The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

Chapter 2682 You've Crossed the Line

2682. You have crossed the line.
At the same time, the Orman-Tagg fleet, commanded by Major General Dolas, launched its most powerful offensive against the planet Drukenville.

Major General Doras had already realized that Silas-Tagg, trapped here, had run out of tricks up his sleeve. The fleet now assembled on the planet's outskirts, relying on those armed space stations for defense, constituted Silas-Tagg's entire strength.

Most of those armed space stations were built by the Independent System Confederation during the Clone Wars, and they are all completely outdated products. For example, the turbo-laser cannons installed on those space stations are mostly high-energy-consuming, low-power, and short-range junk.

Therefore, even if they rely on armed space stations for defense, the enemy can only buy them a little more time.

After much deliberation, Admiral Doras issued the order, severing a portion of his fleet to begin bombarding the planetary shield of Drukenville. He intended to test the enemy's reaction.

According to information provided by Orman Tag, Silas Tag is a cowardly and timid man who would never dare to confront anyone directly. Therefore, Doras intends to provoke him and see if he will react excessively.

As expected, after the planetary shields of Druckenville were hit by several salvos, the defending warships clearly began to panic. The Generous-class communications frigates began to advance, presumably preparing to launch a preemptive strike against the warships that were bombarding the planet.

If that's the case, that would be great.

Major General Doras coldly stared at the holographic combat star map. If there was anything about this garrison that he feared most, it was the enemy warships' long-range heavy artillery.

The Generous-class communications frigate's two super-heavy turbo-laser cannons are fixed at the bow, representing a prototype of axial-mounted guns with immense power. Similarly, the Disobedient-class light destroyers are also known for their powerful long-range firepower, which is arguably their only advantage.

During the Clone Wars, these two types of warships often provided long-range support from behind heavily armored capital ships like the Cole-class and Divine Will-class.

It has to be said that being hit a few times by the main guns of these two types of warships would be quite painful. In any case, our side also has very outdated warships.

Seeing the defending warships begin to advance, Rear Admiral Dolas decisively issued the order, "Fighter squadrons, sortie immediately!! Take out the enemy's capital ships first!"

All that could be seen was that the second wave of fighters, which had already taken off from the Jagdpanzer-class battlecruisers, did not immediately engage in battle. Instead, the second wave of fighters, which had been hiding in the center of their own fleet formation, suddenly began to accelerate!
Under the cover of their own warships, these fighter jets began to accelerate diagonally, trying to avoid the enemy's long-range artillery fire as much as possible. After accelerating for tens of thousands of kilometers, the fighter jet formation suddenly turned and sped towards the Generous-class frigates!

The Generous-class corvette, a warship 825 meters long, was classified as a corvette during the Galactic Republic era for a reason. These warships had few turrets, resulting in insufficient firing angles. Although equipped with heavy armor, the armor's coverage area was still inadequate.

To describe the bizarre main armor belt layout of the Generous-class frigate using a vivid analogy, it's like this warship is holding up an umbrella. Only one heavy armored hull covers the most vital parts, while the rest is completely exposed.

This is the kind of target that fighter squadrons love most!

Once we destroy these few Generous-class ships, we'll launch a full-scale assault! If all goes well, Druckenville will have no choice but to surrender its planetary shields today.

However, at that moment, an official from the hyperspace probe department suddenly shouted, "General! Unknown hyperspace fluctuations detected! The location is planet number three in this system!"

"An ambush, huh?" Rear Admiral Doras sneered. "Trying to sneak attack a vulnerable Jagdpanzer-class battlecruiser, looks like the enemy is a veteran of the Clone Wars. They must have pre-set hyperspace beacons around us, so they can enter the battlefield instantly via a super-short-distance hyperspace jump. But too bad, you can think of that, but can't I?"

He waved his hand and said, "Ignore them, let them come!"

"Yes!"

Sure enough, over 200 light cruisers suddenly appeared on Planet Three! They were mainly Karak-class light cruisers. These were one of the mainstay light cruisers of the Galactic Republic era, produced in enormous numbers and renowned for their incredible speed and maneuverability.

Both sides in the conflict now have a significant number of Karak-class destroyers in their fleets.

It was clear that these Karak-class light cruisers had already completed the navigation calculations for the ultra-short distance hyperspace jump. Near the battlefield, Casio-Tagh had already pre-positioned beacons, and guided by the beacons, these light cruisers quickly entered hyperspace mode.

Because the process of a super-short jump is very complex and risky, this jump took about ten minutes. Afterward, the fleet instantly traversed hundreds of millions of kilometers, arriving at a location 50,000 kilometers from the main battlefield.

Immediately afterwards, this high-speed formation, with its sub-light speed engines at full power, charged toward the Jagdpanzer-class battlecruiser formation!
They were incredibly fast, entering the outer defensive perimeter of the main battlefield almost instantly upon appearing. The radar systems of the Jester-class battlecruisers immediately detected the approaching fleet, and the battlecruisers' weapon systems began locking onto these rapidly approaching targets.

However, the main gun of the Jagdpanzer-class was fully charged but did not fire; instead, it coldly pointed in this direction.

Suddenly, countless powerful explosions erupted in the direction the high-speed cruiser formation was advancing! This burst of explosions began to release powerful electromagnetic pulse waves in the surrounding area! The Karak-class cruiser formation, which was advancing at high speed, was caught off guard and was directly enveloped by this powerful electromagnetic pulse wave.

At the same time, Major General Doras coldly issued the order, "Fire!"

The main guns of the Jäger-class battlecruisers opened fire, providing comprehensive fire coverage to the area affected by the electromagnetic pulse wave! Even for outdated warships, this level of firepower was still lethal!

Major General Doras smiled smugly. "What do you think I was doing all those days after I arrived here? Twenty million electromagnetic air mines, you're welcome... If you have to blame someone, blame your Targ family for being too rich."

The situation on the battlefield is already one of certain victory!

Rear Admiral Doras, drawing upon his years of combat experience, had already secured his victory. The opposing commander clearly intended to send the Generosity-class frigates forward to lure the enemy deeper, allowing his side to deploy its Jaeger-class fighter squadrons—after all, fighters were the most effective weapon against the Generosity-class. Then, once the fighter cover was lost, he would use a pre-positioned squadron of high-speed cruisers to launch a surprise attack on the Jaeger-class.

If one were merely a reckless fool who only knew how to charge ahead, such a crude plan could certainly succeed.

But the problem is... Major General Doras stroked his mustache smugly, "I've been in the military for over forty years, what storms haven't I weathered? You think you can fool me with these tricks? That's wishful thinking."

However, just as he was about to reclaim this victory, the hyperspace sensing department sent another message: "General! Unknown hyperspace fluctuations detected!"

"What? They have reinforcements?" Major General Doras frowned and asked, "How large are they?"

"A large fleet! More than 200! But judging from the fluctuations, they should all be small to medium-sized warships... We expect to make contact in 10 minutes!" the technician said.

"Ten minutes? Did the hyperspace outpost's early warning go to hell?" Major General Doras cursed, but he still didn't think it was a big problem. 200 medium and small warships were only one-fifth of his forces. So he continued, "Take out this high-speed cruiser first! Main force reorganize and recall the first wave of fighters."

In reality, his order contained two objectives—because he did not recall the second wave of fighters that were attacking the Generous-class frigates. In other words, he still wanted to eliminate both targets simultaneously before enemy reinforcements arrived.

However, ten minutes was not enough time for Rear Admiral Dolas's fleet to destroy the enemy's capital ships. Those 200-plus Karak-class high-speed cruisers were not 200 pigs; it would take a long time to sink them.

At that very moment, this mysterious fleet broke free of the hyperspace channel and appeared on the outskirts of the battlefield!

And without a doubt, they also made use of the hyperspace beacons previously deployed by the defenders!
The size of the fleet, preliminary scan data, and optical images were captured immediately by detection devices on the periphery of the battlefield and reported to General Doras.

All that could be seen in this fleet were about 10 long, narrow ships, each about 800 meters long. According to the initial scan, no energy response from weapon systems was detected, so they were likely transport ships.

In addition, there are two other models of light cruisers, each about 260 to 270 meters long, and both have very unfamiliar designs.

Optical images show that these warships are equipped with structures that resemble solar panels. However, this doesn't make sense, as solar panels obviously cannot support the movement of warships of this size; they must serve other functions.

Just as General Doras was wondering, the fleet suddenly began to accelerate!
Their sub-light speed engines instantly increased their speed, reaching near-fighter jet-level acceleration! Not only that, but a large number of small spaceships suddenly detached from the 10 transport ships!

It was only then that General Doras realized that those small spaceships had actually been attached to the transport ships before!
These small spaceships, only about 80 meters long, were small frigates, and more than 300 of them detached from the transport ships. Moreover, these frigates were incredibly fast!

With over 300 frigates and over 200 light cruisers, this force was significantly larger than previously estimated. However, it was still insufficient to shake the Dorras fleet, which comprised a total of 2000 warships.

"Fire on this fleet! Don't let them get any closer!" Rear Admiral Dolas sensed something was wrong, so he immediately ordered his main fleet to eliminate the reinforcements.

The main fleet had just completed its formation reorganization and turn, and now it was unleashing its full firepower on this mysterious fleet! Countless laser beams and missiles were launched, and a dense barrage of artillery fire rained down like a storm!
However, most of the artillery fire missed its mark!
This mysterious fleet is incredibly fast and agile! The fire control systems of the old warships from the Galactic Republic era in the Doras fleet are simply incapable of effectively locking onto and attacking them.

Because these warships are as maneuverable as fighter jets!
The distance of over 50000 kilometers passed in the blink of an eye, and the fleet had already approached Rear Admiral Dolas's fleet. This mysterious fleet finally revealed its ferocious fangs!
Countless missiles and artillery fire swept over in an instant, and these warships, without slowing down, actually charged directly into the formation of the Doras fleet!
"No! What kind of warships are these! Why is this happening?! Quick! Stop them! Fighter squadrons, launch immediately!" Rear Admiral Doras immediately sensed something was wrong. The enemy warships had actually broken through his fleet's defensive perimeter, turning the battle into a chaotic melee!
As is well known, neither the Galactic Republic of the past nor the Galactic Empire of the present have warships that are suitable for fighting such a chaotic war.

But that wasn't the end of it; something even worse happened!
"General! A new fleet has been detected taking off from Druckenville!! Confirmed to be Victory II-class Star Destroyers! 40 ships!!" the soldier on the sensor reported loudly.

"What? That's impossible!! No matter how well they hide, they couldn't possibly hide a Star Destroyer fleet on a planet!" Major Admiral Doras exclaimed.

"I don't know how they did it, this fleet seems to have appeared out of thin air! But it's already advancing towards us!" the soldier shouted.

"General! The fighter squadron has lost its target; they are heading towards the planet!" The communications officer also came over to report the situation.

"No! This isn't right! What happened? The second wave hasn't even destroyed the enemy's capital ship yet! Why did we lose our target? Aren't all those warships there?" Doras roared angrily.

"I don't know, General! I don't know!"

"The enemy fleet has launched a counterattack! They have already joined up with the Victory II-class Star Destroyer squadron!"

"The situation is not right. Immediately recall all fighter squadrons! The entire force shall temporarily retreat!" Major General Doras decisively issued the order.

But, retreat?

How could this be! That mysterious fleet is currently wreaking havoc right in the middle of his fleet formation! Although this mysterious fleet only has 300 frigates and 200 light cruisers, it has caused tremendous chaos.

To order your fleet to reorganize under such circumstances is an unrealistic command!

Seeing his fleet being held back, while the enemy's seemingly appearing Victory II-class Star Destroyer squadron was getting closer and closer, Rear Admiral Doras felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave!