Chapter 346 Double loss of position, tactics and strategy
In the high tower of the city defense headquarters, Imperial Fist Captain Hornthorne.
As the person in charge of the defense system of the entire planet and even the galaxy, he is closely observing and accepting real-time dynamics from various areas on the ground.
Judging from the situation he has received so far, the first layer of defense circle constructed by Olphia's fleet - Star Fort - Star Port has been lost due to enemy penetration;
And the star port he can control now - the ground transportation orbital station - the second defense circle built by the defense fortress outside the Holy City only serves as a reverse blockade against the enemy.
This embarrassing situation is a humiliation to all the Sons of Dorne.
As the commander of this company, the only thing Hornthorn wants to do now is to catch these bugs that have entered the Holy City one by one and crush them to death.
But he couldn't do this. At least for procedural justice, he had to wait for the battle sisters to ask for help.
"Report!"
"speak!"
"Letter from the Holy Hermit Monastery, the inner city defense circle has been lost.
The sacred object has been lost and is being traced.
Her Excellency, Grand Sister Alia Medeiros, Mother Superior of the Order of the Silver Shroud, was killed in a sniper attack;
Other monasteries have also encountered similar sniping operations. The Holy Hermitage hopes that we will shrink the encirclement and provide necessary assistance. "
This is what you've been waiting for!
Hornthorn suddenly turned around: "Initiate contact with the Ultramarines!"
The communications sergeant input instructions to the meditator in front of him, and accurately connected to the communication link of the Ultramarines Chapter within a few seconds.
"Tell me, how can we help you?"
Stuart, the Captain of the Ultramarines on the other side of the screen, had no nonsense and allowed the Imperial Fists to actively initiate a link to them, which in itself explains the problem.
Looking at the background of the battleship bridge behind Stewart, Hornthorne also knew the other party's location.
These descendants of Guilliman were always full of strategic vision and quietly arrived above the orbit of Ophelia 7.
"Take our place and hold the second cordon until we get rid of the bugs!"
"Well...I have a better idea..." Stewart said...
After a brief conversation, the two decided to exchange tasks, making full use of the convenience of the Ultramarines' in-orbit strikes and saving the time of completing the blockade on foot from the ground.
The Imperial Fists remained in place to maintain the operation of the second defense circle, while Stewart's Ultramarines were responsible for launching direct strikes from above the orbit.
Seeing the Ultramarines completing the communication link with the Battle Sisters, the airdrop pod jumped out of the clouds in the sky and drew precise trajectories toward the ground.
Hornthorne looked at the extinguished red dots on the map one by one, and the infiltrators locked in the edge areas of the inner city and the outer city after the Ultramarines entered, finally trying to get the situation that was about to get out of control back on track. Take a breath.
However, it was too early for him to relax.
Just when the shameful thief was sealed in the inner city and was about to be found by the battle sisters and ultramarines who were surrounding him.
A warning from the Ophelia Orbital Transportation Center made Hornthorne's heart suddenly drop.
"Astropaths send an alert!
A huge shadow is approaching from the Warp!
The target refuses any communication requests and ignores his communication requests, approaching Manzeville Point at high speed!
A breach in subspace is about to appear! The defense fleet requests instructions! "
"Authorized to fire!" Hornthorn gritted his teeth and responded, but he no longer had any expectations in his heart.
At this point in time, an unknown visitor appeared who refused to contact him. He really couldn't take any chances with the identity of the visitor;
However, the orders from the ground to the fleet need to pass through the orbiting star port as a relay. This usually inconspicuous time difference has become a fatal flaw in the planetary defense system after the Ultramarines left orbit!
As if reflecting his guess, from the ground observation perspective, in the universe not far from Ophelia 7, the power of subspace condensed in a short time.
During the stiff and slow adjustment of the battle line of the defense fleet, the originally blank space instantly spit out an entire fleet from Chaos after huge energy fluctuations!
Boom boom boom!
The anti-ship light spear arrays from the ground and star forts fired fiercely, releasing the first wave of strikes on the enemy before the defense fleet.
However, the enemy who jumped out was obviously well prepared.
At the front of the opponent's beveled triangle-shaped formation, a battleship took the lead. After absorbing all the firepower with its void shield, it stayed put and allowed the battleships behind it to switch positions and push against the front of the formation.
The hastily formed array of the defensive fleet seemed to occupy a favorable position and was bravely relying on Ophelia's satellite orbit to tilt its firepower towards the flanks of the enemy ships;
But in the eyes of the two Astartes Captains, they had actually made a fatal mistake.
"Keep your distance! Keep your distance!"
The two Astartes wished they could be there in person, but they could only watch from the ground as the enemy advanced under the attack of the fleet.
The distance between the two fleets has reached medium and short range, and if they go further, they will enter the range of each other's space torpedoes.
The small escort fleet is stretching crazily towards both sides of the main fleet. While competing with the enemy escort fleet for a favorable angle to release torpedoes, it is also constantly using artillery fire and even itself to block the opponent's torpedoes fired at the main fleet. .
The last obstacle that hindered the main force of the Chaos Fleet from advancing disappeared. At this moment, all the weapons of Ophelia 7 could only watch the main force of the enemy ships moving forward.
"It's over..." Stuart sighed in a low voice, and Hornthorn on the other side of the screen did not refute.
A few minutes later, the distance between the Chaos Fleet and the Defense Fleet was close enough.
As the arc-shaped tracks between the enemy's battleships and the defense fleet lit up, the two veteran Astartes knew that it was the track of the space fighter cluster carrying out the bombing mission.
In order to deal with the suicide charge of the space fighter, the interception and anti-aircraft firepower of the defense fleet will be fully intercepted, and the redundancy of the entire air defense system will be consumed in advance.
And the enemy is waiting for this moment.
The fleets failed to distance themselves, and the anti-aircraft firepower was already saturated. What can they use to stop the enemy ships from launching a boarding tactical attack?
There were no surprises in the following battle. After the Chaos Fleet completed the release of the fighter fleet, they saw the dense tracks of the boarding torpedoes as expected.
Seeing the few remaining main ships of the defense fleet being destroyed one by one under the attack of the Chaos Astartes.
The two senior officers of the founding regiments realized the seriousness of the situation from each other's eyes through a screen:
"It's a big trouble..."
The loss of space control is equivalent to the loss of Ophelia's air control; and the loss of air control is equivalent to the loss of the prerequisite for the safe transfer and deployment of troops on a large scale.
The situation between the enemy and us has been completely reversed since then. While the Empire on the ground passively endured local attacks, it also actually announced the loss of the initiative on the battlefield.
"My fault..." Stuart reflected in a low voice.
If he had not been easily transferred away during the encirclement of the inner city just now, then the Astartes strike cruiser in orbit at this time in space would definitely be able to participate in and command this naval battle.
It was because of his tactical misalignment that the enemy easily achieved its tactical intention, thus ruining the strategic initiative of the entire galaxy...
"What should we do?" asked the leader of the Bloody Rose Battle Sisters who came later.
"Seek help from outside..." Hornthorn whispered.
"Let those astropaths fulfill their final duties while the relay signal tower is not destroyed..."
The naval battle in the sky has come to an end, and the warships of the Empire are either burning or falling.
And just at the edge of this messy battlefield, a small ship of the Mechanicus that was affected was forced to land on Ophelia 7 in a fierce burning.
The ship is almost disintegrating, and there is almost no possibility of survivors inside.
And just behind its bridge, a tall mechanical priest is holding a long staff, ignoring the danger around him and calmly looking at the land getting closer and closer outside the porthole.
"It's a very interesting journey, at least from an unexpected point of view, it's enough to add a new record to my life..."
To make up for yesterday's update, friends who have seen it first, please click to re-download it. I have modified and added 200 words later, free of charge.