The stars, but they become the gray wind

"The mass is estimated to be over 40 megatons!"

"What? A sign?!" the staff officers around exclaimed.

Kajielun was always calm and composed, but when he saw this number, he began to feel uneasy.

"Judging from its mass and shape, its diameter is likely around 40 to 45 kilometers. It could be an artificial celestial body close to the size of a fortress!"

"So, it's a fortress similar to Iserlohn?"

Kageron's tone was quite bitter. Just like the Allied forces' past experience of attacking and successfully occupying the Iserlohn Fortress, the Empire became much smarter after suffering a loss. It did not choose to send a fleet to attack the fortress like the previous Allied forces did.

"So, the Empire just moved the fleet and the entire fortress here this time? That's really outrageous, isn't it?"

Xiankobu said in a calm tone.

The upright Major General Mulai glared at Senkob.

"You're underestimating this! There's definitely more to the story than meets the eye. Judging by the fact that fortress-sized objects can leap, the Empire has likely developed some new technology we're unaware of!"

"This isn't really new technology, is it? It's just an increase in scale. No matter how they achieved this, it's nothing more than patching up the already ossified Big Guns and Big Ships doctrine."

Xiankobu looked at Yang Weili who had just arrived at the command room.

"However, surprisingly, the enemy's force this time is quite large. Admiral, how do you plan to deal with it?"

"If the opponent is indeed a fortress of the same size, and the fortress cannons bombard each other... ? In the end, there is a high probability that both will perish." Facing this upcoming unprecedented battle, Yang was surprisingly calm.

Major General Mule, with a solemn expression, lowered his voice and said to everyone present, "But if Iserlohn Fortress falls or is destroyed, Duke Lohengramm will lead the Imperial Army through the corridors and attack the Alliance capital without any hindrance! At that time, the Alliance will..."

Destruction... Major General Mulai did not utter the last two words.

Given the Alliance's strength, even the nearest Fifth Fleet would take up to ten days to arrive. Currently, the Alliance only had a small number of patrol fleets stationed in the Iserlohn Corridor, each operating within a star system and lacking long-distance maneuverability. Following the previous attack on the Alliance capital, most of the Alliance fleets were concentrated in Heinessen and the surrounding systems to provide at least some psychological reassurance to the insecure population. Under normal circumstances, this would have been no problem; Iserlohn Fortress itself and its resident fleet would have been sufficient to safeguard the Alliance's territory. However, the Empire had now directly warped a massive mobile fortress nearly as large as Iserlohn, threatening to destroy Fortress Iserlohn itself. During this ten-day window, the Imperial army's warped fortress had destroyed or crippled Iserlohn.

At this critical moment, everyone placed all their hopes on Yang Wei-li. The officers and soldiers of Iserlohn Fortress and its garrisoned fleet were undoubtedly the most morale-boosting and resilient troops in the Allied Fleet, and their resilience was largely due to their absolute trust in Commander Yang Wei-li.

"Tell the families of officers and civilians living in Senei to prepare for refuge and evacuation." Yang Weili gave the order calmly.

"Are we going to abandon the fortress?"

"No, if I were the enemy commander, in a situation where a fortress bombardment would most likely result in mutual destruction, then there would only be one reasonable option."

"Treat the fortress like a disposable cannonball and ram it directly!"

"What!" Everyone present exclaimed when they heard it.

"Senior Kagerun, if we want to precisely control a fortress the size of Iserlohn, how many people do you think we'd need?"

"At least 300 to 500 people."

"This means that some people need to stay in the fortress that is about to collide with the enemy fortress and self-destruct, and perish together with it."

"If the enemy was Duke Rogdanram, who risked escalating the civil war in the empire to save two million civilians, I don't think he would have adopted such a tactic of mutual destruction right from the start, and even sent his own men to their deaths."

"Have all civilians in the fortress prepare for shelter and evacuation, and have all officers and soldiers gather in the core area of ​​the fortress, which is the most heavily protected."

"A few rounds of fortress artillery bombardment are probably unavoidable, but it's still possible to minimize unnecessary casualties before one side decides to collide with the other fortresses."

"And... send a distress signal to the Alliance's rear. If Iserlohn Fortress is truly destroyed, the Alliance fleet must be prepared to engage the Imperial Army at the corridor's exit."

Fighting fortresses with fortresses, and adding power plants and propulsion systems to fortresses, was ultimately a disguised form of big guns and big ships. It wasn't a revolutionary new tactic. However, its unprecedented scale had a significant psychological impact on the Allied officers and soldiers.

Among the epoch-making technologies currently emerging and capable of disrupting the military and political balance between the two nations is an ultra-long-distance jump drive capable of spanning distances exceeding ten thousand light-years in a single trip. This is undoubtedly proven in practice, with both the invincible battleship and the ships of those seemingly friendly alien ladies proving the feasibility of this technology in both engineering and practical applications. Yang pondered that if this technology were to become widespread, or if it were unilaterally acquired by the Empire, the Imperial fleet could potentially disregard the Iserlohn Corridor and transport massive fleets and armed forces into the heart of the Alliance. If, one day, the skies above the capital Heinessen were suddenly surrounded by Imperial warships, the Alliance would likely be left helpless.

What would he do if that situation really happened? Yang hadn't considered this question before. It was clearly beyond Yang's ability to handle. He was afraid that by then, he might not even receive his salary, let alone his pension.

Yang's persistence in using his pension to engage in historical research made him a little conflicted.

At this time, the signalman in the control center ensured that a communication signal from the Imperial Army was received.

A burly officer in an Imperial Army uniform appeared on the screen in the control center.

"Rebels! No... I think it should be everyone from the Allied Forces! I am Admiral Kemp, the commander-in-chief of the Galactic Empire's Vulture City advance forces. I want to advise you all, if you are smart enough, to surrender as soon as possible! However, I don't think you will do that! Then, you can only hope for the best in the flames of war!"

…………

Inside the control center of the Vulture City Fortress

"No response from Iserlohn!" the signalman reported.

Kemp just nodded silently.

"What a shame! I really want to meet Yang Wei-li, the opponent who once defeated us, face to face. However, as a soldier, you should behave like a soldier. Perhaps we should compete with him on the battlefield with our strength!"

Kemp had enough confidence in this battle. If he won, he would have the same status as Admirals Reuentahl and Mittermeier. Even if the attack failed, Admiral Gilfias's reserve fleet would be ready to provide support at the entrance of the corridor on the imperial side.

"Start charging the fortress's main gun!" Kemp gave the order in a voice that came from his dantian.

The main gun of the Vulture City Fortress, the "Two-Handed Greatsword", is a huge X-ray beam cannon. Unless it is the invincible battleship or the spacecraft of the mysterious alien force still guarding the black hole galaxy, any battleship of the Empire and the Allies will be destroyed if it is hit by a cannon.

The energy reading quickly shot up to 100%.

"Main gun charging completed!"

"emission!"

A blazing beam of light shot from Vulture City towards Iserlohn Fortress, covering a distance of 600,000 kilometers in just two seconds and piercing the liquid metal on the surface of Iserlohn Fortress.

A vast amount of liquid metal vaporized under the intense heat. After barely holding out for a few seconds, the protective layer beneath it failed. The beam pierced the fortress's outer wall and penetrated deep within. The surrounding space was instantly ignited by thousands of degrees of heat, followed by a devastating explosion.

The vibration of the explosion was accompanied by a loud noise that could be heard throughout the fortress. People in the command center who had fallen due to the violent vibration got up from the ground, and the alarm bells indicating the state of emergency rang loudly in the fortress.

"Area r77 is severely damaged!"

"Confirm that there are no personnel in the R77 area, and immediately block R77 and several nearby areas." This attack shook the entire fortress. Because Yang had previously ordered all personnel in the fortress to gather at the core area of ​​the fortress, the first main artillery bombardment launched by the Vulture City did not cause any casualties.

"Huh..." A drop of cold sweat flowed down Kajielun's forehead. Just less than ten minutes ago, there were more than 4000 officers and soldiers in the R77 area. If it weren't for Yang's order, those 4000 officers and soldiers would probably have been turned into atoms by now.

"Get Thor's Hammer ready to fire. The enemy just launched a round of attacks and should still be charging. We can't just stand there and take the beating." Yang said to his subordinates and staff officers present.

Chapter 240: The Ring of Evolution (7000 words)

"If the fortresses' main guns were to fire at each other, they would ultimately be destroyed. But we must make the enemy experience the horror of mutual destruction, so that we can force them to stop firing their main guns. Once both sides are unable to use their main guns and are left with no other options, the battle will be stalemated for an indefinite period of time. Only then can we seize the initiative on the battlefield."

"I understand. Activate Thor's hammer! Get ready to charge and fire!"

Mjolnir was the main gun of Iserlohn Fortress, even more powerful than the main gun of Vulture City. While the fortress was in Imperial hands, the Allied forces launched six assaults, each resulting in the loss of numerous men and fleets to the bombardment of this fortress's guns.

"Main guns fully charged, locked onto enemy fortress."

Yang Weili calmly raised one hand and then waved it down.

"emission!"

A massive beam of light rose from the surface of Iserlohn Fortress and shot towards Vulture City, tearing through the liquid metal and composite armor covering the city like paper, triggering a series of internal explosions. Small white bubbles of light quickly emerged, the flashes of light from the explosions.

The first scene of the main gun exchange had a serious psychological impact on the officers and soldiers of both sides. The Imperial side, which fired the main gun first, had begun to fear that using the main gun might result in mutual destruction. Their goal was to win and capture the Iserlohn Corridor, so they had to seek methods other than mutual destruction to achieve victory.

Taking advantage of the chaos and destruction caused by the main guns of the two fortresses firing at each other, the Empire tried to deploy some small warships and marines to a position close to the Iserlohn Fortress to destroy the already damaged Iserlohn Fortress.

The Imperial Marines attempted to install high-yield nuclear weapons on the surface of the fortress to cause greater damage, but this tactic failed due to the obstruction of the Rose Knights stationed in the fortress. The nuclear weapons installed by the Imperial side on the surface of the fortress were destroyed and dismantled by the Rose Knights before they could be activated.

"Generally speaking, on the battlefield, the enemy's first wave of attacks is often a large-scale, sweeping move. The second wave is a small-scale tactic designed to test the enemy's weaknesses. So, what will the enemy use in the third wave?"

Inside the control center of the Vulture City Fortress, the Empire's Commander-in-Chief, Kemp, and Deputy Commander, Murat, stared at the silver-white sphere two light-seconds away on the screen.

Kemp was extremely vigilant and cautious towards the allied commander Yang Wei-li. This opponent always seemed to come up with unexpected moves on the battlefield, catching his opponents off guard.

Under the cover of another round of main gun bombardment, a fleet bypassed the other side of the Iserlohn Fortress in the chaos and launched a large number of nuclear weapons and Wangergulei fighter jets on the liquid metal protective layer on the surface of the fortress. A large number of nuclear weapons successfully blasted a two-kilometer diameter hole on the surface of the fortress, which the liquid metal ocean had no time to fill. Through this gap, the Empire successfully deployed a large number of marines into the fortress before the liquid metal of the fortress filled the gap, trying to seize control of the fortress.

When everything was progressing in an orderly manner, a fleet dispatched from the fortress disrupted the rhythm of the imperial army. The battleship leading this fleet was none other than Yang Weili's flagship Hyperion. After leaving the fortress, the fleet split into two groups and moved quickly along the spherical surface of the fortress with the help of the fortress's gravitational slingshot, and cooperated with the anti-aircraft firepower on the fortress's surface to attack the imperial fleet approaching the fortress.

Before the fleet's deputy commander Murat had time to issue a retreat order, the Allied fleet had successfully cut off Murat's fleet's evacuation route at an astonishing speed.

The rhythm of the fleet commanded by Murat was disrupted by this sudden attack before it had time to evacuate the landing troops. Now, Murat's fleet was caught in a pincer attack from both the fortress's anti-aircraft firepower and the allied fleet.

In order to avoid the annihilation of the fleet attacking the fortress, Kemp had to send his remaining reserve mobile fleet to rescue the besieged Murat fleet.

Although the Imperial Fleet suffered heavy casualties from both the fortress's anti-aircraft firepower and the fortress's resident fleet, it was ultimately able to avoid annihilation under the command of Murat and the reinforcements sent by Kemp.

After the Imperial Army's new round of attack on the fortress failed again, Kemp began to feel uneasy.

"No matter where that nasty Yang Wei-li is, he's causing us so much trouble. 'Magician Yang' really lives up to his reputation..."

After several subsequent small-scale attacks failed, the battle in the Iserlohn Corridor reached a semi-stalemate. The two fortresses' main guns faced each other at a distance of two light seconds, neither daring to remove the other's fire control lock. In this awkward and tense situation, Kemp grew impatient. The Alliance's reinforcement fleet was on its way from the rear. If the Empire couldn't capture Iserlohn Fortress before the Alliance's reinforcements arrived, the Empire would be completely at a disadvantage.

When the battle in the corridor became tense, a fleet led by Gilfias was guarding the entrance of the corridor on the side of the empire. The fleet was divided into two armies, the front army was commanded by Midameier and the rear army was commanded by Reuentahl. These two people, known as the two pillars of the emperor, were here to provide backup forces to reinforce the fleet and fortress attacking the corridor in case the Vulture City Fortress posed a disadvantage to the corridor. Now, the battle situation became tense, and the fleet waiting at the entrance of the corridor also received Reinhard's order to reinforce the Kemp fleet.

"Admiral Gilfias, if we were to launch a reinforcement attack at this time, wouldn't Admiral Kemp misunderstand us as stealing the credit?"

"The battle situation has become unfavorable now. We are clearly at a disadvantage. We cannot just stand by and watch Admiral Kemp die, not to mention..." Gilfias did not say the last sentence. As for how to capture the Iserlohn Fortress under the current conditions, the best option is to crash the entire Vulture City Fortress into it and let both sides die while ensuring minimal losses. However, this means disregarding the millions of civilians in the Iserlohn Fortress and a part of the soldiers who stayed behind to control the fortress and complete the collision. Not to mention the casualties of enemy civilians, in order to ensure that the entire fortress does not deviate from the course and no accidents occur during the collision, a certain number of people must be left behind. For these people left behind, this is tantamount to letting them die. This behavior and tactics are a bit too horrifying. Gilfias thought of such a tactic as soon as the long-distance jump experiment of the fortress was completed, but this overly inhumane tactic was quickly rejected by himself.

He rejected this tactic not only because it was inhumane, but also because there were too many variables in the collision process. What's more, the commander stationed in the fortress was the famous Yang Weili. If he could think of this tactic, how could the other party not have anticipated it? If it were him, he would definitely use some strange tricks again in the process, making the tactic of directly colliding with the fortress impossible to implement.

And now they were going to support the Kemp fleet at the fastest speed. Siegfried also hoped that the Kemp fleet, which was at a disadvantage, would not be pushed too hard by Yang Weili. If the Kemp fleet was really pushed too hard, letting the fortress directly crash into it would result in a large number of unnecessary casualties among personnel and civilians.

Siegfried had never held out much hope of using the Vulture City Fortress to capture the Corridor. In his estimation, the best outcome would be the destruction of both the Vulture City Fortress and the Iserlohn Fortress. Kemp was now clearly focused on using the Vulture City as a base to engage in a head-on battle with the allied fleet that was coming to reinforce him.

Whether the Alliance or the Empire, the primary purpose of attacking Iserlohn Fortress was to leverage the fortress's firepower and blockade capabilities to control the narrowest chokepoint of the Iserlohn Corridor, thereby ensuring control of the airspace between the Empire and the Alliance. To control this waterway, the Empire constructed Iserlohn Fortress. Similarly, the Alliance launched numerous, almost reckless, attacks against Iserlohn Fortress. Precisely because the corridor where the fortress is located controls the only waterway between the Alliance and the Empire, Iserlohn Fortress held such significant strategic value.

Therefore, the attack on Iserlohn Fortress was based on the premise of occupation rather than destruction. The value brought by occupation is far greater than destroying the fortress. So far, the only person in history who has succeeded is Yang Wei-li.

However, if a military stronghold or fortress emerged within the corridors that could replace Iserlohn Fortress at any moment, the Empire could launch an offensive plan designed to damage or destroy Iserlohn Fortress. In this scenario, the defenders, who were originally defending against an attack aimed at occupation, would be at a great disadvantage.

Although the alliance still holds the advantage, Yang Weili, as the commander, also knows that when all the opponent's offensive plans fail and they are desperate, they still have one last option, which is to use the fortress as a cannonball and directly crash into it.

Yang had to be fully prepared for this. Even multiple main gun fire from a fortress as massive as Vulture City could not guarantee complete destruction at a distance of just two light seconds. The debris from the fortress's explosion at such close range could cause irreparable damage to Iserlohn Fortress. Yang had to devise a plan to paralyze or destroy the enemy fortress while minimizing losses for his own side. At the very least, he had to prevent the Empire from using the fortress as a shell to ram into Iserlohn Fortress.

Yang observed the tail of the Vulture City Fortress. When the fortress just finished the jump, there seemed to be 12 huge thrusters at the tail. These 12 thrusters arranged in a ring were obviously the key to his breakthrough. Now, his primary task was to prevent the enemy fortress from crashing into him directly, while holding on and waiting for support from the Fifth Fleet.

For Kemp on the other side, the current situation is really embarrassing. His multiple rounds of attacks have not achieved the expected results. Instead, the Empire has fallen completely into a disadvantage. The reinforcement fleet from the rear of the Alliance is constantly approaching. Although there is also a reinforcement fleet led by Admiral Gilfias on his side, Kemp knows that this means not only giving up the military achievements that originally belonged to him to others, but he may also be neglected because of another failure in command and strategic judgment.

With the fleet battle and the repeated attacks on Iserlohn Fortress all facing unfavorable circumstances, he still had one last option. However, because this option was so radical, even he himself subconsciously ignored it at first.

While the Alliance and the Empire were engaged in a fierce battle in the Iserlohn Corridor, in an inconspicuous star system in the Milky Way where the Sky Star was located, the Fantasia Light slowly docked into the orbital ring spaceport of the fourth planet in this galaxy.

Unlike the orbital habitation rings built around the equator of the mother planet Sky, the inner side of the rings is covered with orbital habitation rings with the same beautiful environment as the surface ecosystem of Sky. The orbital rings surrounding the star called Fortuna present a composite double-layer structure that rotates counterclockwise against each other. In the center of the two wavy ring frames is a zigzag-shaped interlayer that rotates around the entire planet.

These designs, which are different from conventional artificial planetary orbital rings, indicate the special nature of this ring.

"It's so close..." Renlong said this after seeing this strangely shaped orbital star ring.

"What do you mean really close?" asked Elena, who was traveling with them.

"Of course it's the Kaga Kula system. The two systems are only five light-years apart. Especially considering that the intelligent life there is likely to be the first non-user of this facility, it's really too close, isn't it?"

"This thing isn't going to be of much use to us. Aside from being a closed-time curve computer, the [Evolutionary Ring]'s computing power isn't enough to predict our future. It wasn't originally intended for us, but for those less developed civilizations that might appear in the Milky Way in the future, allowing them to choose their own futures."

"Although judging by distance and time, the burrowing owls are likely to be the first users."

"When they enter the primary star system civilization stage in a few decades or centuries, they may also be curious about the future of their own civilization. By then, the stargate connecting the Kaga Kula system and the Fortuna system will allow them to come here and glimpse other outcomes without us and with our interference, and provide better options for their entire civilization.

"However, the [Evolution and Evolution Ring] often only provides one or more outcomes in the distant future, and does not provide the detailed process leading to those outcomes. Therefore, for civilizations that have the opportunity to use it in the future, whether their civilization will end up with a better or worse outcome depends on whether they can make the right considerations and choices."

"But... you can give me the detailed process, right?" Renlong asked as he and Elena walked along one of the corridors on the [Evolution Star Ring].

"Of course, it can... but you have to understand, this thing is far inferior to a closed-time curve computer. Of course, this is also a safeguard we set up to prevent the [Evolution Ring] from causing mechanical determinism in the calculation process, leading to undesirable consequences."

“So, while it can give a relatively detailed picture of the process that led to a certain result, the details of that detailed process may produce some minor deviations.”

"As for whether or not to show the detailed process leading to a certain outcome to civilizations that might use it in the future, it still depends on whether that civilization itself has the ability and determination to carry out the detailed process leading to that outcome."

"If they don't have the resolve to do something, showing them the details of how civilization develops to a certain end will only harm them."

"Is this so..."

"The civilization of the little creatures on Kaga Kula is at a suitable stage, making it suitable for our direct intervention and interference. Intervention at this stage will not have any negative impact on their future. Given the environment of their home planet, if we do not intervene, they will most likely be on the verge of resource depletion and extinction within a hundred years of entering the information society in tens of thousands of years."

"We don't want to see such a group of cute little creatures invade and kill each other and die as resources gradually deplete."

"If you can save him, why not do a good deed while you're at it?"

"Furthermore, with our help and guidance, those lovely burrowing owls won't have to abandon their innocent and kind nature, still in its primitive stages of civilization, just to survive. Preserving this nature will also benefit them in the future. Otherwise, over tens of thousands of years of evolution and development in a purely natural environment without outside interference, they might gradually forget their simple and kind nature from the early days of civilization and become as cruel and violent as humans. If this cruel and violent nature is combined with the scarcity of natural resources on their home planet, the situation will be even worse."

"If we don't intervene, these burrowing owls, which look cute, kind, and simple now, will become worse than humans in the future. This is something we don't want to see."

"If there's a chance in the future, I could bring that child, Clare, here first and show her how the Burrowing Owl civilization might go down another extreme path."

"Now that you mention it, I'm actually a little curious about the alternative future of those owls."

"If you want to see it, we can actually simulate it right now."

"Is it possible now?" Renlong blinked.

"What's so strange about this? As the builders and administrators of the Star Ring, isn't it normal for us to be able to view and access some parts and functions that normal users can't see in advance?"

"Why does it sound like we are the authority dogs of some game server?" Renlong scratched his head.

A scar...