The highest command center of the Defense Counsel of the Federation was consumed by an enormous silence.
It was not a secret that the Black Wind Fleet had established a space gate at a certain point dozens of lightyears away from the Federation, perhaps on the orbit of a certain dim star.
However intense the relationship between the Black Wind Fleet and the homeland of the Imperium was, and however dangerous the swirls of power were, it was impossible for the expedition army to completely cut off the connection with the homeland.
Building a space gate and establishing a super long-distance communication base would allow them to ask for reinforcements from the homeland when the nightmare of one in ten thousand failure came true.
Whether or not the homeland could send reinforcements in time, and for what purpose the reinforcements would come to the place, such preparations had to be done.
However, none of the leadership of the Federation, including Jin Xinyue, had foreseen that Heiye Ming, commander of the Black Wind Fleet, would be so crazy as to teleport the enormous, complicated space gate made of hundreds of star beacons to the Tian Yuan Realm!
Under normal circumstances, it would have been an extremely stupid strategy.
It was because the space, spiritual energy, and scale of every space jump were limited. To teleport the star beacons, which did not have any mobility and were extremely precise, to dozens of lightyears away would not only consume astronomical spiritual energy, but it would also occupy the teleportation space that originally belonged to the warships.
One could not have one's cake and eat it too. One more star beacon teleported might mean the teleportation of several arsenal warships or shield warships. Who could tell whether or not the loss of one arsenal warship or shield warship would be the last feather that would decide the outcome of the war at the most critical moment?
Even if the entire space gate was teleported over at the cost of the most precious mobility, it would still take a lot of time to assemble, debug, and recharge the space gate.
In the meantime, the space gate would be an enormous and vulnerable target that would be at the mercy of the enemy.
The first wave of attack of the Black Wind Fleet was not large in number in the first place. Logically speaking, as long as the reinforcements of the Burning Prairie Fleet arrived in time, they would not have been given the opportunity to assemble and debug the space gate slowly at all. They would definitely have drowned the enemy unstoppably with ten times their number!
But now.
The three space gates on the Federation's side had all been paralyzed. There was no telling when they could be repaired. They only had part of the elites of the Burning Prairie Fleet. Also, because of the comprehensive corruption of the Spiritual Nexus, the coordination and command were in chaos, as if they had been mired in an invisible swamp!
Were the forces at hand enough to compete with "Black Swirl", the flagship of the Black Wind Fleet?
Before the Spiritual Nexus was repaired and rebooted, would the space gate of the Black Wind Fleet unleash dazzling brilliance first?
A question mark of despair appeared in everyone's heart.
Heiye Ming's seemingly reckless and crazy strategy suddenly turned into the most delicate 'winning hand'. As long as he could assemble and debug his own space gate before the Federation repaired the three space gates, the iron hooves of the Imperium would stomp on the entire Federation starting from the Tian Yuan Realm!
"I …"
Connecting all the abrupt changes from the beginning of the war to this moment, Jin Xinyue immediately came to the conclusion that she had been tricked.
The queen of demons' face was pale. A sour and astringent plum seemed to be stuck in her throat. Her perky breasts were shivering violently, and she could barely catch her breath.
Wan Guqing, the Speaker of the Federation, glanced at her and blocked her from everybody's scolding eyes without batting an eyelid. He said peacefully, "We have to destroy the space gate before the enemy finishes assembling and charging it."
It was a piece of nonsense.
But in many cases, nonsense referred to the most correct words.
"At the very least, we know that …"
Wan Guqing was still able to control his facial muscles. Putting on a confident smile, he went on, "As long as we win the war, there will be no need to worry about the arrival of a second Black Wind Fleet for a long time.
"It is well known that the construction of a large-scale, high-level space gate consumes a lot of time and resources. It is not an exaggeration to say that it will take all the resources of the entire country. I think, however extravagant the Black Wind Fleet is, it is already their limit to build such a space gate in only ten years, isn't it?
"Before, destroying the enemy's space gate and preventing the enemy's local forces from arriving at the border of the Federation instantly was our next strategic priority. However, we did not know where the nests and space gates of the Black Wind Fleet were hidden at all. Searching for a secret space gate in the infinite space zones was no different from searching for a needle in a haystack.
"I did not expect that the enemy would deliver the 'fat meat' to our doorstep. What else can it be if it is not the God Bless the Federation?
"We have to get rid of the chaos as soon as possible. At the very least, we have to establish a communication route to the flagship of the Burning Prairie Fleet. We also have to learn the latest situation in the frontline. Right now, how many organized troops are still under our control in the boiling sea of stars?"
The best specialists of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus in the entire Federation had been gathered. Quite a few experts in the Yuanying Stage and even the Divinity Transformation Stage were supervising the operation. Although the Spiritual Nexus could not be completely repaired for the time being, it was still possible to establish a route to the flagship of the Burning Prairie Fleet in a hurry.
The result of the communication, however, was not optimistic.
While the highest command center in the capital city was scourged by the storm of crystal processors, the first attack group of the Burning Prairie Fleet, which was fully connected to the war network, was infiltrated and infected too.
The crystal processors were paralyzed. The data was chaotic. The communication was not smooth. The command was not effective. The battle formation was loose. It was even impossible to distinguish the quadrants and the coordinates. They turned from moths darting toward the fire into headless flies. There was no 'organization' at all.
Bai Kaixin, the Chief of Staff of the fleet, estimated that it would take at least three hours for effective command to regain the ability to fight the Black Wind Fleet again!
"Three hours …"
The highest command center was caught in dead silence again.
Everybody was well aware that the Heaven's Origin Fleet, which had been harassing the enemy relentlessly, had been exhausted to the limits and might completely collapse at any second. The demon troops that had just taken over were neither good at space battles nor commanded by excellent commanders. They were merely 'camouflage' and 'bait' in the first place. The best that they had was their courage.
It was impossible for the two mediocre troops to stop or even delay the Black Wind Fleet.
Once the Black Wind Fleet broke them easily, they would be able to establish an impregnable defense formation unhurriedly.
In both space battles and ground battles, offense was always more disadvantageous than defense. The Black Wind Fleet was one level higher in quality than the Burning Prairie Fleet in the first place. If they were given time to establish their battle formation unhurriedly and wait for the enemy to be exhausted, it would be barely possible for the Burning Prairie Fleet to break through the enemy's battle formation and destroy the space gate even if the Burning Prairie Fleet did regain effective command!
What could they do?
Who else could stall the Black Wind Fleet and buy three precious hours for the Burning Prairie Fleet and the Spiritual Nexus?
Yes, there was another Deep Sky Fleet, the Great White Fleet.
However, the Great White Fleet was incomparable to the Burning Prairie Fleet in terms of both scale and quality.
The Great White Fleet was only established as a supplement for the Burning Prairie Fleet with intense experiments and explorations. The members of the fleet were all space pirates in the past, a bunch of outdated mobsters. Bai Xingjian, their commander, was merely a Yuanying in the beginning level. In the Burning Prairie Fleet, which was full of talents, he might not even be qualified to be the commander of a sub-fleet.
Besides, the Great White Fleet had lost contact even earlier. They had thought that they were caught in a cosmic storm and the intense interferences of the enemy. But judging from the situation right now, it was possible that the crystal processor virus had broken out on their starships in advance.
Even the most elite forces of the Burning Prairie Fleet were deeply troubled by the mysterious crystal processor virus. The Great White Fleet must be even more chaotic right now, right?
The last order that the command center sent to the Great White Fleet was to draw close to the No. 2 and No. 3 space gates immediately and join the Burning Prairie Fleet in the first wave of attack.
Right now, they were either at a loss where they were or rushing toward the No. 2 and No. 3 space gates in stupefaction. Even if they turned around immediately, it would be impossible for them to march to the Black Wind Fleet and disrupt the enemy's battle formation in one to two hours, right?
Then, around the Black Wind Fleet, the Federation was caught in a brief 'vacuum'. They could only watch the enemy slowly unfold their hideous claws and teeth while doing nothing.
"Report!"
The signaller reported the news on the ground. "MP Ding and the other eight Yuanying experts have arrived at the launch station of the Heaven's Artillery. All the Colossi have been repaired. They are ready to attack the enemy at any moment!"
MP Ding was Ding Ling Dong.
Different from Jin Xinyue, she did not hold a post in the government but was only a senior member of the parliament of the Federation.
Other than the fleet, the Colossi were the only forces that were still under the control of the highest command center.
However, it was their last trump card and a last resort. Right now, none of the Colossi of the Black Wind Fleet had been deployed, and they had to carry out the consumptive mission of 'stalling the enemy's battle formation' with the few Colossi on their own, which meant that they would be heavily besieged by the enemy's starships and the Crystal Suit.
Such a strategy was no different from quenching thirst with poison. However, watching the Black Wind Fleet assemble the space gates unhurriedly while doing nothing was still a dead end.
The highest command center was so quiet that even a needle would be thunderous when it hit the ground.
Wan Guqing's lips trembled for a long time. His hand that was raised high in midair seemed to be tied up by invisible thorns and could not fall down at all.
"Report — Report!"
Right then, another route that led to a hundred probe cameras in the depths of the sea of stars was finally repaired. The chaotic battlefield around the Black Wind Fleet was displayed on the light beam clearly again.
The series of white spots rushing toward the Black Wind Fleet at the edge of the battlefield made the analyst shriek in excitement. He jumped to his feet so hard that the chair below his bottom was blown far away.
Everyone's eyelids twitched fiercely as they looked at this combat situation analyst, not understanding what was going on.
"Great White! It's the Great White Fleet! "
A series of familiar appearance parameters condensed into the models and names of the starships. The glittering names were so irritating that the analyst's throat was spurting fire. "The Great White Fleet somehow appeared behind the Burning Prairie Fleet. The distance between the two parties is no more than thirty light seconds, and it is still rapidly shortening.
"They are so fast. They — they have not lost their formation and are still maintaining the most perfect cone-shaped attack formation. How is it possible?
"Ah. They have turned around. The Great White Fleet has — has turned around when they are at least three percent of the speed of light. Their formation is not disordered at all. Good heavens!
"They have changed their target and lunged at the space gate of the Imperium that has just jumped over and hasn't completely gotten rid of the space ripples yet!"
As for the book club, I would like to introduce it first.
Old Cow's reception room is 202330158, 22330158. I just spent more than two hundred yesterday to upgrade myself to a super member, which has been expanded into a group of two thousand people. Feel free to join. I'll try to show up more often!
Old Cow's reception room is 386336065, 386336065, also a group of two thousand people. Very exciting!
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