That was a fleet of over forty ships of various sizes, which could be considered quite a formidable military force even in the Far Shore Nebula.
However, like almost all pirate groups, their ships were all haphazardly modified, and their ship types, firepower, protection, and speed were very inconsistent, so it was naturally impossible for them to form any truly organized or formidable formations.
Furthermore, as we all know, the purpose of pirates has always been to plunder, not to sink, so their armament has naturally always adhered to the classic, all-purpose configuration.
Their speed had to be fast, otherwise, they couldn't outrun the navy or catch their prey, but pirates couldn't get the best military engines, so they could only try to modify them haphazardly.
Their firepower couldn't be too strong; if they accidentally sank their prey, it would be a wasted effort.
They also had to bring enough true men for boarding and close-quarters combat, as manpower was needed for plundering.
In addition, warehouses had to be prepared, and some storerooms were even designed more professionally than cargo ships.
After all, no one could guarantee that they wouldn't seize some precious loot that required special handling.
In short, in terms of pure combat power, pirate ships were typically mediocre in every aspect.
Of course, there might still be exceptions to this.
For example, the flagship of this pirate fleet was a very imposing behemoth, more than a full size larger than the Thirteenth Fleet's largest Ranger-class.
Its paint job was pure black, and the bow at the front had sixteen main gun muzzles, which looked quite impressive.
However, upon closer inspection, the ship's hull seemed a bit thin, always giving off a top-heavy impression.
Yu Lian even suspected that if those sixteen main guns fired a full salvo, the hull would fall apart.
“It should be a modified Alliance Icewind Valley-class large armed merchant ship,” Autumn Mountain Yawata said, looking at the ship image sent over, then pointed to a triangular skull symbol on the ship’s side: “Confirmed, it’s Morda’s main fleet!”
“They’re here for revenge, aren’t they?” Ina mumbled.
Elinore sneered, “If he had gathered in Kerna City, I’d have a bit of a headache.”
Her forces should have been only one-third of the enemy's, but she didn’t feel it was difficult at all; in fact, she felt fortunate.
Fortunate that the enemy came to them to deliver themselves.
Pirates of the Far Shore Nebula really can’t compare to those of the New World! she thought.
Pirates of the Far Shore Nebula really can’t compare to those of the Abyssal Grand Nebula and the Spiral Nebula! Yu Lian thought.
The enemy had many ships, but no matter how one looked at them, they were a disorganized rabble, which truly failed to inspire any fighting spirit.
“Colonel Bonaparte, as usual, I’m handing command over to you.
Just use me as an Aircraft Carrier captain,” Commodore Markov sent a communication, still astonishingly uninhibited.
However, before cutting off the communication, he added, “Do not underestimate the enemy!”
Prudence and steadiness were probably the old man’s nature.
However, his reminder was not entirely useless; at least Elinore perked up a minute early and began to issue orders in an orderly fashion: “Form battle formation according to the original plan! Analyze the enemy fleet’s dynamics!”
This time, the fleet, with Corsica and Luoyang as the main attack ships, began to advance.
Destroyers spread out on their flanks, opening their torpedo and missile tubes.
assault ships formed a wedge formation, preparing for a flanking assault.
Mist Capital and Venice remained on standby.
Of course, all fighters within Mist Capital were ready for sortie, but the fleet’s Commander did not intend to deploy the “stormtroopers” from Venice this time.
It was just pirates, after all; if they were forced into a boarding battle, that would be a miscalculation in Elinore’s command.
The two fleets continued to approach each other, and the vast expanse of space suddenly felt like a narrow path where two adversaries met.
However, compared to the Thirteenth Fleet’s orderly formation, the pirates on the other side always seemed a bit chaotic.
There was nothing to be done; pirates had always roamed in groups of three or five like hunting hyenas, scattered throughout the various corners of the nebula, and basically had no experience in large fleet battles.
However, for a cannon battle formation, the enemy did not send their flagship, which clearly had formidable firepower, to the front lines.
Instead, they arranged seven or eight seemingly sturdy warships in a line, presenting a defensive counterattack posture.
“Tsk, cowards!” The senior, who always liked to be on the front lines, expressed her full disdain for this behavior.
“This is understandable.
The leader of a pirate group is not a general who commands absolute obedience, nor does he lead well-trained regular soldiers; he is more like the leader of an alliance of outlaws.
His flagship and the strength of his loyal followers are what allow him to gather his forces,” Yu Lian said.
“Furthermore, given the quality of pirates, being able to form a defensive counterattack formation is already quite good.
We cannot expect them to truly have the ability to engage us in a head-on cannon battle.”
The senior nodded, then realized something was off and loudly declared, “...Ex-expect, I didn’t expect anything! Yuli, don’t slander my innocence out of nowhere!”
She probably wanted to retort a few more times, but then heard a cough from behind her and vaguely felt the automatic drone’s camera pointing at her back, so she immediately coughed properly, “Orbital main cannon charge status?”
“Status good!” Ina replied loudly, rolling her eyes.
Anyway, her small face was currently facing the instrument panel, so no one could see her expression.
“Then, as usual, once we reach maximum tactical range, begin targeting Enemy Ship One! No need to wait for my command!”
The high-power orbital main cannons equipped on the two Rangers had far superior power and effective range (not theoretical range) than the pirate fleet, and were destined to seize the initiative during the cannon battle phase.
After three missed shots, their fourth shot accurately hit the so-called “Enemy Ship One.”
This bulky, heavily armored merchant ship did not suffer particularly severe damage, but it seemed to have been struck by lightning, stopping dead in the water.
Immediately after, Ina fired another shot, which this time penetrated the enemy ship’s armor and entered its interior.
The pirate ship then, like a stray dog kicked in the stomach, turned tail and directly disengaged from the battlefield.
And up until this point, the pirate fleet had not even completed its cannon fire.
“Morda’s subordinates don’t have much fighting spirit!” Autumn Mountain Yawata said.
“We can try to be a little more proactive.”
The senior continued to be amenable and immediately ordered a change in formation.
Mist Capital and Venice began to advance.
These two ships were reinforced in terms of hangar and protection, but they were multi-purpose cruisers, so they at least had main guns.
The four cruisers formed a standard cannon formation, firing salvos in rotation, both increasing the firepower projected onto the enemy fleet and providing fire support.
The target of the support, naturally, was the destroyers.
The five destroyers, without hesitation, entered charge speed.
The soldiers on board had been overflowing with courage lately; they had even charged Imperial warships, so now they would not fear the mere firepower of pirates.
Moreover, Autumn Mountain Yawata’s judgment was correct.
Although this pirate fleet was large, its morale was indeed poor, and its retaliatory fire always seemed somewhat careless.
When the destroyers pressed forward, obvious confusion even began to appear.
As a result, the Thirteenth Fleet’s only two destroyers were grazed by beams, suffering minor injuries, but they successfully delivered a barrage of dense missiles and torpedoes into the enemy ship cluster.
One pirate ship was directly hit by three torpedoes and five missiles and was immediately disabled.
At the same time, at least four enemy ships were confirmed hit and suffered considerable damage.
They clearly lacked unified command, or rather, they were simply unwilling to obey Morda’s orders.
Some ships wanted to counterattack, some wanted to retreat, and some even wanted to flee.
Consequently, for five long minutes, the pirate fleet did not make a single effective shot against the Community Fleet, which was already within their range.
The current cannon fire, rather than being a counterattack, was more like the pirates feeling that “it would be particularly embarrassing if we didn’t fire our cannons,” so they simply went through the motions.
“This isn’t just a lack of fighting spirit; they’re practically just standing around for a friendly show!” Yu Lian thought.
He understood the pirates’ mentality too well and quickly deduced the current situation.
It was nothing more than Morda's dispatched forces being annihilated in the Luna Star System, and at the same time, he had received news that the Empire, his close collaborator, had suffered heavy losses, and his main clients—the Lumina Rebels—were basically wiped out.
If Morda, this great pirate, didn't show some determination to retaliate, he would surely be seen as a soft target by his half-hearted subordinates.
However, the most unmotivated were also these treacherous pirate leaders, big and small.
They only knew that the Thirteenth Fleet had even beaten the Empire, so beating this group of pirates would be a piece of cake, wouldn't it?
It must be said, Morda truly had it tough.
Therefore, being a gang leader is actually a skilled job; one really shouldn't force it without the necessary aptitude.
Of course, at this critical juncture, even the most composed and steady Commodore Markov knew that at this stage of the war, their victory was unshakable.
“Sir, the fighters can prepare for launch.”
“What about the assault landing craft on Venice?”
“No need to risk it,” Elinore replied.
Commodore Markov nodded with an approving look.
In the next three minutes, the Thirteenth Fleet’s cruisers fired several more rounds of cannon fire, and after sinking two more large pirate warships, the remaining small and medium ships immediately fell into a state of collapse.
They were then cornered by the swarming assault ships, which herded them towards the center of the pirate fleet, forcing them into an even more chaotic state.
In reality, Morda’s only chance in this battle was to win it with his core loyalists as the main force.
Unfortunately, pirates were just pirates, destined to be a bunch of ungrateful and self-preserving individuals.
There was nothing more to see in this battle, and Yu Lian decided to ask the senior for permission to leave the bridge and get some sleep.
He estimated that after this battle, it would be time for the assault on Kerna Fortress, and he should conserve his energy.
However, at this moment, the pirate warship opposite, which had remained out of the fight, suddenly activated and began to move forward.
Its sheer size was undeniable; once it started moving, it truly exuded an intimidating aura.
Oh, oh, oh, was he finally going to take action himself?
Yu Lian suddenly looked at Morda with new respect.
Although this guy had been quite incompetent just now, at least, in a moment of crisis, he had somewhat displayed the spirit of a great pirate.
Just as the bloated pirate ship was about to enter range, a series of signal lights suddenly flashed on board, followed by the unfurling of an astonishingly large, pure white light screen.
“Oh, the French flag!” Yu Lian exclaimed in admiration.
Elinore glared fiercely at Yu Lian, then squinted her eyes to read the light signals sent by the other side, a look of disbelief on her face: “They surrendered?”
“Yes, it’s a surrender signal,” Yahata said, pushing up his glasses.
“Commander, the enemy ship is requesting communication, it’s a blue frequency, it’s definitely a surrender signal,” the communications officer also shouted.
It wasn’t easy!
They were displaying a “white flag,” sending “flag signals,” and even initiating communication, as if they were afraid we would blow them away with a single shot.
Yu Lian still held Mr. Morda in awe.
He had always felt that a great pirate who had committed countless evil deeds, yet could kneel so openly now, was in some sense more impressive than if he had fought to the death.
He really wanted to see who this holy person was.
A “home-loving” Lumina who became a great pirate, and one of the giant chieftains of the underworld in the Far Shore Nebula, truly shouldn’t be a simple character.
However, the one who connected the communication was not Morda, but a middle-aged human male.
“Don’t fire! General, we’re on the same side!” The human man waved his hand loudly.
He then bent down, and under everyone’s puzzled gazes, held up a bloody triangular Lumina head: “As for Morda, I’ve already killed him.
I sincerely wish to surrender to the government.”