Chapter 362: Small-Caliber Antimatter Cannon_1

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What can be done in three days?

During the three days following the start of the war, Jiang Yu proved that his cosmic broadcast had truly been disrupted by the Trisolarans, receiving only chaotic waves from beyond five thousand astronomical units.

These chaotic waves were actually very dangerous; after receiving such gravitational wave interference, advanced civilizations would not first think of how to decrypt them but would realize that at the source of the signal, there was a civilization capable of cosmic broadcasting.

In that case, the Solar System could be more dangerous than the Three-Body Star System.

However, scholars at the scientific academy soon discovered that, just as Sophon had stated, this chaotic wave was rapidly declining and might completely vanish within one light year.

Jiang Yu had to admit the fact: Earthlings' capacity for cosmic broadcasts had indeed been neutralized by the Trisolarans.

For the PDC, three days were enough for them to witness the cutting-edge weapons of the Solar System State, weapons that were beyond their wildest imagination, giving rise to a sense of both disparity and helplessness.

The most frightening aspect was that Sophon could not provide timely intelligence; often, it was only after battles had already started that Sophon informed them of the Solar System State's new weapons.

The operation to besiege Desert North Farm failed on the third day.

Initially, the PDC believed that the Solar System State's forces were weaker on Earth's surface, which is why they had launched the siege.

But the support from space weapons in low Earth orbit inflicted heavy losses on the siege, forcing a retreat to readjust strategy.

For Fleet International, three days were enough to force their withdrawal from the Jupiter Civilization Circle.

The Third Corps of the Solar System State's attack was definitely well-planned; as soon as the armed forces of Fleet International declared their allegiance to Sophon's command, the Third Corps' offensive followed suit.

Major William was among the few officers who participated in all of the battles against the Third Corps and survived.

Of course, this was inseparable from his good luck.

After the Solar System State declared war on Fleet International, he was responsible for the defense of the European Fleet's second fortress.

On the first day of the war as William traveled by shuttle to inspect several large frigates around the fortress, just as he boarded the "Galileo," he saw a "black line" streaking through space from one of its portholes.

The backdrop of space was black to begin with, but this "black line" was seemingly even darker than the void, standing out sharply against it, like ink spilt on snow.

Many people saw the "black line," and although no one knew its origin, they all recognized its target: the second fortress.

Onboard the "Galileo," William watched as the "black line" struck the second fortress, seemingly thickening and fading in color momentarily.

Then the second fortress emitted a dazzling white light. When the glare subsided, the fortress had turned into a liquid which then quickly solidified in the cold recesses of space.

And even with just a visual estimate, it was apparent that the fortress had significantly shrunk.

Not only the European Fleet's second fortress suffered a catastrophic blow; within the next three minutes, all six military fortresses belonging to Fleet International were destroyed.

Only after the devastating attack had ended did Sophon report that it was the Solar System State's antimatter cannon, whose power and range was incomparable to laser weapons and plasma weapons.

The white light was the result of antimatter colliding with matter, annihilating each other and releasing an explosion of energy.

The part of the second fortress that wasn't "annihilated" had melted into a liquid from the extreme heat of the fleeting, immense energy.

Now even rescue efforts were unnecessary, for no one could possibly have survived such an assault.

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The only thing that could be considered "fortunate" was that the caliber of the antimatter cannon seemed not to be large; otherwise, by now, there would be nothing left of the entire Fleet International's space domain.

Immediately following, Major William began to face the onslaught of the Third Legion's warships.

Thankfully, the ordinary warships of the Solar System State were not equipped with antimatter cannons; otherwise, William and his crew wouldn't even know where to cry.

At the onset of the battle, William was brimming with confidence, but after the engagement, he quickly realized the Third Legion's warships were exceedingly agile and their surfaces seemed to have a protective shield that could block laser weapon attacks to some extent.

As if that weren't enough, their firepower was extremely fierce; the "Galileo" under William's command was no match for even a single small warship of the Third Legion.

It was also "fortunate" that the "Galileo" had been seriously damaged early in the skirmish, and afterward, it was not given much attention by the Third Legion's warships, which allowed William to escape with his life.

At the beginning of the fight, as soon as Fleet International's armed forces engaged, they collapsed, and under Sophon's direction, they retreated to the Jupiter moons controlled by Fleet International.

With the cover of the Loki Weapons, the thousands of battleships of all sizes belonging to Fleet International could barely hold off the Third Legion's few hundred battleships.

At that moment, the Third Legion's antimatter cannon appeared again, and one by one, Fleet International's Loki Weapons were destroyed, leaving them with no power to fight back.

If Fleet International's warships had launched a counter-charge at that time, there might have been a chance of victory.

After all, the Jupiter Cultural Sphere had only one-third the armed strength of the Third Legion, and simply could not defend against them.

But the soldiers of Fleet International had already lost their will to fight; they were not fighting for their own or their class's interests, and they didn't even know what they were fighting for.

Soldiers like these could exert all their combat strength in a favorable battle, but once the war turned against them, they would lose most of their fighting spirit.

After a brief analysis, Sophon concluded that the armed forces of Fleet International were completely no match for the Third Legion, both in terms of equipment and combat will.

Her exact words were, "The most advanced weapons of the Solar System State are deployed in the Kuiper Belt. What the First and Third Corps are equipped with should be their weapons from a decade or even two decades ago.

"That's enough to deal with you all!

"Retreat; if you continue to fight, the entire army will be wiped out."

Sophon's words made many people unconvinced, as they believed that these were indeed the most advanced weapons of the Solar System State.

So, Sophon disclosed the forces that the Solar System State had mobilized to confront the Trisolaran vanguard squad, and everyone fell silent.

There wasn't any interstellar immigration plan in the Solar System State at the Kuiper Belt at all, but rather, twenty-some large military fortresses!

Sophon gave up on Jupiter, and the retreat of Fleet International towards Earth began.

It was then that some people noticed why Sophon's intelligence was not always timely; it turned out that most of their attention was concentrated on the Kuiper Belt!

...

On the first day that he was in a state of combat, Ai Qi had already conducted a pre-war mobilization in the Kuiper Belt!

Soon after, the new radar detected the Trisolaran vanguard squad, with an estimated one hundred twenty to one hundred thirty vessels, presumably all warships.

Therefore, Ai Qi held a swearing-in ceremony for the Second and Fourth Legions, preparing to send these two legions to confront the vanguard squad, with an absolute must-win for the first battle!