From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars

Chapter 75 Decision

The scene of the Federation warship re-igniting the plasma propulsion array and once again dragging out a long blue trail was immediately captured by the optical and infrared observation equipment of the Imperial fleet.

On the bridge of the Dawn Sword, Colonel Raphael and other tactical staff were confused.

What the federal fleet did was completely beyond their expectations.

Generally speaking, the restart of the main propulsion array occurs when the exchange of fire between the two sides comes to an end and is about to meet.

Because while maintaining the plasma propulsion array, the battleship fusion reactor cannot meet the full power operation of the deflection force field, and the rate of fire of the heavy particle cannon and the acceleration obtained by the plasma will also be greatly reduced.

This is why, before entering a battle, warship commanders will choose to turn off the main propulsion array after gaining combat speed, so as to not fall behind in the subsequent shooting.

After all, the energy supply of battleships is limited, even if the battleship is equipped with multiple fusion reactors.

Because multiple fusion reactors often mean a larger hull, more and more complex weapon units, more powerful deflection field generators, and plasma propulsion arrays with more array points.

Therefore, the federal task force's reopening of the main propulsion array operation at this time is meaningless except to gain more speed advantages.

Although higher relative speed and angular velocity will reduce the fleet's bombardment accuracy, this effect is two-way.

The bombardment accuracy of the Federation fleet in a high-speed raid will also be reduced, not to mention that they have fewer warships, and the amount of firepower delivered during salvos is not as good as that of the Imperial fleet.

So the current situation is that the federal fleet is preparing to enter the disengagement process after a round of double salvoes.

"The enemy fleet has a relative speed of 162 kilometers per second. It is continuing to accelerate. The straight-line distance is 18632 kilometers. The intersection is expected to occur in 108 seconds!"

"108 seconds."

The information reported again by the Tactical Information Coordinator let Rafael know that he had little time to make a decision.

He knew that no matter how incompetent the commander of the Federation fleet was, he would not make such a mind-boggling decision as running away after being beaten for nothing.

The other party must have other plans.

But as time passed by second by second, Raphael was forced to make an immediate decision.

In the end, the tone set by the Marquis of Ascania of ‘executing fleet defense operations’ was adhered to.

Raphael, who had just boldly issued the "double salvo" order, now decided to be conservative.

"The third and fifth driving escort detachments will release defensive tactical hydrogen bombs in three rounds, with an interval of ten seconds. Pay attention to the coverage area."

In the space wars of this era, the release of large-yield thermonuclear weapons has become a conventional defense method.

The ultra-high temperature ion fireball generated after the nuclear bomb explodes can ablate and distort the physical ammunition projected by the electromagnetic reconnection cannon, thereby changing its trajectory. The programmed warhead will lose its effect at ultra-high temperature.

After the explosion, the electric fields in these airspaces will be filled with a large number of elementary particles.

Heavy particle cannons or charged particle cannons, which are essentially directed energy weapons that attack through charged particles, will be extremely seriously interfered with and may even be unable to penetrate.

Soon, a wall of light rose again directly in front of the imperial fleet.

When this wall of light is about to go out, the second and third walls of light light up in sequence.

The warning systems on the federal warships issued three "high energy warnings" in succession.

When the scene outside the panoramic porthole was covered by dazzling white light, Brigadier General Duwell finally showed a smile on his face.

He, or everyone at the pre-war meeting, had made the right bet.

The ion fireball produced by the explosion of a large-yield thermonuclear weapon obscures the vision of both warring parties. This kind of masking is not only reflected in optical and infrared sensors, but also long-wave radar is interfered by the electromagnetic pulse generated when the tactical hydrogen bomb explodes.

In other words, before the effect of the ion fireball disappears, the fleets of both sides are like two boxers being forcibly separated by the referee, and no one can launch an attack.

But the Federation task force had no intention of engaging in a shootout with the Imperial fleet from the beginning.

A few days ago, a reconnaissance ship equipped with optical stealth and radar wave cancellation equipment, under the command of a bold captain, suddenly found a position about 8 kilometers away from the Empire's Eighth Expeditionary Strike Group.

After conducting reconnaissance through the ship's optical observation equipment, the reconnaissance ship transmitted two messages back to the task force.

First, many capital ships of the Imperial Fleet are docked at Lansford Military Port, but there are no signs of the space elevator operating.

Second, the Imperial Fleet has been intermittently conducting orbital strikes on Robert IV and conducting orbital airdrops.

It was these two pieces of information that made the officers participating in the combat meeting make a bold guess.

That is, the surface of Robert IV has not yet completely fallen.

A young officer who attended the meeting even put forward the bold hypothesis that "the empire may not yet control the space elevator."

As the only terrestrial planet in the Robert system, Robert IV also has the largest population and the largest number of troops stationed on it compared to other gaseous planets, rocky planets or inhabited satellites in the system.

Coupled with the early warning request for help sent from Robert No. 4, which was received earlier.

Brigadier General Duwell and other commanders believed that the federal troops on the planet were still resisting.

Moreover, the imperial forces may not be able to capture this planet in a short time.

In the end, the plan for this operation was unanimously approved at the operational meeting.

So from the beginning, Commodore Duwell had no intention of fighting to the death with the huge imperial fleet.

This high-speed raid was more about getting close to the Robert IV, finding out the strength of the Imperial fleet, and conducting reconnaissance in advance for the possible arrival of the main federal fleet.

At the same time, it is also to conduct a global broadcast at a certain moment when it is close to the planet, so that friendly forces on the surface know that there is a fleet fighting above them.

Of course, if it is just to achieve this goal, the task force can completely raid the planet from other directions, and there is no need to have such close contact with the imperial fleet.

But in that case, the Imperial fleet will not enter a state of fleet battle like this, let alone recall the orbital attack ships cruising in the orbit of the planet, thus unable to reduce the pressure on the ground forces.

Therefore, when the wall of light formed by the ion fireball gradually disappeared, the ship's various sensors and radars resumed work.

Colonel Raphael, the tactical staff, and the Marquis on the captain's seat saw the federal task force converging at a high speed less than 2000 kilometers away from the fleet.

These warships, whose main propulsion arrays have been turned off again, are now keeping their course normals unchanged, relying on vector nozzles throughout the hull to keep the warship's axis pointed toward the Imperial fleet.

At this moment, Colonel Raphael finally realized that he had been tricked.

Because he saw that in this fleet passing by at high speed, two destroyers did not adjust their axis, but broke away from the fleet and rushed towards Robert IV in the dazzling blue light of the plasma propulsion array.

The Federation fleet had no intention of carrying out a high-speed raid. All the other commanders did was just to send the two destroyers into the direct orbit of the Robert IV.

At the same time, the federal warship, which had been beaten almost the entire time, opened fire again.

(End of this chapter)