Yu Lian and his Emblem Machine were currently in the lexington's hangar. He lent an ear to the various battle reports and enemy intelligence, while watching the Engineers busy installing special equipment on his new machine.
The so-called special equipment was actually the Emblem Machine's space combat attachments. To put it simply, it was an external layer of armor, a ram, and a glider thruster. In boarding operations, if assault ships and assault landing craft were destroyed in space, the Marines inside, equipped with this gear, would be able to continue their advance. To put it bluntly, cannon fodder, you have to fight to the very end!
Yu Lian watched the Engineers move around his Emblem Machine. With large, clumsy mechanical arms, they attached crude external armor, external energy packs, and thrusters to the exquisitely crafted Emblem Machine, which looked like a work of art.
"Sorry, Captain, we don't have space combat accessories exclusive to the Emblem Machine; we can only use those from the Hussar mechs as a substitute. Fortunately, they are compatible," the Engineer explained.
"Understood." Yu Lian looked at the rank insignia of a Master Sergeant on her collar, knowing she was another tech expert like Uncle Karl, and his tone became more respectful: "By the way, what did Colonel Chaimen and Lieutenant Colonel Na Ni choose for the mech's main weapon?"
"Oh, there are many choices for that. To allow spiritual energy users like you to adapt to any combat environment, we've put a lot of effort into the Emblem Machine's armament. There's a whole cabinet full of weapons to choose from!" the Engineer said proudly.
She brought over a panel, and with a light swipe, a series of icons popped up in the air, all displaying the appearance and performance data of various weapons: swords, spears, axes, halberds, hooks, and forks—everything imaginable. It was truly dazzling, immediately pushing all the large shotguns Yu Lian was most interested in into a corner.
"These weapons are all made of Xiandanu Alloy."
"That alloy mixed with Mithril and Orichalcum? The Alliance's Xiandanu Heavy Industries' flagship product?"
"You're an expert." The Engineer praised him: "It's precisely because of this strong material that we can put a lot of effort into our weapons. We've purchased anti-matter technology that the Alliance hasn't even deployed yet, allowing us to add a layer of anti-matter disintegration field to the weapon's edge! While it may not necessarily counter the Star Realm Knight Order's Atomic Light Spear and the Guerrillas' Lightsabers, it can definitely cut through over ninety-nine point ninety-nine percent of all matter in the Universe!"
"Additionally, in terms of diversity, we surpass them," she added, her face full of pride.
But doesn't this just mean that our spiritual weapons are far less versatile than theirs?
"Colonel Chaimen is a Three Rings 'Vanguard Breaker.' As you can see, he chose a horse-slaying spear... Hmm, and his secondary weapon is a six-turn handheld grenade launcher."
Oh, the third ring of the "Blood Road" Star Ring. It starts with "Warrior," branching into "Gladiator" or "Mechanic." A Gladiator advancing another ring becomes a "Vanguard Breaker." As the name suggests, they charge into battle, slay generals, capture flags, and are invincible.
As for "Mechanic," although it also follows a martial arts path, it's more about sword dancing under the moonlight, killing in ten steps—which clearly doesn't fit Brother Chaimen's style. Can you imagine this rough man, nearly two meters tall, acting like the flowing-robed Ximen Chunxue?
By the way, the "Star Realm Sword Master" that Yu Lian has always remembered is precisely the peak of the "Mechanic" path.
"Major Nani is a 'Vanguard Officer.' So she chose a shield and a battle axe, with a pulse blaste machine gun as a secondary weapon." Because of the Emblem Machine's extensive Zero Element and spiritual energy array in its body structure, it can supply energy to single-person energy weapons.
The "Two Rings" of the Throne Path? Like Kaz Khan, who is already dead, they both evolved from "Guardian." However, Kaz Khan chose another branch path, "Guardian," and his Two Rings became "Heavy Infantry."
"I remember, Captain, you are a cultivator, right? You should focus on Balance, with certain advantages in agility, perception, and spiritual energy spells. In that case, your subordinate thinks a saber and a rapier would be suitable."
Yu Lian nodded and began to instruct: "Then, I'll also take a blaste machine gun. Additionally, give me a twelve-turn grenade launcher with four types of special shells. A beehive missile pod, and two laser cutters. Hmm, that should be enough."
"..."
The Engineer's expression instantly filled with disappointment and an unspeakable sorrow, making Yu Lian also feel sad, thinking he should give the old person some face, so he said again: "Then, give me two daggers. That should be enough for close combat, very fitting for a flexible setup, right?"
The old Engineer forced out a stiff smile, reluctantly nodded, and walked away with faltering steps.
Yu Lian waited a bit longer. By the time the Engineers had finished assembling all the accessories and weapons, an alarm sounded in the hangar.
"All personnel to your stations! All personnel to your stations!"
Pilots, already dressed in their flight suits, rushed out of the resting cabins, putting on their helmets as they climbed into their respective fighters. At the far end of the hangar, assault troops in AS48 Hussar mechs were lining up to board the assault landing craft.
Yu Lian tightened his close-fitting sealed combat suit and made a good luck gesture to Colonel Chaimen and Major Nani. The three of them simultaneously climbed into their mechs and closed their helmets.
The view in front of them went black for a moment, then expanded again, extending to the limits of the hangar, far more than what the naked eye could capture. Of course, the information from various battle reports also became clearer.
"Special missile detonation, interference barrier deployed! Enemy fleet, caught in strong photon interference!"
"Estimated duration: ten minutes!"
"Destroyer fleet, second round of attack begins!"
The 8 destroyers, which had already broken away from the fleet formation, once again approached the enemy. They themselves hadn't expected the first round of special projectiles to have such an effect, and each of them was extremely excited. This time, they simply closed in to within ten thousand kilometers of the enemy fleet. In space, this was practically face-to-face.
During these ten minutes, the destroyers conducted over eight rounds of massed orbital cannon and energy cannon fire—there was no other way. The entire enemy fleet was under strong photon interference, and guided weapons like missiles and torpedoes were also affected, so it was better to just bombard them directly with large cannons.
They weren't worried about being hit at all. While the firepower of the Dreadnoughts and battlecruisers was fierce, they were now effectively deprived of their eyes and ears. Aiming could only be done by visual means, and the hit rate was thus imaginable. Of course, if the Kaitai Royal Fleet had a hundred marksmen of Ina's caliber, then they would just have to accept their fate.
It must be admitted that for capital ships, the destroyers' firepower was still too weak. After fighting for so long, they had only caused minor damage to the enemy. However, they never expected to create a historical-level news story of a destroyer sinking a capital ship. As long as they could cause confusion among the enemies and weaken their already not-so-abundant close-in defense firepower, it was enough.
The destroyers' battle results were indeed brilliant; all enemy warships had fire points on their surfaces. They immediately turned and fled.
And before that, a further order rang out in the hangar: "Fighter squadrons, all take off!"
The lexington was a so-called assault armor Aircraft Carrier, not carrying many fighters in total. It only had four multi-role fighter-bomber groups, two superluminal interceptor groups, and one orbital bomber group. This time, except for the bombers and interceptors which were not used, 4 groups, nearly 100 fighters, plus 300 drones coordinating their tactical actions, had all taken off and launched.
Commodore Hall's timing for ordering the fighters to take off was too clever; the moment the photon interference dissipated, the swarm of aircraft had already pounced on the enemy ships' flanks, immediately diving in. In an instant, the entire enemy fleet was thrown into disarray.
To this guard fleet, composed entirely of powerful capital ships, they were like a pride of lions surrounded by hornets; no matter how they roared and clawed, they could never quite deal with these annoying little things.
At this moment, the 48 assault ships surrounding the lexington also began to slowly activate. These were smaller warships than destroyers, without heavy firepower, but with considerable speed and armor. Their full crew typically consisted of only 10 to 20 people, but in extreme situations, they could carry an entire company of assault troops.
To put it simply, this was an assault warship specifically designed for boarding actions.
Of course, this was not an extreme situation; each assault ship carried only about 50 assault troops. The total force was just over two thousand. If half of these soldiers breached a Dreadnought, it would be enough to completely disable this multi-million-ton behemoth.
Yu Lian and his two temporary partners were already on standby aboard an assault landing craft. This was a warship similar in size to an assault ship, but with thicker armor, stronger shields, and equipped with solar sails and ultra-hard rams. It was said that at extreme impact speeds, it could even penetrate the armor of a Titan. However, to save space, this type of landing craft did not carry a warp engine and could only be carried by an Aircraft Carrier.
The lexington, an armored assault Aircraft Carrier, had its empty hangar space prepared for four assault landing craft and three hundred assault troops.
The assault landing craft slowly slid out of the hangar and entered space.
The dark, conical hull was almost indiscernible in space, but once its solar sails unfurled, it suddenly looked a bit like a headless giant bat. Yu Lian felt that this shape alone was particularly eerie and must be very intimidating.
At this moment, two more pop-up windows appeared in his field of vision, from Commodore Hall and Colonel Yang Xiyi respectively.
"After you depart, you will make a direct approach towards the enemy Steel Crown Prince Dreadnought. You are expected to land at the front of the warship. These are the possible locations." Yang Xiyi sent over the enemy ship's appearance and marked key areas, continuing to explain: "The Steel Crown Prince is a modified Imperial Yanlong-class Dreadnought, and the location of its bridge cannot be changed. Its position is here!"
In the holographic image of the ship in his field of vision, an area began to flash with a rainbow light.
Yu Lian carefully memorized this diagram and simultaneously began to recall the internal structure of the Steel Crown Prince-class Dreadnought from his previous life. This type of ship had been in service in the Kaitai Kingdom for a considerable time, and he was not unfamiliar with it.
Commodore Hall then said: "The assault troops on the assault ships will be commanded by Colonel Rezlov and Lieutenant Colonel Price, while the 300 personnel on the landing craft will be under the command of Lieutenant Colonel McMillan, coordinating with your actions. After a successful landing, please contact the surrounding teams. Rendezvous at the nearest designated rally point; these are our projected rally points. The first to arrive at each rally point can temporarily construct defensive positions. Once the force at each rally point exceeds 100 people, immediately depart, with only one objective—the Steel Crown Prince's bridge, the enemy fleet's Command HQ, Charlen Lionmane's location! Understood?"
Yu Lian heard a chorus of "Understood!" in the Commander channel. He knew that this group of Commanders must at least be Captains or higher-ranking company Commanders; he himself was likely the lowest-ranking.
Many more light dots appeared on the enemy ship's holographic map, marking the pre-set rally points. At this moment, Yang Xiyi paused, then suddenly reached out and operated something, drawing a box on the ship's diagram: "Additionally, I'll add one more thing: besides Lieutenant Colonel McMillan's troops fully coordinating with Colonel Chaimen, Colonel Rezlov's troops, after boarding, can flexibly choose to support Colonel Chaimen or launch an attack in this direction, depending on their location. This is the energy conduction hub on the enemy ship Steel Crown Prince, responsible for powering its twelve engines at the stern. Once this place is attacked..."
Yu Lian secretly applauded. He knew that the Steel Crown Prince's prototype, the Yanlong-class Dreadnought, had a design flaw: the energy centers of its propulsion system were all channeled through a single node.
Once that is destroyed, although it won't be completely obliterated like the super space fortress used to deter an entire nation by an empire that controlled the entire galaxy in a parallel Universe, the warship will definitely lose power for a considerable period of time. The chain reaction triggered by this will cause immeasurable effects on the entire warship's shields, firepower, and even its gravity simulation and life support systems.
In space, the consequences for a warship suffering from such a debuff are imaginable.
...It doesn't seem much different from being blown up in one go.
Yu Lian had originally wanted to find an opportunity to propose this suggestion, but he didn't expect Teacher Yang to think of it before him.
At this time, Yang Xiyi had already explained to everyone: "The Steel Crown Prince has approximately over seventy thousand crew members, of whom the security personnel should be over 3,000. Other enemy ships, upon discovering their flagship under attack, will certainly come to its full rescue. All companies heading to attack the energy hub are very likely to be ambushed by superior enemy forces. This fate is something all of you Present might face. So, do you have any objections?"
No one spoke. Their silence already represented their stance.
"Therefore, Colonel Chaimen, your attack timing will not only determine victory or defeat but also the lives and deaths of too many comrades! Do not prolong the battle, break into the bridge, and we will achieve final victory!"
"Understood! Colonel Yang." Colonel Chaimen replied with a solemn attitude for the first time.
"I've done all I can! The rest is up to you all! I sincerely wish you all a resounding victory and a triumphant return!"
Yang Xiyi looked deeply at everyone; although he was facing all the company Commanders, Yu Lian always felt that he was looking at him. Then, he saluted everyone first and closed the communication.
Commodore Hall straightened his military cap, swept his gaze over everyone, and loudly commanded:
"Then... Assault landing craft, begin acceleration! Immediately enter first charge speed! Inducement is lit, clear ahead, may your martial fortunes be prosperous!"
Today is the second update, full of integrity. This is the first update, and it's a chapter over 4k words, full of integrity~~
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