2804. Take the initiative
Gideon-Tarkin's face immediately darkened. He turned around and asked, "What is Supreme Strategic Command involved in at this time?"
The adjutant whispered, "It's Governor Seben..."
"This old bastard." Gideon-Tarkin cursed and came to the conference room.
Five high-ranking generals appeared in the holographic projection, and one of them said coldly, "This is General Supreme Strategic Command, Military Intelligence Committee. Gideon-Tarkin. Please immediately explain your behavior of standing still and allowing the capital of the sector to be attacked."
Gideon-Tarkin snorted secretly, raised his head and said, "Separatist fleet did not launch a direct attack on Lantilis Planet, and the opponent's fleet only has 10 capital ships. Such a force cannot be said to be an attack at all. It is just harassment at best."
"Please answer the question directly." Another general said.
"Separatists's main fleet has advanced to Boonta, directly threatening our military base. And the warship they sent to harass Lantilis Planet is initially judged to be a high-speed aircraft carrier and will be difficult to destroy in a short time. Therefore. I judge that if I divide my forces to rescue Lantilis Planet, it may cause Separatist fleet to pose a threat to our base Charos IV Planet." Gideon-Tarkin replied.
"At present, your fleet is three to four times the size of Separatist fleet, but you have stopped moving forward and even allowed the capital of the sector to be attacked. Such behavior is not in line with the empire's expectations of you." A general said.
Gideon-Tarkin said, "Although the number of Separatist fleet is not large, it still owns five Divinity-class battleship and Shield-piercing missile, a rash attack may cause heavy losses to our warships. According to my judgment of the Eastern Territory situation, once sufficient force deterrence cannot be maintained, the Eastern Territory rebels may become even more rampant."
"We cannot agree with your judgment. Divinity-class battleship is indeed very powerful, but this is not the reason why you still want to give up even the capital of the sector despite having four times the strength." A general said, "We agreed to increase troops to Eastern Territory not just to watch you sit here with Separatists."
Another general added, "Moreover, this will allow Separatists to use very little supplies in exchange for the continuous consumption of our large fleet. Galactic Empire has a vast territory and rich supplies, but it is not wasteful like this. Endless wars of attrition will only drag down the empire's strategic rhythm."
Gideon-Tarkin was angry just now, but now he was impatient. He patted the table and said, "If you want to rescue Lantilis Planet, then let Seben go and bring reinforcements! You can also send reinforcements directly to Lantilis Planet! Why are you staring at my fleet?!"
As soon as he said this, he immediately realized that he had said something wrong and quickly added, "What I mean is that there is nothing to be afraid of Separatists's small fleet attacking Lantilis Planet. If we send some more local Guardian forces into the atmosphere for defense, the other party will have nothing to do. After all, it is just an aircraft carrier and there is no way it can pose a threat to the planet."
But it was already too late. None of the five senior generals on the other side spoke, they just looked at him coldly.
Gideon-Tarkin has cold sweat streaming down his forehead, because his speech just now, from the perspective of Supreme Strategic Command, made it clear that he wanted to support his troops and respect themselves. In addition, Seben has been complaining that Tarkin family wants to seize power. In such a delicate situation, Gideon-Tarkin's speech can be said to be extremely bad.
"General Gideon, if you really plan to serve the empire, then please show your performance." An older general still gave a step.
"Lantilis Planet is the core of the Imperial Twelfth Army. Once the planet falls, what will be lost is probably the entire Twelfth Army." Another general said, "His Majesty the Emperor is paying attention to this matter. With the current deployment of troops on all fronts, Eastern Territory is the most likely direction to open up the situation."
"I understand. I will let Staff Department prepare a combat plan." Gideon-Tarkin finally gave in.
The communication was shut down, the five figures slowly disappeared, and the conference room fell into darkness.
Gideon-Tarkin stared blankly at the opposite side, suddenly became furious, grabbed a chair and threw it at the projection screen!
The banging sound attracted his adjutant. He ran over quickly, but happened to bump into Gideon-Tarkin who came out angrily. When he saw the adjutant coming, he said coldly, "Immediately prepare a combat plan, two plans! Plan A, attack Separatist fleet of Boonta! Plan B, send troops to encircle and suppress those ten aircraft carriers!"
"Yes!" The adjutant quickly stood at attention and saluted.
The next day, Staff Department came up with the plan. The adjutant asked Gideon-Tarkin to come to the combat conference room and said, "General, according to the combat plan we prepared, plan B is not very feasible."
"Say." Gideon-Tarkin was in a very bad mood.
The adjutant took out several combat records and said, "The opponent's drone aircraft carrier is very fast. Our Imperial-class Star Destroyer cannot catch up with them during the Sublight voyage. And the high-speed If Light Cruiser goes to encircle and suppress them, they can also use the hyperspace engine to quickly move the battlefield. After all, Light Cruiser's hyperspace engine level is not enough. The battleship may jump once, but they need to jump twice. In this way, the distance is widened again."
He concluded. "In general, the opponent is small and flexible, and the destructive power of the drone is very powerful. If they are determined to escape, they will contain a large number of our troops."
"So you mean to attack Boonta directly?" Gideon-Tarkin asked.
"Aircraft carriers do not have the ability to directly attack planets, and generally they will not install such weapons on aircraft carriers. It would be a complete waste. Therefore, we judge that the opponent's aircraft carrier can only drop a nuclear bomb at most," the adjutant said.
He came to the holographic tactical projection table, called up the defense layout of Boonta system, marked the blue light spot on the deployment position of Kingdom of Dawn fleet on the periphery of the planet, and said, "Boonta has completely destroyed it when we retreated. Now the planet does not have any defense force, only Separatist fleet."
The adjutant pointed hard at the star map and said, "Considering that the opponent does have a very powerful warship like Divinity-class battleship, I suggest that we directly use all our main forces, suppress the formation with strong troops, and directly determine the outcome in one fell swoop! The loss will of course be huge, but this is the requirement of Supreme Strategic Command after all."
Looking at the marks on the combat star map, Gideon-Tarkin said, "Then have you ever thought about it, maybe the other party is going to Boonta to attract us to take the initiative to attack?"
"Thought about it. But they probably have no other means."
"What if they run?"
"Then chase! As long as we pin down their main fleet, we will never have to worry." the adjutant said.
Gideon-Tarkin pondered. He couldn't make up his mind for a while because the trap was too obvious. But even so, he couldn't figure out what Commander was planning.
Especially those ten new warships, because generally speaking, every time Kingdom of Dawn invests in new equipment, they will definitely use this equipment to design new tactics, and every time Imperial fleet will suffer from this.
So this time Gideon-Tarkin planned to stand still, at least until those ten aircraft carriers fully demonstrated their capabilities before making any plans.
But now...Gideon-Tarkin is extremely anxious, he has to face unknown equipment again.
"Let's get ready and follow Plan A." He waved his hand.
"Yes!"
Shortly after the adjutant left, the intelligence officer quickly came over and said, "General, three aircraft carriers Separatists left Trandoshan Planet and entered Balamak Planet (Balamak), sinking three transport ships of our army."
Gideon-Tarkin's face darkened. The current Balamak Planet, as well as the Toglia Planet a few days ago, are important transportation transfer stations behind Charos IV Planet where he is located. A large amount of materials are continuously sent to Charos IV Planet from these two waterways.
The successive attacks on these two planets have seriously threatened the safety of frontline supply lines.
The four squadrons sent out by Gideon-Tarkin are now on their way to Jabiim planet in a roundabout way.
The situation is a bit embarrassing now. Governor Seben is currently determined to kill them all and will never send troops to destroy those aircraft carriers. On the one hand, they are most likely to be defeated, and on the other hand, they are also showing their attitude to Gideon-Tarkin - Don't let him, Sector Governor, invest even a single bit of troops and resources into this invading fleet. At worst, everyone will die together.
It can be seen that Seben hates Tarkin family now.
"Where is Lantilis Planet?" Gideon-Tarkin asked.
"The four aircraft carriers over there have left and are missing," the intelligence officer said.
"It's not that they are missing, they are coming to us." Gideon-Tarkin sneered, "The other party's method of movement is to bypass Charos IV Planet from the side and rear. Don't think about it, their fleet at Boonta is just a bait, to make us take the initiative to attack."
The adjutant asked, "Are they going to take the initiative and then cut off our supply line? But the hyperspace channel behind Charos IV Planet is far beyond what their aircraft carriers can cut off. What's more, the planet itself can also provide us with certain supplies."
Gideon-Tarkin exhaled a long breath, feeling extremely irritable.
Yeah... what's the problem?
He waved his hand and said, "I personally lead 150 battleships to defend Charos IV Planet! Send General Togusius to lead the main force of the fleet and directly attack Boonta! The opponent's Commander is Lin Nanyi. It is relatively easy to deal with. There are no weird tactics. Just crush it head-on!"
The adjutant was a little strange about this arrangement and confirmed again. "General, you are the supreme Commander, but you want to lead a squadron yourself and hand over the main fleet to Lieutenant General Togusius?"
"It will be safer for me to face those strange aircraft carriers in person." Gideon-Tarkin said, "I will guard Charos IV Planet. I can make an immediate decision whether to advance or retreat. This will be more flexible."
"Okay, I will immediately recruit Lieutenant General Togusius to report on his duties." The adjutant nodded.
Another day later, Galactic Empire Eastern Territory's main fleet completed combat preparations and left the space port to begin formation.
An hour later, each ship completed the calculation of the hyperspace channel and started the hyperspace engine. With a burst of dazzling white light, the huge force of 600 capital ships and 3,000 small and medium-sized warships was divided into two waves and headed straight for Boonta!
Gideon-Tarkin On the bridge of his flagship, Dexen Imperial II-class Star Destroyer, looking at the main fleet disappearing one by one after entering hyperspace, a strange feeling came from his heart.
He felt that with the departure of the main fleet, he had lost control in many aspects.
There is no doubt that no matter who Commander is in the opponent's aircraft carrier formation, he has that extraordinary patience. The opponent has been waiting for him to reveal his flaws, as if he is an old hunter who has been hunting for many years, always staring at him with his eyes like poisonous snakes.
As long as we hold on firmly, there will be no flaws. As long as we send out troops, there will definitely be flaws.
Gideon-Tarkin thought about his situation. He was indeed forced into a situation where he had to send troops, and he was forced to expose his flaws.
The only thing he can do now is to pray that this flaw will not be exploited by the other party, causing disastrous consequences.
But this is also tantamount to handing the initiative of the battle into the hands of others.
Soon, a battle report came from Lieutenant General Togusius on the front line. As expected, Lin Nanyi's fleet ran away without engaging in any battle, just as they predicted.
According to intelligence, they fled to Saleucami Planet--Confederacy of Independent Systems's last fortress.
Lieutenant General Togusius didn't dare to make any mistakes, so he quickly sent a battle report to ask for instructions on the next step.
He was just a lieutenant general, but he was given a sector-level fleet with 600 battleships to command. He didn't freak out on the spot, which is already an excellent psychological quality.
Gideon-Tarkin put down the data pad coldly, and drew a red line on the tactical star map with his fingertips, "Continue the pursuit!"
Togusius also responded immediately. He led the fleet and began to march towards Saleucami Planet. Due to the restriction of the waterway, he divided his troops again and took a circuitous route in three directions.
At the same time, the information revealed by the Rebel Alliance was obtained from the rear, and the other half of Kingdom of Dawn's fleet also began to set sail and began to move towards Saleucami Planet.
It seems that a fleet battle is about to break out!
Gideon-Tarkin frowned and suppressed the uneasiness in his heart. After all, he was deep in the rear and could not directly command the battle.
Feeling irritable, he came to the viewing window of the bridge and stared at the dark and deep star field and Charos IV Planet, which was emitting light blue light next to it. The starry sky in the distance made him feel slightly at ease.
Suddenly, he felt as if there was a vague shadow flying slowly outside the battleship. If it weren't for the light of the planet, he would not be able to see it at all.
At this moment, the battleship's close-in defense system suddenly opened fire!
There was a light blue explosion, and it seemed that a vague shadow was hit and left a string of scattered fragments in the space! The fragments floated silently in the vacuum, and seemed to be... golden!