Outside the mountain, the fierce battle was in full swing, but inside, Ou Zhanpeng was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. He repeatedly emphasized that he was a combatant, but Gong Yiding wouldn't listen. He absolutely refused to give him combat equipment, and instead ordered him to stay put in the base, not even allowing him to participate in carrying supplies.
The pampered young master Ou was so enraged that he kept tearing at his hair, almost turning his scalp bald.
Fortunately, only good news was being relayed back, and their side was gradually gaining the upper hand. He slowly calmed down.
Xu Qing really wanted to scold him, but at this moment, she couldn't bring herself to say anything accusatory.
Was she supposed to say, 'Don't go, I'm worried about your safety, just stay here and let others take the risks'? If she dared to say that, Ou Zhanpeng would have argued with her fiercely.
The enemy ships in the sky, seeing that the swarm could not break through, immediately became restless and changed course to approach the battlefield.
Upon detecting the enemy ships' movement, the base immediately launched missiles. All laser cannons with firing angles were aimed at the area where the enemy ships were about to appear.
Although they had lost the support of laser cannons, light cannons only accounted for a small portion of human firepower, so the battlefield situation would not change because of this.
The enemy ships ultimately did not dare to show themselves. After destroying the missiles, they retreated.
Perhaps realizing that the swarm tactic was useless, the frantically attacking insect horde voluntarily retreated, intending to disengage and regroup.
Xie Yu also felt that it was not cost-effective to fight the robot dogs head-on. He proactively recalled some of the robot dogs and assigned them to non-combat personnel to reload ammunition around the clock.
At the foot of Landing Mountain, the corpses of swift dogs and the wreckage of robot dogs piled up to form a dike, with gray-brown interspersed with silver-white on the outer side, and silver-white with a hint of gray-brown on the inner side.
Before long, Xie Yu discovered the insect swarm gathering in the distance, and his heart bloomed with joy. He ordered the troops to prepare, and when he felt the time was right, he decisively ordered an airstrike on the insect swarm.
Dozens of individual missiles and hundreds of artillery shells and grenades flew towards the target. After a fierce bombardment, hundreds of giant insects met their end on the lunar surface.
The death of a few hundred insects was nothing. The remaining giant insects still numbered in the tens of thousands, but the alien species fell into extreme distress.
If they gathered the swarm, it would inevitably attract bombardment. But insects were creatures that relied on numbers for victory. If they couldn't gather in groups, how could they talk about impact or breakthrough?
For a time, they were caught in a dilemma.
While the alien species was in trouble, the base was not. Xie Yu couldn't even wait for all the robot dogs to be ready. The first batch of two thousand, as soon as their ammunition was loaded, was sent out of the base to counterattack the hovering insect swarm in the distance.
The counterattack of the robot dogs marked the doom of the insect swarm.
The giant insects, acting individually, were no match for the robot dogs. When they gathered to counterattack, they would be bombarded by the assault teams. Although the remaining giant insects were numerous, their annihilation was only a matter of time.
The battle was not yet over, but Landing Mountain had already secured victory.
It was now past two o'clock in the morning on March 22nd, with 4 hours and 26 minutes remaining until the countdown ended.
With no time to clear the battlefield, Landing Mountain sounded the alarm again. Everyone entered the base, and the newly constructed warship modules were launched into space. The technical personnel worked at full capacity to assemble them, with completion estimated in half a day.
This warship had no name yet, only the hull number 028, meaning it was the 28th ship in the Expeditionary series.
Still in the early morning of the 22nd, around 4 a.m., with 2 hours and 32 minutes left on the countdown, the alien fleet approached the 36,000-kilometer defense line. Forty-seven human warships blocked the enemy's path.
On the Arctic aircraft carrier, over two hundred aerospace fighters were ready for launch.
With two soft beeps, Ling Xiao heard the order from the bridge: "Polar 01, launch fighters!"
"Received!" Ling Xiao responded. "All units, attention! Prepare for squadron launch!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the hangar bay doors opened, and four electromagnetic catapult channels began charging. The fighters parked in the assembly hangar were like bullets chambered in a rifle, one after another, loaded into the catapult channels.
As the commander of the air force, Ling Xiao's aircraft was the first to be catapulted from the carrier. He felt an intense push from behind, and the navigation lights illuminating the channel instantly became a single line in his eyes.
In the blink of an eye, the fighter detached from the warship.
Behind him, more fighters were launched from the carrier, quickly forming four massive fighter formations.
Ten kilometers away, the Antarctic aircraft carrier simultaneously launched its fighters. Ultimately, over four hundred fighters converged into a torrent, dispersing into six groups that separated from the fleet and spread out around the fleet, covering its flanks.
Ling Xiao did not have Ou Zhanpeng's sharp eyesight, but he had the assistance of various equipment. He immediately saw the alien warships releasing a large number of space fighters, which were also deployed around the enemy ships.
His heart suddenly tightened.
Their side only had two aerospace carriers, while the enemy ships could each release fighters. Even if the enemy fighters were incredibly crude, no one dared to underestimate the enemy's strength based on sheer numbers.
The two sides took their positions, and the great battle was about to begin.
At 4:22 AM Beijing time, the Joint Command issued the combat order. A warship belonging to the European Union fired the first missile of the battle.
In an instant, forty-five warships unleashed a barrage of artillery fire. The tracers of the shells, the fiery trails of the missiles, and the scattered laser beams filled Ling Xiao's vision, forming a colossal barrage that almost obscured the battlefield.
If one were to stand on the ground and gaze at the starry sky at this moment, they could see the crisscrossing lights in the sky with the naked eye.
Lasers were the first to hit the enemy ships, but a faint light film immediately appeared on the surface of the enemy ships, blocking the beams while simultaneously retaliating. Invisible beams cut across the battlefield, and rapidly flying missiles detonated in succession, the flashes of the explosions merging into one.
Moreover, the enemy ships fully intercepted the missiles, ignoring the artillery shells and lasers. Soon, countless artillery shells hit the light film and detonated, as if a layer of fire enveloped the enemy ships.
Witnessing this scene, everyone's hearts sank simultaneously.
Landing Mountain had indeed mastered shield technology, but its production volume and effectiveness were far inferior to the original version. It was only installed on their own warships, and could only block frontal attacks.
The externally sold version could also be optionally equipped, but the price was prohibitively high, scaring away many of their allies.
However, the arrow was already on the string and had to be fired. It was impossible for humanity to abandon the fight and surrender just because the enemy had shields.
At the critical moment, a voice echoed through all the warships: "I am Zhou Guangyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Joint Fleet. Today, we are here, regardless of country or race, to face a common enemy. I want to say that behind us is Earth, and we have no retreat, nor can we retreat. Either we destroy the enemy's warships and win, or we run out of ammunition and charge headfirst, perishing together with the enemy!"
*Bang* - Zhou Guangyi slammed his fist on the table, his finger fracturing on the spot. He tightly clenched his trembling hand, biting his lip and remaining silent.
If he had enough time, he had many more things to say, but the battle had already begun, and this was all he could say.
At this moment, it was a battle of no retreat. On the Swift Edge, Captain Gu Haibo shouted hoarsely, "Fire, fire—"
"fire—"
"otkpыtboгohb—"
At the same time, many similar voices reverberated through the warships. At this moment, everyone's eyes were fixed only on the enemy ships. The only thing they had to do was to pour all their firepower onto the enemy ships.
The human fleet's firepower was even more ferocious, completely disregarding whether they could penetrate the alien warships' turtle shell.
The aliens remained as before, completely ignoring the artillery shells and lasers, with all their firepower dedicated to intercepting missiles. Furthermore, the alien fleet was not continuing to lower its altitude, but maintained its current distance from the human fleet.
Taking a few artillery shells or beams was not a big deal, but being hit by a nuclear missile was a different matter. Even the alien warships would have to meet their end on the spot.
In just half a minute, each ship had expended half of its ammunition. If they couldn't break the deadlock before running out of ammunition, humanity would face only failure.
In the Joint Command, Zhou Guangyi's gaze swept over everyone and suddenly said, "I order the Antarctic and Arctic to hold their positions, and the First and Second Fleets to accelerate and charge the enemy ships!"
More than anyone else, he knew that someone had to set an example at this moment. He couldn't count on others, so he could only place his hope in his own people.
The generals in the command center were stunned by Zhou Guangyi's order.
Everyone present was a seasoned commander and understood what this order meant.
"Behind us is Earth," Zhou Guangyi stared intently at the battlefield on the screen. "I have no choice."
After a brief hesitation, General Levi slowly stood up: "We have no choice either, заросcню, Ura!"
General Sam also made up his mind: "We have no way out, do we?"
The generals from Europe exchanged glances and immediately made the same decision.
Facing the formidable alien fleet, no one could retreat.
Upon receiving the order, China's First and Second Space Fleets, consisting of 12 warships, accelerated with all their might and ferociously charged towards the enemy.
Over four hundred fighters also received the order at the same time and accelerated towards the enemy.
The proactive advance of the two formations seemed to inject a shot of adrenaline into the other human warships. The Russian fleet immediately followed, with cheers of "Ura" echoing endlessly.
The U.S. fleet, the European Union fleet, and fleets from other countries followed suit, as if they had entered a berserk mode, charging towards the enemy without regard.
Humanity had no other choice but to fight for survival!
The Swift Edge followed the fleet forward. Looking around, friendly forces were unleashing their full firepower everywhere.
However, the enemy ships remained unhurried, focusing all their efforts on eliminating missiles. Gu Haibo, horrified, discovered that the missiles were exploding closer and closer to the warships, with some missiles being destroyed by the aliens as soon as they flew out of the warship, before they could even accelerate!
The lights in the bridge suddenly flickered, and a voice roared, "Bow hit, shield strength 87%…72%…59%…"
As the shield strength continued to decrease, Gu Haibo became increasingly anxious. At this moment, the ships received a new order to simultaneously launch smoke bombs, and the fleet was immediately enveloped in thick smoke.
Laser cannons could not be used in the smoke, but electromagnetic cannons and missiles were unaffected.
Moreover, the human warships were not stationary but moved stealthily within the smoke, quickly transitioning from a diagonal formation to a single file column. Through data synergy, six warships moved up and down in unison, executing a series of evasive maneuvers.
The Swift Edge was in fifth position. The artillery fire from the enemy ships was blocked by the warships at the front, and its shield strength began to recover.
Seemingly realizing that the human fleet posed a greater threat, the enemy retreated to maintain distance while drawing more firepower to engage the smoke.
In less than half a minute, the shield of the Thunderclap, the lead ship, was depleted and had to retreat to the tail of the formation, with the second warship taking its place.
When it was the Swift Edge's turn, its shields had only recovered to 80%, but it only lasted for 16 seconds before the shields dropped to 35%, forcing it to retreat to the rear—each warship's endurance was short, and the subsequent warships did not have enough time to recover.
On its second turn at the front, the Swift Edge's shields were only at 64%, and after 11 seconds, it retreated to the rear.
On the third round, it lasted only 7 seconds.
By the fourth round, everyone realized the consequences of continued rotation.
The Thunderclap's shield strength dropped to 28 after taking just one hit. It should have retreated, but it did not move and continued to hold the front line!
An anxious cry came over the radio: "Thunderclap, withdraw, withdraw!"
A resolute voice responded: "We cannot withdraw, brothers. Hurry up and recover. We can't hold on for much longer."
For a moment, there was a deathly silence over the radio.
The next second, the Thunderclap's shields instantly dropped to 3%. After 4 seconds, the strength became zero.
However, the Thunderclap still held the front line, enduring half a minute of fierce bombardment from the enemy ships even after losing its shields.
At 4:41 AM, the Thunderclap lost power.
The following Sky Cleaver immediately took its place, and with its 68% shields, it bought the friendly forces 1 minute and 34 seconds.
The Sharp Blade, 2 minutes and 14 seconds.
The Soaring Cloud, 2 minutes and 42 seconds.
Four consecutive friendly ships were sunk in front of the Swift Edge. Gu Haibo felt as if a volcano was erupting in his chest, expanding his chest to the point of bursting: "Plasma cannon ready, engage afterburners!"
The Swift Edge, flying at full speed, accelerated even further and suddenly broke through the smoke—the enemy ship was directly ahead, within plasma cannon range!
The 16 plasma cannons on both the port and starboard sides fired simultaneously, hitting the target instantly!
The faintly visible shields instantly glowed with radiance, then shattered with a thunderous roar.
"Shields penetrated!"
"Fire, fire—" Gu Haibo roared, and the Swift Edge unleashed its full firepower. Shells, missiles, lasers, and even close-defense cannons joined the attack, creating bursts of explosive fire on the enemy ship's surface.
The enemy ship retaliated fiercely, and the Swift Edge was hit repeatedly, its shield strength instantly depleted.
But the Swift Edge had gone into a frenzy, and Gu Haibo roared, "Ram it, ram it—"
Facing the Swift Edge's disregard for its own life, the aliens panicked. The enemy ships immediately evaded, and all their firepower concentrated on the Swift Edge.
This was merely an instinctual reaction to danger, but it was also the last straw that broke the enemy ship's back.
Flying missiles broke through the enemy ship's defensive network and hit it in succession.
The darkness of the void was suddenly illuminated by the flashes of nuclear missiles, followed by the second, the third…
Over a dozen missiles hit in succession. When the last flash faded, the enemy ship had completely disintegrated, with most of its hull vaporizing, leaving only a few scattered fragments.
The target was gone, and the expended missiles automatically locked onto targets and flew towards other enemy ships.
The Swift Edge, with unstoppable momentum, rammed through the distorted wreckage and launched an attack on another alien warship.