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Admiral Martin stood on the bridge of the USS Pioneer spaceship, staring incredulously at the porthole ahead, right there, a minute ago, the fast battleship Liberty was still carefully adjusting its position after the emergency turn, five minutes ago, he had just finished talking to her captain, but, now, there was nothing but empty space, and the countless metal wreckage in the distance, which was illuminated by a violent explosion and rapidly spreading in all directions, she had the honor to participate in this great battle, Unfortunately, it turned into countless dazzling clouds of smoke before a single shot was fired, becoming the first ship to die in this battle of the Alliance fleet of the Resistance.

There was chaos around the general, and the panicked controllers were calling for the Liberty in vain, as if they didn't believe that such a main starship had disappeared like this, and on the nearby alliance ship, all eyes were focused on the porthole, so neatly losing a capital battleship, this was the first time, people were dumbfounded, but forgot about the poor destroyer whose tail had been cut off by half of the beam.

Of course, General Martin knew what caused all this, he just didn't expect that at such a distance, this weapon of mass destruction could still exert such a powerful force, it seems that the intelligence and analysis agencies of the alliance still underestimated the energy of the Sunset system, they originally thought that the fleet should still be outside the "range" of the main weapon system of the Imperial Battle Base. Dr. Emer didn't know much about it, either; He also didn't expect that at such a distance, the Imperial Battle Base could lock on to the target so accurately, and General Martin understood that the blow just now, if it wasn't for the fast battleship Liberty blocking the front and acting as a stand-in for the Pioneer, would have turned into ashes. It was the space carrier at his feet, and she was not only the flagship of the Alliance fleet, but also carried Lady Elmeida and many important leaders of the Alliance Council. Even if the League had the upper hand in the battle because of the success of Rissen. But the chain of command was destroyed at the beginning of the war, and it is conceivable what kind of disaster will come next, and the blow of the Imperial Battle Base almost changed the course of the campaign and changed history.

Risen didn't see the last scene of the fast battleship Liberty, he was still on his way back to the fleet, too far away, the big explosion in the distance. For him, it was just a small spark, but the green pillar of light that shot from the Omega base across the entire battlefield, he did notice, in fact, it was so conspicuous that it was difficult not to notice, and this green pillar of light made him feel shocked at the same time. I can't help but feel a deep sense of fear.

The beam was gone, and then he heard an exclamation from the communication, and heard the chaos...... Finally, I knew what the green beam of death had brought to the Alliance......

"Liberty, how could it be her?" Risen screamed. He's a little lost.

He felt an irrepressible sadness in his heart, not only because he had lost a fast battleship and all the crew on the ground, but also because the fast battleship he lost was the Liberty, and he. and Schneier. They have a very special relationship with that fast battleship--- the two of them were rescued from the hands of the empire by this fast battleship, and then they joined the alliance. Later, they served in the Seventh Fleet, many of whom he knew on the Liberty Fast Battleship, not to mention Schneier, who had served on that battleship for nearly a year when Risen was still an instructor at the training center, and had more acquaintances, and although many had been transferred, there were still quite a few people who remained on the ship and disappeared with it.

The only ones who survived were the local flight wing to which the ship belonged and its pilots, although the mothership was destroyed, because most of the lightning fighters had already left the battleship first, they did not suffer the same fate, and it was a misfortune among all the luck.

"I'm x, ***," Schneier slammed his fist into the bulkhead of the cockpit in a rage, "Damn the Empire!" ”

It's terrible, such a long distance can destroy a battleship with such an accurate blow, although that thing can't be continuously "shot" because it needs to be recharged, but the charging time is estimated to not be too long, they can't let the enemy destroy the battleships and space carriers one after another, the alliance doesn't have many space carriers and battleships, Resson is secretly worried in his heart, especially the Archangel, she is also a space carrier.

Measures must be taken, either to attack, or to retreat.

The new order came down quickly, and not to his surprise: the battle plan changed, the whole fleet retreated!

"Where to retreat?" Hearing Yao Di's report, Risen was just stunned for a moment, and then immediately asked.

This retreat was by no means an abandonment of this campaign, although the loss of the fast battleship Liberty was a heavy blow, but it was not serious enough to give up the entire Houyi operation, the alliance had already fully estimated the losses in this operation before the war, the loss of four or five space carriers or battleships was still within the psychological tolerance of the people, and they had already achieved a major victory in the paralyzing Imperial battle base, this excellent opportunity, Admiral Martin could not fail to seize.

So, at best, this is just a temporary "sexual" tactical retreat.

"Retreat to the meteorite belt." Yao replied briefly, "On the one hand, we can use the dense meteorite belt to cover the fleet and avoid being directly exposed to the powerful firepower of the Omega base, on the other hand, the general thinks that it is necessary to fight a defensive battle first, and we can make full use of our advantages in the starfighters, combined with the defensive artillery fire of the fleet, to maximize the destruction and weaken the power of the Empire's starfighters, in addition, we can also get closer to the Federation reinforcements......"

There is a large meteorite belt between the three space jump points of JP2, JP5 and JP6 in the Corcoran Galaxy, which is very close to the current position of the fleet......

This meteorite belt is their meeting point, and the JP7 space jump point is here - even though it can't pass through any ships.

"Oh, it seems that the XY-1984 turkey hunt before made a deep impression on the general." Risen pondered. "But it may not be as easy as last time, the empire will definitely learn a lesson, last time we fought more and less, and this time there are too many enemy aircraft, to break through the interception of our starfighters, I don't think it is too difficult, and once the enemy planes break into the meteorite belt, the interference of the meteorite belt to the sensor is easy for us to lose control of the overall situation, such a large fleet, it is difficult to cover all aspects, it is easy to have defense loopholes, and it is impossible to effectively mobilize our starfighters to intercept the attack of enemy aircraft on the fleet," He asserted mercilessly, "If the Federation's reinforcements don't come fast enough, the fleet may suffer considerable losses." ”

"In any case, it is better than being bombarded by the Empire here without any power to fight back, here we have to deal with the sunset system and enemy aircraft attacks at the same time, in the meteorite belt we only need to deal with the Empire's interstellar fighters, and we can also carry out active defense and counterattack, fate is in our hands, even if the loss is greater, it is better than being beaten here and not being able to fight back, and the damage to morale is greater." Yao urged, "Many of our starfighters who have been dispatched to carry out attack missions are returning, preparing to unload the quantum torpedo and reinstall the image recognition missiles, and change to anti-air defense operations, those fighters who were previously responsible for anti-air operations will cover their return, reload and re-attack, Rayson, rush back as soon as possible, we don't have much time, the Imperial attack aircraft group has been dispatched, General Martin hopes that you will lead those returning fighters to form a second wave of interceptor groups, Specialized against Imperial starfighters that broke through the first line of fighter interception defense, especially those with quantum torpedoes. ”

"I see." Risen nodded, "I'm rushing back, let the ground crew get ready, Tulip One, over." ”

The changes in the Allied fleet were soon reflected on the large central screen in the central control room of the Omega base, and everyone in the central control room had a happy look on their faces, who were still worried that the starfighter force on their side would not be able to stop the attack of the rebel fighter group and could not hold out until reinforcements arrived...... And now, with just one shot, they actually retreated.

"Your Excellency Marshal, did you order our fleet to take the initiative to launch a pursuit?" Lieutenant General Corleone asked.

"When will the reinforced fleet arrive soon?" Steve, the Imperial Marshal, stroked his beard and pondered for a moment.

"The 21st Task Force Detachment of the Sixth Fleet, which has been dispatched from the planet Corcoran, can engage with the fighters of the rebel fleet in two and a half hours at the earliest, although there is only one space carrier, but with the stationed starfighters, the number of starfighters that can be dispatched is also more than two hundred, in addition, the 11th Fleet should be able to appear in the JP6 space jump point in six to eight hours, and the 11th Fleet has two two space carriers and a number of battleships and cruisers, which can provide reinforcements with more than three hundred starfighters, The two fleets are the closest, and the other fleets are farther away, estimated to be more than twenty-four hours......."

"Enough," waved His Excellency Marshal, "to prepare them for an attack." ”

"Yes, Your Excellency."