Him and their stars.

Chapter 1949 Enemy Attack
Let's go back to half a day ago.

The fleet led by Vice Admirals Rowentur and Neyali arrived at the Elanway system after 10 a.m. on October 25, Galactic Standard Time, even earlier than originally planned.

It was the first time for the female general with golden and silver demon pupils to arrive here in person. Naturally, she was shocked at the first sight of the space city hanging in the orbit of the third planet.

It was an elliptical space building with a diameter of four hundred kilometers.

The evenly distributed symmetrical armor belts made the outer layer of the entire fortress look like an old tortoise shell. Some of the radiation protection coatings had cracked and peeled off, revealing the geometric structure of the dark silver composite alloy underneath. These alloy structures that supported the entire fortress were hidden under the translucent dome blades, like a huge skeleton supporting the fortress itself.

This is of course a fortress that is quite old, and many places have left mottled traces of lack of maintenance. But even so, due to the high level of engineering of the empire, the overall structure of the fortress has always remained stable.

With the Empire's capabilities, it would take at most half a year to prepare the entire fortress to a wartime level capable of housing a large fleet.

What surprised Olivia Rowenthal was not the ingenious design of this space city.

This city is a typical imperial military stronghold. It is mediocre in both function and appearance. Even if you take a high-definition photo of it, it can only be used in second- or third-rate military magazines. It can't even be on the cover.

However, this was built five hundred years ago, in a remote star region in the gap between the nebulae, and it was built by a prince alone.

Its appearance and functions are of course ordinary, and most areas have been closed and sealed. The fortress's garrison departments only have two astrophysics laboratories, a deep space exploration station, and a security station. All scientific research, maintenance and security personnel add up to no more than 200 people.

But even this half-abandoned space city has still stood in the starry sky for more than 500 years, and can be expanded at any time based on the existing foundation. As long as enough time and capital are invested, it may be possible to turn it into a sky castle.

Lieutenant General Rowentour couldn't help but sigh: "It's really a good city."

"It is indeed a good city. I am just curious, how many legacies left by the old nobles are there in this nebula?" Olivia agreed, but then sneered: "No, only what is left by the Enlightened is a legacy. Aren't those left by the old nobles a hidden danger?"

Lieutenant General Neyali frowned, looking very irritated. "The term 'old nobles' is too sensitive. Including Duke Barion, who hasn't been passed down from the era of the newly founded mother planet to the present day? How can they be considered old?"

Therefore, there were nearly fifty dukes at the founding of the dynasty, but less than one-third of them have survived to the present day, and their power and prestige are far less than those during the Age of Discovery and before the Civil War.

Why isn't it old anymore?

Although Rowentur wanted to say this, he didn't want to argue with his colleagues, so he spread his hands and said, "Well, I can only say that the princes of the empire before Emperor Ivenya were really powerful!"

Vice Admiral Neyali seemed to understand: "After all, it is a remnant of the Galactic Age of Exploration. The imperial princes of that era were all explorers and pioneers who charged forward with guns."

If you can run around and grab land without restraint, you can naturally attract desperate people and raise dead soldiers, not to mention money and food. This is determined by the organizational structure and will not be transferred by personal moral cultivation.

Of course, this was all before the massive Galactic Civil War, and even before the Common Calendar.

"Then, let's follow the original plan and station myself at the Elanwe Fortress." Rowentur said.

Given the fort's current semi-abandoned state, it was of course impossible to provide berthing and maintenance services for the dreadnought. However, since everyone was already here, they could still do some work.

If suppressing bandits in the border star zone becomes a long-term task, it is necessary to make use of this fortress inside the Diamond Nebula.

The above is, of course, what Duke Barryn meant.

Thus, in addition to being the main force in this operation, Olivia also had the task of inspecting the status of the Elanway Fortress, conducting basic inspections, compiling maintenance reports, and providing plans for subsequent large-scale repairs.

To be honest, it has a bit of a PUA flavor. He uses miscellaneous tasks to keep himself busy, so he can't go to the front line to grab credit. However, this kind of thing is too normal. As long as he is not sent to die openly, the order from the superior is of course absolute.

Of course, Rowentour herself would have liked it that way.

Vice Admiral Neyali could of course guess the mentality of his classmate, and he certainly didn't act pretentiously: "Then, I will wait near Gravity Well No. 2. If the Aslon Fleet is attacked, I can start immediately. I will have the fleet do some training during the march, and it will only take two hours for all of them to arrive at the battlefield."

Although this guy is a fun-loving person who likes to stir up trouble, as a general of the Imperial Guards, he is certainly capable, and he is especially good at fleet formation and high-speed marching.

He ordered all the warships to stick to the gravity well's gravitational influence and set up a jump formation - to put it bluntly, a long snake formation of three ships in a small formation. All the warships' jump engines were kept in preheating mode.

In this way, his fast fleet will be able to pass through the star gate more easily and launch a counter-attack on the enemy that attacks the Athlone fleet.

In addition, considering the last battle report sent by Magus' fleet before it was completely destroyed, the General Staff has determined that the powerful Leviathan has a special ultra-long-range artillery capability, which will cause great damage to the large battleships in the cluster. Then, the best way is of course the strongest tactic of the glorious, great and correct Imperial Army, and the strongest tactic that enables the Tirreros to rule the universe - using assault landing craft to board.

On the four Phoenix-class large armored aircraft carriers, more than 30,000 stormtroopers armed to the teeth were on standby. Once they found their target, they would board 1,500 assault landing craft, deploy a "skirmish line" extending over 10,000 kilometers, and charge at the enemy in all directions.

Once the battle enters this mode, even the most powerful long-range artillery fire will lose its direction.

No matter what, there is only one target after all, so we should continue to jump on the board until the end.

Moreover, Duke Barion's order had originally prioritized capturing them alive, so choosing the boarding tactic was a natural move.

It was a pity that there were no dragon boats. If the dragon riders had led the charge, the chances of success would have been much greater.

In short, there was an ambush consisting of ten battlecruisers, four aircraft carriers, and twenty cruisers, ready to go behind the gravity well, like a hunter hiding behind the bushes waiting for his prey to come.

As for Rowentour, who was in charge of "holding the line", although he was still full of resistance to this task, he still admired his old classmate's tactical execution ability.

If she were to ask herself, she really couldn't do any better.

The complex fleet under her command is also of considerable size. In addition to the dreadnought ship, the Glimmer of Light, it also includes two battlecruisers, two aircraft carriers, and more than a hundred auxiliary ships.

If Neyali's ambush fleet fails to defeat the opponent, it will be their turn.

Destroyers and light cruisers will form a line to start torpedo attacks, and can also cover a large number of fighters to perform strangulation. This is a typical tactic for strangling a large capital ship that is alone, and the success rate is still very high.

No matter how strong the opponent is, you only have one target, and you can choose as many tactics as you want.

Of course, in addition to these warships, she also has three large carriers and nearly twenty work ships of various types. Don't forget that the female general now also has a construction mission.

She sincerely hoped that this would be her only mission.

The Guanglishi stopped 2000 kilometers away from the Ailanwei Fortress. Without waiting for the order from the Vice Admiral on the Dreadnought, the working ships in the formation had already started to move.

Before the engineers landed, the small robots had already left the mothership and were floating around a huge ellipsoidal sphere with a diameter of 400 kilometers, like a swarm of tireless bees.

The scene of construction was always refreshing. Olivia Rowentour felt that if the Athlone fleet on the TR channel next door was not approaching and getting closer and closer to the scheduled ambush site, she might be willing to sit down and pour a glass of wine to enjoy the scene.

"Any updates on the Athlone Fleet?" She pinched her nose and asked with a routine expression, as if to say, "Although I have no interest in this matter at all, out of basic professional military ethics, I will still ask a symbolic question."

"Everything is normal for the Athlone fleet for now," the adjutant replied. "In addition, the fleet of Vice Admiral Jaeger Sobek of Black Pass Fortress No. 12 has already left the fortress."

Taking into account the debuff of communication delay, this should be the "latest situation" from several hours ago.

Rowentour looked at the bulletin and found that it had indeed happened six hours ago.

As for the Athlone Fleet, they would inform all friendly units of their status every hour. The last safety bulletin received by the Guanglisi was actually sent 15 minutes ago.

In this case, they are naturally safe now.

Lieutenant General Rowentour was furious: "That stupid old man! He released news so frequently to the surrounding areas. Is he afraid that the enemy will not know that he is hiding something?"

"This... unless the enemy can monitor our signals. But, do those alien species have such a function?"

As the adjutant of the female general, he certainly knew very well what kind of enemy he was facing recently.

"We have been entangled with those alien species for so long, and we have fought more than a dozen battles of various sizes. Do you still think that they were the ones who destroyed the Magus fleet?"

"This……"

The female lieutenant general snorted coldly and said, "And Sobaike, he could have continued to wait in Black Pass. Why did he suddenly go out as well?"

The adjutant quickly reported that it was Brigadier General Athlone who was asking for help. The old man's little trick could not be hidden from anyone.

In addition, Lieutenant General Sobek may have also received pressure from Duke Bairen, but he had no evidence.

"He is a good man. But if his fleet moves, doesn't it seem like he has something to hide? Even if the enemy is really planning to attack the Athlone fleet, they will give up the attack plan, right?" Rowentur said unhappily.

Unless the enemy has a way to monitor all the movements of Black Pass 12. Although the adjutant wanted to say this, he had to keep quiet now.

"Give an order to Brigadier General Athlone and let him..." Rowentul started to say this, but then realized that this annoying old man was already a member of Sobaek's command.

Of course, there was no embarrassment on her face, but she seemed to have suddenly thought of something and a smile appeared on her face: "But, this is also good."

“…Also, that’s fine?”

"No matter who the enemy is, if they are really scared by these unnatural movements and give up the attack, it will be a perfect ending. Anyway, Duke Barion is about to arrive, and he has the final say here. Athlone will meet his new commander safely, and Brother Sobaik will get the escort fleet. And I am very happy to engage in logistics construction. This galaxy is obviously destined for me." The lieutenant general glanced at the three-dimensional star map of the Alanwei galaxy: "I just realized that this galaxy that has been frozen by the Grand Marshal's Office is actually a treasure land!"

Indeed. This galaxy, which is clearly in its prime, has a stable structure and gentle gravity. Although it does not have any naturally habitable star regions, it has three Earth-like planets. In addition, there is a very dense asteroid belt in the middle ring orbit of the galaxy. Even a glance with the naked eye will tell that the density is at least ten times that of the Earth.

It looks like it is rich in minerals.

In fact, about half an astronomical unit away from the Ailanwei Fortress, close to the asteroid orbit, there are factory buildings that have been shut down. Mining plants, orbital refineries, orbital smelting plants, various rough processing plants, ship material and parts factories, forming a complete space metallurgical production line.

The 12 particle furnaces in the smelter that had been shut down had also been shut down, but they still looked like towering mountains of steel. From this alone, we could see how magnificent it would have been when the particle flames shot up into the sky, flashing a light brighter than the stars, fusing iron and stone.

...Well, if you think about it this way, the Duke of Fir might have really wanted to make big news.

Lieutenant General Rowentur pointed to the factory ruins in the distance and said in a clear voice: "I will not only repair this fortress, but also those factories. Send all the unruly laborers in Helots and Sumoe here. I will persuade His Highness to take over this system and buy those laborers who are about to be executed. They can live, the empire can be built, Duke Barion and his followers can get military merit, I can get peace, and everyone can have a bright future. Isn't it wonderful?"

The adjutant felt that this was not something he could hear without paying.

But at this moment, the lieutenant general who was looking forward to the future suddenly stopped talking. Her face flashed with astonishment, surprise, and even a little doubt about life.

The adjutant said that it was the first time he saw his superior lose his composure like this.

He also looked in the direction the female general was looking, but all he saw was a sea of ​​stars, so naturally he couldn't see anything clearly.

Could it be a ghost? After all, psychics can always see things that mortals cannot see.

"Enemy attack! Avoid immediately! Activate the shield!" Lieutenant General Rowentour issued a decisive order.

Although the warship was on standby, the Imperial Army's combat readiness was beyond doubt. The crew members followed their commander's orders almost instinctively.

The force field shield suddenly flashed and rose up, covering the entire body of the battleship.

But the next second, the entire ship suddenly shook violently, as if it had been suddenly caught in the center of an earthquake. The tactical holographic screen burst into dazzling sparks and immediately exploded.