Afterward, Luotu immediately sent the battle report back to Earth, emphasizing the situation on Io and expressing his willingness to take responsibility.
However, the base did not blame anyone. Instead, while fully affirming the battle results, they encouraged Expedition One to continue its efforts and strive for greater glory.
Furthermore, before Expedition Two arrived, the first ship would continue to bear the crucial responsibility of suppressing the alien species, a task that was both arduous and vital.
Although he knew he wouldn't be punished, upon receiving the reply, Luotu breathed a long sigh of relief. After much hesitation, he finally made up his mind. While waiting for the second ship to arrive, he immediately planned a new operation.
In simple terms, except for leaving a small number of missiles for the battleship's defense, all remaining missiles, every single one, would be hurled at the alien base.
But before his plan could be implemented, new developments occurred on Io.
The alien base, which had remained unchanged until then, suddenly became active. Swarms of alien species emerged from the ground, carrying various equipment. They split into four groups and migrated from the hilly terrain to other directions, rebuilding new bases.
Ling Xiao commented with a chuckle, "This is the alien version of 'don't put all your eggs in one basket'!"
With Io's moon Io to the outside and Io's moon Io to the inside, despite a vertical separation of over 1.4 million kilometers, a close-range attack was clearly not feasible.
Therefore, Luotu fired off all his remaining missiles, not even holding back any anti-air missiles.
He had, in one go, destroyed three of the four bases on Io, leaving only the last one struggling to hold on.
Luotu's eyes turned red, and he actually intended to bombard Io with the main cannon.
Theoretically, the electromagnetic cannon had infinite range, but in reality, the projectile could only guarantee accuracy within its effective range. The farther it flew, the greater the deviation.
A deviation of tens of kilometers over a million kilometers was child's play. The difficulty of accurately hitting the target was akin to throwing a thread from the Moon to Earth and having it thread a needle precisely upon landing.
Even missiles would find it hard to achieve this. To destroy an alien base with unguided artillery shells would be far less likely than winning the lottery.
However, speaking of which, hitting them on a rainy day while having nothing else to do, what if a blind cat stumbled upon a dead mouse? Even if it missed, it would be good practice for the crew, wouldn't it?
One had to realize that firing a cannon in this location was not simple. Jupiter's gravity, the gravity of the various moons, the influence of Jupiter's magnetic field on the trajectory, and many other factors had to be considered. The calculation of the trajectory was not just complex.
Even if the target wasn't hit, as long as the shell could accurately hit the moon, it would be a significant achievement.
Thus, a group of people joined Luotu in this madness, firing a few shots at the alien bases whenever they had the chance.
It was simply to pass the time.
In the beginning, a large amount of calculation was required for each shot, and the shells always deviated inexplicably after being fired.
As a result, for every shot fired daily, everyone would gather to analyze the reasons and brainstorm solutions, racking their brains to improve the technology.
Through continuous attempts, the calculations for firing became more complex, and the trajectories became more stable. Occasionally hitting a target would make the gunnery crew as joyful as a New Year celebration.
If they could hit the target under such complex conditions, wouldn't they be able to hit targets with every shot elsewhere?
Thinking about it this way, artillery bombardment seemed quite appealing.
In addition to this, the crew also carried out a series of modifications to the Marlin. The large and cumbersome cargo hold was removed and replaced with a streamlined fairing. They also removed over a dozen anti-air missiles from the battleship and installed them. Finally, the Marlin was converted into an aerospace fighter, to replace the Star Falcons left on Mars.
However, in terms of volume, it should have been a gunboat without any cannons.
In the blink of an eye, it was mid-March. Most of the stored artillery shells had been wasted, and Expedition One finally welcomed the second ship.
As they say, a brief separation is better than a wedding. Thinking of Xu Qing, whom he hadn't seen in a while, Ou Zhanpeng's heart burned with passion. He didn't even have time to attend to Ling Xiao, much to Ling Xiao's chagrin, who cursed the man for valuing women over friends.
Ou Zhanpeng retorted directly, "You, a single dog, what do you know!"
Ling Xiao was filled with grief and indignation, "I am someone who walks through a hundred flowers without getting a single petal on me, unlike you, who gives up the whole forest for one tree!"
"I don't understand, but at least I have one tree here. Where is your forest?" Ou Zhanpeng feigned curiosity, looking left and right.
"I can't be bothered to talk to you!" Ling Xiao suffered ten thousand points of damage and angrily shut his mouth.
Strange, how had Ou Fei's mouth become so eloquent before? What love potion had he taken from Xu Qing?
While the first ship was filled with cheers, Expedition Two approached as if facing a formidable enemy, with everyone's nerves on edge.
The former had completed its mission and naturally had no reason to be tense, while the latter had just arrived at Jupiter and still had a major battle awaiting them, so how could they be relaxed?
After several discussions, the new operational plan was reported to the base and approved. A few days later, the two warships combined forces and advanced side-by-side towards Europa.
The two warships were less than a kilometer apart, but Ou Zhanpeng and Xu Qing could not meet due to their respective duties, only able to alleviate their longing through video calls.
Two days later, the twin-ship formation crossed Europa's orbit, but they did not stop at all. Instead, they continued to decrease their altitude, flying directly towards Io.
To catch the king, you must first capture the king; to strike a snake, you must strike its seven inches. The alien species paid so much attention to Io, so they would surely attack its vital points, rather than wasting ammunition on Europa.
Upon detecting the humans' actions, Europa on the other side of Jupiter immediately took action, launching a batch of aircraft, though their numbers and quality were not impressive.
As soon as they took off, they headed straight for Jupiter, completely abandoning Europa in order to support Io.
The situation was becoming increasingly bizarre. Everyone was filled with curiosity, wondering what secrets the alien base on Io held.
A few days later, the formation was about to reach the predetermined battlefield.
The arrival of the expeditionary force attracted the high attention of the alien species. A large number of alien aircraft took off from the surface of Io, consisting of six ice ships, over thirty gunships, and nearly three hundred alien fighters.
The outcome of this battle determined the survival of the alien species. Undoubtedly, this represented the entire strength of the alien species.
The various alien aircraft that took off quickly gathered together, forming a large formation, blocking the path of the expeditionary force.
The expeditionary force met the challenge head-on. The two warships deployed eight aerospace fighters, with the second ship deploying six multi-functional Star Falcons, and the first ship deploying one Star Falcon and one modified Marlin.
In addition, each aerospace fighter was accompanied by six intelligent drones.
Two battleships, eight fighters, and forty-eight drones formed a combat formation, moving towards the enemy.
The great battle was imminent, and the atmosphere in the bridge was extremely tense, the air seeming to solidify and become suffocating.