Chapter 64: A Siege Without End

This was a fortress-class outpost.

Could Lin Yu really take it down with just fifteen warships?

The answer was yes.

But Lin Yu had no intention of doing so.

The reason was simple. He needed the Klein to know exactly where he was.

That way, every enemy warship nearby would rush here, keeping their attention off everything else.

For example…

The mining fleet busy locating new resources and towing asteroids elsewhere…

Right, his own fleet was supposed to be escorting them.

But nobody ever said escorts have to stick to their charges all the time.

If he did that, then sooner or later, they’d get spotted and hunted down again.

That was the last thing Lin Yu wanted. All he hoped for was a peaceful seven days, enough for the mining group to finish their job without interference.

To make that happen, Lin Yu had to act as bait. He’d draw every enemy warship in the area toward himself, ensuring they wouldn’t notice anyone else for the next week.

So this outpost couldn’t be taken just yet.

Otherwise, who’d report his location in real time to the enemy?

And if they lost track of him, wouldn’t all those warships start searching everywhere when they arrived?

And in their search, wouldn’t they be likely to stumble across the mining fleet at work?

So…

Lin Yu felt no rush. He didn’t even plan on making a direct assault.

He simply kept his ships out of the enemy’s firing range and kept up a steady barrage, smashing away at the simple fortress the Klein had spent more than two months constructing.

Sure, the railgun rounds only peppered the outpost’s surface with shallow craters, tickling it at best. They couldn’t penetrate to the interior. But that was already enough.

Plenty of their defensive weapons and open docking bays—spaces fit for hundreds of warships—were still completely exposed.

He could wreck those with no trouble at all.

Of course, if he could pick off a few enemy ships in the process, even better—just like he’d done earlier.

Target the smaller vessels with the main guns, hit them hard.

The results spoke for themselves.

——

Day one.

The Special Mixed Fleet kept its distance at a million kilometers, bombarding the enemy side of the outpost with railgun fire nonstop.

As for the seventeen enemy ships stationed there?

They’d considered fighting back, but they didn’t have the numbers. And Zhulong’s main gun could shoot from unbelievably far.

Anyone who dared show their face got blasted by Zhulong’s main gun right away.

After several such attempts, they’d accomplished nothing except crippling their own ships.

Day two.

A small patrol fleet, seven ships in all, came racing back in a panic.

They were in such a hurry they forgot to check for ambushes ahead. Naturally, one of Lin Yu’s mecha squadrons spotted them.

The result…

A perfect ambush, of course.

Luckily for them, the outpost was nearby, and the ten-odd ships that had been pinned down inside managed to rush out to help.

Even so, the patrol lost three warships.

Lin Yu didn’t want a close-quarters slugfest, so he pulled back and vanished from sight.

He waited until they’d regrouped and retreated to the outpost.

Then, the Special Mixed Fleet struck again, repeating day one’s tactics.

Day three.

Another patrol returned.

This time, the enemy had learned their lesson. They kept a close eye on the special operations unit.

Any time Lin Yu tried to pull away, they’d pop out from behind the fortress.

But if he stayed put, they’d duck back behind cover, using the outpost as a shield.

Lin Yu could only laugh to himself at how stubborn they were, then let that patrol go and link up with the rest of their fleet.

And so…

By now the Klein fleet had grown to twenty-nine ships.

Six of them were badly damaged—not quite dead in the water, but far from battle-ready.

Still, they didn’t dare make a move.

From what Lin Yu could tell, this latest patrol had to be the last nearby.

Any more reinforcements would have to come from farther out, maybe even from Jupiter.

Either way, over the next few days there shouldn’t be any new arrivals, even if the Klein started rerouting ships from other outposts since day one.

As long as he kept up the pressure and made sure the enemy stayed put for another four days…

The job would be done.

Everything was going smoothly. Until…

Until the end of day three.

——

“Reporting in! Unit 55 has detected enemy ships—thirty-six of them, eighty thousand kilometers out, looks like they’re trying to slip behind us!”

“Reporting in! Klein fleet is advancing from behind the outpost, full speed straight toward us!”

“Reporting in…”

Everything had been going so well. But now…

A torrent of bad news poured in all at once.

Lin Yu frowned.

Thirty-six enemy ships—where’d they come from?

By all rights, there shouldn’t have been any more enemy warships in this sector.

Well, it didn’t matter where they’d come from. The problem needed to be handled immediately.

If he got caught between sixty-some enemy ships at his front and rear…

Even Lin Yu would be in deep trouble, with no way to keep casualties under control.

“All ships, cease fire! Turn to seven o’clock, forty-one degrees elevation, seventy thousand kilometers! Hide behind the asteroid belt!”

“Copy that!”

The Special Mixed Fleet had already been crawling along at a snail’s pace, so changing course was easy.

They slipped behind the asteroid field seventy thousand kilometers away, vanishing from sight of both Klein fleets.

——

“Damn it, they spotted us from this far out? That guy must’ve scattered scouts nearby.”

“Find them! But I want one alive!”

Shivana slammed her hand on the controls.

And barked out the order.

By Shivana’s calculations, they shouldn’t have been detected till they got within three hundred thousand kilometers.

She’d chosen this approach route herself. Every checkpoint was carefully picked, with enough cover to keep sensors off their backs.

Once they closed to within three hundred thousand kilometers, they’d launch a pincer attack from both sides and wipe out the human fleet almost instantly.

But how had they been spotted while still eighty thousand kilometers out, with a whole field of asteroids between the two fleets?

Radar scans wouldn’t have worked at that range.

The only explanation—enemy scouts silently monitoring their approach.

Lin Yu’s mecha squads weren’t scattered randomly.

He’d personally selected every surveillance point, blocking off any route that might be a threat.

So Shivana’s perfect route…

Of course they’d been found.