Chapter 310 05.0309: "Forward-looking Infiltration Operation Planning"

After the Imperial Navy took control of the planet's orbit, the 25th Support Squadron of the Gothic Fleet began an emergency rest.

Although they gained control of the star fortress, the remnants of the rebels hiding in the corners still launched sneak attacks on the Imperial Navy's star fortress patrols from time to time, and sporadic gun battles never stopped.

Amid the faint sound of gunfire coming from a distant corridor, Horatio walked quickly on the heavily defended corridor of the Star Fortress's command level, and the officers he met saluted him one by one.

He was on his way to attend the "Captain and Lieutenant Conference", which was a discussion meeting often held by the Imperial Navy when formulating combat strategies.

"Look, there he is, an 18-year-old navy captain."

"When I was his age, I was still a candidate officer on duty."

"I heard that his letter of commission was sent by a special person from the Navy Department of the Sepura-Mundi Star Region."

“It took me three and a half years and seven exams to get the commission.”

"Why is he able to become a captain at such a young age? Could he have used his family connections? I heard that he is the only surviving heir of Admiral Speyer..."

Several lieutenants from other ships stood by the portholes, waiting boredly for their department leaders to adjourn the meeting.

The men and women were whispering as they watched the young captain approaching them.

"Stop your wild thoughts, lieutenant." An elderly captain said, holding up a parchment scroll:
"The Cochran family was born for the Imperial Navy. I have worked with his father for many years and have seen the capabilities of this young man. Has anyone among you successfully wiped out an entire division of enemy troops when you were a candidate officer?"

For a moment, the lieutenants were silent.

"Has anyone ever disabled the engines of a mutinous light cruiser with just one shot?"

The men and women bowed their heads.

"Has anyone ever personally led a commando to thwart a Chaos-hostile plot against the Gothic Fleet?"

Even the sound of breathing disappeared, and you could hear a pin drop.

"Very good. It seems that jealousy has not completely blinded your eyes. Less talk and more action, young people.

Although you are not as green and immature as the candidate officers, you are still too inexperienced compared to Captain Cochrane, and you have a lot to put into practice from theory."

The captain saluted Horatio and walked into the Star Fort conference room with the junior lieutenants.

All the captains and captains of orbital ships that were not performing defense missions stood beside the huge star map table, looking at the overview of the planet Far.

"The enemy is willing to disrupt normal agricultural production and bear higher transportation costs. They have activated the weather control system in the hope of disrupting our ground detection and thus delaying time."

Captain Lord Sterling said, pointing to the thick gas clouds surging in the atmosphere of the planet's core.

To facilitate agricultural production, each agricultural world is equipped with a regional climate change device.

This is an important mechanical device that the agricultural world relies on for continued production, and it is also a meteorological weapon to defend against foreign enemies.

The area directly below the star fortress is the most important hive area on the entire planet. The continuous severe blizzards and atmospheric gas clouds seriously blocked the Imperial Navy's orbital observations.

If they get any closer, they will be bombarded by anti-aircraft macro-cannons on the surface of the planet.

If it is not forcibly changed, the Astra Militarum that arrives on Farr later can only land in an area tens of thousands of kilometers away from the core area of ​​the planet, which is not affected by the severe climate, and then brave the blizzard.

In the absence of ground support, they crossed the tens of thousands of kilometers of uninhabited area, advanced to the destination, and then carried out a strong assault on the throne area of ​​the planet's core hive city under the foreseeable supply shortage.

This would be a disastrous Odyssey-style expedition. The blizzard in the no-man's land alone would be enough to cause an alarming proportion of non-combat casualties. When the weather-beaten troops engaged the enemy, the well-prepared defenders in the fortress would also give them a hard time.

And because Farr is extremely valuable as an agricultural world, the Ministry of the Interior does not allow the Imperial Navy to carry out large-scale indiscriminate orbital bombing and turn it into a wasteland. This is destined to be a war with composted bones.

"So, Captain Cochrane, do the Hell Squadron have a way to shut down these climate intervention devices? If Farr can't hold its ground, we'll have to accompany the Astra Militarum to transport more troops here. If we keep wasting time like this, we'll miss the second Damocles Gulf Expedition."

"The cold wave is too violent to be dropped directly from the suborbital path. If that were to happen, the Hell Snipers would be blown everywhere, and the landing point would become uncontrollable.

Once the complete organization is scattered, even they will find it difficult to survive in the heavy snow, let alone gather together and carry out the mission. "

Horatio frowned.

"If we want to achieve our goal, we can only try to use the Valkyrie fighters to brave the blizzard and drop the Hell Snipers directly to the vicinity of the target location, and then have them carry out the mission.

To achieve this, we first need to know where these devices are hidden.

Perhaps, blizzards are both our worst enemy and our best friend.”

"According to calculations, the enemy's air defense auspicious instruments have only a 46.736% chance of detecting the loose Valkyrie formation. After discovering it, there is about a 33.333% chance of reacting and counterattacking, but in this environment, it is estimated that there is only an 18.818% chance of hitting the target."

"There are risks, but they are within the acceptable range," Horatio said.

"As long as the Hell Sniper can be safely delivered to the ground, in addition to destroying the climate intervention device, it may also be able to paralyze a few anti-aircraft fortress turrets."

"Captain Cochrane, if all the Hell's Vanguards were placed under your command, supplemented by air and ground support, could you accomplish this mission?"

"I believe in the capabilities of the Hell's Edge and the Imperial Navy Air Force, but they may need more follow-up coordination, which is what I suggested to you last time. A battleship and a complete support system."

Captain Peru nodded, looking serious:
"Okay, I will dispatch another Cobra-class destroyer to the action force.

She will silently sail into the range of the enemy's anti-aircraft macro-artillery fire, risking being severely damaged or even destroyed, consuming a large amount of energy fuel to resist the planet's gravity well as your close support ship.

No matter what support the Hell's Vanguard needs, whether it's firepower strikes, weapons and ammunition supplies, or even the Imperial Navy's armed forces, we will find a way to airdrop them."

Horatio understood that for the expedition fleet, which had to carefully calculate all resources, this was the most money Commodore Peru could spend on the Hell's Vanguard, which consisted of less than a hundred people.

The higher risk and loss of ships are unacceptable.

"Thank you, sir. According to the latest updated defense map of Far Star in the Star Fortress, their anti-aircraft artillery is mainly distributed within a thousand kilometers around the core area, and becomes more dense as it approaches the core area.

Considering the number of Hell's Vanguards, we cannot carry out infiltration and sabotage in areas where enemy forces are densely populated. Otherwise, our airborne team of 10 people will face encirclement and suppression by millions of rebel troops and will not survive for more than hours.

Therefore, it is most appropriate to locate it at 8000 kilometers outside the core area. The distance between the fortresses in the peripheral area is very far, and one fortress has to undertake the air defense mission of hundreds of kilometers.

Even if we are attacked, the enemy will not rush to support these remote positions in the blizzard without knowing the situation. We can turn the blizzard into our advantage."

The colonels and lieutenants present all nodded in approval.

Then Horatio added:
"Changing the weather, that is, interfering with ground detection in the early stages of a planetary invasion, is useful.

Once the Imperial Guard successfully landed near the core hinterland instead of in remote uninhabited areas, the traffic congestion caused by bad weather would only be more detrimental to the rebels' defense operations. They would definitely shut down.

Therefore, we only need to take down the anti-aircraft artillery and climate intervention devices within a circle of 8000 kilometers outside the core area.

This would save the Astra Militarum a lot of time on long journeys through the snow in no-man's land, and allow the rebels, after weighing the pros and cons, to adjust the climate intervention device to weather suitable for combat, that is, clear summer skies.

At that time, the two armies will face off under a clear sky."

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(End of this chapter)