Standard Terra Calendar 968.M41
Great vortex area, Kara Galaxy, Moon of Destruction Battlefield
"Phil 2, the torpedo launch tube is ready."
"The deck of the Phil 1 gun is burning! The emergency damage tube is being carried out, and it is expected that it will take 20 minutes to extinguish the fire!"
Through the burning wreckage of the Perseverance-class Mercury Saint, Chinedu looked at an enemy ship nearly forty kilometers away with the help of observation equipment. At this time, it had fallen into a fire under the siege of Starhawk bombers, and then he calmly issued instructions.
"Adjust the course 220, and the port side is seven degrees horizontal!"
Two minutes later, the starboard observation whistle shouted:
"One cruiser, two plundering ships, nine degrees on the starboard side, 110 route, 30 kilometers away!"
The three warships were maneuvering along the opposite route to the Crossbow and attempting to approach the 19th escort formation. They had fired torpedoes before, but because they failed to hit the distance or the battlefield interference, they chose to launch artillery fire.
This is a place near the edge of the Moon of Destruction. Under the command of the Supreme Master Azriel, the Empire's fleet has turned into an M-shaped shape and is transforming into a V-shaped shape. The nineteenth guard formation is located on the outermost part of the right side of the entire large formation, and their mission is to protect the Mercury-class battlecruiser Captain Snake.
The birth of Mercury is closely related to the Gothic War. When the Imperial Navy was invading the fleet of the Great Predator Abaddon, Baka's mechanical priest and the Storm Fleet were facing a dilemma, that is, if the troops were allocating troops to support the Misty Star Domain Combat Fleet, the problem of pirates would become more acute. Because the cruisers in the fleet were relatively slow at that time, they would be occupied by pirates.
So under the instructions of Admiral Knight Bridge, the sages of Baka's Mechanical Cultivation began to design a new battlecruiser that could not only adapt to the tactics and strategies of the large fleet, but also deal with the threat of smaller pirates and raided ships. Through direct integration of existing technology, Mechanical Cultivation provided a solution in less than two centuries. Therefore, Mercury rank generally believed that this was also the fastest new imperial battleship in thousands of years.
The model combines the basic layout of the cruiser with the engineering kits commonly used on battleships, allowing it to have faster propulsion systems to keep up with those fast raid ships, while the side turret, the light spear turret on the ridge, and the bow nouveau cannons give the Mercury enough firepower to quickly eliminate those small ships without escort ships.
However, these powerful performances still come at a price. Mercury class increases speed and firepower at the expense of survivability. Although it has firepower close to battleships, its shields and armor can only barely match those of the moon-class cruiser, and even slightly weaker.
Therefore, Mercury is a warship that needs escort formation protection to play a role, and its speed is also the key to action. Azriel deployed it on the edge of the two extension arms, hoping that it can quickly encircle from the side when the Red Pirates fleet is completely trapped in the imperial formation, cut off the enemy's retreat, and turn the inverted V into an inverted triangle.
But the commander of the Red Pirates was not stupid. Even during the maneuvering process, the Mercury class had destroyed two cruisers and four small battleships. It was impossible for such a huge threat to ignore it.
Since the 21st escort squadron who was traveling with him had lost three warships, especially the formation command ship, the Perseverance-class Mercury Saint, was hit by the enemy torpedo, the entire formation had basically lost its combat effectiveness, which caused the 19th escort squadron to double the pressure, but even so, they could not let the enemy's warships approach the Snake, because even the cruiser's firepower was enough to pose a threat to Snake.
"The main gun is given priority to attacking enemy cruisers, and recovering the second bomber squadron to prepare quickly."
Chinedu said calmly that the order was immediately transmitted to the turret of the ridge light spear, and his second order was:
"Phil 2, Phil 3, launches torpedoes."
Immediately, a string of long-range torpedoes rushed towards the enemy's fast maneuvering team at an extremely fast speed.
The Crossbow then opened fire. When the opponent's cruiser was dodging the torpedo, the beam hit the Void Shield, but it did not penetrate. Then a red beam from a distance instantly overloaded the opponent's Void Shield, and hit the head of the cruiser, hitting its higher bridge, and instantly the entire upper deck burned violently.
The Snake will naturally not be idle, and it is precisely because of this powerful shelling ability that the Red Pirates regard it as a thorn in their eyes.
Then the Crossbow began to continue to attack the Red Pirate Cruiser that had lost its shield. In less than five minutes, the light cruiser lost its combat power, leaving only the burning wreckage floating in the void.
"Warning! Three cruisers approach!"
"The left rudder is full, heading 180! The second bomber squadron takes off!"
After a series of battles, there are only 21 Star Eagle bombers left in the Crossbow. Chinedu immediately reorganized all bomber squadrons into the second formation.
"Phil 4, launching torpedo."
When the enemy cruiser formation tried to approach the Long Snake shelling, Long Snake also began to evade maneuvers at high speed, but it had to go to the predetermined position on time, so it could not move too far, and only moved while conducting artillery battles with the Red Pirate Cruiser.
boom--
Suddenly, the bridge of the crossbow suddenly shook, and Chinedu hurriedly grabbed the support rod beside him.
"Void shield area A is penetrated!"
"Flight deck 1 was shot!"
"A fire broke out in the takeoff area! The damage management team is urgently extinguishing the fire!"
The provocative crossbow is actually not suitable for participating in such fierce conflicts on the front line, but its mission determines that it cannot retreat and can only use a thin front line to block the enemy.
The enemy's three cruisers swung around, two of them taking a channel parallel to the Nineteenth Guard Squadron and fired at the scimitar frigates in front of the formation with their naval guns, while the other attempted to approach the Snake launching landing craft, which contained hundreds of Chaos Space Marines, which could have catastrophic consequences once they entered Snake.
Chinedu realized that only by using torpedoes and counterattack could the opponent stop the advance, so he immediately issued an order to charge and close to launch the torpedo. However, Phil 2 was locked by the firepower of two cruisers. As a frigate, it could not resist such firepower at all. Then it lost its combat power in a round of volleys, and the entire hull began to lose control and roll and burn.
But in such a critical situation, the remaining frigates, including Phil 1, who had just extinguished the fire in the ship, quickly turned left, and the torpedo tube quickly aimed at the target ahead.
Before they could shoot, a large cannon hit the bow of Phil 1. A huge gap appeared on the front deck and burned. At the same time, shrapnel were already flying in the torpedo cabin, and flames soared into the sky, with extremely heavy casualties.
Chapter completed!