“Did that guy know I was going to turn ahead of the enemy and flank him?” Wien was startled, but then relieved.
The other party wasn't an idiot, and he was even his proud, no, his ‘arch-nemesis’ with a deep-seated hatred; it was impossible for him not to think of this!
What truly surprised him was that the other party had actually turned all of his Armory Ships in one direction, clearly betting that he would definitely appear from there.
“Did that guy completely lose his mind after exposing it to the desert sun?” In Wien’s memory, Yu Lian, like himself, was aggressive in his military tactics, but his gambling nature was actually not very strong, and in some sense, he was even a bit conservative.
But now, although the other party had adopted a turtle formation, the level of madness in his bones was already astonishing.
However, he had to admit that the other party had won the gamble.
The concentrated fire from the Armory Ships immediately plunged his entire army into a sea of fire.
The auxiliary command AI reminded him that the enemy's shelling had caused significant damage to his side, with several capital ships falling into a state of severe damage.
“Let them break formation! Handle it yourselves!” Wien gritted his teeth.
If it were a real adjutant, he would definitely remind him: “Severely damaged capital ships that break formation will become targets for the enemy, just like a heavily wounded elephant in the wilderness unable to move.
If you abandon them, you are abandoning the lives of tens of thousands of sailors on board!” However, the AI resolutely carried out his command.
The main fleet continued forward, and its own fierce shelling also finally began to inflict casualties on the enemy.
If at this moment, the assault ship fleet and our aircraft could penetrate the enemy's Guardian Ship group, a pincer attack could be formed.
Our forces should have the advantage.
As Wien thought this, he suddenly realized that the fierce close-quarters combat among the small ships was still extremely brutal, yet his side was consistently unable to break through.
The Lancer-type assault ship chosen by Yu Lian was indeed an extremely radical design; rather than an assault ship, it was more like an oversized aircraft.
In the chaotic melee of small ships, it truly achieved tremendous results.
The onlookers were stunned; their minds could no longer keep up with the development of the battle.
And the smart ones began to ponder.
This might be a newer experimental combat method.
Hmm, a small assault ship model, but a ship type with enhanced firepower?
Will it cause an overlap in effect with aircraft?
Well, a simulator is just a simulator; it cannot fully replicate the entire battlefield, but it is indeed a direction for research.
Autumn Mountain Yawata pushed up his glasses and began to ponder.
Feifei, who had been observing in the dark, turned around and said, “Zhi Xia, Liuli, have you recorded the battle?”
“We’re recording it,” Liuli said with a smile.
“Recording, filming, we’re doing it all.
Honestly, you always make us do everything,” Zhi Xia complained.
Wien, at the command position, couldn't think of anything more, only confirming that he could no longer rely on the attack effectiveness of the assault ship group.
Now, everything could only depend on the dozen or so high-speed capital ships under his command.
“Hmph, don’t think you can stop me with firepower! Now, I am already in front of you! Victory belongs to me!”
Wien once again demonstrated his brilliant fleet maneuvering skills, taking advantage of the damaged ships leaving the main formation, advancing while re-forming the fleet.
The thicker-skinned, longer-lasting Dreadnoughts moved to the front, once again delivering precise shelling.
This round of shelling was very successful, igniting countless massive fireballs within Yu Lian’s Armory Ship group, and the dense shelling formation began to collapse.
Yu Lian seemed to be stunned by this wave of attack, actually starting to order the undamaged Armory Ships to retreat.
“A foolish move! As expected, after becoming a spiritual energy user, your tactical sense has declined!
Hmph, from now on, just be an unthinking brute.” Wien said disdainfully.
The main fleet accelerated again, already reaching its first charge speed.
But at this moment, Autumn Mountain Yawata seemed to sense something and suddenly stood up.
“Horatio, this is…” He was about to speak, but instinctively shivered, feeling as if he was being watched by something dangerous, terrifying, and indescribable.
He couldn't help but look back, only to see a serene, smiling face, like the epitome of a Yamato Nadeshiko.
“Don’t cheat, okay.” Liuli’s eyes were already narrowed into slits from smiling, and she lightly parted her lips.
Autumn Mountain Yawata couldn't help but swallow, looking at Wien, who had already broken into the enemy’s fleet, sighed, and sat back down.
He didn’t know what Yu Lian wanted to do, but he felt a huge sense of crisis, like a wild animal.
However, what happened next once again exceeded his expectations.
An explosion suddenly occurred at this moment.
It was those Armory Ships that had been severely damaged by Wien and had almost lost power.
These ships, loaded with various ammunition, could themselves be considered a giant arsenal, and when they self-destructed, the destructive effect produced in an instant even surpassed that of being destroyed.
Countless flashes of fire and shockwaves created a huge thermal zone in the simulated space; the high temperature generated in an instant even reached the core of a star.
And almost at the same moment, two Dreadnoughts and three battlecruisers were directly hit by this artificial star.
These massive capital ships were only heavily damaged, but the impact on the destroyers and cruisers that bravely provided escort and support was not so simple.
Small and medium-sized ships caught in the explosion were either instantly melted down, turning into twisted and grotesque lumps of iron, or were directly torn apart by the shockwaves mixed with radiation.
Crew members in the high-temperature cabins wailed and died in despair; compared to their comrades who were sucked into space and instantly lost their lives, they were undoubtedly unfortunate.
Well, all of the above was just imagination; the tactical simulator is for simulating tactical command, not for adding drama.
But even so, when he heard the AI inform him that the enemy's self-detonation had cost him over twenty thousand sailors, Wien still felt incredibly distressed.
His main fleet's charge formation had completely collapsed!
His decision had caused so many soldiers to die instantly!
“This, this guy actually used his own damaged ships to self-destruct to block me?”
But at this moment, Yu Lian's Armory Ships, which had exited the explosion's core, stopped again, and then unleashed another round of insane, saturated shelling.
The onlookers’ murmurs had turned into a roaring clamor, and some people stood up and began to applaud.
They couldn't help but admire Yu Lian's audacious move.
Of course, they quickly reacted and began to boo in unison again.
The student council girls were all beaming with excitement, as if they had seen their home team, which had been playing defensively, score a goal through a counterattack.
However, Feifei’s willow-leaf eyebrows furrowed unnaturally.
She didn't like what she was seeing, even though she knew it was just a simulation.
However, Wien, at the heart of the matter, became calmer than ever before.
He knew that the more critical the moment, the more he needed to remain composed.
While enduring the enemy's shelling, he began to try and move all heavily damaged but still mobile warships to the periphery, finally managing to preserve the core three Dreadnoughts and five battlecruisers from the enemy's bombardment.
“Charge!” he told himself.
This was the only thing he could do now.
Sharp as he was, he had skillfully grasped the moment when the heat zone began to weaken and dissipate, launching one last all-ship assault with an almost suicidal determination.
He pushed the sub-light engine's efficiency to its extreme, disregarding even the impact on the shields, and thus, with a desperate attitude and covered in scars, he broke into the enemy's Armory Ship group, which was slowly retreating while firing.
Wien knew that, in terms of battle damage, he had already lost.
Precisely because of this, he had to destroy the enemy's flagship.
Only by “killing” Yu Lian would he not be considered a complete failure.
He continued to advance, also dedicating some thought to controlling the frontal assault ship group.
This time, the heavy cruisers and a portion of destroyers he had kept in reserve and not yet used finally proved remarkably effective.
With the addition of this fresh force, Yu Lian's aircraft and Lancer assault ships were finally defeated, breaking into the formation formed by the Guardian Ships.
At the 77th minute of the battle, Wien's scarred main fleet finally approached Yu Lian's flagship, an oversized Aircraft Carrier of the Dreadnought class.
But then, six assault landing craft were already circling the Aircraft Carrier, poised for an attack at any moment.
“He has assault teams… no, there must be spiritual energy user assault troops in one of those landing craft!” Wien’s heart sank.
He, of course, also had assault teams, but they were with the assault ship group.
As for his own spiritual energy users, they were with his reserve fleet and assault ship group, still slowly gnawing at Yu Lian’s impenetrable Guardian Ships, and couldn’t come to support him for a while.
“I can’t let him board!” Wien told himself.
Although he said this, his own warships were already heavily scarred, and without the anti-air defense of small and medium-sized ships, it would be truly difficult to stop the enemy's landing craft from boarding.
However, if he truly feared this and stopped his assault, the last chance for victory would be lost.
“Advance!” he ordered the computer.
The enemy's assault landing craft quickly slammed into his flagship, but Wien's fleet was still in a desperate charge.
The computer's AI adjutant kept reminding him where the enemy assault teams had broken through, occupied, or destroyed parts of the warship, but he seemed completely oblivious, focusing all his energy on this final assault.
I can succeed! he told himself.
Everyone watching held their breath, just waiting for the final result!
They had absolutely no idea that a 433 vs. 1000 match could be so full of twists and turns, so thrilling and poignant!
Now, only a dramatic and memorable conclusion was needed to provide a powerful ending to this great battle!
So, would Yu Lian's assault team capture Wien's bridge, or would Wien destroy Yu Lian's flagship first?
Another almost a minute passed.
For the spectators, this was the longest minute, and also the most crucial minute.
The assault team in the simulated world was already attacking the bridge, and Wien's Dreadnoughts had finally brought the Aircraft Carrier where Yu Lian was located within the range of their main guns.
Victory or defeat, in an instant…
However, just at this moment, everyone seemed to hear a “thump,” and the optical screen displaying the battle instantly turned into a somber black screen.
Immediately after, several school security officers, surrounding a lieutenant colonel with a face even more somber than the screen, strode into the venue.
This lieutenant colonel seemed to be a bit old, but his figure was still tall and robust.
More importantly, although he wore the arm patch of a Central Defense University instructor, he was dressed in a dark black Internal Guard uniform.
Today's third update, asking for votes.
And after today, as someone with clumsy hands, my explosive updates will probably end.
Then I will return to being a very disciplined two-update beast.
However, it's still the same: if the average subscription exceeds a thousand, I'll add an update, and then one more for every hundred increase.
Additional updates for patrons.
If the stored drafts reach the warning line, additional updates will be paused and then made up later…
Of course, I've talked with other authors, and the later plot might cross the line, so after this volume is completed, I'm afraid I'll have to revise the outline for the next volume.
But if I really need to take leave, I'll talk about it then.
