Chapter 1326 Space Fortress, Ilxia Offensive Operation (1)

The most critical feature that distinguishes between an assault landing ship and a warship like the Swan is not the size or whether it can jump, but whether it has a reactor.

This is the most important part of the entire ship. Nearly one-tenth of the budget of a warship is spent on the reactor-related parts.

It is the core of the warship's ability to fight for a long time. Otherwise, no matter how large the energy pool is, it is impossible to support the warship in a fierce artillery battle for several days.

Although the reactor power of warships varies, the charging speed is still very fast.

Li Chengxi's operation directly consumed 90% of the energy of the Swan, which is actually not a big problem, after all, it is not an immediate battle.

With the power of the Swan, it can be fully charged in a few hours to maintain the current normal sailing state, which will not delay things.

Besides, there are supply ships following the fleet.

Alyssa sent a message to the fleet commander, saying that there were some faults on her ship. Although the faults have been eliminated, some energy has been lost and emergency supplies are needed from the supply ship.

When a ship sails in the void, various problems will inevitably occur, which is why a large number of mechanics are equipped on the ship.

The fleet commander didn't even ask what the malfunction was, after all, it was not uncommon, and immediately called in a supply ship, and used a large pipe to inject liquefied magic into the energy storage pool of the Swan, just like refueling in the air.

This was just a small episode in the eyes of the fleet commander, and he would not pay too much attention to it after confirming that the malfunction of the Swan had been eliminated.

As a captain, he didn't really care what kind of machine the driver drove out, but Alyssa was very concerned about whether Li Chengxi would make another big news, mainly because his previous record in this regard was too serious.

Putting aside what happened on the Swan, the fleet still sailed according to the designated route.

It can be clearly said that the enemy has learned that the Third and Fifth Fleets are close to the space fortress Ilxia. The next siege will be very difficult, and they must also guard against whether the enemy will attack halfway, so the reconnaissance fleet will also go ahead and conduct reconnaissance in front.

This is also why the fleet ended the jump a few hours away from the fortress. Their whereabouts could not be hidden. They could not even form a formation when they jumped directly to the fortress. That was waiting to be beaten. It is better to form a formation at a safe distance and then approach steadily.

Although the crisis of national extinction has not been completely overcome, there is no need for the Xuanshui Federation to gamble now. This operation has time requirements, but it needs stability more.

The choice of the fleet commander cannot be said to be wrong. Warfare is a tricky way. It is necessary to observe and be cautious. It is not wrong to seek stability.

It is just that we have to wait for a few hours of regular navigation before we can start fighting, which makes people wait impatiently.

During these few hours, Fang Lanyin made some adjustments to the new body in the hangar, mainly making targeted changes according to Li Chengxi's operating habits.

It took Li Chengxi a month to make the Lionfish feel comfortable. Only a few hours can be changed slightly, and there is still a lot of running-in.

–--——---

The actions of the fleet cannot be hidden. The third and fifth fleets of the Xuanshui Federation did not encounter an ambush on the way to the fortress. It is possible that the defenders of the Red Maple Republic believe that relying on the fortress for defense is more likely to win than defending halfway.

This is mainly because their troops do not have an absolute advantage.

After several hours of sailing, Alyssa received a combat alert from the commander. All ships in the fleet entered combat status and quickly fine-tuned their formations, ready to fight at any time.

At this time, the optical sighting equipment of the Swan could not see the shadow of the enemy, only the twinkling stars.

But after following the fleet for a while, I found that the twinkling stars I had just seen were actually the engine lights emitted by warships, so dense that I couldn't count them at a glance.

This description sounds like the number of enemy fleets is huge, but in fact it is not.

The enemy fleet stationed here is the one that was damaged on the front line. It is not fully staffed. In addition, there are about 300 squadrons coming from the Red Maple Republic as a supplementary force. If the intelligence provided by the agents is correct, the total number of enemy troops stationed in the space fortress Irsha will not exceed 1,000.

Although the third and fifth fleets of the Rotating Water Federation have just participated in the Meteor Operation and are not fully staffed, the two fleets together have more than 1,200 warships, which still have a certain advantage in terms of quantity, but it does not constitute a crushing.

After discovering each other, both fleets sounded the battle alarm and deployed their formations immediately.

The Red Maple Republic's fleet must be in a defensive formation. After all, they are not in a numerical advantage. If they deploy an offensive formation to bombard each other, they will be courting death.

The Third and Fifth Fleets of the Rotating Water Federation split into two groups after entering the combat state, and used an offensive formation to encircle the enemy from the left and right, moving forward in an inverted figure eight posture.

The advantage of doing so is that the firepower of each warship can be fully utilized, and the fortress can be captured as soon as possible.

The characteristic of the Rotating Water Federation's pincer attack is that it must be fast and cannot be delayed. If a fierce battle is fought here for several days, it will give the enemy time to react. In this way, it will not be able to quickly cut off the enemy's logistics supply line and turn the enemy fleet deep into the territory of the Rotating Water Federation into an orphan.

The Swan was mixed in the Fifth Fleet's cruiser formation and was not a main battleship.

When the Swan's sighting system could clearly see the outline of the enemy fleet, the flagship of the Fifth Fleet fired the first shot.

The flashing ion beams cut through the tranquility of the void, like a starting gun. The fifth and third fleets that were flanking from the left and right opened fire on the enemy fleet guarding the fortress.

Of course, the enemy would also fight back.

Because the Red Maple Republic fleet was in a defensive formation, and the targets came from the left and right sides, the already limited firepower was dispersed.

This resulted in a very low density of firepower for the counterattack, which would hardly pose a threat to the main fleet. And precisely because it was a defensive formation, their ships took turns to resist damage, and the firepower of the Swirling Water Federation did not cause much impact.

Of course, no impact does not mean no impact.

A cruiser to the left rear of the Swan was hit by a stray bullet from the counterattack firepower. It might be a large-caliber ion beam from a starship or battleship. In an instant, the cruiser exploded, and the orange flash was reflected on the glass of the bridge.

War is like this, not to compare whose technology is better, but to compare whose life is tougher.

The Swan tried to keep its mobility and hide itself behind the shadow of the fleet. Now is not the time for the cruiser to set off.

Although not the main fleet, the mission of the cruiser is the key to the outcome of this battle.

Don't forget that the mission goal is not to destroy the enemy fleet, but to recapture the space fortress Ilxia.

The main fleet cannot keep bombarding and approach Ilxia, and the transport ships transporting infantry have no combat power.

The cruisers and mobile aircraft carriers, including the Swan, escorted these transport ships to land.