Starting from the Planetary Governor

Chapter 1014: Chapter 548, Hunting Time

When the Alliance Main Fleet led by Gu Hang pierced into the enemy’s heart like a sharp sword, Adler Politos and Wang Mengsong, with their Fury Fleet, were not idle.

They abandoned one strategic stronghold after another, yet quietly launched their counterattack within the Alliance-controlled zone.

They bypassed the Alliance’s reconnaissance, moving like phantoms through the boundless darkness, entering areas controlled by the Alliance.

Their target was the three battlecruisers left guarding the rear of the Alliance.

They indeed couldn’t withstand the spearhead of the Alliance’s main forces and were unwilling to engage in a strategic showdown. However, after the main Alliance forces had left, relying on two combat barges and a Retribution-class Battleship, they were fully capable of sneaking up from behind the Alliance.

The additional combat barge was the flagship of the New World Torch: ’Torchlight’.

It had been under repair all along and had only recently returned to the battlefield.

The three main ships had a substantial advantage in direct combat power over the three battlecruisers left behind by the Alliance.

If they lined up for a direct broadside, a single Retribution-class could topple the three battlecruisers, not to mention the two combat barges.

However, the maneuver advantage of the battlecruisers still existed. The Alliance Navy would have to be incredibly foolish to choose direct confrontation with the Fury Fleet.

Relying on their mobility, the three battlecruisers wouldn’t be easy to catch.

Politos also knew that successfully luring and surrounding the three Alliance battlecruisers was by no means an easy task.

But it could be attempted, and if successful, the rewards would be tremendous.

A squadron composed of several smaller ships chose an Alliance transport fleet for harassment.

This was a common tactic, and both sides had clashed over such attacks and counterattacks many times over the past few months.

But this time, the Fury Fleet decided to ramp up their efforts.

Within the attacking squadron were two Lunar-Class Cruisers, posing as though they knew the Alliance’s escorting forces had strengthened, so they too increased their force allocation.

The attacked Alliance transport fleet ran towards a heavily fortified planetary orbit on their route under the cover of the escort fleet and stood their ground.

Generally speaking, at this point, the Fury Fleet should have obediently withdrawn.

The Alliance escort fleet was not that powerful, and the combat effectiveness of some armed merchant ships was poor, while the planetary orbit defense system hastily constructed over the past few months was quite imperfect…

But still, it represented a complete set of defensive measures. It was difficult to gnaw through with just two Lunar-Class as the main force, at least not quickly.

Over time, there might be a chance; but before then, the Alliance’s remaining battlecruisers would have arrived.

If they delayed, the Lunar-Class, which was not a high-speed cruiser or a light cruiser, would have a hard time escaping once caught by the battlecruisers.

However, this time, the marauding fleet of the Fury showed some impatience, relentlessly attacking the deeply entrenched Alliance transport fleet.

Until they detected that the battlecruisers were already transitioning through the Star Realm Tunnel at this star system, they reluctantly gave up and turned tail to escape.

But before they reached the jump point, three Alliance battlecruisers arrived and charged at them fiercely.

The two Lunar-Class ships presented a highly attractive target for the resting Raving Crow, Winged Flight, and Korolya.

This was a rare opportunity to eliminate part of the Fury Fleet’s strength and weaken its overall power. The Lunar-Class Cruiser was also a valuable large ship. Destroying two would significantly harm the fleet’s capabilities.

However, this was only the first step of the Fury Fleet’s plan.

The ’panicked’ two Lunar-Classes, along with their squadron, hurriedly made their way to the jump point, barely managing to make it into the firing range of the three Chalice-class before initiating their jump.

In the process, several warships had already been shot down and destroyed.

Then, the captains of the three Chalices that reached the jump point held a brief exchange, and finally, Fleet Commander Major General Bai Qifan made a decision:

Pursue!

They had considered the possibility of a trap but quickly dismissed it.

Their enemy’s panicked retreat did not seem feigned.

Moreover, if it were truly bait to lure them deep, there should be a trap on the other side.

But the opposite side of this jump point was also within Alliance-controlled territory. They had received no reports of enemy fleet activity there and had conducted a stellar communication with the spatial station set on the opposite jump point without any reports of enemy presence.

Under such circumstances, the risk of pursuit seemed low.

Thus, the three battlecruisers and their smaller companions also initiated the jump.

After about three Terra Days, they had almost traversed the Star Realm Tunnel, about to exit, returning to the real universe.

However, at this moment, the psychics serving as navigators on the ships suddenly issued dense warnings: they detected enemy vessels at the jump point, including three massive ships!

At this point, the captains of the three Chalice-class cruisers were all in panic.

Had they stepped into a trap after all?

But at this point, there was no turning back.

If they had known this information a few or ten hours earlier, they might have had time to abort the jump and retreat.

But now, it was too late.

There was no time to ask why the observatory towers of this star system had not detected the enemy main fleet’s presence in this star system in advance, nor could they question why the jump point’s warning space station had not relayed any information.

These questions were significant before, but at this moment, they mattered little.

What they had to consider was how to survive the trap.

The only solace was that the Fury Fleet did not want to alert the Alliance ships by coming out of ambush prematurely; they lifted their silence and showed up only when the Alliance ships were at a point of no return in their jump, then swiftly headed towards the jump point.

Under these circumstances, the three Chalice-classes of the Alliance wouldn’t immediately face widespread cannon fire right after re-entering the real universe, before switching from jump engines to conventional ones, and having yet to activate their Void Shields in vulnerable stages.

Yet, the situation remained extremely dire.

Just as the Alliance ships completed their shield activation and engine startup, the enemy ships had already arrived.

Should they immediately initiate a jump again to escape?

They quickly dismissed this option.

During the phase of jump initiation, under the firepower of three massive ships, at least two of the Chalice-classes, with their fragile frames, would perish during the jump initiation process.

This was unacceptable.

If two battlecruisers were lost, whether or not Fleet Commander Bai Qifan died here, he would undoubtedly face a military tribunal afterwards.

Forget about other small vessels, they could be sacrificed, but the large ships had to be preserved!

The three Chalice-classes began maneuvering at full power!

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