The moment the vanguard troops of the Black Wind Fleet jumped to the Tian Yuan Realm, the counterattack of the Tian Yuan Realm had already begun. The main force of the counterattack was the orbital defense troops of the Heaven's Origin Sector.
The armed forces of the Star Glory Federation were divided into four levels. Those at the top level were naturally the deep-sky fleets that could perform dozens of space jumps easily, cross multiple Sectors, and have a deterrence range of more than a hundred lightyears. They could cruise and fight independently for years.
The Deep Sky Fleets were similar to the 'Black Wind Fleet', the expedition army of the Imperium. They were far more advanced than 'fleet' and boasted perfect self-circulation, survival, and development abilities. To some extent, they could exist independently as a civilization of tiny starships.
From the Star Ocean Imperium, the Star Ocean Republic, the Imperium of True Human Beings, and the Xing Yao Federation, all the Deep Sky Fleets had an unwritten rule that the proportion of female soldiers in the fleet must be no less than thirty percent. As a result, should the motherland suffer a destructive strike while the Deep Sky Fleets were cruising in space, the fleet alone would be enough to pass on the civilization of the motherland!
It was not hard to imagine the capability and configuration of such fleets. The most elite warriors, the smartest commanders, the most advanced starships, the most powerful Crystal Suit, and even the unique Colossi of the motherland were gathered there. They were both the most precious mobile force of a civilization in space battles and where all the elites were gathered!
In the Xing Yao Federation, there were two fleets that were qualified to be called 'Deep Sky Fleets'. They were the 'Burning Prairie Fleet', which was the trump card, and the 'Great White Fleet', which was best at surprise attacks and breakthroughs.
One level below the Deep Sky Fleets were the defense fleets stationed in various Sectors, such as the 'Heaven's Origin Fleet' that guarded the capital.
Despite the awe-inspiring name, the starships of the defense fleets were often small in size, with weak spiritual shields, plate armor, and firepower. Most importantly of all, their structure was relatively simple and vulnerable, and they could not withstand the repetitive tearing and reassembly caused by multiple space jumps. Therefore, it was barely possible for them to launch attacks across Sectors.
Their combat radius was usually limited to the world they were protecting. If it was a single galaxy world like the Tian Yuan Realm, then they would not go beyond the range of a single galaxy. They would even hide in the inner regions with rich resources that were relatively close to the stars. They would not even casually enter the desolate and barren lands at the edge of the galaxy.
Although the Heaven's Origin Fleet was the garrison of the capital city, the Xing Yao Federation had expanded too fast in the past hundred years. The seven Sectors, the Hundred Flowers Space Zone, the Dragon Snake Space Zone, and other space zones had to be fortified everywhere. Even the largest troop was not enough.
Besides, the Tian Yuan Realm was a typical single-galaxy world. More than 90% of the resources were concentrated on the home planet and the two planets before and after it. In terms of defense, it was unnecessary and impossible to maintain an ace force as powerful as the Burning Prairie Fleet.
Therefore, compared to the Flying Star Sector and the Uranian Ring Sector, which boasted a long tradition of starship production and could even be considered half a starship civilization, the capability of the Heaven's Origin Fleet was only mediocre.
What really protected the home planet of the Heaven's Origin Sector and reassured the magnates in the parliament of the Federation and the billions of people living on the home planet was the Near-Earth Orbit Troop, the third defense force of the Federation.
The Near-Earth Orbit Troop of the Tian Yuan Realm was centered on the nine asteroids deployed on the orbit of the Heaven's Origin Sector.
Those asteroids had been slowly moved to the Tian Yuan Realm after enormous power rune arrays were installed on them from the periphery of the Tian Yuan Realm over the past hundred years. They were captured by the gravity sphere of the Heaven's Origin Sector and turned into super tiny 'satellites'.
They were all resource planets that had been moved to the orbit of the Heaven's Origin Sector for the purpose of collecting the crystals and mother lodes inside the planets, which would provide a material foundation for the explosive development of the Heaven's Origin Sector in the 'golden hundred years'.
However, after all the crystals and mother lodes were collected, and the asteroids turned into empty shells that were riddled with holes, the leadership of the military, the parliament, and the Association of Refiners almost simultaneously realized that it would be better to transform them into war fortresses as the indestructible barriers of the capital city instead of bothering to drag them away or destroy them!
The modification of the first asteroid lasted thirty years, but it was still not finished. But the nine asteroids had been transformed into daunting iron hedgehogs.
The mines in the past had turned into arsenals that were buried deep below the ground. Powerful super-heavy crystal cannons, particle cannons, and mystic ray cannons were lurking quietly inside the asteroids. Countless space shuttle bases and Exo bases had been established on the asteroids, too. Most of the soldiers of the garrison troops were deployed in the bases on the asteroids, so that they could get rid of the insignificant gravity at any moment and march into space.
Also, in the middle of the asteroids, there were countless space mines made of abandoned starships and space torpedoes. They were the best defense line of death in the seven Sectors of the Federation!
The orbit defense line, known as the Wall of Heaven's Origin, was the greatest reliance of the home planet of the Heaven's Origin Sector.
In the eyes of many people in the capital city, with such an impenetrable defense line, even the ground defense force, which was the fourth and last defense force, seemed to be of little importance.
The vanguard troops of the Black Wind Fleet had arrived at the resource-rich area inside the Heaven's Origin Sector directly under the guidance of the space gate. The attackers and the defenders were almost at a melee distance in the blink of an eye. Therefore, they were attacked by the Wall of Heaven's Origin ferociously before they were freed from the dizziness caused by the space shock.
From the nine asteroid fortresses and the half-fixed arsenals that were modified from countless abandoned starships, colorful streaks of brilliance seemed to be real. Thousands of beams of light swallowed hundreds of thousands of kilometers in the blink of an eye and smashed the Black Wind Fleet overwhelmingly like a storm.
The first wave of attack lasted sixty seconds, but the effect was not satisfactory. Both the high-frequency mystic rays of a very short wavelength and the high-energy particle beams were swallowed by the mist outside of the Black Wind Fleet.
The mist of war seemed to boast the ability to disrupt and disperse spiritual energy. The straight mystic rays lost their direction like headless flies after they entered the mist, refracting and dispersing randomly. In the end, they either passed through the battle formation of the Black Wind Fleet without hitting any target and darted toward the depths of space, or they turned into colorful stripes of light that dyed the mist of war in an unstoppable color. It even seemed to have covered the Black Wind Fleet with a magnificent battle robe!
It was not until this moment that the super alloy bullets pushed by the surging force of the magnetic field finally arrived and launched a blow on the Black Wind Fleet on the physical level.
However, the mist of war also boasted a powerful force field interference effect. Most of the bullets were 'pushed' away by the arc-shaped magnetic field and 'slid' away from the surface of the Black Wind Fleet!
"The enemy's stealth technology, force field interference technology, and spiritual shield technology are all better than ours. Ninety-nine percent of the attacks just now missed the target!"
"However, during the moment of the attack, the preliminary scanning of the enemy's warships was completed. More than twenty main-force warships of the enemy, including 'Black Swirl', the largest flagship. Good heavens. The Black Wind Fleet has gone mad. They have already jumped their flagship over in the first wave of jump. Are they preparing for a strategic battle with us?"
"The enemy's warships are changing their battle formation from the jump state to the combat state. Their target is the area, which is … where our No. 1 space gate is located!"
"The General Staff has concluded that the tactical goal of the Black Wind Fleet is to seize the No. 1 space gate and create favorable conditions for the subsequent main-force fleets to arrive incessantly!"
The cold voice echoed in the command center of the Defense Counsel. Looking at the spots of the Black Wind Fleet on the light beam, they were clearer and more active than before!
The arrival of "Black Swirl", the flagship of the Black Wind Fleet, made everybody realize that it was definitely not a bluff or a trick to distract the enemy but an out-and-out strategic final battle!
"Everyone, this is a godsend opportunity for our army."
Speaker Wan Guqing lowered his head and looked at the generals and experts who were sweating hard. Even at this moment, there was not the slightest excitement in his voice, but the unhurried and unhurried tone was surprisingly reassuring.
"It is well known that the Black Wind Fleet is definitely not the only enemy that we are faced with. It is entirely possible that the Imperium of True Human Beings will send out a second expedition army in a few years.
"Dealing with the Black Wind Fleet for years and struggling to secure a victory in a protracted war is absolutely meaningless for the survival of the Federation.
"Only by crushing the enemy's main force in a strategic battle where both parties are giving their best will we be able to end the war neatly, demonstrate the strength of the federation, and win ten to twenty years of precious time to catch our breath. That is our only hope!
"Therefore, in the past few years, we have been trying to figure out how to drag the Black Wind Fleet into a final battle, but we have never found an opportunity.
"Right now, the Black Wind Fleet has delivered their flagship to our door. The final battle has already begun. God bless the Federation. Why are you so uneasy?
"The situation of the battle right now is very obvious. The Black Wind Fleet is trying to completely occupy and destroy the three space gates around the home planet of the Heaven's Origin Sector in order to stop the Burning Prairie Fleet, the main force of our army, from returning and occupying the home planet before the Burning Prairie Fleet arrives!
"For our army, as long as we can defend the space gates, prevent the follow-up troops of the Black Wind Fleet from arriving, and make the Burning Prairie Fleet jump back in time, we will be able to destroy many main-force warships of the enemy including Black Swirl by gathering the forces of the Burning Prairie Fleet, the Great White Fleet, the Heaven's Origin Fleet, and the orbit defense troops. Then, the Black Wind Fleet will completely lose the ability to launch a second assault!
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