Within the Fierce Dragon System, several Fierce Dragon fleets had gathered at various places.
All were equipped with the Fierce Dragon Kingdom's most advanced interstellar warships.
Zhao Chen sat in the rear command HQ, where he could see the feeds from several fleets before him.
The rear command HQ existed to coordinate the whole; most of the time it would not interfere in the fighting at the front.
But when danger struck on some battlefield, the rear command HQ had to coordinate and make arrangements:
whether a retreat was needed, or whether a fleet needed to be sent to the rescue, and the like.
And with the Fierce Dragon Kingdom's present technology, cross-system communication was already possible,
and the video data within each fleet could be sent back
and synced in real time to the rear command HQ.
So even in the rear command HQ, Zhao Chen could know what was happening on the front-line battlefields.
"Every fleet is ready. There are five minutes left. The one-way, single-use star-gates will open and can deliver our fleets to the target systems' coordinates. The error is held within a set range, and the travel time will not exceed five minutes. After completing the space jump, these fleets can launch attacks on their planned combat targets within fifteen minutes!" Secretary Officer Barbara said beside him.
"By our original plan, the point of this blitz is to achieve our combat objectives in the shortest possible time. By the results of the several rounds of discussion and simulation Chu Xuan and Medusa and the rest ran, the best fighting time is no more than five hours. Past five hours, every extra half hour adds three points to the risk factor. If the fighting drags on to eight hours, the odds of success for this plan of ours fall to just 85%. If it drags on to ten hours, our odds fall to under 60%. Past ten hours, the odds will drop sharply still. At the eleventh hour, our odds fall to 70%![1]" Zhao Chen said gravely.
These figures were not as simple as mere odds of success.
Behind these figures, in truth, lay the number of casualties too.
"This time we've readied five fleets, each of three hundred interstellar warships. Of them, our T3-grade interstellar warships alone already number over a hundred! For that we have the Lanners civilization's sponsorship to thank!" Secretary Officer Barbara said.
A hundred T3 interstellar warships of every model: this was in truth what gave Zhao Chen the nerve to strike first at the Dax Empire.
"As thanks to the Lanners civilization, put it on the Lanners civilization's tab for now. Once we've dealt with the Dax Empire in the future, they're next. We won't keep them waiting too long," Zhao Chen said with a light laugh.
Had the Lanners civilization's leader been there to hear this, no doubt he would have flipped Zhao Chen the middle finger while saying, "Why, thank you so much."
Zhao Chen smiled as he watched, in the video feeds, the star-gates already slowly unfolding ahead of the several fleets.
On the far side of the star-gates were the targets of this expedition of theirs.
"I hope the Dax Empire likes this gift of ours," Zhao Chen said with a faint smile.
——————
The Dax Empire · Bianca Shipworks
This was the most advanced shipworks the Dax Empire had built in its First System, devoted to building and producing T3-grade interstellar warships.
It could be said that over ninety percent of the T3 interstellar warships now in active service in the Dax Empire came from this shipworks.
So the Dax Empire valued this shipworks very highly too.
Here it had deployed the Dax Empire's most advanced defense system at present, with every kind of interstellar fortress and battle stronghold, everything complete.
At the nearest point a star-gate had been built as well, so that even if the place came under enemy attack, starships could be summoned from elsewhere to come to its support in the shortest possible time.
Besides that, five hundred starships were deployed here.
It should be understood that, with the Dax Empire living as hand-to-mouth as it now was,
the fact that it could spare five hundred starships to post here on guard duty was enough to show how important this place was.
"These days have truly worked me to death. Overtime on overtime, producing. Once this batch of ours, thirty T3 interstellar warships, is delivered, we can rest a little while," a Dax engineer said, sitting before a great floor-to-ceiling window, a glass of wine set before him.
The décor behind him was presumably the leisure bar here, for them to rest in.
"Who'd say otherwise? But it depends on whether our coming third expedition goes smoothly too. If the third expedition doesn't go smoothly, then we'll have plenty to keep us busy," the other Dax engineer said.
At this, the two exchanged a look, both somewhat resigned.
"Why are there so many points of light over there? Are those starship engines?" The Dax engineer longing for his rest and time off looked out the porthole at the universe, and saw dot after dot appear in the distant universe.
As an engineer, he recognized at a glance that these had to be starship engines.
"They're starship engines. But I haven't heard of any fleet patrolling around us these days," the Dax engineer beside him muttered in puzzlement.
"Something's wrong. The color of these starship engines, and their brightness, are completely different from our active-service starship engine nozzles!" Suddenly they noticed something wrong.
These might not be the Dax Empire's interstellar warships.
That being so, only one possibility remained:
that the other side was not a Dax Empire fleet at all!
"It's an enemy attack!" And almost at the same moment,
alarms sounded through this shipworks, and red lights flashed everywhere.
The engineers began hurrying toward the shelters.
They were not combat personnel; in the face of danger, their first need was to keep themselves safe.
After all, Dax engineers like them were irreplaceable: every one who died was one fewer.
"Is that… an interstellar missile ship?" As he ran, the Dax engineer's eyes swept over the transparent long gallery beside him.
He tapped a few times on the glasses before his eyes, and in an instant the distant view was magnified.
He saw dozens of interstellar missile ships.
He saw the missile launch cells of those interstellar missile ships opening, and the interstellar missiles being flung out and then flying toward their shipworks.
And this distance
was outside the fire range of their shipworks' defense system.
"This is bad! It really is an interstellar missile ship!" The Dax engineer realized at once that they were in big trouble.
The attackers were striking first with the ultra-long-range firepower of interstellar missile ships,
destroying their defensive weapons, and only then sending interstellar warships in to attack.
That way, the enemy interstellar fleet's fighting strength would be magnified without limit!
At this very moment:
The Fierce Dragon First Expeditionary Fleet · Flagship Bridge
Chu Xuan stood on the bridge's command platform, gazing at the battlefield opposite.
Originally Zhao Chen had opposed Chu Xuan going to the front in person.
There was, after all, a real risk of death.
But Chu Xuan had still insisted that this time she must go to the front in person to command the battle.
The reason was simple too.
This combat mission was extremely important.
And this being the most important of the targets of attack, she, Chu Xuan, could give orders and make combat deployments more directly on the front-line battlefield.
Even if the rear command HQ could sync the battlefield feeds in real time, a good deal of the picture was missing.
Add a round of analysis, then the giving of orders, and from first to last it would take a few minutes at least, even a dozen or more.
On a front-line battlefield like this one, where every second counted, time was opportunity.
So Chu Xuan came to the front in person,
in command of this First Fleet.
"Within the target area there's the defense system the enemy has deployed, and five hundred interstellar warships. And there's one more target: the enemy's star-gate. Once the enemy learns we're attacking here, they're bound to send interstellar fleets here through the star-gate. While attacking this shipworks, we must seize the outer zone of the enemy's star-gate and block the enemy's star-gate!" Marshal Chu Xuan said solemnly. "Once all interstellar missile ships have completed the first round of fire strikes, they take on supplies from the interstellar supply ships at the rear of the battlefield. The remaining interstellar warships divide into two combat groups. One combat group attacks the shipworks; the other combat group goes to block the enemy's star-gate. However many interstellar warships come from the other side, block that star-gate for me!"
"Yes!"
Marshal Chu Xuan glanced at a huge data panel beside her.
On it could be seen the three hundred–odd interstellar warships she had brought this time,
among them auxiliary interstellar warships of every type.
"Quick, quick, quick! Get moving. Resupply the interstellar missile ships!" On the bridge of a T3 Handmaiden-class Heavy Interstellar Supply Ship, the captain looked at the several supply windows before him.
This T3 Handmaiden-class Heavy Interstellar Supply Ship had fully unfolded, and around its hull could be seen a great many extended mechanical arms.
And the T2 Lion King-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ships that had completed their combat task came alongside one after another, all getting ready to take on supplies.
And among them, the most eye-catching was naturally this fleet's one and only T3 Judicator-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ship!
This T3 Judicator-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ship was a priority too, with two T3 Handmaiden-class Heavy Interstellar Supply Ships carrying out resupply operations on it at once.
And at this moment, up ahead,
the Fierce Dragon fleet's other interstellar warships began launching their fiercest charge.
Because of the first round of interstellar missile attacks earlier,
over half of the defensive weapons deployed around the shipworks had been destroyed,
and even some of the interstellar warships patrolling there had been locked onto and destroyed.
This round of interstellar missile attacks could be said to have completed its combat task perfectly,
paving the way for the Fierce Dragon fleet's frontal charge.
Marshal Chu Xuan looked at the battlefield holo-table.
Of the three hundred interstellar warships she had brought this time, twenty were T3 interstellar warships,
taking in T3 interstellar warships of every type,
to make sure of variety in the fighting.
But of a high-cost, powerful interstellar warship like the T3 Judicator-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ship, there was only one.
There was no help for it; its building cost and running cost were simply too frightening.
And at this moment, among these twenty T3 interstellar warships, the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruisers, leading the other T2- and T1-grade interstellar cruisers and interstellar battlecruisers, all swarmed toward the star-gate together.
Here were a hundred interstellar warships of the garrison.
"Quick! Wipe out these defenders for me in the shortest possible time! Be sure to take control of the area around the enemy's star-gate! Don't let them deliver too many interstellar warships over here!"
Because of the Blizzard sprint mode peculiar to the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser, the five T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruisers were the first to reach attack range.
Though it was a light interstellar warship,
the weapons it carried were quite varied.
First, the hangars on its hull could be seen opening.
Fifty T3-grade Blizzard interstellar drones all flew out.
There were also four cells of interstellar missile silos, and the fifty Blizzard light interstellar missiles stored in them.
With these interstellar missiles, the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruisers were in fact the first to open the attack on the enemy.
Besides that, in conventional weapons the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser was not the least bit lacking either:
one Blizzard-class Heavy Cluster-Laser Bow Cannon, four 2,500 mm–caliber medium electromagnetic cannon main guns, sixteen medium pulse-laser secondary guns and seventy-two medium close-in guns.
"Charge the bow cannon; aim at the strongest starship over there. Four main guns, lock onto enemy ships. Secondary guns and close-in guns, fire at will!" the captain ordered.
The five T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruisers were like five gods descended from the heavens,
laying waste on every side.
In a short time they actually had the hundred interstellar warships opposite pinned down, unable to raise their heads.
But this too relied on the interstellar missile support at the start.
When all those interstellar missiles had been fired off, problems arose with suppressing fire.
The interstellar warships opposite began showing signs of striking back.
Fortunately, at this point the other interstellar cruisers and interstellar battlecruisers coming in support on the Fierce Dragon fleet's side all entered the battlefield,
further raising the intensity of fire.
The outer defense line of the star-gate was soon destroyed.
The space outside the enemy's star-gate began to be compressed step by step.
This was just what Chu Xuan wanted.
If the star-gate could not be destroyed outright in a short time, then suppress the jump space outside it.
When a star-gate delivers starships, there must be free space outside the destination gate in which to place the interstellar warships.
If there is none, then interstellar warships forcibly delivered over, because of problems at the level of physical law, will suffer irreversible damage.
So as long as the space outside the star-gate was compressed, then even though the Dax Empire still held this star-gate, it still could not deliver any more starships over.
"The star-gate over there is suppressed by us. There won't be any trouble for a short while," the adjutant reported to Marshal Chu Xuan.
"Then what's left is the battlefield at the shipworks ahead. We can't waste time. Carry out our battle plan. Destroy the enemy's interstellar warships while destroying the starships under construction in their shipworks, and the industrial lines!" Marshal Chu Xuan said in a deep voice.
"Yes!"