The crimson beam cannon projectile, in the blink of an eye, broke free from the atmosphere's restraint, whistling as it surged towards the Kaitian fleet, which was approaching at normal cruising speed in the distance.
The dazzling light seemed to paint their bridge with a layer of blood.
“High energy reaction ahead! High energy reaction ahead!” The Kaitian language, sounding like the roar of a large carnivorous animal, echoed on the bridge.
Colonel Mo Xu was a bit stunned.
He truly hadn't expected the weak Earthlings to open fire.
Fortunately, as a member of the Kaitian Royal Fleet, the training of the sailors on board was diligent, and they had already rehearsed for such a situation many times.
Without waiting for the Colonel's order, the sailors had already begun standard evasion and defensive preparations.
“Deploy forward shields! All ships, Action One!” The Colonel shouted loudly.
As the Great Universe Era had developed to the Present, fleet tactics naturally had a complete set of standard procedures.
This included marching, concealment, bombardment, and evasion.
The so-called Action One, of course, referred to the standard Evasion Action One.
To put it simply, the middle ships went up, and the ships on either side moved left and right respectively.
The sailors completed the commands with practiced movements.
The destroyer, over 300 meters long, immediately executed an evasion maneuver in space that only a 20-meter fighter jet could perform within an atmosphere.
In front of the elliptical bow, a nearly transparent, light-blue energy shield instantly deployed, forming a semi-circular cover.
“Whoosh!” The crimson laser almost scraped Past the ship's energy shield.
The entanglement and neutralization of energy directly transformed into surging shockwaves, making the entire hull tremble.
If it weren't for the big cats on the ship, each prepared for impact, they probably wouldn't even be able to stand steady at this moment.
“Shield down 17%!” The ship's defense officer reported loudly.
Fortunately, it was only a graze!
The Colonel breathed a sigh of relief and asked in a deep voice, “What about the other two ships?”
“Hellcat 48's shield is down 58%. Hellcat 17's… Meow, shield neutralized, armor slightly scorched!”
“Two good-for-nothings!” The Colonel spat under his breath.
He thought, isn't this equivalent to being hit?
Our Sea Cat type, which has enhanced speed and maneuverability, was actually hit by a fortress cannon; it's like a cat being bitten by a marmot!
“Should we counterattack?” The gunnery officer inquired.
“Prepare the proton cannon!” The Colonel thought for a moment and ultimately decided not to use neutron bombs, which were surprisingly effective for orbital bombardment—these things, if truly dropped on the ground, would cause a humanitarian disaster plus an environmental disaster.
The Kaitians had always coveted this beautiful, jade-like planet below, but the Kingdom was very poor, and limited funds were used for military expansion, so they really didn't want to spend more money on environmental restoration.
In comparison, proton energy shells wrapped in energy were very clean.
When they hit the ground, they would form an encapsulated arc, which could not only kill enemies but also paralyze their equipment, without polluting the environment.
Although the energy shells would be somewhat affected in power by passing through the atmosphere, it should still be enough.
“Proton cannon charging, locking onto enemy heat source!”
“What about the other two ships?”
“Let them remain on standby!”
Colonel Mo Xu felt that the firepower of one ship was enough to suppress the opponent.
Moreover, the Kingdom, after all, had not yet fully committed to a full-scale war with the Earthlings; this operation was originally just a probing attack.
The Colonel also vaguely knew that this operation was even just the Sub-Fleet Command HQ acting on its own initiative, without the approval of the general Command HQ at all.
However, since it has already been done, it must be me, and it can only be me!
I, Sasa Mo Xu, will be the hero who fires the first shot! My name will go down in history!
“Prepare…” The Colonel was about to say to fire once charged without waiting for his order, but then he heard another warning sound: “High energy reaction ahead! High energy reaction occurring again!”
“Continue evasion!” Mo Xu didn't feel he needed to issue special instructions; just follow the standard evasion maneuver.
After all, he was only facing three to five fortress cannons, not the overwhelming barrage of a large fleet battle.
The Hellcat 12 destroyer he was on once again began to ascend, allowing the rolling energy beams to scrape Past the shield on its bow.
The entanglement of blue and red bloomed once again, releasing the fiery glow of energy.
Hellcat 12 was still trembling.
The Colonel even felt a burning sensation on his whiskers; it seemed the ship's armor was already beginning to suffer high-temperature damage.
A few more hits, and he'd have to replace the external armor when he returned!
The Colonel's mood at this moment was exceptionally sorrowful.
Although Kaitian was an ally (subordinate) of the Empire, and could even obtain production authorization for the latest warships from the boss, it would definitely be a neutered, 'monkey' version.
For example, this Sea Cat under his feet, claimed to be a modified Imperial Apocalypse Eagle-class, and also enhanced in firepower, speed, and maneuverability, but this was just to fool those who didn't know better.
They didn't have the photon array main cannons used on the Apocalypse Eagle, nor did they have the Skyfire Type 4 aggregated missiles, and as for memory metal armor with high temperature resistance, radiation resistance, and self-healing functions, they naturally didn't have that either.
The Command HQ originally thought it was just an armed deterrent, but it unexpectedly turned into a Artillery Battle, causing significant ship damage.
According to the harsh Kaitian military law, even if Mo Xu completed the strategic objective of “occupying Tulon Port,” he would still be punished.
In the best-case scenario, he would also have to bear the full cost of the warship's repairs.
All for nothing! Years of effort wasted!
The Colonel's sorrow at this moment turned into indignation.
“Fire! Destroy their Central Tower!”
That was the tallest building in Tulon Port, a full-metal tower-shaped structure over three hundred meters high, responsible for signal relay, dispatching ships entering and leaving the port, and commanding the entire city's defense system, which naturally included shields and fortress cannons.
For a space warship that had already entered low-Earth orbit, there was no more perfect target.
As for the civilian facilities and civilians on the Central Tower… ha, what a tragedy, but that's life!
“Prepare… Oh no!”
The intelligence officer screamed loudly.
He had clearly calculated the intervals between the enemy fortress cannon's bombardments, but he hadn't expected that in this gap, another energy reaction would rise from the planet below.
This time, what emerged from the atmosphere was not a crimson energy beam, but blue ion shells.
And there were ten of them at once!
“Begin evasion!” The Colonel roared.
In fact, without waiting for his order, the crew had already started doing so.
But as the ship traced a beautiful trajectory, a hint of a scream entered the intelligence officer's voice: “No! Enemy ion cannon is about to hit!”
“They calculated our evasion direction!” The Colonel was suddenly shocked and could only roar: “Prepare for impact!”
This time there was no contest of red and blue, but blue impacts colliding, turning into white light that almost blinded the Kaitian military personnel on the bridge.
“Idiot! Which idiot closed the blackout armor?” The Colonel was furious.
Didn't you say that closing the blackout would improve the view from the bridge? Someone muttered in their heart.
However, the Colonel could only rage impotently for a moment.
He felt the floor beneath his feet tilting, and even maintaining Balance required all his strength.
If the previous impact was like being on a bumpy sea vessel, now it was like being at the epicenter of an earthquake.
He heard a crew member say to him, “We've lost our shields!”
What he didn't know was that under Elinore's command, the ion cannons on the ground had not directly aimed at his ship, but had calculated all his possible evasion directions.
Of the nine cannons' simultaneous volley, three exploded near the ship, directly triggering an emergency reaction from its shields, instantly creating an effect similar to a near-miss explosion.
The power of ground-to-space siege cannons certainly couldn't compare to proper anti-air fortress cannons, but three ion shells hitting at close range were enough to send the destroyer's shield generator into an overloaded state.
“Engine room! Cool down the generator immediately! Hurry! Damage control team, stand by immediately!”
It must be admitted that Colonel Mo Xu's reaction was quite timely and efficient.
But it still couldn't change the fact that for over ten seconds, his Hellcat 12 was in a state of having lost its shields.
And at this moment, another ion cannon shell, free from the constraints of the atmosphere and gravity, passed through the turbulent energy overflow, biting into a corner of the destroyer's lower abdomen like a deadly viper.
“Boom!” The ship's most vulnerable belly armor suffered a heavy blow.
The energy shell almost melted a depression into the ship's belly before exploding.
Then, a second later, an even more violent explosion erupted inside the hull.
The Kaitian Captain was truly caught off guard this time, thrown out by the violent vibration, falling directly from the command console.
He was a bit stunned, partly from the impact, and partly from feeling that everything today was filled with ominous omens.
No matter what, this was a standard space warship; although it was just a small, almost unnoticed 'elementary school student' in the naval hierarchy of great powers… it was still a behemoth, 340 meters long and weighing over 30,000 tons!
Even if the belly armor was relatively fragile, it shouldn't have reacted so strongly, should it?
“Colonel, enemy artillery hit the ventral torpedo tubes…”
Colonel Mo Xu shivered, feeling all his fur stand on end in fright, but then he was a bit confused: this ship's belly contained 12 electromagnetic torpedoes, and any one of them detonating could kill everyone on board.
But, weren't they still alive and well?
The First Officer connected to the lower deck's communication, and after listening for a few seconds, his expression immediately became extremely strange, and he murmured, “Uh, an anti-aircraft gunner on the lower deck got scared and pulled the trigger before the gunport opened… Captain, rest assured, the damage control team is already handling it!”
This Kaitian Colonel, usually known for his strictness and ferocity, couldn't even get angry this time; he just felt all his strength drain away, and he sighed wearily: “Repair immediately, we…”
“Captain, the other side sent a communication! Should, should we connect?”
“…Connect, connect for now.”
The annoying woman's figure reappeared in the image.
“Are you still fighting?” The other party said with a smile.
“We, we still have an absolute advantage!”
“Yes, you can even destroy all our heavy cannons that can counterattack in a minute! However, your Excellency only needs to understand that there are still 3,000 Commonwealth soldiers here in Tulon, as long as you and your ship land on the ground.
Every day and night, every minute and every second, is our attack time!
We will never surrender; we will persist until our reinforcements arrive!
Unless you use neutron bombs for orbital bombardment right now to wipe us all out.
Then, tell me, can you do that, Colonel?”
The Kaitian Colonel's whiskers trembled uncontrollably.