There was no time for hesitation.
"Order the Brown Bear Fleet!"
Wells' voice was like quenched steel.
"Assault the Uranus Fleet's defensive line at all costs! I want the Seventh Jump Point cleared within five minutes!"
"But Commander, four of Brown Bear Fleet's heavy cruisers are severely damaged!"
"Then have the Fire Fox Fleet commit their heavy cruisers too!"
Wells' eyes were bloodshot.
"Tell Lieutenant Commander Aston Colby that if he holds back, we'll all die here when the Federation's encirclement closes!"
The command was delivered in desperation.
Three Fortress-class heavy cruisers from the Fire Fox Fleet began detaching from the main formation, engines at full power, accelerating toward the Uranus Fleet's defensive line.
They joined with Brown Bear Fleet's four heavy cruisers, forming a pure assault spearhead of seven Imperial Starships with the thickest armor and strongest shields.
These vessels abandoned all sophisticated tactics, abandoned evasive maneuvers.
They even reduced shield strength in certain areas, diverting all conserved energy to their engines and forward armor.
Like seven rhinos driven into a corner, they lowered their heads and charged the thin defensive line with their thickest skulls.
On the Iron Spine's bridge, Zhao Rui watched the seven rapidly approaching high-energy signals on the sensor screen.
He grinned.
It was a smile mixed with madness and determination.
"Finally... they're coming."
He murmured, as if talking to himself.
On the main tactical screen, distance readings rapidly decreased: 150,000 kilometers, 95,000, 50,000...
"Commander!"
The Gunnery Chief's voice trembled with excitement.
"Only our main cannon can effectively penetrate their forward armor! The escort ships' firepower can only cause scratches at best!"
"Then use the main cannon."
Zhao Rui said calmly.
"Target: the leftmost Fire Fox-class heavy cruiser. Three-round salvo, same impact point. Let's see whether its armor is thicker, or my cannon barrel is harder."
"Understood!"
The Iron Spine's main turrets began fine-tuning their angles.
This fifteen-year-old battleship groaned under the strain of continuous high-intensity combat, but its gun barrels remained steady.
First salvo.
Two energy beams struck the target ship's bow precisely.
The Fire Fox-class heavy cruiser's forward shield flickered violently, armor plates melting and vaporizing under high temperatures, revealing the structural layer beneath.
But the ship didn't stop, its speed barely decreasing.
Second salvo.
This time hitting almost the exact same location.
The armor breach expanded, internal piping exposed, electrical sparks snaking through the rupture.
The target ship's speed finally slowed, but it continued charging forward.
Third salvo.
Energy beams poured deep into the breach.
Internal explosions erupted, the entire heavy cruiser's bow tearing open as if by an invisible giant hand, metal fragments and plasma gushing out.
The ship began spinning out of control, but it didn't stop.
Momentum carried it crashing toward the Uranus Fleet's defensive line.
At this moment, the six other heavy cruisers were less than fifty thousand kilometers from the defensive line.
"All ships, hear my command."
Zhao Rui opened communications with all escort ships, his voice terrifyingly calm.
"Prepare ramming formation.
Transfer all shield energy to bow armor.
Engines... maintain minimum sustaining power."
He paused, his gaze sweeping across every face on the bridge.
"I know some of you have families, people you care about.
But today, we are soldiers.
A soldier's duty is to stand where we must stand, without retreating a single step."
"If we must use our hulls to hold them back, then..."
"Use the hulls."
The command was transmitted.
No objections, no hesitation.
The remaining ten starships of the Uranus Fleet, including two cruisers whose shields had dropped to dangerous levels, began adjusting their positions.
They no longer sought optimal firing angles, no longer considered evasion routes. Instead, they aimed their thickest bow armor toward the charging Imperial heavy fleet.
Like a row of spearmen preparing to receive a cavalry charge with their chests.
Fully aware of certain death, yet maintaining formation.
On the bridge of the Indomitable, Yang Shao stood before the main tactical screen, his expression grave.
The battlefield situation was clear: ahead, the Uranus Fleet was using their very hulls to block the Imperial heavy fleet's desperate charge.
Behind them, his main fleet was rapidly encircling.
The flanks...
The flanks were empty.
"Where is the Pluto Fleet?"
Yang Shao suddenly spoke, his voice containing suppressed anger.
"Where is Qin Bei Wang's fleet?
According to the plan, they should have arrived simultaneously with us, cutting in from the left flank of the Welles Fleet!"
The communications officer quickly operated the console, looking up seconds later with a grim expression.
"Commander, unable to contact Kunlun Mountain.
The quantum communication link is functional, but there's no response from the other side.
The last confirmed position was... twenty-seven minutes ago, when they were heading at full speed toward the Seventh Jump Point."
"Twenty-seven minutes?"
Yang Shao's brow furrowed tightly.
"From their last position to the Seventh Jump Point should take no more than twenty minutes.
They should have been here long ago!"
During their journey to the Third Jump Point, it was Qin Bei Wang who had informed them that the Well Sub-Fleet planned to escape through the Seventh Jump Point.
Given the other's previous combat achievements, Yang Shao had chosen to trust him unconditionally.
Who would have thought that while every other fleet had arrived, the Pluto Fleet was nowhere to be seen.
They couldn't even be contacted.
He watched the seven Imperial heavy warships charging toward the Uranus defensive line on the tactical screen, saw the distance reading drop below thirty thousand kilometers, and took a deep breath.
"Never mind.
Order the entire fleet to open fire immediately!
Target the Poison Spider and Ranger Fleets! First, break through Welles' rear formation!"
"But the Uranus Fleet..."
"Trust Zhao Rui."
Yang Shao's voice was low.
"He can hold. He must hold."
The command was issued.
The Indomitable's main cannon was the first to glow with the blazing white light of charging.
Following closely, over forty-nine Federal main fleet starships simultaneously unleashed their first volley toward the Imperial fleet's rear formation.
In deep space, the light cascaded like an inverted galaxy.
But Yang Shao's heart sank.
Because on the main tactical screen at the edge of his vision, the fourteen blue dots representing the Pluto Fleet still hadn't appeared in any expected position.
Qin Bei Wang, where exactly are you?
The Iron Spine at the forefront of the Uranus Fleet now measured only twenty-eight thousand kilometers from the Imperial heavy assault fleet—a distance equivalent to point-blank range in space combat.
Suddenly, a bizarre spatial distortion occurred in the void where the Seventh Jump Point was located.
It was not the smooth ripple of a conventional warp, but rather like fabric being violently crumpled by an invisible giant hand.
The warp and weft of space twisted, fractured, and realigned within visible range.
Light across the entire sector began to bend, stretching the glow of distant stars into grotesque arcs.
Then, fifteen jump exit flashes erupted simultaneously at the precise coordinates of the Seventh Jump Point, blazing like fifteen supernovas igniting at once in the void.
The brilliance was so intense that every optical sensor filter system on the Iron Spine's bridge instantly overloaded. Beyond the observation window, only a blinding white remained.