Chapter 11

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Chapter 11: Chaos

The essence of tactics is deception, like two old gamblers cheating each other. If they expose each other’s tricks, victory will depend on who has the better hand. But if they don’t, winning the game has nothing to do with the size of the cards. Just like encountering immortals in a chicken dinner game, it’s not only about luck but also about skills and equipment.

In modern warfare, human eyes and senses are no longer enough for gathering and delivering information. So, using electromagnetic waves or other means to replace human eyes, collecting enemy intelligence and transmitting own information gave rise to electronic warfare.

Even in space, electronic warfare remains important. Just like how your eyes in modern warfare are not just your physical eyes, active radars, passive radars, various communication devices, and relays become your means to find enemies in the vast emptiness and guide attacks.

Due to the distance in space, detection, counter-detection, deception, and counter-deception are crucial in battles and wars, not just the weapons or armor you have. Equipping yourself with the best gear won’t necessarily protect you from the consequences of facing powerful opponents.

That’s why human warships are equipped with electronic countermeasures against most potential weapons. While traditional methods of blocking channels still work, new interference and deception systems have been developed, like the firefly against laser systems.

Lasers have advantages of moderate range, high ballistic speed, and efficient energy delivery. If hit multiple times by laser beams, even the toughest armor won’t be able to protect your ship. But lasers also have weaknesses, such as invisible trajectories. So if they miss, you won’t know where your shots went off target or by how much.

What’s even scarier is how do you know if you hit your target? Is it based on the localized infrared heat radiation on the warship? Or the light feedback wave? How can you be sure that you actually hit the target and not just a decoy signal by the enemy?

For example, after you lock on, if you purposely emit broad-angle heat radiation from the hidden infrared laser on the surface, what kind of false perception will the receiving spacecraft have? If the enemy adjusts their laser angle and firing data based on this feedback signal, what will happen next?

Without a doubt, in the next attack, you are simply aiming at a false image of an enemy directional infrared radiation emission created by deception, it’s like you think you’re flying straight towards the enemy, but your steering gear is crooked… The end result is that you will run to a place you have no idea about. Likewise, weapons such as lasers and mass projection depend on radar and sighting devices to obtain shooting data.

So, "There’s no way for battles in space to be just two groups of people lining up big guns with armor on."

Well, at least that’s what humans thought before encountering the Imperial warships, but the reality is – the human starships were obviously flirting with blind people, the main force of the Imperial newly reorganized Eighth Fleet although equipped with centimeter-wave radar, but did not have infrared passive radar, nor did they have electronic and intelligent targeting systems.

When the human starships sent out a fake signal saying "Ah, I’ve been hit, I need you to come and kiss me to get up," the other side acted as if they were saying, "I’m supposed to cooperate with your performance but I’m turning a blind eye."

In fact, the other side didn’t even fire a shot because the human starships were out of range. This was quite embarrassing, so the battle quickly entered a waste of time. After the Imperial vanguard was hammered into scrap metal by the orbital system, they unsuspectingly crashed into the human fleet’s defensive circle, and then repeated their colleagues’ experience – turning from brand new steel products into a pile of molten steel in an average of 15 seconds.

It’s like preparing a brilliant strategy, assembling a group of amazing teammates, arranging a skillful and fancy routine for the opponent, but then the opponents just rush straight under the tower, wipe out the whole family in one go, kill one directly under the tower, get killed by the turret, and the rest get slashed one by one by the ADC, without even using a single skill and just get team wiped, surrendering. For the commander, it felt as uncomfortable as if they had eaten feces.

"So, are the devices on our ship really prepared for America?"

What’s the purpose of having a reactor trigger on the starship? Of course, it’s not to deal with jet organ-piercing shells, but to create a large number of fragments and instant explosion signals, telling the other party, "Yes, yes, your kinetic energy projectile hit me, your previous fire control data was correct, continue to use that data to shoot!" and then secretly saying, "Those idiots missed their shot, let me explode it for you!"

Certainly, it’s quite clear who the surface anti-laser "Firefly" deception device on American starships is aimed at, after all, Chinese starships mainly use lasers and missiles, considering that China’s laser technology is world-leading (sarcastic), while American starships focus on kinetic energy projectiles, carrier-based aircraft, and missiles because that’s what they excel at.

The only thing in common is that both of them like missiles, and have decoy systems on the missiles, along with laser/kinetic anti-missile systems… well, "Your Space Force is indeed for assaulting labor capital, isn’t it?" said by the USA/China.

Without even reaching the solar system, they are already getting ready to turn on each other for greed before even establishing a proper colony — of course! The universe may be vast, but it cannot contain us (humorous)!

International space cooperation space station, confinement room

The last memory in Caste’s mind was of his entire fleet burning fiercely in the void, yet he saw no enemies. The dark, cold space seemed to transform into a furnace the moment they jumped out, with his flagship "Imperial Glory" battleship’s towering mast melting like a candle, turning into a splattering liquid radiating red light, while the escort "Countess Rose" cruiser turned into a fireball engulfing its escort ships.

Next, his flagship, the exquisite and luxurious decorations inside the bridge turned into burning charcoal in an instant. Then, he knew nothing, until he woke up again in a narrow room.

Limbs were fixed on a circular rack, in a very embarrassing position, all the hair shaved off, thankfully the room was warm, though the white stove hanging in the corner didn’t show flames but emitted warm gusts.

Caste tried to move his limbs, the black bands on his wrists and ankles were strong and didn’t budge, instead causing an unbearable pain in his wounds. Caste gave up struggling, closed his eyes quietly to conserve energy. His past life as a slave taught him: in such times, it’s best to preserve energy and strength to endure the torture that follows, in hopes of a chance to escape. Wasting energy in struggle would only bring more joy to the torturer and hasten one’s journey to that world.

The door opened, Caste quietly opened his eyes to see a humanoid creature dressed in a long white robe from head to toe, with a cylindrical head or helmet, only with a square black glass-like structure in the front, making it impossible to see his face in backlight. The humanoid pushed a cart with metal tools on it, "scalpel, forceps, needle, saw… hmph, just interrogation."

The humanoid creature rudely opened his eyelids, shining a luminous object into his eyes, causing extreme discomfort. Enduring and obeying in a situation of complete helplessness might temporarily make the interrogator lose interest. It could provide a brief break and preparation time before the next round of greater torment arrives.

The robotic creature set down the glowing object, picked up a small glass bottle from the cart, drew out a clear liquid with a syringe, and injected it into itself. "What is this?" Caste did not quite understand the other’s actions, but a sudden rush of pleasure seemed to take over his entire being from the depths of his soul. His dilated pupils gradually became lifeless, and uncontrollable drool trickled from the corners of his mouth.

"As long as used correctly, in front of medication, so-called willpower and beliefs are useless." The robotic creature sneered. "This is Room 35. Interrogation of the detainee can begin."

"What have you done to me?" Due to the small dosage, Caste quickly recovered. He gazed at the robotic creature with a demonic expression. "Nothing, at least there is no harm from a physiological perspective," the other raised another small vial. "But the psychological addiction is a different story. We have many similar substances, if one doesn’t work, we can switch to another. The only difference is when you ask for it. Time is abundant for us."

"What do you want to know?" Caste’s pupils shrunk to a line, and his expression turned fierce.

"Your occupation."

"Fleet Commander, Admiral of the Imperial Navy!" There’s nothing to keep confidential. Even in modern military, names, occupations, and ranks can be disclosed after being captured. In ancient classical military, officers are mostly nobles. Revealing one’s name, family, occupation, rank, etc. is a rule of survival.

"Good, it’s a good start. Your name?"

"Caste, no surname." Although it was strange that the other party did not follow the usual order, Caste still answered honestly, "What is your purpose for coming here?"

"……."

"Oh, tough guy~~~~" The humanoid creature tapped the glass bottle in its hand, "I like tough guys! Because in the end, they all end up as a puddle under my feet. They’d kill even their own children for a drop of medicine. Can you surprise me?"

"To kill the traitor, it’s the Emperor’s order." Caste took a deep breath and had to temporarily yield for now. This information wasn’t really crucial, as the traitor knew the consequences of being exposed. "Alright, so what’s your formation? Why were you sent to kill the traitor? Who exactly is this traitor you speak of?"

The questions were illogical and Caste found it hard to come up with lies along the disjointed chain of questioning, and he couldn’t delude himself with lies as truths in a short time.

"……"

"Hmm~ Looks like I’ll have some fun today. Control room, can you turn off indoor surveillance for half an hour?"

"No, Detective Sheffield. The higher-ups require us to ensure that everyone is under constant surveillance."

"Alright, miss. I hope you have a good appetite today," Sheffield shrugged.

"Um~ I can turn off the monitoring screen, as for the people who review the recordings… they should be fine."

"Oh, a wise choice."

Half an hour later, Sheffield left the detention room with a quick step. In his hand was a detailed interrogation report. He had revealed everything that Caste knew, which was much more than what Captain Mason and Lieutenant Ruier knew about serving in the Imperial Capital and even reaching the rank of admiral. Caste also had some very important information about the distribution of power within the Empire and conflicts between interest groups that was crucial for humanity.

The modern concept of exploitation by nations is very different from the medieval style of raiding and plundering. Humans did not intend to occupy the Empire’s territory or send large armies to conquer them directly because it would not be worth it. The wealth they possessed was not as great as imagined, and the cost of military expenditure would likely exceed the benefits of plunder.

Moreover, if they were to simply take and leave, it would create a united enemy; if they were to occupy for a long period and turn it into a colony, the ordinary citizens of the Empire would become a burden. After all, at that point, the rulers would be the humans themselves.

Therefore, if humans wanted the benefits without the burdens, they needed the cooperation of these interest groups and factions to dismantle the Empire, sow chaos, and force it to continuously sacrifice its interests until it had nothing left.

In this process, humans would also offer them some benefits, allowing them to grow fat and extract more resources. This strategy was old and familiar to humans, but the innate conditions of the Empire made it seem unnecessary to employ more sophisticated tactics.

[1]

Let’s imagine this scenario. It’s like when you fire a laser beam at someone, but for some reason, it misses and passes by point P in front of them. They realize your targeting and detect that you’ve activated a high-energy device (whether for propulsion, weapons, or something else is unclear). They then assume you are attacking and order the infrared emitter hidden in their ship’s hull to send out a wide-angle infrared signal towards you.

Your targeting radar receives this signal and locks onto the enemy, displaying the hit point A data on the gunnery officer’s console. They adjust this data based on the enemy’s sudden acceleration or deceleration, convert it into firing data, and send it to the weapon station. The weapon station then adjusts the laser’s angle and refraction based on this data to fire towards the corrected point A’.

However, your previous attack actually landed at point P, not the enemy’s midpoint at point A as your radar indicated.

And even if you use big surprised dog eyes to see, there is a thing called an LED light that can fake the appearance of the ship being heated by radiation.

This method is a typical electronic warfare and deception mode. It’s not just lasers, missiles, aircraft, railguns, or other weapons that have targeted deceptive, inducing, and disrupting methods. So, for modern and future wars, fighting is likely just a press of a button. But behind this action lies the extreme use of technology and tactics.

Actually launching weapons and destroying enemies is just the process of turning previous combat results in intelligence, information, and electronic measurements into actual combat achievements. Although the final result requires weapons with sufficient precision, range, and power to carry out, it is no longer the decisive factor – well, the same goes for protection.

Like the sun scorching a harpoon, speed, range, power crush in all directions and angles. However, for the Americans, this advantage is useless, fighting against the Russians, they either kneel or miss when they should hit… no matter how fast they fly, they still miss…

Miscellaneous: Electronic Deception Methods

Honestly, I can come up with a bunch of electronic deception and disruption modes that can be used in space even using my legs:

For example:

Question 1, whether in space, or on the ground, no matter what you want to do, what is the first thing you need to do before attacking with any weapon?

Answer: Measure the distance

Yes, if distance measurement is not accurate, weapons, fire control, and reconnaissance are all useless.

So, question 2: How can distance be accurately measured?

Answer: With a laser, otherwise what else can you use? By emitting weak laser light on the target, receiving the reflected light, and calculating the distance based on the time difference and the speed of light in a vacuum, you can accurately determine the distance to the target.

So, question 3: What conditions need to be met to complete this distance measurement task?

Answer: First, the power of the reflected light needs to be strong enough, at least strong enough after being concentrated by the reflection dish of your radar, to activate the sensor. Secondly, you need to be within the cone of reflected light, otherwise your reflection dish won’t receive this feedback light.

So, question 4: When does the enemy know what you are doing?

Answer: Based on the answer to question 3, the opponent’s sensor may detect your position (light paths are reversible) and what you are doing the moment you emit the distance-measuring laser, at least they can determine the position of your radar. Of course, they won’t know your exact distance, but that’s alright.

So, question 5: How can you make the enemy’s distance measurement inaccurate? Question 6: How can you prevent the enemy from measuring the distance?

The answers to these two questions can be combined:

If you want to mess up the distance measurement, just make the laser take longer to come back than usual. But how to make the return time longer than normal? Use time dilation? Of course not!

Just add a layer of aerogel (similar to air transparency) to slow down the return. It has high transparency, so the reflection is very faint. Then comes the time it takes for the light to slow down due to refraction in the medium. When the light beam hits the bottom of the aerogel on the ship and reflects back, this time will obviously be longer than the normal feedback time.

Aerogel is very lightweight, so you can set up multiple layers for different frequencies of the ranging laser.

So, how do you make it impossible to measure the distance?

Absorb the waves… no reflection or weak feedback, or feedback in other directions, so you won’t receive a signal – kind of like the principle of modern radar invisibility.

In case of inaccurate distance measurement, the distance data you get will be wrong. Incorrect distance data means… well, it’s hopeless, might as well give up.

For example:

If you use Psychic Divination to get the opponent’s accurate distance data, then with the distance data in hand, the rest is easy.

Then aim at the opponent and fire.

The laser beam reaching the target only lasts for a short moment, and because you used Psychic Divination to measure the distance, the other party did not notice your targeting.

Then you luckily hit your target, what happens next?

Then the opponent will use a wide-angle infrared laser to cover and heat the reflector. The sensor quickly warms up due to the concentrated infrared radiation reflected by the reflector, causing the sensor’s sensitivity to dull rapidly. To the sensor, it seems like the entire universe is heating up, with a large amount of infrared radiation shining on it.

When the sensor’s temperature rises above 20K, any changes in the infrared radiation signals below 20K will not be detected. For you – well, you’re blindsided… at least by passive radar.

[Don’t ask why there’s a reflector, because even something as big as a planet, when the reflected sunlight is focused through a 20-meter-diameter reflector, its power is beyond the sixth decimal place. Without the reflector focusing, it might really rely on magic targeting combined with Psychic Divination radar.]

What’s the point of fighting when you’re blind? Are you just shooting randomly based on sounds?

As for releasing decoy satellites that actively emit infrared to pretend to be a spaceship and use the Shadow Clone Jutsu (this decoy really doesn’t need to reach a very high temperature itself, it just needs the infrared laser emitter power to match its normal heat signal power).

So let me explain briefly: how to make the small decoy mask its heat signal seamlessly, because the reason is quite simple:

M=c1/[λ^5(exp(c2/λT)-1)]

The amount of energy, frequency, and wavelength of black body radiation correspond strictly to the temperature of the object. You don’t even need to know what frequency of light is shining on it. Just use the data of black body radiation when the spaceship hull is destroyed at high temperature, and then artificially simulate the corresponding wavelength and frequency of electromagnetic radiation. As for power:

At the maximum radiation power position of about 1650K, it’s only 5W per square meter…

So, saying that the decoy actively emits thermal radiation is not as powerful as the main cannons…

By the way, if the spaceship relies on thermal radiation for cooling, it would probably be a difficult scene to watch…

This is just two of the many deceptive methods – thermal signal deception and range measurement interference.

In fact, the tricks and schemes that real military electronic warfare experts can come up with are even more cunning and malicious than these.

So –

Wake up, those of you who are still stuck in the World War II era, fighting within visual range!

Future wars will only be more focused on information technology, and more focused on how to end battles outside the battlefield, rather than going back 70 years.

In the 1970s, a sci-fi writer critiqued, "Just western cowboy tales in space, somersaulting on warp drives, shooting alien cows with laser revolvers."

Just lifted the era of fearless battleships into space, then engaged in cannon duels.