The meeting concluded, and the leaders immediately launched into intense discussions, with the primary point of contention being whether or not to dispatch the Starship.
Zhou Guangyi was unequivocal: "The other warships are too slow. By the time they reach the destination, Earth might already be a frozen wasteland. Only the Starship can reach the enemy's territory in the shortest possible time and complete the strategic objective of deterring the enemy!"
"But what about Earth? Isn't that too risky?"
Zhou Guangyi's gaze was profound: "I believe this risk is worth taking!"
The two sides presented their arguments, locked in a stalemate. Both had valid points and compelling arguments, neither able to persuade the other.
"Let's put it to a vote, the minority obeys the majority," suggested Shan Qiuyu.
The leaders unanimously agreed and initiated a vote using the traditional anonymous method. In the end, the radical faction won by a narrow margin.
The decision was made, and the leaders then began debating the detailed implementation plan.
A full four hours later, Ou Zhanpeng received the order from headquarters: Go all out and prepare to execute the deterrence mission!
From this moment on, the Starship base entered a state of full combat readiness. The first priority was to activate the temporal bubble to construct the remaining warships in the shortest possible time.
During this period, under Gong Yiding's leadership, the research team installed a brand-new power system and control system for the base, ensuring basic functions could be maintained even after the Starship's departure.
While activating the temporal bubble was out of the question, the life support system, artificial gravity, and the normal operation of various compartments and hatches were all functional, ensuring the base's normal operation without impacting ongoing research.
Deterrence was not actual combat, but it could not be taken lightly. Moving such a large base not only affected its speed but also significantly increased the probability of detection.
More importantly, by leaving the base in the solar system, the impact would not be too great even if something happened to the Starship.
Twelve days later, the temporal bubble closed, and a total of fourteen warships emerged from the Starship base. After being fully crewed, they were officially organized into two new fleets.
From then on, the military possessed a six-ship fleet and two seven-ship fleets.
Among them, the publicly revealed six-fleet formation was named the Earth Fleet, while the secretly assembled seven-ship fleets were named the Mars and Jupiter Fleets, respectively.
According to military arrangements, the Earth Fleet was stationed on the Moon, responsible for Earth's defense. The Mars Fleet was hidden in the asteroid belt, ready to support Earth at any time in case of war. The Jupiter Fleet was stationed at the Starship base, responsible for the base's security.
In addition to the warships, Ou Zhanpeng also custom-designed a brand-new defense system for Earth.
Simply put, this system was based on particle disintegration cannons and formed an extremely large defensive network with a radius of 380,000 kilometers, by establishing several orbital firepoints at Lagrange points, on the Moon's surface, and in orbits at different altitudes.
To build this system, Ou Zhanpeng utilized all weapon systems not used by any fleet, not only the original versions but also numerous imitation versions that far outnumbered the originals.
The imitation versions were less powerful and had a shorter range, but humans could manufacture them themselves, capable of overwhelming enemies with sheer numbers.
"My requirement is very simple!" Ou Zhanpeng declared, holding up one finger at the defense system design meeting. "No matter which direction the enemy fleet appears from, they must be able to destroy twelve enemy ships in an instant!"
Thus, several small and medium-sized celestial bodies of varying sizes and shapes, along with a batch of disguised asteroids serving as wireless power transmission nodes, appeared in Earth's outer space, unnoticed.
Their only commonality was that they revolved around Earth.
The official media promptly announced the discovery of several minor celestial bodies orbiting Earth, speculating they were remnants of the second battle, thereby concealing the origin of these celestial bodies.
Whether the general public believed it was not the main point; the key was to have a plausible explanation.
The military also had contingency plans. If any unwarranted doubts arose, they would immediately release various pre-prepared rumors to confuse the public's perception.
In reality, it was not the general public's knowledge that was the concern, but rather that other Blue Star小伙伴 might covet the weaponry and equipment within the asteroids. If an impudent individual managed to steal a couple, creating a loophole in the defense system, it would be a significant problem.
The new defense system was not considered complete once deployed. It underwent a secret test at minimum power, yielding positive results, and officially began its combat duty. Only then did Ou Zhanpeng breathe a sigh of relief.
The military had also made comprehensive considerations, ordering Ou Zhanpeng to relocate the Starship base to the outer reaches of the solar system.
Although the Jupiter system was complex, Jupiter itself was too conspicuous at the moment, and the base could no longer remain there.
Ou Zhanpeng not only concealed the base deep within the Kuiper Belt but also thoughtfully activated the quantum interference system, rendering all observational methods ineffective unless viewed with the naked eye.
From then on, all external communications for the base were conducted through the Jupiter Fleet. Whether departing or returning, wormholes had to be opened within the range of quantum interference. Even if the enemy discovered that their warships were opening a wormhole, they would not be able to pinpoint the exact exit location!
Of course, this required some technological support, but the research team had already mastered this technology, ensuring it would not affect friendly ship movements.
Finally, and most importantly, was the task of modifying the Starship, or more accurately, crafting a suitable disguise for it.
There was no other way; taking the Starship to enemy territory for a reconnaissance mission was pointless if the enemy had no idea where the spaceship came from. The Starship had to be disguised as a Lie Ya-class to make the enemy understand the origin of this warship.
To this end, the research team conducted numerous experiments, including how the warship would externally mount the disguise, whether the disguise would affect the warship's speed, whether carrying the disguise would allow passage through wormholes, and whether it could be seen through technological means.
After obtaining the results, the technical team led by Gong Yiding manufactured an external camouflage layer using lightweight alloy. Once installed on the Starship, it closely resembled a Lie Ya-class.
Furthermore, the technical team also manufactured several auxiliary ships for the Starship, which, when mounted on the warship, were indistinguishable from genuine Lie Ya-class vessels.
However, excessive burden would affect the warship's speed, so these auxiliary ships were merely hollow shells without independent combat capabilities.
Ou Zhanpeng wished he could have made them actual auxiliary ships. A formidable fleet formation flying in the skies above the four planets would ensure no one ever mistook them.
However, the auxiliary ships were not purely a burden. The internal structure of the Starship was extremely precise, and no one dared to tamper with it. The design team thus decided to install mushroom bombs inside the auxiliary ships. With Ou Zhanpeng's persistent advocacy, the auxiliary ships were equipped with propulsion systems, transforming them into four heavy missiles.
Although missiles and auxiliary ships were worlds apart, they looked identical on the surface, exhibiting a high degree of deception and achieving the effect of passing off the counterfeit as genuine.
At this point, all preparations were complete, and everything was in place, awaiting the opportune moment.