Chapter 15: Turning the Tables
by xennovelWhy don’t we turn the tables on them?
Inside the Qiongxiao’s war conference room, everyone turned in unison, all eyes landing on Lin Yu.
“Lin Yu, let’s hear your thoughts!”
“Yes, Vice Admiral!”
Lin Yu gave a crisp reply, then took a moment to organize his thoughts.
“By now, everyone should know why area-wide saturation strikes have been our go-to long-range attack tactic for centuries.”
“Even if a railgun’s projectiles can hit speeds of thousands of kilometers per second, it still takes ten, sometimes even dozens of minutes to cross a battlefield spanning tens of thousands or even millions of kilometers. The enemy has plenty of time to dodge.”
“That’s why, when using railguns for long-range attacks, we’ve shifted toward non-precision, area-wide saturation strikes!”
“Compared to precision strikes, the advantage of area saturation is that—even if the enemy dodges with speed changes and trajectory adjustments—they can’t completely escape such a wide attack zone. After all, it’s not just a single volley, but several waves creating an even larger danger zone.”
“Of course, there are drawbacks too. The hit rate is honestly pretty low!”
“Statistics show that beyond 3 light-seconds, the average hit rate of saturation fire is only about 1.7%. If the range stretches past 10 light-seconds, that rate drops below 0.1%.”
“And that’s if the enemy doesn’t maneuver at all. If they start dodging, the odds sink even further.”
“Still, no matter how low the hit rate is, it’s better than nothing, since precision strikes are the easiest for the enemy to dodge at extreme range.”
“So after centuries, area saturation long-range tactics have sunk in deep, accepted by nearly everyone as the gospel truth. But in all this time, people have forgotten one critical thing…”
“The so-called ‘correct’ and ‘only’ tactic assumes… the enemy uses the same technology and similar weapons as us!”
“It’s clear the alien civilization Fourth Fleet is facing now is nothing like us, so area-wide long-range saturation attacks are even less effective against them!”
……
……
Lin Yu laid all this out in detail.
But he never actually said what they should do next.
Still, look who’s in the room.
Mu Qingxue, backed by senior officers of the Fifth Fleet she handpicked herself.
Not a single mediocrity among them.
So everyone grasped what Lin Yu meant—and everything he hinted at beneath the surface.
Which was…
Since the enemy knows our standard tactics, and has tailored their own strategy to counter them…
Then…
We can turn it all the way around.
Area-wide long-range saturation strikes?
Not at all! Those guys are going all out, accelerating like mad, charging forward in a straight line with their entire fleet, not dodging at all.
So why stick with those low-probability area attacks? Wouldn’t targeted precision strikes work better now?
Only a 0.1% average hit rate at 10 light-seconds?
No, with precision fire, the hit probability could be a hundred times higher.
“I’ll contact Headquarters immediately and relay this new approach!”
“Well done, Lin Yu!”
Mu Qingxue looked thoroughly satisfied with Lin Yu’s insight, connecting right away with Federation Fleet Headquarters.
——
Meanwhile.
The Fourth Fleet’s railgun strikes continued, launching another volley every few seconds.
The projectiles from the initial barrage were still barreling through space.
Warstar Petrov Glory.
First Bridge.
“Vice Admiral, urgent orders from Lunar Headquarters just came in. They’ve been sent to your tactical terminal.”
Hearing this, Volkov tapped a few times on his left wrist, pulling up the tactical interface.
A new command appeared on the holographic display.
He read it closely, his eyes suddenly blazing with excitement.
“Radar Officer, what’s the enemy fleet’s current speed?”
“178 kilometers per second, and they’re still accelerating.”
“Keep tracking them. The instant they stop accelerating, notify me at once!”
“Yes, Vice Admiral!”
“Good. Operations team, start working out a precision fire support plan for the railguns. Base the numbers on a 10% average hit rate. I want maximum damage to the enemy fleet within ten volleys!”
“Understood, Vice Admiral. We’ll get right on it!”
They had no idea why their Vice Admiral was suddenly switching to precision strikes.
But no one questioned it.
The operations team’s job was simple:
Take the commander’s idea and make it happen.
Not second-guess it.
The Warstar’s tactical planners were the best of the entire fleet.
Plus, Volkov’s order wasn’t complicated—just allocate precision targets for every warship, set the expected hit rate at 10%, and plan for adjustments over the next nine rounds.
Not even three minutes later, the entire plan was ready to go.
The attack plan was finished in no time.
Volkov reviewed it and looked satisfied, but he didn’t launch it right away.
Because…
The timing wasn’t quite right.
To push their hit rate higher and really maximize the effect,
Volkov needed to wait until the Klein fleet stopped accelerating—when they’d hit their top speed.
Otherwise, no one could say how much more they’d speed up or what their max would be.
If they didn’t have this data nailed down, the more precise their aiming, the lower the chances of hitting anything.
After all, you couldn’t pinpoint where the railgun rounds would strike after crossing vast stretches of space if you didn’t know their exact destination.
Plus, Volkov would only get one shot at this—maybe a very brief window.
Once the enemy caught on and changed their maneuvering,
This trick would stop working.
The window for all of this would last, tops, a minute.
That’s why Volkov told the ops team to plan for ten consecutive volleys.
After all, the time between each fleet salvo…
Was just six seconds!
——
Time ticked away. In another ten-plus minutes,
The Klein fleet had reached a cruising speed of 198 kilometers per second.
“Vice Admiral, enemy fleet acceleration has stopped. Current speed: 198 km per second.”
“Signal the whole fleet: cease current barrage and lock onto targets according to the new strike plan. The attack kicks off on my mark!”
“Yes, Vice Admiral!”
The entire fleet moved at lightning speed.
Within seconds, every ship had swapped over to the new precision targeting assignments.
A red virtual button appeared on the holographic interface in front of Volkov.
That was…
The master attack coordination button for the whole fleet.
With one press, every ship would unleash their firepower at once.
“Vice Admiral, the fleet is prepped and ready!”
“Excellent. Commence firing!”
As Volkov shouted, he slammed his right hand down hard on that glowing red button.
In the next instant, thousands of railguns across the fleet
roared in perfect unison.