Chapter 367: Each Concealing Their True Strength_1

The command center of Wu Xinghai plunged into complete darkness in an instant, a truly terrifying event, as though having finally reached the enemy position and about to fire, only to suddenly go blind.

To be plunged into darkness in space was even more terrible, indicating that the entire spacecraft had been paralyzed.

Wu Xinghai had experienced the Battle of Uranus, joining the secretly conducted second crew augmentation Future Plan. He appeared to be only in his forties but had ample combat experience:

"Immediately search for the cause of the warship's malfunction, maintenance personnel to your stations, try to restore power to the entire ship as quickly as possible!"

In the pitch darkness, no matter what commands the commander issued, as long as his voice remained calm, it could provide immense courage to everyone.

But the staff quickly discovered, not only were the lights out, all the electronic instruments on the spaceship had malfunctioned as well.

In the darkness, a long dozen seconds passed, emergency lights came on, the ship's emergency communication equipment was activated, and the emergency power supply rebooted the central computer.

At the same time, the simulated sand table in front of Wu Xinghai reappeared, and right after, everyone noticed that the situation between the enemy and us had changed drastically.

The tactical staff were somewhat flabbergasted, "Milky Way No. 2! Did you make a mistake because you just booted up?"

Only to see that the enemy had sixteen warships, which, during the spacecraft's brief paralysis, had already penetrated into the first echelon!

And one squadron of the first echelon had been reduced to just a few dozen warships, clearly the work of these sixteen warships!

Milky Way No. 2: "No mistake, this is indeed the latest battle situation!"

Wu Xinghai immediately understood, "These sixteen enemy warships maintaining their posture unchanged was not because they were brewing something; it's more likely they were sixteen target ships.

"While the real warships had already entered lightspeed! When they reached the proper position, their allies created the opportunity, and they then immediately broke away from lightspeed to launch their assault!

"At the same time, to confuse us, they had released sixteen 'antimatter bombs,' making us think that the lack of maneuverability of those sixteen spacecraft was because they were aiming!"

The technology staff didn't know whether to ask Wu Xinghai or themselves, "Does that mean our radar can't capture lightspeed targets?"

Then he answered his own question, "No, no, no, not that we can't capture them, but by the time we do, the enemy ships have already arrived in front of us!"

He exhaled a long sigh, "Lightspeed is truly the greatest chasm between us and the enemy!"

The tactical staff were a bit puzzled, "Then why didn't the enemy maintain lightspeed? If they always operated at lightspeed, we would absolutely never catch them!"

Wu Xinghai speculated, "At lightspeed, they also had no way to attack us!"

Only then did the technology staff remember, "The enemy's Second Fleet broke away from lightspeed six thousand astronomical units from the Sun, definitely not because of the influence of the lightspeed engine's energy!

"If there was such a big impact, our formations would have been scattered by the energy fluctuations long ago.

"So why did they break away from lightspeed at such a great distance?"

This wasn't a question for the military personnel to worry about. The tactical staff were more curious, "Why didn't they use this tactic from the beginning?"

The assault of these sixteen vanguards, had it appeared at the start of the war, would have caused immense psychological pressure on the first echelon!

Wu Xinghai once again judged with a soldier's keen sixth sense, "It's the doing of the 'Sophon Blind Zone'! The enemy does not know our every command, nor are they aware of the performance and firepower of our spacecraft.

"So at the start of the war, they also did not dare to attack rashly!

"Only after we had exposed the range of ordinary spacecraft did they begin to execute the battle plan that had been designed long ago!"

The communications staff finally reminded everyone, "All communications restored! Commander Aiqi has asked about the battle situation; I've reported it.

"Other flagships within the echelon have also regained control one after another and have begun to encircle the enemy's vanguards!"

"The range of ship paralysis this time is very extensive, affecting not only the first echelon but also some warships of the third echelon behind us on the left!"

Wu Xinghai looked at the simulation sand table; at this point, the casualties among the warships of the first echelon were mounting, while the sixteen enemy warships still seemed to have suffered no damage:

"Ask the relevant units, how is the enemy's firepower? Do they have any obvious tactics?"

Soon, a flood of battle reports came in, some in text form. Since some were quite close, there were images or even videos!

In one blurry photo, a group of commanders finally got a glimpse of what the enemy warships looked like.

They appeared as white dumplings with halos behind them.

Indeed, the Trisolarans' warships were spherical, markedly different from the elongated warships of the Solar System State.

In a video clip, the commanders witnessed the enemy's fierce firepower!

Hundreds of warships from the first echelon exchanged fire with the sixteen enemy vessels, yet were scattered and pummeled by the sixteen.

The key was that the enemy's defensive system seemed capable of blocking the antimatter cannon's attacks. Many times they hit their mark, but the enemy ships remained completely unscathed.

Milky Way Two immediately analyzed this intelligence, "We have no chance of winning; let's retreat."

This is why warships do not rely entirely on artificial intelligence. For instance, under the current circumstances, it's clearly disadvantageous for the first echelon. Retreat would be the only choice for artificial intelligence.

But sometimes, even when you know you can't win, you can't retreat.

Sometimes, if you retreat, you'll never be able to advance again.

Wu Xinghai and others ignored Milky Way Two. After the tech staff carefully analyzed the enemy's firepower, they concluded, "Their weapons are also antimatter weapons, but much more powerful than ours.

"Moreover, I speculate that their energy source is dark matter, which can provide several times, even a dozen times, the energy of nuclear engines!

"That's where their advantage lies!"

The operations staff added, "Their defense system is likely based on amassing a large amount of material ingeniously to neutralize the antimatter projectiles.

"Once we deplete the material they've amassed, we can hit them."

Milky Way Two, however, said, "It's useless; they will keep amassing..."

Wu Xinghai cut it short, "Milky Way Two, refrain from joining our discussion for now."

He then said to the communications officer, "Report to Commander-in-chief Aiqi, I recommend the use of my trump card!"

The operations officer was startled, "Isn't it too early?"

Wu Xinghai pointed at the sixteen enemy warships, "Their role is the same as the first echelon: to attract fire and gauge our strength.

"If we don't eliminate them immediately, the enemy's firepower will be able to strike our headquarters!

"We have no choice but to let them succeed, to display all of our strength."

Back in the rear echelon, Aiqi received Wu Xinghai's request and immediately said, "Wu Xinghai's judgment is very accurate!

"Order, form the Monster Cannon!"

The Monster Cannon was a name given by Jiang Yu, because it was a behemoth, initially called the "Godzilla Cannon" by Jiang Yu.

Latterly, researchers consulted the archives and believed that such a massive weapon should not be named after an ancient monster unfamiliar to most, which is why they renamed it the Monster Cannon.