Universal Calendar 796,
Reich Calendar 487:
the autocratic Galactic Empire
The war dragged on between
which made republicanism its cause.
and the Free Planets Alliance,
Fezzan Dominion, headed by Adrian Rubinsky,
In addition, there was the self-governing
which looked on as the two sides clashed.
Imperial forces have crushed the central 4th Fleet.
was launched on 6th Fleet.
Additionally, a fast strike
Present fleet position: unknown.
with Alliance 2nd Fleet is 87%.
Probability of contact
Divide and conquer, huh?
I guess you really can fight.
Well, you golden-haired brat,
To all ships: prepare for close-range combat!
All ships, return fire!
Open gun ports!
It's too late.
This is the aft turret!
Come in, Bridge.
Please instruct!
This is the aft turret!
Come in, Bridge.
Please instruct!
Engine Room! This is the Engine Room!
Bridge, please respond!
Repeating:
Commandant!
Bridge, please respond!
The commander-in-chief has been injured.
Send a medic to the bridge, please.
assess damage and begin repairs.
Officers on duty,
You can report in later.
Aft turret, resume returning fire at will.
Engine Room, what's up?
We were worried about the bridge.
There is no damage in the engine room.
Thank God. We're still functioning up here.
just concentrate on your duties.
Don't worry about us,
So, any officers who aren't hurt?
I'm not going to Hell that easily.
Anyone else?
No, I looked around, but...
our executive staff wiped out.
So, basically, we've had
Commodore Yang, take command of the fleet!
Me, sir?
among the uninjured.
You're most likely the highest-ranking officer
Show me how good a tactician you really are...
It's bad, but we got here in time; we can save him.
Right, treat him at once.
You're being evaluated, huh?
Heh, I suppose I am.
Attention, all ships.
junior staff officer to the commander-in-chief.
This is Commodore Yang Wen-li,
the commander-in-chief was seriously wounded.
Due to damage suffered by the flagship Patroklos,
By his order, I am assuming command of the fleet.
Don't worry, our forces won't be beaten!
I might be promising too much, huh?
No, if it's you, you'll do it.
Maybe.
Maybe, huh?
Until new instructions are given,
individual enemy vessels.
each ship will concentrate on smashing
That is all.
But how long do we fight?
Even when this battle's over, the war won't end.
Not as long as that fortress exists.
Iserlohn Fortress:
of the Galactic Empire.
the impregnable stronghold
and the Galactic Empire,
Between the Free Planets Alliance
there lay a vast, unnavigable sector of space.
where navigation was possible
The sole route within it
was called the Iserlohn Corridor.
Consequently, for one side to attack the other,
they had to pass through this corridor.
And so, thirty years earlier,
Iserlohn Fortress in this sector.
the Galactic Empire constructed
Iserlohn Fortress:
with a thick surface layer of liquid metal.
Diameter: 60 kilometers,
with a mass of 60 trillion tons.
A huge, artificial heavenly body,
a huge cannon called Thor's Hammer.
And its greatest weapon was
Alliance forces could not enter the Galactic Empire.
So long as this fortress existed,
somewhere within the Iserlohn Corridor.
As a result, war was continuously waged
The First, Second, and Third Battles of Tiamat;
the air battle over Legnica;
the Fourth Battle of Tiamat;
and now, the Battle of the Astarte Stellar Region.
Victory is in sight,
unexpectedly tenacious.
but the enemy's resistance is
knowing when to quit.
In this case, it's a matter of not
from their numerical disadvantage?
How do they plan to recover
No matter.
At this rate, our own losses will be negligible.
Kircheis...
Yes?
Reform the battle lines.
Please tell the fleet to assume a spindle formation.
You know why, don't you?
You intend to break through the center, don't you?
Yes...
The enemy is assuming a spindle formation.
They're planning to break through the center.
Break through the center?
Yeah, that's just the sort of thing he'd do.
So, how do I meet this?
All ships, attack!
It's a complete victory!
All ships, attack!
Attack!
Okay, here they come.
The problem is...
Will our forces move as I say?
And if they don't?
I'll scratch my head and trick them.
Enemy ship approaching!
From its silhouette, I think it's the Wallenstein.
Main guns, open fire! Proximity target!
Another enemy ship: the Kärnten!
The enemy is brimming with ambition.
We need to be, too.
Main guns, open fire!
Enemy is falling back slightly.
Enemy retreat, accelerating.
Looks like it's working.
Our ships are moving as I told them to.
We may end up not losing after all.
Maybe.
by our offensive thrust.
Enemy forces have been split
What?
What is it?
What if they didn't split off because of our fleet?
You mean...
Dammit!
Now!
Engines, ahead full!
The enemy has split to the right and left.
They're now moving to our rear at high speed!
Kircheis!
He let us do it!
to get behind our forces!
The enemy split up and intends
They've turned the tables on our offensive strategy!
The only one who could have pulled this off is...
that man!
Commodore Yang Wen-li...
Allied fleets are now to the enemy's rear.
Good!
Now let's light the enemy's tail on fire.
Huh?
it looks like our fleet started winning!
While I wasn't watching,
You don't see that every day.
I don't think he's going to just let us win.
The enemy is the enemy, after all.
Still, it doesn't look like we'll lose, either.
So, how will the enemy respond, now?
Senior Admiral Lohengramm...
What shall we do?
Reverse course and intercept them?
This is no joke!
Then our only option is to go full speed ahead.
As you say.
All ships, full speed ahead!
the enemy to our rear!
Proceed clockwise to get behind
What?
Advance to get behind the enemy?
The golden-haired brat's lost his mind.
Come about and intercept the enemy!
Attack at once!
But, sir, you'd be disregarding orders!
I don't care!
Rear Admiral Erlach's ship is disregarding orders.
That fool, does he want to die?
You reap what you sow.
However...
Yes, the first death of a top-level officer in our fleet.
Make certain my orders are carried out!
Yes, sir.
Enemy advance, continuing.
So, that's his play, huh?
A few hours later, the formation had become a ring.
I've never seen a formation like this.
No kidding.
It's like two snakes
biting each other's tails and swallowing each other.
Which means both snakes...
each other's stomachs.
...will end up disappearing into
What an unsightly formation.
It's just turning into a war of attrition, isn't it?
Hey, hey!
At this rate, both sides will end up being destroyed!
We're going to lose our place to land.
I don't want to end up a homeless child.
The enemy should begin to fall back, soon.
Do we pursue?
Let's just end this.
we'll retreat, too.
While the enemy catches their breath,
We've done all we can.
Fighting any more would be pointless.
Kircheis, what do you think?
Our chance will come soon, won't it?
You think so, too?
will just increase the losses on both sides.
Fighting any longer than this
It's strategically meaningless.
Does that bother you?
It's not that, but I wanted to win a bit more.
and destroyed two fleets.
We were surrounded by twice the enemy,
might be called a bit greedy.
To wish for more than that
I realize that.
And tomorrow is always another day.
Still, he's talented, that man.
Commodore Yang Wen-li?
Yes...
Send a dispatch to him in my name.
What sort of dispatch?
The Imperial forces have sent us a dispatch.
A dispatch?
Read it, please.
You're sure?
Okay, then...
Um, "I pay my respects to you for the valiant battle.
Be well, till the day when next we fight.
Reinhard von Lohengramm"
Galactic Imperial Senior Admiral
That's all.
He said it was a valiant battle?
That was nice of him.
What do we do? Reply?
No, it's all right, leave it.
I doubt they expect us to, anyway.
soldiers quickly, instead.
We should recover our remaining
I want to save as many as we can.
The other fleets lost a lot, didn't they?
Yeah...
of the 6th Fleet, too.
And this time, we lost Lt. Commander Lappe
Yeah...
He'll be missed.
For the so-called Battle of Astarte,
while the Alliance forces fielded 4,060,000.
the Imperial forces fielded 2,450,000 personnel
However, while Imperial losses numbered 150,000,
ten times the amount.
the Alliance forces lost 1,500,000,
National Defense Committee.
This is an announcement from the
an overwhelming victory for Alliance forces.
The Battle of Astarte ended in
took considerable damage.
However, the 4th and 6th Fleets
The details are scheduled to be announced later.
The 6th Fleet...
Yes, this is the Military Information Bureau.
6th Fleet, news on Jean Robert Lapp, please.
that information is restricted to military personnel.
I'm very sorry, at the moment,
What is your name, please?
Jessica Edwards; I'm his fiancée.
If you look it up, you'll see.
Confirmed.
Captain Jean Robert Lapp-
Captain?
He should be a lieutenant commander.
No, Lt. Commander Jean Robert Lapp
in the Battle of Astarte,
was killed in action heroically
two ranks to captain-
and was posthumously advanced
Killed in action...
How are you, Annerose?
Baroness!
Such a gloomy expression...
I've come with good news.
Your little golden-haired brother...
and will be returning in glory in a week.
He earned a great victory at Astarte,
So, Reinhard is...
With this, he'll finally be made an imperial marshal.
And if he is, that tall, red-headed fellow...
He'll probably be promoted too, to admiral.
So, please stop looking so miserable, all right?
Yes...
Kircheis...
After we stop at Iserlohn Fortress,
we'll return to Hauptplanet Odin, at once.
for my sister's birthday, will we?
Though we won't be in time
Impressive...
He did splendidly without us.
Yes, it's a great victory,
but I wasn't worried.
as another great victory.
The army reported this battle
Alliance forces have never actually lost anyone.
Yeah, maybe our thus-far unbeaten
buried beneath them.
Graves with nobody's remains
Still, a grave is a grave.
What's wrong?
Jessica...
What can I say?
Please, don't say anything.
Jean was killed in the war.
I don't bear you a grudge, but...
But that war was your job, wasn't it?
Jean Robert...
Yes...
Our job was war.
It's true.
I see, the Imperial forces won, but not too much.
Is that the gist of it, Boltik?
Yes, sir, the Alliance forces were beaten,
but didn't suffer a wholesale collapse.
by its being the best possible outcome.
For us here in Fezzan, we can be satisfied
and Commodore Yang Wen-li...
Yes, but Count Reinhard Lohengramm
We'll need to pay attention to them, won't we?
Universal Calendar 796,
Reich Calendar 487:
Thus did the Battle of Astarte conclude.
How historians would place it would come later,
for this year's battles had only just begun.
The Battle of Astarte
Subarashiku atsui namida wo
Hito wa kokoro ni tameteiru
Kimi ga yuku michi wo saegiru
Omoku munashii ikusa tsuzukou to
Yume wo korosu na
Yume wo oun da
Haruka ginga no kagayaki wo
Utsusu namida de hoho wo nurashite
Yorokoberu hi wo
Hikari no hashi wo koete
Kokoro wo hadaka ni shite
Hikari no hashi wo koete
Namida to ai wo tokihanashite
NEXT EPISODE
Having lost her fiancé in the Battle of Astarte,
National Defense Committee Chairman Trunicht
Jessica denounces
nation's victims at a memorial service.
as he makes a speech for the
of the Patriotic Knights pursuing her!
She soon finds the dark shadows
Next time, on Legend of the Galactic Heroes,
"The Birth of the 13th Fleet"
Episode 3:
The Birth of the 13th Fleet
Next Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Another page turns in the history of the galaxy.