From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 650 Forced Demolition
In the Federation, the 'Stonehenge' defense zone.

The 220 million-kilometer-long asteroid belt is like a coral area in the sea, and the fleets fighting in this asteroid belt are like schools of fish playing hide-and-seek and catch in it.

The only difference is that the unlucky guy who is caught will be shot down by the fleet and turned into a brand new wreckage floating in the starry sky.
On the bridge of the Infinity, Guterres frowned as he looked at the huge battle situation diagram presented by the holographic projection platform in front of him.

Since the battle on the front line started until now, except for relying on the unexpected ultra-long-range sniping of the "Spectrum Destroyer" at the beginning to kill the flagship of the "Pseudo First Fleet", and then continuously "freeloading" and taking advantage of the situation to launch a wave of large-scale attacks, the coalition forces of Atlas and the Renaissance Alliance have not made any further progress.

The Federal Navy had obviously made a plan in advance. After being stunned for a while at the beginning, they began to retreat in an orderly manner towards the "Stonehenge" defense zone. Although most of the "incompetent" fleet was eaten up in the end, the other fleets successfully retreated into the defense zone, and then began to hold on with the help of the complex environment of the asteroid belt and a large number of fixed weapons.

When Guterres obtained intelligence and learned that the commander of the opposing team was his old comrade Griezmann, he immediately realized that this battle would definitely not be able to be resolved quickly.

But Guterres knew very well that after Amber got into a fierce battle, he could not stop.

Marshal Trafalgar and the three elite fleets were led away by Amber. This was the best opportunity for the front line. If the Atlas Group could not even grasp this opportunity, then there was no need to mention the next plan.

"Griezmann is really a stable guy"

"Sir, do you know the commander on the opposite side?" Hearing Guterres' exclamation, the adjutant and tactical staff officer beside him asked.

"Huh? Don't you know?"

Guterres was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized:
"That's right. You just got transferred here not long ago, so it's normal that you don't know. The commander on the opposite side, Griezmann, is my old comrade and colleague in the Federal Navy. With him around, our fleet's attack will not be so easy to be effective."

"Oh~ It seems that this commander is a master of defense?" the adjutant asked. As a young officer trained by the Atlas Group, he was influenced by the corporate culture of the group and his predecessors and always asked questions when he did not understand something.

"I can't say he is a defensive master. If I were to evaluate him, Griezmann is not very strong in either defense or offense, but he is as steady as a rock. This command style may not be good for offense and may even have an impact, but if it is used in a defensive battle, it will be a tough nut to crack."

Guterres sighed. In this kind of confrontation where the difference in strength between the two sides was not big, there was no room for tricks, especially when the opponent had the "geographical advantage", the attacking fleet could only nibble on it bit by bit.

The only good news is that the fleet of the Renaissance Alliance performed really well in this joint operation - especially in terms of executing orders, focusing on "dispatching at will".
This also made Guterres' pre-war concerns that the Renaissance Alliance fleet would not obey his orders disappear without a trace.

As for Atlas' own fleet, it executed his orders very thoroughly, and with the fire support of two super-flags, although the speed was a bit slower, it was indeed eroding the federal fleet's front line bit by bit.

The main guns of the two Infinity-class super flagships were not used to attack the fleets hiding in the asteroid belt, but were directly fired at the asteroid belt.

If I can't hit the fleet, can't I hit these mountain-like asteroid fragments?
A large amount of asteroid debris hundreds of kilometers long was cut into pieces one by one like a cake under the sweep of the super-heavy purification beam generator, and then began to drift disorderly into the interior of the asteroid belt, triggering a large number of chain reactions.

The situation where the debris deviated from its original orbit and began to float around caused chaos on the Federation Navy's front line. Although most of the asteroid debris with fixed weapon groups were equipped with attitude control nozzles responsible for stabilizing the orbit and offsetting the recoil of firing, the control personality of the "Stonehenge" defense zone almost crashed in the face of the chaos caused by Atlas.

Therefore, Griezmann also ordered the federal fleets to continue to retreat into the "Stonehenge" defense zone, because the chaotic asteroid belt not only caused trouble for the federal navy, but also prevented the fleets of Atlas and the Renaissance Alliance from breaking in directly for a while.

This means that although Guterres is cutting the "sausage" piece by piece, when he looks up, the "sausage" is so long that he can't see the end.
Thinking of this, Guterres realized that perhaps the solution to break the impasse still depended on Amber, but thinking that Amber had to face three main fleets led by Marshal Trafalgar himself, the old navy couldn't help but feel a little worried.

"Selena, is there any new news from the Boss?" Guterres asked the shipboard control personality.

"Report to the commander, the last update time of the fleet where the boss is is 1 hour and 12 minutes ago. No new information has been received yet."

Selena's voice sounded beside Guterres, still so calm and peaceful.

"It looks like the pursuit isn't over yet."

Guterres lowered his head and thought. According to the news that came before, the fleet of the Pillar of All Creation was attacking the satellite gun array of Requiem.

Although Guterres was also surprised that the Federation put this tactical weapon into use so quickly, he still had an inexplicable confidence in Amber, always feeling that this mysterious boss could come up with some strange operations to achieve tactical goals.

This confidence in Amber is not only in him. It should be said that all the commanders of Atlas have an unconditional trust in Amber, especially those who have been with her for a long time, the deeper this trust is.
However, pursuit warfare is indeed a relatively complex and changeable situation in fleet warfare, and the pursuer and the pursued party each have distinct advantages and disadvantages.

As for the pursuing federal fleet, they relied on Marshal Trafalgar's careful planning in the early stage to monitor the every move of the Atlas fleet after entering the "Pillar of All Creation" and successfully ambush it.

Moreover, after entering the pursuit battle, Marshal Trafalgar was also very clear that Atlas's target was the proton annihilation bomb assembly center, so he only needed to follow the Atlas fleet and take advantage of the timing when the other party launched an attack on the assembly center to concentrate the firepower of the three fleets to complete the attack.

It seems like an easy and simple battle?

But in fact, with the unexpected breakthrough of the 'Space Dump Truck' and the subsequent rapid elimination of the Federation Navy's logistics squadron by the 'Poseidon Team', the disadvantage also enveloped Marshal Trafalgar and his men like a haze.

Moreover, since it was a passive pursuit, their actions were largely restrained by the opponent, as if they were tied up by an invisible rope. They had to pay attention to the movements of the Atlas fleet at all times to prevent the opponent from using a strategy to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

Just like Atlas's split attack, Marshal Trafalgar was struggling over whether to split his forces to pursue. Although the Federation Fleet still had an advantage in manpower, he was still a little afraid of the opponent's super flagship, and according to observation, it had not yet used its main guns. Trafalgar was worried that if he split his forces rashly, if the Atlas Fleet came back to attack and dispersed, it would be a big deal.
As for the pursued Atlas fleet, under Amber's decision, they now have the tactical flexibility brought by taking the initiative.

When Amber and a group of staff members were formulating the battle plan in the early stage, they actually fully considered the current situation of being chased and beaten - but the probability of this happening was too small in the eyes of everyone, so it was also regarded as one of the last resort plans.

At the same time, the 'Poseidon Team' had just annihilated the Federation Logistics Fleet, and the main fleet had even managed to dismantle the 'Requiem' satellite gun array under impossible circumstances, so the morale of the entire fleet was at its peak at this moment, like a beacon of light.

But at the same time, being the pursued party also has disadvantages.

First of all, the absolute disadvantage in terms of military strength made Amber realize that if they engaged Marshal Trafalgar in a head-on battle, it would only play into the opponent's hands, so he could only think of a way to win by surprise.

Moreover, the slow or stalemate front line also requires the task of "destroying the proton annihilation bomb assembly center" to be completed, otherwise Atlas will be at a strategic disadvantage.

At the same time, once they are caught by the federal fleet and fall into a protracted war, Amber and his team will have difficulty in getting supplies as they are far away from their base. At this time, their combat resources will be unsustainable and they will also be in trouble.

It can be said that this fierce chase is a game of life and death in the dark abyss of the universe. Both sides are fighting at all costs for the final victory, and no one can give in.

In fact, neither side made any concessions.

In other words, after the proton annihilation bomb assembly center entered the range of the Atlas fleet, the battle entered its most intense moment.
-
"The interference effect of the scattering gel layer is decreasing. 75%50%40%25% It is no longer possible to intercept the enemy's high-power hard X-rays."

"Ship 772, 774, 884 reports, the plasma propulsion array has been attacked, and there are bad spots! The ship's power is beginning to decline."

"The current density of interference smoke and high-density chaff cloud is only 50%. Many warships report that they have been locked by multiple fire control radars!"

Urgent reports kept coming into the ears of Evans, the air defense commander of the Atlas right-wing fleet. On the battle star map in front of him, more and more ships in the right-wing fleet began to show yellow light, symbolizing the increase in "threat level".

In many cases of fleet warfare, high-energy lasers are used for air defense or long-range harassment, but if it is a high-energy laser array on a battleship, it can still cause sufficient damage to other ships in some cases.

Just like now, as the Atlas fleet adjusted its axial direction to the proton annihilation bomb assembly center and began a "special demolition operation", the relative speed dropped, allowing the Federal Fleet to seize the opportunity to close the distance between the two sides, so the right wing of the fleet was exposed to the firepower of the Federal Fleet.

At present, the battleships and heavy cruisers of the Federation, the Empire and Atlas are all equipped with hard X-ray free electron laser cannons. With the support of the high power of the battleships, this weapon with not very high energy efficiency can also have a hard kill effect.

The key is that this thing can't be blocked by the deflection force field, so it can only rely on the hull armor to resist, but the problem is that the Atlas fleet is attacking the assembly center at this moment, so it is equivalent to exposing the sides and rear.

Hard X-rays are different from other high-energy lasers. When the power is sufficient, they can forcefully penetrate the light wave interference wake of the warship's plasma propulsion array. Once a bad spot appears on the propulsion array, the power of the warship will be affected. In the current combat environment, it is undoubtedly a death sentence.
Without much time to think, the air defense commander quickly glanced at the current inventory of various functional ammunition of the right-wing fleet, and issued new orders without hesitation.

"All ships continue to fire functional ammunition and make sure to maintain the 'tactical shield'! Warships near the damaged ship, try to perform emergency towing, and don't let any warship fall behind!"

Under Evans' order, the multi-purpose launch silos of the warships of the right-wing fleet fired various jamming warheads crazily as if they were free of charge. Although the "tactical shielding layer" was restored, the inventory of various jamming ammunition was rapidly decreasing at a speed visible to the naked eye and was about to approach the red line.

But the most fatal thing is that as the distance between the federal fleet and the enemy continues to close, the effect of the tactical shielding layer is also rapidly decreasing. When the enemy enters the attack range of the main gun, they will be hit by a stream of heavy metal ions.
Amber, who had already returned to the "Eternity" to complete the supply of the body, was naturally aware of the situation. In response to Ramos's request for the use of the Super Flagship main gun, he quickly made a choice.

The only two options now are to attack the assembly center and attack the federal fleet.

The Eternal's main guns can ignore deflection fields, so attacking the assembly center can destroy the opponent's deflection field generator array, allowing the fleet to carry out demolition more quickly.

If they attack the federal fleet, the latter's current tight assault formation can actually allow the super-heavy purification beam generator to produce extremely high "theoretical output", causing great losses to these elite federal fleets.

But if we consider the strategic level, it is obvious that the proton annihilation bomb assembly center is the main target of this operation.
So not long after, after the warning of "high energy reaction detected" sounded on the Federation warships, a golden purification beam shot out from the 'spear tip' of the Atlas fleet, ignoring the extremely high-power deflection field of the assembly center, and directly bombarded the core position of the deflection field generator array.

Then, the second and third
Under the "three-shot" attack of the super-flag main gun, the huge force field wrapped around the assembly center flashed a few times, and slowly disappeared with the flashing of a large number of electric arcs.

But before Amber and the others could be happy, a few seconds later, the assembly center was once again wrapped in the deflection force field.

"Fuck, there really is a backup array."

Amber's face darkened, and then she immediately ordered Ramos:
"All fleets advance, and begin concentrated fire attack! The backup array's power is not that high, we must bite the bullet and get through this!"

"Yes, Boss!"

Ramos quickly took the order and started the demolition. As soon as he finished speaking, the voice of the temporary commander of the 'Poseidon Team' sounded in Amber's ears.

"Boss, please allow me to lead the squadron to harass the federal fleet and buy enough time for the main fleet!"

(End of this chapter)