The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2693, "Turtle Bomb"

In order to organize a defense on the spot, after the initial chaos, the Galactic Empire fleet began to enter planetary synchronization orbit under the orders of Lieutenant General Dalmara-Holken, and assembled into seven defensive formations nearby to minimize losses.

Because the Imperial fleet had been completely scattered, the seven defensive formations they formed varied greatly in number and location. Among them, the formation with the most warships had approximately 200 capital ships and more than 700 medium and small warships.

The main reason for the gathering of this group of warships was that there were more than 100 armed asteroids directly in front of them, which shielded them from a lot of firepower, thus giving them the opportunity to readjust their formation.

However, to everyone's surprise, the Titan warship Divine Messenger has been deploying hyperspace beacons since entering the battlefield, and even Imperial fleet commander Dalmara Holken has no idea what they are planning to do.

However, when the massive body of the Taotie suddenly appeared in the middle of this largest defensive formation, Dalmara-Holken realized that something was seriously wrong!
Although he still didn't know why the Taotie Titan warship was doing this, his intuition told him that the commander of the Dawn Kingdom must have some ulterior motive.

"Are they courting death?" Lieutenant General Dalmar-Holken frowned as he looked at the location of a defensive formation on the holographic combat map.

On the battle map, there were dense clusters of blue cursors, representing friendly warships. Among this large group of blue cursors, there was only one lone red cursor – the Taotie.

"Concentrate your firepower immediately and destroy this Titan warship!!" Lieutenant General Dalmar-Holken shouted decisively, issuing the battle order.

However, he soon realized that something was wrong... to be precise, that the position was wrong.

That's right! The location!
As is well known, the Imperial-class Star Destroyers, the mainstay warships of the Imperial Navy, are shaped like a triangular pyramid. This shape is actually smaller at the front and larger at the rear, mainly to accommodate the massive L-A2B solar reactor. Therefore, this shape allows the Star Destroyer to unleash its full firepower when facing the enemy head-on. However, when facing the enemy from the large rear end, the firing arc of the three groups of 20 heavy turbolaser turrets on the Star Destroyer is greatly restricted.

Now facing a sudden attack from the Kingdom of Dawn, Dalmara-Holken has ordered his warships to enter planetary synchronization orbit and cluster together as close as possible to utilize a dense defensive formation to enhance frontal firepower and cover each other's flanks.

However, the Taotie's current location!
It's right in the center of this defensive formation, slightly behind!

In other words, if the Imperial-class Star Destroyers in this defensive formation want to concentrate their firepower to destroy the Taotie Titan, they all have to make a significant turn!

At a time when the Dawn Kingdom's fleet is launching an exceptionally resolute offensive, making a drastic turn in the middle of the battle would be tantamount to suicide!

However, here is the problem: if the more than 200 Imperial-class Star Destroyers in this defensive formation were to turn around at all costs, the Taotie Titan, even with its renowned defensive capabilities, would be absolutely unable to withstand such a full-scale bombardment at such close range!
Is it worth sacrificing one Titan to destroy 200 Star Destroyers? Given the current naval structure of the Dawn Kingdom, the strategic significance of the Titan far outweighs that of 200 Star Destroyers.

So, should we immediately turn around and resolutely destroy the Taotie Titan warship? Or should we spread out the defensive array of warships to form four smaller formations, and slowly take down the Taotie while minimizing the impact on our frontal firepower?
Vice Admiral Dalmar-Holken made his decision decisively. He repeated his previous order: "Notify all ships to turn immediately! Prioritize destroying the separatist Anchoron-class Titan warships!"

However, the Taotie moved much faster than Vice Admiral Dalmar-Holken!
All that could be seen were numerous cylindrical warships flying out from the gaps in the T-shaped hull of the Taotie Titan warship! There were at least a hundred of them!

Upon seeing these warships, Lieutenant General Dalmara Holken felt his brain explode! The battle data of the destruction of the Lusankaya Executor-class super star destroyer during the Kira campaign instantly flashed into his mind.

These cylindrical warships are none other than the Ogre-class siege cruisers! A type of warship equipped with slow-moving proton torpedoes with extremely high yields, specifically designed to attack fixed targets such as armed space stations!
The situation is quite clear! The Dawn Kingdom fleet intends to replicate this tactic of using the massive hull space of the Anchoron-class Titan battleships to carry a large number of Ogre-class siege cruisers for close-range attacks on targets!

Although those super proton torpedoes are slow, they are almost impossible to intercept at such close range! This is because these super proton torpedoes are equipped with deflector shields!
The Ogre-class siege cruisers that emerged from the middle of the Taotie Titan immediately launched over a thousand super proton torpedoes at the surrounding Imperial-class Star Destroyers! And at that moment, the Imperial-class Star Destroyers were only just beginning to turn!
"No! Quick! Take down those cruisers! Intercept the proton torpedoes! Quick! Quick!!!" Dalmar-Holken roared hoarsely.

Being hit by these super proton torpedoes in this state, even a fool could imagine the horrific consequences!

The current Taotie Titan warship is no longer a defensive warship; it's practically a super bomb!

Within the defensive formation, the light cruisers and frigates quickly turned their guns, unleashing a barrage of fire on the super proton torpedoes. Numerous laser cannons, turbolasers, and concussion missiles were fired at these super proton torpedoes. Against these massive, slow-moving targets, anti-aircraft fire was easily able to strike.

But then, something even more devastating happened...

After releasing all the Ogre-class siege cruisers and clearing any obstructions from the ship's structural gaps, the Taotie Titan was finally able to use its long-charging flagship-level tactical equipment—

Fleet Shield!!
Amidst the horrified and desperate gazes of almost every Imperial Navy officer and soldier on the scene, a pale green light curtain instantly enveloped the super proton torpedoes, which were already equipped with deflector shields!

The fleet's shields were applied to these super proton torpedoes!
At this moment, the firepower launched by the Imperial fleet's small and medium-sized warships was already raining down on these super proton torpedoes, but...

The results were minimal! (End of Chapter)