Chapter 2006: We Quit
Most of the space pirates' starships are space cruisers and space battlecruisers.
The goal is high speed and high maneuverability; otherwise, it would be easy to be surrounded and annihilated by the encircling fleet.
At this high speed, the space pirate fleet is approaching Squad Z03 at an extremely fast pace.
"All interstellar warships except for the White Dragon and the Blazing Flame, open fire on your own!" Fleet Commander Hou Sanyue issued the order.
She didn't explain any alternation of firepower or any particularly complex tactics.
Because under the current circumstances, this is the first time everyone is cooperating, and some interstellar warships may have only been in service for a few months.
In this situation, it would be quite an achievement if they could perform their own combat missions well, let alone cooperate with others.
At this point, if we emphasize cooperation and coordination too much, it may cause unnecessary trouble between the starships.
At this moment, on the aircraft carrier starship where Hou Sanyue was located, interstellar fighters and interstellar drones were also released.
However, there was no hasty attempt to seize air superiority.
Instead, they hovered within the star shield field of their fleet, waiting for the right moment to strike.
Before long, the cannonballs from the space pirates' starships struck their star shields.
Captain Li Hua could see the colorful ripples through the porthole.
This is the battlefield.
Like Captain Li Hua, there were also people on the bridge who were staring blankly, lost in thought.
But everyone's feelings were different.
Some were excited, some were thrilled, some were nervous, and some were terrified.
Before this, they had at most looked at those forwarded battlefield videos or holographic combat footage.
No matter how realistic the simulations are, they are still fake.
It is completely different from the battlefield I saw with my own eyes.
Right now, they are facing a real battlefield, a battlefield where they will die.
Don't get distracted!
"We could be thrown into battle at any moment!" Captain Li Hua reminded them.
Just then.
Captain Li Hua noticed that on the interstellar war map, on the right flank of the main battlefield, a dozen or so enemy interstellar warships had appeared, attempting to quickly outflank the enemy.
"Pass on my orders."
"All heavy artillery should adjust their direction to the right and be ready to fire at any time!" Captain Li Hua immediately gave the order.
The wealthy female secretary next to him looked at Captain Li Hua with surprise: "We haven't received orders from the fleet commander yet. Isn't it a bit inappropriate to act on our own initiative like this?"
"We must obey orders, that's for sure."
But on the battlefield, a fighter jet is an opportunity.
"We must think about what the leaders have thought of and be prepared to deal with it!" Captain Li Hua said confidently.
Just then, a voice came from the command channel.
"White Dragon, enemy ships are attempting to flank and outflank in the area of **/**/** coordinates."
Your starships will unleash overwhelming firepower!
"Suppress these interstellar warships at all costs!" Hou Sanyue's order rang out.
Without hesitation, Captain Li Hua reported, "White Dragon received!"
He then immediately ordered the weapons department: "Did you hear me?"
"Fire!"
The heavy cannons that were already prepared on this T4 Gorgon-class heavy interstellar gunship gleamed brightly at this moment.
One after another, beams of light shot out.
Several interstellar warships landed in that area.
The star shields of the space pirates' starships withstood the attacks, and they did not choose to retreat.
Most of them were previously professional soldiers, so their combat skills are by no means low.
They know exactly what they should do now.
Only by continuing the charge and the attack can we succeed!
"Adjust the attack area and focus our strikes on this area!" Captain Li Hua made a slight adjustment to the position of the area covered by the firepower.
Don't underestimate these local adjustments. In a large-scale scenario involving hundreds of thousands of interstellar warships, such micro-management might not be very effective.
However, in a small battlefield with dozens of interstellar warships, this one maneuver can make a big difference.
A barrage of bullets rained down.
This forcefully cut the speed of those interstellar warships in half, making it impossible for them to accelerate again.
After the White Dragon's attack ended, the remaining flanking space pirate starships found themselves surrounded by more than a dozen space destroyers from Squad Z03.
In addition, they had just withstood too many attacks with Star Shield, which had severely depleted its energy.
At this point, the difficulty of continuing to withstand attacks from these star destroyers is unimaginable.
And their fate was already sealed.
After several tens of minutes of fighting.
The space pirates' starships quickly suffered casualties.
After the Star Shield's energy was exhausted, a T4-class star cruiser was directly subjected to artillery fire from enemy ships.
The ship's armor was gradually destroyed until it reached its limit.
The entire T4 star cruiser was bombed.
During this period, the Flame-class interstellar missile ship was used as a precision strike weapon, firing wherever needed.
Compared to interstellar heavy artillery ships, it provides more precise support on the battlefield.
The concept of a starship is all about sheer force and explosive power; it doesn't care about accuracy, just fire first.
As one interstellar warship after another fell to the space pirate fleet.
The battle shifted from enemy charges and infiltrations to a chaotic melee.
At this time, some problems of the Z03 squad were also exposed.
That is the difference in combat proficiency between interstellar warships, as well as the lack of combat experience.
For example, there was a T4 star destroyer that was fighting well in its position.
Star Shield still has about 30% of its energy remaining, so it is entirely possible for them to continue.
However, it was in front of it that three enemy star cruisers launched a joint attack.
This made the captain of the star destroyer somewhat nervous, and he ordered his star destroyer to retreat.
This retreat could have serious consequences.
This resulted in its friendly ships on both flanks being surrounded.
What was originally a defensive line of walls.
Now a gap has appeared.
The friendly ships next to us, which were originally only required to defend against attacks from the front, were suddenly attacked from the flanks as well.
This resulted in a significant increase in the pressure on friendly ships.
Hou Sanyue also noticed this situation.
He immediately reprimanded and gave orders in the command channel.
However, these interstellar warships are able to maintain a disciplined and orderly operation in their daily lives.
However, now, on the actual battlefield, some problems will continue to emerge.
This also led to the first interstellar warship of Squadron Z03 being destroyed by the enemy.
It was the star destroyer located at the gap that was torn open, whose flank was exposed due to the sudden retreat of the starship next to it.
After the Star Shield was completely depleted, there was no time to remove it.
The starship's armor was torn apart by close-range bombardment from several enemy star cruisers.
The entire interstellar warship seemed to be on fire.
Captain Li Hua stared at the star destroyer, and the others on the bridge also witnessed this scene.
Some were angry, some were worried, and some... were afraid.
During these few weeks together, some starships got to know each other.
And coincidentally, this destroyed interstellar destroyer had a good relationship with their White Dragon.
Because the other party's captain was also a young man, a boy from a small family. As he was not the eldest son, he was basically not qualified to inherit the family business.
He himself doesn't actually have any talent.
Fortunately, he had a loving mother who, after learning of his idea, used her savings to buy him this interstellar destroyer.
Let him boldly pursue his dreams.
Because he wasn't the eldest son in the family, no one cared about the second son's thoughts or the dangers of his actions.
During the conversation, Captain Li Hua could hear the excitement and expectations for the future in the voice of the second son captain.
He wanted to build a large interstellar fleet, even without relying on his own family.
He will also become his mother's pride.
He also said that wherever he went in his starship, he would take pictures and record the local scenery and send them to his mother.
His father had many wives, but he only had one mother.
Now, this mother will never hear from her son again.
This is the cruelty of the battlefield.
Captain Li Hua clenched his fist.
This was just a minor incident.
Ultimately, after reinforcements arrived, the group of space pirates was completely annihilated.
Their Z03 squad suffered casualties on two starships, and several other starships sustained some damage.
Looking at the two friendly ships that were burning.
Very few people were able to evacuate from the starship.
The second son of the family did not come down.
Although the battle was won.
But Li Hua was not happy at all; he stared at the two flames through the porthole.
If... if it wasn't them in those two flames, but his own White Dragon.
But what about the people behind him?
Captain Li Hua was somewhat confused and worried.
He wasn't actually afraid of death; at least, that's what he thought before.
But now he doesn't think that way anymore; he can face death without fear.
However, he was not the only one fighting on a starship.
There was also a starship with more than a thousand people on board.
And his friends.
"Captain?" came the worried voice of the wealthy female secretary from behind.
She naturally noticed the worry in her captain's heart.
When Captain Li Hua turned around, his face had returned to normal, showing no sign of worry.
He smiled and said, "We've completed our first combat mission."
This mission's points are several times higher than all our previous escort missions combined.
However, it's not completely over yet.
We must not let our guard down.
Relay my orders.
The weapons department inspects our weapons to ensure they are functioning properly, and then refuels them.
The Star Shield's energy also needs to be restored as soon as possible.
In addition, each department should conduct a self-inspection.
We remain in a state of combat readiness until we receive the order to end the mission.
"yes."
Under Captain Li Hua's orders, everyone remained vigilant.
However, it was obvious that the atmosphere at the scene was different.
Time passed little by little.
Soon, the higher command officially announced the successful completion of the mission, and all participating interstellar warships could collect their mission points.
After receiving the notification, Captain Li Hua also informed the entire ship.
The entire crew cheered and celebrated their first combat mission.
Captain Li Hua also arranged a celebration banquet, bringing out some precious food and drinks for everyone to celebrate properly.
Captain Li Hua himself began writing this captain's log.
He recorded everything that the White Dragon experienced, thought, and summarized.
Finally, he closed the page.
"Finished writing?"
A soft voice came from behind me.
Captain Li Hua turned around and looked at the wealthy female secretary who had appeared behind him at some point.
"Didn't you attend the victory celebration banquet?" Captain Li Hua asked, somewhat surprised.
The wealthy female secretary shrugged and directly pulled Captain Li Hua's wrist, leading him towards the starship's dining room: "This is a celebration party for the first combat mission of our White Dragon."
You are our captain.
"With the captain absent, can this still be called a victory celebration?"
Captain Li Hua was pulled to the starship's dining room by his wealthy female secretary, where fireworks went off.
Everyone cheered.
Captain Li Hua was supported in the middle.
Everyone had a great time at the celebration party.
Captain Li Hua did not treat everyone unfairly. All crew members received an extra month's salary and were given a week's paid leave upon returning to port!
With these benefits and perks, everyone is even more eager to hear Captain Li Hua's voice.
The celebration lasted for several hours.
However, Captain Li Hua managed to control his mental state, as a captain.
As long as he remained on the starship, he had to ensure that he remained mentally alert.
At this moment, several people walked up to Captain Li Hua.
These are all mid-level managers.
They wore expressions of guilt.
When Captain Li Hua saw them, he knew they had something to say to him.
"Don't just stand there like idiots."
Just say what you have to say.
"We're all good friends!" Captain Li Hua said with a smile, but no one spoke.
Captain Li Hua pointed to the brother who used to be his closest friend.
"Old He, you tell us."
Just say what you want to say.
There are no captains here now, only us brothers who play together.
Old He looked at Li Hua, made up his mind, and said, "Li Hua."
I know that we agreed beforehand to fight side by side on this starship.
But... we only realized this after we actually experienced the war.
It turns out that real war is completely different from what we imagined.
That's not a game, that's not a hologram.
It is a real battlefield, a battle where death is inevitable.
We...we...have discovered that what we like is not the real battlefield, but perhaps just the fantasy of it.
Therefore, we request to withdraw!