Chapter 183 Stellar Defense System_1

The lights of the military port twinkled in space like the stars in the night sky, illuminating the surrounding void.

From a distance, the entire starport appeared as a dazzling sea of stars, inspiring reverence in the beholder.

This magnificent spectacle of the fleet intoxicated Zhang Beihai.

It was hard to imagine that in less than 200 years, humanity had developed such a vast space power.

And many of the impressive fleets before him were built a century ago; the Deep Space Fleet was essentially a repurposing of retired warships. Such a grand space power, yet it represented less than one percent of humanity's true space capability.

Inside the shuttle, Zhang Beihai asked the robot beside him, "Are we now heading to the Starport Command Headquarters?"

The military robot, with a resolute appearance, was the best assistant for soldiers to complete various tasks and also played a role in military instruction.

Robot: "Yes, Commander. Jupiter's Fourth Starport is very large, housing the majority of warships preparing for deep-space voyages.

"We expect to arrive at the Command Headquarters in two hours. Your specific assignment will be issued by them. But according to my information, you are likely to be appointed as the Executive Captain of the Deep Space First Fleet flagship, the 'Natural Selection.'

Zhang Beihai felt a call of destiny: "The Natural Selection! That is indeed a great warship, playing a significant role in humanity's interstellar exploration, and is a ship of honor for humans.

"In our era, many people had a pessimistic view of the future, but there were also many who maintained a firm belief in victory.

"We grew up in the navy, prepared from a young age to dedicate everything to it. Our enemy was across the sea. Only when we grew up did we realize that our enemy wasn't 'across,' but 'above.'

"Yet now, the power displayed by humanity makes me feel like the enemy is still 'across.'

A hundred years of living together, a hundred years of lessons, and after two hundred years we finally look up and come face-to-face with Trisolaris.

When the vast starport appeared before Zhang Beihai, recalling the premature end of the "Tang," it was as if he had lost a spiritual home.

Now, his wandering spirit of two centuries seemed to have found its destination, leading him to share a few more reflections with a robot.

Robot: "That era was indeed a time of despair, especially during the initial period of the great trough, when the construction of the Space Force essentially halted.

"Guided by the Moon Base, humanity devoted itself to dealing with various disasters and entirely moved underground. While all of humanity's economic efforts were destroyed, the human race itself did not suffer too much loss.

"It could be considered a loss of territory but not of people. No one expected that going underground would also spur a technological explosion, and humanity managed to survive that calamity.

"At that time, no one knew that this move underground and the hiatus of space programs would last nearly a century.

"You must be aware of that period of history and understand how the Moon Camp oppressed, exploited, and blockaded the Earth Camp for over half a century.

"It was not until Crisis Year 109 that we broke through the blockade of the Moon Camp. Afterwards, it took us only half a century to spread our colonies throughout every corner of the Solar System.

"We also built the Star Defense System, which we have been continuously strengthening, and will continue to enhance in the future.

"This is an era that has the confidence and determination to fight Trisolaris."

Zhang Beihai: "In this era, even the most despairing person could not harbor cowardly thoughts of fearing the enemy.

"Could you give me a brief introduction to the Star Defense System?"

Zhang Beihai also wanted a more comprehensive understanding of this era and what wondrous feat the Star Defense System was.

Robot: "The Star Defense System, proposed by Ye Chen of Earth Command, is a multi-layered, three-dimensional military defensive line meticulously constructed through the collective strength of humanity within the Solar System, divided into time zones.

"With the Sun at the center and the Ecliptic Plane as the base, we have divided the Solar System into 24 celestial longitude time zones.

"From Time Zone 0 to Time Zone 2 is the sector swept by Earth in November, centered around the Sun;

"From Time Zone 2 to Time Zone 4 is the sector swept by Earth in December;

"And so on...

"From Time Zone 22 to Time Zone 0 is the sector swept by Earth in October.

"This corresponds exactly with the hourly markings on the celestial longitude star chart.

"In the celestial longitude star chart, the position of the Trisolaran Star System is, between 13 to 14 hours of right ascension, from -50 to -60 degrees in declination, belonging to the southern star systems and observable only from the southern hemisphere of Earth."

"Our defenses in the right ascension sectors between 13 and 14 hours are the most substantial; between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn, I established 200 large starports designed for both offense and defense."

"More than 200 other large starports are distributed in different sectors, and not only do these starports possess strong defensive capabilities, they're equipped with advanced long-range attack systems. They can also communicate and collaborate with each other, forming a joint defensive network."

"Among the starports, tens of thousands of large automated satellite weapon platforms are connected, forming a defensive chain with precise orbital mechanics and complex formation flying techniques, linking all the starports together."

"Beyond the starports, a considerable number of star-level warships patrol space, greatly enhancing the depth of our defense. The warships' powerful maneuverability allows for rapid tactical realignment during combat to handle the ever-changing complexities of the battlefield."

"The star defense system is divided into three layers."

"The first layer is the outpost defense layer, located beyond 30 astronomical units. This layer is primarily composed of a vast number of advanced reconnaissance satellites, small weapon platforms, and long-range sensors responsible for early detection of enemy movements, providing accurate intelligence support for subsequent defense and counterattack."

"The second layer is the mobile defense layer, spanning 5 to 30 astronomical units. This layer relies on the warships, starports, and satellite weapon platforms to destroy the enemy in motion."

"Centered around the region between Jupiter and Saturn's orbits, its range extends to Neptune's orbit. Here, humanity has concentrated its strongest military forces and most advanced technological equipment, engaging the enemy through flexible tactical arrangements and close coordinated operations."

"The third layer is the near-Earth defense layer, a deployed defensive layer on the orbits of planets such as Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, and it stands as the last line of defense for the Solar System. Beyond this point, it's a fight to the death with no further strategic guidance."

"This defense system isn't limited to the plane of the ecliptic in the Solar System; it includes other directions of declination as well. To be accurate, this isn't a ring-shaped defensive circle, but a spherical one."

"To be precise, the star defense system is intended to counter the Trisolaran Interstellar Fleet arriving 200 years from now."

"Of course, this timeline might be moved up, as their 'Whirlwind Stomp' is due to arrive in just over a decade."

The starports within the star defense system usually do not orbit the Sun along with the planets, and maintaining their positions requires minimal resources.

If they orbited the Sun, there would be significant vulnerabilities in the defense system; for example, a complete orbit in Jupiter's path takes 12 years, and the times are different in each orbit, which is not conducive to establishing a defensive system."

Zhang Beihai said, "This is a magnificent strategic plan. It is an honor for a soldier to be alive in such an era.

"What's the current offensive capability of our weapons?"

The robot replied, "The strongest weapons of the modern era are the main guns of the various weapon platforms. Their offensive capabilities have reached an unimaginable level.

"Whether on warships, starports, or satellite combat platforms, the main guns all use nuclear-pumped methods; kinetic weapons have been completely phased out in this age."

"Nuclear pumping involves directing the energy from a nuclear explosion, primarily used for directed energy weapons such as lasers and high-energy particle beams."

"The destructive power of laser weapons is extremely vast; a single warship can easily destroy the surface of a planet.

"However, their effective attack range is currently limited to within 25 astronomical units, a limitation that has persisted for more than half a century without being overcome."

After a brief pause, the robot continued, "By comparison, high-energy particle beam weapons have a longer effective range, reaching up to 35 astronomical units.

"This is not because the power of the high-energy particle beams cannot be further increased, but because the modern targeting systems have reached their limit.

"Currently, the angle range of the targeting systems has been refined to within microseconds to nanoseconds, which represents the limit of existing technology."

(1 degree is equal to 3600 seconds; 1 second equals 10 to the power of 6 microseconds).

"Of course, apart from these long-range weapons, there are additional short-range weapons that supplement the existing system.

"For example, high-energy microwave weapons can be used for close-range defense or for jamming and destroying enemy electronic equipment within a close vicinity.

"Close-range antimatter beams and antimatter missiles can release tremendous energy through matter-antimatter annihilation when engaged in close combat.

"Additionally, there are infrasound weapons and neutron bomb weapons, which can incapacitate enemy personnel through infrasound oscillation and a large number of radiating neutrons respectively."

Zhang Beihai remarked, "In just two hundred years... we've grown from toddling children to giants striding across the stars."

PS: The all-sky right ascension star chart, also known as the all-sky star chart, imagines the universe outside the Solar System as a celestial sphere. Like Earth, the celestial sphere is divided into longitude and latitude, with longitude on the celestial sphere called right ascension and latitude called declination.

The all-sky star chart arranges stars and other celestial bodies based on right ascension. It is commonly used to display stars in the entire sky, both visible and invisible, as well as other celestial bodies such as galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae.

The all-sky star chart emphasizes the precise positions of celestial bodies and can help people understand the distribution, location, and motion patterns of celestial bodies.

The all-sky star chart is divided by the ecliptic plane into star charts of the southern and northern sky, encompassing 88 constellations, indicating stellar positions, and often using constellations for representation. Celestial charts, which indicate positions as well, are used less frequently in everyday situations.