Chapter 10: The Federation’s Gambit

From the moment the Klein Expeditionary Fleet emerged from the Kuiper Belt…

To the Novaya Zemlya’s desperate last stand, destroying two enemy warships but taking heavy damage herself, her main weapon rendered useless.

And finally…

Under Pavel’s orders, and with the sound of ‘Ura!’ echoing through the bridge…

The Novaya Zemlya ran her engines past their limits, pushing 120% output, and rammed straight into the nearest enemy ship.

A mutual annihilation.

The conference room was shrouded in silence.

“Commander-in-Chief, we don’t know the enemy’s current situation. I suggest we have the Fourth Fleet retreat with the Third Fleet to the Jupiter defense line and rendezvous with the Second Fleet at Europa.”

“At the same time, the Fifth Fleet should cancel its planned mission to Earth and return to Mars orbit, ready to break through the Asteroid Belt and reinforce the Jupiter front if needed!”

“As for the First Fleet, they should be ready for the worst and immediately build the last line of defense in Earth’s orbit.”

A moment later, Chief of Staff Luo Ming stood up to make a proposal.

But plenty of people objected to this idea right away.

If they pulled back from the Kuiper Belt to the Jupiter defense line, what would happen to Uranus and Neptune and all the moons orbiting those planets?

After all, a lot of those places had human development.

All told, there were tens of thousands of people working on those planets.

There wouldn’t be time to evacuate them all.

Besides, by what they’d seen so far, the enemy only had a few dozen warships, and their combat power seemed a bit weaker than Federation ships.

Given all that, did they really need to abandon everything beyond Jupiter?

Most weren’t convinced.

Luo Ming glanced anxiously at Mu Xingchen.

He knew this suggestion lacked hard proof and would stir up mass panic.

But the stakes were the survival of all human civilization. You couldn’t be too careful.

Sure, I can’t prove the aliens have more ships.

But do you have proof they don’t?

Leaving the Kuiper Belt and the Uranus defense line would only mean losing those areas temporarily.

But if they didn’t pull back, and the alien civilization really did have thousands of warships…

Then the Fourth Fleet in the Kuiper Belt, the Third Fleet at Titan, and the Second Fleet at Europa would all be picked off one by one!

Humanity…

Just couldn’t risk it!!!

Mu Xingchen and Luo Ming had worked together for years. He understood exactly what Luo Ming was thinking.

Still, the Federation Fleet wasn’t his private army.

“Vladimir, what’s your opinion?”

Vladimir, one of the two Vice Commanders of the Federation Fleet, also held the rank of admiral.

And Mu Xingchen wasn’t just asking for his input out of courtesy.

After all…

The Fourth Fleet, like Vladimir himself, was overwhelmingly Slavic.

If the aliens really had a bigger fleet or even stronger ships, the Fourth Fleet would be the first to fall.

So for the sake of the Fourth Fleet, the best move was…

Exactly what Luo Ming suggested—pulling both the Fourth and Third Fleets back to the Jupiter defense line, linking up with the Second Fleet, and keeping the Fifth Fleet in reserve.

With all that in mind…

Vladimir really should agree with this plan.

If two of the Federation’s three military heads were on board…

They could make the call right there.

Even Mu Xingchen hadn’t expected what happened next though…

“No. I disagree!”

“Vladimir, you…”

“Chief Luo Ming’s plan is perfectly reasonable and the safest choice, but… I still can’t agree!”

Vladimir shook his head, his stance unshakeable.

“Commander-in-Chief, even with the Novaya Zemlya’s combat footage, we know far too little about this alien civilization!”

“Doesn’t your Chinese Sun Tzu say: ‘Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated’?”

“We’ve lost or lost contact with ten ships. At the very least, the Don River’s entire crew has likely been taken captive by the enemy—maybe even interrogated by now.”

“So, right now, they know us, but we know nothing about them!”

“If we can use a single Fourth Fleet to truly probe the enemy’s capabilities, I think it’s worth it!”

In that moment.

The entire conference room was stunned.

No one there was an idiot.

They all knew exactly what Vladimir meant by that.

In other words…

Let the Fourth Fleet go out and fight a battle.

After all, a bunch of alien ships weren’t likely to be a match for the entire Fourth Fleet.

The only way the enemy could win would be to reveal a much larger force, maybe even their main fleet.

That way, the Federation could finally gauge the aliens’ true numbers, strength, and maybe spot some weaknesses in their technology—all to inform the next step.

But the Fourth Fleet’s fate…

There was really only one word for it…

Sacrifice.

——

One hour later.

The Federation Fleet’s lunar headquarters issued its orders.

First: Except for frontline combat personnel, the rest of the Fourth Fleet was to evacuate.

Second: The Third Fleet would fall back to the Jupiter defense line and rendezvous with the Second Fleet.

Third: The Fifth Fleet’s mission to Earth was canceled—they were to return to Mars orbit and await further orders.

At the same time, the Federation government declared a state of emergency, calling up all reservists to report immediately.

The Federation Fleet was also temporarily granted authority to requisition any civilian vessels as needed.

They might not have said the word ‘aliens’ outright, but everyone knew…

Something big was going down.

Meanwhile, the Fifth Fleet also received its orders.

“What? Alien invasion? You’ve got to be kidding!!”

Once Mu Qingxue had finished explaining everything and showed the images from Federation Fleet command,

Selena, the Fifth Fleet’s chief of staff, shot out of her seat.

Her temper was every bit as fiery as her figure.

Her eyes were wide with shock.

Honestly, while the others weren’t quite as dramatic as Selena, deep down everyone felt the same disbelief.

Alien civilizations had been discussed for centuries, and even the Federation’s fleet deployments were all built around the idea of a possible alien invasion.

But hardly anyone thought it would actually happen in their lifetime.

“Alright, settle down!”

“As ordered by command, the fleet will return to Mars orbit.”

“The Fifth Fleet will stand by as the Jupiter defense line’s reserve, ready to cross the Asteroid Belt and support the front at a moment’s notice.”

“Also, the Federation is officially in a state of emergency—all resources are being shifted to the military, the reserves are being mobilized, which means…”

“In about three months, we’ll get the ships and personnel we’ve been missing to finally bring the Fifth Fleet up to full strength.”

“Based on my initial calculations, once we’re fully staffed, we’ll only have about six months to train and get the Fifth Fleet completely combat-ready!”

“When you get back, I want every department to submit concrete, realistic training plans for the next six months—quickly!”

“That’s all—dismissed!”

Everyone responded in unison, then got up to leave.

That included Lin Yu.

But unlike the rest, Lin Yu was still a bit confused.

Not because of the aliens, but…

How did a regular guy like him end up at such a high-level meeting?

Wasn’t it supposed to just be Selena, the boss of the staff group, attending on their behalf?

How did I get dragged into this too…

“Lin Yu, hang back a minute!”

Just as Lin Yu got up to follow behind Selena to leave,

Mu Qingxue’s voice called out from behind.