Chapter 168: Interception And Encirclement.
Chapter 168: Interception And Encirclement.
The sudden order to retreat had confused the Sierra Empire’s fleet.
They had almost reached the battlefield, so why would they suddenly retreat?
This was because the only people who knew the difference between a Level 3 Civilization and a Level 4 Civilization were the Commanders above a certain level. The rest of the soldiers were not aware of such things.
However, although the Sierra Empire’s fleet were full of doubts, as Imperial soldiers, they immediately executed the orders. More than 3 million warships then started to sail in an orderly arc, correcting their course.
“The Serra Empire’s fleet had started to turn around, they should be trying to withdraw from the Star Path!”
Elena said to Liang Xingchen and Lin Fan, who were on the call.
“Don’t rush, it will take them at least an hour and a half for them to reach the entrance of their fallback Star Path. We have enough time to wipe out this fleet here before intercepting them!”
“Right, let’s not worry about the retreating ships. Our priority is to surround the enemy here and destroy them as soon as possible!”
Liang Xingchen and Lin Fan said to Elena, one after the other.
From their point of view, they did not think that the fleet of the Sierra Empire could escape. The most important thing right now was to destroy the 100,000 Level 4 warships in front of them.
The next moment, the Royal Guard Fleet also started to move. They had also received Basil’s order to retreat at full speed.
The warships started to speed up one after another, and blitzed in the direction of the Io Federation’s Queen’s Guard Fleet!
“Elena, don’t fight them when they charge through! Instead, control your fleet to cooperate with their assault and give them way. Then, you can attack them on both sides!”
Liang Xingchen looked at the projection and said to Elena.
“Understood!”
After instructing Elena, Liang Xingchen then led the 2nd Legion to start the pursuit.
On the other hand, Lin Fan led the 1st Legion to accelerate and fly in an arc, preparing to go around the edge, then make a lateral advance from the side of the Royal Guard Fleet.
After all, one legion was enough for the pursuit. There’s only so much space available for the pursuer’s attacking position, and if Lin Fan’s legion also joined, they would not be able to play any role.
After 2 minutes, the Royal Guard Fleet braved the strong fire, moving to the front of the Queen’s Guard Fleet and ramming into the latter.
Elena, who was prompted by Liang Xingchen, ordered her fleet to cooperate with the former’s advance and gradually spread out to give way. It looked like the Royal Guard Fleet had successfully broken through!
However, reality was often cruel. Now, the Queen’s Guard Fleet had spread on the left and right sides of the Royal Guard Fleet, then they began attacking!
Numerous warships of the Royal Guard Fleet were immediately destroyed.
After losing more than 30,000 warships and finally escaping from the Queen’s Guard Fleet, the Sierra Empire breathed a sigh of relief.
Now, they could just use their speed advantage and leave the other side behind, retreating peacefully.
Alas, before they could dwell on their relief, hundreds of thousands of warships suddenly appeared at their sides and formed an assault formation, crashing into the center of their formation
This was Lin Fan’s 1st Legion that did not give chase, along with Liang Xingchen’s legion. Instead, he led his legion to fly in a half circle, and when the opponent broke through the Queen’s Guards Fleet, he made a precise horizontal assault into their formation.
“Elena, since your warships can’t keep up with the speed, don’t participate in the pursuit. Instead, when the Sierra Empire’s fleet is 5 million kilometers away from the entrance of the Star Path, just warp over directly and set up an interception in front of the entrance! Lin Fan and I will come over as soon as we have finished with the warships!”
“Understood!”
Elena understood that the Queen’s Guard Fleet could not intervene in the pursuit.
‘After this battle, should she suggest for the Queen and the Human Federation to talk about the procurement of sublight engines?’ Elena couldn’t help, but think.
Liang Xingchen and Lin Fan worked well together. One maintained a distance of 1,000,000 km behind the enemy, engaging in a pursuit battle and continuously eroding the enemy warships; while the other one was using their speed advantage of 50,000 kilometers per second to attack back and forth, cutting through the enemy’s formation!
In the distance, Basil, who was retreating, was watching the images of the Royal Guard Fleet being slaughtered on the battlefield, and felt stupid.
Since he knew that the opponent was a Level 4 Civilization, how could he have not realized that the Royal Guard Fleet wouldn’t be able to match their speed?
After all, the warships used by the Royal Guard Fleet were just an inferior version of the Level 4 Civilization warships of the Babawi Empire.
Basil realized that there was no way back for the Royal Guard Fleet, it was only a matter of time before they’re wiped out!
The important thing right now was creating a chance for the 3 million warships to retreat.
“Order the Royal Guard Fleet to stop retreating, it is better to stop and fight with the other side! They can buy time for the main fleet to retreat!”
“Yes, Commander Basil!”
When the order came to the Royal Guard Fleet, everyone understood that they were being abandoned.
It was a good thing that all of the fleet members were handpicked, and absolutely loyal. Otherwise, if it were ordinary Imperial soldiers, they would have defected after hearing such an order.
This Royal Guard Fleet was a die-hard fleet. Even though they knew that they were being abandoned, they will still faithfully complete the order.
Now, the Royal Guard Fleet was no longer running away and even started to counterattack!
Since Lin Fan and Liang Xingchen had been flanking and chasing, they did not lose anything. After all, they did not appear in the range of the opponent’s main cannons.
But when the Royal Guard Fleet stopped running away and fought for their lives, the situation changed. The 1st and 2nd Legion started to suffer casualties.
However, it wasn’t much. After all, both their firepower and shield performance were stronger than that of the Royal Guard Fleets.
Although this wave of counterattack was very brave and desperate, the loss to the two legions was still limited. Finally, after the 1st and 2nd Legion sacrificed hundreds of warships respectively, all of the remaining enemy 70,000 warships were wiped out!
At this moment, the Sierra Empire’s fleet was less than 10 million kilometers away from the entrance of their fallback Star Path.