On May 31, 2027, the Third Fleet of the Expeditionary Force.
A dozen warships of various types, headed by the Nanzhou, silently passed through the asteroid belt. Not far outside the orbit of the fleet was Europa, which was traveling in the same direction as the ship.
From the star map, the small celestial bodies in the asteroid belt are very dense, giving people the illusion that once they enter the asteroid belt, they will hit an asteroid sooner or later. In fact, the distance between asteroids is very far, and there is a possibility of hitting an asteroid.
Sex is very low.
Furthermore, the radar on the warship is not a display. It always monitors the airspace near the fleet. Even if an asteroid does approach, there is no chance of hitting the warship.
On board the Yushan, Ye Han's eyes were looking through the portholes at Jupiter in the distance.
Today is the third day after hibernation. Three days ago, Europa was just a small bright spot. Now it is two circles larger than the moon. In two days at most, the fleet should encounter Europa.
The current Io was no longer what Ye Han had seen before. There were large and small explosion craters everywhere on the front of Io. Several of the giant explosion craters were as eye-catching as the craters on the moon. He found them at a glance.
The explosion crater left by the Penglai.
At first, this explosion crater was the only giant explosion crater on the front of Europa. Now several explosion craters are surrounded by each other, and half of the Penglai explosion crater has been occupied by other explosion craters.
As for the small and medium-sized explosion craters left by the nuclear bomb, there are even more. Large and small explosion craters have completely turned the front of Europa into a pockmarked face, like a head covered with bald spots.
Although the moon also has this shape, Ye Han just thinks that Europa is hundreds of times uglier than the moon.
Not only is the front of Europa densely covered with explosion craters, but the back side is not much stronger either. However, the back side can still remain icy white, and the closer it is to the planetary engine, the fewer the explosion craters are. The planetary engine is surrounded by a snowy snowfield, and an explosion
Can't find any holes.
It is obvious that the aliens have completely given up on the front of Io. No matter how much harm humans do, they cannot penetrate Io. The planetary engine is just the opposite. It must be the focus of alien defense. Judging from the number of explosion craters,
The alien defense was very successful.
Ye Han felt that it was necessary to understand the alien's layout, so he took out the power armor, activated the telescope function of the armor, and continuously zoomed in on Io. Then he saw a field of dots near Io, like scattered dust.
Ice-white highlights.
Each bright spot is an alien battleship. If you continue to zoom in on the screen, you will soon be able to see clearly what the alien battleship looks like.
Ye Han roughly counted, there were about three to four hundred alien warships hovering near Europa.
The strength of the alien fleet is extraordinary. Even if the Beiyuezhou Fleet and the International Fleet are tied together, there are not so many warships. However, Io is not small. Hundreds of warships are scattered in mid- and low-altitude orbits near Io, and the density of warships is low.
It's so pitiful that if you throw a handful of sand into the sea, the density will be higher than that of an alien fleet.
However, Ye Han knew very well that this was not how the score was calculated. If the alien fleet was so easy to deal with, the international fleet would not have been unable to deal with Europa for so long.
Thinking of the International Fleet, Ye Han looked for it specifically. He turned his eyes around Europa several times but could not find the International Fleet. He couldn't help but secretly wonder, did the International Fleet know that the Third Fleet was coming and deliberately avoided it?
While he was thinking about it, Ye Han suddenly discovered that there was an asteroid directly in front of Europa, and it was hitting Europa head-on.
The alien fleet also discovered the asteroid blocking the way. More than a dozen alien warships rushed forward at the same time, crossing Jupiter and blocking the asteroid's orbit. The dense thin light flashed randomly, cutting the asteroid like a paring knife.
After peeling off the layers, the good asteroid was cut into a bunch of pieces by the aliens in a short while.
After the alien warship chopped up the asteroid, it immediately retreated to its original position. After a while, Io flew over, and most of the fragments fell into Io's atmosphere, turning into a falling fire shower meteor in the atmosphere. Soon
It burned up in the atmosphere, and not a single meteorite fell to the ground.
Ye Han felt that the aliens were quite proficient in dealing with asteroids, and a thought suddenly came to his mind: Wasn't this asteroid moved by the international fleet? Could it be that the international fleet always does this, and the aliens are so skilled?
response plan?
But no matter how he searched, he couldn't find the International Fleet. After a while, another asteroid appeared directly in front of Europa!
Ye Han became so curious that he simply opened the Nanzhou's communication and applied for the right to use the optical equipment from the Nanzhou - the Nanzhou had the most advanced astronomical telescope in the fleet, and the Yushan was a one-time use
The battleship is not equipped with optical observation equipment at all!
Ye Han's application was quickly responded to, and Ye Han, who obtained the right to use it, used the data link to control the telescope and observe the situation in front of Europa.
The astronomical-grade telescope was indeed extraordinary. After a while, Ye Han discovered anomalies deep in the asteroid belt. But what he found was not an international fleet, but hundreds of alien warships!
These alien warships are scattered near the orbit in front of Jupiter, either in groups of three or in groups of five, sending nearby asteroids to Jupiter's orbit one by one!
Ye Han couldn't believe his eyes. If it was normal for the international fleet to do this, using asteroids to hit targets was a simple space tactic, but what if the aliens themselves stumbled the moon?
He couldn't turn the corner for a while, but after a while, a thought came to his mind: Could the aliens do this to replenish Europa's body?
Io was not only attacked in turn by human expeditionary forces, but also almost fell into Jupiter when it was near Jupiter. At that time, Io's surface layer was peeled off by Jupiter's gravity, and it lost a lot of mass.
Ye Han still remembered that when the First Fleet was approaching Jupiter, they discovered that the alien fleet was sending captured asteroids to Jupiter. At that time, no one knew what the aliens wanted to do, and no one thought about it in depth. Looking back now
It seems that aliens have been planning to add mass to Jupiter since that time.
He vaguely remembered that when Europa left Jupiter, it seemed to have accepted a few small satellites, but it had been a long time and he couldn't remember whether this happened or not.
As for the reasons, there are a lot of things to think about, such as too much mass loss and a decrease in the gravity of the planet; another example is that asteroids contain certain substances that aliens need; and there are planetary engines, which cannot produce thrust out of thin air and consume every day.
The combustion is an astronomical number, and the combustion used by the planetary engine must come from Europa itself...
Think about it, to be able to push such a big planet, not to mention how much combustion is consumed every day, it only requires tens of thousands of tons of fuel every second.
Mosquito legs are also meat. Although the asteroid is small, it is more or less a supplement.
