Him and their stars.

Chapter 2014 Everyone embarked on the irreversible path of kicking the empire's ass.

This message left Yu Lian momentarily speechless, unsure of how to react.

In another timeline, perhaps due to shared suffering, the Terrans were allies of Earthlings for a long period. Even within the original Volunteer Army, there was an elite assault team known as the Terran Chapter, which distinguished itself in battle. Their final suicide squad all perished on the Dawn Angel.

Even so, the Terrabi people never achieved their dream kingdom. They did not find rebirth in the flames, but instead succumbed to the growing power of the Ketai people.

By the time Yulian returned, the Terrabi had even ceased basic militia activities.

Of course, everything was different after I came back.

The Katai royal family, with its crimson mane, was almost completely wiped out, losing all control over its vast territory. Various warlords knelt and fawned upon the Imperial Privy Council, hoping to gain the Dragon King's favor and support to become the new Katai king.

For the vassal states of such an empire, the greatest legitimacy lies not in their own history and traditions, but in the recognition of the Galactic Empire.

In this situation, the Terrans, who had already gained preliminary approval from the Privy Council leaders, could also be considered to have "legally" obtained independent status.

If they truly pledge their loyalty to the Galactic Empire, becoming a formal member of the Galactic Civilization Council will only require a few formalities.

This must be the relativistic relationship of historical change.

Putting aside his own perspective, Yu Lian genuinely wanted to congratulate his TerraBee friends and even considered sending a congratulatory telegram.

Feifei told Yulian, "Mr. Silverbeard is now the Minister of Defense of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Terrabi, and he still has a lot of influence. If you really send a congratulatory telegram, he might actually grit his teeth and persuade his colleagues not to mobilize anyone."

"This is the inevitable trend. He might be able to stop it once, or twice. But when he tries to stop it a third time, he'll probably be dead by then... Speaking of which, Mr. Silverbeard doesn't have any proper military service experience. He was a mercenary leader for ten years and an adventurer for ten years, and he ran a pioneering company with partners for three to five years. How did he become the Minister of Defense?"

"Because he is the most powerful psychic in the history of the Terrabi people in the last twenty years. Never underestimate the political appeal of a master, especially in small countries and tribes."

"The same applies to large countries and powerful clans. It's just that because a country is large enough, there are more forces that need to be balanced and compromised, and there are many directions that need to be disguised and maneuvered, so as not to appear too blatant." Yu Lian tapped the table with his finger: "What is the attitude of the Terrabi people?"

“The SUPP and the party headquarters have direct communication channels with them. If there are any new developments, they will report them to us.”

Yu Lian stopped banging on the table and glanced at Fei Fei.

"Mr. Silverbeard is also forming a party. Although he hasn't said it outright, several of his capable old subordinates are running a mercenary group and the North Wind Company together, and they are currently in the Three Paths."

"What about Lao Tan?"

"We can't really go to New Shenzhou, can we? That would mean we wouldn't even be able to act anymore."

Yu Lian fell silent again for a moment: "Tell Mr. Silverbeard... no, let's just say nothing. Inform Mr. Qi and Old Tan that we shouldn't give any instructions either. Whatever decisions the newly formed Republic of Terrabi makes, it won't affect the overall situation."

"But it can affect the future of the Terrabi. However, shouldn't the future of a race be decided and borne by themselves?"

Yu Lian nodded.

Fifi covered her mouth and laughed: "You've given up your freedom of choice this time, but that wasn't the case with the Lumina and the Sand People back then."

“I didn’t interfere with the decisions of the Lumina and the Sand People; I merely provided some guidance—guidance in a completely aboveboard manner.” Seeing the mischievous glint in Fifi’s eyes, Yu Lian could only shrug. “Fine, they’re operating right under my nose. But the Terrabi are different. Geographical location dictates that as long as the Empire exists, they will only ever be satellite states of the Dragon King. I have neither the ability nor the confidence to shoulder the future of so many races and people.”

"How hypocritical." Fei Fei hit the nail on the head, even expressing a considerable degree of disdain: "So many people have already been influenced by you and are on the path of kicking the butts of the Tirelo people! Even if you don't want to take responsibility, there are people who will force you to take responsibility! Cheer up and don't lose face! It's no fun to pretend to be crazy now."

……

Almost simultaneously, in the new Yumen geosynchronous orbit, the White Owl battlecruiser, its rear end ablaze, was accelerating to escape the planet's gravitational pull. Inside the warship, the wailing of alarms echoed throughout all the compartments.

Imperial Army Brigadier General Dakval climbed up from behind the command platform, his sharp gaze sweeping over a spot on the bridge where the fire had started. Then, with a rather tough-guy air, he wiped a couple of sparks from his long beard, and despite the warship's violent tilt, he pressed his legs together and stood up.

"Great! We've finally succeeded! 'Unidentified Mobile Weapon X' has finally been lured out!" he shouted.

"But our backside is on fire. We're practically hovering near the moon over Xinyumen, how could we be hit? This doesn't make sense! What kind of surface anti-aircraft fire can reach this distance? This doesn't make sense." The captain's sorrowful voice drifted over from the other side.

"We're just suppressing a bunch of natives and remnants of Earth's army, why do we have to use battlecruisers as sacrifices? Even at Yaochi, we didn't lose any battlecruisers, did we?" The chief of staff muttered to himself.

"This is war! This is war! I'm disgusted with all of this! I must win immediately! If this drags on any longer, the next thing to catch fire won't be the stern of a warship, but our heads!" The brigadier, though somewhat conflicted, still shouted, "Would you rather be executed by Marshal Farrell or fed to the dragons by His Highness Prince Su?"

"His Highness Prince Su would never do such a thing!"

"But Lord Baal will definitely do it!"

"Ultimately, isn't General Dedomif on the ground the one who should be held responsible?"

"This is war! Everyone must fulfill their duty; everyone is on the altar!"

During the argument between the commander and the chief of staff, the captain saw a terrifying scene that resembled hell through the 270-degree observation window.

He clearly saw more than ten dark red beams of light pierce the sky from the yellowish-brown planet's surface. Three of them precisely pierced through the midships hatch of the Blackfall heavy cruiser, which was also the closest escort warship to his own, the White Owl.

The explosion of blue light burst forth, almost blinding him.

Further away, the three hit destroyers had been melted down into a still-burning fireball.

The captain was on the verge of tears.

In fact, the Imperial fleet they were in had indeed prepared a decoy. They were swaggering around in near-Earth orbit around Xinyumen, gradually approaching the oasis area south of the Qililuo Hengduan Mountains in Xinyumen.

With the help of Earthlings, the Sand People expanded their city near this oasis region dotted with hundreds of lakes of varying sizes. They connected the five cities that originally belonged to the kings of the former city-states, and built farmland, livestock farms, and advanced water circulation facilities around the shores of the great lake.

Now, this new oasis city has a population of 500,000, making it the second largest city in the new Yumen. However, unlike Tulong Port north of Kililo, the permanent residents here are almost all sand people.

Similar to this city, there are about a dozen other sand-dwelling settlements in this oasis area of ​​less than 10 square kilometers.

More than three million people live here. They are also among the earliest modern urban residents and industrial workers in this ethnic group.

The Sand People already possessed citizenship in the Blue Star Community. Citizens of an enemy nation, a non-human alien race—for the Galactic Empire, this dual identity was enough for them to carry out their most brutal elimination operations.

When the Imperial army arrived on this planet, these sand-dwelling settlements, of course, wisely expressed their submission to the conquerors. They not only accepted the presence of sheriffs and tax collectors, but also cooperated by providing large quantities of food.

And the unprocessed kind.

Since they are conquerors of the stars, they probably enjoy sailing spaceships to collect food; it's probably a way of demonstrating their conquest.

This is knowledge that the Sand People learned from an old movie by a certain alliance.

In addition, some of the Sand People from these urban settlements also became employees of the new Empire's military districts.

However, this means nothing. Until the people of Xinyumen receive proof of their status as citizens or even slaves of the Empire, they will not enjoy any guarantee of security.

In fact, even on its own soil, the Imperial Army could not hesitate to bombard the settlements of rebellious alien races with thermonuclear weapons, let alone on the New World.

However, the real purpose of this operation was not to carry out a large-scale massacre of civilians, but to target certain mobile heavy weapons in the hands of the New Jade Gate Earthlings.

In the past six months of war, although the Empire has completely controlled Tulon Port and all the settlements around the Inner Sea, it has also gained control of the most fertile land and most of the resources on this sandy planet. However, the resistance of the Earthlings and the Sand People has never ceased.

Attacks on transportation lines and small outposts were one thing. Five years ago, Earthlings had a lot to say about that. But the occasional artillery fire that soared from the planet's surface into space, giving warships and transport ships passing through near-Earth orbit a huge fright, was something that could not be ignored.

Humans have mastered a kind of mobile heavy artillery weapon, and also have extremely strong stealth capabilities.

Considering that humans have already developed light wings and space bubble generators for fighter jets, it seems quite reasonable that they could develop such a stealthy, straight-line heavy cannon.

After launching a volley of cannon fire and carrying out a blatant and shameless sneak attack on the glorious imperial warships, they would immediately flee far away, which was truly unethical.

However, it was effective even though it didn't emphasize martial ethics.

After losing a significant number of transport ships and supplies in a confused and disorganized manner, including emergency military supplies meant for Marshal Farrell's fleet behind Nantianmen, the Imperial Army at Xinyumen had no choice but to take action.

Thus, this operation took place.

The Imperial fleet will prepare to bomb Oasis City, forcing the fire support units, codenamed "Mobile Firepower X," which can escape and remain hidden, to reveal themselves.

Once they actually open fire, they will definitely reveal themselves and be locked onto. Even if they possess some kind of stealth technology, it will not escape the tracking of psionicists.

Yes, in preparation for this operation, they even brought in Star Knights and Investigators.

Leaving aside the Astral Knights, the Investigating Judge admitted he wasn't very professional in warfare. However, the Imperial Command stated that the masters only needed to use their mystical senses to ascertain the approximate location of the enemy's main targets. This was essentially similar to investigating a case or tracking down a criminal.

The real reason is that there are too few Star Sight Officers to support such a small planetary battlefield, but that's not important. What's important is that a psychic is a psychic, without the slightest change.

In short, as soon as the Earthlings open fire, the Imperial Army's heavy forces, which have already been assembled nearby, will immediately take action.

For this operation, the Imperial Army mobilized more than 70% of its ground forces in Xinyumen.

Of course, the Imperial Army itself was quite unhappy about this operation.

Our glorious Imperial Fleet is actually going to be doing the work of grenadiers and stormtroopers who are eating dirt on the ground? That's a complete reversal of the Heavenly Order.

Although the crew members were very unhappy, the Imperial Army's system dictated that once a battle plan was determined, everyone had to perform their duties diligently, and there were very few situations where people from different departments would hinder each other and cause the plan to fail.

They did indeed almost succeed.

At least at the beginning of the operation, everything was going according to their plan.

Just before the Imperial light warships, slowly moving through near-Earth orbit, were about to bring Oasis City into their bombardment range, the surface artillery barrage began.

Of the six destroyers scheduled to carry out the bombing, three were hit, a surprisingly high success rate. If this was a decoy, the casualty rate was indeed too high, so high that it greatly worried the Imperial soldiers present.

However, this was also expected.

However, the Silver Owl battlecruiser and the Black Descendant heavy cruiser, which were hiding next to the No. 1 moon in Xinyumen, were suddenly caught off guard by concentrated fire, something they never expected.

The power and range of those "mobile firepower X" units still exceeded the Imperial Army's expectations.

Brigadier General Dakwal on the battlecruiser was also stunned by the sudden attack that slammed into his face. However, as a general from a prestigious military family, he almost instinctively regained his composure.

He told everyone that using the flagship as bait was a truly courageous act.

He declared to everyone: We will stand with all warriors, braving arrows and facing death together. The God of War will protect them. The spirit of the universe will reward the brave. Today's sacrifices will pave the way for future victories!

Of course, whether victory can be secured still depends on the fighting of the grenadiers and stormtroopers on the ground.

"I've sacrificed myself to this extent. If you still don't win, I'll take you down with me! Either I'll feed you to the dragons, or I'll feed you to the dragons myself!" The commodore of the space fleet uttered this curse on his tilting warship.

At the same time, Major General Dedomif, an armored grenadier on the ground, also received positive feedback from his intelligence staff.

"We've pinpointed the source of the fire. It's divided into three groups, located in the Schar Hills, deep in the South China Sea, and on the north side of Mount Fe 7."

“They’re less than 100 kilometers from Oasis City. The rebels were indeed well-prepared!” Now, even veteran imperial generals like him were beginning to readily refer to the still-resisting Community forces as rebels.

"The judge has locked onto the energy information!"

"The grenadier unit closest to the target has set off! Wait... they're still firing!"

This time, these mobile and stealthy heavy artillery units seemed to have no intention of firing a single salvo and then moving on to a different location. They raised their heads to the starry sky, unleashing another torrent of surging energy, rushing towards the battlecruiser in orbit that was still desperately trying to avoid them.

(End of this chapter)