Chapter 273: The Wallfacer Joins the Battle

Crisis Era year 270.

In the past two years, due to the war between Naturals and Long-Livers, neither great nation had sent more resources and talents to the Wallfacer Bunker project.

The war was cruel, but fortunately, both sides showed relative restraint. Their battles were mainly confined to outside the Kuiper Belt; within the Solar System itself, no large-scale wars had broken out.

There was a curious phenomenon, why did the war between Naturals and Long-Livers take place in the Kuiper Belt rather than the asteroid belt where their territories intersect?

The reason is both complex and simple: first, the leadership of both sides implemented restrictions on attacking military ports and resource bases.

In the Interstellar Era, the iron rule of war is that offense greatly outweighs defense. Warships have become the absolute dominators of this age. If attacks on the opponent's military ports, resource bases, and even residential areas were unrestricted, the adversary could easily retaliate in kind.

Therefore, under mutual deterrence, both sides cautiously commenced their battles.

Secondly, warship attacks have become more cautious and secretive, often striking and then retreating immediately, followed by meticulous concealment. Due to their very long-range attacks and extremely sensitive scouting capabilities, the warships simply couldn't maneuver in the cramped asteroid belt.

Only in the vast expanse of the Kuiper Belt could the warships better conceal themselves, an icy and rocky world comprising a multitude of different celestial bodies.

This form of warfare is also akin to Dark Forest warfare. During the time of Humanity's Lagrange Battle, Humanity had already learned how to wage war in the Dark Forest. Now, it was simply another exercise.

Moreover, there was another peculiar phenomenon: why were battles in the Kuiper Belt not unrestricted submarine warfare, evenly distributed throughout the belt, rather than categorized into six key battle zones?

The core reason lies in the presence of Faster-Than-Light Communication Stations. From the moment Hines successfully developed the Faster-Than-Light Communication Technology, the nature of human space warfare was profoundly transformed.

The essence of this Faster-Than-Light Communication Technology is still the extension of macro-atomic quantum entanglement effects; the capability for faster-than-light communication takes place in high-dimensional Quantum Space and does not exceed the scope of current physics, nor does it violate causality.

These Faster-Than-Light Communication Stations actually became "command towers" in the war, making the battles in the Kuiper Belt still subject to headquarters' command and control, with each station serving as a strategic communications relay platform.

Most warships would opt to operate within a range of five astronomical units from a Faster-Than-Light relay station, to ensure prompt receipt and execution of orders from central command.

Warships also made use of neutrino communication, which is highly directional. If two warships are communicating with each other, a monitoring entity would almost certainly be unable to intercept their communications unless it was directly on the line between the two ships. This method of communication further enhanced the strategic and secretive aspects of warfare.

This also necessitated that one's own forces maintain real-time tracking of their own warships or relay stations. If contact with the central communication station is lost, it becomes very difficult to re-establish communication. If electromagnetic wave communication were to be used, it would be extremely easy for the enemy to detect.

This also made the Faster-Than-Light Communication Stations the most critical defensive bases for both sides, and they were almost entirely covered with Strong Interaction Armor. Enemy warships would have to be within 0.1 astronomical units to attack them.

However, such proximity is tantamount to a suicidal attack. Countless hidden warships are nearby, and any enemy warship appearing within two astronomical units would be relentlessly hunted down.

As such space warfare progressed, defenses improved, and the mode of operation shifted closer to traditional command models; the war between Naturals and Long-Livers gradually divided into six major regional wars.

There is no set form for war; it all depends on the level of human technology. This is why the Trisolarans split their forces into six to confront all of Humanity's forces.

The greatest challenge of battling in the outer regions of the Kuiper Belt is the scarcity of resources. Neither fleet dares to return easily. On the way back, ambushes abound, and dangers lurk everywhere; it's impossible to predict how many warships might launch surprise attacks.

Even attempts to dispatch supply ships for support often fail. Under the high precision surveillance of both parties, these supply ships usually cannot escape being destroyed en route.

Although the Kuiper Belt harbors abundant ice resources, the amount of fuel that can be extracted from it is quite limited. Unless Humanity achieves a breakthrough in Sixth Generation Controlled Nuclear Fusion Technology, thereby directly utilizing the hydrogen in water for fusion reactions, it would be impossible to change this situation. This technology also represents a relatively recent breakthrough for the Trisolarans, who have not mastered it for long.

After two years of fierce warfare, both sides were nearly exhausted of resources, now finding themselves in a dilemma of whether to advance or retreat.

The only choices before them were either to go all in, rallying all their forces to attempt to approach the Faster-Than-Light Communication Station, a move that would undoubtedly expose them and was very likely to result in devastating attacks during the operation.

Or to continue hiding, waiting for the slim chance of a resource supply opportunity. No matter how abundant the resources they initially carried, they would eventually find themselves stretched thin in the complex interplay of the war.

More and more warships, for lack of resources, were now stranded in space, continuing on would only turn them into coffins floating in the void.

Both sides realized that the only hope to turn the current unfavorable situation around was to rely on the neutral Wallfacer Camp, with only the Wallfacer Camp's warships immune to attacks from both sides.

In light of this, the upper echelons from both sides sent out distress signals to the Wallfacer Camp. Adhering to the spirit of humanitarianism, the Wallfacer Camp decided to launch rescue operations for those warships stranded in space.

This rescue was essentially a replenishment of resources, which to some extent could also prolong the war, and naturally, this infuriated some of the lower-ranking officers.

This was also guided by Wade; there were two purposes to it:

First, this approach was strategically more advantageous for the Long-Livers. The Long-Livers tended to perform poorly during the wagering process, leading them to consume a lot of resources, especially since they had more warships.

The Wallfacers were more inclined to support the Long-Livers, despite the many issues with the newly born Long-Livers, including congenital developmental defects. Yet, longevity was inevitably the trend of future development.

Lin Sen preferred to transform and perfect the Long-Livers through war rather than allow Naturals to replace them. Prolonging the war was also a form of training for the Long-Livers.

As the guide of the entire civilization, what was most needed was a clear vision of humanity's future.

Second, the Naturals would take action against the Wallfacer Camp, giving the Wallfacer Camp ample justification to send a large number of warships to the Kuiper Belt.

When the Trisolarans finally launched their attack, these warships, already deployed in the Kuiper Belt, would be able to respond quickly and strike back effectively against the Trisolarans.

However, the course of events often takes an unexpected turn. Astonishingly, the first to attack the Wallfacer Camp was the Long-Livers' Camp.

Some of their lower and middle-ranking officers believed that they were sure to win the war, and the Wallfacer Camp's provision of resources to the Naturals was seen as aiding the Naturals' Camp. The space war, although centrally controlled, allowed individual warships high levels of autonomy, and this was not considered a violation of the high command's orders.

Upon receiving this news, Lin Sen, Wade, and the others didn't know whether to laugh or cry. One never can predict the rules of foolish behavior.

Despite this, they still had to proceed with their plans. The Wallfacer Camp decided to go ahead with the original plan, dispatching 3,000 warships to cooperate with the Naturals' Camp.

The Long-Livers now began to deeply regret their actions. They had not anticipated such a strong response from the Wallfacer Camp. They had thought they could easily coerce the Wallfacers to stop their aid to the Naturals, only to bring upon themselves the greatest catastrophe.

The Wallfacer Camp's 3,000 warships had already set off in mighty array, divided into six groups, heading towards the six battlefields.

Facing such a situation, the only option left for the Long-Livers' Camp was to attack the Naturals' Camp's Faster-Than-Light Communication Station.

The Long-Livers' Camp's advantage lay in their vast number of warships, which allowed them to adopt an extreme tactic of trading ship for ship in battle. Even as their warships were being destroyed, there was a great chance of locating and destroying the enemy's warships.

This type of warfare was akin to a sniper duel, where the Long-Livers' Camp could only whittle down the Naturals' fleet through a strategy of sacrificing themselves greatly to cause significant damage to the enemy.

They were acutely aware that if the Wallfacer Camp's 3,000 warships joined the battle at this moment, they would stand no chance at all.