Chapter 448: Destroying a World_1
Appointing Betrand was a reluctant move by Jiang Yu. In the New Continent campaign, many high-ranking officers fought until the last moment, leaving Blue Maiden Star without any available generals.
Fortunately, a widespread real-time communication system had already been established. Once Betrand entered the battlefield, Cooper would command alongside him to prevent any accidents.
In November of the 47th year of the Shelter Era, Betrand arrived at the predetermined battleground.
Humanity had never intended to occupy the Silicon Star System, so they disregarded any safe distance and directly appeared sixty astronomical units from Silicon Star.
The Silicon Star People's Immigrant Fleet must have reported Cao Yang's previous raid to their homeworld, and in recent years, the fleets of the Silicon Star System began patrolling along the periphery of the system.
But a star system is simply too vast, and the Silicon Star People didn't have corresponding peripheral bases, making their patrol coverage very limited.
The sudden appearance of the Betelgeuse Corps on the outskirts of their system must have confused the enemies on Silicon Star, even if they had received early intelligence.
After all, this was their first time engaging in combat with human warships, and the oppressive feeling of the Lightspeed Spaceships was enough to alarm them.
This battle didn't attract much attention from the residents of Blue Maiden Star, as Cao Yang had already achieved too many victories over the years, and people had come to understand the capabilities of the Silicon Star People.
Everyone knew that as long as the range advantage of the antimatter weapons was utilized, they could completely grind the Silicon Star People into dust.
The continuous victories had built enough confidence among the people, and the once-prevailing fear of the Silicon Star People had long since vanished without a trace.
However, Jiang Yu and others still paid close attention to this campaign, as this was humanity's first time invading the homeworld of another civilization.
On the front lines, Betrand started deploying the Monster Cannon and activating the combat radar as per procedure.
Cooper added, "The warships responsible for covering should form a defense line on the left flank. According to the probes, there's an enemy patrol fleet there, and it's the closest enemy target to you."
"Yes!" Betrand, somewhat nervous, commanded, "All maneuver forces, to the left flank of the battle line!"
More than twenty minutes later, the combat radar was finally deployed, bringing the entire Silicon Star System under surveillance.
After consulting with Cooper, Betrand began ordering attacks on the enemy fleet closest to them.
The fight was easier than the interception battle initiated by Cao Yang, for most of the enemy's ships were in a docked state; apart from a few patrol fleets, there were hardly any forces capable of posing a threat to the Betelgeuse Corps.
The war had little suspense; after a dozen hours, having taken down two large enemy Charge Fleets, the enemy's charges clearly began to hesitate.
Betrand, becoming more adept in command, was preparing for an all-out offensive when communication staffer Ai La suddenly reported, "Commander, the enemy is requesting surrender!"
At that moment, Ai La was exceedingly excited. She was present when the Command Ship had received an enemy's terms of surrender over a decade ago.
At that time, she felt it was a disgrace to human civilization, akin to ancient agricultural civilizations capitulating to industrial and commercial ones because they couldn't win.
Now, the tables had turned, and the once mighty enemy had finally capitulated!
Betrand was momentarily uncertain, glancing in the direction of Jiang Yu and Cooper.
At that moment, Jiang Yu could be completely certain that the enemy's knowledge of the Dark Forest Law was indeed incomplete; otherwise, they would not have proposed surrender.
After some thought, he said to Ai La, "Reply to the enemy, we accept their surrender, but it has to be on the near-Earth orbit of their homeworld."
Cooper and Betrand were somewhat surprised; neither had expected Jiang Yu to actually accept the surrender of another civilization!
Ai La was also somewhat disappointed; back then, the enemy had not been merciful to human captives. Indeed, Earth's civilization was different from extraterrestrial civilizations; its inclusiveness was still strong.
Jiang Yu then told Betrand, "Aim the Monster Cannon at the enemy's homeworld, and be ready to fire at any moment!"
Bertrand's eyes flashed with excitement, "Yes!"
The enemy's charge had completely stopped, and the radar showed that they indeed started to assemble on their mother planet, which indicated that the Silicon Star People truly intended to surrender.
A few hours later, when the bulk of the enemy forces had gathered near Silicon Star, Bertrand reported to Jiang Yu, "Wallfacer, the Monster Cannon is fully charged and ready to fire at any moment."
Jiang Yu said to Ai La, "Switch to the public channel, I want to address all officers and soldiers!"
After a second or two, Ai La reported, "We have switched to the public channel."
Jiang Yu straightened his collar and began his address to all officers and soldiers, "Today is a historic day; everything that happens today will be forever remembered by humanity."
"Years from now, young people will inquire about today's events with admiration and curiosity!"
"Today is a historic day, and you are all a part of it!"
"Yes, we are about to destroy the enemy's mother planet, a grand feat for humanity, and a moment for us to avenge our past humiliations!"
"I hope everyone after today will have a completely new understanding of the Dark Forest Law!"
"Never be merciful to another civilization, think about all that has happened between humanity and the Trisolarans, how the weaker side also had the chance to destroy the stronger side's homeland."
"From now on, we must not harbor any delusions of luck, we cannot have any kindness toward the enemy, in the future, all of this will be considered foolish behavior that will cost us dearly!"
"Now I command, fire the Monster Cannon!"
The immense energy accumulated in the Monster Cannon burst forth in an instant, at this moment the Silicon Star People assembling on their mother planet were still completely unaware.
A few hours later, sixty thick streams of antimatter cannon shells hit their intended targets.
Through the probes launched earlier, everyone saw that this salvo first struck the densely packed enemy fleet surrounding Silicon Star, causing unceasing flashes of white light.
The fleets failed to block the artillery fire, and after a burst of brilliant white light, the remaining majority of the cannon shells hit the Silicon Star People's mother planet, immediately forming huge shock waves that tore through the planet's atmosphere.
These shock waves, like hurricanes, twisted the atmosphere of Silicon Star into swirls and would, within tens of seconds, spread across the entire Silicon Star and eradicate over eighty percent of its life forms.
Then came an intense flash of white light, and the planet Silicon Star was torn apart, with one half of the planet's mantle disintegrating and the other half developing fissures.
The entire planet was completely destroyed, its core flashing with a red light, as if uttering last words.
But quickly, without the protection of the atmosphere, the core dimmed, as though its life too had come to an end.
The whole of Silicon Star was unrecognizably devastated, no life could survive such a catastrophe.
While the enemy was still in shock, the Betelgeuse Corps's second round of artillery fire had arrived, adopting a "horizontal firing" technique.
That is, to fire while altering the angle of the cannon.
The horizontally fired shells spread wide upon impact, and given the unprecedented density of the enemy fleet, the barrage turned many enemy ships into flashes of white light.
Only then did the enemy snap back to reality and begin to scatter and flee.
Jiang Yu continued to order all officers and soldiers, "Press forward on all fronts, eliminate every single Silicon Star Person!"
When a very small portion of the enemy finally escaped the range of the Monster Cannon, Jiang Yu ordered again, "Pursue them! Even to the ends of the Earth and sea, do not spare any enemy!"