2805. A Thousand Miles of Collapse (Part 1)
Gideon-Tarkin stared blankly at the scattered debris not far away from him, his mind unable to turn around.
But then, he thought about what this terrible situation meant! The invisible detector on the opposite side was so close that he could see it clearly with the naked eye!
What does this mean? It means that the other party is simply looking in from the bridge of his own battleship! And during this process, he was in the military base Charos IV, and neither the 150 capital ships nor the high-power detectors on the planet were able to detect this thing!
Moreover, if it is just to detect the movements of the main force of your own fleet, there is no need to risk being destroyed and sneak in personally. There is only one possibility - eavesdropping on the conversations in your own flagship!
The opponent may have already grasped all his tactical intentions, and may even have penetrated into every detail of the Imperial Twelfth Army chain of command!
An emotion of panic instantly filled Gideon-Tarkin's mind. Cold sweat soaked his military uniform on his back, and his fingers dug into the metal frame at the edge of the picture window. He tried to suppress the extremely strong uneasiness in his heart.
He took a deep breath and suppressed his inner uneasiness.
Gideon-Tarkin suddenly turned around and said loudly, "Who is Commander of this mysterious fleet?!"
The adjutant shook his head blankly and said, "I don't know... I have no clue at all."
"How is it possible that you don't even know this level of information?" Gideon-Tarkin became anxious, and he said loudly, "Give those rebels money! Their Borsk-Feliya! Give him money, and he will definitely give us the information! He wants us to fight Separatists to the death!"
The adjutant continued to shake his head and said, "I really don't know. We have also contacted Borsk-Feliya. They are indeed asking us, but we can't find any information at all."
Gideon-Tarkin frowned, "This is impossible! As long as this person appears in Eastern Territory, then there will definitely be clues about him. What is the situation when there is no news at all?"
"This mysterious fleet appeared suddenly. Neither our intelligence personnel nor the rebel personnel found that this fleet appeared on any planet of Eastern Territory. Moreover, there is no record of Commander of this fleet indicating that he was involved in any affairs of Separatists on Eastern Territory... Nothing, a blank," the adjutant said.
"The attack of a fleet, even with ten battleships, means a lot of supplies! Not even logistics?" Gideon-Tarkin found it unbelievable, "Moreover, the authorization of the fleet, the formulation of combat plans, and the transportation of logistics supplies are all a series of complex military orders and command systems. How could he not leave any records?"
The adjutant still shook his head, "No, it's blank. That Commander has not participated in any decision-making of Separatists in Eastern Territory. He is like a shadow, suddenly appearing. And during the period when he appeared At that time, Separatists's political and military operations under Eastern Territory were as usual, without any difference. Even Commander in their main fleet was still in charge of Lin Nanyi."
"This person... deliberately erased himself from Eastern Territory, as if he were invisible." Gideon-Tarkin looked solemn, "There is no such person in the entire Eastern Territory military and administrative agencies... How is this possible?"
He now feels that Commander in this fleet is becoming more and more mysterious. Moreover, compared to his ignorance of him, the destroyed stealth detector just now showed that the other party is well aware of his actions.
"General...?" The adjutant also wanted to understand the horror behind this. There was cold sweat on his forehead, "Otherwise we... withdraw our troops?"
Gideon-Tarkin said with a wry smile, "Now that things have reached this point, there is nothing we can do. Withdraw our troops now, even if we do not consider political factors. If we turn around and run away without firing a shot, the morale of our army will completely collapse. Don't even think about fighting in Eastern Territory in the future, no one will listen to us."
At the same time, the Galactic Empire's Twelfth Army main fleet commanded by Lieutenant General Togusius is arriving in batches at Saleucami Planet.
This was once the last fortress of Confederacy of Independent Systems. Saleucami Planet finally fell after holding on for seven years, which also led to the collapse of Confederacy of Independent Systems.
Now, although ten years have passed since this shocking war, this place is still a terrifying battlefield Relics.
The wreckage of battleships, space stations, and even the wreckage of a large number of asteroids are everywhere, forming a debris belt around Saleucami Planet.
These wrecks vary in size and lie ferociously across space. Their surface is covered with traces of burns and impacts, and shines with a cold metallic sheen under the light of stars. They float, rotate slowly, or collide with each other in various weird postures, forming an extremely complex and dangerous airspace.
Any ship must be cautious when sailing here and be always alert for sudden collisions. The sensors are often interfered by the complex metal signals in this wreckage zone, making it extremely difficult to capture abnormal movements in the distance.
A burst of white light flashed, and a huge fleet of 200 capital ships and 1,500 small and medium-sized warships arrived outside Saleucami Planet. This was the Second Army main fleet led by Togusius, and two more batches were arriving in batches from the other two hyperspace routes.
Lieutenant General Togusius stood in front of the bridge command podium of his flagship "Resolute", looking at the silent and chaotic scene outside the porthole window, frowning slightly.
Seeing Kingdom of Dawn fleet that had already circled into the wreckage zone, he knew that this was the battlefield chosen by the opponent. Generally, if you want to choose a battlefield with such complicated conditions, there is only one possibility - the opponent has already set up an ambush here, just waiting for the prey to penetrate deep.
Togusius slowly tapped the edge of the command platform with his fingertips and said in a deep voice, "After the other two formations arrive, we will immediately launch an attack. Distribute the battle plan to each ship."
It was a battle plan that he and his staff team worked on for more than a day without sleep. He tried to make the plan as detailed and professional as possible, hoping that through this plan he could impress the officers and soldiers of each ship under his command and allow the battle to proceed smoothly.
Togusius's biggest worry is that those Star Destroyer captains don't listen to orders. There is no way, he is just a Lieutenant General, and there seems to be only one level difference between Lieutenant General and Admiral of the Navy, but in fact there is an insurmountable gap.
In this fleet now, some Star Destroyer captains who are older or have more prominent family backgrounds are actually with the rank of lieutenant general!
In fact, this is a huge hidden danger for this battle.
Imperial Twelfth Army is not without Admiral of the Navy, but since the conflict between Governor Seben and Tarkin family has almost become public, these Admiral of the Navy have chosen to sit on the sidelines in order to avoid falling into the dangerous situation of being forced to take sides.
Moreover, Governor Seben is already over seventy years old. On the one hand, this means that he is too old to be useful. On the other hand, it shows that his power in the Twelfth Army is deeply rooted.
In fact, before the establishment of the Twelfth Army, Seben was already Galactic Republic Sector Governor, but the star divisions at that time were administrative star districts and did not have military significance. The star district administration at that time and Star Sector Defense Fleet were independent of each other.
This resulted in many Twelfth Army officials and generals working together since Galactic Republic era and forming deep friendships.
Therefore, it is impossible for Gideon-Tarkin to choose those generals who support Governor Seben to lead the fleet. The only reason why he chose Lieutenant General Togusius is that he is Tarkin family's person.
Tarkin family's lack of background is also reflected in this aspect. They have to use a junior but absolutely loyal lieutenant general to command this huge fleet composed of old-school officers. Like other Noble House wealthy families with deep foundation, they have many relationships and can often get the support of more and higher-ranking officials and generals.
Therefore, most of the battle plans Lieutenant General Togusius sent to each ship this time were sneered and thrown into the trash can by the captains.
The plan he formulated was indeed very professional and detailed. He carefully planned the forward route of each squadron, the timing of launching the attack, and the division of battlefield areas, and set up the main attack fleet, cover fleet, high-speed propulsion fleet, air defense formation, long-range strike formation and other roles.
But in the eyes of these captains who originally looked down on him, this was equivalent to a slap in the face - "Are you teaching me how to do things?"
Under such circumstances, it's strange to get support. Togusius stared at the "rejected" prompt that kept beating on the terminal, and the veins on his forehead were also beating.
In the next half day, the other two fleets also arrived one after another, forming formations from three directions and surrounding Saleucami Planet.
Imperial fleet still launched an attack formation, and the arrangement was orderly - but this was not the command of Lieutenant General Togusius, but the real-time deployment of the professional captains according to the position of the ship.
Before the battle even started, Lieutenant General Togusius lost the ability to command.
However, the other half of Dawn Star Planet's fleet is coming from Jabiim planet and is still on the way, so currently, Galactic Empire fleet has a huge numerical advantage in this place.
The strength comparison of the battleships alone is 600 to 150, and the number of small and medium-sized battleships also has a huge advantage.
Togusius ordered that all ships immediately enter combat preparations. One hour later, they launched a full-scale attack and broke into the debris zone around the planet to annihilate Separatist fleet!
At the same time, he also sent his combat plan to General Gideon-Tarkin who was stationed in the rear.
However, because he was worried that he would not be able to command those Star Destroyer captains and was scolded by Gideon-Tarkin, he did not dare to go into details. He just sent a combat plan, without saying whether the plan could be implemented or explaining the difficulties in its execution. He only appended. "Please review it."
While Togusius led the main fleet in three directions to launch an all-out attack on Saleucami Planet, at the rear, admirals Charos IV Planet, Gideon-Tarkin were in front of the holographic star map, carefully reviewing Togusius's combat plan.
It must be said that the combat plan formulated by Togusius is very beautiful and impeccable in all aspects, but the only shortcoming is that it is too beautiful and perfect.
And war cannot be perfect.
Just when Generals Gideon-Tarkin were thinking about whether to let Togusius stop, drive Separatist fleet away a little and then return to the army as soon as possible, the intelligence officer was furious He ran over in panic and shouted, "General! We lost traces of the Separatists mysterious aircraft carrier from Balamak Planet and Toglia Planet at the same time! It is suspected that it has entered the hyperspace channel!"
"The entire army will prepare for battle immediately! The other party is likely to come to Charos IV Planet to harass our army!" Gideon-Tarkin immediately issued instructions, "The hyperspace outpost will increase detection efforts! Be sure to find their sailing direction within ten minutes!"
However, in less than ten minutes, with the flash of white light, ten exquisite and gorgeous Protoss Carrier with white background and gold rim had arrived at Charos IV Planet!
Of course, it takes more than ten minutes to travel from Toglia Planet and Balamak Planet to Charos IV Planet. However, Protoss's advanced technology and their continuous cleaning of the Galactic Empire hyperspace detector prevent the empire from knowing their movements immediately.
When Protoss Carrier arrived at Charos IV Planet, more than 150 capital ships of Gideon-Tarkin were coming out of the space port berth and forming a defensive formation.
Protoss Purifier aircraft carrier On the bridge of the "Invisible Hand", General Grievous stood in the holographic projection of the starry sky, and the entire bridge was integrated.
On the lower level of the bridge, fifty Protoss Purifiers are controlling various systems of the aircraft carrier. They are linked to each other and share their computing units, forming a Purifiers network. This will greatly enhance their computing power. Only fifty individuals are enough to control every component of the aircraft carrier.
Of course, compared to Protoss High Templar, which can operate an aircraft carrier with just one person and a few "engineers", Purifiers's technology is relatively not that advanced - but it is more stable, efficient and does not need to rely on the strength of individual Psionics.
General Grievous's pair of animalistic vertical pupils exuding murderous intent stared at Gideon-Tarkin's fleet, roaring, "The whole army attacks! Kill me!"
Following this violent order, ten Purifier aircraft carriers directly began to charge! During the charge, these aircraft carriers launched interception drones one after another. The 100 Purifier Scouts that were usually mounted on the outer armor of the aircraft carriers also left the external state, and their engines were fully turned on to attack the fleet of Gideon-Tarkin!
That's right, General Grievous directly commands the aircraft carrier to charge forward!
"The whole army immediately enters the defensive formation! Block them for me!" Gideon-Tarkin also ordered immediately.
At this moment, General Grievous was staring at the flagship of Gideon-Tarkin, letting out a ferocious laugh.