431: Openly repair the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang pass

The flames of war in the Harkinen Star System, after a brief lull, reignited with an even more violent intensity.

A fresh force newly assembled by the Caldari Navy, consisting of three full-strength conventional fleets, had already arrived at the front lines.

Before the energy ripples generated by the massive fleet passing through the Star Gate had completely subsided, the horn of offensive had already sounded.

Inside the egg pod of the Phoenix-class command ship of the Caldari fleet, the frontline commander-in-chief Kamran also received a secret order from the High Command.

Execute the "Shadow Raid" plan and turn the tide of battle.

"Attention all units," Kamran began issuing orders after clarifying the strategic plan, "Main fleet, including all Dreadnoughts and battleships, launch a full-scale assault on the front of the enemy's Harkinen Star System defense line!"

"The firepower must be fierce and the offensive sustained; you must attract and firmly pin down the attention of the enemy's main force!"

With the order issued, the main Caldari fleet set out in full force.

The torpedo launchers of the Phoenix-class Dreadnoughts were activated once again, and the missiles of the Raven-class battleships swarmed toward the Gallente positions like a hive of bees.

Beams and engine trails crisscrossed, and the firelight from explosions dotted the pitch-black starry sky as if it were broad daylight.

Caldari put on a desperate posture of breaking through from the front at any cost.

In the Gallente fleet, Admiral Drake Valais, who had replaced Sterling, stared at the Caldari fleet surging like a tide, his brow furrowed.

Such an all-out frontal assault at any cost was vastly different from Caldari's previous style, which emphasized maneuverability and long-range firepower.

"What do the enemies want?" Admiral Valais muttered to himself. "This head-on fighting style isn't Kamran's way. Unless they have a reason to absolutely attract our attention."

He immediately thought of that top-secret intelligence from the High Command: Caldari might have mastered some kind of technology capable of precise hyperspace delivery of flagship vessels.

"Could it be they want to use the frontal assault as a cover to secretly use that technology called the Induction Beacon to deliver flagships directly to the core of the Harkinen Star System, or even behind our defense lines?" This thought made Valais's spine go cold.

He made a quick decision. "Order all defense line units to rely on Stereo Bomb arrays and defense platforms to resolutely hold against the frontal attack! But all reserves are not to be committed to the frontal battlefield without my order!"

"All detection units, perform a full-spectrum scan of the rear airspace, especially gravitational anomaly points, and be alert for any possible warp signals!"

Valais's decision was cautious and correct. But it was precisely this caution born of an unknown threat that caused him to unwittingly fall into Caldari's trap.

He kept a significant portion of his elite reserve forces in hand to deal with jumps that could come from any direction, which led to relatively thin defense forces on the front lines, especially along the long flanks of the defense line.

While the frontal battlefield of the Harkinen Star System was in the heat of battle, the infiltration operation had already quietly begun.

A special vessel shaped like a soaring eagle, a Falcon-class force reconnaissance ship, was using its "unreasonable" full-band cloaking capability and stealth action device to sneak quietly along the edges of the Gallente-controlled area like a ghost in the deep sea.

It did not choose the intense Star Gate routes of the frontal battlefield but instead slipped silently into the Gallente heartland from the southern entrance of the "Dark Surge Domain" Star Domain, where the flames of war were relatively sparse.

The captain was an experienced elite Eggman, and his mission was extremely critical: to open a safe passage for subsequent operations.

Relying on its superior cloaking performance, the Falcon-class skillfully avoided the monitoring outposts and gravity sensors placed by the Gallente on major navigation routes.

It passed through desolate asteroid belts, used the electromagnetic interference of nebulae as cover, and bypassed one star system after another that might have garrisoned troops, heading straight for the strategic stronghold behind the Harkinen Star System, the Rebecca Galaxy.

After several days of stealthy navigation, the "Falcon" finally arrived at the designated springboard point, located at a certain deep-space point in the Rebecca Galaxy.

This was not a military stronghold, and the defenses were relatively lax.

Maintaining its cloaked state, the reconnaissance ship carefully scanned the surrounding airspace. After confirming there were no anomalies, it sent an encrypted signal representing "route safe" back to the rear.

Almost the instant the safety signal was received, a special fleet standing by in the Caldari-controlled area moved.

This fleet consisted of dozens of Swallow-class interdictors. They lacked powerful firepower but were equipped with Caldari's latest "Interdiction Bubble" generators.

Their mission was not combat, but to "lock down" the battlefield.

The interdictor fleet followed the secret route opened by the Falcon, traveling at high speed toward the Rebecca Galaxy.

They also utilized cloaking technology to successfully infiltrate the deep-space shadow zone outside the planetary orbits of the Rebecca Galaxy without the Gallente noticing, waiting quietly for their prey like lurking venomous snakes.

Meanwhile, on the frontal battlefield of the Harkinen Star System, the desperate assault by the main Caldari fleet put immense pressure on the Gallente defense line.

Despite the Gallente defenders fighting bloody battles, because the reserves were deliberately held back to deal with unknown possible threats, the long defense line—especially the wing areas—began to show signs of fatigue due to insufficient manpower.

Seeing that the opponent still had strength to spare, Admiral Kamran decided to add more fuel to the fire, giving the enemy the illusion that they were about to be pierced through.

"Phase two of the operation, begin!" He issued a new command. "Now! Flank assault groups, move out! Target: the junction of the enemy's left wing defense line. Breakthrough with all your might!"

The Caldari fresh forces that had been waiting for their moment—those three newly arrived full-strength conventional fleets—immediately charged out from the left wing of the battle line like tigers released from a cage.

They avoided the heavily defended front and the dense Stereo Bomb zones of the Gallente, concentrating their absolute superior force to launch a thunderous assault on the relatively weak junction of the defense line.

Missiles poured down like a torrential rain, and the firepower of the rocket launchers was as dense as a metal storm. Caught off guard, the Gallente defenders saw a huge gap instantly torn in their defense line under the fierce attack of the Caldari fresh forces.

"Report! The left wing junction is under assault by the Caldari main force! Enemy strength exceeds three full fleets! Our side has suffered heavy losses, and the defense line is about to be broken!" An urgent battle report reached the 'Steadfast'.

Inside the egg pod, Admiral Valais's face changed dramatically as he instantly understood Caldari's true intention.

The frontal assault was a feint; the real killing move was this fatal blow to the flank! The opponent had exploited their fear of the "Induction Beacon" to successfully manipulate the movement of the reserves, creating the conditions for a flank Breakthrough!

"Damn it! We've been tricked!" Valais slammed his fist against the pod wall. "Order all reserves to immediately reinforce the left wing junction! At all costs, plug the gap! We must not let them outflank our rear!"

The Gallente reserves finally moved, rushing frantically toward the precarious left-wing defense line like a fire brigade at a dam.

Intense fighting broke out at the junction as both sides committed massive forces, and casualty numbers skyrocketed.

Although the gap was barely plugged for the moment, the entire Gallente defense line was shaken, and the precious reserves had all been committed, leaving the rear empty.

Admiral Valais knew clearly that if the situation couldn't be quickly reversed, once Caldari continued to commit forces or if that damned "Induction Beacon" really appeared, the consequences would be unimaginable.

At this moment, the last card he had in hand—and the most deterrent one—was the main Dreadnought fleet from the home territory that had just finished assembling and was on its way: a powerful strike group composed of twelve newly launched "Moros-class" Dreadnoughts.

They were originally intended as the ultimate force for a strategic counteroffensive or to deal with the worst-case scenario.

"Order the Dreadnought task force to cancel their scheduled rest and proceed at full speed to reinforce the Harkinen front!" Admiral Valais ground his teeth as he gave the order. "We must use absolute power to stabilize the battle line and counterattack!"

Upon receiving the news, the twelve massive Moros-class Dreadnoughts, with engines overloaded and trailing long blue exhaust flames like moving mountains, began to accelerate toward the Harkinen Star System front.

Their arrival would undoubtedly greatly strengthen the Gallente defense line, but it also meant that Gallente had placed almost all of its strategic reserves on the table.

Meanwhile, in the deep space on the outskirts of the Rebecca Galaxy, that Caldari interdictor fleet remained lurking like ghosts, waiting for their prey to arrive.

Soon, Kamran received news of the Gallente Dreadnought fleet's reinforcements, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

The fish is finally about to take the bait.