Not only on the Corsica, where everyone was, but also on the Luoyang, not far behind, the enemy ship's location finally entered their firing range.
In the light screens before all the main gunners, the enemy ship opposite was finally covered in red spectrum. Their eyes were also tinged red by a red glow, as if filled with a bloodthirsty aura.
This was at 7:45 PM on November 12th.
Ina was the first to pull the trigger, launching two railgun shells towards the distant edge of the starry sky. She felt that even if they didn't hit directly, they would definitely achieve a near-miss effect. She had that much confidence.
"Enemy ship's shield hit! Energy entanglement occurred!"
As expected, the Reconnaissance Technical Officer sent positive feedback!
At this moment, the shells fired by the Luoyang had also hit the target, but this time the effect was a bit off. One shot flew somewhere unknown, while the other hit an ice crystal asteroid next to the Imperial battleship.
This giant ice block floating in space was immediately torn into several pieces, drifting in all directions.
Of course, this was the true hit rate for artillery, and no one felt disappointed.
At this time, the destroyers also began their attack. Including the two that had already sustained considerable damage, all destroyers began to ascend, forming a fan-shaped formation directly above the Corsica, and once again launched 36 Squall missiles carrying nuclear fusion warheads.
Due to the dense ice crystal asteroids still affecting the missiles' attack range, they ultimately could not advance further, only constantly raising giant explosion light masses around the ships.
The shattered ice crystal asteroids rapidly merged, casting a faint veil over those hot and fierce lights.
If such an attack were within an atmosphere, it would be enough to destroy a planet's surface ecology, but if it couldn't hit directly, its high-heat shockwaves and radiation would not cause significant damage to a Clear Sky-class battleship.
The destroyer's missile bombardment was originally just fire support for the two cruisers.
At this moment, the Imperial battleship opposite suddenly reversed, directly retreating deeper into the Asteroid Belt. As she retreated, she flashed red light, sending a signal of two long and five short blips to the Commonwealth Fleet.
In the current naval regulations of the various nations in the galaxy, this was a clear provocation.
This was a choice that exceeded the common understanding of most people.
One must know that at the current distance between the two sides, they were almost within close-quarters combat range.
And a Clear Sky-class battleship, with its length and size alone being more than three times that of their largest Ranger-class light cruiser… an armed merchant ship, truly counted as a massive warship. Why would such a behemoth actively choose a narrow combat area?
This was like driving a galleon full of cannons, not kiting enemies from a distance with its firepower, but insisting on diving into a reef-dense channel to engage in boarding actions with dense swarms of fire ships and sand boats.
As expected, there was a conspiracy!
Everyone in the bridge exchanged glances. Elinore waved her hand, and a frontal three-dimensional cosmic map unfolded before her. The juxtaposed asteroids, the frontal airspace, the passages between ice crystals, the retreating enemy ship, and their approaching warships were all clearly displayed on this star map.
From earlier, the fleet's information hub and Navigator had already begun astronomical analysis, and now they had largely simulated a 3D model of this potentially contested asteroid airspace.
However, this was only for reference.
Just as Yu Lian had entered this star system, what was originally thought to be an empty area truly encountered an unknown meteorite substance head-on.
"Shield... dropped to thirty-one percent."
What in the world, this power is equivalent to a regular cruiser's main gun! The senior sister cursed inwardly, but said aloud, "Yuli, it's not your fault, don't slow down! Have all ship damage control teams prepare! All fleet anti-aircraft teams, begin obstacle clearing!"
The universe appears so serene and mysterious, but inwardly it is very capricious, often exhibiting various peculiar changes. Especially in the ISA82 binary brown dwarf system, the astronomical parameters are even more complex.
The performance of existing cosmic observation instruments and computers is limited; it's impossible to immediately identify every single asteroid or floating space object in the precise detail of the celestial area.
This requires an excellent technical reconnaissance team, and an excellent Navigator. Additionally, if this Navigator is a master spiritual energy user of the "Explore" Star Ring, who has mastered a divine skill like "Sky Awareness," there is a high probability that a holographic star map of the combat area will be completed in the shortest time, naturally gaining the upper hand at the start of combat.
Yu Lian was not too sure if there was such a person on the Clear Sky-class opposite. However, if he were Odgar, the Marquis on the other side, even if he knew there was a possibility of a close dance with one or two asteroids, he would definitely choose to do so.
I'm even singing a song! If you don't think about using that new weapon to wipe us all out, it wouldn't be like you! Yu Lian thought.
Elinore waved her hand, and all the ships thus plunged into the Asteroid Belt.
In any case, such a combat environment was advantageous for their small, agile ships.
The two sides began continuous artillery exchanges. However, if just now it was a fully armed soldier with a rifle hiding behind cover to snipe an enemy with only a pistol, now it had become a chaotic brawl inside a house. Neither side could leverage any advantage in range or gunnery, and both sides had cover. While everyone could use the ice crystal asteroids for cover, they always had to worry whether their ship would be hit by shattered ice fragments, or collide with a much larger asteroid itself.
Such a completely chaotic battle didn't even require Elinore to personally command; it was entirely left to each ship's captain.
She kept an eye on the holographic star map in front of her. Of course, as the ship's equipment continued to operate, surrounding astronomical data continuously flowed into the information terminal, and the star map became increasingly detailed. Many blurry areas also became clear, solidifying into icons of asteroids and various floating objects.
"...Yuli, if the other side really launches that experimental weapon, where would they choose?" Elinore murmured to herself.
"It should be here." Autumn Mountain Yawata took over, pointing directly at a dense asteroid region on the star map: "If they pass through this stellar point and truly inflict a fatal blow on us, we won't be able to retaliate, nor will we be able to escape."
Elinore nodded, thinking this possibility was very high, but she couldn't help but roll her eyes at Autumn Mountain Yawata, thinking, 'I called for Yuli, why are you, little glasses, joining in?'
No choice, someone was currently putting almost all his focus on ship operations, truly unable to hear the surrounding sounds.
During this process, both the Corsica and the Luoyang were hit repeatedly. Fortunately, in such a chaotic and messy fight, the majestic main guns of the heavy cruisers were difficult to use effectively, continuously attacking with their broadside secondary guns and missiles. Although they did cause damage to the Earth warships, it was fortunately not fatal.
The greatest casualties came from a previous close-quarters engagement.
One of their destroyers charged too fiercely. The captain, in that instant, displayed car-god-level ability, with movements akin to an obstacle race, shaking off the asteroid encirclement and getting quite close to the Imperial battleship opposite. In an instant, she launched all the proton torpedoes inside the ship.
This was a perfectly executed attack, but also an overly desperate one. The destroyer was immediately targeted by all the secondary guns on that side of the Imperial battleship.
A single turbo-laser array fired over a thousand energy beams within ten seconds, and more than half of them struck this centurion 927 destroyer.
Fortunately, the turbo-laser array belonged to the close-in weapon system category after all, and centurion 927 only completely exploded five minutes after being focused fired. Before that, the captain had ordered all personnel to abandon ship. Ultimately, nearly two-thirds of the more than two hundred crew members, including the captain herself, were transferred to other friendly ships.
The captain of centurion 927 was an old veteran captain in her fifties, who had changed her flagship three times before, so she had no noble knightly flair of sinking with her ship.
In any case, the Thirteenth Fleet's first battleship to be sunk was thus produced.
However, everyone on the Corsica had no time for sadness. After all, from a military standpoint, the sacrifice of centurion 927 was very worthwhile.
Half of the eight torpedoes launched at close range hit their target. Even with the Clear Sky-class battleship's shields and armor, she could no longer be nonchalant. A huge tearing wound appeared on one side of her hull, and a second blurred airflow emerged from the penetrating wound, followed by a second explosion. Even everyone on the Corsica could already see the flames on the enemy's hull with their naked eyes.
"Beautiful! Who is the captain of the centurion? I want to apply for a medal for him!" Elinore smiled radiantly and gave a thumbs up.
However, as it was the latest model Imperial battleship, with top-tier damage control design, the flames on the hull completely extinguished in just half a minute. The battleship itself seemed largely unaffected.
According to common sense, as such increasingly less technical combat developed, both sides should have known when to quit and actively withdraw from the battlefield.
However, neither side seemed to have such an understanding, both seemingly prepared to fight to the bitter end, preferring mutual destruction.
Unbeknownst to them, time had thus reached 8:45 PM.
Then, just as Elinore and Yahata had speculated, the Clear Sky-class battleship performed a jaw-dropping major turn in front of the enemy, then suddenly accelerated, and by relying on her hard hull and super-strong energy shield, she crashed through a large ice block roughly her own size, then directly plunged into a vast, wall-like dense Asteroid Belt.
The Commonwealth Fleet was also stunned by the opponent's action, and for a moment, they stopped firing. Both their main and secondary guns had lost their firing angles at this point.
Yu Lian couldn't help but feel respect for the Imperial helmsman opposite. To perform such a near-drift maneuver with such a large ship, based on this alone, he was qualified to compete for the championship in the Galactic Racing Competition.
At this moment, the reconnaissance officer's voice sounded again: "After the Asteroid Belt, high energy... no, unknown reaction! Starting analysis!"
Yu Lian knew without guessing that the so-called "unknown reaction" must be a "space bubble reaction."
"Here it comes!" He said to Elinore.
The senior sister nodded expressionlessly: "Luoyang, prepare to take over this ship's position! Prepare space-oscillation bombs."