Volume 16 Tower of Babel Chapter 814: War of Attrition
Fleet Zero has gradually withdrawn from the battlefield. Except for the air combat units of each ship which suffered an almost "devastating" blow, the damage to the fleet itself was not great - only one high-speed support ship and a light frigate crashed, one heavy cruiser and four light frigates severely damaged, and other than that, the rest of the warships were basically in good condition.
No matter what, Hound's order saved the entire Zero Fleet and the lives of most of the people in the fleet... Although the fleet commander and staff were somewhat puzzled by this order, the captains of each ship and the middle and lower-level officers and soldiers all breathed a sigh of relief - they all knew very well that if they continued to fight this mysterious black fleet, at least 80% of them... or even more, would not have the chance to see the sun the next day.
If they leave the battlefield without permission, it would be considered desertion, and all the officers and soldiers on the ship would be held accountable... But in this situation, it can only be called "retreat under orders." Even if the time comes to hold people accountable, the officers and soldiers of the ships of Fleet Zero, including the commander, Major General Alexander, will not have to bear any responsibility.
When the battleships of Fleet Zero passed by the "Aguna Tor", all the officers and soldiers near the portholes cast their eyes towards this huge ship... They must have been grateful to the person who issued the retreat order... No one can be truly fearless of death. Even the bravest warrior, when he thought he was doomed, would be happy to hear that he would not have to die. The desire to survive is the most instinctive desire of living things. Only lunatics and people with despair would seek death.
But in addition to gratitude and relief, there is a third emotion occupying the hearts of officers and soldiers, that is worry.
Yagunakotor is indeed very powerful. Even without the Zero Fleet as its escort, this super battleship from an alien civilization can still be unrivaled on this planet with its own performance (Note 1)... But the problem is that the builder of this super battleship is an alien civilization rather than humans. Up to now, human civilization is still in a . Rather than saying that this battleship is a weapon, it is more appropriate to say that it is a "relic".
"Aguna Kotor... can it handle the attack of the black fleet?" In the medical room of a certain warship, an engineer with multiple burn marks on his uniform leaned against the window frame, looking worriedly at the black fleet approaching Aguna Kotor from behind.
"It should be fine, right?" said another engineer who was lying on the bed and being treated by medical staff. "I heard that this ancient warship was involved in a battle when . At that time, the Mukach base was almost conquered by the giant monster created by the heretic sect, but as soon as Yaguna Kator joined the battlefield, the situation was instantly reversed...hiss, be gentle, auntie!"
The medic who had just used tweezers to pull the metal fragments out of the injured engineer's arm glanced at the guy angrily, and then said in a cold voice: "Who are you calling auntie?"
"Who else could it be? There are a bunch of grown men here, and you are the only woman, so of course I am calling you." The injured engineer continued, completely ignoring the murderous eyes of the medic and the frequent hints from his companions. As for the other wounded soldiers lying on the beds, they all had expressions of gloating and winking at each other.
The medic did not respond, but "gently" pressed a disinfectant cotton ball dipped in alcohol on the wound of the injured engineer, and then rubbed it hard.
“Ah!” The guy screamed immediately, and then said in a trembling voice, “Ah… Ah… Auntie, no, sister, sister, I know I was wrong!”
"Hahahaha——" the wounded around them suddenly laughed.
Having just escaped from a desperate situation, the previously depressing atmosphere among the crowd had dissipated unknowingly. Several soldiers who were usually more lively even started telling jokes - if there had not been a female comrade here, the topic would have turned to a dirty topic by now.
As for Yaguna Tor, the soldiers didn't care much about it. Especially after such a commotion, no one thought about it anymore.
In their hearts, Yagunakotor's strength is enough to completely crush the mysterious black fleet and he will never lose.
They were originally worried that the superiors would forbid Agunaktor from participating in the war in order to protect it, and let Fleet Zero be a shield. But now that Agunaktor has sent an order for Fleet Zero to withdraw, this situation will not happen.
The attack on Fleet Zero by the Black Fleet finally stopped when the flagship of Fleet Zero, the New Dawn, retreated five kilometers behind Aguna Tor. After watching Fleet Zero completely withdraw from the battle area, the pitch-black warships deployed their formation and surrounded Aguna Tor in a semi-encircled position.
There was no announcement, nor any initial exploratory attack. After completing the formation, all the warships of the Black Fleet fired at full force. Countless barrages, lasers, and plasma balls covered Yaguna Tor like an overwhelming force!
“BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!”
The deafening sound of explosions was incessant, so much so that even the No. 0 Fleet, which had withdrawn more than ten kilometers away, could feel the powerful shock wave. Several lightweight warships suddenly shook under the push of the strong airflow, and people and horses were suddenly thrown to the ground everywhere on the ship - the warship where the injured engineer was previously on was one of them. His wound was already being sutured, but after being shaken like this, not only did the suture fail, but the wound was torn even bigger.
As for the others, they were not much better off - after evacuating the combat area, Fleet Zero was downgraded from combat status to level one combat readiness and then to level two combat readiness. The restraints originally used to fix the wounded on the beds were untied by the wounded themselves because they were uncomfortable. As a result, almost all the people lying on the beds fell to the floor, and the most unlucky guy even had his eye pierced by a slipped needle.
"Damn it... Why is this shock wave so terrifying?" The engineer whose uniform was only burnt and the back of his hand was slightly scratched was the first to get up from the ground. He immediately leaned over the porthole and looked towards the combat airspace.
"What...is going on...oh...is it, did Yaguna Tor use some super weapon?" A wounded soldier limped to the window, supporting his injured right leg with one hand and putting the other hand on the engineer's shoulder. He leaned his head forward and pressed it against the porthole glass.
"No... Yaguna Kotor has not fought back yet."
"Damn...it turns out that the black fleet just showed mercy to us?" The wounded soldier cried out after seeing the situation on the battlefield.
Whether it was the density of the barrage or the output power of the cluster lasers and plasma cannons, they were all improved by more than one level compared to the previous exchange of fire with Fleet Zero - if the Black Fleet had just used this kind of offensive against Fleet Zero, Fleet Zero would definitely not have so many intact warships to withdraw from the battlefield.
If nothing else, at least the light frigate they were on must have crashed.
"These warships look similar to the Ark's current models in appearance, but their firepower is several times stronger... This is simply not something that military-industrial enterprises can do at this stage." The engineer murmured.
"They must have used the technology of the Alpha civilization. This fleet is the trump card hidden by the people above!" the wounded soldier vowed.
"The hidden trump card?" The engineer was stunned. "But, didn't they say that this fleet is a rebel force?"
"Do you really think so?" The wounded soldier gave him a strange look. "Don't you find it strange... From the beginning of the battle until now, the Ark, which is so close to us, has not sent a warship to reinforce us, let alone an aircraft for communication... Do you still think that this black fleet emerged from some corner... 'rebels'?"
"So what do you mean...?" The engineer's face turned pale, obviously thinking of something bad.
"If this unit is a rebel, then there is only one possibility. When they attacked us, they had already successfully suppressed the Ark and all the troops guarding the Ark... But the problem is that even if you gather all the fleet forces on Alpha together, it is impossible to do this." The wounded soldier lowered his voice, "Maybe... we are the ones who are considered as 'rebels'."
"We? Rebels?" The young engineer couldn't help but exclaimed, "But, but, we didn't do anything at all!"
"Shh... don't be so loud!" The wounded soldier grabbed the engineer's arm and shook it vigorously. "If you don't want to be taken away by the Security Bureau afterwards, then keep your mouth shut... This black fleet is obviously heading for this big guy."
The wounded soldier pursed his lips at the Yaguna Tor that was being bombarded in the distance, and continued, "Otherwise, they wouldn't have issued that statement to us before the war, nor would they have held back during the battle. When we retreated, they generously didn't pursue us at all, not even a symbolic pursuit... But later on, we found out that since we had already evacuated the battlefield, this matter had nothing to do with us, do you understand?"
"I understand..." The young engineer nodded, "But..."
"No buts! We are soldiers, we just need to obey orders, don't think too much!" The wounded soldier patted him on the shoulder, "We should be thankful that the people on the big guy let us withdraw from the battlefield, instead of fighting this black fleet until we are completely wiped out."
The young engineer took another look at Yaguna Kotor in the distance, his lips moved, and he seemed to be hesitant to speak.
…
The second floor of the Tower of Babel.
Ke Lan looked at the projection screen and saw that the black fleet began to attack Yaguna Tor with more intense firepower, and couldn't help but curl her lips - Zofia was right, they were indeed "acting" before, and the action against Fleet Zero was just a "feint attack".
I just wonder if they would have continued this "drama" if the Hound hadn't issued the order for Fleet Zero to evacuate... They wouldn't really have to fight until Fleet Zero was completely wiped out, right?
The firepower of the Black Fleet is very strong, but whether it is physical artillery shells, rockets and missiles, or "energy attacks" such as lasers and high-temperature plasma, they cannot break through the shield of Yagunakotor - even if the warships of the Black Fleet imitate the Qilin in the Leviathan incident and ram into it head-on, it is estimated that they will not be able to cause any substantial damage to Yagunakotor.
The size of Yagunakotor was so huge that even the flagship of the Black Fleet, the aircraft carrier battleship of unknown model, was like a small boat in front of it - the armor made of pure Nino alloy could withstand all attacks of the Black Fleet even without an energy shield.
But the Black Fleet did not give up. They continued to bombard the energy shield of Yagunakotor. Even if the main gun barrel of the battleship was overheated, the engineering ship following behind would immediately come up to repair or replace the barrel... As for ammunition, in addition to the battleships, there were also 16 heavy transport ships behind the Black Fleet. If these transport ships were loaded with spare ammunition, energy crystals and weapon parts, this level of offensive could even last for three days and three nights without stopping.
But what is their purpose in doing this?
Ke Lan took a look at the energy reserves of Yaguna Kator - although Yaguna Kator's shield was indestructible, its energy consumption was still astonishing. The current consumption rate, if converted into energy crystals, was almost equivalent to a whole truck of high-level and high-quality crystals pouring into the bottomless pit every second... When Ke Lan thought that Yaguna Kator had soaked in the magma pool for so long to accumulate this little energy, he felt his heart bleeding.
But just when he was about to shut down the energy shield and rely on the physical armor and hull structure of the Agunaktor to resist, he suddenly thought of something -
He figured out what the other party's purpose was!
Their purpose is to consume the energy shield of the Yaguna Tor. Once the shield is exhausted or Ke Lan shuts it down on his own initiative, the mass-produced fallen angels on standby in the air will immediately land on the deck of the Yaguna Tor!
Although Hound and his men have closed the transmission channel, who can guarantee that this black fleet does not have the means to open the channel?
Their goal is to seize control of Yagunakotor!
