Chapter 15: Close-Range Destruction

After the Antimatter Annihilator Cannon was fired, the fleet continued its advance.

Although the thrusters were shut down during charging, the fleet's inertia kept it moving forward.

"Estimated time of arrival at the target planet is 32 hours."

Upon hearing this reminder, Yan Xia made a decisive decision.

"Let the battleships and landing ships take the lead."

"Ensure the destruction of all enemy ships in the planet's orbit, and after the landing ships touch down, deploy all drones to establish absolute control over the planet's surface."

The battleships and landing ships were sent ahead to eliminate the enemy ships in space, preventing any interference with the main ship, the Hope.

This move also served as a test to see if the enemy had any hidden trump cards.

Ella immediately executed the plan.

She slowed down the Hope and other ships, allowing the battleships and landing ships to reach maximum speed.

Thirty hours later, the battleships encountered the enemy ships.

The enemy ships quickly gathered, and countless laser beams lit up the space, adding a touch of vibrant color to the cosmic backdrop.

The enemy, confident in their defenses, waited for the lasers to hit the battleships. But to their surprise, under Ella's control, the battleships and landing ships performed a ballet-like dance, elegantly dodging all the laser beams.

As an AI, Ella possessed absolute computing power, with a processing speed billions of times faster than that of living beings.

Any calculation was instantaneous for her.

Long-range lasers could only be detected when they reached their target, but at close range, predicting their path was possible by analyzing the direction of the laser cannon's muzzle.

Despite the close-range situation, not a single laser beam hit the battleships.

The battleships, as the primary offensive force of the First Fleet, were also under Ella's control. They fired absolute zero missiles in retaliation and launched dozens of armor-piercing shells from each ship.

Countless projectiles were fired without giving the enemy ships time to react.

Although the enemy civilization had highly developed magnetic technology, one of the four fundamental forces, their ships' defensive capabilities were inadequate.

When the 30-centimeter armor-piercing shells, carrying tremendous kinetic energy, struck the enemy ships, they instantly tore through the hulls.

Optical cables were exposed, emitting blinding light.

The ships seemed to be powered by light, and when the cables were severed, they lost their ability to transmit light.

Ella observed that the dangling cables on the enemy ships were dimming.

The absolute zero missiles arrived, and the cold seeped through the breaches, instantly incapacitating the enemy ships.

Seeing this, Ella intensified the firepower.

This threw the enemy ships into chaos.

"High-power signal transmission device activated."

"Prepare to hack into the enemy ships' control systems..."

Ella intended to disrupt the enemy ships using wireless signals.

However, the enemy civilization differed significantly from Earth's civilization, and there were limited gains from this approach. Ella discovered that the enemy used light signals for communication.

She analyzed these light signals.

"The enemy is too strong!"

"What's the situation on the ground? How many casualties are there?"

"Most of our buildings are underground and should be unaffected."

"Hurry, hurry! The enemy ships are closing in. Their maneuverability is far superior to ours; we must create distance. Our weapons are less effective at close range."

"We've lost three more ships."

"Use the light pollution tactic!"

Ella processed countless pieces of information and translated them into Earth's language.

These aliens had an extremely complex way of thinking.

Suddenly, the enemy ships stopped firing, and the red strips on their hulls began to glow brightly.

Within three minutes, they became as bright as stars, emitting high-energy gamma rays.

The intense light blinded the cameras on the enemy ships, and many instruments were affected by the barrage of photons.

The enemy was stalling for time, and more ships were gathering.

"The enemy ships seem to have stopped!"

"Our light pollution tactic seems to be working."

"All ships, prepare to fire at the enemy ships."

Countless light fiber cannons on the enemy ships aimed at the First Fleet's battleships and landing ships.

"Perfect timing!"

Ella allowed the enemy ships to gather, as a scattered formation would have been disadvantageous.

"Open all landing ship compartments..."

"War God Generation One fighters, initiate ignition..."

"All fighters, deploy!"

"Destroy the enemy ships in close combat!"

From the four landing ships, 1200 War God Generation One fighters emerged in an orderly fashion within five minutes.

These fighters accelerated to 600 km/s in just 13 hours, enduring 13 Gs of acceleration, and headed towards the enemy ships.

The enemy ships were stunned by the large number of fighters.

Their weapon systems were in disarray, unsure of which target to prioritize.

"Ignore those small machines; focus on destroying their main ships."

These aliens seemed to have a commander, and Ella quickly located their position.

She directed the War God fighters to attack the enemy's flagship.

The four landing ships moved in front of the battleships to serve as a defensive layer.

Countless laser beams struck the landing ships, melting their surfaces. Within half an hour, the enemy lasers penetrated the landing ships' hulls, and they were expected to hold out for no more than five minutes.

Fortunately, they were close enough to the enemy fleet.

The fighters reached the enemy ships.

Countless bullets rained down on the enemy, targeting the slow-moving ships.

However, the bullets' power was limited and could only tear through the weaker parts of the enemy's hull.

"Are these small machines just toys?"

"It seems our enemy has no other tricks up their sleeve."

"All ships, converge and fire. Don't stop until we've breached their defenses and continue the attack."

"Fifth and Sixth Fleets, intercept the enemy's rear fleet."

"..."

"Wait, we're receiving information from the ground. Information from the ground..."

"The command center has restarted the ground weapons. It's estimated to take two refractions (alien time) for the enemy's weapon to recharge, and they are doomed. This is our revenge for the millions of our companions who died."

The optical information was transmitted back and forth between the fleets, and the aliens were momentarily excited by the good news.

But in the next instant...

One of the approaching fighters turned into a burst of light, not fire, but the annihilation of matter and antimatter.

Photons radiated outward, carrying tremendous energy, and in the blink of an eye, swallowed a ship, erasing half of its hull.

Each War God fighter carried 100 grams of antimatter, and its explosive power reached over 400,000 tons of TNT, more than a hundred times the combined power of the two nuclear bombs used in war on Earth.

And this was just the beginning.

One by one, the fighters initiated suicide attacks, creating a series of dazzling explosions in space.

It was a terrifying yet beautiful sight.

Nearly 400 enemy ships were affected by the explosions, and half of their fleet lost combat capability.

At the same time...

Twelve battleships fired 240 absolute zero missiles, continuously striking the stunned enemy ships.

These 240 missiles instantly covered a section of the sky.

This was what Ella meant by "perfect timing."

Only when the enemy ships were gathered could their weapons achieve maximum effectiveness.

The cold continued to engulf over a hundred enemy ships.

Meanwhile, the rear fleet arrived, and five star cruisers swiftly joined the battle.

The situation became more favorable.