"David Weber - Fifth Imperium 02 - The Armageddon Inheritance" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weber David)

anything he had to say on this subject was something the general wanted to hear.

"We can't do that from a planet Oh, we could, but planetary shields aren't like warship shields. Not on
habitable planets, anyway. Shield density is a function of shield area; after a point, you can't make it any
denser, no matter how much power you put into it To maintain sufficient density to stop really large
kinetic weapons, our shield is going to have to contract well into the mesosphere. We can stop most
smaller weapons from outside atmosphere, but not the big bastards, and we can't count on avoiding
heavy kinetic attack. In fact that's exactly what we're likely to be under if we do need to launch from
planetary bases."

"And if the shield contracts, the missiles would be outside it where the Achuultani could pick them off,"
Hatcher mused.

"Exactly. So we have to plan on going hyper straight from launch, and that means we need launchers big
enough to contain the entire hyper fieldтАФjust over three times the size of the missilesтАФor else their drives
will take chunks out of the defense center when they depart" Horus shrugged. "Since a heavy hyper
missile's about forty meters long and the launcher has to be airtight with provision for high-speed
evacuation of atmosphere, we're talking some pretty serious engineering just to build the damned things."

"I see." Hatcher frowned thoughtfully. "How far behind schedule are you, Horus? We're going to need
those batteries to cover our orbital defenses whatever happens."

"Oh, we're not really in trouble yet Geb allowed for some slippage in his original plans, and he dunks he
can make it up once he gets more Imperial equipment on line. Give us another six months and we should
be back on schedule. By Dahak's least favorable estimate, we've got two years before the Achuultani
arrive, and we should only be looking at a thousand or so scouts in the first wave. If we can hurt them
badly enough, we'll have another year or so to extend the defenses before the main fleet gets here.
Hopefully, we'll have more warships of our own by then, too."

"Hopefully," Hatcher agreed. He tried to radiate confidence, but he and Horus both knew, they had an
excellent chance of beating off the Achuultani scouts, but unless Colin found the help they needed, Earth
had no hope at all against the main incursion.

The cold winter wind and dark, cloudy sky over Taiyuan's concrete runways struck Marshal Tsien
Tao-ling as an appropriate mirror for his own mood Impassive and bulky in his uniform greatcoat, Tsien
had headed the military machine of the Asian Alliance for twelve tumultuous years, and he had earned
that post through decisiveness, dedication, and sheer ability. His authority had been virtually absolute, a
rare thing in this day and age. Now that same authority was fake a chain of iron, dragging him
remorselessly towards a decision he did not want to make.

In less than fifty years, his nation had unified all of Asia that matteredтАФaside from the Japanese and
Filipinos, and they scarcely counted as Asians any longer. The task had been neither cheap nor easy, nor
had it been bloodless, but the Alliance had built a military machine even the West was forced to respect
Much of that building had been his own work, the fruit of his sworn oath to defend his people, the Party,
and the State, and now his own decision might well bring all that effort, all that sacrifice, to nothing.

Oh, yes, he thought, lengthening his stride, these are the proper skies for me.

General Quang scurried after him, his high-pitched voice fighting a losing battle with the wind Tsien was a
huge man, almost two meters in his bare feet, and a native of Yunnan Province. Quang was both