Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 534

Chapter 532, Battlecruiser’s First Battle

The blue-and-white painted “Raging Owl” slowly streaked through the void, with the brilliant star of Yuehe VII as its backdrop.

Pieces of high-speed drifting space debris were pushed aside by the void shields, gradually recharging and returning to their normal color. Slower-moving debris was blasted to ash by occasional bursts of fire. Smaller, slower-moving debris was no more a concern, simply ramming through it, leaving only a few scratches on its armor.

All this space junk had been created by the “Raging Owl” and its minions over the past five hours.

Once, they had belonged to numerous spaceships, the jewels of the Princess Star Domain.

Now, after five hours, they had all been reduced to space junk.

The “Raging Owl” slid through the debris, its slender, handsome, even elegant form, surrounded by dozens of smaller warships of various classes, appearing impressive, as if inspecting its achievements.

This was indeed a swift and fruitful assault.

The Raging Owl was brought by Yan Fangxu. They arrived in the northern Menghe Sector ahead of the main force and joined forces led by Perbov, who were struggling to hold off the Fury’s southward advance.

Perbov was the frontline commander, and Yan Fangxu was the highest-ranking general in the Alliance Army. Gu Hang had granted them extensive authority for this operation. They were empowered to assess the

situation and independently decide how to conduct the battle. After analyzing the various sectors embroiled in conflict, they quickly formulated a naval-focused plan.

Two generals from the Army certainly couldn’t devise a complete naval strategy on their own. Their roles were now more than just Army. Although they held the rank of Army General and Senior General respectively, they commanded a theater of operations as Army generals. Naval generals within the same theater of operations were expected to follow their orders.

This was quite different from Imperial rules. Within the Empire, the Astra Militarum and the Imperial Navy were distinct systems. There was no subordinate relationship between the two. Sometimes, the Imperial Navy even refused to embark the Astra Militarum, forcing the Astra Militarum to find other ways to acquire ships and deploy its forces to the battlefield.

Even when cooperation was relatively good, it was merely cooperation.

With cooperation, there was no such thing as mandatory compliance. Help was offered whenever possible, but if it wasn’t, there was nothing the other side could do, only verbal arguments that didn’t solve the problem.

Even if the Empire sometimes dispatched a high-ranking general or someone with special status to oversee the overall situation, acting as a theater commander, whether this commander could effectively integrate the Astra Militarum and the Imperial Navy, nominally under his command, depended on his personal skill and the depth of his connections.

After all, such temporary subordination was short-lived, and even the degree of enforcement was questionable.

These issues did not exist within the Alliance.

The Alliance had a clear hierarchy of superiors and subordinates. For a large theater, a designated commander was appointed, and regardless of whether he was from the Navy or the Army, all participating troops assigned to that theater were expected to obey his orders unconditionally. Anyone who disobeys orders will be punished by military law.

The political commissar is watching closely.

Even in a small, temporary battlefield, if the theater commander designates a responsible person, then that person will take charge. Without a designated person, the two sides will discuss matters. If the discussion doesn’t pan out, each will report back to the higher-ups, who always have a responsible person or theater commander.

The theater commander here was previously Perbov, and he became Yan Fangxu’s new commander. The Allied Navy must execute the strategy agreed upon by the two.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that two army generals can just rush in. Specific operational objectives will be determined by the headquarters’ staff, which includes naval specialists.

Once the objectives are set, the naval captains and staff will develop detailed action plans based on the theater commander’s objectives and submit them to the headquarters.

Once the action plans are approved by the headquarters, they can be implemented.

This is a complete process.

Of course, in war, unexpected events are common, and this process isn’t always fully implemented. In emergencies, one must adapt to changing circumstances.

As for the current situation, it’s certainly not an emergency.

After the process was completed, the captain of the Wrathful Owl, a rear admiral, assessed the situation, participated in the development of the plan, and personally executed it.

The Wrathful Owl set out with three cruisers and twenty-nine small and medium-sized vessels of various types, accompanied by a transport fleet.

Disguised as part of the transport fleet, they feigned astropathic exposure.

While traversing the astral tunnel of Yuehe VII, the enemy took the bait.

Several of the Princess’s destroyers, believing they had found their prey, pounced.

Then, horrified, they beheld the slender and graceful form of the Wrathful Owl.

Terrified, the Princess’s ships turned and fled.

But with the fish already hooked, the Wrathful Owl, in its first battle, refused to give up.

A regular battleship might not have been able to catch a fugitive intent on fleeing.

However, the high-speed characteristics of the Grail-class battlecruisers clearly made them no less clumsy.

The swift pursuit, the precise fire, the deadly destructive power of the super-sized artillery against small and medium-sized vessels…

these combined characteristics meant a devastating slaughter of the enemy.

Five ‘Doomsday’ lances and five ‘Wrath of the Loyal’s’ lances, firing in unison, had already blasted the rebel destroyers with a red glow, rapidly overloading their energy shields

. The X-class ‘Divine Punishment’ lances could instantly decimate the enemy with a single hit! After these predatory destroyers were counterattacked, the rebel fleet stationed near the orbit of Yuehe VII.3 learned of the events at the jump point.

They were momentarily stunned.

They had already received word of the Alliance’s departure. But it was assumed that the main Alliance force would take at least two months to reach the main battlefield in the northern Menghe Segmental Region.

And yet, a new ship had arrived?

A Grail-class battlecruiser…

The Fury Legion’s southward offensive had included even larger main battleships. The Fury’s battle barges were equivalent to battleships, and a full-fledged Retribution-class battleship also participated.

But none of them were on Yuehe VII.

The strongest rebel fleet in this star system consisted of only two cruisers.

After receiving news of the arrival of the Wrathful Owl and the loss of several destroyers, the rebel fleet slowly moved out of Yuehe VII’s orbit, preparing to evacuate the system.

Staying would mean death.

Even if they wanted to flee now, it was too late.

The Raging Owl steamed ahead at full speed, not heading for Yuehe VII.3, but instead blocking the enemy’s jump point as they fled north.

The Raging Owl was certainly farther away, but at full speed, it caught up with the rebel ships before they could even jump.

The two Lunar-class cruisers were moving too slowly.

Of course, the Raging Owl, at full speed, effectively abandoned its accompanying ships. The three Lunar-class cruisers were undoubtedly unable to keep up.

Only a few Raging Shark-class destroyers, desperately pushing their engines to full capacity, could barely keep up.

The enemy ships were clearly quite surprised.

The Holy Grail-class was indeed uncommon in the Empire.

Battlecruisers themselves were already rare. Those with the means to deploy them were usually willing to bite the bullet and deploy a proper battleship.

Among the rarer battlecruisers, the Dragon Serpent class, the type built on the planet Jindi, was the most common. The Holy Grail class, even rarer among battlecruisers, was an even rarer find.

Everyone knew battlecruisers were fast, but surprisingly, the Holy Grail class was the fastest of the fast.

Having miscalculated and failed to escape, the rebel fleet was momentarily in disarray.

Should they leave one ship behind to cover the rear, while the others forcibly warped and fled?

Should they scatter and risk whoever was captured?

Or… should they fight head-on?

Whatever their dilemma, the moment the Furious Owl appeared before them, the moment of decision was reached.

And their choice seemed to be a desperate one.

And that was understandable.

Regardless of the class of warship, they were ultimately part of the war effort, part of the fleet. Battlecruisers were fast and powerful, but they also had the disadvantage of being fragile. Just like a battleship’s superior frontal combat capabilities but limited mobility,

a single ship’s weaknesses don’t necessarily need to be addressed by itself; that would be prohibitively expensive.

Since this is a fleet operation, it’s best to fulfill its responsibilities and delegate tasks that are less specialized to other ships.

Meanwhile, the Alliance battlecruiser, in its hasty pursuit, has become disconnected from its own fleet, with only a handful of destroyers following. That doesn’t mean it’s incapable of engaging.

Even at the cost of some losses, destroying the Alliance battlecruiser would be a significant victory!

Led by two Moon-class cruisers, a total of over thirty ships launched a siege on the Wrathful Owl.

The Wrathful Owl sidestepped, avoiding a direct confrontation with the enemy fleet and instead gliding sideways, maintaining a distance.

The ‘Heavenly Punishment’ lances opened fire first, instantly destroying an enemy frigate.

Then, twelve L-class heavy guns and twenty-four M-class guns opened fire in sequence.

The firepower of a single ship was nearly equivalent to that of an entire enemy fleet!

The enemy’s two Moon-class cruisers combined possessed only six L-class guns.

Of course, this level of firepower could still pose a threat to the Wrathful Owl.

After all, battlecruisers are thinner and less resistant than normal cruisers.

However, their superior speed and agility meant that enemy firepower would be largely ineffective.

Conversely, it was nearly impossible for a Moon-class cruiser to actively evade the Wrathful Owl’s attacks.

Of course, the engagement range was quite long, and each side’s accuracy was inherently compromised.

This naval battle lasted approximately an hour.

The sixth rebel ship destroyed by the Wrathful Owl was one of the two Moon-class cruisers. The other ship’s void shield had already begun to glow red, having been struck by a celestial punitive attack from the front.

By this point, the enemy fleet was completely overwhelmed

and began to retreat.

They dared not force their way out of the jump point. If their void and energy shields were deactivated, they would be sitting ducks on the eve of their jump,

facing countless casualties. They could only split up, fleeing in over twenty directions.

The Raging Owl, despite its speed, could only pursue in one direction.

Naturally, it targeted the largest ship.

First, it hunted down and killed the remaining Moon-class cruiser, then swung its bow in a different direction. Using its superior speed and agility, it captured three more ships before they could escape.

Two of them were blasted to pieces by the Raging Owl. The remaining frigate surrendered,

deactivating its energy shields and all its weapons systems, allowing the Raging Owl’s guns to focus on it.

Marines boarded the ship and took control.

…

The naval battle at Yuehe VII was a resounding victory for the Alliance.

This was the first battle for the Raging Owl and the Alliance’s Grail-class battlecruiser.

While the intensity of the battle wasn’t high, essentially a fight against “little ones,” it also demonstrated the battlecruiser’s defining characteristic: a master at bullying weaklings.

A battleship or battle carrier wouldn’t have achieved this effect; they’d likely have fled before they could even catch up.

Over twenty enemy ships remained, vanishing into the vast expanse of the solar system. Even the ships’ astronomical towers, constantly searching for signals, only occasionally picked up a signal, which quickly vanished.

Pursuing these signals and hunting them down might yield some results,

but such a game of hide-and-seek would inevitably be protracted.

The Raging Owl didn’t have the time.

The three Moon-class ships, unable to keep up, headed directly to the orbit of Yuehe VII.3 and successfully established contact with ground forces.

Under the guidance of these ground forces, over twenty Alliance ships launched a three-day orbital assault on the surface.

The ground forces of the Princess Rebellion simply couldn’t withstand this kind of orbital bombardment.

The remaining space stations in orbit would not help them intercept firepower or threaten ships; they did have orbital guns that they seized and controlled after occupying the surface, but they were only in the single digits and hardly posed a problem.

The Alliance forces on the ground also became active after getting rid of the aerospace threat. After the orbital bombardment, they quickly carried out a final cleanup of the enemy’s manpower.

The Alliance forces launched a counterattack on a global scale.

On this planet, the total number of the Alliance Army and the Allied Forces is over 50 million; the number of the Princess’s rebels has reached over 70 million.

These 70 million rebels will certainly not be wiped out in a short time, but their losses must be very serious.

What’s worse for them is that in order to avoid orbital bombardment, they can only semi-actively abandon their organization.

After the army disperses, the loss of combat effectiveness will be very serious.

In just three days, the situation on the ground has been reversed.

(End of this chapter)