Chapter 257: The Attacker Always Has the Initiative

Beep!

The pleasant naval whistle echoed through the corridors and various cabins of the Xianyang.

"All personnel, please note: this vessel will exit warp travel in two hours, then pass through the Jump Point to enter the battlefield and execute combat missions!

"The mess hall will serve a special meal in 5 minutes. During the preparation period, please read the combat announcement on your personal pad carefully. Commander Chang Kong, communication complete."

"Mmm~ I can already smell it!"

The entire fleet had just completed its final damage control drill en route, and the Sailors were given their last period of free activity before the large-scale "war instance."

"If this were any other game, waiting two hours before a raid would bore me to death, but in 'Star Sea,' I even feel two hours is a bit tight."

"! My heart can't stop beating faster! They say this time is different from the previous two; it might last for a whole week. Anyway, I've already used up all my annual leave for this year."

"Same here, brother, same."

"A week-long battle is great. The previous two battles ended in minutes, one-shot kills! It wasn't satisfying at all. I wish it would last two weeks!"

"Alright, stop chatting, guys. Let's hurry to the mess hall. If you're not eager to eat, there's something wrong with your brain!"

Starting today, the mess hall began serving precious ingredients, including lobster, until the end of the battle.

Chang Kong fully absorbed the lessons from the previous Punishment Fleet, doing his utmost to improve logistics and readiness during the combat period, so that all personnel could face the battle in optimal condition.

After a hearty meal, everyone chatted for a while in the mess hall, fully relaxing and relieving fatigue.

When mealtime ended, the pilots entered the briefing room next to the hangar to receive their flight missions, while the Sailor players returned to their quarters to pre-read the tactical procedures on their pads.

Two hours later, the fleet exited warp on schedule, arriving at the Jump Point, and recovered Chang Kong and Dòng me, who had been waiting nearby.

Upon boarding, the two were welcomed like heroes. "Executive Officer, the fleet is ready, personnel are complete, training is sufficient, morale is high. Request to deploy!"

On the bridge, Chang Kong reported the status to the overall commander, Lu Yuan, and sought his instructions.

Lu Yuan gazed at the display screen of the forward viewport, at the wormhole leading to the mysterious realm beyond Star Alliance's known space, and remained silent for a moment.

"Connect to the entire fleet's broadcast."

"Yes!"

Beep!

The naval whistle blew again throughout all seven warships departing for battle. "Attention all! The Executive Officer will now speak!"

Everyone immediately stopped in their tracks, ceased their work, and focused intently, looking at the Executive Officer's video image that appeared in the bottom right corner of their mask displays.

In the image, Lu Yuan's gaze was incredibly resolute.

"This is the Executive Officer."

"Five months ago, we made first contact with Apollo on the vast Desert of Li Star. At that time, their reconnaissance aircraft directly fired upon our drones without attempting communication. We retaliated immediately, shooting down their reconnaissance aircraft."

"Thereafter, Apollo consistently refused to dialogue with Chang Kong and directly launched a nuclear strike, dropping 20 nuclear bombs outside the Devil Mountain Camp."

"To this day, that strip of nuclear blast zone still has to be excluded from our new city construction land, like a scar."

"I think most people believe that the animosity between us was formed then, and today's military strike is merely an act of revenge."

At this point, Lu Yuan took a deep breath.

"But I must state, that is not the truth."

The players listening to the speech all showed confused expressions. Is it not?

Lu Yuan paused for a few seconds, allowing the personnel to fully express their thoughts, then continued.

"The real truth is, soon after our forced landing on Li Star, when Ye Xing and the others first met the native Shen Quan and learned from him that Apollo was selling slaves, I already knew that a war between Chang Kong and Apollo was inevitable."

"From that moment on, I have been planning this named strike against Apollo, always anticipating this moment, this very instant."

"Because I know that as long as Chang Kong holds the ideal of revitalizing human civilization, organizations like Apollo must be annihilated by our cannons; as long as we wish to re-establish order in the universe, we must resolutely and proactively fight against depravity and chaos!"

'This is our mission!

"Today, we have not come for revenge, but to light the torch of hope and idealism; what we seek is not the end of a grudge, but the beginning of a thorny path."

"The road ahead is long, comrades! Overcoming countless difficulties and obstacles requires determination and courage!"

"Today, we proclaim to Star Alliance that humanity is not a failed species that, after a doomsday catastrophe, abandoned all morality and dignity, gave up on itself, and lingered on! No matter what difficulties and challenges lie ahead, there are still those willing to repack their bags, swim against the tide of the era, trace back to the source, and give their all to reclaim humanity's golden spirit!"

"Chang Kong's personnel, warriors of humanity! Forward, to victory!"

Applause erupted like thunder.

These words truly resonated with the players.

Were they attracted to the cosmic wasteland setting merely because the post-apocalyptic era meant a breakdown of law and order, a reset of human relationships, allowing them to act as they pleased, playing the part of an owl or villain?

No, that was not it.

The civilization's gene of refusing to surrender, refusing to yield, was deeply embedded in their souls.

Humanity severely wounded by a great enemy?

Then I will strive to become stronger, develop technology, and fight back!

Everything painstakingly built was destroyed?

It doesn't matter, I will rebuild everything, house by house, brick by brick!

The players clenched their fists with such force that their joint ligaments felt a slight discomfort.

Even so, they couldn't fully release the heroic spirit in their chests at that moment, that burning flame ignited by the Executive Officer!

Good, then let it not cool down. Let this passion transform into the driving force for the upcoming battle!

"An outstanding speech, Executive Officer!"

Chang Kong came up beside Lu Yuan, hands behind his back, his face filled with reverence.

Previously, he had actually felt that the Executive Officer's act of "personally leading the expedition" was somewhat irrational, even a hindrance, because he had to consider how to preserve the life of this unrevivable leader NPC.

As a result, at least on the Xianyang, the players lost the advantage of being able to revive all personnel, unable to completely disregard life and death.

But now, he understood why the Executive Officer insisted on coming with the ship.

Whether this man was present or not, the players' morale was completely different!

Lu Yuan smiled faintly.

"Now that the talking is done, it's time for real action. Come on, let's go!"

The fleet released all 41 of its carrier-based aircraft, sending them through the wormhole.

The aircraft formation, like a giant's palm, spread out in the debris field on the other side, quickly locating a few scattered Dark Sun fighters on routine patrol, quietly tailing them and locking them into their fire control crosshairs.

"This is Dòng me. All pilots, attention. On my command, fire!"

Under Chang Kong's command, all "owl" heavy fighters opened fire simultaneously.

Immediately, the simulated laser cannon sounds continuously echoed in the pilots' helmets.

Although all space combat occurs in "silent" mode, using AR enhancement technology to mark trajectories and flight paths and simulate sound sources is crucial and indispensable for combat personnel to perceive the battlefield situation.

After all, humans have long been accustomed to relying on sight and hearing for hunting and combat; this is the result of millions of years of evolution.

From this perspective, sci-fi works that depict silent explosions in space and invisible laser beams in non-visible light spectrum, while seemingly respecting scientific facts, may not necessarily stand up to scrutiny.

The laser cannons mounted on the "owl" were no small fry; they could even stand up to warship-grade armor. After continuously illuminating the enemy aircraft for one or two seconds, they successfully penetrated the outer shell armor, using super-high temperatures to detonate the nuclear fuel tanks and reactors, turning them into dazzling blue-white nuclear flashes and nuclear fireballs.

"Air wing calling fleet, Jump Point vicinity is clear, danger eliminated."

"Fleet received. Did any enemy aircraft escape?"

"No, all were shot down."

"Good! Continue to be vigilant."

"Air wing understood."

Commander Chang Kong and Chief of Staff Xian Yu followed Lu Yuan to the holographic sea chart table.

"Although all enemy aircraft were shot down, we must assume they sent out warning signals before being shot down. If these electromagnetic signals can successfully pass through all wormholes along the way, they will reach Ruins Star in 33 hours."

Xian Yu said.

"I agree."

Lu Yuan nodded.

As the defender, Dark Sun, no matter how well prepared or how cleverly laid its traps, the initiative always remained in the hands of Chang Kong, the attacker.

Only Chang Kong had the right to decide when, where, and in what form the battle would commence.

Just like the Apollo branch that launched the nuclear strike back then.

This was the first advantage.

As for the second advantage, it was naturally the cheat-like superluminal real-time communication extended to all warships and even all fighters.

Mr. Sang, sitting on Ruins Star, would only know that the Chang Kong fleet had arrived after a full 33 hours, and by the time he sent defense orders to all combat units in the star system, at least another dozen hours would have passed.

He seemingly laid a vast net, but in reality, due to the speed of light limit, this combat net was inherently slow to react, even to the point of being paralyzed.

Dozens of hours would be enough for Lu Yuan's fleet to do many things.

"According to the original plan, all seven warships will act separately, each with its carrier-based aircraft squadron, and first attack Dark Sun's hangar space stations."

"Yes!"

The third advantage was that Chang Kong, through reconnaissance, had already grasped Dark Sun's defensive layout.

Mr. Sang tried to lure attackers directly to Ruins Star by presenting a sparse and loose defense, but we will do the opposite: first, we will dismantle his Ruins Star headquarters, leaving him isolated.

We will fight this war in the way that makes Dark Sun suffer the most!