The battlefield had become very strange.
Logically speaking, dealing with Lin Fan's move was not difficult. There were several possible methods.
For example, they could reinforce the thickness of the central formation and gather the fleet's capital ships in the center.
But the problem was that the entire Oakes rebel fleet only controlled two capital ships. Their large number of cruisers, destroyers, and frigates simply could not withstand capital ship firepower, much less retaliate.
Another method was that if the central formation clearly could not stop the enemy's assault, the fleet could proactively split left and right, then turn inward separately. As the enemy fleet broke through the center, the fleets on both sides could continually adjust their headings. In the end, they would turn around and bite the assault fleet's tail.
There was a problem with that as well. The hastily assembled rebel fleet lacked efficient coordination and had no capable commander.
So, once they had been breached, was the situation already beyond recovery?
Actually, no. There were still many ways to deal with it.
A more common approach was to have the fleet accelerate forward. After all, once the enemy broke through their formation, it would take time for them to turn and deploy behind them.
However, if the fleet went full speed ahead the moment the enemy broke through, then by the time the enemy finished turning, they would already be out of range.
But the rebels still missed that final opportunity, because their commander had been killed along with those two Battlecruisers.
However, Lin Fan stated that even if their commander had survived, it would have been useless. While he had faced the enemy's assault, he had also left behind quite a few Space Mines.
A vast minefield now lay ahead of the rebels. If they forced their way through, they would lose at least half their warships.
The panicked rebels gave Lin Fan enough time to deploy his forces in a two-pronged expansion from behind, forming a small semicircle of encirclement.
Though it was only a semicircle, the minefield ahead prevented the rebel fleet from moving forward. At this point, the semicircle was effectively a complete encirclement.
Only two choices remained for the rebels.
Surrender, or slowly turn in place.
But would these Oakes rebel fleets surrender? Their commanders were all loyalists of the First Prince, so surrender was clearly impossible.
That left only one choice: turn in place and face the enemy, even at the cost of heavy losses!
When Lin Fan saw the rebels make that choice, he smiled.
As far as Lin Fan was concerned, he did not want these rebels to surrender. Otherwise, how would he complete his mission? Wait several years and start over? Or sneak out during the ceasefire and violate the agreement by fighting a few battles?
Neither was possible. This rebel fleet was Lin Fan's final chance to complete his mission.
"Are the carriers in position?"
"Fifteen seconds remaining."
"Once they are in position, release all Combat Drones from both sides. Then deploy all mechs as well!"
"The carriers are in position. Releasing Drones."
"The Drones have been released. The mech forces are beginning their sortie!"
Although warships were the natural enemy of mechs and fighters outside close range, they had to be facing the mechs and fighters. Otherwise, they could only wait until the enemy closed in before using point-defense weapons to attack.
And now, the Oakes rebel fleet faced a choice.
The fleet was nearly done turning, while the carriers of the 101st Task Force Fleet had deployed on both sides of the encirclement and released all their Drones and mechs.
Would they turn again to attack the Drones and mechs, or ignore them, complete their turn, and attack the warships behind them?
The best option would have been to deploy fighters to hold back the mechs and Combat Drones on both flanks.
But there was a problem. The rebels had only possessed ten carriers to begin with. Two had been destroyed during the 101st Task Force Fleet's central breakthrough, and another five had been destroyed in the few minutes spent turning. Only three remained now.
Of course, no matter what choice the rebel fleet made, Lin Fan had a corresponding response.
However, Lin Fan had only two words to describe the choice they made in the next moment.
Stupid.
Why was it stupid? Because the rebels directly deployed all thirty thousand fighters from their three carriers, splitting them into two groups to intercept the forces on both sides.
Meanwhile, the rebel fleet that had completed its turn formed an assault formation and charged toward the Battlecruiser group of the 101st Task Force Fleet.
It was easy to imagine just how badly they wanted to destroy Lin Fan's flagship, even if it meant being wiped out to the last ship.
"Heh, Admiral Adams, it seems they would rather be annihilated than give up on charging in to destroy you. They really are persistent!"
Lin Fan looked at the tactical display, smiled, and muttered to himself.
"Open the path in the middle for them. Then have the fleets on both sides converge toward the center! Change our frontal semicircle encirclement into a rear encirclement."
"Understood!"
Soon, a strange scene unfolded. Cooperating with the rebel fleet's charge, the center of the 101st Task Force Fleet's encirclement suddenly withdrew to both sides, while the fleets that had originally been on both flanks moved inward and linked up.
Thus, what had been a frontal semicircular encirclement became a U-shaped pursuit encirclement behind them.
Even the rebels were somewhat stunned. They had merely charged forward and torn open part of the encirclement.
How had a U-shaped encirclement suddenly formed around their flanks and rear without them even noticing?
It made absolutely no sense.
With only a few dozen warships left, most of them damaged, they had no chance left after being encircled once more.
Whether they wanted to escape or make another attempt on Lin Fan's flagship, they had no opportunity left.
Ten minutes later, as the last rebel frigate exploded, the battle finally came to an end!
"Ding! Congratulations, Host, for completing the mission: Destroy a cumulative total of 500 Oakes Civilization warships. Reward obtained: Energy Shield Technology."
Whew! It was finally complete.
With this technology, they would have a much greater chance of launching a counterattack in a few years.
"Adjutant, order the fleet to clean up the battlefield and search for the bodies of our personnel! As for the battle damage report, give it to me once the figures have been compiled!"
"Understood!"
While the battlefield was being cleared, Lin Fan opened the communications channel in the lounge.
"Admiral Adams, we're done here. Do you need us to escort you back, or will your people send a ship to pick you up?"
"No need to trouble yourselves. The ship sent to retrieve me has already departed."
"Fine, then do as you wish. I'll have the fleet let it through!"
"Then thank you!"
Neither side had much more to say, because they both understood that once the Ninth Prince was returned several years from now, this would not end until one side had completely destroyed the other.
"Commander, the preliminary battle damage report is out!"
"Read it!"
"In this battle, we destroyed a total of 348 enemy warships. Our losses were two cruisers, five destroyers, and eleven frigates! We lost 2,184 mechs! Personnel casualties are preliminarily estimated at around five thousand. The exact figure will depend on how many people the mech forces can rescue."
"Eighteen warships and five thousand casualties! I truly am still far too lacking."
Lin Fan's sigh echoed through the empty bridge.
Before you continue