Having completed the mission of intercepting the USS Bastion space carrier, the Archangel returned to the Siberian system, where the Alliance's headquarters is located, and anchored at the Newport News-class shipyard, where she was once born, this is the first time she has returned to the Newport News-class shipyard since she set sail, and after several months of continuous cruising and fighting, the ship should also take a break, some adjustments and simple repairs are still necessary. [No pop-ups. 】

Most of the crew had already left the mothership for their relaxation and vacation, albeit for a short period of time and only in the Siberian system. The senior officers, on the other hand, were less comfortable, they had too much to do, such as Risen and Yao Feilun, the two of whom were now sitting in Mrs. Almeda's office.

The official reason for the meeting was to hear a briefing on the interception mission, but they knew it that it would never be that simple.

"Very good," Lady Almeda smiled as she put down their report, "destroying a space carrier and a destroyer, capturing a cruiser, and severely damaging an estimated one hundred and six Imperial starfighters, and capturing seven, two of which were class banshees, to achieve such a great result, at a slight cost of seven Lightning fighters, one pilot killed." ”

"Actually, it's nothing, we just took advantage of the surprise attack, and the consumption of quantum torpedoes is too large, and almost all the fleet's torpedo stocks have been consumed." Yao replied truthfully.

"This," Risen scratched his head, embarrassed. "At that time, I just wanted to grasp that it was more practical, and I couldn't shoot so many quantum torpedoes at the Fortress."

"Torpedoes are consumables, and when they run out, they can be replenished, and it is very worthwhile to exchange these torpedoes for a space carrier. Hehe, sometimes I really don't dare to read the reports you submit anymore, I'm afraid that after reading your reports. Forget about the difficulties of our current battle with the Empire. Will feel. Why victory comes so easily, as if it were within reach? She joked, but the admiration was obvious.

"Madame, to be exact, we, as Philen said, have chosen a big bargain and fought without Admiral Martin for the Seventh Fleet. Wounding the Fortress did not result in this victory. ”

"Hmm." Lady Almeda nodded, "There is also good news for you, as a reward for this victory, the cruiser you captured, the Furster, will equip your fleet for the next phase of the battle after it has been fully repaired and fully equipped with the required crew and aircraft.

She said calmly as she looked at the two people in front of her. "I think you're going to be prepared."

"Pearl Harbor?" Ruisen and Yao Feilun glanced at each other. They all saw the worry in each other's eyes.

"That's right, it's the Pearl Harbor base for the exhibition of the Alliance. We need to unplug the Empire's pivot in this cluster of stars as soon as possible. Fei Ren: Your report mentions that the captured Imperial cruiser Frost was being on its way to the Pearl Harbor base to repair parts for its main gun Trident when it was attacked, and sometimes I can't believe that our luck could have been so good, just before we planned to attack the Pearl Harbor base, the main guns of this base actually went wrong so coincidentally and so cooperatively, this must be said to be a godsend, and if we missed this opportunity, I am afraid that there will never be such a good opportunity in the future, and this current value I think is more valuable than the capture of the cruiser itself, but fortunately you did not sink it at that time, otherwise we would not have had the opportunity to learn this important information。 ”

"Ma'am," the girl reminded in a whisper, "have you read our reply to our comments on the attack on the Pearl Harbor base?" ”

"Yes, I did." The lady admitted bluntly.

"Madame's attack on Pearl Harbor is not as easy as it says," Risen said hurriedly.

Perhaps sensing that there was something inappropriate in his speech, the girl quietly tugged at him to remind him of his attention.

"I'm sorry ma'am." He took a deep breath and tried to slow his voice down, "I didn't mean that, you know. ”

"It's okay, Risen replied, I read it, but I still want to hear your opinion, do you really think it's not feasible? Is it really impossible to capture the Pearl Harbor base? Mrs. Elmeida asked.

"It's not that we can't conquer, it's how much it costs us." Risen cautiously questioned: "For the sake of a base, if we don't get it right, we will even lose all the military power that we have accumulated over a long period of time." Madam, since you have read our reply, you should know that even if the Pearl Harbor base is temporarily free of the threat of Trident main guns, the defense force of the Pearl Harbor base itself is still extremely strong, and the fact that the lack of Tridents gives us the only tactical advantage is that our main battleships such as fast battleships and cruisers can drive directly to the vicinity of the base, and suppress the anti-aircraft fire of the base with the main and secondary guns on the ship, but the premise of this is that our main battleships can break through the Imperial fleet. Thousands or even thousands of Imperial starfighters intercepted, and before we can reach the base and suppress the artillery fire of the base, we must first break through the Imperial fleet, otherwise our fleet will be caught in the front and rear double artillery fire. Madame, how much of a fleet do we need to assemble for this purpose? How many more warships will we be able to successfully break through the defenses and advance to the vicinity of the fortress after a large-scale fleet battle? Even if we can finally capture the Pearl Harbor base, how many warships will we have left in the end? In the face of such a large-scale air battle, and in the face of dense anti-aircraft artillery fire everywhere in the fortress, how many of the starfighter pilots we have worked hard to train for a long time can survive? ”

"This information that the Trident is in trouble with its main cannon may not be good news for us in the end, it is a dangerous temptation to lure our resistance allies into this dead end, the Empire is worried that it will not be able to find our fleet, and now they don't have to look for it, just sit and wait for us to send it to the door. What if this is a conspiracy? Is there actually no problem with the Trident main gun? ”

Speaking of this, he was stunned, he shivered smartly, he hadn't thought about it before, he hadn't thought about it carefully. Indeed, what if this is a conspiracy? What about the conspiracy that the Empire deliberately unleashed? Think about the information that the Empire might have gotten out of nowhere. Shows that the Allies may be interested in attacking the Pearl Harbor base. But the Pearl Harbor base is a strong defensive force

Obstacles to League decision-making. So the Empire cooperated very well and deliberately let the Pearl Harbor team be lured away by the Seventh Fleet, deliberately letting them know that there was a problem with the Trident main guns, but in fact, when the Allied fleet arrived, the Trident main guns were intact, and the Pearl Harbor base was in full array, but the lured Imperial fleet was now ambushed in the nearby star field. Preparing to cut off the retreating Confederate fleet's way back would have been a massacre for the Confede.

"It shouldn't be a conspiracy." He quickly dismissed his thoughts: "We can learn that there is a problem with the Trident's main guns, this information is completely accidental, and it is impossible for the Empire to know in advance that the Fifth Independent Mobile Fleet is going to ambush the Fortress, and it is arranged in advance for the Furster to accompany the Fortress. ”

"That's right. Rissen. Our local intelligence officers have confirmed that this main gun did have some problems with the fact that it was fired during the last exercise. Mrs. Almeda said.

"Yes. Madam, however, even if there is a problem with the Trident main gun, the Pearl Harbor base is still a formidable existence, and after the Fort was sunk and the Forst was captured by the Alliance, the Empire should be able to guess that the Alliance already knew that the Trident had a problem with the main gun, and it should be reasonable for the Pearl Harbor base to take necessary and corresponding warning measures, and the Empire would still attack when it was already psychologically prepared," he shook his head, "I am not optimistic about the result. ”

"Well," said Riseon, the top leader of the alliance was silent for a while, and finally sighed, "Maybe you are in a bit too anxious for us, Pearl Harbor, maybe wait." It's just a shame that such a great opportunity was wasted. ”

"Madame, I don't understand why we are in a hurry to capture Pearl Harbor? Is it really that important? Seeing that the lady was finally inclined to take their opinion, the girl quietly breathed a sigh of relief, and she remembered the question she and Risen had been puzzled about, and asked.

"Well, I'll just briefly explain why. "The lady pressed a few buttons on the table, revealing an interstellar map on the screen behind her." You see, the green part is the star field that we can actually control at present, the light blue part represents the forces that tend to the alliance, and the red part represents the area controlled by the empire, after years of efforts, the star field and the star field we control have almost accounted for nearly a quarter of the entire Galactic Empire, mainly concentrated in this area, and the Pearl Harbor base of the Shangri-La galaxy, its position is like a knife into the heart of the alliance, this star field group relies on and supports the various sub-bases of the empire, which divides our control star field into pieces, and it is difficult to support each other. Capture this hub base, other imperial bases and outposts will be in a passive situation in the short term, either retreat or face the dilemma of being annihilated by each other, and our control of the star field will be connected together, which will not only facilitate mutual support and communication, but also provide us with a large strategic buffer space, which is the most important thing. ”

She smiled regretfully, "Why do we need a strategic buffer space so much, the two alliances are getting faster and faster, the secrets of the Siberian galaxy are estimated to be impossible to hide soon, once the empire learns that the alliance is headquartered in the Siberian galaxy, a large-scale offensive can be expected next, we need to have enough time and space to prepare, whether it is to resist the empire's attack or retreat." ”

"In addition, there is another advantage to capturing the Pearl Harbor base in a short period of time, this base not only has an important Banshee starfighter production line, but also has many logistics support facilities that can support the fleet's activities, including the ability to repair large ships, Including the dockyard of space carriers and battleships, the information we have received shows that there are currently several imperial capital warships in the dock, some of which were damaged in the battle with us, and some are undergoing routine renovations, including at least two space carriers and two battleships, they have no combat effectiveness until the end of the repair, if we can capture the Pearl Harbor base at this time, the strength of the imperial fleet will be another major setback after the total destruction of the Fifth Fleet, not only can it give the imperial authorities a greater psychological shock, but also after the strength of the imperial mobile fleet is greatly damaged, even if they know that the alliance is headquartered in the Siberian galaxy, they will be more cautious in the face of the strength of the alliance to launch a large-scale attackIt is more difficult for them to mobilize enough attacking fleets, and we also have more time to prepare, and more space to resist the attack of the imperial fleet, and maybe the empire will even have to give up the attack on the Siberian galaxy, which is not impossible. ”

"That's why it's becoming more and more urgent for us to pull out the nail on Pearl Harbor, we need to integrate our forces, and once the integration is complete, this entire starfield group will be completely out of the control of the Empire and included in the scope of the Alliance, forming a situation that is in opposition to the Empire. That's why we're asking for your opinion on attacking Pearl Harbor, because you're one of the best commanders in our Resistance League. And it was at this time that you brought me great news about the non-functioning main guns at the base at Pearl Harbor, and this opportunity was not seized."

She took a deep breath, "Maybe there won't be another chance like this in the future, and once the empire learns the secret of the Siberian galaxy, it's very fast, and this secret won't be kept for long." She affirmed that Risen estimated that there was a good chance that something would go wrong again: "A large-scale attack with Pearl Harbor as a forward base is just around the corner, we have neither the time nor the space to fight it, and the only option given to us is a complete withdrawal from the Siberian system, Ryson, although this will not lead to the demise of the Alliance, will be a very significant loss, we have been operating here for many years, there are class shipyards, fighter production lines, and various facilities, and our business is likely to stagnate or even go back for many years." ”

Risen and Philen didn't know what to say for a while, and there was silence in the room, and Lady Almeda was thinking, and so were they.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, sorry to disappoint you." Risen whispered after a long time, his head bowed too low to look at the lady.

"It's not time to say sorry, I'm going to return this opinion, I want you to think about it carefully, don't miss a little, maybe don't ignore any ideas that might be whimsical, understand?" "Yes, ma'am." The two stood up and saluted.