Chapter 366: Each Shows Their "Magic Powers" - 1

The Battle of Uranus was a harsh lesson the Trisolarans imparted on humanity.

Interstellar war completely exceeded human understanding of warfare; how the war was fought was determined by the side with superior technology.

At PDC and Fleet International, the Battle of Uranus had already been forgotten amidst a period of prosperity.

In the Solar System State, National Humiliation Day was observed every year to remember this war.

Every soldier of the Solar System State, after completing basic training, had to take a spacecraft to the old battlefield of Uranus to commemorate the compatriots who died there and listen to the Propaganda Department's recounting of the mistakes humanity made in this war.

This was the only example of interstellar warfare, so even Ai Qi's envisioning of the future war with the Trisolarans wasn't much better than Chang Weisi's in those days.

The only thing that prepared them psychologically was the lesson from "The Waterdrop," which told them to always imagine the enemy as stronger than they are and to always be prepared for the worst.

Thus, the war began at a distance of sixty astronomical units, where neither side could be seen by any optical telescope or radio radar.

Only with the new gravitational wave radar and supersymmetric particle radar could they know the precise location and general shape of the enemy's position.

If the scholars and military personnel of PDC and Fleet International could witness the effectiveness of these two new radars, they would be astounded.

For they had no means to discern an object the size of a warship at a distance of sixty astronomical units, unless the warship was moving at high speed. Only then could they approximately ascertain the enemy's position.

And such warfare had already been simulated countless times by Ai Qi and Wu Xinghai.

Ultimately, they developed a standard tactic: to use "Gravitational Tearing" to interfere with the enemy before entering their own firing range and to advance at full speed to enter their own range as quickly as possible.

At this moment, Wu Xinghai couldn't see the scene beyond sixty astronomical units either, only the enemy's posture on the virtual sand table.

This sand table utilized 3D projection technology, representing enemy warships with red dots, and simulating nearby celestial bodies and the space background as well.

At the same time, the virtual sand table also displayed the chaotic gravitational fields that had just formed.

Wu Xinghai saw the sixteen ships in the center beginning to shake under the immense tearing of the gravitational field.

He immediately ordered, "All hands, enter first-level combat readiness!"

With the Second Legion's gravitational attack, the war had begun.

Although there had been no explicit orders previously, the first echelon had already entered a state of combat readiness.

At the Trisolaran Vanguard, the formation of a black hole continued, and the gravitational field became even more volatile.

Suddenly, this process halted, and no matter how hard the twenty warships that had broken off from the main fleet tried, they couldn't prevent the gravitational field from returning to normal.

The operations officer said, "The enemy has taken action!"

Wu Xinghai nodded, "Increase the power of the 'Gravitational Tearing,' scrambling their formation a bit is also good."

Everyone knew that the Trisolarans would not just sit back and wait for the black hole to form.

At that moment, huge white spheres suddenly appeared among the first echelon!

The diameters of these spheres were as large as Jupiter!

A flash of white light passed, and then dozens of warships within those spheres vanished without a trace!

The science officer immediately said, "Those are antimatter weapons!"

However, it was unknown how the enemy had managed to launch the "antimatter bombs" silently into the first echelon.

If this had been the Battle of Uranus, just one of these bombs could have annihilated the entire combined fleet at that time!

Wu Xinghai inquired, "What's the distance to the enemy?"

The tactical staff immediately reported, "59.2 astronomical units!"

Everyone in the command center breathed a sigh of relief. The range of the weapons of the Trisolarans was longer than those of the Solar System State fleet, but only by about 3.6 astronomical units, which was still within an acceptable range.

Wu Xinghai immediately issued an order, "Continue to increase the distance between our ships! Advance from six different directions! Disperse the enemy firepower!"

"Assess the battle damage."

On the simulated sand table, the vanguard's fleet of over three thousand warships began to separate into six different fleets, charging towards the enemy like swarms of wasps.

Interstellar warfare had long since lost the fervor of real, close-quarters combat. All wars took place on sand tables and remote strategizing.

For humanity's senses and organs were already insufficient to detect and engage the enemy at such great distances!

Casualty figures soon came in: there were sixteen huge white orbs, which had taken away thirty-three warships in total.

There were no wounded, only the dead!

All the soldiers of the first echelon showed no signs of retreat or fear, for they were well aware that their role was to probe the enemy's firepower, and they had already resigned themselves to their fates as good as dead.

Although the warships of the Solar System State were highly intelligent, some positions of judgment on the warships still required human soldiers.

Generally speaking, the normal operation of an Ordinary Battleship required thirty-three soldiers, and with the need to take shifts, there were generally between fifty-eight and sixty-eight soldiers on a ship.

On a flagship, there were generally eighty to ninety people.

On a Command Ship, there was usually a staff group of about a dozen people, but the total personnel did not exceed one hundred thirty!

The obliteration of over thirty warships by the enemy's antimatter meant that the enemy's first round of attacks had already resulted in over two thousand casualties!

Wu Xinghai sighed, "Record their names!"

"Send all the enemy's reactions to the later echelons. We can't let their sacrifices be in vain!"

"Also remind the Commander-in-chief that the enemy's weapons might have even longer range than we've seen. Don't rule out the possibility that they are luring us into their full range before going all out with their firepower!"

The research on super-symmetric particles had enabled real-time communication between the warships of the Solar System State, but it was limited to text. Communication with pictures or videos was still not possible.

In the last echelon, Ai Qi received the message from Wu Xinghai. Among the staff team at the headquarters, there was a Common Era individual who said with a wry smile:

"This reminds me of modern history lessons from school, of the Qing Dynasty's cannons firing at the 'Foreigners'' cannons.

"The 'Foreigners'' shells were not only massively destructive, but they also fired several rounds before the Qing Dynasty's cannons were even within range."

Ai Qi, with hands clasped behind his back, said, "We are different from the Qing Dynasty's troops; we are fighting for a noble goal!"

He immediately ordered, "While the first echelon attracts enemy fire, all echelons spread out further and charge from different directions!"

Upon receiving the order, thousands of warships quickly changed their course.

In the front, the first echelon continued to face ongoing enemy attacks; they finally made it past the 3.6 astronomical units, and Wu Xinghai clenched his fists tightly, "Warships, enter gliding mode! Counter with all your strength!"

The more repressed they had been when they were under attack, the more ferociously each ship now returned fire.

The only weapon that could reach the enemy now was the Antimatter Missile. A bit closer and the Antimatter Cannon would be able to unleash its full power.

The Antimatter Missile, unlike traditional missiles, was a group of antimatter wrapped in a force field, propelled towards the target by a laser. Then the force field dissipated, simultaneously detonating the contained antimatter.

This concept was similar to the orbs that the Trisolarans had detonated in the first echelon, except it was far less powerful, albeit in greater numbers.

Yet, what no one expected was that, right after the first salvo, most of the warships in the first echelon suddenly became paralyzed!