disappear, and we must not retreat without a fight." Anthony Bretta said firmly. As a general, he has more of a fearless spirit in the face of a strong enemy.

"But if the enemy also uses new weapons against us......

"Then charge valiantly against the enemy's new weapons!" "We must not back down from the minions of authoritarianism, we must avenge our dead comrades!" ”

Anthony Britta had recovered from the panic he had just made, and then gave an order that puzzled all his subordinates: "Form a flat phalanx and try to pass under the enemy line." ”

In order to explain his intentions to his subordinates more intuitively, he quickly used the computer to draw his intentions, and then confidently added: "Forget about the enemy's new weapons, today we will break this evil imperial umbrella array!" ”

Receiving the commander's will, the Left Wing of the Federation changed its formation while maintaining the maximum reaction propulsion speed of half the speed of light, forming a plane phalanx almost parallel to the galactic plane. All the battleships were laid out on a flat surface, and rushed at high speed to the bottom of the Imperial Army's umbrella array, which was millions of kilometers away.

On the side of the Imperial Army, Jiang Ziyue made a new proposal to Admiral Mohammed Ahmaiti: "General, I suggest that my cruiser fleet launch a space storm to blow away about half of the enemy and make us form an absolute superiority. ”

"Major, now the advantage is absolute enough." Ahmat replied uninterested, "Your so-called space storm can only drive away the enemy, and what we have to do is to annihilate these hypocritical liberal bandits." So, Major, stay in the middle of the camp and wait for my orders. ”

Jiang Ziyue had no choice but to carry out the order. Ahmaiti's words are not entirely unreasonable, causing a space storm can only change the enemy's position, but it cannot change the fact that the enemy exists. The ultimate goal of every battle is to achieve victory, and the root of victory is to destroy the opponent. Space Storm cannot directly destroy an opponent, and while it can quickly change the balance of power on the battlefield, the enemy can quickly regroup and make a comeback.

It was also based on this point that Ahmati dismissed Jiang Ziyue's suggestion. Now that the enemy ship group in front is completely at a disadvantage, the key is to take the opportunity to eat it and narrow the gap with the enemy as a whole. If a space storm blows them out of a dozen or even hundreds of astronomical units, it will not change the situation that their overall strength is inferior to that of their opponents.

Moreover, as the commander of the Central Fleet detachment, Muhammad Ahmat is clearer than Jiang Ziyue, who is a middle-level officer of the Border Fleet, about the overall strategy of the New Roman Empire towards the Perseus Interstellar Federation. Jiang Ziyue didn't know that while they were struggling to fight against the superior enemy, near the planet Iserlon, the other four detachments of the Central Fleet were gathering. Their destination is not the dark interstellar planet "Yi", but the capital planet of the Immortal Interstellar Federation Wind and Sunshine!

Wang Zeren, the consul of the new Roman Empire, originally wanted to limit the war to the interstellar planet "Yi", which was far away from the empire and the federal mainland, but the conservatives who did not want the Senate had other plans. They had already planned a full-scale war to invade the Perseus Commonwealth. Even though the overall strength is inferior to that of the opponent, Wang Zeren's proposal for an increase in troops on the planet "Yi" has allowed them to go along with the tide and prepare to launch the largest war since 2890.

So Ahmati knew very well in his heart that he was not only fighting alone, but also trying to eliminate his opponents as much as possible and contain more troops of the Bundeswehr.

A distance of millions of kilometers is only a matter of seconds for two fleets moving relative to each other at nearly the speed of light.

At a distance of 600,000 kilometers, General Mohammed Ahmat ordered the ship to slow down to one hundredth of the speed of light, and the ships entered a spiral forward motion.

General Anthony Bretta also ordered the ships to spiral, but did not order to slow down. However, due to the spiral state, the overall displacement speed of the fleet array position was sharply reduced by one-third.

"What about the enemy's new weapons? It's such a close distance, and it's not put into use yet? Breta asked, looking at the icon of the enemy ship on the stereoscopic image.

"Maybe to be used at an effective combat distance. We have already received images of battleship formations and right-wing ship groups disappearing, and they disappear one after another as soon as the enemy's cruiser formations appear on the left. At the same time, gravitational waves excited by spatial fluctuations are also received. The subordinate explained.

"I can't do that now." Britta said hurriedly, because the opponent had already entered an effective combat distance of 300,000 kilometers.

He commanded in a loud voice: "All fire freely, keep the speed and rush to the bottom of the enemy line." ”

Tens of millions of dead light were once again inspired, passing through the void and shining on the opponent's warship, stirring up countless dazzling lights.

After the first round of shooting, Ahmati noticed that the enemy's strange flat phalanx had made his umbrella array ineffective. The Federation Army's plane formation was not facing the center of the Imperial Army's umbrella formation as usual, but headed straight for the bottom edge of the umbrella formation. As a result, the Imperial Umbrella Formation could not exert all its firepower to focus on the enemy's ship formation, and the ships distributed in the upper part of the Umbrella Formation could only shoot at the opponent with bottom and side fire.

And what worries Ahmaiti is that the bottom of the umbrella array is composed of a formation of cruisers of the border fleet led by Jiang Ziyue. Not only were these weak cruisers difficult to defend themselves against their opponents, but they were also difficult to protect. So, Ahmaiti hurriedly ordered a change of formation. The ships in the upper part of the parachute formation accelerated forward and maneuvered downward, preparing to deflect the giant umbrella of the "Cyrus" fleet downwards and cover their opponents from above.

But General Anthony Bretta struck first. After completing the first round of firing, the Federation battleship quickly raised its bow and changed course, while the ships in the central area of the phalanx also slowed down, causing the entire fleet to form an umbrella - an umbrella array covering the lower part of the Imperial Parachute from the bottom up.

When the Federation fleet fired again, it was no longer parallel upward fire, but a focused attack. Intense and dense crossfire focused on the lower part of the Imperial formation, which was beginning to deflect, causing a strong flash.

The border cruisers, at the bottom of the umbrella formation, were hit by a concentrated attack from their opponents, and these poorly protected cruisers suffered heavy losses in just one round of artillery fire. The combat-ready cruiser struggled to maintain course and fight back amid fluctuations in the firepower net and the ability triggered by the explosion.

Annihilation and spatial fluctuations caused by anti-hydrogen particles fired from the opponent's Akuberi cannon violently shook the weak cruiser Siegfried. It is bombarded by many particle beams and illuminated by laser beams, and its body is bathed in a colorful light.

"The shield is out of order, sir!" On the cruiser Siegfried, Sergeant Jerry Morris anxiously reported, "We'd better withdraw from the battle at once." ”

"It can't be. Death must remain in the array! Jiang Ziyue shouted stubbornly.

Jiang Ziyue was well aware of the threat to his cruiser fleet in such a large-scale fleet artillery battle, but once they broke away from the array without authorization, it would not only be an act of illegal disobedience, but also affect the complete coordination of the entire ship array.

Then he ordered: "Ralph Turk, hit me hard and launch the missiles too!" Abighiji, ordered all the cruisers not to leave their positions without permission, even if they sacrificed, they should also maintain their formation. ”

"Yes, sir." Communications Sergeant Abiji Cumanfur replied loudly.

All the servicemen were fully operational, trying to stabilize the ship and pour fire on the opponent.

General Anthony Breta's unique tactics worried General Mohammed Ahmaiti.

The enemy launched a third round of fire, and another batch of Imperial battleships and cruisers suffered heavy blows and lost their combat effectiveness. At this time, the Imperial Army's umbrella array completed its deflection, and the smaller Federation Army umbrella array was covered from above.

General Ahmat couldn't wait to give the order: "Free fire!" Be sure to annihilate the enemy! ”

The Imperial warships immediately unleashed all their directional firepower and slammed into their opponents.

With the successful deflection of the Imperial Army's umbrella formation, the favorable situation favored the Imperial Army, which had the advantage in numbers and firepower.

But Major General Anthony Bretta calmly gave new instructions: "Maintain fire, maneuver in front of the formation, continue to deflect the formation!" ”

In the midst of the white-hot directional energy blast, the Federation fleet continued to deflect its upward-facing umbrella formation. The ships at the front of the parachute accelerated upward, while the ships at the rear coordinated their movements at a slightly slower pace. Soon, like the Imperial Army's umbrella array before the deflection, the Federation fleet's umbrella array stood on the silver road.

Once again, the advantage of the battlefield shifted to the Union Army. They occupy the side of the Imperial Army's bottom-down umbrella formation, perpendicular to it.

After completing the deflection, Britta then ordered: "Leave the enemy's cruisers alone and concentrate on attacking the battleships!" Deceleration, hundredths of the speed of light. ”

Trained Federation warships quickly activate their jet systems in the opposite direction, reducing their speed while launching a focused bombardment of battleships within the Imperial Parachute Formation.

The change of opponents and the resulting severe damage to their own side forced Admiral Ahmat to once again command the fleet to deflect the formation and move below the opponent.

In the vast space of the universe, while constantly bombarding each other, these two huge ship groups are constantly changing their positions in an attempt to go around to the side of the opponent's formation and occupy a favorable angle of firepower.

The Imperial Army had the advantage in numbers and firepower, but it could not take the initiative, and was always led by the inferior left-wing ship group of the Federation Army, and every movement that deflected the formation was slower than that of the opponent. Therefore, the damage inflicted on the Imperial army is always greater than the damage inflicted on the other side. In particular, after the order of Anthony Britta of the Federal Command Officer to concentrate on attacking the Imperial ships, the losses of the Imperial battleships were even more severe, and even the electromagnetic shield on the outer layer of the powerful "Cyrus the Great" was broken and lost part of its firepower.

However, the battleship formation was attacked intensively, which relieved the pressure on the cruiser formation commanded by Jiang Ziyue. More than half of the more than 200 cruisers have been completely destroyed, and most of the rest have lost their electromagnetic shields and even combat effectiveness.

Not only was the electromagnetic shield germination device destroyed, but the hull was also pierced in many places, most of the weapons failed, and it could barely keep up with the fleet's movements.

At this time, the captain of the cruiser "Nezha", Captain Lota Stoldert, connected the communication with the bridge of the "Siegfried". She asked with concern, "Sir, can your ship still hold on to fighting?" ”

"It's okay." Jiang Ziyue replied firmly, "Captain Stoldt, can the 'Nezha' still hold on to fighting?" ”

"All we have left is one set of ion thrusters that is functioning properly, and the Akuberi engine is destroyed. But I don't want to quit fighting. Staudet looked resolute. In fact, the life support system inside her cruiser has been destroyed, and they can only survive on space suits.

Hearing her report, Jiang Ziyue immediately instructed: "I order you to immediately command the 'Nezha' to break away from the formation and withdraw from the battle." ”

Jiang Ziyue knew very well that a spaceship with only a set of ion thrusters could no longer follow the high-speed movement of the fleet. And, whether it was out of his superiors' responsibility to his subordinates, or for other personal reasons, he was also worried about the safety of Lota Staudett.

"But our Akuberi cannons can still be used." Staudert didn't give up the fight easily. In her eyes, retreating without completely losing combat effectiveness is intolerable to the family tradition and her own sense of honor. She then said to Jiang Ziyue: "I'm not here to ask you to retreat. I mean, since we have the upper hand, we shouldn't play at the enemy's pace. I cannot state my opinion directly to General Ahmaiti, and I hope that you will make a suggestion to the general. ”

"You have a point. But you must retreat at once, and don't let me be distracted by the battle and worry about your safety, okay? Jiang Ziyue was more like making a request than an order.

Listening to Jiang Ziyue's words, Lota Staudett hesitated for a moment, and finally agreed, saying, "Okay, commander." ”

After ending the call with Lota Stoldt, Major Jiang Ziyue immediately connected the communication with Ahmaiti and proposed: "General, we have a numerical advantage, and we suggest that we separate the formation and at the same time maneuver to both sides of the enemy formation and flank the enemy. ”

When Admiral Mohammad Ahmaiti heard the advice of his men, he immediately replied: "Major, I have planned this for a long time. All you have to do is carry out my orders and do your duty. ”

I don't know if Ahmati really realized the current problem and thought of countermeasures, or if he pushed the boat along with Jiang Ziyue's words. But no matter what, Jiang Ziyue could only accept orders from his superiors.

Only Ahmad himself knew that it was Jiang Ziyue's suggestion that reminded him. It was Jiang Ziyue who commanded the cruiser fleet to use the space storm to blow away the pursuing opponents, saving the fate of the "Cyrus" fleet and reversing the situation on the battlefield. It was also possible to make a decisive battle with the remaining fleet of the enemy under the current advantage, and did not want to get dizzy and completely passive. Now that Jiang Ziyue, the little finger officer of the border fleet, is making suggestions on the public communication channel, how can he let him steal the limelight?

After the communication between Jiesu and Jiang Ziyue, Ahmaiti immediately quickly drew his intention on the induction imaging and issued a new order: "Divide into two teams from the center and flank the enemy in a parabolic formation." ”