Chain of Layouts

Not far behind the Oakes Empire's fleet's ambush point.

A fleet of over a hundred warships suddenly darted out from a dense asteroid field to their rear, unleashing a volley of fire directly at the Oakes Empire's fleet.

Following Lin Fan's orders, all warships that had the enemy aircraft carriers within their firing angles focused their attention on them.

At the same moment, inside the flagship of the Oakes ambush fleet.

Ninth Prince Duran Oakes was comfortably seated in the captain's chair, resting his head on his hand.

Duran was a graduate of a prestigious military academy, graduating from the Empire's number one military school with top honors, and was highly favored by the Emperor.

He had been sent to the front lines by the Emperor's command this time, ostensibly to experience the atmosphere of war, but more bluntly, to boost his resume.

Upon arriving at the Jupiter front line, the arrogant Duran felt it was necessary to lead a victory for his future.

And so, the current situation came about.

Although Duran's academic performance in military school was excellent, he had not yet experienced the baptism of real combat. In human terms, he was good at theoretical planning.

"Report, a large number of enemy warships have appeared behind us and are launching an attack?"

"What? How could they be behind us?"

But before anyone could respond, Duran saw a fireball erupt to the left of the flagship through the bridge's viewport.

A frigate had been directly blown up.

"Damn it, why aren't you firing back? What are you all doing?"

As soon as Duran spoke, the entire bridge fell silent.

Seriously, we have our backs to them, how are we supposed to fire back?

It's important to know that the heavy cannons on warships are very large and can only make minor adjustments at small angles, not turn 360 degrees. Only small-caliber weapons can turn 360 degrees.

"Your Highness, the enemy is currently behind us; our main weapons cannot attack them!"

Rex, standing beside Duran, had no choice but to remind him.

"Then advance, and then make a curved turn to bite their tail! Don't you understand such a simple principle?"

This time, everyone in the bridge was even more speechless. All the warships were hiding behind asteroids. Advancing to the front would mean the entire fleet crashing into a wall and committing suicide!

At this point, Rex couldn't stand it any longer.

If the Ninth Prince continued like this, the entire fleet would be finished.

"All fleets, immediately turn to the left and accelerate to escape the enemy's attack range!"

"Yes!"

"Rex, you?"

"Your Highness, you can punish me when we return and I'll deal with you however you wish. For now, I must lead the fleet to escape this disaster and bring you back safely to the Jupiter base."

As Rex finished speaking, the proud Duran was completely taken aback. What did Rex mean by that?

Did he mean that I'm incapable of commanding? That if you don't step in, there's no hope?

If Rex knew what Duran was thinking at that moment, he would have wholeheartedly agreed.

At this moment, Rex could no longer bother with the Ninth Prince and continued to command the entire fleet to turn.

Although Rex had made what appeared to be the only correct decision at the moment, it's important to know that maneuvering a space warship is not an easy task. Don't think it's as simple as driving a car, where you just turn the steering wheel.

A warship is a massive behemoth. To change its direction, especially a turn in place, requires the control of numerous small vector engines on its sides.

Typically, it takes at least three to five minutes to complete a 90-degree turn for such a large warship.

And during these three to five minutes, the entire fleet can only helplessly endure the bombardment from the 101st Task Force Fleet.

"Report, the enemy is turning to the left!"

"Hmm, order the fleet not to relax its firepower, especially targeting the enemy aircraft carriers. Before they escape, be sure to destroy all of them."

"Understood!"

On the flagship of the 101st Fleet, Lin Fan nodded with satisfaction as he watched the enemy's actions unfold as he had predicted.

Now, it was a matter of whether they could destroy all the aircraft carriers before the enemy completed their turn and escaped. After all, this was crucial for minimizing their own losses in the subsequent battle!

According to identification, the enemy fleet consisted of 208 ships in total, including 12 aircraft carriers. One minute after the attack began, 3 of them had been destroyed.

At this moment, Rex's heart was bleeding. These were his own elite fleets, being blown up one by one right before his eyes with no ability to resist.

Only three minutes had passed since the attack began, and they had already lost 52 warships. The loss of aircraft carriers was particularly severe, with 10 out of the 12 aircraft carriers lost.

Wait? The loss of aircraft carriers was particularly severe?

Rex suddenly felt that this loss data was somewhat unusual. Why was the loss of aircraft carriers so high, exceeding 80%, and the remaining 2 were also damaged?

It seemed the enemy had deliberately targeted their aircraft carriers, but why?

"Report, the entire fleet has completed its turn!"

"Immediately advance at maximum speed and quickly escape the enemy's firing range!"

"Yes!"

Although Rex had discovered something unusual, unfortunately, under the current circumstances, there was no time left for him to ponder it.

"Once the warships reach maximum combat speed, begin turning left, advancing in an arc. Our warships' technology is superior to humans', and we can completely use our speed and turning efficiency to counter-attack and latch onto their fleet's tail."

"Yes, Commander."

"Additionally, Tactician, calculate immediately how long it will take to escape the enemy's firing range and what the estimated battle damage will be."

"Yes, reporting Commander. According to calculations, we will reach maximum combat speed in approximately 5 minutes, and then it will take about 10 minutes to escape the enemy's firing range, but the losses..."

"Speak!"

"Yes, the losses will be as high as 50% of our warships!"

"Hiss..."

Rex gasped, the losses were truly immense. He had really been set up by the Ninth Prince this time.

Perhaps if he could destroy this human fleet, his punishment upon returning would be lighter?

As for the human fleet, once I latch onto your tail, even if there are only 100 warships, I can still destroy you.

"How many Aircraft Carriers do they have left?"

"One more, and it's heavily damaged!"

On the flagship of the 101st Task Force Fleet, what Lin Fan was most concerned about was the enemy's remaining Aircraft Carrier.

"Order all warships whose beams can cover that Aircraft Carrier to concentrate their fire!"

"Yes!"

Three minutes later, the last Aircraft Carrier of the Oakes Empire's fleet was destroyed.

Five minutes later, the Oakes Empire's fleet reached its maximum speed and began to turn left, advancing in an arc.

"Report, the enemy has begun turning left. It's highly likely they intend to circle around to our rear."

"Hmm, it's fine. Let the fleet continue its attack. We'll take down as many as we can before they escape our firing range!"

"Understood!"

"Oh, right, regarding the Mechs, have the nuclear bombs you ordered earlier been planted?"

"All planted according to the Commander's orders!"

Hearing Lin Fan's words, Liang Xue also recalled a strange order Lin Fan had given earlier.

He had ordered the Mechs to plant dozens of bunker-buster nuclear bombs on several small asteroids at a specific coordinate!

This armament was supposed to be used for attacking planetary surfaces, not for space.

Because there was no air in space, the destructive power of nuclear bombs would be much smaller, posing little threat to warships, unless they were detonated very close to the warships.

Looking at the tactical panel, Liang Xue did a quick calculation. Huh? The locations where the nuclear bombs were planted were right in the middle of the Mechs' positions and the Oakes fleet's arc-shaped advance route?

Wait, bunker-buster nuclear bombs? Planted on asteroids? The Oakes Empire's fleet is expected to reach the location of these asteroids in thirty minutes? Prioritizing the destruction of their Aircraft Carrier?

So that's how it is! Every step was Lin Fan's plan, a scheme to lure the Oakes Empire's fleet into an abyss!

Liang Xue, finally understanding, stared at Lin Fan with wide, shocked eyes!