A full 4,500 Starfighters took off and surrounded the Republic Fleet, while 47 Warships of the Republic Fleet were rushing into Bespin's Outer Orbit at high speed.
There is no doubt that this is a very risky move, because if you forcefully launch a landing without repelling the opponent's Fleet, no matter how you cover it, the Landing Ship will always be exposed to the opponent's fire range.
But the Commander of the Republic Fleet, Admiral McGlenn, could only make this risky decision.
Now that the war situation has developed to the present, it has become very clear. The number of Warships on both sides is almost the same. The Republic has 60 Warships, and the Fourth Civilization has 70 Warships. The Fourth Civilization is significantly stronger.
If there is an artillery battle, according to computer calculations, the Galactic Republic Fleet will be defeated within 20 hours.
However, the Republic's Starfighter Formations have an absolute advantage, with a total number of 15,600 vs. 10,000, and among the 10,000 Starfighters of the Fourth Civilization, 9,000 are Vulture Droid Starfighters.
That is to say, under normal circumstances, the two sides are fighting each other. If the strength of the Carrier-Based Aircraft is included, the Fleet of the Republic is indeed capable of completely destroying the Fleet of the fourth civilization.
But here lies the problem, Stealth Starfighter!
The emergence of Stealth Starfighters made the Starfighters of the Galactic Republic Fleet afraid to fight far away from the Warships. In this way, they could not effectively attack the opponent's Warships, and their advantages were out of the question.
Therefore, Admiral McGlenn's choice was very wise. He raided Bespin, forcibly landed, and forced the Starfighters of the Fourth Civilization to come to cover and fight on the fixed battlefield of Bespin Floating Cities!
The two Jedi Masters, Glynn-Beti and Aidan Bok, and their Padawans are also preparing to fight.
However, when she was about to set off, Glynn-Beti suddenly frowned. She and Aidan Ward exchanged glances, walked a few steps quickly to the Holographic Star Map of the battlefield, stared at the Star Map, and then looked back at the porthole.
"Is there any question? General." Admiral McGlenn asked.
Glynn-Beti stretched out her furry fingers, clicked on a blank area on the Star Map, and said, "Here."
"Here is..." Admiral McGlenn frowned.
"And here...here...here..." Glynn-Beti began to mark on the Star Map.
Aidan Bok also came over, clicked on an area near Cloud City, the largest Floating City in Bespin, and said, "Here, I feel death."
The two Jedi Masters kept marking on the Star Map while sensing, and finally made more than one hundred marks!
Seeing the densely packed markings, which almost semi-surrounded the landing zone chosen by their Fleet, Admiral McGlenn was shocked, "Could it be...is this a trap for the Separatists?!"
"Notify the Fleet, separate out some Turrets, and use the lowest power to shoot at these targets to prevent accidental damage to the Floating Cities," Glynn-Beti said.
The order was immediately executed, and the Fleet charged some Turrets, turned down the power and fired directly at the places indicated by Glynn-Beti!
It doesn't matter if the fire is fired, it actually directly stabbed the hornet's nest!
In more than a hundred places, only a small number of tentative shots failed, and the rest actually showed energy ripples under the attack!
"It's a Deflector Shield!! Invisibility!!" Admiral McGlenn was shocked, he was already allergic to the word invisibility.
"This is the Separatist Hangar Defense Platform! There are 80 detected!" An Adjutant said on the side.
"There are a lot of weak responses from the Radar! Stealth Starfighters have taken off! The number is between 600 and 900!" The Radar Operator immediately reported.
"The Main Fleet of the Separatists is moving! They are starting to speed up!"
"A large number of Vulture Droid Starfighters have taken off in the direction of the Floating Cities! The number is 2,400! There are also Spaceships of unknown type, the number is 400!"
Glynn-Beti said firmly: "I think we have seen through the Separatist conspiracy, and their rhythm has been disrupted. This is our best chance! Attack immediately! Forcibly land on Bespin!"
...
When the Republic Fleet suddenly fired at those Stealthed Hangar Defense Platforms without warning, Matt Horner gritted his teeth, and even he who had been calm couldn't help cursing a second time, "Damn Jedi! "
"It is recommended to attack immediately before the Hangar Defense Platforms are destroyed." The T-series Tactical Droid on the side said.
Matt Horner nodded, this is the only way now.
War is like this, you can never predict how the other side will play their cards, and it is the same now. The Fleet of the Republic was forced by Stealth Starfighters to force a landing, and the Fleet of the Fourth Civilization also had to take the initiative to attack because of the predictive ability of the Jedi Master.
Bespin must not be given up, because no matter how remote it is, it is also a part of the Corellian Trade Spine, one of the largest Hyperspace Lanes in the Galaxy. If the Fourth Civilization retreats here, then with the establishment of the 19th Legion of the Galactic Republic, they will lose their strategic initiative, because the messy Hyperspace Lanes near the Endor System are not conducive to Large-Scale Fleet Operations.
So if Bespin is lost, the Fourth Civilization will spend 5 times or more to get it back.
700 Wraith Starfighters took the initiative to attack, and the Vulture Droid Starfighters that assisted in the defense of the Floating Cities also took off 2,400 to cover. Not only that, Matt Horner ordered the Main Fleet of the Fourth Civilization to start pressing forward, which would bring more damage to the Republic Fleet.
Another air battle on a larger scale started again near Bespin's Life Zone!
The 4,500 Starfighters of the Galactic Republic and the 3,100 Starfighters of the Fourth Civilization collided fiercely in space, like locusts.
The Wraith Starfighters started its Stealth Mode, and the Gemini II Air-To-Air Missiles were launched crazily at the beginning of the battle, and Thousands of Missiles were shot over.
At the same time, the Turbolasers on the Venator-class Star Destroyers of the Republic fired and the Hangar Defense Platforms of the Fourth Civilization were all deployed, and countless Lasers were constantly lit up, like a net.
The Gemini II Air-To-Air Missile is an improved version of the Gemini Missile. It is equipped with an Anti-Matter Warhead, a more Advanced Propulsion Engine and an Enemy Detection System. It has a damage capability that is more than 10 times higher than that of an ordinary Gemini Missile. The Missile System can have sufficient lethality at a distance of 1 km from the target.
After these Missiles are launched, they change direction irregularly in the air, but the Enemy Tracking System always locks on their targets!
Countless explosions exploded in the Fleet of the Republic, and countless Starfighters were destroyed. The Missiles launched by the Republic Starfighters at the same time also exploded in the cluster of Vulture Droid Starfighters. These 3.6-meter-long ultra-light Starfighters are like swatting flies, piece by piece were shot down.
However, the Stealth Wraith Starfighters are always the biggest threat! Although they took the initiative to attack, this distance is already close to the distance that the Radar of the Venator-class Star Destroyer can detect Stealth, but after all, the Venator-class must share the Radar Data with its Starfighters, and then let the Pilots judge the tactics in real-time. The action, after all, was a beat slower.
A large number of Starfighters on both sides were destroyed, and among them, no more than 20 Wraith Starfighters were shot down!
However, even so, the Landing Ships in the Galactic Republic Fleet still took off bravely! They have enough fighter jets to guard them. Even if they are completely at a disadvantage against the ghost fighter jets, they can at least attract firepower for the transport ships.
Four squadrons of BTL-B Y-wing Bombers broke into Cloud City, dropped bombs at the scheduled landing site, and at the same time, Transports full of Republic Soldiers began to land one after another. This was also the first batch of Republic Soldiers to set foot on Cloud City.
The ground battle between the two sides finally started!
The Wraith Starfighters of the Fourth Civilization also began to target the Transports that kept going back and forth between the Floating Cities, but they were not enough in number after all. With the guidance of the Battleships, the Republic's Starfighters were more or less capable of fighting. At this time, The Republic Starfighter Group with an absolute advantage in numbers was finally able to compete with the Wraith Starfighters with a large number of battle losses.
The Republic Fleet continued to take off Starfighters, and Admiral McGlenn also went all out. He used every Starfighter he could take off, and began to expand the landing area.
Thousands of Transport Ships began to burn the flames of war to every Floating City in Bespin's Life Belt! Moreover, due to the guidance of Jedi Master Glynn-Beti, the minefields pre-arranged by Matt Horner were completely ineffective. Except for 4 Transports that were accidentally forced into the Proximity Mine Fields by the Wraith Starfighters and exploded, the other Proximity Mine Fields were completely invalid and nothing came of it.
At this time, Tang Xiao's third trump card prepared for the Galactic Republic's Starfighters finally showed its fangs!
A Squadron of V-19 Torrent Starfighters are engaged with a group of Vulture Droid Starfighters. Although they cannot fight the Wraith Starfighters, the V-19 Torrent Starfighters have no problem against the Vulture Droid Starfighters.
Republic Pilots maneuvered their Starfighters to dodge Laser Fire, and their Shields were able to withstand several shots from Vulture Droid Starfighters, blasting out Blaster Cannons to destroy vulnerable targets.
"There are three Radar Responses ahead! It's a Stealth Fighter!" A Pilot said loudly, looking at the shared data sent by the Flight Control Center of the Venator-class Star Destroyer.
"Launch Concussion Missiles!" Several V-19s launched Concussion Missiles, the Air-To-Air Missiles used by the Galactic Republic that still have a Proximity Bombing System, but are less effective than the Gemini II Missiles.
At the same time as the Missiles were launched, the Wraith Starfighters had already turned to avoid them. Their weak Radar Signals slowed down the reaction of the Concussion Missiles. At this time, the Vulture Droid Starfighters on the other side rushed over to intercept all these Missiles, with no results!
"This is the U-9 Squadron. We have encountered Separatist Stealth Starfighters. We request fire support!" The Squadron Leader immediately sent a message for help.
"Received. The AF Turret and AL Turret of the Deceptor will provide 20 seconds of coverage fire." The Flight Controller replied immediately.
Almost at the same time, dense Laser Beams were launched, and several Vulture Droid Starfighters were shot down. Three Wraith Starfighters were also irradiated by the Lasers for a few tenths of a second, but they immediately accelerated to escape with the help of the Auxiliary System.
"Wait a minute! I've locked onto a Stealth Starfighter!" A V-19 Pilot exclaimed and immediately pressed the button to start a burst of intensive shooting.
The Wraith Starfighter was driven away by the close-in firepower of the Battleship. It didn't pay attention to the locking of the Republic Starfighter here. It was hit by several Blaster Energy Beams, the Deflector Shield was broken, and the Invisibility was also broken. Immediately afterwards, it was attacked by other V-19s in the crossfire!
"Yeah!!! We killed a Stealth Starfighter! Hahahaha! We succeeded!!" The Republic Pilot cheered loudly, this excitement seemed to have won the war.
But their joy did not last long, and suddenly 5 Small Spaceships rushed towards them!
According to the Radar Scan, this Spaceship is about 31 meters long, trapezoidal, with two conspicuous Gun Barrels in the front, and a somewhat uncoordinated Engine at the rear end, which looks like a flea.
"Unknown targets appeared! Destroy them!" The Squadron Leader said immediately, and he turned on the Fire Control Radar and began to lock on these Spacecraft.
"As long as they can't be Invisible, these Separatist wrecks are not enough for us to fight!" A Pilot said in the Communication Channel.
The Starfighter Squadron immediately unfolded into a claw-shaped array for air combat assault and flew straight towards these Small Spaceships.
However, at this moment, the Fire Control Radar lock of almost every Starfighter in the entire Squadron failed! These Small Spaceships spread out with incredible flexibility and performed evasive maneuvers. This acceleration and steering flexibility are not inferior to Starfighters!
Not only that, a Ray Launcher under these Small Spaceships fired a Beam of Light on the Republic Starfighters.
The Starfighter Pilot who was irradiated by the beam screamed loudly, "The output of the Thruster continues to drop! My Starfighter is malfunctioning!"
"Rock! Keep up with the formation! Don't fall..." Before the Squadron Leader finished speaking, a Small Enemy Spaceship circled around to aim at the speed-lost Republic Starfighter and opened fire!
With just one shot, the V-19 Torrent Starfighter was blown to pieces even with its shield and fuselage!
This is not over yet, the Strange Beam Emitters on these Small Spaceships began to illuminate the next target, as long as they were illuminated by this Beam, the Thruster output of the Starfighter would decrease sharply, and in such a dangerous and tragic air battle, losing speed means...
Death!
These kinds of Small Spaceships are the Stilat-class Light Frigate and Shriken-class Light Frigate, and it is Tang Xiao's third Secret Weapon to deal with Republic Starfighters!
The Shriken-class Light Frigate can emit Beam Rays that affect the Engine System of the Enemy Ship, while the Beam Ray fired by the Stilat-class Light Frigate can disintegrate the Armor and Defense Systems of the Enemy Ship.
It's just that due to Power and Technical problems, these two types of Beam Rays cannot be enlarged, and their ability to Penetrate Deflector Shields is not enough. So Tang Xiao asked the Military to produce more of these Light Frigates. Starfighters can't beat them, and Frigates can't catch up. This is the positioning of these two Light Frigates, dedicated to fighting against the Republic of Starfighters!