While Elinore and Governor Yamadera traded barbs with the enemy captain, Yu Lian had already started making arrangements with Ina.
He shared the targeting view from the city with her, pointing at the destroyer in the image and saying, "This is a Sea Cat Mark 2. The Kaitai have modified it, reducing the armor and enhancing the firepower and speed.
They even managed to cram a large electromagnetic torpedo into it, albeit barely and against regulations.
Because of this, it has a very obvious weakness—the torpedo bay on its underside.
I'll have the Engineers convert one of the cannons to manual operation.
Once it's within range, we'll concentrate fire on that spot!"
"...Officer, I've used several different guns today, and now you want me to fire a cannon? I went to a non-commissioned officer's technical school in high school; I've really never fired a cannon!" Ina looked helpless.
She increasingly felt that what she was saying was wrong.
"Yes! But aren't you a Sentry? You naturally get a bonus to things that can shoot!"
"Officer, I think you're sexually harassing me!" The Sergeant Major spat, then nodded, "All in all, I'll try my best."
Ina's tone wasn't very confident, but her eager posture betrayed her true feelings.
Not only did she have a bonus to things that could naturally shoot, but she was also very interested in them, and that was enough.
"Alright, here are the parameters for this Tidal Wave Mark 4 ion cannon; its range is..."
Yu Lian began his impromptu lecture, while on the other side, Elinore's verbal sparring had reached a fever pitch.
"In short, if you continue to approach! I will open fire! If you don't leave low-Earth orbit within ten minutes, I will open fire! If you engage in any hostile action, even if a single screw falls, I will open fire! Do not say I did not warn you!"
"Oh, how interesting! As far as I know, Lieutenant Colonel, you only have three clumsy planetary defense cannons!
Their power is decent, but in the eyes of our glorious Kaitai naval officers and soldiers, they are just clumsy slingshots!
How could they possibly hit anything?
In comparison, under our orbital bombardment, your entire city is undefended..." Colonel Mo Xu sneered.
At that moment, another Kaitai officer suddenly appeared in his image, whispering a few words into his ear.
The Colonel paused slightly, looking at Elinore with an expression as if observing a visual spectacle: "You've shut down the city shield?"
"We're a small place here; we can't afford a high-power planetary shield.
The city shield is meaningless under a destroyer's orbital bombardment.
Instead, we can supply all the energy to the fortress cannons!
This way, the rate of fire can increase threefold.
Even if the barrels melt, I will saturate the area with artillery fire!
Guess how many of your fleet will be sunk before you flatten all of Tulon and massacre 700,000 unarmed civilians?
Oh, right, there seem to be one or two hundred of your Kaitai merchants in Tulon City."
"You, you lunatic!" The Kaitai Colonel gritted his teeth.
"Wait, wait, Lieutenant Colonel Bonaparte, you, how could you turn off the shield!" This time, Governor Yamadera was truly anxious.
"Your Excellency, Governor, your subordinate has said it before, that thing is useless even if deployed.
Compared to that, let's frankly put all our energy into counterattacking.
Even if we die on the battlefield, even if we are evaporated into gas by the enemy's orbital bombardment, we must sing the praises of human courage!"
"I don't want to sing any praises! Colonel Mo Xu, there are over 700,000 civilians here.
Our two nations are friendly neighbors.
We cannot let a small misunderstanding lead to tragedy!
You stop first, I will contact your diplomatic department right away!
Calm down, you must calm down!"
The Kaitai sneered, noncommittal.
"And here, Miss Elinore, those are Kaitai friends, give them some face, give them some face."
Seeing that Elinore still ignored him, Governor Yamadera finally grew anxious and shouted, "Lieutenant Colonel Bonaparte, I order you to shut down the fortress cannons! Re-enable the shield!
Yes, I am the Governor, I have the supreme command authority!
You cannot open fire!
Yes, this is provoking a border conflict!
Going on like this will lead to mistakes!
The consequences of war are not something you or I can bear!
We absolutely cannot provoke a border conflict without authorization! Otherwise, I will report you to Earth."
Elinore gazed at the red and blue twin suns in the sky, deeply engrossed.
"Lieutenant Colonel, yes, please stop... wait, who are you? Why can you enter my office, get out! Get out!"
Governor Yamadera's voice then abruptly cut off; Elinore had directly kicked him out of the "group chat."
"This gentleman is a civilian official, prudent and cautious.
Of course, you can also gamble on whether I will obey his orders, Colonel." Elinore continued to smile, her smile as bright as blooming flowers, yet also as murderous as blood.
"I will remember your face, Lieutenant Colonel." Colonel Mo Xu glanced at his opponent and closed the communication.
Elinore's smile faded, and she loudly said, "Yuli! How are the preparations?"
"Awaiting your command!
Nine cannons are electronically controlled, one is manually controlled!
Also, Officer, I believe that Ship C should be the enemy flagship."
The senior student glanced at Yu Lian, not asking how Yu Lian knew, but then looked at Ina, who had already settled into her cannon position, pursed her lips, and narrowed her eyes, playing with her braid.
A few seconds later, her eyes suddenly widened, like an enraged tigress, and she said in a deep voice, "Manual cannon standby! All other units, 1 to 4 aim at Space Point A17! 5 to 9 aim at Space Point C21."
This arrangement seemed a bit confusing, even Yu Lian was bewildered for almost a second, then he suddenly understood, couldn't help but cheer inwardly, and then heard a Goblin Engineer mutter, "This woman is an amateur, why is she firing at an empty space... Mmm mmm, I'm working! I'm working now!"
Under Yu Lian's gaze, even if the Engineers were full of complaints, they still completed the revision of the firing parameters at the fastest speed.
"Miss, the enemy ship is still approaching, it has entered the range of our fortress cannons." Major Dorset's voice came through Elinore's earpiece.
"Last call!
Warning enemy fleet, you have entered the low-Earth orbit of a Commonwealth inhabited planet.
Please immediately stop your ships, turn around and leave, or close your gunports and shields, and according to my navigation center's instructions, enter the port and dock!
If you continue to refuse to comply, we will consider your actions as aggression, and will immediately exercise our sacred and inviolable right of self-defense!"
"It's already being called out."
"Also, the fortress cannons are self-targeting, awaiting firing orders at any time!"
"Understood!"
After giving commands to the city, Elinore then said to Yu Lian, who was making a final check of the cannon's status, "Yuli, you have full discretion over the manual cannon's command, no problem, right?"
"Please leave it to me." Yu Lian responded in a deep voice, then said to Ina, "Check the energy transmission status on your left.
Yes, because it's manual operation, we have to double-check what the computer has done.
Yes, it's that blue and white stripe on the right side of your cockpit.
Is it full?"
"It's full! She called you Yuli?"
"I said... never mind, check your aiming device again.
Yes, just pull the dial on the left."
"I already checked it earlier, the status is very good.
So, what exactly is your relationship with Officer Bonaparte?" The Sergeant Major's large ruby eyes blinked, as if (gossipy) flames were burning.
If the nickname "Blazing-Eyed Witch" originated from this, then even the famous people who died by her hand in later generations would not find peace even with the universe spirit, would they?
Yu Lian felt his mouth twitch, and then heard the girl say, "The more I need to relax at a time like this! So why don't you satisfy my curiosity?"
"Senior student said that if I couldn't graduate and get my degree, she could help me find a very promising position at White Wing Anglo Company.
That's the relationship!"
The Sergeant Major's eyes seemed to widen even more.
After a long while, she let out a faint sigh, filled with an indescribable pain and sadness: "Understood, Officer, so you're that kind of person!"
So what kind of person am I?
Yu Lian felt that if they continued this discussion, his position as a human being would be somewhat precarious, so he sternly said, "Aim at the enemy Ship C on the right!"
"I almost didn't even graduate from technical school, I can't calculate those darn firing solutions."
"No need, anyway, the third-rate computers of these Goblin paupers definitely can't out-calculate the destroyers in the sky."
The Goblin Engineers in the command vehicle felt like their knees had taken a million points of critical damage, raging inwardly: We're not paupers, we're employees of the Compass Trading Company!
Legitimate social animals with five insurances and one housing fund, bah, official employees!
"Aim here! I trust your ability." Yu Lian pointed at Ina's red eyes.
The latter paused slightly, then smiled enchantingly, pulled down the binocular-like aiming device beside her, and licked the corner of her mouth, like a female leopard preparing to eat, a different kind of flame seemingly burning in her crimson eyes.
Yu Lian looked up at the sky, and could vaguely see three light points streaking across the azure sky.
He then looked at the senior student; at this moment, she expressionlessly took off her earpiece, and pondered for a fleeting moment.
In this brief instant, she seemed to give herself encouragement and a decisive resolution; with her increasingly firm determination, her expression instead relaxed.
Elinore smiled, just as she had when Yu Lian first met her, the same smile she had when she had thrown that senior from the Marine Command Department in front of him.
With that smile, she nodded at Yu Lian.
The Kaitai fleet did not heed the final warning!
Those big cats of the Kaitai are even more stubborn than I imagined!
In the previous timeline, of course they dared to ignore Governor Yamadera's incompetent rage; but this time, knowing that preparations for bombardment had already been made, to still be so arrogant, are they betting that we actually don't dare to open fire?
Or do they think the senior student's threat is just a bluff?
Hmm, that's understandable.
Over these past fifteen years of "peace," the Commonwealth's feeble and outwardly strong but inwardly weak state has probably been noticed by many, right?
Moreover, the Kaitai have someone behind them, so to speak.
At least they think they have someone behind them.
This is truly excellent; I love enemies who don't understand the situation.
"Ina, start aiming! All other units, open fire! Open fire! Fire the big cannons, blast their mothers!"
In fact, before the nine ion cannons propelled plasma shells into low-Earth orbit, the three fortress cannons in Tulon Port also unleashed their power.
These large beam cannons, specifically designed for planetary and large space station defense, were entirely at the level of cruiser main guns in terms of power and destructive force.
Crimson, blazing energy beams, accompanied by the tearing crackle of electric arcs and the sound of boiling air, whistled through the clouds.
This was the first time in fifteen years that the Blue Star Commonwealth had launched an artillery strike against another civilized polity within the Galactic Civilization Council.