The "small" squadron bypassed the intense battlefield ahead, advancing cautiously, making sure to enter the village quietly without firing a shot.
Through the portholes, the crew and Marine Corps looked at the battlefield hundreds of millions of kilometers away. Although they couldn't see it clearly, only flashes of fire and intense rays, they still felt a surge of emotion.
They knew that their side already held an absolute advantage and wished they could join immediately. These were not heads... these were odes to human courage! How could we, human warriors, not be filled with passion and wish to take their place?
"If we were to insert ourselves into the enemy fleet's flank now, with assault ship as the core, we could directly penetrate the enemy capital ship's core, even the flagship, and perform boarding operations. That would be the sharpest blow!"
On the bridge of the lexington, Commodore Hall opened the holographic battlefield star map, and the enemy and friendly dispositions became clear at a glance.
"Sigh, what a pity," the Commodore sighed, his face full of resentment at others feasting while he could only watch and wait for soup.
Yu Lian admitted that what the other party said made a lot of sense. However, if it were him, he wouldn't bother with boarding! Wouldn't it be better to unleash all proton torpedoes and missiles into the defenseless soft underbelly of the enemy fleet? Wouldn't "boom boom boom" be more satisfying?
"Don't feel sorry, don't feel sorry," Colonel Chaimen Daisuke said with a comforting smile, walking over and hooking Commodore Hall's shoulder. "If we really fought like that, the situation would be hard to control afterward. Besides, don't we have an even bigger fish to catch?"
Commodore Hall's face twitched slightly, and he took a step back, nodding, "Indeed. I hope they arrive on schedule."
"They will definitely arrive on schedule. With such a large battle, Charlen Lionmane, that show-off war-monger, wouldn't possibly miss it. Moreover, if he doesn't come, his influence among the warrior nobles will take a hit. Those brothers he suppressed won't miss such an opportunity," Yu Lian said.
Commodore Hall agreed, not showing the slightest displeasure at a student Warrant Officer interjecting.
Since that's the case, then let me offer another suggestion. Yu Lian thought for a moment and then said, "Commander, there's still time. Can the destroyers replace 30% of their missiles with Type 3 special ammunition?"
Commodore Hall was genuinely curious this time and asked, "Why?"
"Type 3 reserve ammunition, that's... a strong photon jamming bomb, right? But that's an experimental weapon we bought from the Alliance, and its actual combat effectiveness isn't certain," Captain Marklov was also very curious. He was older, originally an Engineer, and knew all sorts of equipment like the back of his hand.
"At least during the last exercise, it proved that its jamming capability was indeed quite excellent. Hmm, I saw various exercise evaluations when I was at the academy," Yu Lian added as a remedy, then explained, "As everyone knows, the Kaitai Royal Guard Fleet is called the Royal Cruise Fleet because their fleet composition is unreasonable. A total of eighteen warships, including four Dreadnought, ten battlecruisers, two medical ships, and two engineering ships. This is a very unreasonable grouping. They lack anti-jamming support ship types, and in order to enhance the warships' firepower and power, they underwent modifications, even sacrificing the ship's own reconnaissance capabilities, which gives us an opportunity!"
Yes, the composition of the Kaitai Royal Fleet was indeed that strange. Aside from auxiliary ships, there were only large, long, and imposing capital ships. No outer perimeter guard, no support, no escort, as if they existed merely to show off the royal majesty.
"They lack support ships, so they lack countermeasures against photon interference. They will fall into a range where communication is interrupted, radar goes offline, and even weapon performance is affected for a certain period of time. They cannot contact the enemy United Fleet that is currently engaged, and each ship can only fight on its own. Our side then launching a surprise boarding attack at this time would be more effective," Yu Lian continued to add.
"Seems... feasible?" Colonel Chaimen stroked his chin, though he hadn't fully understood, he just thought it sounded impressive.
Major Nani rolled his eyes furiously beside him, thinking, 'What are you pretending to be, you fake veteran?'
This is understandable; spiritual energy user are not necessarily academic geniuses or excellent Commander; many of them only possess brute force called "spiritual energy."
Commodore Hall and Captain Marklov quickly exchanged glances, the latter saying, "Indeed, its performance can achieve this; it's definitely worth a try!"
At this moment, the small fleet had already moved away from the battlefield, sweeping over the magnificent reddish-brown gas giant, which looked like an eye in the universe. What appeared before everyone next was a dense Asteroid Belt.
"Then, Commodore, we'll go for final preparations now," Colonel Chaimen stood up to leave.
"You've worked hard. I will send you the sortie action plan shortly," the Commodore said.
The temporary trio of three spiritual energy user took the dedicated elevator down to the hangar again, and (except for Yu Lian) swaggered with an air of indifference to their Emblem Machine's exclusive berths.
Everyone they met along the way actively saluted, including many officers. Yet, they didn't feel there was anything wrong with saluting a student.
Fortunately, my airtight flight suit doesn't have rank insignia, otherwise everyone would be very awkward. Yu Lian thought.
He entered the cockpit again, holding a small booklet Major Nani had given him, checking the machine for the final time. At this moment, Colonel Yang Xiyi's avatar popped up again in his vision's pop-up window.
"Teacher Yang, next time you pop out, consider others' receptiveness."
"Buddha's Palm..."
"I'm sorry, you can come out whenever you want. Do you have something to tell me? Your student is all ears."
"I just heard about the suggestion you made to Commodore Hall. Do you know what he thinks of you now?"
"Hehehehe, never mind, praising me now would make me complacent. Anyway, the Kaitai people built their Guard Fleet based on road specimens, so they can't blame others for exploiting their weaknesses."
That's exactly how it was! The Kaitai people, who worshipped authority and military might, were naturally obsessed with colossal mechanical constructs and couldn't extricate themselves. The massive royal fleet, composed of huge starships, would circle over the capital, eliciting fervent cheers from the populace.
Most Kaitai people had forgotten that they couldn't even afford canned salted fish anymore, sinking into a kind of incited fanaticism they couldn't escape.
"Don't say that. If it were on the battlefield of a fleet decisive battle, these capital ships would play a decisive role!"
"So we can't let them enter the main battlefield. And in a limited battlefield, they are just road specimens. The Royal Guard Knight Order, well, they all have to be Heavy Infantry to achieve the ceremonial effect, which I certainly understand. But, if Heavy Infantry get stuck in the mud, they can be easily beaten by peasant soldiers, you know."
"Heavy Infantry?" Yang Xiyi was more curious about Yu Lian's analogy.
"Hmm, yes! I always have a feeling now that our mode of warfare is actually not much different from a three-dimensional cold weapon battlefield. battlecruisers are Knight Lords, heavy cruisers are heavy cavalry, light cruisers and destroyers are light cavalry, Guardian Ship are spear-and-shield Heavy Infantry, assault ship and assault ships are for boarding and close-quarters combat, so they should be unarmored cannon fodder light infantry. Armory Ship and Aircraft Carrier, well, let's just say they are archers and ballistas and catapults or something. When you put it like that, don't you think it's very intuitive?"
Bowing to the enemy is romantic! And also quite unorthodox. It's understandable how space warfare evolved into this state.
If it were anyone else, they would probably scold Yu Lian for talking nonsense, but Yang Xiyi thought about it and found it strangely fitting: "It seems quite apt. What about Dreadnought and Titan?"
"Dreadnought, to put it plainly, are just battlecruisers weighing over four million tons. Let's just say they are super Knight Lords armed to the teeth. Titan? Those are hero units."
"So, what kind of war do you think is reasonable?"
"Artillery fire, more artillery fire! Annihilating the enemy beyond visual range... Hmm, well, that might not be realistic. Small space fighters are too fragile in a space environment. But, whoever can deliver more firepower to the enemy within a single plane and at a single point in time gains the initiative in battle. Hasn't this battle already proven that point?"
Yang Xiyi was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Then what about spiritual energy user? What about the assault teams? And what about this Emblem Machine on you, which costs as much as a million-ton heavy cruiser?"
Of course, they'd be eliminated. Yu Lian really wanted to say that, but then he realized it was actually a bit too early to say such things.
"...Emblem Machine are toys and mascots, not weapons," he sighed.
"Don't sigh so much at this age, you'll age quickly. You'll soon become a useless, greasy middle-aged man like me," Yang Xiyi paused, then added, "Also, I agree."
...You're really frank.
"Of course I agree. Not just me, General Bonaparte, Minister Alwyn, and even Nishita Chairman, reportedly, all agree."
Hearing the name "Nishita Chairman," Yu Lian instinctively twitched the corner of his mouth and asked curiously, "General Bonaparte, is he Eleanor's father or her brother?"
"Of course her brother, her father is so stubborn... Oh, you still have contact with that little punk Eleanor? Oh right, that girl is also in New Yumen. How far have you two gotten?"
"Please don't change the subject."
"Alright, Yu Lian, in fact, Emblem Machine are indeed toys and mascots, but..."
His words stopped there, as if he saw something. In Yu Lian's main field of vision, Colonel Chaimen, who had completed his preparations, drove his magnificent mech to the center of the hangar, raising his massive war spear towards the sky.
"Long live!" he shouted.
"Long live! Long live! Long live!" All the soldiers in the hangar, whether pilots, assault team members, or ground crew, cheered, their momentum soaring.
"Victory is with us!"
"Commonwealth will win!"
"But, in our universe, the heroic figures of spiritual energy user leading the charge and breaking through enemy lines can indeed boost everyone's morale!" Yang Xiyi said helplessly, "Yu Lian, this is reality. I don't know if this is right or wrong, but this is reality."
Today's second update. Welcome, masters, if you have money, support us with money; if you don't have money, support us with votes; if you don't have votes, just show up.
Also, in this book, battleships and battlecruisers are the same type.
It's the space age; it would be too strange if the incompatibility between speed and protection couldn't be resolved anymore.
Even the Earthlings in this world solved it during World War II.
Although the tech tree in the book is quite skewed, it shouldn't be skewed to this extent.