The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

Chapter 2750 The Goalkeeper Plan (Part 2)
2750. The Goalkeeper Plan (Part 2)

Oswald Tesik gripped the edge of the control panel tightly with both hands, so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

The current battle situation is extremely critical. The left flank of Cluster A has shown signs of collapse, and the doomsday weapon of the Dawn Kingdom's Divine Messenger Titan warship has begun its third charge.

Of the Type II Aegis destroyers designed to counter doomsday weapons, only 11 remain operational. This means that when the next doomsday weapon is fired, the Aegis destroyers will only be able to protect their flagship.

Even more dangerous is the fact that the swarms of drones and fighter squadrons that have infiltrated the Imperial fleet have yet to be dealt with. The densely packed drones and high-performance fighters of various types have disrupted the Imperial fleet's formation, forcing many warships to fight independently.

The communications channel was filled with angry shouts from the captains, mixed with desperate cries for help.

But hope still remains!
Through the holographic combat star map, it can be seen that the warships in the Dawn Kingdom fleet have been severely damaged, with many capital ships experiencing power loss and a significantly slowed rate of fire.

Of course, achieving this result came at a heavy price for his Battle Group A. So far, over 60 capital ships have been destroyed—a staggering number. This means that, including the damaged ships, his Battle Group A will cease to exist in four hours.

The key now lies with Battle Group B, and it can only be found in them!
When the plan was being formulated, Oswald Tessik believed that such a large fleet would naturally require a pincer attack.

Under these circumstances, with the support of Cluster B, Cluster A, as the main attacking force, needs to exert enough pressure on the Dawn Kingdom fleet so that when Cluster B joins the battle, the enemy will be unable to attend to both ends.

That's why he ordered the fleet to launch a fierce attack right from the start.

However, the Dawn Kingdom's mere advance deployment of a single formation disrupted all his plans. This allowed Cluster A to join the battle earlier and Cluster B to arrive later.

Now, the jamming devices set up on Palancy are making the B Cluster's reinforcements even slower!

However, Marshal Oswald Tesik still harbored a sliver of hope, as he could see that the Dawn Kingdom fleet was showing signs of fatigue. Under such circumstances, if Group B were to join the battle, it would undoubtedly inflict heavy losses on them.

Although there is no doubt that the Imperial fleet will suffer far more losses than the enemy, it doesn't matter. With the Empire's powerful production capacity as a backing, such an exchange ratio is definitely bearable!

Oswald-Tesick finally made up his mind and ordered Group A to continue its offensive.

He had absolute confidence in his fleet. Through long-term training and education, the First Star System's army was highly motivated and well-trained, capable of unleashing astonishing combat power in dire situations.

Even if the ship catches fire or the compartments depressurize, as long as the main guns can still fire, the formation will not collapse. This deep-rooted discipline is the sharpest blade of the imperial military system.

Even with the current difficult situation, Cluster A shows no signs of fatigue. This is one of Tessik's strengths.

Since we're going to fight, let's fight to the death with the blood of the First Star System Army to show our loyalty and determination to His Majesty the Emperor! Even if it's a sea of ​​hellfire ahead, the First Star System Army will charge ahead.

The battle between the two sides remained extremely fierce. Cluster A had been completely suppressed by the Dawn Kingdom's fleet and could only offer passive resistance.

However, it was only then that Oswald-Tesick realized that something seemed amiss.

Because the Dawn Kingdom's fleet maintained a consistently tight formation. What exactly were they doing?
Oswald-Tesick believed that if he were in command of the Dawn Kingdom's fleet, the best strategy would be to immediately disperse the fleet into a classic claw formation and surround them from multiple directions.

Once the claw-shaped attack is established, then Cluster A will have no chance of survival.

but why?
Oswald-Tesick pondered, observing the battle and focusing his gaze on his own fleet. He suddenly realized that if the dense red dots on the holographic star map were removed, the blue markers representing his own warships would become very clear, revealing that the Imperial fleet's formation was noticeably elongated!

Originally, they were going to launch an attack from the left, center, and right, but now their formation is gradually being stretched into a long strip.

There is only one possible reason for this situation—the speed of our warships is different.

speed?

Oswald-Tesick was startled and immediately turned around to order, "Immediately retrieve the sub-light speed of both enemy and friendly warships!"

"Yes, sir!" His adjutant immediately carried out the order.

When countless data points unfolded before him, Oswald-Tesik finally understood what was wrong—the Dawn Kingdom's warships were traveling at sub-light speed at least 20% faster than normal, and that speed was still increasing!

This meant that since the start of the war, the Imperial fleet, which had been on the offensive, had to constantly accelerate in order to keep up with the Dawn Kingdom's fleet. As a result, some slower warships inadvertently fell behind.

Of course, being in a state of war, the speed difference wasn't initially very noticeable. However, as the Dawn Kingdom's fleet continued to accelerate, the gap gradually widened.

Even while accelerating, the Dawn Kingdom's firepower remained unaffected because most of their warships had their broadsides engaged. In contrast, the Imperial warships had most of their firepower concentrated on their frontal armor, forcing them to make sharp turns to catch up, which is why their formation was stretched out.
“What the hell are they up to?!” Oswald-Tesick roared, summoning his staff to immediately analyze the situation.

However, the dozens of staff officers who were summoned talked at once but could not come up with a convincing explanation. Instead, an astronomer accompanying the army suddenly said, "Marshal... I know why."

"Speak!" Tessik snapped. "The separatist fleet is in the process of being accelerated by a gravitational slingshot," the astronomer said.

“What did you say?” Oswald Tessik said. “A gravity slingshot? That’s impossible! A gravity slingshot needs to orbit a celestial body to accelerate, which takes a very long time!”

The astronomer nodded and said, “That’s right. So I think the separatist fleet was already accelerating with a gravity slingshot before we even entered the battlefield. It’s like they’ve already circled Planet Five several times before crashing into us head-on. And the trajectory of the gravity slingshot acceleration is in the direction of the planet’s rotation. Now, as time goes by, their fleet has changed from facing us head-on to facing us sideways, and their speed is increasing. Our warships, without realizing it, can only keep accelerating to keep up, thus stretching their formation into a long strip.”

“They…want to run?” Oswald Tesick finally understood.

“I think so,” the astronomer nodded. “I’m afraid they intended to run away from the start.”

"What can they use to escape? I've already activated the hyperspace blocking field on the Blocker-class Star Destroyers. They can't escape! Even if those few super battleships can break through the hyperspace blocking field, what about the other battleships?!" Tessik shouted.

“I think… they might be planning to use sublight speed engines to accelerate and escape the hyperspace blocking field of the Blocker-class Star Destroyer, and then escape via hyperspace jump,” the astronomer replied.

Oswald-Tesick fell silent, staring at the tactical star map, his fingertips tapping heavily on the armrest. The trajectory lines on the screen continued to extend, the Dawn Kingdom fleet tracing an elegant arc along the edge of the gravity well on Planet Five. The longer the time dragged on, the more difficult it would be to overcome the speed difference between the two sides.

He stood up abruptly and gave the order: "Notify the Blocker-class to move the hyperspace blocking field forward. At the same time, all capital ships should abandon their formation and regroup, pursue at full speed, and prepare to fire a salvo from their broadsides."

"Yes!"

The marshal's orders were carried out immediately.

Oswald-Tesik fell into deep thought again, and he suddenly realized that he had completely overlooked the possibility that the Kingdom of Dawn simply did not want to engage him in a fleet battle.

Perhaps it's because Palancy is a crucial transportation hub on the outer edge of the core circle, making its strategic position extremely important; or perhaps it's because the Dawn Kingdom's fleet has repeatedly defeated the Imperial fleet in battle.

Tesik subconsciously believed that the enemy would definitely rely on the transportation hub planet they had finally captured to wage a decisive battle against them.

However, the facts show that the Dawn Kingdom doesn't care about the loss of Palancy at all. Now, after inflicting heavy losses on Battle Group A, they are preparing to withdraw from the battlefield! And Palancy was indeed completely undefended, simply handed over to Battle Group B!

but why?
Tesik still couldn't understand why, by occupying Palancy, the Dawn Kingdom's fleet could launch attacks in all directions, causing chaos and panic within the Galactic Empire's core. This would force the Empire to dedicate more resources to defending multiple fronts. Consequently, mobile warships would become increasingly scarce, and the Galactic Empire would lose its strategic offensive capabilities!
They just threw away such a huge strategic advantage like that?
What exactly is the Kingdom of Dawn plotting? Or are they simply unwilling to engage in a decisive fleet battle and want to preserve their strength?
Oswald-Tesick couldn't understand it at all.

However, the outcome of this battle was laid bare before him.

As the Dawn Kingdom fleet's sub-light speed increased, Imperial Fleet Battle Group A could no longer keep up. Moreover, Battle Group A had suffered heavy losses and was simply incapable of pursuing them further.

By the time Battle Group B finally broke through the jamming devices set up around Planet Palancy and sped towards them, the Dawn Kingdom's fleet had already broken free of the Blocker-class Star Destroyer's hyperspace blocking field, activated its hyperspace engines, and left the area.

They only have one place to go—the fortress planet, Bilblin.

……

Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Titan warship Divine Messenger, the flagship of the Northern Fleet of the Dawn Kingdom.

"It's still a great pity. Tsk tsk tsk... Losing Palancy Planet." Admiral Trench rubbed the claw at the corner of his mouth and sighed.

“There’s nothing to regret,” Ander-Viking said from the side. “Our goal has never been Palancy. Continuing to occupy this place and advancing deeper into the core in multiple directions will only disperse our forces and lengthen our logistical supply lines. Most importantly, under such circumstances, our plan to seize the Imperial financial center, Scipio, is doomed to fail.”

“Indeed. Your plan is quite creative. Tsk tsk tsk tsk…” Admiral Trench said, “Our withdrawal to Bilbrin will, on the one hand, stabilize the existing front, tsk tsk tsk tsk… and on the other hand, Dunn-Wessex will be even more afraid, worried that we will attack Palin-Minol. Tsk tsk tsk tsk…”

He looked at Andre Wiggin with admiration.

It wasn't just because of the bold abandonment of Palancy, a transportation hub that had been so hard-won, but also because of Andre Viking's brilliant tactical command in this battle.

In this battle, Andre Viking did not reveal the secret deployments of the North, but instead used all the weapons and equipment he had previously used in the war, essentially playing his cards right in front of the Galactic Empire.

However, relying on the outstanding performance of its intelligence department, Ander-Viking quickly made a battle plan after grasping the movements of the Imperial fleet. He ordered the fleet to begin gravity slingshot acceleration ahead of schedule and to engage in battle in a dense formation. On the one hand, this maximized the auxiliary functions of the Taotie Titan warship, and on the other hand, it allowed the fleet to form a cohesive unit and prevent it from scattering during acceleration.

In addition, he deployed automated jamming beacons and false energy signal sources on Palancy in advance to disrupt the movement speed of Battle Group B.

His objective was simple: to deliver a heavy blow to the Galactic Empire's fleet, then leave and disappear completely before the enemy could react.

However, in this process, he excelled at understanding the enemy commander's operational intentions and anticipating their tactical deployments. He even meticulously predicted the selection of the battlefield and the timing of the engagement—factors where even a slight misstep could lead to defeat!

This battle was purely a matter of the difference in ability between the two commanders!
Admiral Trench thought to himself that he rarely saw a commander like this. Even Severance Tann, who was known as the first general of the Dawn Kingdom and had a long list of military achievements, was more focused on "what I want to do" in her battle strategy. She would maximize the strength of her own fleet, but rarely considered the thoughts of the enemy commander.

But Andre Wiking truly took every factor on the battlefield into account!