Regarding the question of the commander-in-chief, General Xu Hongzhao, Luo Xiaochen replied unhurriedly:

"The enemy has already intercepted us at least ten times. They were small cruisers, with little self-sustaining, and we didn't spot their supply fleet. So they should now be close to the point of energy depletion. In order to maintain a minimum of mobility and prevent annihilation by us, I think that the enemy commanders must have abandoned their tactics and wisely chose to retreat, and should have fled far away now. ”

"In that case, we don't even have a chance to take revenge." Second Fleet Commander Hadrian? Lieutenant General Edmund Lin was somewhat resentful.

"Sir, I think there will be plenty of opportunities for revenge. Now that we have succeeded in annihilating the enemy's fleet of 'Hannibal' and capturing the planet 'Africa', and have inflicted heavy losses on the new Roman Empire, people must now be panicking everywhere in the empire, and fleets must be mobilized everywhere to come to the rescue. With all due respect, our strength has been severely weakened, and if we continue to persevere, we will only be more fortunate. ”

Xu Hongzhao did not immediately react to Luo Xiaochen's words. A small lieutenant could see the change in the situation, and he, the commander-in-chief of the general, was naturally aware of it. But since you swallow the fat, how can you spit it out so easily?

In Luo Xiaochen's eyes, the fat of the planet "Africa" will be spit out sooner or later, and the question is only whether to take the initiative to spit it out or wait until he is beaten by the emperor ** until he vomits out.

The plan of "Qin Shi Huang" seemed to be imaginative, with three fleets to expedition to the heart of the empire, like a dagger piercing the heart of the enemy. However, Xu Hongzhao's expeditionary fleet was only a dagger, and although it had lethal power, it did not have the conditions for death. Leonardo? Admiral Higgins did not have a follow-up plan for the "Qin Shi Huang" plan formulated by President Soong Dinh Rong, and in fact the Wehrmacht lacked the strength to follow up.

Therefore, Xu Hongzhao and his expeditionary fleet were alone, and once they were encircled by their opponents, they could not extricate themselves. These federal soldiers in the depths of the enemy territory did not know that if it were not for the imperial consul Wang Zeren who tried to use their invasion to achieve his ambitions, and the Central Fleet operated according to normal conditions, I am afraid that they would be "caught in an urn" by the enemy.

"Now that we have occupied the planet 'Africa', we cannot give up easily." Edmondson spoke about the psychology of the commander-in-chief.

"But, sir, if we delay like this, more reinforcements from the enemy will arrive. We have less than a thousand battleships left, and the surviving brethren are very tired, and the machines are badly worn, and the fight will only become more and more unfavorable to us. Luo Xiaochen insisted on his opinion, and his tone was heavy.

"That's enough, Lieutenant." Xu Hongzhao said, "You have a good analysis of the enemy's tactics to intercept our army, and you can return to your post." As for what to do, I'll decide. ”

Luo Xiaochen could only reluctantly show his obedience: "Yes, sir." ”

"Wait." At the other end of the communication system, Xu Hongzhao suddenly stopped.

"Yes, sir."

"Are you afraid of death?"

This question seemed very abrupt, but Luo Xiaochen replied without thinking:

"I'm afraid to die, sir. My father has passed away, and my mother is just such a child, and I don't want her to wait for her at home, but I am waiting for the bad news that I am busy. ”

"She'll see you alive." Xu Hongzhao said calmly.

"Thank you, sir." Luo Xiaochen replied respectfully.

After the correspondence ended, Xu Hongzhao's mood was difficult to calm down.

The general also has an only child, who is about the same age as the Lieutenant Luo Xiaochen just now, and if he is still alive, he should also be promoted to lieutenant. However, General Xu's son was unfortunately killed in the Battle of the "New Rhine" in August last year. Shortly after the battle, the general and his wife, who were on the planet Midgard, saw a Wehrmacht maglev car driving outside the house, thinking that their son had returned. The couple rushed out of the room full of joy, but a colonel with a black hoop on his left arm and a triangular flag in his right hand stepped out of the car.

In the past series of battles, the entire expeditionary fleet has lost nearly 200,000 officers and men. Soon, a similar number of families will receive flags folded into triangles.

The fledgling Luo Xiaochen's calculations are very accurate. Jiang Ziyue's cruiser fleet lacked supplies, and the previous voyage at the speed of 6.6 and the subsequent series of high-intensity firepower fired greatly depleted the metal hydrogen reserves of each cruiser. So that they had to go out into battle, away from the planet "African", to avoid the search of their opponents as much as possible.

He acted in disobedience and came to reinforce without authorization, so naturally he could not bring the logistics supply fleet. The logistical supply flotilla that had originally belonged to the "Hannibal" detachment also fled to the planets "Iserlon" and "Neo-Byzantium" after the detachment was annihilated. Many of the space stations around the planet "African" have large reserves of metallic hydrogen, but they are already controlled by the Bundeswehr, and there are quite a few cruisers guarding them, and even if they succeed, they may not have time to resupply. So he could only suppress the anxiety in his heart, and wandered in the distant deep space, waiting for new reinforcements and supplies.

No one would have thought that what finally touched the sensitive nerves of Bundeswehr General Xu Hongzhao was Lieutenant General Li Jingxian and his "Mao? Marsh? Battleship detachment of the Eastern "detachment.

On December 5, the "African-African" space, which had been somewhat quiet for two days, was once again filled with the tense atmosphere of war. The "Commander" class battleship "**" took the lead, changing the speed of light only one astronomical unit away from the planet. The 12,000-kilometer-long wedge-shaped hull is densely packed with stepped weapons launch windows, which strongly demonstrate the "Claus? Liszt's firepower specification" is powerful and domineering.

Then other battleships quickly appeared, forming an umbrella formation around the flagship, and headed for the nearest space station, Yesenia. Although there were only 200 of them, they were all the elite of the battleships of the Senate and the Roman People's Army, and all of them were of the "Commander" class, and they immediately scared the 100 Bundeswehr cruisers guarding nearby.

Li Jingxian recovered the "Yesenia" space station without firing a shot. But "too?" Child? Party? The party leader "didn't even send out a single Star Marine to receive it." Because General Xu Hongzhao had already heard the news, he led the Bundeswehr to rush over from five astronomical units away.

The Bundeswehr battleship nervously completed a series of actions to change the speed of light to the formation formation, forming a huge umbrella formation, which approached the emperor from 30 million kilometers away.

Due to the distance, the emperor still had enough time to disperse and escape. But how can the "Royal Highness the Prince" and the "Imperial Forest Army" under his command endure the stigma of fleeing without a fight?! Li Jingxian has always been famous, but he has not seen many achievements. In the first Battle of the "Yi" Star Field, although the decisive retreat of the army allowed the "Cyrus" fleet at that time to avoid the tragedy of total annihilation, it was controversial. Today, even in the face of an enemy force five times his size, he still has to fight hard to show the world an irrefutable glorious image and extraordinary talent.

"Cone Formation! Prepare for the impact! In the wide tactical command center of the battleship **, Li Jingxian was full of ambition.

"Mao? Marsh? The battleships of the East Fleet quickly completed the commander's instructions, with the flagship as the center of the bottom surface of the cone, forming a cone-shaped formation with a distance of about 5,000 kilometers between the warships, and stabbing at the opponent at one-third of the speed of light.

In terms of quantity, the emperor ** is only one-fifth of the opponent's, but in terms of firepower, it is close to one-half of the opponent's. After all, a "Commander" class battleship has more than twice as many particle cannons and laser cannons as the "Famous General" class, and its protection is theoretically twice as strong as that of its opponent. Based on data calculations alone, a "commander" class battleship can calmly destroy two "famous general" class battleships and still retain a considerable degree of combat effectiveness.

Of course, even so, Li Jingxian's odds of winning are still negative. What supports the confidence and courage of "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince" is not just a vain sense of honor and mission.

"Send a notice to the enemy: If you don't withdraw from the Senate and the Roman people's border as soon as possible, I, Li Jingxian, will work with Moxia 'Mao?' Marsh? The eastern squadron will surely leave you dead without a place to be buried. ”

"Sir, can the enemy understand such a literary language?" The communications sergeant questioned.

"Rest assured, federal officers are required to be able to read the original text of "The Art of War" and "Thirty-six Strategies", where will they not be able to read my telegram."

Li Jingxian said proudly. He was so confident of victory that he felt compelled to let his enemies know his name. There is no greater honor for a great man than for his enemies to praise his great deeds. Therefore, Li Jingxian felt that it was necessary to come to such a paragraph, and he should make an official appearance in front of his opponent.

The telegram reached the opponent's flagship before the two sides entered the effective combat distance.

Facing the arrogant tone of the emperor ** commander, Xu Hongzhao smiled and ignored it.

The distance quickly shortened, the two sides entered a spiral state, and the battle broke out as scheduled. The directional energy of both sides flew through space, stirring up countless dazzling lights in each other's electromagnetic shields and heavy hulls.

The assault power of Li Bu is really amazing. Under Li Jingxian's design, 200 battleships concentrated their fire on the sector on the lower left of the federal army's umbrella array. Although they were under heavy fire from the Federation battleships in other areas, with their double-layer ceramic alloy armor and double-layer electromagnetic shields, they not only withstood this attack, but also quickly destroyed the Federation battleships in this area.

But at this time, Li Bu had no intention of penetrating the other party. Instead, turn forward and retreat, retreat at full speed, and shift the focus of fire to the area below the opponent's formation. However, if it is consumed like this, the emperor ** can weaken the opponent a lot, but it will also be consumed itself.

"That guy named Li Jingxian, does he want to fight a war of attrition with us just because of such a fleet?"

On the battleship "Wu Qi", Xu Hongzhao felt a little puzzled.

"Six o'clock, one light second, enemy cruiser." The early warning sergeant screamed loudly.

Hundreds of bright lights quickly lit up 300,000 kilometers behind the battleship formation of the Federation Army, which was caught in a fierce battle with the opponent. Jiang Ziyue led his 800 cruisers to raid. Risking running out of energy, they fired a salvo at the fragile tail of the Federation warship as soon as they reached the speed of light.

Despite the limited firepower of the cruisers, their swiftness and precision, and their deadly rear, were a punch to the Bundeswehr Expeditionary Fleet. But this heavy blow was not fatal, and a large number of Federation cruisers scattered around the planet "Africa" had also arrived and began to fight, driving out these Imperial cruisers attacking from behind, and interfering with the Imperial ** battlefleet in front.

The battlefleet bombardment began to evolve into a melee of multiple ship classes.

Jiang Ziyue and "Mao? Marsh? The behind-the-scenes killing of the cruiser detachment of the "East" detachment was just another small step for Li Jingxian to victory. Soon, the power that determines the outcome appeared in time as Li Jingxian expected.

In the heat of battle, an unmanned reconnaissance ship of the Bundeswehr changed its speed of light nearby. With the emergency announcement of the unmanned reconnaissance ship, Xu Hongzhao's expression became grim and nervous.

A battleship of fifteen hundred ships was approaching at the speed of Akuberi at the fifth level. This fleet came from the planetary "neo-Byzantine" direction and, of course, could not be the fleet of the Bundeswehr. This is precisely the detachment of the Central Fleet "Constantine", which was tasked with defending the capital of the empire, the planet "New Byzantium", and the Senate.

When the Imperial Consul Wang Zeren sent a notification ship to the planet "New Byzantium" to deliver a motion to the Senate to nominate himself as dictator, the senator Glynjed? Roki, along with other conservative elders, thwarted Wang's plot. Although Wang Zeren's henchman Fischer? Junte lobbied the centrist patriarch? Abdulaziz, but the Senate ultimately rejected Wang Zeren's motion to nominate himself as dictator because of the "African" planetary situation.

After receiving a report from a briefing ship sent by Vice Admiral Li Jingxian about Wang Zeren's refusal to reinforce the planet "African-African," in order to prevent the war from falling into decline and further defeating Wang Zeren, who already controlled the real power of the Central Fleet, the conservative senators made another decision. By the loyal conservative Admiral Frederiga? Lenny? Feng? Badenbrock commanded the Senate's "Royal Guard" and "Constantine" detachment to rush to the aid of the planet "Africa".

Frederiga? Feng? Badenbrock left all the cruisers in the "new Byzantium" and personally led all the battleships to rush over.

At this time, it was Badenbrock's flagship, the third "Commander"-class enhanced battleship, "Constantine", that charged ahead, and the 1,490 battleships that followed behind for millions of kilometers to fly faster than light were all "Commander"-class battleships. This fleet is known as the elite of the elite, although the number is not the largest in the imperial fleet, but it is the most powerful in firepower and protection.

This is also the key reason why Li Jingxian resolutely launched a decisive battle regardless of the gap in strength. Regardless of the "hair?" Marsh? What will be the result of the "Eastern" fleet, as soon as the "Constantine" fleet arrives, the victory is nothing more than a ripe apple.

Xu Hongzhao naturally knew the enemy's strong strength, and he decisively ordered:

"The order is given, and all the personnel who have landed on the surface of the planet will be evacuated immediately, and we will not be able to hold this planet. The combat ship stops the spiral state, moves at full speed, and immediately disperses the formation after penetrating the enemy formation, entering the speed of light. ”

Hydrogen-oxygen rocket engines and ion thrusters erupt bright tail flames that propel the ship forward at an accelerated pace. The entire Bundeswehr fleet was mobilized and rushed closer to the formation of Imperial ** battleships in front.

"The enemy is going to flee, intercept it with all your might!" Li Jingxian hurriedly ordered.

But even he knew very well that it would be difficult to block his opponent with such a little strength.

Jiang Ziyue's cruiser formation also tried its best to chase and kill, but after all, they were all cruisers with weak firepower, and it was difficult to deal a fatal blow to the opponent with a simple artillery battle. Moreover, the "Famous General" class battleships in the Bundeswehr are typical "Lister fritters", and all the firepower on the hull can be fired directly behind them, which makes them dare not give up the irregular spiral way of advancing when pursuing, and gradually distance themselves from the other side.

When the "Constantine", which had a total length of 15,000 kilometers and was shaped like a double-edged spear, changed its speed of light near the battlefield, the fleet of the Federation Army had already penetrated Li Jingxian's battle formation, scattered the formation, and the ships entered the faster-than-light state one after another.

The veteran "Constantine" squadron of the Imperial Central Fleet and the rising star "Mao? Marsh? The "East" detachment was brought together.

But Frederiga? Feng? When Admiral Badenbrock saw Li Jingxian and Jiang Ziyue in the communication system, the first thing he said was to ask:

"Reginald? And what about Admiral Ustinov? ”

"She has already died honorably with the battleship Scipio the Great." Jiang Ziyue replied.

"'Black Widow' is gone?" Badenbrock was in a trance.

The personal relationship between Badenbrok and Ustinov was not good, and the commander of the fleet "Cyrus" Mohammed? After the death of Admiral Ahmaiti, these two female generals were left as the most formidable contenders for the new Imperial Marshal. But now, the other party is dead, and there is no one to compete with her anymore, she is a little sad and overwhelmed.

"Wouldn't it be better for General Ustinov to be gone?"

Li Jingxian smiled and flattered. He knew the relationship between the black and white admirals, but in his own position, he wanted to see Badenbock put on the rank of marshal, so that someone could fill the void left by the death of Bergdorff for the conservative senators.

"As you wish."

Frederiga? Feng? Badenbrock's tone was rather indifferent, and then she gave the order:

"General Lee, Colonel Jiang, you lead the fleet to quell the rebels on the planet 'Africa' and restore order and glory to the Senate and the Roman people here. I'll lead my troops to pursue those Federation fleets. ”

As soon as the words fell, she cut off the communication and quickly ordered the entire "Constantine" fleet to pursue the enemy.

Hundreds of unmanned reconnaissance ships and notification ships were the first to enter the speed of light and go to the enemy, followed by the powerful "Constantine" fleet. Named after the most famous commanders in the history of the human earth, these Senate and Roman People's Battleships are a combination of might and domineering, ready to begin sweeping away the enemies who are holding their heads.