Him and their stars

On August 22, 833 in the Galactic Common Calendar, the Blue Star Community's returning fleet finally left the confines of the King of Kings Gorge and entered the last area of ​​the high seas channel. If nothing unexpected happens, the fleet should be able to rush to Nantianmen to join the outer ring fleet before September comes.

Looking at it this way, the imperial fleet's attempt to intercept and kill the returning fleet at Hanwang Star Gorge did not even affect the progress of everyone's return home.

"Of course this is because the fleet under your command defeated the shameless sneak attack of the imperial devils within six hours!" Admiral Ferragut laughed: "Even if it is a war of independence, no, even if it is the Galactic Civilization Parliament Since its establishment, the empire has never suffered such a disastrous defeat. Brother Yu Lian, you have made history!"

"No, no, no, you are the commander. I am just an ordinary passenger returning home with the ship. It is you who made history!" Yu Liancheng was horrified.

"We have to seek truth from facts! What's yours is yours, why don't I want to take away the achievements of young people at my age?"

"But, when Chairman Maxell communicated with us last week, wasn't it you who was mainly rewarded? I guess that after returning to Earth this time, you can get the Marshal's Scepter, right?"

"Oh my, that's what I got by lying down. I can only say that I have been kind to others in this life, and finally had a little blessing. Sure enough, I met you at the end of my career. Brother Yu Lian, you are simply The angel of the Universal Spirit came specifically to send me into the history books.”

"No, no, no, it's mainly because of your good education, Commander. We kept alert all the way and drilled the three armies all the way. We were all trained to be very good, and that's why we were not shamelessly attacked by the empire. This is what you did for us A solid foundation laid.”

The two top admirals of the fleet, one old and one young, fifty years apart in age, were happily complimenting each other like this, as if they didn't feel tired at all?

Of course, since we had just achieved the most glorious victory since the founding of the community, the entire fleet was in a happy mood, but no one cared about it.

Of course Yu Lian himself didn't feel bored either. He can now see that Admiral Ferragut can at least be regarded as a pragmatic and smart man, and is very good at accepting reality.

In addition, although the old general is considered a member of the Co-Prosperity Party, he also has his own pride deep down.

"I am indeed praised by Mr. Mao, so I am naturally very grateful to him. However, he cannot always say that our Cuihu Pavilion is an imperial palace restaurant! My ancestors did work in the kitchen of the Imperial Governor's Mansion. I secretly learned some techniques, but today, our cuisine incorporates the essence of many styles from various regions on the earth. Even Brother Yu, your maternal grandfather, Brother Jungao, also taught me how to cook, but now I And I’m grateful to him.”

Having said this, the old general who was a chef sighed heavily: "Obviously it is an earthly dish, but every time Mr. Mao brings people to my restaurant to eat, he always has to face the sky. He raised his hand in the direction and said something like thanking His Majesty for giving him civilization... Even I am a little bit disheartened."

Yu Lian could feel that the other party's words were somewhat sincere, but he also knew that this was actually another way for him to show goodwill to himself, or to show goodwill to the force he represented.

In other words, even if the Imperial fleet had not been completely wiped out by him within six hours, Admiral Ferragut would not have said this to him.

But no matter what, this is always a welcome attitude.

After the battle, the returning fleet, under the arrangement of Marshal Tan Bo, swaggeringly accepted a large amount of materials and supplies originally prepared for the empire, and also enjoyed a "battleship spa". It has to be said that the Tuhan people's warship repair skills are really good. It only took half a day for all the warships to be restored to their peak condition.

This group of cosmic dead men guard a set of Hanwang Star Gorge, and they can make a good living by supplying and maintaining passing ships. As expected, it still requires some technical content.

When the fleet was ready to go on the road, Marshal Tan Bo also left the Fuxi and loudly stated at his home port that he was actually an imperial spy. He was sorry for the motherland, the people, and the spirit of the universe. Immediately, the soldiers of the two armies and the media He committed suicide on the spot in front of the public.

Immediately afterwards, the Turank Coordinating Minister State issued a statement and sold all its main battleships to the Circassian Kingdom and the Iron Army Complex. From then on, the Turanco Coordinating Minister State only retained the basic military strength to maintain public security, declared the country to be permanently neutral, and became a country with no military defense.

Yu Lian knew that Marshal Tan Bo was somewhat resentful because he was coerced by the empire. In the end, he used his life and lifetime honor to put an eye on the empire. However, the actual significance of this is really a matter of opinion.

You know, the empire has done things even more shameless than this before. But were they punished? Isn't it still the overlord of the galaxy, the most powerful military empire in the known universe?

Yu Lian was still a little bit sad. Although Marshal Tan Bo cooperated with the Astral Knights to launch a brazen sneak attack on him, it almost caused no damage, so there was no hatred at all, and there was even some sympathy.

This is probably the tragedy of a small country.

But anyway, the supplies of the Tuhan people not only made up for the battle losses, but also made a lot of money. The ship recovered after being "spa"ed, and once again entered the forward state at full capacity.

So, even though it had gone through a big battle and spent an extra fourteen hours on supplies and maintenance, the fleet still crossed the Hanwang Star Gorge nearly two days ahead of schedule.

During this process, the Fleet Command also received some good news one after another.

For example, although the combined fleet composed of the Catai, Enbu, and Angman people approached the West End Star Region, the commander of the outer ring fleet, Admiral Bonaparte, immediately made a decision and mobilized all his troops to give the opponent a hard blow. In the combined fleet of the three countries, except for the Cathays, who still have some combat effectiveness, the fighting spirit and armament of the other two countries are really indescribable, and there are also problems with coordination.

In the footage captured by war correspondents from various countries, the combined fleets of the three countries suffered a defeat and retreated from three star systems in a row. It was not until they discovered that the main force of the outer ring fleet was not pursuing them that they finally stopped their retreat.

In the direction of the far shore nebula. Naturally, the pressure on the Ninth Fleet is still great. However, it is the Far Coast Nebula after all, and has terrain advantages, so it only needs to firmly guard the Seid system where the I Earl Star Gap and the Lucknar Corridor meet.

Due to the previous military construction plan, there are eight military fortresses of various sizes in the galaxy, including Seder Fortress, as well as hundreds of space stations with various functions. There are countless unmanned turrets, automatic missile platforms, shield jammers, etc.

Therefore, with its back against the fortress, the Ninth Fleet still worked hard to deal with the coalition forces of the Bakvi and Cathay people, without falling behind at all.

The better news is that before the Imperial fleet arrived, the Second Fleet from Terra itself also arrived at Seder Fortress for reinforcements. This is actually a veteran fleet with many military exploits during the War of Independence. However, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, it has been performing rear guard, security and training tasks.

The quality of the personnel varies greatly, the ships are aging, and the combat effectiveness is hard to describe. But no matter what, this can be regarded as a fighting force.

However, Yu Lian knew that the real situation was not that simple. In fact, ten days ago, when the task force was receiving the "tribute" from the Tuhan people and their fleet maintenance services, he received an urgent message, but he did not talk and laugh for a while. Xiaobaifa came here.

Xiaobai is of course Bai Ziqi. One of the three technical masters of the original Red Tiger, the youngest, tenderest and shyest. Of course, in Yu Lian's "memory", he may also be the one with the most potential. In another timeline, he successfully experienced the war of annihilation, the rise of the rebels, and the independence movement of New China. He survived through hundreds of battles and finally returned to a peaceful life and the field he loved most.

Because if you live long enough, you will achieve achievements that surpass your peers. Anyway, at the end of the timeline that Yu Lian had experienced before, Xiao Bai - of course he was Lao Bai at that time, was definitely a great scientist who was qualified to be included in primary school history textbooks.

However, this has been a long time coming. Xiaobai is three or four years younger than everyone else on average, and is also suspected of being a bit of a social phobia. He rarely joins the group of core friends in the youth club, and has never communicated with him alone.

Yu Lian checked it and found that it was a very detailed email.

...Okay, it does look like a sociophobic communication method.

Of course, maybe people feel that the situation is complicated and needs to be conveyed through letters.

Two weeks ago, on August 6, that is, when the returning fleet was fighting the Imperial Interceptor Fleet in the Hanwang Star Gorge, Xiaobai and the others also arrived at the Saide Fortress under the entrustment of Mr. Qi.

In addition to Bai Ziya, this group of people also included his cousin, "Tai'a" of the third generation of the Spiritual Research Association, and Mr. Trende of the Engineer Association. In addition, there was a batch of military supplies sent from Lumina, and the escorts were the newly trained security forces of New Seville.

They arrived very promptly indeed.

Before everyone had time to stay, a fierce mutiny broke out in the fortress. The initiator was a group of garrison troops mobilized from China.

The leading colonel incited the soldiers to kill the supervisors and police posts sent by the Ninth Fleet, quickly took out their weapons, and then rushed straight to the fortress headquarters.

At the same time, the combat robot system in the fortress also malfunctioned, most of them went down, and some even lost control and switched sides on the spot.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, look at these methodical steps and the decisive purpose, it is too clear.

If Tai'a, who was "passing by", had not chopped down the leader of the mutinous soldiers with one sword, and if Xiaobai had not restored control of the robot with the help of old man Trende, the command of the Ninth Fleet in the fortress might have really Caught in one swoop.

In the letter, Xiaobai stated that this incident should not be accidental, and the specific situation is still under investigation. I hope I can find an opportunity to report this to Yu Lian face to face.

What kind of coincidence is this? Even thinking about it with his knees, it must have been planned by the empire opposite.

No, when a mutiny broke out inside the Seder Fortress, two Imperial battlecruisers had already sailed into the Seder system and bombarded the border guard tower. The subsequent Cathay fleet and Bakvi fleet also moved in.

Of course, they then quickly retreated. It was probably because they knew that the surprise attack was unsuccessful and that they could not gain any advantage by attacking forcefully that they withdrew again.

However, no matter what, Seide Fortress did survive the crisis without any danger, and the days thereafter were considered uneventful.

Before the empire's main fleet could completely suppress the situation, the situation at the far shore Nebula defense line had stabilized for the time being.

In addition, the Blue Star Community actually has a long national border in the direction of New Atlantis. Then passing through the large area of ​​​​the "high seas" galaxy, independent and semi-independent political systems that can be regarded as neighboring countries with the community, there are more than 20 countries, large and small. Except for the Principality of Haiyal, none of them can be regarded as the "allies" of the empire.

To attack the Earth from there, the Imperial fleet would probably have to penetrate the borders of at least six countries.

It seems that although everyone has entered a state of war inexplicably, the situation does not seem to be that bad, and the situation is even a little bit stable and developing in a good direction.

As a result, even such steady and down-to-earth veterans as Chief of Staff Mkawa and Captain Tovey inevitably felt a sense of relaxation that they had not seen for a long time.

Not to mention General Paul Ferragut. He even went to the officers' kitchen. After driving away the chef, he personally prepared a table of dishes, and then took Yu Lian to have a drink. He really made the gesture right. pole.

To be fair, Admiral Ferragut is still young. Yu Lian felt that among the years he had experienced in his three lifetimes, his craftsmanship should be ranked among the top ten.

Well, he decided to be somewhat friendly towards the old general. People who can cook well at least love life. No matter how unreliable they are, they will not be unreliable.

All in all, although this dinner was a combination of complimenting each other and expressing one's true feelings, although it was a bit greasy and a bit social, the two of them were still very happy.

When preparing to leave, Admiral Ferragut added: "Oh, in short, before arriving at Nantianmen, I will leave all the affairs of the fleet to you for the time being."

"Well, Your Excellency, this is not quite according to the rules, is it? You are responsible for the commander-in-chief of the entire army!"

"What's wrong with the rules? Where's my irresponsibility? I've been having dizziness, headaches, and fainting of blood recently. I must have a strange disease that will kill me as long as I get on the bridge. Leave it to my brother, you are the best solution. , is responsible for the entire army."

How can he still prepare a table of dishes despite suffering from such a strange disease? What a Schrödinger's disease! Yu Lian couldn't help but glance at the other party with a strange look.

Of course, Admiral Ferragut's eyes were also unkind. After finishing his sneer, he was even followed by three strange laughs.

You guys were giving orders as a commander as early as two weeks ago, and no one among the soldiers thought anything was wrong. Why are you leaving it here to perform for me now? Can you please be more decent? Or so he said.

"I just did some trivial tasks that the assistants could do."

"I've always been at my job. I'm just old and frail and need help, so I brought you here. That's how my work report will be written."

The two of them laughed at the same time.

All in all, by the standards of mature and ugly adults, this meal was actually quite enjoyable for both host and guest.

It was already evening after bidding farewell to Admiral Ferragut who went back to his luxurious room to fish. However, although Yu Lian still acted relaxed, he knew that if he did not get the latest news from the New World, he would not be able to feel at ease anyway.

So, when will there be a way to establish instant communication across star gates?

Not wanting to sleep, he quickly returned to the bridge of his loyal ship Fuxi and decided to eat some ice cream captured from the Anguo General. During the Battle of Hanwang Star Gorge, everyone seized an average of 100 tons of ice cream from each Imperial Dreadnought, which was enough for everyone to eat until next year.

However, when he just stepped into the bridge, the first thing he saw was the bitter face of his adjutant, Lieutenant Colonel Chester Rozer, full of sadness.

This noble gentleman who always pays attention to propriety did not do anything to control his expression. It is conceivable that the situation must be very bad.

"News from the New World?"

Luo Zeshi nodded sadly, his tone even trembling a little: "The main force of the Miracle Ring's expedition fleet..."

"Failed miserably?"

"……Gone."

Well, one bad news can wipe out the joy of several good news, let alone such tragic bad news.

Anyway, Yu Lian is not even in the mood to eat ice cream now.