From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 562: Vertical Attack on the Ecliptic Plane

"This is...'Vertical Attack Tactics on the Ecliptic Plane'?!"

Also responding quickly was Rear Admiral Mueller, commander of the 24th Fleet.

From a 'God's perspective', he was also the one with the best performance in "Naval Tactics" among the four fleet commanders of this federal fleet when he graduated from the Federal Naval Academy.

At this time, the four commanders who found something wrong had activated the communication channel with high priority, so the other two immediately reacted after hearing the "ecliptic plane vertical attack tactics".

However, even Major General Mueller, who was the first to react besides Major General Stoner, frowned after he mentioned this tactic:
"But hasn't anyone successfully used this tactic in a fleet-level battle?"

Hearing Major General Mueller's doubts, Major General Stoner shook his head, and then said with some self-mockery:

"Then perhaps we will be 'fortunate' to be the first group of people to witness this tactic being successfully carried out in a fleet-level battle, but we will just be observing from the 'enemy's' perspective."

Major General Mueller and Major General Stoner were not speaking casually. Rather, humans have not yet used this tactic in space battles so far, at least in recorded fleet-level battles.

If we look at it from the perspective of small-scale battles, the "vertical attack tactics on the ecliptic plane" that sounds high-sounding is actually to launch an attack from the enemy's zenith or nadir direction. It is a relatively common tactic, and Amber has used this tactic many times before.

But at the level of fleet warfare, fleet commanders need to consider a lot of things.

First of all, the reconnaissance capabilities of an entire fleet and a few warships are completely incomparable, so the distance for launching an attack must be relatively long. This also means that except in special celestial environments such as asteroid belts, nebulae, and ring belts, the fleet cannot ambush in advance and launch a vertical attack at close range.

Secondly, in most cases, vertical attacks in small-scale battles are launched by ambushers after they have laid in ambush in advance and wait until the distance between the two sides is within 2 kilometers.

Therefore, the attacking warship only needs to maintain a good posture in advance, and then push the main propulsion array to the bottom and charge after the battle begins. The combat distance and the entire trajectory are just that long, so the planning and calculation of the operating orbit are not complicated.

But at the fleet level, as mentioned earlier, a force of this size cannot lurk within 20,000 to 30,000 kilometers of the enemy - unless the enemy is blind.

Therefore, the "vertical attack on the ecliptic plane" in naval tactical theory requires the fleet to enter a stealth action mode from a very long distance, and then maintain its posture and keep on course by means of the "kinetic energy throwing block system" and attitude control nozzles that are not used unless necessary.

This is a huge challenge for the fleet navigator and shipboard control personnel.

Not only do you have to calculate the 'low-power maneuvering trajectory' starting from millions or even tens of millions of kilometers away, but you also have to make sure that the 'landing point' of the trajectory arrives at the right place at the right time.

Because when it is perpendicular to the ecliptic plane of the target planet, it will be subject to the unidirectional gravitational force of the stars in the galaxy, with no other forces to counteract it.

Therefore, after leaving the standard orbit, the warship needs more energy support to ensure that it is in a state perpendicular to the ecliptic plane.

It would be fine if it is for a short period of time, but tactical maneuvers of hundreds of thousands or even millions of kilometers in fleet-level battles will also be a challenge for the energy consumption of warships.

At the same time, this series of complex calculations is not for a few warships, but for an entire fleet of more than 200 warships.

Not to mention that in covert action mode, the fleet usually maintains a compact formation with extremely small spacing, which makes it more difficult to calculate the orbits of each ship.

But fortunately, the Atlas combat fleet has Amber, a guy who had practical experience in his previous life.

And Amber, there’s Lilith.

So, Limen will live forever.——
10 minutes ago, the Federal Fleet was at a distance of 15 kilometers in the nadir direction.

"Attention, all fleets. We will launch the attack in the form of a vertical attack on the ecliptic plane. All units are prepared to execute the operational procedures under 'vertical attack' according to combat standards."

On the bridge of the Dawn, Amber's voice was steady and firm, and was clearly transmitted to the entire Atlas First Fleet through the communication system.

Due to Rear Admiral Stoner's misjudgment, most of the attention of the Federation Fleet was focused on the ecliptic plane of Rubion V and the rapidly approaching Comet Hyakutake. This caused the detection strength in the nadir direction, which was already insufficient, to be further reduced, which also gave the First Fleet led by Amber the opportunity to quietly approach the battlefield.

By the time the Federation Fleet was engaged in a firefight with the Unmanned Fleet and the Third Task Force and was fully focused on the head-on battle, Amber knew that the plan for this fleet-level surprise attack was close to success.

Seeing that the Federation Fleet had finished its second round of salvos, it began to release the shipboard HCPs and readjust the battle positions of the ships. After entering a slightly chaotic period, Amber decisively ordered:

"All ships' attitude control nozzles are running at super power. Quickly adjust the angles of the warships and prepare to enter the final attack orbit!"

His voice was resolute and decisive, with an indomitable momentum, and as his orders were given, more than 200 Atlas warships, led by the 'Dawn', began to quickly adjust their axes and pointed their bows at the engaged Federation fleet.

"All ships, hold steady, main propulsion array at maximum thrust, forward three!"

The plasma propulsion arrays of the entire fleet emitted a dazzling blue light at this moment. The powerful thrust enabled the warships to quickly change their course and rush towards the battlefield at a tricky angle that was almost perpendicular to the ecliptic plane of Rubion V.

During this process, the battleship was subjected to huge inertial acceleration, and the structural frame made a slight creaking sound, as if it was groaning in pain under the pressure of huge force.

As Comet Hyakutake was just passing by, its tail carried a large amount of debris and stardust, and under the gravitational pull of Rubion V, it was spreading towards the nearby universe.

Therefore, the outer shell of the battleship also heats up and turns red due to the high-speed friction and impact with these cosmic dust and micrometeorites. The cooling system under the external main armor is running at full capacity, and the working fluid water and coolant are flowing rapidly in the pipes throughout the ship like a rushing river, trying to take away the excess heat.

Inside each warship, the crew members at each combat position felt strong vibrations. While their bodies were bearing huge G-forces, they were also shaking with the pitching of the warship.

But all of them had already firmly fixed themselves on their battle positions, and without hesitation, injected themselves with an 'anti-gravity agent' at a dose close to the red line using in-cabin clothing.

"Current straight-line distance: 12 kilometers!"

"8 kilometers away!"

"6 kilometers!"

"Warning, fire control radar characteristic signal detected!"

"Don't worry about it, it's just the enemy's outer escort formation, the entire fleet continues the attack!"

"5 kilometers away, about to meet the enemy!"

"All fleets, deploy attack formation! Dawn's main guns ready to fire!"

On the Atlas Fleet's side in the direct combat zone, the Third Task Force commanded by Randall also noticed the actions of the Atlas First Fleet at the first moment.

As a graduate of the Federal Naval Academy, he naturally knew the naval tactical theory of "vertical attack on the ecliptic plane". So when he saw the First Fleet arrive at the battlefield and felt hope for victory, he was still worried about Amber's risky move.

At the pre-war meeting a few days ago, he and Cleves were actually a little worried - the latter was more worried than him, because Cleves was now sitting on the bridge of the Dawn with Amber.

After all, Amber, a "fleet commander" who was not a professional, had to do this "big job" that no one had ever done before in this crucial battle. No matter from which angle you look at it, it was not a reassuring thing.
However, Randall didn't care about so many things at this time. He had only one idea in his mind, which was to cooperate with the First Fleet in accordance with the battle plan formulated at the pre-war meeting to complete this battle that was destined to be remembered by the star sea.

"Broadcast to the entire fleet! Broadcast to the entire fleet! The First Fleet has arrived as scheduled! We have been hiding behind the unmanned fleet for so long, it is time to fight back!"

Under the influence of adrenaline, Randall felt his blood boiling and almost roared out the order that everyone in the fleet had been waiting for for a long time.

"Task Force Three! Begin the attack according to the planned battle plan! Activate the main guns of the Infinity, and prepare to cooperate with the Dawn for cross-fire!"

(End of this chapter)