In the blink of an eye, more than a month had passed.
The military mobilization of the various Star Fields in the explored universe continued, especially in the Flickering World. Under the construction of the engineering fleet and various planet modifications, the various war facilities in the large war zones were quickly perfected. The military factories all over the world were activated all day long, and countless starships of various models left the factory every day.
The recruitment of Supers led by the three Universal Civilizations was also in full swing. They recruited a large number of Supers from various races, and at the same time, recalled a large number of reserve soldiers who had once served in the military. They received further military training in the various military bases to fill up the gaps in the various military posts. They also forcefully carried out entry-level military training among the galactic citizens to expand the number of soldiers.
The speed of war mobilization in the galactic era was beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Under the unified command of the three Universal Civilizations, the war machines of the explored universe operated efficiently. All kinds of resources were thrown into the corresponding gaps and used efficiently.
The construction of the frontline intercepting circle was also progressing rapidly. Although the World Tree's attack had failed, it did not stop the harassment of small groups of troops and exchanged fire with the intercepting troops many times. As the space stabilization anchor orbit that the three Universal Civilizations had set up was getting further and further away, the World Tree Civilization's jump point was also moving further and further away from the intercepting circle.
Therefore, the World Tree also treated destroying the space stabilization anchor orbit as an important combat goal. It sent vanguard troops to attack the space stabilization anchor orbit in different sections many times, unsealed different jump points, and placed reconnaissance troops at these coordinates.
Due to the World Tree's reconnaissance troops constantly splitting up, the entire structure of the space stabilization anchor orbit was like a three-dimensional tree model with many forks. It continued to extend, and countless streams of light representing the fleets of both sides jumped between the 'tree branches'. From time to time, they would collide and break out into local battles.
The three Universal Civilizations' main base's surveillance radar kept showing high-intensity energy sources representing the battle points. The World Tree troops could occasionally succeed, blowing up the branches of the space stabilization anchor orbit many times. They needed to be repaired and chase after the new batch of reconnaissance troops that the World Tree had placed at this jump point.
As the intercepting circle and the space stabilization anchor orbit expanded, the number of breakthroughs left for the enemy would also increase. This was an unavoidable trend. However, the three Universal Civilizations' troops could still deal with the current defense line.
"The World Tree's harassment is endless. Although this is an effective method, it will take a long time. They must have made two preparations and are brewing a new wave of attacks behind our backs. They will create a huge gap in our defense line and strip us of our control over the intercepting circle."
In the combat conference room of the main base of the interceptor circle, Simon was discussing with the commanders and staff officers in a low voice.
In the month that Black Star had not been around, the two sides had constantly had small conflicts, but there were no large-scale battles. The overall situation was still rather stable, and the number of times that the Beyond Grade As were dispatched could be counted on one hand.
The monitoring channel of Destiny's Child that Hella was in charge of did not send any news of the World Tree making a big move. The two sides were in a stalemate for the time being, attacking and defending each other. The enemy did not make much progress.
Simon and the others naturally understood that the World Tree would not continue to tangle with them like this. In the past few days, he had a strong tactical intuition that there would be some changes in the near future.
"According to the data statistics, in the past five days, the frequency of the World Tree's attacks on the space stabilization anchor orbit has decreased by 37%, and the number of reconnaissance troops has increased by 73%. Furthermore, we have discovered that the World Tree Army has left a large number of topological space directional targets near the anchor orbit. It is speculated that the World Tree Civilization is trying to launch over-the-horizon weapons at the jump points that are not covered by the orbit to remotely destroy the various orbital branches."
Simon pressed his hands on the command console with a solemn expression.
Another commander nodded and said, "The anti-over-the-horizon radar has been activated all day. If the World Tree adopts this plan, the dynasty's over-the-horizon anti-particle base cannon, the Radiance's Psionic Star Annihilation Beam, and the Ethereal's Psionic State Sniper Beam can all lock onto the source of the attack and carry out the counterattack mission."
"I'm just afraid that the World Tree will set up the Lerbo Space Protection Belt. That won't be good."
Simon shook his head.
Over-the-horizon combat was also the main form of interstellar warfare. In this regard, the three Universal Civilizations were strong in offense and weak in defense, but the World Tree was different. In the information provided by Black Star, it was claimed that the World Tree Civilization had a Universal Treasure-level special defensive weapon used for over-the-horizon combat called the 'Lerbo Space Protection Belt'.
This defensive technology had a similar effect as the Psionic Seal Ring. It was like a portable and miniaturized version, distorting the universal constants of an area, making it impossible for energy-type long-range weapons such as over-the-horizon attacks to penetrate, forming a protective zone.
However, this restriction was two-way. The external energy attacks could not pass through, and the attacks from the inside out would also be blocked. Therefore, it was difficult for the fleet that activated the Lerbo Space Protection Belt to launch an attack. Because the Lerbo Space Protection Belt could not move with the spaceship after it was activated, it was basically not used in mobile warfare. It was usually used to protect some important facilities in positional warfare.
Only physical weapons such as interstellar missiles and the close-range charge of starships could ignore the effect of the Lerbo Space Protection Belt. Other energy weapons were basically useless. Most of the over-the-horizon weapons were energy weapons, so this technology was often used in over-the-horizon combat. The protective belt was retracted when the cannon was fired and opened when the fire was stopped. This way, it would be very difficult to be at a disadvantage in over-the-horizon combat.
Just as the upper echelons of the group were discussing, the global monitoring radar that covered all the space anchor orbits suddenly sounded an alarm. Hundreds of red lines representing high-energy strikes suddenly broke into the edge of the radar's vision and quickly hit different forked orbits.
The three-dimensional radar model in front of everyone reacted, and hundreds of red ripples appeared. The damage report of the orbit was quickly sent back.
"It's confirmed that it's an over-the-horizon strike. The World Tree really did it."
Simon's expression froze. Speak of the devil. He had just mentioned the over-the-horizon strike when the World Tree's attack wave arrived. His recent intuition had come true.
The jump point where the World Tree released the over-the-horizon weapon was outside the range of the global monitoring radar. It was unknown how far away it was.
"Analyze the attack trajectory and counterattack," Simon ordered with a deep voice.
The anti-over-the-horizon radar was activated and quickly analyzed the curvature, deviation, star positions, and other factors of the hundreds of enemy's over-the-horizon attacks. It assisted the artificial intelligence to quickly calculate the huge amount of data.
Over-the-horizon strikes were usually not straight lines. Under various cosmic environmental factors, the attack trajectory would show different deviations. Just like how a sniper needed to calculate the wind direction, distance, trajectory, gravity, and other conditions, over-the-horizon strikes were the same. They needed to calculate more parameters and correct the direction of the attack. The calculation model was very complicated, and the reverse lock was to reverse engineer these factors to obtain the coordinates of the attack source.
Very soon, the final result was transmitted to the over-the-horizon weapons set up by the three Universal Civilizations through the quantum communication.
Clank!
Rows of giant cannons extended from an enormous planetary fortress. The base slowly rotated, and the muzzle turned as if it was aimed at the empty starry sky. In reality, the over-the-horizon crosshair had already locked onto the spatial coordinates calculated by the artificial intelligence.
Then, starting from the root of the cannon, the energy circuit lit up one by one. Dark blue particles gathered rapidly from all directions, accumulating energy at the muzzle of the cannon, emitting a dazzling light. When the power reached its peak, the color turned from blue to red, and it suddenly released energy beams with a huge diameter, disappearing into the vast starry sky in the blink of an eye.
However, this round of counterattack was like a stone sinking into the sea, and there was no news.
Simon and the others waited for a while, but what they waited for was the second wave of over-the-horizon strikes from the World Tree. Hundreds of orbital branches were destroyed, and the source of the attack was the same.
"The counterattack doesn't seem to have any effect. Maybe you're right. They used that kind of protective technology …" A commander glanced at Simon and cursed.
"Continue firing. Wave attack. Don't stop." Simon frowned slightly.
The over-the-horizon weapons of the three Universal Civilizations began to fire continuously. Although the effects of the attacks could not be observed, the enemy's over-the-horizon attacks also stopped.
"Even if the World Tree has set up the Lerbo Space Protection Belt, our firepower at this frequency is enough to suppress them and make them have no time to retract the protective belt. This way, they won't be able to continue attacking us," an advisor said.
Simon knocked on the table and shook his head. "This is only a temporary plan. If we want to solve this once and for all, we still have to send a fleet to attack and destroy their artillery strongholds … Call some Beyond Grade As to accompany us and try to seize the Lerbo Space Protection Belt for research."
Not long after, the Beyond Grade As on standby in the base were summoned and came to the combat conference room. After hearing Simon's explanation, they quickly understood the situation.
Kasuyi stroked his chin and asked, "Both of them have to destroy the special equipment.
"Since we want to destroy the enemy's artillery stronghold and seize the enemy's special equipment, then Manison or Kant will lead the team. How many people do we need?"
"It's best if there are ten Beyond Grade As and a group of Sovereigns." Simon nodded.
"Isn't ten a little too much? We shouldn't encounter any World Tree experts this time. " Sun Hunter turned to look at Hella. "Can your surveillance channels see the situation of this artillery stronghold?"
"No." Hella shook her head.
The World Tree did not use the Prophet for this stronghold, and Destiny's Child could not see the composition of the other party. Therefore, everyone knew almost nothing about the situation of this stronghold. Currently, they only had the location calculated by the anti-over-the-horizon radar as a clue.
"This is all for safety reasons," Simon explained. "The other party might not have built this stronghold just for long-range bombardment but also as an outpost. We can't just sit back and watch the World Tree build a bridgehead. We have to take the initiative to attack and keep pushing their front line further away."
The group discussed for a while and quickly decided that Kant would be the leader of this trip, leading the other nine Beyond Grade As to attack. The association members and the direct descendants of the civilization were mixed.
Because there were no World Tree experts among the targets, Aurora did not need to follow and remained in the main base.
Very soon, Kant and the others formed an expedition team and arrived at the edge of the radar through the Multi-Dimensional Sky Opening Transportation Device, heading toward the temporary base of the World Tree.
…
After sailing for a few days, the armed fleet of the three Universal Civilizations finally arrived at the target location.
Outside the window, a group of galactic bases floated in this area. There were no blind spots around them, and they were surrounded by a hazy glowing space. It was the Lerbo Space Protection Belt.
Over-the-horizon light beams kept shooting from the back of this fleet. This was the suppression of the three Universal Civilizations' firepower that had lasted for several days. However, once they entered the Lerbo Space Protection Belt, the speed of the energy cannons immediately became like a turtle crawling. At the same time, the light beams quickly shrank until they dissipated. All their power was wiped out, as if they had entered an energy forbidden zone.
"It's here. There's no mistake." Kant's Lord's Avatar's electronic eyes flashed, and the image was sent back to the main base.
At the same time, the battleships of the three Universal Civilizations shot out interstellar missiles one after another, dragging their tails into the Lerbo Space Protection Belt. The physical missiles were not affected much and headed straight for the temporary bases in the center.
However, the next moment, the armor on the surface of the base slid, and rows of turrets rose. A metal storm suddenly sprayed out, forming an airtight barrage. Halfway through, all the interstellar missiles that were shot over exploded, creating a series of fireworks.
Energy weapons were ineffective, and physical missiles could not pass through the barrage. It was as difficult as a turtle shell.
"It's not easy. Looks like we have to attack inside and let the fleet pass through the Lerbo Space Protection Belt. Only then will it be easier to launch an effective attack on their bases," the fleet commander said in the channel.
The Lerbo Space Protection Belt could not isolate the quantum network communication. Kant opened the quantum network vision and tried to invade the bases to seize control, but he was blocked by the firewall.
"There's a force protecting their firewall. I can't enter."
Kant retracted his vision and hesitated.
"I feel like it's a trap."
"Hmm, it's a little strange. Assault Team 2 and 3, go in and take a look."
The fleet commander waved his hand and ordered a group of assault battleships to approach the other party's bases. The main force stayed around the main ship and did not move. After all, the other party had opened the Lerbo Space Protection Belt, so they could not attack outside.
Beep beep beep!
However, at this moment, the radar on the ship suddenly let out an ear-piercing alarm.
Hundreds of large-caliber Planet-Destroying Beams suddenly shot over from another direction, heading straight for the armed fleet.
"There's a situation! Defense! "
Kant's expression changed. The Mech Legion surged out and formed shields. At the same time, the armed fleet also activated their own shields.
The next moment, hundreds of beams of light shot over, blasting the shield until it was on the verge of collapse. Electric arcs shot out, and cracks appeared everywhere.
This wave of beyond-visual-range attacks killed a small group of troops, but the rest of the power was blocked. However, before everyone could stabilize themselves, large-scale beyond-visual-range attacks came from all directions at the same time, causing the fleet to retreat step by step.
The scene was transmitted back to the combat conference room of the main base. The expressions of Simon and the others changed slightly.
Manison tapped the metal chin of the Lord's Avatar and said,
"It seems like the World Tree has built a beyond-visual-range camp of an unknown scale in an area that our radar has not touched. They used beyond-visual-range attack range to cover each other and guard each other. I'm afraid that their goal is not only to build an outpost, but also to use the Lerbo Space Protection Belt to imitate us and create a firepower coverage area to wear down our military strength …"
"What can you do?" Simon turned and asked.
"If Black Star's surveillance channel can't get the coordinates of these bases, as long as the bases don't fire, they will be invisible to us. The Lerbo Space Protection Belt is too troublesome, and long-range attacks are almost useless. If we use troops to fill it, we will fall into the enemy's trap … This is not easy."
Manison slowly shook his head.
The three Universal Civilizations did have a sufficient amount of Universal Treasures, but the World Tree had conquered one civilization after another, and its foundation was even more shocking. It also had a lot of strategic weapons, and it could not be underestimated.
Hearing this, Simon's expression was solemn, and he could not make up his mind. He pursed his lips and sighed.
'It's a pity that Black Star, the special consultant, is not here. Otherwise, I could ask for his opinion …'
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