I had expected Smoking Uncle to object, but instead, he fell into a thoughtful silence, his expression contemplative.
"As for the main assault mission, my fleet will take charge.
Your two fleets will be responsible for luring and pinning down two of the Mechanical Race interstellar fleets, while Shen Bing's T2 Starship will cover the fleet formation and provide battlefield support when necessary," Zhao Chen explained his plan.
"Isn't this... a bit risky?" Leather-clad Woman voiced her concern.
Smoking Uncle, however, stared intently at Zhao Chen. "Kid, how confident are you?"
"If your two fleets don't drop the ball and can buy us at least half an hour, I'm one hundred percent certain. The shorter the time, the lower our chances of success," Zhao Chen replied.
"Half an hour..." Smoking Uncle muttered to himself before finally declaring straightforwardly, "Alright, we'll go with your plan."
Zhao Chen was surprised that the uncle had agreed. But this actually made things easier for him, saving him the trouble of further persuasion later.
Even without the help of these two fleets, Zhao Chen had a way to deal with this Mechanical Race interstellar fleet, but the Interstellar Transport Ship Fleet would likely suffer significant losses.
That would make his mission not worth the effort.
Exactly!
Just as the Mechanical Race interstellar fleet appeared, the system had assigned Zhao Chen a mission.
It was because of this mission that Zhao Chen had devised a tactical plan focused on protecting the interstellar fleet.
[Mission Content: Starship Transport Fleet Escort
Mission Difficulty: B-level
Task Reward: 20 Task Points and 5,000 points
Additional Task: Preserve as many T1 interstellar transport ships as possible (300/300)
Mission Penalty: Deduct 5,000 points]
Among these, there was an additional task: to protect three hundred T1 interstellar transport ships. The more T1 interstellar transport ships survived, the greater the reward.
After assigning the combat missions, Zhao Chen began preparing to hunt his first prey.
Secretary Officer Lilith had already prepared the relevant data pages nearby.
There was one main data page and two sub-data pages.
The main data page displayed the battlefield for the Fierce Dragon Fleet.
The two sub-data pages showed the battlefields for Leather-clad Woman's and Smoking Uncle's fleets, detailing their respective fleet starships and the opponents they would face.
"According to the data retrieved from the database, the enemy's thirty starships consist of twenty-one T2 Mechanical Guard-class medium interstellar frigates; six T2 Mechanical Dog-class medium interstellar destroyers; and three T2 Wolverine-class medium interstellar cruisers," Lilith quickly pulled up the data for these three types of starships.
She also displayed image data and holographic images of the three starship models.
All three models featured a heavily mechanical style, with ship hulls painted in a black iron color—a distinctive characteristic of Mechanical Race starships.
The design was rugged, devoid of any artistic flair, with everything optimized for efficiency.
"In other words, what we have to deal with are seven T2 Mechanical Guard-class medium interstellar frigates, two T2 Mechanical Dog-class medium interstellar destroyers, and one T2 Wolverine-class medium interstellar cruiser." Zhao Chen focused intently on the battlefield on his side.
On his side, there was one T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship and five T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigates.
Six T2 starships versus ten T2 starships.
They were at a numerical disadvantage.
Zhao Chen pondered for a moment before decisively issuing the order: "The T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship will move out of the formation of the Interstellar Transport Ship Fleet and form a triangular combat formation with the five T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigates."
"Understood." Lilith immediately relayed the command.
The T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship moved out of the formation of the Interstellar Transport Ship Fleet.
This action was observed by the fleet commanders in the other two battlefields.
"My god, this kid actually moved his carrier starship out! Doesn't he know that carrier starships should stay as far away from the battlefield as possible? At least within the interstellar transport ships, there would be more 'cover'." Smoking Uncle complained.
The leather-clad woman stared at the star map with a stern expression.
Bridge of the T2 Hyena-class Medium Interstellar Destroyer
Shen Bing stood at the front of the captain's chair. Due to the shortage of bridge crew, she had to take on three roles herself, so naturally, she couldn't sit in the captain's chair as casually as Zhao Chen.
Liu Lili exclaimed beside her, "Classmate Zhao Chen, why did he move the carrier starship out... This... the enemy will definitely target his carrier starship first!"
Then she muttered quietly, "Speaking of which, I haven't figured it out these past few days. Where did he get this carrier starship from? I never heard of him having such a carrier starship back at the Academy."
During this escort mission, the carrier starship Zhao Chen possessed surprised the crew on Shen Bing's starship, and they were all curious about where Zhao Chen had obtained this carrier starship.
Shen Bing stared at the cursor on the starship radar representing Zhao Chen's carrier starship and said seriously, "Zhao Chen intends to lure the enemy in. His advantage lies in that T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigate. I've watched the recording of his battle at the Academy. The strength of this T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigate lies in its terrifying hull armor strength, but its firepower configuration is lacking. If it keeps chasing enemy ships, it's easy for the enemy to kite it. Now, using that T2 carrier starship as bait, the enemy's starships will swarm in to attack. And once the enemy ships close in, the T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigate can unleash its close-combat capabilities!"
Liu Lili covered her mouth. "This... this is too crazy. Using his own flagship... and a carrier starship at that... as bait... what if..."
"On the battlefield, you have to take some risks and pay some costs!" Shen Bing clenched her fist—this was something she had just learned.
As expected, the ten Mechanical Race starships, upon spotting the enemy's carrier starship, immediately accelerated, heading straight for that T2 carrier starship!
Bridge of the T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship
Zhao Chen raised his hand and pointed at the cursor representing the T2 Wolverine-class medium interstellar cruiser.
"When I give the order, destroy that Stellar Cruiser first. It's faster than an Interstellar Frigate and has stronger firepower. We cannot let it survive."
The captains of the five T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigates were now awaiting the commander's order.
Like five wild beasts held back by chains.
Meanwhile, the Mechanical Race Starship across from them remained completely unaware of what it was about to face.
Soon, both fleets entered firing range, and the Mechanical Race Starship opened fire first.
At this moment, the five T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigates acted just like ordinary Interstellar Frigates, forming a defensive line in front of the T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship. Their Close Defense Cannons continuously intercepted the incoming attacks.
Before long, the Ship Hulls of the five T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigates came under fire.
However, a single shot from the T2 Wolverine-class medium interstellar cruiser's Laser Main Cannon merely left a wound several dozen centimeters deep on the Starship Armor of the T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigate.
"Attack!" Zhao Chen's low voice echoed in the ears of the five captains on the bridges of the T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigates.
Simultaneously, the five 'beasts' charged forward through the enemy's artillery fire!