Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 539

Chapter 537, Guangfeng Star Sea Battle

Chapter 537:

The firepower information detected by the Guangfeng Star Battle Patrol Ships had been transmitted to the Burning Nova five minutes earlier. This

information included information about enemy fire blockades, the deployment of booby traps around the jump point… In short, it informed the main battleships of relatively safe possible jump points. Of

course, this information wasn’t perfect, and was rather rudimentary.

The twenty patrol ships that completed the jump and reached the other side of the astral tunnel had only ten minutes of reconnaissance time, so they couldn’t expect much.

Furthermore, the Burning Nova had a very short timeframe for decision-making. After receiving this information, they would exit the astral tunnel and reach the real universe in just five minutes.

They couldn’t afford to carefully select the optimal solution; they could only rely on the available intelligence and, within the extremely limited time available, choose an untargeted area as their landing point.

Controlling the landing point after the jump was impossible, and there would inevitably be some deviation.

This was the risk.

But this time, they were lucky.

There weren’t many space booby traps here, only a few, exploding nearby. One frigate was significantly affected; the Fire Nova was also hit by three booby traps, but all three were triggered by sensing the warship’s target while still some distance away, posing a minimal threat.

The enemy’s main artillery fire wasn’t directed here. If they wanted to target the Fire Nova, they would need to re-lock on it.

The Fire Nova didn’t need to prioritize maxing out its engines.

It couldn’t perform complex or flexible maneuvers.

Activating its void shield was the top priority.

The battleship’s void shield was more than adequate.

Secondly, the firepower system.

The artillery wasn’t affected by the astral jump; it was already primed and ready to fire before the jump was complete.

The instant the jump was complete, the firepower system was searching for the enemy, locking onto the target, and preparing to fire.

Simultaneously, the ship’s self-defense interception systems were fully operational, ready to meet the challenge.

Along with the Retribution-class battleship, over fifteen frigates arrived. They too deployed their energy shields at full strength and engaged intercepting fire.

Minutes later, the enemy’s first wave of fire arrived.

It was less intense than expected.

The previously sacrificed Blackfish had indeed been effective. A significant portion of the enemy’s firepower, which could have been locked onto the Blackfish, was distracted and pursued them, limiting their ability to shift targets.

Intercepting fire raged furiously, while Reflectors and Defenders opened fire fiercely, attempting to intercept the limited enemy firepower.

Despite this, three frigates, unable to deploy their energy shields in

time, were destroyed. While the enemy’s firepower was relatively small, it was still significant, as were three star fortresses, hundreds of space stations, two battleships, and over four hundred ships of all classes. Even with lesser firepower, the enemy’s locked-on firepower was still significant.

The Fire Nova took three or four hits, but the battleship’s armor was thick enough to sustain no serious damage.

However, before the next round of fire arrived, the dozen or so frigates, along with the Fire Nova, had already deployed their void shields. Simultaneously, their fire locked onto the enemy, unleashing a ferocious roar.

Several enemy space stations were also destroyed.

Stand still, engage.

A single battleship with a dozen frigates was no match for the enemy. Just twenty minutes later, four more frigates were reduced to space junk. Even the Fire Nova, after taking three rounds of X-class heavy artillery, had its void shields tinged red.

However, the sacrifices of the frigates and the risks taken by the battleships served their purpose: to create a smooth landing zone for the following ships!

Five battlecruisers, named after planets in the Dragonhawk Sector, an aircraft carrier, and over five hundred cruisers, frigates, and destroyers, as the main force, instantly descended upon the battlefield.

Enemy firepower was now concentrated on the Fire Nova and its escorting frigates.

The Alliance fleet’s flagship served as a perfect human shield, successfully creating the space the Alliance fleet desired.

The various Alliance ships that had emerged were able to safely navigate the immediate dangers of the jump.

Those that needed to reactivate their shields and void shields, or switch to conventional engines, did so.

Meanwhile, the firepower, already primed before the jump, accurately locked onto its targets the moment it emerged.

As the enemy fire descended, the Alliance’s firepower followed suit.

The Alliance’s firepower also targeted enemy ships.

Ships are more fragile than star fortresses, that’s inevitable.

Furthermore, the initiative in this battle still lay with the enemy. Unless the Fury Fleet was determined to fight the Alliance to the death here—which Gu Hang wished for—if the Alliance fleet demonstrated its combat effectiveness and inflicted casualties on the enemy, causing them to feel the pain, the Fury Fleet, whose fighting spirit wasn’t particularly resolute, would likely withdraw on its own.

Once they were driven away, the remaining immobilized space defenses would be easy to deal with.

Whether it was a fleet-to-fight showdown or simply driving the Raging Flame Fleet off, the only thing to do was to focus on the enemy fleet and bombard it.

Pressure suddenly mounted on the enemy

, and it only grew. When the six battlecruisers fully demonstrated their impact, their firepower could easily be considered equivalent to three battleships in the battleship exchange. The Alliance’s Hippogriff was no exception. Its sudden outburst of Dragon Elephant fighters swarmed and destroyed a Raging Flame Fleet cruiser.

The cruiser’s frontal shells had shattered its void shield. Under normal circumstances, it could have retreated in time, operating within the fleet, and with the support of other escort ships, it could have survived. Luckily, its void shield was only overloaded, and the internal generators were intact. Given about half an hour, the void shield would have recharged and would have been back to full strength.

However, under the Hippogriff’s attack, any chance of survival vanished.

The eighteen fighters ejected into the ship’s face seized the opportunity presented by the shattered void shield, and without even the risk of slow approach, they launched their attack.

Like a swarm of bees, they swarmed around the starship. The fighters’ mounted cannons fiercely attacked the starship’s exposed turrets.

At the cost of eight fighters, they destroyed many of the cruiser’s exposed turrets, reducing the enemy’s ability to conduct interdiction fire.

Of these eight fighters, five still managed to fire their missiles before dying.

Some were intercepted by Reflectors and Defenders, but a third still managed to land.

That was one East Wind Fen and four Sky-Splitting Axes.

These five heavy anti-ship missiles inflicted significant damage on the enemy cruiser. Visible flames engulfed the starship, visible from the outside.

This still wasn’t destruction. The cruiser was still moving, with escorts approaching nearby. If it were allowed to retreat, perhaps internal damage control teams could actually repair and prevent further damage, preserving the ship’s survival. Returning for repairs would be another victory.

But the remaining fighters wouldn’t give it a chance.

The two surviving Dragon Elephants unleashed their six Dongfeng Fen missiles. Meanwhile, eleven Qilins unleashed twenty Sky-Splitting Axe missiles.

The severely damaged cruiser was powerless to intercept. The other escorts could intercept the artillery fire and destroy the fighters, but expecting them to intercept the missiles fired at the cruiser at close range was unrealistic.

Ultimately, more than half of the firepower from this attack struck the cruiser,

detonating it into space junk.

The surviving fighters began to disengage.

They raced at full speed, distancing themselves, suspending fire and activating camouflage.

In complete silence, the fighters’ size was minuscule in the universe. In the fierce battlefield, the enemy had too many things to contend with to spare the time to meticulously scan the entire space to locate and destroy the fighters.

Furthermore, after launching their missiles, even a massive aircraft like the Dragon Elephant posed no significant threat. At most, they had a few machine guns, which were effective against small ships, but were useless against large warships.

There was still a good chance that these silent fighters could quietly retreat back to the carrier.

The distance between the two sides was still too great, and the return flight would take a long time.

However, if the current naval battle lasted for several hours, or even ten, the returning fighters might be able to catch the second wave of attack, reload their missiles, and be ejected.

And the Alliance’s Zhuge-class carrier wasn’t the only aircraft launching their own aircraft.

Several cruisers, even the flagship of the Raging Flame Fleet, the battle barge “Triumphal Flame,” have been targeted.

Aircraft carriers are particularly adept at hunting down these large warships within the fleet.

The fighter jets launched from them are less effective against smaller and medium-sized vessels like frigates and destroyers. The interception firepower on these ships is intense, making their capture costly but unprofitable.

On the other hand, targeting larger vessels might be only slightly more challenging, but the rewards are immense.

The L-shaped Dongfeng-Fen missiles mounted on the close-range Dragon Elephant fighters can pose a significant threat to battleships.

The combined might of the Alliance’s eight main battleships and forty-one cruisers is effectively overcoming the disadvantage in the naval battle.

…

“Retreat,” Paulitus once again made a seemingly logical decision.

This, understandably, drew strong opposition from Wang Mengsong.

“Why retreat again? We’re clearly in the advantage!” Wang Mengsong’s voice echoed through the command channel once again.

He could see, of course, that the Alliance fleet was recovering from its disadvantage.

But precisely because of this, shouldn’t he intensify his efforts and secure victory?

He had even mobilized his own regiments, preparing for boarding.

Then, he heard the news that Paulitus was retreating.

He was furious.

But precisely because this was a crucial moment, he knew he couldn’t argue with Paulitus, the supreme commander. So, no matter how furious he was, he tried to suppress his emotions and offered earnest advice:

“The Alliance’s main fleet made a grave mistake this time. They rashly launched a full-scale warp, entering our home turf. With the Star Fortress and the warp point defense system we’ve constructed, we have a chance to annihilate the enemy ships here!”

“Even if we can’t completely annihilate them, we can at least inflict severe damage!”

“If we miss this opportunity, with our navy consisting of only two battleship-class warships, it will be nearly impossible for us to inflict a devastating blow on the Alliance fleet in a naval battle!”

“This opportunity cannot be missed!”

However, all he heard was Paulitus’s order to retreat.

Paulitus even ordered his astropaths to block Wang Mengsong’s access to the entire military command system, preventing this Chapter Master, who held a high position within the military, from interfering with the overall command system.

Of course, he didn’t want to anger Wang Mengsong too much. If this foolish fellow got carried away and went it alone, charging forward in a single salvo and implicated the entire force, it would be a serious disaster.

Therefore, he left Wang Mengsong a direct line to contact him.

Wang Mengsong soon realized he could no longer contact the other ships, and he angrily cursed Paulitus:

“You broken-backed dog! You are unfit to lead an entire army! I pity you! Your enemies are right before your eyes, and you don’t even dare to seek revenge!”

After their previous heated argument, Paulitus reflected on his actions. He would no longer engage in such meaningless arguments with Wang Mengsong. He ignored the insults of the New World Torch Regiment Captain and continued to issue his orders methodically.

Only when the entire fleet began to move according to his instructions did he finally have a moment of free time.

He took this opportunity to ask Wang Mengsong, “Didn’t your think tank tell you the pressure they’re under?”

“What?”

Wang Mengsong hadn’t received a reply.

It wasn’t his problem.

The think tank teams of the two chapters, as well as the mortal psykers, had been brought together and were directly responsible to Paulitos.

Wang Mengsong also left a member of the think tank with him, and logically, he should have been informed of the information.

But… Wang Mengsong seemed to have not received any news in a while.

“It seems that the pressure is even greater than the report said. The think tank you left behind didn’t even have the time to explain the situation to you.” Paulitos explained briefly.

Then, he sighed, “That Gu Hang from the Alliance… He may be the most powerful psyker I have ever seen in my hundreds of years of life. Is that really a level that mortals can achieve?”

(End of this chapter)