After taking Horton and wiping out the Fourth Imperial Guard Legion, Lin Fan's battle plan entered its second phase: the Interstellar Blitzkrieg!
Its core strategy was to make full use of the Warp Drive Engine's superior mobility to swiftly seize Liers and Coelio before the Oakes Empire could react, completely cutting off the Oakes Empire's heartland from its outer territories.
They would then sweep through every Star System outside the Oakes Capital Sphere. According to the intelligence they had obtained, the only major concentrations of warships within Oakes territory were the Capital Sphere's 200,000-strong Guard Fleet and Rao's 100,000 defenders.
Lin Fan was confident that he could completely sweep through these regions within three months, take down Rao in the process, and fully encircle the Oakes Capital Sphere.
The day after the Fourth Imperial Guard Legion was annihilated, the Interstellar Blitzkrieg officially began!
Lin Fan and Liang Xingchen led fleets to Liers and Coelio respectively. Jiang Hai left 5,000 warships to garrison Horton, then divided five sub-fleets into each group and sent three groups charging toward the three Star Systems around Horton.
Since Liers and Coelio lay in the direction of the Io Federation, not only were there numerous Star Systems beyond them, but a border legion was also stationed at the outermost edge of the territory.
Thus, both locations were low-risk targets with relatively few defenders—only 10,000 warships each.
Twelve days later, the First Fleet under Lin Fan's command arrived at Liers, 19.2 light-years away. After easily crushing its defenders, he left 5,000 warships behind as a garrison.
He then split up the fleet and launched attacks on the surrounding Star Systems.
Fifteen days later, the Fourth Fleet under Liang Xingchen's command arrived at Coelio, 24 light-years away. Facing only 10,000 defenders, it captured the Star System with ease.