Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 548

Chapter 546, Battle of Mentus

Leveraging the greater initiative of ships relative to planetary defenses, the Alliance’s ships engaged in repeated tactical maneuvers.

This was an effective strategy.

As long as the fleet’s strength wasn’t significantly inferior to the planetary defenses, this tactic could effectively capture a well-defended planet.

Don’t let a single round of enemy fire crumble before being crushed. Furthermore, the fleet’s firepower could inflict significant damage to the defensive space stations and star fortresses in a brief exchange of fire, gradually wearing down the planet’s orbital defenses.

Of course, while fleet losses were manageable, this approach wouldn’t be insignificant. After all, in war, anything could happen. The Alliance’s first wave of attack unexpectedly lost a frigate to repeated hits from a star fortress’s main guns.

This was unavoidable.

Furthermore, this slow, gradual approach was incredibly time-consuming.

According to naval advisors, if this approach were employed solely, it would take over a year to capture the outer orbit of Mentus II.

This didn’t even include clearing the surface’s anti-orbital systems.

Gu Hang wasn’t particularly rushed, but he didn’t want to prolong the capture of a planet to such an extent.

Numerous known and unknown complications would arise.

An overly hasty attack would also result in significant losses.

The solution, then, was more than just a fleet-to-fleet barrage.

Three months later, the Alliance’s repeated attacks had knocked out approximately 20% of Mentus II’s orbital defenses, and one of its three star fortresses had sustained significant damage, forcing it to be pulled back to orbit closer to the surface for repairs.

Seizing this opportunity, the Alliance launched a ferocious offensive.

Initially, the defenders of Mentus II didn’t notice anything unusual, believing it was the same battle of attrition and destruction they’d experienced over the past three months.

But what shocked them was that this time, the attacking Alliance fleet wasn’t just a standoff, firing from a distance.

They increased their speed and charged directly at Mentus II’s orbital defenses.

This was a resolute gesture, like a sledgehammer, determined to smash the planet’s orbital defenses to smithereens, completely disregarding the possibility of their own destruction in the process.

“Fire!”

‘Fire!’ ‘

Full-force fire!’

Across the communications of various space stations, star forts, starports, and ground fortresses on Mentus II, a diverse array of voices fiercely echoed a single message.

They would confront the incoming Alliance fleet with the most ferocious firepower.

The defenders of Mentus II realized this was an unusual situation, and they were unsure if the planetary defenses could truly withstand the Alliance fleet’s reckless assault.

However, they had no choice but to unleash their full firepower.

Meanwhile, the defending commanders were puzzled: Why would the Alliance do this? Were they truly willing to risk their precious naval warships in a bloody battle against orbital defenses worth far less?

Win or lose, it would be a huge loss!

However, they soon understood why the Alliance was so aggressive.

On the side of the planet facing the incoming Alliance fleet, all orbital guns opened fire. However, the Alliance fleet hadn’t yet reached low Earth orbit, remaining some distance away. The deterrent effect of the ground-based artillery was greater than its direct killing power. The main issue was the uncertainty surrounding their accuracy.

At this stage, the most reliable defenses were the orbital defenses.

However, of the crucial starport fortress and three star fortresses, only the hastily deployed one, already heavily damaged, managed to fire successfully.

The starport and the other two star fortresses, supposedly the core of the defense, had simultaneously failed to fire.

Seeing this, the defenders, anxiously observing the situation on the ground, felt a chill in their hearts.

What was going on?

What had happened?

Communication messages were sent one after another.

They desperately wanted to know why the orbital infrastructure, which should have been the most effective, hadn’t responded.

However, they received no response for a long time. They could only watch as the Alliance ships, centered around the battleship “Fire Nova,” triumphantly destroyed the already severely damaged, yet still struggling, star fortress, while simultaneously decimating numerous armed space stations.

The defending commanders closed their eyes in agony.

Mentus II’s orbital defenses were utterly destroyed.

The Alliance fleet had incurred some cost, but it was far less than it should have been.

No major vessels were damaged; at most, a cruiser was destroyed, with several more damaged.

This loss, while significant, was well within the Alliance’s acceptable range.

It was only then that the ground-based command center received a reply from the starport:

the enemy had boarded.

…

Mentus II’s defensive preparations were excellent in every respect.

However, they lacked a crucial element: protection against psychic energy.

This capability would be extremely demanding against the Storm Mages, led by Gu Hang himself.

What happens if you don’t meet the requirements?

It’s just like what happened with Mentus II.

Using psychic energy to shred space facilities like star fortresses and starports isn’t impossible.

If Gu Hang fully unleashes the Storm Kingdom, raising his psychic power to Alpha level, or even higher, he could forcibly shred a star fortress.

However, this would require him to board a ship and reach a closer distance. Otherwise, at such great distances in space, the projection of psychic power would be significantly attenuated.

In other words, while Gu Hang’s psychic power was formidable, its range was far inferior to that of naval guns.

Furthermore, even if he risked getting close enough to rip the star fort apart with psychic power, it would be a thankless task. Even with all his might, Gu Hang would be extremely exhausted. After one such attack, he might not have enough energy for a second one.

The enemy still had at least one star fortress and a larger starport fortress.

The effort was unnecessary.

Is psychic power such an inconvenience?

It didn’t need to be so brute-force. There were more clever uses.

For example, with the Storm Mage Corps, they could unleash a warp wave, completely blocking communication between the starport and star fortress and the surface, or even severely disrupting communications within the starport and star fortress itself.

Then, using psychic teleportation, they could deploy the Alliance’s powerful army directly into these space facilities.

Airdrops and boarding missions are dangerous, and the most perilous phase is the time in space, just before reaching the destination.

A landing craft carrying dozens of Space Marines would suffer immensely if intercepted by a single artillery barrage mid-flight.

Psionic teleportation is also quite dangerous. A single misstep, such as a misdirected delivery or psychic interference from the enemy, could lead to the teleported being lost in the Warp, potentially over distances of tens of thousands of kilometers, and be fatal.

But wasn’t it true that the defenders of Mentus II barely had sufficient psychic defenses?

They had, but they had been drafted by the Fury Fleet to bolster their capabilities against Gu Hang. While

the Fury Fleet had enhanced its own psychic defenses, Mentus II suffered.

They were completely unable to disrupt the Alliance’s teleportation tactics,

or even detect them.

The two intact star forts and the fortress starport were frantically preparing to fire, but in the blink of an eye, a cerulean teleportation array appeared before them. Before they could react, two red-armored Space Marines would often appear, teaming up to attack.

This situation occurred at numerous strategic points within the Star Fortress and Starport.

Control consoles, communication centers, command centers, heavy artillery platforms…

countless teleportation arrays scattered and flung in countless Space Marines.

However, even after these arrays completed the transport of the Phoenix, they continued to operate.

Then, team after team of elite soldiers emerged.

Three light infantry skeleton divisions had been specially mobilized and were on standby aboard the Fire Nova. Following the Space Marines’ lead, these three skeleton divisions were systematically teleported into the Starport and Star Fortress, assisting the Space Marines in the battle and securing any key nodes that had been captured, freeing up the Space Marines for more important tasks. The so

-called light infantry skeleton divisions were essentially the same as the regular skeleton divisions, with most of the heavy vehicles removed.

Of course, this isn’t simply a elimination. Otherwise, aside from a more elite force, what’s the difference between a regular large infantry division?

The difference lies in the elimination of heavy vehicles, replaced by numerous lightweight armored units capable of operating in confined and complex spaces. For example, there are more Sentinels, more Regenerative Power Armor, and some fast assault vehicles like armed hoverbikes and rapid-fire self-propelled airborne guns…

In other words, the money spent on tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery is now being used to equip these smaller, more agile armored units.

In a direct battle, a light Skeleton Division pitted against a full-fledged Skeleton Division would be courting death.

At the same price point, a Lion tank could easily outmaneuver five or six Sentinels; a Lion King tank could blast a Knight.

However, Lion King tanks are incapable of maneuvering in environments like starports and star forts.

Light Skeleton Divisions operate in their own specialized environments.

Accompanying Space Marines in offensive operations, these truly elite units among mortal armies also play a significant role.

Space Marines are scarce, after all. Capturing the entire starport and star fort requires a larger force of ground forces or marines.

In short, the Alliance’s psionically teleported ground forces quickly dismantled the three star forts and starports at the outset of the battle, before they could strike the Alliance’s relentless fleet.

The completely occupied starports and star forts then turned their firepower on the remaining armed space stations.

However, during this phase, some unexpected events occurred.

After receiving reports from the starports and witnessing the starports and star forts attacking their own remaining space stations, the ground defenders made a decisive decision. Ground-

based fortress artillery batteries began to concentrate fire on the starports and star forts.

Since these captured units could no longer provide support and instead became enemy fire points, they needed to be ruthlessly destroyed as much as possible.

Furthermore, the starports and star forts facing the surface were not well-defended. Moreover, they were close to the surface and lacked maneuverability, so they were hit with every blow.

The interior of the starports and star fortresses was inevitably damaged due to the competition and fighting with the Alliance boarding forces.

Under various circumstances, two star fortresses and one starport were unable to hold out for long under the bombardment of the ground orbital artillery group and were quickly destroyed.

The Alliance also lacked some means to deal with this.

But fortunately, before the starports and star fortresses were destroyed, the Alliance urgently evacuated its landing forces.

Landing craft and small ships flew swiftly to the starports and star fortresses and quickly picked up the people.

Of course, picking up people is definitely not as convenient as teleporting.

There were still many Alliance soldiers who died with them in the starports and star fortresses. There were also cases where evacuation ships were shot down during the evacuation process.

But generally speaking, the losses were still controllable.

(End of this chapter)