Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 630

Chapter 628, Ground Rebellion

The number of ships that retreated first by the ground rebellion was actually not large. They were mainly two battlecruisers and numerous cruisers.

After all, the Alliance also had a Retribution-class battleship, which was also a slow-moving vessel.

But as long as a ship returned first, it was a good thing.

When the Varuk fleet had just arrived at Aramita, the main fleet of the Alliance also returned.

Then, Ye Lishia made a rather fierce decision: rush directly into Aramita!

At the same time, the Alliance ships that arrived earlier and were in the near orbit of Aramita would also attack to support.

If you have the guts, then stop them.

The Mechanicus fleet was also rational.

If they insisted on intercepting them, they would first suffer from being attacked from both sides.

Then, the main fleet of the Alliance rushed forward and could rush into the coverage of Aramita’s orbital firepower in a blink of an eye. Unless the main fleet of the Alliance could be annihilated in such a short time, which was obviously impossible.

Once the main force of the Alliance charged in, the mechanical fleet would be stunned, unable to pursue. Otherwise, if they reached Aramita’s orbit, the combined firepower of the starports, star fortresses, and ground-based orbital artillery could rival that of ten battleships.

Starships couldn’t engage a planetary firefight.

Without the support of its own starships, a planetary defense system would be cumbersome and inflexible, vulnerable to enemy ships destroying outlying space stations one by one. It would also be easy for enemy ships to exploit gaps in the star fortress’s orbit and deploy forces from the surface, launching a surface attack…

But these plans wouldn’t work if a formidable fleet was

already in orbit. The two sides engaged in another standoff at Aramita.

The Alliance fleet couldn’t leave, and Varuk’s fleet didn’t dare to force an attack in the face of anti-orbital firepower, resulting in a stalemate.

Ye Lishia breathed a sigh of relief.

Her command, while flawed and erroneous at times, was generally sound.

She had saved the Alliance’s main fleet. While one battlecruiser, the Ronglin, was severely damaged and grounded in the starport, and numerous small and medium-sized warships had been lost in the grueling space battles of the past few days, the main force remained intact. In a

true comparison of losses, the mechanical fleet’s small and medium-sized vessels might have suffered fewer casualties, but in terms of the main battleships, they had lost a Dragon Snake-class battlecruiser, and two others sustained significant damage. One had to return to the shipyard for repairs, essentially crippling its combat effectiveness. The other, while still combat-capable, suffered damage to its command system. Despite some makeshift repairs, the command system was estimated to have lost 30% of its combat effectiveness.

Comparing the losses, it was unclear who had suffered the greater losses. Given

the inferior fleet size and strength, and the fact that their warp-point ambush strategy had been compromised, achieving this feat was a success.

Gu Hang himself considered this as well.

He took some time to observe the naval battle in the real universe, and in a few brief conversations with Ye Lishiya, he praised his lady.

Ye Lisia wasn’t particularly pleased by Gu Hang’s praise. Her subsequent strategy remained cautious and conscientious, and she held off Varuk’s fleet for two weeks at Aramita.

This period was relatively peaceful.

While the atmosphere was tense, actual combat rarely broke out, and even tentative encounters were rare.

It seemed everyone understood that a battlefield near Aramita’s orbit was a formidable one.

Two weeks later, the situation subtly shifted.

Aboard her flagship, Ye Lisia received news of a large-scale rebellion on Aramita’s surface.

Unrest had been occurring on the planet before.

Even with the personal intervention of the former Casting General, Moreau, and his connections with the Alfonzo Cult, a mutiny was unlikely.

However, the so-called “Aramita Cult” he had established was, to put it bluntly, comprised of a few of his closest associates, supplemented by a few wavering individuals on Aramita. After all, this place has belonged to the Alfonzo Cult for thousands of years. While Morro certainly holds the prestige of being the Forge General, it’s inevitable that some on the planet harbor sympathies with the Alfonzo Cult.

The Alliance launched a special operations attack on the ground, killing many of the leaders loyal to the original cult on Aramita. They didn’t kill them all, only the most important ones. This drastic measure, coupled with the arrival of Alliance forces, forced the planet into submission. Things

were relatively easy on the starport; a brief, brutal battle shattered the opposition.

On the ground, the opposition still had leaders, mid-level and high-level officials, and a core of members.

Initially, they were stunned and frightened. Now, having recovered and with Varuk, their greatest supporter, outside,

some have become more active, which is not surprising.

Furthermore, Varuk is bound to be involved.

Just as the Alliance understood when attacking Aramita that a strong fortress must be conquered from within, the Alfonzo Cult understands this as well.

And they also have a unique advantage. If the people of Aramita were to vote en masse, would they favor the Alfonzo Cult or the so-called “Aramita Cult,” which had only been established a month or two ago? It’s hard to say who would ultimately win.

After Moreau’s return, he realized the daunting challenge he faced.

With the support of the hundreds of millions of Alliance troops who gradually landed on Aramita’s surface, he launched a series of internal purges.

Many people died.

Even now, it’s hard to say how many of the rebellions were genuine or forced into action through brutal tactics.

But generally speaking, the various rebellions on the planet had been manageable.

While the Alliance Army was busy, deploying and suppressing them everywhere, these were generally counterinsurgency operations: executing stubborn elements and arresting suspects, sending them to internment camps. The specifics of their handling were the Aramita Cult’s business, and the Alliance refrained from interfering.

The scale of the battles was generally small.

The worst of it wasn’t even a war, barely a military operation.

Until now, a major industrial hive cluster in the southern hemisphere has erupted in a large-scale rebellion in the sub-nest.

Initially, the Aramita Cult’s forces were sent to suppress it.

They claimed to have suppressed it, but soon, news of further riots arrived in successive areas, only to be quickly reiterated.

A bit skeptical, the Aramita sect requested the Alliance send an infantry division, along with investigators.

Once inside, they were like a black hole: no further news.

They realized the gravity of the situation.

Aramita’s own forces were unreliable. No one knew how many potential traitors lay within these newly reorganized troops. The Aramita troops sent to suppress the rebellion weren’t simply annihilated, but had massively defected. The Alliance

had no choice but to send its own forces.

A division wasn’t enough, so they decided to send an army.

But the scale of the rebellion had been underestimated.

Once deployed, the army was met with a fierce siege.

And, surprisingly, a large number of half-mechanical, half-Zerg fighter servitors appeared among them.

These powerful units were so numerous that even elite Marines would be at a disadvantage, let alone the ordinary Alliance Army.

An army wasn’t completely wiped out, but it was struggling to hold a few positions, suffering heavy losses.

Afterward, the Alliance Army Headquarters began to reinforce its forces.

Army after army, and eventually, an entire army group, were deployed.

But soon, unrest erupted in another area of the Southern Hemisphere, even on a larger scale.

Yet another army group was deployed.

By this point, the Alliance’s force of over 100 million men seemed stretched thin.

Even though they only occupied two army groups, three more remained untouched.

They dared not move.

Fearing that if they did, the unrest wouldn’t just be limited to the two hives in the Southern Hemisphere; it could potentially cause global unrest.

In reality, if those two hives were largely controlled, a rather dire situation would ensue.

Political significance aside, the most crucial military concern lay in the orbital gun fortresses they had secured. Some of

these fortresses stood alone in the wilderness, others were stationed within hives.

Their guns, pointed at the planet’s outer orbit, opened fire fiercely.

The Alliance fleet was threatened from within.

Fight with the ground? Provide cover for the army?

Loss.

Furthermore, there was a concern that the Varluk fleet might seize this opportunity to launch a massive attack.

If the ground forces failed to retreat quickly and were to face the Varluk fleet’s attack from outside, there would be a real risk of catastrophic defeat.

The Alliance fleet was forced to retreat, avoiding the orbital artillery coverage of the two southern hemisphere sectors.

Simultaneously, orbital defense systems like starports, star fortresses, and armed space stations would have to change their orbits around Earth, otherwise they would be exposed if they crossed into the area covered by anti-orbital fire.

With this space ceded, the disadvantage rapidly increased.

The Varluk fleet thus had a window of opportunity for attack.

They still didn’t dare to attack with their entire fleet, as most of the ground-based orbital artillery was still under Alliance control, as were the orbital defense systems.

However, they could make some moves in the rebel-controlled space.

Although the airspace was quite narrow, it allowed for the relative safety of deploying additional support from the ground.

These rebels, having coerced and incited a large number of local residents, were also somewhat short on equipment.

They had already taken control of many arsenals on Forge Worlds and began ramping up production. However, the limited territory they controlled was hampered by incomplete production lines for many advanced equipment and large weaponry, as well as insufficient resources, which limited their production capacity.

The Varuk Fleet could naturally deploy these supplies directly from space:

heavy tanks, Titans, Knights, and even more bio-mechanical robots developed using Zerg technology.

The ground situation, which had been suppressed by the Alliance reinforcements, suddenly deteriorated again.

A naval battle had now become the most crucial stage of the ground battle.

Caught off guard, Yelisia had to respond.

She began to deploy even more troops to the ground, even sending in Space Marines. Both

the New World Torch and the Fury Flame had gone.

However, Yelisia was somewhat disappointed with their combat effectiveness.

So, she secretly sent three companies of Shadow Regiment down.

These warriors, clad in gray, unmarked power armor, would focus their efforts on several orbital gun fortresses.

At the same time, at the moment of the attack, the Alliance Fleet will dispatch ships to coordinate the operation.

Several destroyers and cruisers will risk their lives at that moment, approaching the Space Marines, braving the threat of anti-orbital guns and the potential attack of the Varuk fleet to provide fire support for the Space Marines’ actions.

Strive to seize some ground-based orbital guns as quickly and as quickly as possible.

(End of this chapter)