From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 471: The Fallen Military Nobles

"You are quite open about cheating people." Duke William's tone was filled with dissatisfaction and helplessness.

"What kind of scam is this? Just tell me whether the Chaos Fortress has been equipped with liquid metal armor?"

Duke Duke said seriously: "At present, only the Chaos Fortress under your command has upgraded its defenses, and we don't know the power of the main gun of the Federation Mobile Fortress opposite. However, in theory, the power of this hastily produced 'replica' will not exceed that of the 'Focusing Rainbow'.

The people at the Royal Military Academy said that a medium to high power deflection field + liquid metal armor can withstand an attack of 80% of the power of the Focusing Iris, so using the Chaos Fortress to attract firepower has the lowest risk. We can't let the Sorrow Fortress, which has not upgraded its defenses, attract firepower, right?"

At this point, Duke also called up the performance comparison report sent by the Royal Military Science Academy, and continued: "As long as the Chaos Fortress can lure the Federation's mobile fortress to launch a round of attacks with its main guns, the fleet will be able to play a greater role in the next battle."

Duke William still felt that it was a little unreliable: "If it is hit directly, even with the liquid metal armor, the Chaos Fortress will suffer considerable damage. After all, this is an attack from the fortress's cannons, which is not the same as a salvo from a battleship."

"You are so cautious, how can you be a military noble? I think the fighting blood passed down from your ancestors has been diluted by the alcohol in your body."

Duke frowned and said with some regret: "Since you don't have the decisiveness, let's take it slow. I will lead the Fortress of Sorrow to attack first. If anything goes wrong, you will come to collect the bodies for me!"

After saying this, the angry duke planned to cut off the communication and end this unpleasant conversation.

"Wait. Let's let Chaos Fortress come. If something happens to you and Sorrow Fortress because of this, I won't get any good results even if I withdraw."

At this last moment, Duke William, with a helpless look on his face, finally chose to obey the arrangements.

Although they are both dukes, Duke Duke is older than William and has a close relationship with Duke William's deceased father, the former old duke. Therefore, Duke William, who is the youngest of the five dukes, always subconsciously lowers his posture when facing Duke Duke, an old man with a majestic aura without even getting angry.

Duke didn't say anything more. He nodded calmly and temporarily disconnected the communication.

He had always felt conflicted about Duke William's attitude.

From a personal perspective, as an ally in the Regent's camp, it is naturally a good thing that Duke William would obey his command in critical situations.

But from another 'more hypocritical' perspective, the attitude of an imperial duke of the same level still made Duke Duke feel that the future of the Star Dragon Empire was increasingly uncertain.

Once upon a time, the empire's military nobles were full of blood when they followed the previous emperor to fight, and they would lead the troops in every battle.

If the military nobles of that era were to encounter a situation like this, they would fight tooth and nail to get the task of commanding the celestial fortress to take the lead in the attack.

However, as the territory of the Star Dragon Empire was expanded to its current state, the huge empire finally stopped its war machine and began to recuperate and digest the "trophies".

During this process, the former military nobles, after receiving rewards and fiefdoms from the previous emperor, finally devoted their energies to the management of their own fiefdoms.

The swords and guns are stored in the warehouse, and the horses are released in Nanshan.

When the earliest group of nobles who followed the previous emperor to expand the territory passed away one after another, their descendants, after inheriting their fathers' titles, still focused their energy on managing their fiefdoms.

Although the background of these nobles, including the royal family of the Star Dragon Empire, allowed them to maintain their rule for a long time by simply relying on force, these "backgrounds" were also exhausted over time.

In the great war with the Federation 80 years ago, the Empire, which was once able to crush the Federation in terms of military force, eventually fell into a stalemate and ended the war by signing a peace agreement between the two sides. This actually sounded a wake-up call to the royal family and nobles of the Star Dragon Empire.

Unfortunately, after the war, everyone once again focused their energy on "recovering the financial losses caused by the war."
Next is the generation of the Duke and the Duke of Hastings. They are almost the only nobles of their generation who still possess the qualities of a military aristocrat.

By the time of Duke William's generation, the youngest group of nobles in the Star Dragon Empire, the shadow of "military aristocracy" can hardly be seen in them.

Duke's description was not an exaggeration. After a long period of pampering and extravagance, the fighting blood in their bones had been diluted to the point where it was almost invisible.

Just as he was thinking about these questions because of his previous conversation with Duke William, the Tactical Information Coordinator also reported to him that the Chaos Fortress Battle Group had entered the jump, and the destination they reported was exactly an attack coordinate previously surveyed by the reconnaissance ship detachment.

"Let's start the action according to the coordinated combat plan." Duke ordered calmly.
"'Focusing Iris' enters standby mode. Once the battle group jumps, recharge and begin attacking immediately. Target - Federation Mobile Fortress!"
-
In the core command room of the Chaos Fortress, Duke William sat in the command seat without saying a word.

The panoramic screen in front of the command room was showing a bizarre scene at this moment, as if the celestial fortress and the surrounding fleet had entered a tunnel under some kind of non-material world.

But Duke William had no interest in the scene that could only be seen during the jump. Duke Duke's words of disappointment were still echoing in his ears.

"You are so cautious, how can you be a military noble? I think the fighting blood passed down from your ancestors has been diluted by the alcohol in your body."

Fighting blood? Is there really such a thing in my body? Duke William asked himself silently.

He naturally knew about his family's glorious past. His ancestors followed the footsteps of the late emperor in battles across the country, using iron, blood, and countless lives to establish the current family business.

Although he had received macroeconomic education since childhood and completed all command training at the Imperial Royal Naval Academy, Duke William had to admit that he was more interested in family business and was better at it.
However, after being unabashedly reprimanded by the Duke, Duke William felt that the little fighting blood and aristocratic pride in his bones seemed to have been really activated.

The other party's reprimand not only made him feel unhappy, but also made him eager to prove to Duke that he was not a coward without any courage.

"If I were really a coward, would the Chaos Fortress have been severely damaged before?"

Duke William thought silently in his heart, and then he loudly issued a combat order:

"Attention, all fleets of the fortress battle group. Maneuver immediately after the jump to cover the fortress' flanks and drive away the federal fleet's double-team attack.

The main energy distribution strategy of the Celestial Fortress has been switched to 'defense mode', activating the deflection force field array at 90% power, while the liquid metal armor layer is pre-energized!"

Although William was a little overwhelmed by what the Duke said just now, he did not act impulsively and did not forget what he should do.

It takes three hours to jump from the previous position to the attack position. After arriving at this galaxy, the two celestial fortress battle groups also took nearly two hours of rest, mainly to check whether the status of the jump engine can support continuous jumps.

This also means that the Federation’s mobile fortress has at least 5 hours of reaction time.

The size and mass of the Empire's artificial celestial fortresses were already extremely large, and with the other fleets that made up the battle group, Duke William did not believe that the Federation's mobile fortresses would not be able to detect the spatial fluctuations caused by such a large-scale collective jump. In the previous discussion between him and Duke Duke, they actually mentioned the same issue that Duke Hastings had mentioned, that is, these two mobile fortresses were the options left to them by the Federation Navy Marshal Trafalgar.

And since the other party dares to make such an arrangement, it is impossible that they will only allow the mobile fortress and the fleet to be stationed here.

Not to mention how the enemy's strategic weapon, the proton annihilation bomb, will be used. There will be no shortage of reconnaissance ships and a large number of autonomous probes to monitor the situation within the galaxy.

Not to mention that the mobile fortress already possesses extremely strong reconnaissance and detection capabilities, and Duke William does not believe that the Federal Navy will shrink in this regard, so the gravitational wave radar array it is equipped with can also detect the movements of large-scale fleet jumps.

The above prerequisites let Duke William know that he was about to face the federal mobile fortress and the surrounding fleet, and he was definitely ready for battle.
During the jump, everyone in the Chaos Fortress's core command room was silent and nervous, and the atmosphere seemed a little depressing.

Even though they had been fighting with this fortress for such a long time, they still couldn't act as if nothing had happened after knowing that the celestial fortress they were in would become a target to attract fire.

From time to time, someone would quietly turn their heads to look at Duke William on the command seat, as if this high-ranking imperial noble was some kind of "rely" on them. As long as they saw him still on the command seat, they would continue to fight.

Duke William, who was sitting in the command seat, had a full view of it all. He could see every little movement of each person clearly, which reminded him of an old saying that had been circulating in the human world for who knows how many years - the teacher on the podium could clearly see every move of the students below.

Now it seems that is really the case.

This episode made him relax a little, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

When he saw a female communicator glance at him secretly again and then show a relieved expression, the Duke of the Empire could no longer hide the smile on his face.

"You can watch if you want. I won't punish you for any crime like 'disrespect'~"

Everyone couldn't help but laugh secretly. Since Duke William usually looked more like a 'young master' and didn't have so many rules and regulations, the atmosphere between him and his subordinates was more relaxed than that between him and other nobles.

This is also why other nobles often privately say that William is more like a "businessman" than a powerful imperial duke.

"Don't worry." Duke William said in a rare resolute tone, "I'm here and I won't go anywhere until the battle is over."

Seeing the uneasiness on everyone's faces slowly disappear, Duke William continued: "So, I need each of you to go all out and do what you should do, not only for me or the empire, but also for yourselves."

As time went by, the fortress battle group's jump was nearing completion.

The scene on the panoramic screen in front of Duke William also began to change. Those bizarre and strange scenes were becoming more and more blurred, as if the "layer" they were in was disappearing.

Instead, the cosmic background became clearer and clearer, and Duke William could even slowly identify the star in the distance that looked like a small ball of light.

When such a scene appears, it often means that the transition is about to begin.

Duke William couldn't help but hold the armrest tightly. At this moment, even though he had prepared himself mentally, or the fighting blood in his body was constantly surging, he couldn't suppress the slight fear and tension.

But the youngest duke knew that he must not show weakness at this moment, because his condition would also affect the morale of the entire battle group.

Biting the tip of his tongue to temporarily clear the myriad threads in his mind, Duke William tightened his vocal cord muscles so that no one could hear the trembling in his voice, and then slowly said:

"Everyone, be prepared for battle."

The next moment, the jump ended.

Against the backdrop of the pitch-black universe, an equally huge sphere suddenly appeared on the panoramic screen, as if it was delivered to the eyes.

A large number of locking and analysis frames were immediately put on, identifying the federal warships hiding in the shadow of the mobile fortress.

A mobile fortress with a diameter of 340 kilometers and three federal fleets coordinating for defense.

Immediately afterwards, the fortress control personality also reported a series of warning messages:

"Warning, fire control radar illumination signature detected!"

"Warning, the enemy mobile fortress is adjusting its beam axis and is expected to overlap with the fortress in 20 seconds!"

"Warning, high energy reaction detected!"

"Warning, extremely strong electric field reaction detected in the target area!"

Duke William no longer needed to give orders, as everyone had already taken the initiative to complete a series of operations based on the pre-battle plan.

Under the effect of the restraining magnetic field, the silvery-white liquid metal on the surface of the Chaos Fortress slowly covered the 'Focusing Rainbow' on the front of the fortress. At the same time, the posture control unit of the fortress also began to operate, and slightly adjusted the Chaos Fortress's angle of facing the enemy according to the predicted rays.

Facing the enemy from the side not only allows the deflection field to fully exert its ability to twist charged particles, but also protects the 'Focusing Rainbow' as much as possible.

Although Duke William was willing to believe that the Chaos Fortress could withstand the opponent's attack, he was not sure whether the "Focusing Rainbow" would be affected if it was hit directly, and he did not dare to gamble.

"Attention everyone! The fortress is about to be attacked, everyone be prepared to withstand the impact!"

As the full-frequency broadcast sounded in the fortress, the Chaos Fortress was still making final adjustments to its posture. After all, when the opponent's fortress artillery entered the final stage before firing, it would enter an irreversible state.

So Duke William would naturally not let the Chaos Fortress stay there like a fool waiting to be attacked, but would constantly perform evasive maneuvers, forcing the Federation's mobile fortress to constantly adjust the ray axis, otherwise the shot would deviate.

The current distance between the two sides is 8 kilometers. When the fleets of both sides are temporarily unable to perform, this battle temporarily becomes a one-on-one duel between the two fortresses.

Finally, after both sides had gone through 15 agonizing seconds, Duke William saw a flash of blue and white light in the middle of the Federal Mobile Fortress in the distance.

(End of this chapter)