From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 736 Confrontation
But in fact, Amber would not let the fortress and firepower team open fire on the Grand Palace area so easily.

After all, their "financial backer" is still besieged in the Grand Palace, and there is also a huge deflection force field generator array protecting the area above the Grand Palace. Therefore, in the plans of Amber, Hogg and others, fire support will be used first to support the troops that encounter the enemy.

The attack on the Grand Palace area must be started at least after the troops have reached the edge, roughly scouted the situation and identified the weak points of the defense, otherwise it would be a waste of ammunition.

Although the E-2 super-heavy vehicle-mounted self-propelled electromagnetic gun is known as the "Amber's Hammer" and is very effective in attacking fortress targets, the Grand Palace is, after all, the old nest that the royal family of the Star Dragon Empire has painstakingly built for many years.

If it can be easily broken by an artillery brigade with less than 100 E-2s, then Jacques Kerr really needs to investigate the flow of funds allocated by the Royal Engineering Department on these defense projects.
Therefore, the first achievement of these E-2 super-heavy vehicle-mounted self-propelled electromagnetic guns was not an attack on the Grand Palace or surrounding suspected enemy assembly areas, but the fire support provided to the Princess Villa.

No matter how brave Amber was, she was not brave enough to order the warship above her head to launch an orbital strike on the enemy directly in front of the princess' villa. If the gunner's hand shook or the ship's shooting angle deviated by the slightest, she would most likely be killed as well.

No matter how powerful a level 6 psychic may be in the eyes of ordinary people, he is not powerful enough to withstand a battleship-class heavy particle cannon with his body.
Because that is something that only an eighth-level psychic can show off.

Therefore, after the First Army landed, Amber could not wait to call for support from the E-2 super-heavy vehicle-mounted self-propelled electromagnetic gun. After completing the tactical networking, the fire commander of the artillery brigade also obtained sufficiently accurate coordinates in the command terminal.

After completing a round of rapid calibration and confirming that there were no major errors, a self-propelled electromagnetic artillery battalion's firepower fell on the Imperial Guards and the Martyr Corps that were besieging the Princess' Villa.

Equipped with ammunition including self-forging warheads, high-explosive warheads, anti-infantry fragmentation warheads and plasma warheads, the target area is bombarded in turn at a high frequency.

Although the HCP and accompanying air defense units of the Imperial Guards and the Martyrs Legion were already doing their best to intercept, the firepower projection capability of a self-propelled electromagnetic gun battalion had far exceeded their interception threshold.

When the first heavy warhead was intercepted and exploded upon landing, what followed became a one-sided massacre.

The Imperial Guards and the Martyrs' Corps that were besieging the Princess' Villa obviously did not expect that a long-range artillery unit would suddenly attack them, and it was extremely powerful heavy artillery.

Although the command team and the firepower team were slightly behind, so they avoided most of the bombardment, the attack team that was launching a general attack on the main gate of the Princess Villa with a dense assault formation was really in trouble.
The warheads fired by the E-2 super-heavy vehicle-mounted self-propelled electromagnetic gun are extremely powerful, not to mention the firepower coverage of an entire battalion.

In the smoke and dust produced by the bombardment, the only one that could finally rush to the main entrance of the Princess Villa was a "Royal Clergyman" that had lost its right mechanical arm.

Its pilot, with a feeling of fear and despair, brandished the plasma heavy sword and launched a suicide attack on the main gate defense position. The full-power acceleration of the plasma propulsion array allowed the HCP to rush out of the smoke and dust and rush to the front of the position in an instant.

But...that's where it ends.

"Okay, stop."

A voice with a hint of pity suddenly sounded directly in the pilot's mind.

Immediately afterwards, the pilot felt as if his aircraft had rushed into a ball of glue. The ground speed on the HUD also dropped suddenly, and the huge reverse G-force made him feel like he was almost thrown out of the cockpit even with the assistance of a heavy hydraulic anti-gravity suit.

In the next instant, the scene on the full-circle screen changed from a high-speed sprint towards the princess' villa to a "passionate kiss" with the earth. Before the pilot passed out, he only had time to see the figure in heavy power armor standing at the main entrance of the princess' villa.

The Atlas Marines on the surrounding positions watched as Amber remotely controlled the HCP that launched the suicide attack, and with a slight wave of her hand, she pressed it to the ground, and finally stopped it less than two meters in front of them.

Immediately afterwards, a series of electric currents flashed through the exterior of the 'Royal Clergyman', and sensors throughout the machine, including the plasma propulsion array at the back, went out one after another.

As Amber raised her hand and turned it upside down again, the "Royal Priest" seemed to be picked up from the ground by an invisible big hand, turned over and put back on the ground.

"Alright, send a few people to drag the pilot out, and the rest of you stay on guard~"

Amber waved her hand, gave instructions to the Marines around her, and then turned back to the villa.

He knew very well that under the attack of the self-propelled electromagnetic gun battalion, the small force of the Imperial Guards and the Martyr Corps that besieged the Princess Villa no longer had the capital to continue the attack.

Even if the enemy commander was determined to launch an attack with the remaining units, the defense force of the Princess Villa was sufficient to deal with it. So he quickly contacted the Dawn on orbit - he had not been able to answer the communication request sent by the enemy during the battle just now.

"Isa, the problem at the Princess Villa has been solved for the time being."

"But things are in chaos on the track, Amber." Isabel's worried face appeared in the communication window on the upper left side of the tactical visor.

"The Dawn, in cooperation with the Immortals, has disabled one-fifth of the orbital defense platforms. The Golden Dragon Battle Group is currently fighting in cooperation with Duke Hastings and his men according to your instructions.

But Duke Soran’s fleet and Celestial Fortress have also merged with the fleets of the Regent and Duke Duke, just as you imagined in the worst case scenario. Although we are now evenly matched in the number of warships, the disadvantage of missing a Celestial Fortress is still too obvious.”

"I will solve the problem of the Celestial Fortress." Amber interrupted Isabel.

"Eh? Wait." Isabel was a little confused after hearing Amber's words.

"Don't worry, as long as you and the two dukes on Princess Agnes' side can hold on, the battle will soon be balanced. And the focus of this battle is not in space, but on the ground."

As Amber spoke, she signaled to Lilith to immediately notify LLS943823 to start the "return procedure". After receiving the latter's confirmation, Amber continued to say to Isabel:
"I believe that no matter whether it is the Regent, the Archbishop or Duke Soran, they are definitely more anxious than us now~"
-
Amber was not wrong. The Regent and others were indeed more anxious than them.

Because the Atlas Group had done an excellent job of keeping secrets in the early stages, no one on the Empire side, except Agnes, knew that the Atlas Group had the ability to deploy an army-level force to the surface in a very short period of time.

The Regent and the Imperial Family's understanding of the Atlas Group's ability to deliver to the surface of a planet is still based on the 'old version' of the 'Endless' super flagship deploying its earth-to-sky round-trip module to transport heavy equipment.

All contingency plans to deal with Atlas' intervention are based on the idea of ​​"possibility".

Unfortunately, the possibility that Amber would send a fully equipped army to Saint-Saunière was considered "unlikely" in the pre-war preparations of the Regent and others, so it was never considered.
"Are your intelligence channels useless? Why didn't you even know that the Atlas Group has this capability?!"

In the forward command post temporarily set up outside the Grand Palace, Archbishop Jules Mazarin roared at the Regent and Duke of Sauron with an angry look on his face.

Facing the Archbishop's rebuke, the Regent and Duke Sauron were speechless. They thought that they had gathered sufficient intelligence on the Atlas Group before today, but they never expected that Amber had such a card.

And this card, when played at a critical moment, is enough to end the game.

"Your Excellency, it's too late to say this now. The key is how we should respond," Duke Soran spoke first. "My battle group will try to send orbital paratroopers to the ground, but if we want to resist the attack of the Atlas Group, we may still need the Martyr Corps and the Imperial Guard. After all, judging from the results of the reconnaissance just now, the enemy should have an entire army of troops already landed."

The Archbishop snorted coldly after hearing this: "Humph, you don't need to command. I have ordered the Martyrs' Corps to divide into two brigades and several independent battalion-level combat units to block the attack. Don't think it's too little. The main force of the Martyrs' Corps needs to continue to attack the Grand Palace. We must suppress the princess inside the Grand Palace until His Majesty completes his plan."

The Regent's expression was no longer as fanatical as before, and seemed to have calmed down. After listening to the Archbishop's words, he seemed to think for a while, then raised his head and looked at him.

"A brigade-level unit of the Imperial Guards surrounding the Imperial Capital has already set out. The headquarters of the Capital Garrison has also been controlled by my people. The troops have been ordered to set out. They will launch a pincer attack on the Atlas Group's troops. If the Martyr Corps can delay the opponent's attack, we will have a chance to drag them into a protracted war."

The Regent paused for a moment, a trace of clarity flashed in his eyes. He looked at Duke Soran on the communication interface and asked, "Your Excellency, are Perseus and Astral all right?"

"Don't worry, my people have already controlled them. They are both safe and not hurt. Norton II, you really hid it well. Even your two most trusted aides were kept in the dark."

Norton II seemed not to have heard the second half of Duke Soran's words, and just seemed to be relieved.

"As long as it's alright, it'll be alright, as long as it's alright"

(End of this chapter)