Chapter 20 Chapter Thirteen

Joel Tubb, now serving as field commissioner, was delighted to see his bulky frame in fleet uniform.He is very happy that he can meet the audience again.Moreover, because he had always felt helpless against the invisible second base in the past, now facing tangible warships and ordinary enemies, this lifted his spirits and felt an unusual excitement. In fact, until now, the base has hardly won a battle, but after careful analysis of the current situation, there is still something worthy of praise.The core of the base has remained intact for the past six months, as has the core of the fleet.Since the start of the war, the fleet has been constantly recruiting troops everywhere. Therefore, compared with before the defeat in Ifni, the tangible combat power of the base has hardly decreased, but the invisible combat power has become stronger.

At the same time, the star defenses of various worlds have also been strengthened, the training of combat troops is more intensive than before, and the administrative efficiency has also been greatly improved, and there is no longer the muddled phenomenon of the past. On the other hand, Kargan, because of the need to send a large number of troops to occupy those "occupied areas", made many expeditionary fleets useless. Tu Bo is now a military reporter for the Third Fleet, which is currently patrolling the outer star sector of Anacreon.He planned to report this war as "the war of the little people", so the focus of the interviews were all officers and soldiers of the middle and lower classes.At this time, he was visiting third-level technician Fimmel Limo who volunteered to join the army.

"Soldier, please introduce yourself first." Tu Bo said. "There's nothing to say." Li Mo kicked the deck with his feet, barely showing a shy smile, as if he could also see millions of spectators.Then he started: "I'm from Lucus, I work in the local flying car factory as a small department supervisor, and I make a pretty decent salary. I'm married and have two kids, both girls. By the way, I can Can't say hello to them - they might be watching." "Please go ahead, soldier, Chaoshi is yours now." "Wow, thank you so much." So he said in one breath, "Hey Mira, I hope you're reading this report. I'm doing fine, how's Sunny? And Douma? I miss you all , when we get back to the fleet base, I might be able to go home on vacation. The food package you sent has been received, but I'm going to send it back. We ate very well at every meal, but listen To say that the common people are less well fed—that's all I want to say."

"Soldier, next time I go to Lucquis, I will definitely visit her and make sure they have enough food, okay?" The young man smiled even more happily. He kept nodding and said, "Thank you, Mr. Tu Bo, I am very grateful." "Okay, so now tell us—you're a volunteer, aren't you?" "Of course I am, and since we've been challenged, I don't need to wait for anyone to call up. I enlisted the day I heard about the loss of the Hob Marlow." "Your patriotism is really admirable. Have you experienced many actual combats? I noticed that you wear two war medals."

"Bah," he said with a spitting motion, "those are not battles at all, they are like eagles chasing chickens. If there is no advantage of five to one or more, the Kalgans will never fight. Even With that kind of advantage, they only dare to approach slowly and isolate our starships one by one. One of my cousins ​​participated in the Battle of Ifni, and he was on a starship that narrowly escaped, that is The old 'Ablin Meath'. He told me that the battle was exactly the same, they used the main fleet against our flanks until we were down to five starships , they still trailed behind us, still didn't have the guts to fire. They lost twice as many ships as we did in that battle."

"So you think we're going to win this war?" "Absolutely no problem, especially now that we are no longer retreating. Even if the situation becomes very unfavorable, it doesn't matter, I believe that the Second Foundation will step in at that time. We still have the backing of the Seldon Project-and they know about it." Tu Bo pouted slightly, and asked again: "So, you are counting on the assistance of the Second Base?" The other party's answer was obviously surprised: "Ah, don't everyone think so?" When the reporting of the news curtain was over, junior officer Tiplo entered Tu Bo's room.He handed the commissioner a cigarette, then pushed his cap back to the point of critical balance on the back of his head.

"We've got a prisoner," he said. "Really?" Tu Bo lazily replied, leaning on the bed. "It's some crazy little guy who claims he's a neutral... and has some kind of diplomatic immunity, and I don't believe they know what to do with him. His name seems to be Pavlo, or Pavo, Or something like that, and he says he's from Trantor. Don't know what he's doing in the war zone." But Tu Bo suddenly sat up from the bed - he originally wanted to take a nap, but now all sleepiness has disappeared.On the second day after the declaration of war, when he was about to leave with the army, he had bid farewell to Darryl in person.He still remembers what Darryl said that day.

"Prime Pavel—" This was clearly an affirmative. Tippolo froze for a moment, the smoke he inhaled slowly escaped from the corner of his mouth.After a while, he asked, "Yes, how did you know?" "Never mind, can I see him?" "My God, I dare not say. The commander called him into the room for questioning. Everyone thought he was a spy." "Go and tell the commander that I know this person. As long as he doesn't lie about his identity, I can take all the responsibilities." Captain Dick Sear, the flagship of the Third Fleet, was staring intently at the large domain detector.Every ship is a source of nuclear radiation, even when stationary.Each of these sources of radiation corresponds to a tiny spot of light in the three-dimensional image field of the detector.

After knocking out every ship in the base, there were no other blips left—because the spy ship, which claimed to be neutral, had been captured.Just now, in the captain's dormitory, the small spaceship caused a great panic, and the tactics were almost forced to change temporarily.In fact... "Are you sure you fully understand?" he asked. Lieutenant Colonel Sen En nodded and replied: "I will lead a detachment to reach the destination through hyperspace. Distance: 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 other distance; Angle of depression: 84.15 degrees; Angle of azimuth: 26 Two degrees at 8.50. We will return to the original point at the '133 hole', and the total time of leaving the team is 11.83 hours."

"Very well, we all rely on you to return to the exact space on time, and no error is allowed, understand?" "Report Captain, I understand." He looked at his watch: "My starship will complete all preparations at the 'Dongyaosi Cave'." "All right," said Captain Dixiele. Kalgan's squadron was not yet within detection range, though they would soon be, as other reliable intelligence pointed to it.Without the detachment led by Lieutenant Colonel Senn, the ratio of base troops to enemy troops would be extremely disparate, but the captain was quite confident, quite, quite confident.

Prem Pafo looked around sadly, and the first thing he saw was the tall and thin commander, and then he looked at the others, and found that everyone was wearing neat military uniforms.Finally, his eyes settled on a tall, burly man with an open collar and no tie who looked different from the others—but he asked to speak to Pavel in private. Jule Tubo said: "Commander, I fully understand the possible serious consequences of this matter, but I also want to tell you that if you allow me to talk to him in private for a few minutes, maybe I can solve the problem you are not sure about." question." "Is there any reason why you should not question him in my presence?" Tu Bo pouted again, showing a stubborn expression.He said: "Commander, since I followed your fleet for interviews, I have given the Third Fleet a lot of praise in the reports. If you are not at ease, you can send someone to stand guard at the gate, and you can come back in five minutes. I only I beg you to accommodate me a little so that your public relations will not suffer any harm. Do you know what I mean?" He did understand. When there were only the two of them left in the room, Tu Bo immediately turned to Pafo and said, "Quickly tell me—what's the name of the girl you abducted?" Pavel just widened his eyes and shook his head constantly. "Don't pretend," Tu Bo said. "If you don't answer, you will be treated as a spy. This is wartime, and spies can be shot without trial." "Argatia Daryl!" gasped Pavel. "Very well! Well, then, is she all right?" Pavel nodded. "You'd better be sure of that, or you'll be in big trouble." "She's in good health and absolutely safe." Pavel turned pale with fright. At this time, the fleet commander came back again, and he immediately asked, "How is it?" "Your Excellency, this man is not a spy. You can trust everything he tells you, and I can vouch for him." "Really?" said the commander, frowning. "So, he really represents a farming cooperative in Trantor, and wants to sign a trade agreement with Terminus, and they will be responsible for delivering grain and potatoes to the base? Well, okay. , but he can't leave yet." "Why not?" Pavel asked immediately. "Because we're fighting a battle, and when it's over - if we're alive - it'll take you to Terminus." Kargen's huge fleet gradually approached from the depths of space, and from an almost inconceivable distance, the starship at the base was detected.At the same time, the base also detected the enemy's whereabouts.On both sides' large domain detectors, the opposing fleet looked like a cloud of glowworms.Two groups of fireflies flew through the empty space, and the distance between the two sides became closer and closer. The base commander frowned and said, "This must be their main attack fleet. Look at how many starships there are. But they don't have a chance to set up their formation—as long as Senn's detachment can successfully complete the mission." Lieutenant Colonel Senn had left hours before, when the enemy had only just been discovered.Now the plan can no longer be changed in any way, success or failure.But the commander was quite optimistic, and the other officers, and even all the soldiers and crew members felt the same way. Let's take a look at these two groups of fireflies. In the darkness of space, they simultaneously emit a dim light.Both formed a neat formation, as if performing a dance of death on the same stage. Then, the base fleet began to retreat gradually.Several hours have passed, and the base fleet has been slowly turning around, luring the advancing enemy army to deviate from the original channel, getting farther and farther away bit by bit. The planners' intention was to have the Kalgan fleet occupy a certain area of ​​space.Outside of this range, there are many bases in ambush.After all of Kargen's starships entered, if any one wanted to fly out again, they would be violently raided, while those stranded in it would be safe and sound. The key to the entire battle plan is to accurately calculate the fleet under Shi Tieting's command. Absolutely no one is willing to take the initiative, and every ship wants to stay in a position where it will not be attacked. Captain Dixieil looked at his watch with cold eyes. The time is now "2210". "We have twenty minutes," he said. The adjutant beside him nodded nervously: "Reporting captain, everything seems to be going well so far. They have already drilled more than 90% of the starships. If we can keep them there..." "Yeah! If—" The starship at the base moved forward slowly again—very slow, so that it would not scare the Kargans back, but enough to scare them from moving forward.Sure enough, the Kargan fleet decided to stop and wait and see. Time passed minute by minute. By "Two Three One Five," the commander's order spread throughout the seventy-five starships of the Base Fleet.All starships immediately moved forward at full speed, rushing towards the front of Kargen's fleet with maximum acceleration.The three hundred starships of the Kargen fleet raised their shields at the same time, and immediately shot out powerful energy beams.The three hundred starships moved in exactly the same direction, facing the ruthless enemy forces who launched crazy raids together... At "2320", the fifty starships led by Lieutenant Colonel Senn suddenly appeared—they arrived at the exact place at the exact time predicted by a hyperspace jump—to strike at the Kalgen defenders who were caught off guard. Take a head-on blow. The whole action was flawless. At this time, the Kalgen fleet still had an advantage in numbers, but they had no time to pay attention to this, and all wanted to take the best policy.Once the formation is dispersed, it is more vulnerable to attack when the enemy ship approaches. The whole situation has literally become cat and mouse. This expeditionary fleet consisting of 300 starships is the backbone and essence of the Kargen fleet.However, after the battle ended, only nearly sixty starships returned to Kalgen, many of which were still severely damaged and almost a piece of scrap iron.Of the 125 starships that participated in the battle at the base, only eight were destroyed by the enemy. The time was the third day of 377 in the era of the base. The festivities were at the height of Prim Pavel's arrival on Terminus.The excited and frenzied atmosphere dazzled him, and he almost missed his business.However, before he left this planet, he successfully completed two tasks and accepted an entrustment. Those two completed tasks are: (1) An agreement was reached with the base. The two parties agreed that in the next year, the cooperative represented by Pafo would bring twenty ships of grain every month, and the base would buy all the grain at wartime prices.However, thanks to the recent victory, there is no longer any risk of war. (2) Conveyed the five words given by Argatia to Dr. Daryl. After hearing this, Darryl immediately stared at Pafo with wide eyes, unable to say anything.After a long pause, he made a request to Pavel, asking him to bring a reply to Arcadia. Pavel liked the job because it was a simple answer and it made perfect sense.The words were: "Come back quickly, there will be no more danger." At this time, Commander Shi Tieting was angry and annoyed.He watched helplessly as his beloved weapon was destroyed in his own hands one by one: his force was originally a strong and huge net, but it turned into a rotten rag overnight-this is enough to make the most calm People who are alive will also spew lava like a volcanic eruption.But even though he was furious, there was nothing he could do, and he knew it well. He hasn't had a good night's sleep in weeks and hasn't shaved for three days now.He canceled all activities, and even the generals under his command couldn't contact him.Because no one knew better than himself that the outbreak of civil strife was imminent, and even if Kargan never suffered any defeats, the flames of rebellion might be on the verge of breaking out. And Prime Minister Lev Melas was completely helpless.He is standing aside now, acting extremely calm, but looks like a wretched old man.The thin and nervous index finger of his right hand was stroking his old face habitually, from the tip of the nose to the chin, and then back to the tip of the nose, back and forth like this. "Hey!" Steeting snarled at him, "quickly contribute something. We're defeated now, you understand? Defeated! But why? I have no idea. You heard it all, I don't know why, Do you know why?" "I think I know." Melas said in a calm tone. "Treason," Steiting said in a deliberate soft tone, and every sentence after that was equally soft. "You know there is a mutiny, but you deliberately keep quiet. You served the first citizen whom I ousted, I thought that no matter which dirty rat replaces me, you can still sit back and relax as your prime minister. Let me tell you, if you really have this idea, I will dig out all your internal organs and put them in front of your eyes Set it on fire." Melas said unmoved: "I have tried to tell you my doubts more than once, and I have tried many times. I kept nagging in your ear, but you would rather believe other people's words." , because those words are more able to satisfy your vanity. The current situation has become worse than what I was worried about at the beginning. If you don't want to listen to me now, please just say so, and I can leave immediately. And in a short time, I will return to advise your successor. Whoever succeeds you, the first act he will take will be to sign a peace treaty." Shi Tiechuan glared at him with fiery eyes, slowly clenched and then loosened his giant palms, loosened and clenched again.At last he said: "Speak, you dull old man, tell me!" "I used to remind you, sir, that you are not a mule. You may control ships and arms, but you cannot control the hearts of your people. Do you understand, sir, who are you fighting against? Your opponent is The base, the undefeated base—the base protected by the Seldon Plan, the base destined to build a new empire." "There is no plan at all. It has long been gone. Meng En told me personally." "Then Meng En made a mistake. Even if what he said is right, so what? You and I, Your Excellency, do not represent the entire people. The men, women, and children of Kalgen, as well as the people of all the vassal worlds, every day Everyone believes in the Seldon plan; moreover, this is also the consensus of all residents on this side of the galaxy. The past nearly four hundred years of history have taught us a truth, that is, no one can defeat the base - Independent said Kings of kings can't, warlords can't do it, and even the old empire itself can't do it." "But the mule did it." "That's true, but he's not in the picture—and you're not a mule. Worse, the populace knows this fact. So when your fleets are engaged in battle, there's always the fear of being killed by something unknown. Defeated by force. The invisible giant net of the Seldon Plan was over their heads, so the soldiers were all cowering, always hesitating before attacking, and being too cautious. On the other hand, the side of the base, the same huge net The net is their invisible protective shield, which increases their confidence, without any fear in their hearts. Even in the face of initial setbacks, they can still gather morale. What is there to be afraid of? Looking back at history, in any war or In the beginning of the conflict, the base has always been on the back foot, but it always wins in the end." "But what about your own morale, sir? You have taken the initiative from the beginning to the end, your sphere of influence has never been invaded by the enemy, and it is not currently in danger of losing it-but you have lost the battle. It may even be said that you You don't even believe in the possibility of victory, because you know it's an illusion that doesn't exist. So, throw in the towel, or you'll be forced to bend your knees. Bow your head now, and maybe you'll save something. You've always relied on force and power, exerting these tangible forces to the limit, but always ignoring the spirit and morale, and finally being defeated by these invisible forces. Now, accept my advice, you have a base here, that is That Homir Moon. Release him quickly, and send him back to Terminus, where he may bring back your message of peace." Shi Tieting pressed his pale and stubborn lips tightly, and secretly gritted his teeth.But did he have any other choice? On the eighth day after the beginning of the new year, Hummel Monn finally left Kalgen.He had been away from Terminus for more than seven months, during which time there had been a fierce battle, and now the general situation was settled, leaving only a few rippling aftermath. At the beginning, he came to Kalgan by himself on a space yacht, but now he was escorted by a fleet; at the beginning, he came in a private capacity without any official color, but now he is a real and anonymous peace envoy. For Houmier, though, the biggest change has been in his perception of second base.He couldn't help laughing when he thought about it, and imagined what it would be like when he revealed the real answer to Dr. Darryl, and the young, capable, energetic Yasuo, and the others. what kind of picture. He knew, he - Hommyr Moon - knew the truth at last.