Chapter 70: Deadly Strategies in the Asteroid Belt

Asteroid attacks.

In the Asteroid Belt, this really is an innovative and incredibly powerful tactic.

But honestly, pulling it off comes with a lot of limitations.

First, your target has to be stationary. That already rules out more than ninety percent of combat scenarios.

Second, you can’t give your enemy any time to react.

In other words, you can’t be spotted while you’re towing, not before and not during.

If you get discovered ahead of time, the entire plan could go straight down the drain.

Finally, you need enough strength to protect the warships hauling those asteroids.

Otherwise, the moment you run into enemies on the tow route, you’re nothing but a sitting duck.

You simply can’t maneuver at all, leaving yourself wide open for precise enemy strikes.

So, sure, this tactic is effective, but it’s hard to use and not everyone can pull it off.

Just like right now…

The Klein fleet was busy and completely missed the mechanical head peeking out from behind a ten-meter chunk of space debris in the distance.

That head was live-streaming the entire scene to the rear command.

“Lin Yu, you nailed it again!”

George was honestly impressed. How did this guy always manage to anticipate the enemy’s moves so precisely?

He even predicted their exact location, off by less than three thousand kilometers. That was just wild.

Actually, George had already asked Lin Yu about this.

And Lin Yu’s answer…

Since it was clear that the enemy would probably use asteroids to attack as well, then…

Outpost Three, the only gap in the asteroid field, and the path the enemy would drag their asteroid along…

You could draw a straight line connecting those three points.

If you drew a line through any two out of the three, the third would fall right along that line too.

In the end, by working out the sensor array laid outside Outpost Three and the minimal distance needed to tow and accelerate the asteroid…

You could basically pinpoint the area they’re in.

It sounds simple, and it’s actually not outside most people’s mental reach.

But really, how many people would actually think their way through to this step?

George, for one, had never even considered it.

“Should we notify Outpost Three?”

“Yeah, let them know. But tell them to hold off for now—don’t make any moves or the enemy will bolt. Let them finish towing the asteroid first.”

“Got it. I’ll contact Vice Admiral Guo Kai from the First Fleet right away.”

——

If anyone else told Guo Kai not to act, he’d probably snap back.

“Since when does the First Fleet take orders from the Fifth?”

But if it was Lin Yu saying it…

Well…

Guo Kai had to take it seriously.

After all, every high-ranking officer in the Federation Fleet knew Lin Yu had Mu Qingxue’s full support, along with the backing of the three top fleet commanders.

Not to mention, ever since he joined the fleet, this young officer had racked up win after win.

These days, nobody underestimated him.

Some senior commanders were even saying Lin Yu wasn’t just the youngest colonel—they believed he’d be the youngest general someday.

And being a Vice Admiral definitely wouldn’t be the end of his road.

He might even make it to Admiral.

“So the kid plans to wait until the enemy finishes towing, then attack as soon as they start hauling the asteroid?”

Watching the live feed from Zhulong and hearing Lin Yu’s orders via George,

Guo Kai more or less understood what Lin Yu had in mind.

“Vice Admiral, do we really just stay put?”

“Of course. Charging out now is pointless. We’ll only tip them off, and lose our chance to wipe them out!”

Guo Kai was no slouch himself.

Since he understood Lin Yu’s plan, he wasn’t about to make any unnecessary moves.

“But still, have the fleet prep for action!”

“We might not be the main force in this battle, but if the enemy scrambles and scatters, we’ll have to respond. Qin Xuan’s up north, so that should be covered, but they could pull something unexpected and try to break through up front instead.”

“If that happens, I need the fleet ready to move out at a moment’s notice!”

Guo Kai shouted his orders.

Meanwhile, around 1.8 million kilometers from Outpost Three and just 600,000 from Shivana,

Another fleet also waited, standing by.

It was about twenty-five ships strong, the First Sub-Fleet of the Fifth Fleet.

Originally, they were at full strength, but before Lin Yu set out, Mu Qingxue reassigned five ships from each of three sub-fleets to temporarily reinforce the Fourth Sub-Fleet—the former special ops team, recently upgraded.

After all, Lin Yu was heading into the main battle, and fifteen ships really weren’t enough.

With so few ships, even the best opportunities wouldn’t yield the biggest results.

So, pulling ships to support Lin Yu was the smartest play.

“I still can’t figure out how that kid Lin Yu’s mind works.”

“With an Asteroid Belt this huge, he still managed to read the enemy commander like a book, guessing their target and even the fleet’s location.”

“Shame the commander scooped him up first. If not…”

“I’d have poached him myself if I could.”

Qin Xuan watched the synchronized video from Zhulong and listened to Lin Yu’s deployment plans.

She couldn’t help but be impressed.

“Order the whole fleet to get ready. As soon as the battle at the main front starts, we’ll move out right away!”

“Yes, Major General!”

——

Time ticked by…

Soon, another two hours had passed.

After a rush of work, the Klein fleet finally finished setting up.

Over a hundred cables woven from nanomaterials were now anchored to different points on the asteroid, each one locked into place on thirty-four warships.

Actually, Klein warships weren’t built with these cables as standard—truth be told, they didn’t even have nanomaterials of their own.

The two sides took very different approaches to technology.

So where did the asteroid-hauling cables come from?

The answer was…

The mining fleet they attacked earlier.

Those miners had over a hundred ships themselves.

Which meant, right from the beginning, Shivana’s real target wasn’t that mining fleet.

She hit them first just to steal the human nanocable tech she needed for her next plan.

“Report: The Klein fleet is starting to tow the asteroid. They’ll be within 500,000 kilometers of Outpost Three in about an hour, and speeding the rock up to over 100 kilometers per second.”

“All fleets, maintain radio silence. As soon as the enemy enters the ambush zone, attack from the flanks!”

“Yes, sir!”