Galaxy Domination Guide

Xu Lanzhou, with her slender and pale fingers, gently tugged at her white gloves, naturally exuding the allure typical of a war general in rouge. No one in the command bridge felt the slightest hint of tension; everyone was methodically carrying out their tasks.

The holographic screen beside the captain's seat displayed a series of updated messages.

"Hostile fleet detected, number 72."

"The targets are identified as simple nuclear fission weapons, threat level F5."

"Automatic defense system deployed."

"Optimization of defense firepower distribution initiated."

For the people of Iridium Star, the complexity of space warfare was an order of magnitude higher than atmospheric combats on Earth. Relying solely on human calculation and response was far from sufficient for the complex battle environment; almost all high-level technologies in humanoid-intelligent beings' space warfare required a certain degree of artificial intelligence and automated systems for assistance. Human operation was more often used as the last line of defense and for making significant decisions.

Even the military development on Earth had progressed to the level of network-centric warfare. The technical level of the R19 Fleet was much more advanced, but the essence still involved integration, information sharing, and collective action. The Sacred Falcon's command and control system could unite the subsystems of various ships to use weapons collectively, forming a unified and stratified firepower network. Whether in attack or defense, the unified combat system maximized the optimization of firepower and reconnaissance resources, significantly enhancing combat efficiency and combat power.

Xu Lanzhou glanced at the over one hundred defense strategies proposed by the automatic command and control system, lightly touched the holographic screen, and made a change. The command and control system's defense counterattack strategy required the captain's approval; if the captain did not approve within the set time, the system would adopt the optimal strategy for defense counterattack.

Comprising a battleship cruiser, a heavy cruiser, and two light escort ships, the tactical space cluster had considerable firepower and diverse choices. The Iridium Star Fleet could use laser weapons to detonate missiles launched from the silos directly upon surface impact. This method of defense counterattack could shoot down and detonate these missiles within a distance of less than two thousand meters without needing to deploy the main caliber laser weapons of the Sacred Falcon, as light and above-level weapons were sufficient. As for the diffraction and deviation occurring while passing through the atmosphere, the ship's powerful computational programs could correct the trajectory within femtoseconds.

However, Xu Lanzhou did not employ this method. Given the yield of the nuclear weapons launched by the United States, detonating these nuclear weapons within the atmosphere could essentially destroy the entire central-northern region of the United States, causing direct casualties of tens of millions. The resulting nuclear dust cloud and radiation could affect a broader area and even the globe, possibly leading to hundreds of millions of deaths.

Xu Lanzhou, who was keen on expanding Earth as a colony for the Empire in the new universe, knew that even the ruthless and brutal military personnel of the Empire would not indulge in excessive slaughter. In the Empire's major wars, there were rarely civilian deaths reaching into the tens of millions, which was not only inhumane but also against the interests of the Empire. A complete colony, an ample population, and rich cultural achievements could all have positive impacts on the development and progress of the Empire.

Therefore, Xu Lanzhou chose a relatively less harmful interception method for Earth, but this did not mean that the R19 Fleet would need to take any risk as an F5-level threat could not possibly breach even the lightest escort ship's shields.

72 enhanced Militia III missiles had pierced the atmosphere and were speeding toward the location of Fleet R19. This extremely high speed was merely from the perspective of Earthlings. For the Iridium Star Fleet, a speed of twenty to thirty Mach was negligible. Ye Qing had previously deduced the probability cloud principle of space warfare, which was a basic tenet of space combat. Even large warships, which were not particularly maneuverable, could easily change course to evade missiles, making nuclear missiles unable to hit their target.

However, for Fleet R19, the energy expended to maneuver because of several F5-level nuclear missiles far exceeded the energy needed for simple interception. Therefore, the Sacred Falcon and other Iridium Star warships had no intention of moving, and changing the ship's position wasn't even an option in the intelligent control system.

The two Dart Class Light Anti-aircraft Frigates were the main force in the interception mission, while the enormous Sacred Falcon and Flying Bear played only minor roles. The Dart Class Light Frigate was specifically designed for fleet air defense, and in Iridium Star's space battles against other interstellar civilizations, many civilizations' fleets included vessels that carried a large number of interstellar fighter jets. These starship carriers are generally known as carrier cruisers, and only when they reach a certain scale are they termed carriers (space carriers). Although interstellar fighters have comparatively weaker firepower than a warship's main guns, they are extremely agile and capable of long-range raids. According to the probability cloud principle, a carrier cruiser with a certain number of interstellar flight forces could cover a larger probability cloud. When the enemy's anti-aircraft firepower and efficiency are limited, carrying lightweight targeted energy weapons or even more devastating high-damage anti-ship missiles, interstellar fighters could continuously wear down a warship's shields and eventually sink it. Furthermore, interstellar fighters have advantages in planetary bombings, break-intercepts, raids, and reconnaissance battles that gunnery-type warships do not, allowing fleets to strike enemies from safer distances. Therefore, whether it's the United Iridium Empire or other interstellar civilizations, the construction of carrier cruisers and carriers is seldom overlooked. Of course, these two types of ships have very prominent weaknesses; once within range of a gunnery warship, they can be easily sunk by the enemy, and against heavy cruisers or main battle ships, the fragile squadron of fighters would hardly breach the protective shields, and a powerful enemy fleet could destroy the fighter group in no time.

The Dart Class Light Anti-aircraft Frigate was a dedicated anti-air warship built by Iridium Star. Although not very large and lacking powerful main guns, each Dart Class was equipped with 36 light-energy laser cannons, 68 small to medium caliber Gauss railguns, and 8 space missile launchers capable of firing 64 standard-sized missiles simultaneously. The main guns consisted of four twin-mounted large-caliber Gauss railguns. The number of weapons on a Dart Class was comparable to that of a main battle ship, though naturally, there was no comparison in firepower. With such an arsenal, they were naturally used for wider area air defense. The fighters' defensive power was negligible; whether hit by lightweight lasers or small-caliber Gauss railguns, they could be easily destroyed.

As the two Dart Class Light Anti-aircraft Frigates intercepted the Militia III missiles launched by the United States, which had broken through the atmosphere at an altitude of about 100,000 kilometers from the surface of Earth, they simultaneously activated their laser cannons and targeted the nuclear missiles. At a distance of about 100,000 kilometers, the system automatically calculated the lead, and with the speed of light achieved by directed-energy weapons, in the blink of an eye, all the Militia III missiles were detonated!

The massive explosion occurred silently, and the extremely bright light flooded the space in an instant, much like a mini sun, radiating copious light and heat outward. Sound cannot travel in a vacuum, and so the most terrifying explosion in human history happened in absolute silence.

100,000 kilometers away, Fleet R19 remained silent; such an explosion was negligible for them. The explosion of 72 sizeable nuclear bombs couldn't even scratch an Iridium Star warship from such a distance. The radiation from the flash was somewhat dazzling, but the highly intelligent warships had already raised intensive light filters when firing the laser weapons, blocking all potentially harmful light from reaching the Iridium Star fleet crew. This was the only countermeasure they took, as the powerful warship protective shields weren't even triggered. Thousands of Empire immigrants living in the Ruyi City remained mostly unaware of what happened. They were in an artificial ecosystem, looking up to a blue sky dotted with white clouds, and the high-transparency hull of Ruyi City also filtered out the intense light.

As for radiation, although it travels further in a vacuum, the Iridium Star Warship faces a highly complex cosmic environment, and its hull automatically shields against various harmful radiations. Additionally, the protective shield also has a similar effect, so there was still no impact.

The head of the Fleet Scientific Research Institute, Chief Mo, even smacked his lips and said with relish, "With such a long distance, we could actually try the S05 particle Jet Cannon on the Sacred Falcon, which could directly stop the fission chain reactions of those nuclear weapons."

However, Chief Mo's words made his proud disciple, Linyin, snicker. Linyin said, "The S05 Jet Cannon indeed has the capability to precisely control particles to cause destruction or other effects, but the key is in the precision. As long as we understand the specific structure of those nuclear weapons, the Jet Cannon can use various methods to stop the chain reaction, by neutron absorption, ionization disruption, raising the critical mass, or preventing the atomic nuclei from overcoming the fission barrier. Although we have obtained information about these nuclear weapons from the United States, we can not be entirely certain about some things — a little bit of imprecision could result in a failure to suppress the chain reaction. The S05 Jet Cannon's design purpose is not to conduct experiments that researchers would only do in a lab, but to adjust various particles and their carried energies accurately and diversely, more efficiently and effectively striking opponents of different levels and defensive forms."

Even after being mocked by Linyin, Chief Mo was not angry at all. His talented disciple's proficiency in applied science pleased him greatly. Several other researchers also joined the discussion, each expressing their own opinions, delineating what they believed to be the best interception plans.

The Iridium Star Fleet merely needed to lift a finger, and the United States' nuclear missiles were instantly annihilated. Meanwhile, a group of people from the Iridium Star were keenly discussing how intercepting nuclear missiles could be more efficient, or rather, more elegant.

That was what they called the gap in strength.