Chapter 97 Fleet Arrives
"My Lord Marquis, I feel that I must explain to you the time and potential risks involved in transferring troops."
Raphael thought for a moment, then stepped forward and made a few operations on the holographic projection platform.
Soon, the current distribution of the empire's ground troops on the Robert IV was revealed.
"Our current strength on the surface is mainly 22 orbital parachute regiments and two brigade-level armored combat teams that have not yet completed full deployment.
Due to the unavailability of the space elevator, in addition to these troops that have landed, there are still two fully equipped brigade combat teams that have not started to be launched, and have been delayed too far from the planned time.
If we mobilize all air and space transport aircraft to mobilize troops within the atmosphere, it will delay the deployment of the remaining two brigade combat teams.
Moreover, after the federal fleet appeared and showed its presence to the remaining federal soldiers on the ground, the morale and determination of these remaining soldiers to resist improved.
According to reports from various ground forces, the intensity of the recent battles has also become higher and higher, and it can no longer be suppressed by orbital paratroopers and a small number of HCPs alone.
If some heavy troops are transferred away at this time, I am worried that there may be a risk of counterattack on these fronts. "
After listening to Raphael's report and looking at the situation between the enemy and ourselves on the holographic projection map, Marquis Ascania fell silent.
He knew that the situation of this battle had actually deviated from the planned trajectory from the beginning.
Defected imperial spies, blocked space elevators, independently assembled remnants of the Federation, and the sudden appearance of the Federation fleet as annoying as bed bugs
Under the influence of various factors, the Eighth Expeditionary Strike Group's original plan of "quick victory" can actually be torn up.
Marquis Ascania raised his head and looked at the young staff officer opposite the holographic projection map.
"What do you mean?"
"Continue with subsequent brigade combat team drops, my lord."
"Continue to increase the number of troops on the ground so you want to deploy these troops directly to the space elevator?"
"Yes sir, but not directly deployed to the location of the space elevator."
Raphael swiped at the holographic projection map, and the map quickly zoomed in and located the location of the space elevator base.
"The space elevator is built directly in coastal areas. The seaside areas are basically large ports with dense mechanical equipment, which cannot meet the take-off and landing conditions of aerospace transport aircraft."
The inland north and west sides are cities built on bases, which are also not suitable for take-off and landing.
Therefore, the only suitable landing site is the area south of the base, which has not yet been fully developed by the federation. From a geographical point of view, it is indeed suitable for the take-off and landing of aerospace transport aircraft.
But what we can think of, I believe the commander or command group of this federal remnant can also think of. "
Upon hearing this, the Marquis nodded thoughtfully.
"You mean, these federal remnants might ambush here and ambush the transport fleet during the takeoff and landing phase?"
"Yes, sir, so my idea is to make full use of our advantages in troops and equipment, safely deploy the troops to the outer areas, and then form a force that cannot be blocked by these remaining soldiers and punch them."
"But in this case, it will also give the remaining federal soldiers sufficient time to prepare, right?"
Although he admitted that Raphael's analysis was reasonable, Marquis Ascania raised questions again.
"Indeed, such a plan will bring certain risks, but the risk does not come from the remaining federal soldiers on the ground."
"Are you worried about the arrival of the Federation's support fleet?"
"Your Excellency is wise."
"There's no need to flatter me. Rafael, you're still not suitable for this job. It's too blunt."
The Marquis waved his hand, and then continued:
"Support from the Federation's main fleet? Humph. It's not certain who's support will arrive first."
Raphael's eyes lit up when he heard this.
"You mean, our support fleet has also been dispatched?"
"Yes, the latest news received within an hour, according to time calculation, the fleet's jump distance has already passed halfway."
Marquis Ascania clicked a few times on his personal terminal, and the corresponding fleet information also appeared on the holographic projection platform.
"The Twelfth Expeditionary Strike Group? It seems that the Supreme Command is determined to capture the Robert Galaxy."
"Not only that."
The Marquis raised his terminal and motioned for Raphael to come over.
The young major walked quickly behind him. After seeing the information displayed on the terminal, his eyes widened uncontrollably.
"This is the Fortress of Sorrow?!"
Robert IV's surface, Southern Continent.
After nearly five hours of sailing, Amber and the three Pelicans they were on finally arrived near their final destination.
While sailing along the coastline, the reconnaissance force found a way to drive the reconnaissance vehicle onto the open deck of the Pelican, and then used a vehicle-mounted catapult to launch a drone for preliminary reconnaissance.
The result was similar to what the brigade staff had guessed. The drone indeed discovered the Imperial troops in the base area of the space elevator.
Although the drone was eventually destroyed by high-energy lasers deployed by the Imperial troops, the staff still found that there were fewer Imperial troops here than they expected.
Lieutenant Colonel Dallas held an impromptu meeting on the three Pelicans that left the coastline and once again entered the ocean in a wild circle.
After ruling out the possibility that this was a trap set by the Imperial forces, Lieutenant Colonel Dallas finally decided to find a suitable place to land.
The reason is very simple.
First, the plan has been implemented to this point, and it is a matter of time before it has to be launched. Backing off or changing the plan at this time will have a greater impact on morale.
Moreover, the entire synthetic brigade has no better place to go at this time. If it returns to the North Continent, it will only be surrounded by the Imperial forces again.
The second and most important reason is that after approaching the coastline, the communication unit received a signal from a friendly force on the South Continent.
Amber is not the only person on this planet who thinks quickly, and Dallas is not the only federal commander with a passion.
After receiving the information sent by the Federal Task Force through the public frequency band, the remnants of the South Continent, which are about half a synthetic brigade, also moved towards the direction of the space elevator under the leadership of their commander.
Although they did not learn about the space elevator being locked at the first time, they were in the South Continent, and it was much easier for them to detect the space elevator than Amber and his team.
Therefore, the remnant soldiers of the Southern Continent soon discovered that the space elevator had not been put into use.
This also further strengthened the idea of the command of this force to recapture the space elevator.
After the two forces from different continents got in touch, they naturally decided to join forces and fight together.
Finally, about 340 kilometers away from the city of Jabra, three huge ground-effect flying carriers directly hit the beach.
A few hours later, the Eighth Expeditionary Strike Group received a report from the defenders of the space elevator about the shooting down of an unknown drone.
This confirmed the speculation of Marquis Ascania and Raphael and others that the federal forces were gathering near the space elevator.
The Marquis also approved the decision submitted by Raphael to deploy the subsequent heavy-armored troops to the outer area of the space elevator.
On September 11, the temporary 83rd Combined Brigade completed the reunion with the remnant soldiers of the Southern Continent Federation that had been contacted. At the same time, many small-scale troops that broke out were also moving towards the space elevator.
On September 13, the Imperial space transport fleet was discovered by the federal reconnaissance force when trying to deploy troops to the outer perimeter of the space elevator. It was immediately irradiated by a large number of high-energy lasers and lost a fully loaded "Taurus" space transport aircraft.
From September 14 to September 18, the Imperial heavy troops moved to the outer perimeter and deployed troops for several consecutive days.
During this period, the federal forces launched multiple attacks on the landing area designated by the Empire. Although two space transport aircraft were lost again, as the defense near the landing area was consolidated, the subsequent attacks were fruitless.
From September 19 to September 20, the ground forces of both sides exchanged fire around the space elevator base area and Jabra.
In the end, the federal forces moved to the Jabra city area, and the Imperial heavy troops completed the assembly on the south side of the space elevator base area.
During this period, in addition to the ships that deployed troops to the ground, all warships of the 8th Expeditionary Strike Group also left the synchronous orbit and began tactical maneuvers.
The time came to September 21, Robert IV outer space.
When the warships of the Eighth Expeditionary Strike Group maneuvered to a certain predetermined battle position, the reconnaissance ship discovered the movement of the Federation Task Force's jump.
The Imperial Fleet immediately deployed its formation, ready to defeat the Federation Fleet, which had lost a lot of ships during this period.
But when the Federation Fleet began to leave the jump, the Imperial reconnaissance ship found that the number of this fleet had far exceeded the number of enemy fleets recorded after the last battle.
This news and the shadows of the ships captured by the optical sensor equipment were quickly transmitted to the bridge of the "Dawn Sword".
Watching more and more Federation warships on the screen, they continued to arrive at the battlefield in the flashes produced when the jump ended.
Marquis Ascania said calmly:
"Notify the Twelfth Expeditionary Strike Group, it's their turn to appear."
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