The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

Chapter 2630 The Battle of Bilbulin (Part 3)
2630. The Battle of Bilbulin (Part 3)

At this moment, on the battlefield of Planet Bilbrin, the battle entered its most intense phase almost from the very beginning!
In order to take advantage of the fact that the Dawn Kingdom's follow-up fleet was arriving under the guidance of the hyperspace beacon of the Divine Messenger Titan warship, Imperial Fleet Commander Admiral Holster-Stretch launched a full-scale attack with all his forces!

After the first round of shelling, he immediately ordered the fighter squadrons to take off. Amidst the dense array of turbolaser cannons, a large number of TIE advanced fighters took off from the hangars of the Tracker-class aircraft carriers and armed space stations, providing cover for the TIE bombers as they rapidly approached.

The situation on the Titan warship, the Divine Messenger, is extremely critical! The dense firepower of hundreds of capital ships and more than 2000 medium and small warships is like raindrops, which has already overwhelmed the Titan warship. In addition, there is the constant bombardment from thousands of armed asteroids in this direction.

If the fighter jet formation gets any closer, the consequences will be unimaginable!

At this moment, the first wave of Imperial fighter squadrons arrived and began firing. The TIE advanced fighters didn't hesitate, unleashing a fierce barrage with their blast cannons the moment they entered firing range. Simultaneously, the fighter squadron began to maneuver around the Titan warship's rear.

Meanwhile, more than a dozen TIE bombers were hidden among the fighter formations, waiting for their chance to strike.

The first batch of warships that jumped over with the Titan warship Divine Messenger also unleashed all their close-in weaponry to intercept incoming missiles and drive away the fighter formation.

However, the Imperial fighter squadron, which had been largely equipped with TIE advanced fighters, was no pushover. As they maneuvered their fighters past the massive hull of the Titan-class battleship, the six flagship-level laser arrays on each of the Titan-class battleship's left and right sides, even when switched to rapid-fire mode, were struggling to cope with this level of saturation attack.

A squadron of TIE advanced fighters flew at full speed, the X-rays emitted by the laser arrays on both sides of the Divine Messenger flashing incessantly, each flash turning a fighter into a fireball. But the remaining fighters continued their rapid advance, even risking close encounters with the Titan warship to evade anti-aircraft fire, passing within 200 meters of it!

However, at the rear of the formation, 15 Kohl II-class heavy cruisers also entered overload mode, with their anti-aircraft firepower extremely enhanced. Countless 20mm Needle missiles, accelerated by hypermatter, rained down like a storm.

Faced with intense firepower, the Imperial fighter squadron was under immense pressure. After losing more than twenty more fighters, it had no choice but to launch all of its missiles and torpedoes.

The TIE bombers in the formation launched hundreds of proton torpedoes at once. These torpedoes were launched from a position extremely close to the Titan warship, and were basically in the Titan warship's firing blind spot, so they could only be intercepted by other warships.

However, faced with such close-range launches and such a large number of missiles, the nearby Cole II-class heavy cruisers had no time to intercept them.

Dozens of pale blue proton clouds exploded from the deflector shields of the Divine Messenger, followed by numerous explosions along the main armor belt. A current of electricity flashed across the attacked armor; the areas blasted by the proton torpedoes were merely charred black, without causing significant damage.

This is what makes the Bilborin planetary defense line truly terrifying: the hyperspace environment of this star system is extremely complex, allowing only a small number of warships to enter at a time. Furthermore, the arrival of these warships often means the inability to resupply, and vice versa. In contrast, the Galactic Empire, which controls several secret shipping routes, enjoys far more convenient access.

This place is like the bottleneck of an hourglass. Although, on a star map, it's not far from the galactic core, or even from Coruscant, the imperial capital, in reality, as long as this bottleneck is held, external enemies cannot threaten the Galactic Empire's core from this direction. In the last Northern War, Bilbrin fell first due to insufficient troops, and later because Vice Admiral Thrawn voluntarily abandoned it. Even so, in subsequent battles, the Kingdom of Dawn proved unable to hold this place for long, and ultimately it was reclaimed by the Galactic Empire.

Now, the Galactic Empire is clearly not going to repeat the same mistake. Not only has it amassed a large force on Bilborin, but it is also commanding this fleet by a seasoned veteran—Admiral Holster Streich!

Now, the Dawn Kingdom's Northern Fleet's task is to recapture this vital transportation hub. And—build a stargate!
Once the stargate is completed, the bottleneck on Planet Bilbrin will be gone, and this place will become a broad road for attacking the core area!
The Divine Messenger is already struggling to hold on. No matter how powerful the Titan battleship is, it is almost impossible to withstand an attack from as many as 400 capital ships. In fact, only 100 capital ships are currently engaged in the battle; the rest have not yet been able to deploy their formations.

Furthermore, the powerful phenomenon generator of the Titan-class Messenger also weakened the Imperial warships. Their speed, rate of fire, and power were all reduced, making it impossible for them to concentrate all their firepower for an attack.

Even so, if this continues, the Divine Messenger simply cannot hold out for long!
However, with the deployment of the hyperspace beacon, guided by the system, the first reinforcements traversed the now-unnavigable hyperspace route and arrived at the battlefield!
Anchoron-class Titan battleship - Taotie!

When the massive, crisscross-shaped hull of the Taotie appeared in outer space, it meant that the situation would be stabilized.

"Maintain hyperspace beacon. Taotie, advance. Activate fleet shields. Tsk tsk tsk tsk..." In the bridge command center of the Titan warship Divine Messenger, Admiral Trench calmly and collectedly directed the battle while tapping his palm with a pointer.

A muffled boom echoed, the sound incredibly close. Then came a second, a third, and even the ground of the bridge trembled slightly.

"General! Our ship is under attack by a proton torpedo!" an officer shouted.

"The deflection shield has been breached! It needs to be restarted!" The shield department immediately sent a report.

Admiral Trench tapped his adjutant on the shoulder with his whip and said, "Tsk tsk tsk... Hold on, formation. Turn, port: X, 17, Z, -12."

"Yes, sir!" the adjutant shouted. "Turn the ship! Left rudder, X-axis 17, Z-axis -12!"

At the same time, the Taotie also activated its fleet shields. A pale green light instantly enveloped all the surrounding friendly warships, covering the outer layer of the deflector shields, which were already in a pale blue overcharged state due to the effect of the phenomenon generator.

This is equivalent to having an extra layer of shield!
A pale green shield suddenly appeared around the Titan warship Divine Messenger, blocking all the proton torpedoes launched by the TIE bomber formation!