Chapter 78: The Fifth Fleet’s Gambit

The Fifth Fleet’s latest formation consists of four squadrons, with a combined strength of 116 warships. The First and Fourth Squadrons are at full strength, while the Second and Third are each short by two vessels.

Besides those four squadrons, the Fifth Fleet has a special core combat group—a dedicated Warstar task force.

At full strength, that task force should include one Warstar and sixty-four escort warships, making sixty-five ships in total.

Currently, though, the task force isn’t quite at full capacity, with just fifty-eight escorts for now.

All told, the current composition of the Fifth Fleet totals up to 175 warships.

That’s even bigger than the Second and Third Fleets, second only to the First Fleet. The reason? Lin Yu’s squadron was always an extra contingent specially authorized by Federation Fleet Headquarters. Even when it expanded to thirty ships, it still didn’t count against the Fifth Fleet’s main strength.

Sure, those other two fleets also set up four squadrons each, but they made it work by thinning out their own Warstar task forces. Mu Qingxue, on the other hand, preferred to have one less squadron if it meant keeping the core group strong.

In other words, at full strength, the Fifth Fleet has thirty more warships than the Second and Third Fleets.

That’s also a major reason why Mu Qingxue assigned the Fifth Fleet to this mission.

Of course, the most important reason remains the presence of Mu Qingxue and Lin Yu themselves. Not just anyone can handle this mission—Fleet Headquarters debated for ages, then finally agreed that the Fifth Fleet had the best shot at success.

Can you really blame them? With two such prodigies in one fleet, how could anyone else compare?

——

Sun Wei stayed behind with the Third Squadron to continue holding Outpost Three.

That way, even if the Klain sent scouts, nothing would seem out of place.

Plus, unless a massive enemy fleet shows up, the Third Fleet—together with the outpost’s heavy defenses and natural terrain—is more than enough to hold them off.

Still, before leaving, Mu Qingxue gave a direct order:

If the Klain send a large force to attack, Sun Wei has authorization to immediately abandon the outpost and withdraw.

As for the main strength of the Fifth Fleet, they’re steering clear of any detectable routes. They’ve chosen to take a huge detour, planning a twenty-two day journey to cross the Asteroid Belt.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere at Outpost Two was growing more and more tense.

Because today—

The scout ship sent to watch the Klain outposts was discovered. It didn’t make it back.

Its last message was simple—

Over five hundred Klain warships massed at the enemy outpost have mobilized.

And their sensors picked up an even bigger fleet behind them, over fifteen hundred ships strong.

This intel landed like a hammer blow, piling enormous pressure onto the Federation Fleet.

A lot of people grew pessimistic, convinced that Outpost Two could never hold against an enemy assault from over two thousand warships.

But Mu Xingchen had a very different perspective.

At the strategy meeting, he said—

“Worried about their numbers?”

“Frankly, the bigger their fleet the better!”

“The larger the front lines, the emptier their rear will be. It creates the perfect shot for the Fifth Fleet!”

“As long as the Fifth Fleet makes its move, no matter how stubborn the Klain are, their fleet will have to pull back. After all…”

“They’re the last spark of their whole civilization. If their rear-guard refugee ships are destroyed, then even if their front lines beat us and conquer Earth, it doesn’t mean a thing.”

“So our one job is clear: Before the Fifth Fleet strikes, we slow the enemy’s advance as much as possible while keeping our own losses manageable.”

“Don’t get hung up on territory! Even if we lose every outpost—even if we have to abandon the whole Asteroid Belt for now—it doesn’t matter!”

That’s Mu Xingchen’s approach.

He never planned to fight to the death here against the Klain. He didn’t set out to hold the belt at all costs.

His only goal was to delay the enemy and keep casualties under control.

Even if it means giving up the entire Asteroid Belt, it’s worth it to buy more time.

The next twenty-two days—

Everything hinges on them.

——

Three days later, the second scout ship vanished.

Eight days later, the third scout ship vanished.

Nine days after that, the fourth scout ship managed to send a single report before it went dark.

The Klain fleet had reached L5.

With the disappearance points of the earlier scout ships as reference…

They could now map out the Klain fleet’s route with reasonable accuracy.

Roughly as expected—they did take a few detours, but their real target remained the Federation’s Outpost Two.

According to the newest report, the L5 area is now less than five million kilometers from Outpost Two.

As previously mentioned, Outpost Two sits in one of the rare open regions of the Asteroid Belt—a patch with hardly any celestial bodies for millions of kilometers in every direction.

That L5 zone? It’s actually just five million kilometers directly in front of the outpost.

Which puts the Klain fleet just outside the clear zone—hidden behind a dense cluster of asteroids some 4.8 million kilometers away.

The stage is set—they could launch their all-out attack at any moment.

While Outpost Two lacks the kind of natural barriers that protect Outpost Three, this does have one advantage—

The sheer openness of the region makes surprise attacks a non-issue.

With several million kilometers of empty space, even if the enemy pushes their fleet to maximum speed, it still takes them hours just to cross it.

“Order the First Fleet to take up positions to the left of the fortress zone. Deploy the Second and Fourth Fleets to the right.”

“Understood!”

“How’s the tug fleet’s prep coming along?”

“Ready. They can launch at any time.”

“Until I give the word, keep them hidden. Don’t let them be seen.”

“Yes, Commander!”

Outpost Two is made up of one large asteroid, three thousand meters across, twenty-eight medium asteroids, each a thousand meters wide, and more than three hundred smaller asteroids at least a hundred meters each.

The twenty-eight kilometer-scale asteroids aren’t just bristling with railgun batteries—they’re armed with two large-caliber ion beam cannons each and feature their own medium-sized fusion reactors.

Those three hundred-plus smaller asteroids are equipped with twenty-four railgun batteries apiece.

As for that three-kilometer asteroid…

It’s mainly fitted with close-in defense weapons, with no heavy or ultra-long-range systems. That’s because it’s the command center for Outpost Two, so it’s positioned way in the back.

Added to that, three fleets are stationed there—456 warships in total, including two Warstars.

To put it simply, Outpost Two’s direct firepower is nothing to sneeze at.

But when facing Klain warships built to counter railgun rounds…

Long-range heavy firepower only goes so far.

Its real impact is limited.