"Does that mean we have hope now?" Liu Lili asked happily.
Shen Bing, however, said in a serious tone, "But there's a problem with this plan."
"What?" Liu Lili blinked.
"Insufficient firepower! The T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigate severely lacks firepower. While its ramming attack tactics are effective against T2-class starships, how long would it take to damage the starship armor of that T3 Black Iron-class medium interstellar destroyer? During that time, the T2 Black Rhinoceros-class medium interstellar destroyer might be destroyed one by one by the T3 Black Iron-class medium interstellar destroyer!" Shen Bing clenched her fist.
"Then... what do we do?" Liu Lili panicked again.
Shen Bing stared at the video screen, waiting for Zhao Chen's arrangements. Since Zhao Chen dared to do this, he must have a backup plan!
T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship
"Report, the five T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigates have reached the effective range for 'short-range assault'! Although each T2 Black Rhinoceros has sustained varying degrees of damage, their overall combat capability remains unaffected!" Lilith reported.
"Execute the second step of the combat plan!" Zhao Chen said solemnly.
"Understood. Commander's orders! Execute the second step of the combat plan!" Lilith relayed Commander Zhao Chen's command.
On the battlefield, the five T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigates accelerated almost simultaneously. Despite their starship armor being riddled with scars and even cracks dozens of meters long, their speed was unaffected.
The five T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigates began to surround and attack the T3 Black Iron-class medium interstellar destroyer in a semi-encirclement formation.
The 50 T2-grade 300mm caliber heavy close-in defense cannons equipped on each T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigate unleashed a barrage of firepower.
If these were ordinary T2 starships, they would have been turned into sieves long ago. Unfortunately, this was a T3-level starship.
Its star shield deployed, blocking attacks from one direction. Attacks from other directions landed on the starship armor of the T3 Black Iron-class medium interstellar destroyer, leaving raindrop-like marks. Although numerous, their destructive power was minimal.
"Prepare for ramming attack!" The captain of T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigate No. 1 gave the order first.
Speed increased once again as the Great Black Horn slammed heavily into the starship armor of the T3 Black Iron-class medium interstellar destroyer. However, instead of a penetrating wound like those inflicted on T2 starships, only a small breach appeared!
This demonstrated the difference in starship armor between T3 and T2 starships—they were not on the same level.
The other T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigates also began ramming!
Meanwhile, the secondary cannons of the T3 Black Iron-class medium interstellar destroyer returned fire, and its recharged pulse laser main cannon targeted these close-range enemy ships.
The frontal armor of one T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigate was blasted open, creating a large hole. Fortunately, the T2 Black Rhinoceros's starship armor was sturdy enough; otherwise, it might not have been just a large hole.
But in this situation, it couldn't withstand many more shots!
"The lack of firepower has been exposed." Shen Bing bit her red lips lightly, her worried heart once again hanging in suspense.
Faced with this situation, Commander Zhao Chen remained expressionless.
"Initiate the third step of the combat plan!" Zhao Chen ordered.
"Understood, initiating the third step of the combat plan!" Lilith began relaying the command.
The command was transmitted.
An astonishing scene unfolded: from the five T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigates engaged in ramming attacks, several cabins on their ventral hulls opened one after another, releasing small objects.
"Stellar drones!" Shen Bing recognized these released objects at first glance.
They were unmistakably the stellar drones from the T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship!
In total, there were over fifty units of T2 Killer Bee-class medium stellar drones and fifteen units of T2 Hornet-class heavy stellar drones!
The five T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigates, originally engaged in ramming attacks, began to halt their assaults. Instead, they used their close defense cannons to suppress the firepower of the T3 Black Iron-class medium interstellar destroyer's close defense cannons!
Under the covering fire of the T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigates, the T2 Hornet-class heavy stellar drones targeted the largest hull breach created by the ramming attacks and dropped their bombs.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
If there were any human race starship crew aboard this T3 Black Iron-class medium interstellar destroyer, they would undoubtedly have heard the thunderous explosions reverberating through their ship's hull.
After a round of bombing by the T2 Hornet-class heavy stellar drones, the originally small breach expanded dozens of times in size!
Then, an even more astonishing scene unfolded.
The T2 Killer Bee-class medium stellar drones began diving one after another, crashing into the torn breach in the starship armor at astonishing speeds.
Explosive flames flashed and vanished in an instant.
"These stellar drones are carrying explosives!" Seeing the explosive flashes, Shen Bing immediately deduced that the drones were loaded with explosives!
The combination of explosives and the drones' own detonations amplified the destructive power!
Ten units... twenty units... thirty units... forty units...
Observers would notice that the weapon systems on one side of the T3 Black Iron-class medium interstellar destroyer's hull had ceased firing, indicating a malfunction in its weapon system module.
Yet, at this moment, the suicide attacks by the stellar drones showed no signs of stopping.
After the T2 Killer Bee-class medium stellar drones concluded their suicide attacks, the T2 Hornet-class heavy stellar drones followed suit, diving down to become part of the expanding bursts of explosive flames!
Liu Lili covered her mouth in astonishment. "This..."
"This is Zhao Chen's plan! Since the T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigates lack sufficient firepower, stellar drones were concealed in advance within their cabins.
The T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigates carried them close to the T3 Black Iron-class medium interstellar destroyer, then launched bombing runs followed by suicide attacks!" Shen Bing's eyes gleamed with excitement.
The explosive flames and smoke gradually dissipated.
The hull armor on one side of the T3 Black Iron-class medium interstellar destroyer had been torn open, revealing the cross-section of an internal bulkhead. From a distance, the breach in the ship's hull looked as if a chunk of flesh had been carved out of a giant black fish, exposing the bones within!
At this moment, the fate of the T3 Black Iron-class medium interstellar destroyer was clear. Facing the ensuing onslaught from the T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigates, it ultimately met its end "with bitter regret."
It probably never imagined that a proud T3 Starship like itself would be ganged up on and destroyed by a group of T2 Starships.
After that, the regrouped T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigates, coordinating with the uncle's fleet, carried out the final cleanup of the remaining Mechanoid interstellar warships.
The battle, which lasted nearly an hour, had finally come to an end!
Zhao Chen sat in the captain's chair and let out a long sigh.
"Lilith, assess the battle damage. Then arrange for the T2 Black Rhinoceros-class interstellar heavy assault frigates to patrol the surrounding area. Given our current situation, we can only wait here for reinforcements to arrive," Zhao Chen ordered.
"Yes!"
[Mission Content: Starship Transport Fleet Escort
Mission Difficulty: B-grade
Task Reward: 20 Task Points and 5000 points
Additional Task: Preserve as many T1 interstellar transport ships as possible (279/300)
Mission completed. Task Reward available for collection]
Zhao Chen's system notified him that the mission was complete.
Since there was nothing else to do at the moment, he decided to collect the task reward to calm his nerves.
[Task Reward collected: 20 Task Points and 5000 points]
[Additional Task: 279 interstellar transport ships preserved. Mission completion rate: 93%]
[Additional Task Reward collected: Obtained the Technical Blueprint for the T2 Lion King-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ship]
Zhao Chen jolted upright!
An Interstellar Missile Ship?
A Starship Type known as the Interstellar Arsenal Ship!
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