The current battlefield is very peculiar.
Logically, dealing with Adrian Vale's move isn't difficult; there are several methods available.
For example, increasing the thickness of the central array, concentrating the fleet's capital ships in the center.
But the problem is, the entire Ochus rebel fleet only controls 2 capital ships, and the large numbers of cruisers, destroyers, and frigates simply can't withstand the capital ships' firepower, let alone fight back.
Another method is, if the central array clearly cannot stop the enemy's assault, then actively split the fleet left and right, turn inward from both sides, and as the central enemy fleet breaks through, continuously adjust the bow direction of the two side fleets, ultimately biting the tail of the assault fleet.
There's also a problem here: the temporarily formed rebel fleet lacks efficient coordination and skilled commanders.
So, if they are breached, is it a foregone conclusion and irreversible?
Not necessarily; there are still various ways to solve it.
A common method is to have the fleet accelerate forward, because after the enemy breaks through your formation, they will need a certain amount of time to turn around to deploy in the rear.
However, if you send your fleet at full speed as soon as the enemy breaks through, by the time they complete their turn, you will already be out of their range.
But the rebels still missed this last chance, because their commander was killed, along with those two battlecruisers.
However, Adrian stated that even if the commander hadn't been killed, it would have been useless, because Adrian had laid down a significant number of space mines while assaulting forward.
So currently, there is a large minefield in front of the rebels; anyone attempting to force their way through would lose at least half of their warships.
The panicked and helpless rebels gave Adrian time to directly execute a two-way expansion behind them, forming a small semi-encirclement.
Although it was a semi-encirclement, because the minefield in front prevented the rebel fleet from advancing, this semi-encirclement was now equivalent to a full encirclement.
The rebels were left with only two choices.
Surrender, or slowly perform a turn on the spot.
But would these Ochus rebel fleets surrender? The commanders on board were all loyalists of the First Prince, so surrender was clearly impossible.
That left only one option: to turn on the spot and face the enemy, even at the cost of heavy casualties!
Upon seeing the rebels' choice, Adrian was amused.
For Adrian, he didn't want these rebels to surrender anyway, otherwise how would he complete his mission? Should he wait a few years to restart? Or secretly violate the agreement and fight a few battles during the ceasefire?
Neither was clearly possible, so this rebel fleet was Adrian's last chance to complete his mission.
"Are the carriers in position?"
"Another 15 seconds."
"Once in position, release all unmanned fighters from both sides, and then all mechs will sortie!"
"Carriers in position, commencing drone release."
"Drones released, mech units commencing sortie!"
Although warships are the natural enemy of mechs and fighters in non-close combat, they must also face the mechs and fighters directly; otherwise, you can only wait until they are in close proximity before you can use close-in weapons.
And now, the Ochus rebel fleet faced a choice.
The fleet was now nearing completion of its turn, and the 101st Task Force's carriers had been deployed on both sides of the encirclement, releasing all their drones and mechs.
So, should they choose to turn back again to attack the drones and mechs, or ignore these drones and mechs and continue their turn to attack the warships in the rear?
The best way would have been to release fighters to intercept the mechs and unmanned fighters on both sides.
But here's a problem: the rebels originally only had ten carriers. Two were destroyed when the 101st Task Force broke through the center, and another five were destroyed within a few minutes of turning, leaving only three now.
Of course, no matter what the rebel fleet chose, Adrian had a corresponding countermeasure.
However, Adrian had only two words to describe the rebels' next choice.
Foolish.
Why foolish? Because the rebels directly released 30,000 fighters from their 3 carriers, splitting them into two teams to intercept from both sides.
And the rebel fleet, having completed its turn, formed an assault formation and charged towards the 101st Task Force's battlecruiser group.
It was clear how much they wanted to eliminate Adrian's flagship, even if it meant total annihilation.
"Heh, Marshal Adams, it seems they're willing to be completely annihilated just to charge and take you out. How persistent of them!"
Adrian looked at the tactical panel, smiled, and muttered to himself.
"Give them a clear path in the middle, then have the fleets on both sides converge! Change our encirclement from a frontal semi-encirclement to a rear encirclement."
"Understood!"
Soon, a strange scene unfolded: cooperating with the rebel fleet's assault, the middle of the 101st Task Force's encirclement suddenly retreated to the sides, while the original fleets on both sides converged towards the center and linked up.
Thus, what was originally a frontal semi-circular encirclement now became a U-shaped pursuit encirclement from behind.
Even the rebels were somewhat stunned. I just made an assault and even tore open a part of your encirclement.
How did a U-shaped encirclement suddenly form on my flanks and behind me without me realizing it?
This makes no sense at all.
With only a few dozen ships remaining, most of them damaged, and now semi-encircled again, there was no longer any chance.
Whether to escape or to hunt Adrian's flagship one more time, there was no opportunity left.
Ten minutes later, as the last rebel frigate was blown up, the battle concluded!
"Ding, congratulations to the host for completing the mission: cumulatively destroying 500 Ochus civilization warships, receiving the reward: Energy Shield Technology."
Phew! Finally completed.
With this technology, there will be a greater certainty of counterattacking in a few years.
"Adjutant, order the fleet to clear the battlefield and search for the remains of our personnel! As for the battle damage data, inform me after it's compiled!"
"Understood!"
While the battlefield was being cleared, Adrian opened the communication in the lounge.
"Marshal Adams, it's done. Do you need us to escort you back, or should your people arrange a ship to pick you up?"
"No need to trouble yourselves; the ship coming to pick me up has already departed."
"Alright, then do as you wish. I'll have the fleet grant passage!"
"Thank you then!"
There wasn't much more to say between them, as everyone understood that once the Ninth Prince was returned in a few years, it wouldn't end until one side was completely eliminated.
"Commander, the preliminary battle damage report is out!"
"Read it!"
"In this battle, a total of 348 enemy warships were annihilated. Our fleet losses are 2 cruisers, 5 destroyers, and 11 frigates! Mech losses are 2,184 units! Preliminary personnel losses are estimated at around 5,000, with the exact figures depending on how many people the mech units can rescue."
"18 warships, 5,000 casualties! I am indeed still far from good enough."
In the empty bridge, Adrian's sigh echoed!