No matter how strong Zheng Hu’s commanding ability was, it was extremely difficult for the Xuanwu Federation’s fleet to resist when using less to attack more and the performance of the warships was completely at a disadvantage.
After returning to Zheng Hu’s familiar territory, Zheng Hu has been taking the empire’s fleet in circles.
During this period, two small-scale decisive battles were fought with the empire relying on the Zheng family’s original defense line. If it were not for the nanny Redemption, the Xuanwu Federation’s fleet would have collapsed long ago.
Zheng Hu initially only had some understanding of the Redemption’s capabilities, but he still didn’t believe it without seeing it with his own eyes, so he didn’t take the Redemption seriously in the early stages of the resistance.
It wasn’t until a small-scale decisive battle that he realized the power of the Redemption.
With the strong support of the Redemption, many severely damaged warships were repaired and returned to the battlefield in a short period of time.
Only then did Zheng Hu change his tactics.
In every subsequent battle, Zheng Hu placed the most survivable cruiser in the front row to attract enemy firepower.
Under the heavy protection of the other battleships, the Redemption continued to provide support for the cruisers in the front row.
This stabilized the morale that was on the verge of collapse.
The high-intensity chase battle left Zheng Hu mentally and physically exhausted, and his command errors gradually increased as time went by.
Several times Zheng Hu’s cruiser Black Tiger was almost sunk by the imperial fleet.
If Chen Cheng, the captain of the Redemption, hadn’t been astute and swooped in to fend off some attacks for the Black Tiger, Zheng Hu might have been killed long ago.
However, Chen Cheng always kept Qi Yiming’s advice in mind. The premise of all actions is to ensure the safety of the Redemption.
“It’s been two and a half days…” Zheng Hu rubbed his cheeks, trying to make his thoughts clearer: “If Qi Yiming doesn’t come again, we will be doomed…”
At this time, the federal fleet was at the end of its strength.
Several of the Zheng family’s original lines of defense were also breached one by one by the imperial fleet in the pursuit battles over the past few days.
But the Imperial fleet wasn’t much better.
A full fleet plus half a fleet, 7 cruisers, 20 destroyers, and 35 frigates were also sunk by Zheng Hu like a bloodletting.
However, the seven main cruisers of the Imperial Fleet did not suffer any damage. Most of the sunk ones were frigates. Only three destroyers were unlucky and were sunk by railgun fire.
After several battles, the gap in the number of fleets between the two sides was widened. The imperial fleet commander simply divided the fleet into two and continuously reduced Zheng Hu’s range of activities from two directions.
At this moment, Zheng Hu commanded the fleet and had retreated to the only habitable planet in the Zheng family.
This is the last line of defense that Zheng Hu can rely on. If this line of defense is lost, Zheng Hu will have to directly face the encirclement and suppression of the imperial fleet.
“Chen Cheng, remember! If this line of defense is lost, the Redemption must evacuate immediately and join the Xuefeng…” Zheng Hu warned the temporary captain of the Redemption again.
Chen Cheng looked at Zheng Hu, who seemed to be determined to die, and silently lowered his head.
During the past few days of fighting, he had a very good feeling for this commander.
In order to ensure that the Redemption would not be attacked, he even ordered friendly ships to defend the Redemption from attacks many times.
Chen Cheng knew that Zheng Hu made this move for the sake of the overall situation, but this still could not stop him from admiring Zheng Hu.
The battle did not stop because the Xuanwu Federation fleet suffered heavy losses.
As soon as Zheng Hu warned Chen Cheng, the imperial fleet pressed towards their fleet from two directions.
Zheng Hu did not want to take the initiative before all the railguns on the defense line were destroyed.
He needs to use this line of defense to maximize the enemy’s combat power.
The Zheng family had devoted a lot of energy to this line of defense. Thirteen orbital guns were lined up and anchored in the high orbit of the habitable planet.
Between the railguns are giant structures designed to shield enemy attacks.
Zheng Hu dispersed the fleet among these giant buildings and started an artillery battle with the imperial fleet in a dignified manner.
The Imperial fleet fought resolutely, enduring huge casualties to close the distance between the two fleets to within the optimal range of the main guns.
The last line of defense did not disappoint Zheng Hu. Before the thirteen rail guns were destroyed, the imperial fleet lost 7 destroyers and 12 frigates. However, the cruiser was too well protected by the imperial fleet, and there was only one cruiser. Minor injuries.
After the rail gun was destroyed, the giant buildings on the defense line did not last long in the face of the rain of missiles fired by the imperial fleet. Soon Zheng Hu had to order the fleet to retreat.
Zheng Hu knew that the federal fleet had reached the point where it had to fight tooth and nail.
He repeated his old trick and once again lined up the only three cruisers in the fleet in the front row. The remaining battleships formed a spherical array to firmly protect the Redemption in the center.
“Chen Cheng…remember what I said to you before the war…” Zheng Hu warned Chen Cheng again.
Seeing Chen Cheng nodded, he safely ordered the fleet to follow his Black Tiger’s maneuvers and launch an attack from the enemy’s flank.
In fact, the commander of the Imperial Fleet was very shocked. The information he received from the Imperial Military Department was that the newly formed Xuanwu Federation did not have a complete industrial system, so the performance of the warships was much worse.
But the battles in the past few days have refreshed his knowledge many times.
The enemy warships that had been severely damaged just now would appear on the battle line again soon after slowly retreating to their own formation.
Unless the battleship’s main guns are knocked out, the same thing will always happen.
The commander of the Imperial Fleet really couldn’t figure out what was going on with the warships of the Xuanwu Federation. This battle almost made him doubt his life, until he discovered that the culprit of everything was the Redemption, which was closely protected.
Fortunately, the number of warships in the Xuanwu Federation is not large. After two days of consumption, they have reached the end of their strength. If he works harder, he can successfully capture this fleet.
The high-spirited commander waved his hand, and the imperial fleet pressed forward in a mighty manner.
A few minutes later the two sides entered into an artillery battle again.
After all, there were not many consumables like missiles left after these days of chasing battles, and it was impossible to organize a decent salvo, so both sides chose to carry cannons and fight each other with bayonets.
This back-and-forth shelling battle most tests the crew’s mental endurance.
Obviously, the crew members of the Xuanwu Federation have reached their limit.
Before the bombardment had even started, a cruiser was lost due to a mistake by the Redemption.
This became the last straw that broke the morale of the fleet.
No matter how Zheng Hu shouted in the fleet channel, it was useless. The captains of each ship turned around and left the battle line without caring about the lives of other comrades.
The formation spread out and the Redemption was immediately placed under the enemy’s gunfire.
Chen Cheng, who didn’t have much combat experience, was suddenly stunned.
The commander of the Imperial Fleet has long been dissatisfied with the Redemption. The reason why the Federation warship was able to quickly repair and return to the battle line was all because of that weird warship.
He had tried many times to find opportunities to kill the warship in one fell swoop, but the federal fleet had blocked his range of fire.
This is such a good opportunity, I can’t miss it.
The Imperial Fleet Commander seized the opportunity and immediately ordered the entire fleet to target the Redemption with a salvo…
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