Yu Lian kept a close eye on all the data screens in front of him, while also releasing his spiritual sense to discern his current spatial position.
The Red Tiger began to advance at its second combat speed, curving a beautiful arc in the air.
"Enemy ship is cutting into a close angle, railgun shells have been fired!" Radar Officer Lilia's voice rang out on the bridge.
"Maintain normal speed, this is a feint!" Yu Lian said.
The Red Tiger maintained its current posture and continued to advance. Then, a kinetic shell enveloped in energy whizzed Past, just over ten meters from the hull.
Of course, it couldn't have been a real shell; it was just a small probe wrapped in electromagnetism. Even if it had hit the Red Tiger's hull, it would only have generated a large stream of uploaded data. However, in the judgment of the Director's Exercise Department, it could have ordered the Red Team's hull to be severely damaged and directly remotely shut down many of the ship's functions.
"What beautiful gunnery!" Yu Lian exclaimed.
"The Blue Faction's main gunner should be Mikhail Kent himself," Zhi Xia said, looking at the data in her hand.
This former Vice President of the Blueblood Brotherhood, and future second-in-command of the 830 Party, was for a long time completely overshadowed by the excessively strong presence of President Wien. Even in the future, he primarily played the role of a team adhesive, serving as a foundation in logistics, organization, and staff work.
But Yu Lian knew that this was an energetic person with extremely strong learning abilities. Unlike Yu Lian, who was a "Balance" bucket, he was a true bucket, with no shortcomings in any aspect.
More importantly, his grandfather was a well-known gunnery expert during the Age of Independence. His current writings are still required reading for gunnery majors at the Commonwealth's major military academies, so he has a "bloodline bonus."
However, was that shot just now truly Mikhail Kent's handiwork?
Yu Lian always felt something was off. An excellent artillery Commander utilizes continuous, precise artillery strikes to compress the enemy's movement routes, constantly forcing the opponent into a desperate situation, much like a spider weaving its web.
However, that shot just now, although it didn't hit, since it was a feint, it was naturally intentional.
The Blue Faction's gunner on the other side was clearly treating the battleship's main gun like a sniper rifle!
This feeling... if he didn't know Ina should be in the New World right now, he would have almost thought that girl had betrayed them.
"Zhi Xia, do we have the complete roster of the other side?" Yu Lian asked.
"Only 149 names and their data have been confirmed. I'm sorry, Yu Lian, this is our limit..." Zhi Xia began to apologize, then suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, Yu Lian, haven't you already read through it?"
More than once, I've read it three times. Besides those few from the 830 Party and Meng Jiao, I truly haven't heard of anyone else! However, this universe is so vast, you never know what masters the other side might dig up from some obscure corner.
At this moment, Bai Ziya's voice came through to the bridge: "Shields reacting, dropping 12%!"
"Captain, they are probing our shield performance and battery power," Zhi Xia frowned.
Yu Lian looked at his Vice Captain, regarding this girl whose name he hadn't heard of in later generations with new respect, but his face remained expressionless: "Autumn Mountain Yawata might indeed play such tricks... No need to mind them! Are the battery operations and hull structure affected?"
"No impact! I can guarantee it!" Aisen shouted loudly through the comms channel, his voice resolute and powerful.
This big, fair-skinned man was hot-blooded and very excited, completely different from his usual lukewarm demeanor. However, everyone could understand. After all, most of the people on the ship, including him, were probably truly in the prime of their lives, and naturally, they wanted to burn themselves out completely.
Yu Lian, however, knew that this big, fair-skinned man was actually this type: normally as gentle as a ball of cotton, but when it came to serious matters, he would completely transform into a polar bear, often the most fierce one. One who didn't know would think he had a dual personality.
"What about Li Baolu and his fighter squadron?"
"Standing by!" Zhi Xia said.
"Good, Red Tiger continues to maintain second combat speed! In three minutes, have them launch immediately!"
"Captain..."
"There will be an opportunity to launch!" Yu Lian said.
Zhi Xia no longer objected, and relayed the order with a decisive tone: "Understood, continue to maintain second combat speed! In three minutes, fighters prepare to launch!"
"Gunnery Officer, activate the turbo lasers. Open the gunports and deploy mines at coordinates A2, B13, and C14."
"Understood!" Lilia Alfonso answered loudly.
Then, without waiting for her, the official gunnery officer, to act, Tamir, the assistant gunnery officer, quickly operated with a skill far exceeding hers.
"Secondary gun crew, enter the turbo laser array, the enemy's missiles are coming soon!"
Long hours of training had truly instilled in these students some of the crispness and swiftness of soldiers. They quickly entered the operating cabins of the turbo laser array, ready to engage in close defense.
Yu Lian's judgment was accurate. About a minute later, dozens of dense anti-ship missiles appeared within the warning radar's detection range.
Explosions bloomed into orange-red light waves in the void. That was the result of the missiles colliding with the mines Yu Lian had deployed. The crew inside the ship watched the halo with a sense of exhilaration. The Captain's foresight and decisive response made them want to applaud, and their fighting spirit soared.
To put it simply, young people are that simple. When they see their side gaining the upper hand, they naturally become more confident and more determined.
However, after the explosions, a considerable number of dense missiles still emerged from the explosion waves.
"Cluster bombs? They really did make targeted arrangements against us!" Zhi Xia whispered.
"It doesn't matter! Anyway, war ultimately relies on these!" Annie Romanova patted her arm and plunged her hand into the helm.
"Annie, enter first combat speed! Tamir, prepare to deploy chaff."
Annie moved her left fingers, and the Red Tiger's sub-light main engines roared at full power.
The thousand-meter-long hull, like a vehicle only a dozen meters in length, performed astonishing stunts, twisting a light-patterned trajectory in the void.
The dense close-in guns of the turbo laser array also began to roar, bringing the momentarily disoriented hive missiles into their bombardment defense.
Chaff also took the opportunity to penetrate, exploding directly, and forming dense visual interference under the influence of various energies and fragments. For a moment, the Azure Princess on the opposite side could no longer clearly see the situation here.
"C maneuver!" Yu Lian shouted.
The Red Tiger completed an emergency stop amidst the chaff. And at that moment, Li Baolu and his companions, who had long been ready, also completed their ejection.
Three multi-purpose combat aircraft and 12 drones, according to the tactical plan formulated at the outset, quickly detached from the Red Tiger's main battlefield and flew in another direction.
All of the above was broadcast onto the Azure Princess's video screen via automatic tracking drones positioned nearby.
Thanks to the professional skills of the video broadcast director, most viewers, although not fully understanding, found the various flashes of lightning, thunder, beams, and missiles flying around to be quite exciting. Of course, as the saying goes, experts see the essence; those with military experience quickly gained a general assessment of the actions of both sides, determining that their skill levels were above average, and even in a regular army, they could be elite ship crew members.
"I heard that all the crew members on board are students?" A foreign guest asked with an admiring tone.
"Of course! These are the young people of Blue Star! And both ship captains are students from our Moon Surface Military Academy!" A high-ranking official from Earth said proudly.
"Hmm, Moon People? Truly living up to their reputation!"
Whether the other party was flattering them or not, at least there was some sincerity. So the effect was very good; at least everyone's relationships seemed to have improved significantly. Then, they tacitly looked at a middle-aged man in a general's dress uniform nearby.
"You just said that the two sides would soon decide the victor? That the Red Team would lose quickly?"
"Huh, did I, did I say that?" The middle-aged man, Brigadier General Robnan, who was attending as the school's representative, feigned ignorance with a straight face: "What I should have said is that this is a wonderful battle, a wonderful battle that reflects the glorious tradition of the students of our Central Defense University!"
Someone nearby chuckled, and the atmosphere around them immediately became much more cheerful. Of course, everyone Present was an adult, so no one thought of exposing the other party, and the topic was dropped.
But in doing so, Brigadier General Robnan felt even more awkward. He always felt that all the gazes around him were a bit ill-intentioned, making him increasingly restless.
He regretted why he had to attend as the school representative. Even if he had to come, he should at least have dragged that old undying Maxell and that fat fox Orwell, disguised as a bear, to attract firepower!
However, he then thought that attending such an event was the best way to expand his network and make connections. Compared to that, what were a few eye-rolls and sneers?
Since he had already decided to leave Central Defense University, he had to find a good path!
Yes, Vice Principal Robnan was already preparing to leave. He was a mature adult who knew that he could no longer do anything about Yu Lian, but he also knew that it was almost impossible for him and the other party to reconcile. If that was the case, then if he couldn't afford to provoke, couldn't he at least afford to hide?
The laymen were watching the excitement, those who couldn't enjoy the excitement were looking for the future, and the experts, naturally, could see the nuances.
For example, at this moment, the television was broadcasting Li Baolu's actions the instant he piloted his fighter out of the hangar. Duke Fisu, the Imperial representative, seeing this scene, his eyes immediately lit up: "This pilot is truly remarkable!"
The Duke himself was born a carrier-based aircraft ace pilot. If his skills weren't good enough to be an ace, he would have had to retire and go home to inherit the family business thirty years ago.
Taking off under emergency stop conditions sounds difficult, but the Commonwealth's fighter jets perform exceptionally well, coupled with the tactical assistance computers purchased from the Alliance. Even flight cadets who have studied for three years or more would have no problem. For example, Li Baolu's two wingmen did very well.
However, as an ace pilot, the Duke could feel the steady composure and the smooth, flowing grace of that lead aircraft during takeoff.
This could only mean that he made no unnecessary movements and his rhythm was almost perfect.
Also somewhat surprised were some Commonwealth military officers Present, who then ordered their subordinates to find information.
In any case, as long as his subsequent performance wasn't too disappointing, Li Baolu, who had previously only been somewhat known in a second-tier flight academy, was about to soar.
"How are their performances? Keith?" The President, not very knowledgeable about military matters, asked the Defense Committee Chairman beside him.
"Almost perfect!" Defense Committee Chairman Nihita, though he hadn't fought in wars, still knew a bit more than the President, and explained earnestly: "Currently, Wien's Blue Faction has a slight advantage, but Yu Lian is very clever, and I don't know what tricks he'll pull."
"Oh, in short, they both performed very well then."
"Hmm, at least for now, yes!"
"When the youth are strong, the nation is strong! Keith, after it's over, please invite them here for a dinner. I want to personally congratulate them."
Nihita knew this was typical of President Nockham's impulsive thinking, and said helplessly: "There are nearly a thousand people on both ships combined."
"Oh... This, alright, then please invite those two young captains. Are their names Wien and Yu Lian?"
The Chairman nodded.
On stage, Laura Shar smiled at Feifei: "It's your time!"
This famous reporter and top host, well-known throughout the Commonwealth, didn't feel at all that her thunder had been stolen, and remained graceful.
Fina nodded gratefully to one of her idols, walked to the center of the stage, waved her hand to pull up a holographic tactical map, and began to explain to everyone.
"Currently, the Blue Faction temporarily holds the advantage! The Hong Fang (Red Team) might be attempting a tactical maneuver to confuse the Blue Faction, seeking an opportunity to align their main guns with the opponent's broadside. However, the Blue Faction did not leave them such an opening, directly initiating long-range bombardment. At such a distance, the efficiency of the bombardment will naturally be affected, but it can successfully disrupt the Hong Fang (Red Team)'s tactical rhythm. This is a localized tactical advantage formed by the Hong Fang (Red Team)'s Commanders and crew's precise judgment of their own capabilities and their decisive grasp of the current situation!"
The onlookers whispered amongst themselves, suddenly feeling like they understood a lot. And after Feifei's explanation, the scene immediately became even more exciting.
"This is much better than a movie!" Many people thought.
Everyone on the ship, even if it's just an exercise, is fighting with everything they've got! The difference between you and the Roman nobles in the gladiatorial arena doesn't seem that great. Feifei thought this to herself as she explained.
However, at the same moment, in the Azure Princess's command room, Brigadier General Francis Morey said: "General Schwartz is also a veteran who has fought his entire life! Is he to be imprisoned for some trumped-up charges? Your Excellency Wang Jingyang, our high and mighty President and Chairmen, and those Chancellors of Lin'an and Bishops of Constantinople from the Mother Star era, the difference doesn't seem that great either."
Wang Jingyang looked at Morey, who was showing resentment in front of him for the first time, and was momentarily speechless. He once again sensed his hostility perception field, and again confirmed that the other party still had no hostility towards him, let alone any intent to attack or even killing intent.
"Frank, is this the time to discuss this issue?"
"If we don't discuss it now, I'm afraid there won't be time to say anything more." Francis Morey sighed heavily, a bitter smile on his face: "He saved my life, you know that, right?"
“He saved my life.，You know that, right?？”