Chapter 448, Iron Horse Sea Battle
The naval battle on Xiaxing I-3 did not actually break out.
The commander of the combined fleet knew that they could not fight, so they certainly would not force a fight. They directly broke away from the orbit of the planet and ran away with their tails between their legs.
And that devil-like Retribution-class battleship did not come to chase them.
It simply approached the Xiaxing I-3, fired a few shots at the surface, then dropped the transport ship and landed on the ground.
Soon, the transport ships returned to it, and then the battleship left the planet's orbit and sailed away.
The Alliance Navy ships, still in shock, finally came to their senses at this time.
This battleship should belong to the rebel group that appeared on the ground. It appeared in the planetary orbit just to pick up the group.
This rebel chapter does not seem to want to occupy the planet.
They should be able to clearly realize that with their strength, even if they have a battleship in hand, they cannot confront the Alliance head-on, especially it is impossible for them to win on the ground.
So what is their purpose in causing trouble?
Considering what happened before, I'm afraid it just wants to lure the real Phoenix to come.
And they succeeded.
They tricked two Phoenix teams into landing on the ground and fell into their clutches.
And what do they want the genuine Phoenix for?
I'm afraid it's for the gene-seed.
This was Gu Hang’s judgment after receiving intelligence from the front line.
Gu Hang even had a guess about their identities, and he felt that there was a high probability that he would not be wrong: the stain of the Phoenix, the rebellious gang called "Ashes of the Dead".
After learning about the existence of this war gang from Sidney Blevins' Phoenix deserters, Gu Hang felt that this group of guys would sooner or later cause trouble for the Alliance.
The reputation of the alliance grew, and the news of the Phoenix's revival became more and more well-known.
The traitor leader named Zhong Jihua had an extraordinary pursuit of the Phoenix bloodline. It was almost inevitable that he would come to cause trouble.
However, he came at the wrong time. Most of the Alliance's energy was still involved in the frontline battle with the greenskins. If there was a fire in the backyard, they would definitely be in a mess.
Perhaps, Zhong Jihua deliberately chose to take action at this time.
But Gu Hang was not completely unprepared.
Since the war with the greenskins began, Gu Hang has been very cautious in using space marines. He did not blindly send the most elite forces at hand to the battlefield just because the battle on the front line was fierce.
On the one hand, it’s not time yet.
On the other hand, Gu Hang had to use the Phoenix to make some necessary precautions.
Rather than letting elite warriors like the Phoenix consume their energy on the front battlefield, it is better to retain their strength so that they can launch the necessary attack at the critical moment.
However, the opportunity for the necessary attack did not come yet, and the thing that Gu Hang had been guarding against happened first.
It seems that Yelisia cannot come to pick him up, nor can she go north immediately to participate in the Battle of Temir.
Even Gu Hang himself had to go to the railway station in person.
The issues in the Iron Horse Star Region must be resolved.
The relationship between this rebellious war gang and the Phoenix is something that Gu Hang cannot ignore;
At the same time, it was impossible for Gu Hang to allow the rebellious gang, suspected to be the "Ashes of the Dead", to cause trouble in his rear area.
They have about two to three hundred rebellious space marines who believe in the evil god. They also have a battleship. To be able to operate this battleship, it means they must have at least 100 to 200 thousand people on board...
In a head-on battle, apart from the battleship, this rebel regiment is not qualified; but taking into account the battleship and the risk that they may cooperate with separatist forces on many planets, if they are not dealt with, Gu Hang's rear will be turned upside down.
Of course, he wouldn't go alone.
A message was immediately sent to Martins.
…
One month later, Tiema star region, Tiedong II galaxy.
There are three star tunnels connecting the galaxy, leading to Tiedong III, Tiedong I, and Bianma IV in the Bianma star region.
The battleship "Revenant Spike" is heading towards the jump point to Bianma IV.
Or rather, escape.
Behind them, there is a joint fleet of human beings chasing them.
Although the battleship is powerful, the "Retribution-class" has a flaw that cannot be compensated for in any way: it is slow and not flexible enough.
Although its powerful firepower, thick armor, and extremely high-energy-level void shields make this main battleship, which is the largest in service in the empire, capable of serving as the absolute offensive and defensive core in large-scale fleet decisive battles, it also needs a large number of coordinated frigates to escort it.
But now, there is no such formation next to the 'Ghost Spike'.
As a result, they did not dare to confront the Combined Fleet directly.
In the past month, there have always been some small boats following behind them, monitoring their actions. Whenever they want to turn around to hit someone, these small boats will take advantage of their fast running speed and flexible turning to run away directly; and when they turn their heads, the small boats will catch up again.
The leader of the 'Ashes of the Dead', Chong Jihua, was annoyed.
He even ordered the ships to stop at the jump point on the other side after completing an astral jump, ready to ambush the small boats that followed them to complete the jump.
However, this plan also failed.
The small boat that had been following them did not make a jump at all; instead, there was another small boat on this side of the star tunnel, staring at them from afar.
It doesn’t matter if our boat is small, as long as we have more.
I can't catch up, I can't hit him, and I can't get rid of him. That's all I can do.
At first, Zhong Jihua just felt annoyed, but didn't feel it was dangerous.
Just stare at it.
What else can you do to me?
They were just afraid of him and wanted to monitor him, but when he really wanted to do something, these small boats couldn't do anything to him.
However, by now, he already felt something was wrong.
Long-term surveillance would have been fine, the wizard on his ship had given him intelligence many times, telling him that there were a large number of ships shuttling through the star tunnels around Tiedong II.
What do you want to do?
Encircle and suppress me?
It seems to be true.
If they were to deploy their forces and fight head-on, with a fleet of more than a hundred ships, with three cruisers as the main force, versus a lone Retribution-class battleship, who would be the winner?
That’s hard to say. The latter’s winning rate may be less than 20%.
Before, he thought that the so-called "alliance" would not really fight him to the death.
Even if they defeated him, what would that matter? The Combined Fleet would have to pay the price of losing at least half of its ships, including two of its main cruisers.
Is it worth paying such a high price?
You are still fighting the greenskins.
That’s right, Zhong Jihua certainly knew this information.
If not for this, he wouldn't have come.
It was precisely because the alliance was in a state of war, and the war seemed to be very fierce, that he came here.
What he wanted was exactly what Gu Hang had guessed: the genetic seed of the phoenix.
The Ashes of the Dead Warband was formed when a group of Phoenix deserters surrendered to the Chaos God. Back then, Zhong Jihua and his people thought that Phoenix would be destroyed and that it was meaningless to stay, as they would only die with the warband.
This was all the Empire's fault. Phoenix was clearly fighting for the Empire, and Ironclad was the traitor. But they were ultimately betrayed by the Empire and sentenced to a redemption expedition, which left them with the fate of dying on the expedition.
So, they rebelled, they turned to the evil god, and took the name of 'Ashes of the Dead'.
From the ashes of the burned-out phoenix, the dead return from hell with a vengeful rage.
That's what the new name means.
But who would have thought that the phoenix was not dead at all?
Not only did they not die, but over the years, with the support of the "alliance" that appeared from nowhere, they have become stronger and stronger, and there is even a tendency for them to return to their former state.
How could people like Zhong Jihua accept this?
Was our choice back then wrong?
That's impossible!
In order to prove that they were not the wrong party, Zhong Jihua brought his gang to the Eastern Universe and Dragon Eagle Star Region.
Here, it is the time to expand the scale of the war gang. Here they have the gene seeds that they dream of most, and they are connected by blood. At the same time, they are also looking for opportunities and ways to destroy this human force that spans nearly a hundred worlds.
Of course, it wouldn't work if they just relied on their strength.
But isn't there a green skin?
That can be done if enough damage is done in the rear.
So, what happened on Xiaxing I-3.
Through wizards, they corrupted the Alliance agents they captured, passed on false intelligence, and sent down two teams of Phoenixes.
The two teams of Phoenixes, with a total of twenty people, certainly did not end up well.
The fighting power of the Phoenix is certainly not weak, but the Ashes are all veterans. It is normal that they beat the new Phoenix with ten times the force and couldn't even spread the news.
It’s a pity that the so-called alliance reacted very quickly.
They can only run away.
I thought I could easily escape with the help of the big ship, but it seems that's not possible.
But even now, Zhong Jihua still couldn't believe that the Alliance actually dared to use their precious fleet to encircle and suppress him.
However, he was not unprepared for this.
The corresponding order was issued, and the 'Revenant Spike' was still heading towards Bianma IV.
If the alliance fleet doesn't dare to start a war, then just leave in a swagger; but once the war starts... then come.
First of all, the 'Wraith Spike' will be able to destroy almost half of the Alliance fleet;
Of course, the Revenant Spike would also be destroyed.
But so what?
They are Space Marines!
In battle, they could have the Revenant Spike charge and strike hard, getting close to the Alliance fleet. If you were to ask what the most powerful weapon on the Retribution-class battleship was, it probably wasn't the Light Spear Array or the super-sized macro cannon, but the ancient ram mounted on the bow of the ship.
Relying on its huge size, the Retribution-class battleship can smash any ship smaller than it when it charges forward; and it itself, protected by its ramming horns, will not be damaged.
Of course, this is not a conventional weapon, and no one would use it as a decisive weapon in a real naval battle. The so-called "ramming horn" is mostly decorative.
However, if a fight really breaks out, Zhong Jihua does not intend to use the horns as a mere decoration.
Heavy artillery and ramming horns can both play a role.
After the ships of both sides get close, the 'Ashes of the Dead' gang can use their greatest weapon: the boarding tactic!
Whether it is through a boarding ship after closing in, or simply through direct subspace teleportation through the former think tank within the warband and now the warband wizard.
After arriving at the enemy's spaceship, they can seize control of the warship and use the war gang wizard to summon the power of chaos to quickly corrupt the crew.
It only takes a short time for them to "steal" the warship.
Then you can continue playing.
They can use this method multiple times in a row.
How many ships does the alliance have that they can rob?
Every time they succeed, the Alliance will have one less ship, and they will have one more. Then the frigate that the Revenant Spike is missing will come, right?
If they had shot down the main cruiser of the Combined Fleet, the situation would have been even worse.
All in all, for Zhong Jihua, if you want to fight, then come on!
And the whole situation really developed just as he had imagined.
When the 'Revenant Spike' approached the star tunnel jump point leading to Bianma IV, a fleet jumped out from there.
At the same time, behind them, a group of Alliance ships also appeared at the jump point from Iron Horse I.
They belong to the same team, and the two-pronged pincer attack strategy was also formulated by the fleet commander, Major General Ye Licia.
The two sides kept their distance and prepared to launch an encirclement offensive while avoiding concentrated attacks from the "Ghost Spike".
At this point in the situation, Zhong Jihua no longer considered anything else.
He issued another order, notifying all members of the warband:
"Get ready for battle, let's kill!"
And his brothers gave him clear feedback: "Roar!"
He shouted again: "Blood sacrifice to the Blood God!"
The communication channel immediately responded: "Skull for the skull seat!"
Under the high morale and bloody shouts among the Ashes of the Dead, the distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer.
The 'Revenant Spike' opened fire first.
Its range is longer than any other ship in the alliance.
This caught the Alliance Fleet off guard. A Silver Sword-class frigate was hit.
The X-class light spear array instantly melted the energy shield outside the Silver Sword, and opened a large hole in the ship with much less power.
The silver sword suddenly lost power and spun in the space; then half a minute later, an even more violent explosion occurred inside the silver sword, and it turned into a huge fireball in the air.
(End of this chapter)
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