Fatty was awoken from his contemplation by a stinging slap, catching him completely off guard. His face was smacked from the left to the right, and a line of saliva flung from his mouth and stuck beneath his right ear.
At that moment, a voice came through the electronic speaker in the transport ship's cabin: "Lieutenant Tian Xingjian, please report to the captain's room immediately."
Feeling inexplicably innocent, Fatty watched with wide eyes as the female medic who had slapped him walked away. He wiped the drool from his mouth in frustration and made his way to the captain's room.
Inside the captain's room, besides Nadal and Rashid, there were two Lieutenant Colonels, a Colonel, and a Major General. One of the Lieutenant Colonels, dressed in an Air Force uniform, was clearly the captain of the transport ship. The other Lieutenant Colonel and the Colonel were military advisers from the Combat Department.
Upon seeing Tian Xingjian standing at attention at the door to report, Rashid hurriedly pulled him inside and introduced the Major General: "This is our division commander of the 16th Armored Division of the Aviation Marine Corps, Major General Zhou Zhisen."
Zhou Zhisen was also a typical Oriental from the Earth era. Judging from his name, he was likely Han Chinese. He was not tall and had a somewhat slender build, with sharp eyes that radiated a battle-hardened aura, naturally projecting the demeanor of a seasoned general.
The 16th Armored Division of the Aviation Marine Corps was a Level 1 Strong Army within the Leray Federation Army, a heroic unit passed down from the War of Independence. Its combat strength ranked twelfth among all mechanized Mecha units, which included three hundred Army Armored Divisions and two hundred Aviation Marine Corps Armored Divisions. To command such a division required exceptional military leadership and prowess in leading troops.
Upon hearing Rashid's introduction, Fatty immediately stood at attention and assumed his standard iron-blooded soldier pose, saluting and loudly saying, "Hello, Division Commander! Deputy Company Commander of the Special Reconnaissance Battalion First Company of the 16th Division, Tian Xingjian, reporting for duty! Please instruct!"
Major General Zhou Zhisen returned the salute and walked up to Tian Xingjian, carefully examining the man who had led a team with no mobility, no weapons, and only one Mechanical Armor Team from deep within enemy lines.
"Surname Tian? Han Chinese?" Zhou Zhisen asked.
"Yes, sir," Tian Xingjian replied with unyielding military precision, playing the role of the iron-blooded soldier.
"Very good, at ease. You can drop the 'sir' routine," Zhou Zhisen said, having already heard about this Fatty from Nadal. Specifically assigned by Bernadotte to lead the rescue mission, he had thoroughly studied the commander of this enemy-deep team.
The rigid Fatty immediately broke into a smile, his honest and simple demeanor making him appear loyal and trustworthy.
Zhou Zhisen chuckled, "Very good. 'God helps those who help themselves'—your name is very interesting, with a flavor of ancient Eastern Earth culture. Let's dispense with pleasantries. I'm very pleased with your performance in the recent mission. Now, explain to us your Battle Situation Simulation that you submitted to the forward command."
Tian Xingjian walked up to the computer display and saw that it was playing the strategic simulation based on his own projections.
This system plotted simulation data and combat plans into a computer-generated battle map, where animated troops represented combat units fighting on the map according to the simulation. It was very intuitive for explaining simulations—essentially a modern version of ancient war sand tables, but entirely data-driven and self-demonstrated by the computer.
Tian Xingjian was thoroughly familiar with this system. Seeing a Major General personally asking about it, he hesitated not at all in explaining the simulation process.
After listening to Tian Xingjian's report, Zhou Zhisen pondered for a long time and asked, "Did you run these simulations on the Mecha computer?"
In fact, Tian Xingjian wanted to say that he had dreamed it up while sleeping, for he fully understood the saying "fame invites troubles." But many people had seen it in the tunnel, and the man in front of him was his superior's superior. The consequences of lying would be disastrous, so he finally nodded and said, "Yes, Division Commander. I believe the forward command should take preventive measures against this scenario."
Zhou Zhisen smiled and motioned for everyone to sit on the couch in the captain's room. He said to Tian Xingjian, "This simulation was received by the forward command only yesterday."
Seeing Fatty's confusion, the Colonel Military Adviser sitting next to him, looking embarrassed, said, "This simulation had been hidden by a traitor. The Combat Department had no knowledge of it. It was only when we later inspected the traitor's handled files that we discovered the simulation's serial number. At that time, the simulation had disappeared, but we found a copy in the electronic archives at the sign-off section."
From his flushed face, it was clear that the traitor was his colleague—the military adviser who had forged orders, sacrificing the Special Reconnaissance Battalion First Company.
Just then, a service orderly came in to serve tea, and the atmosphere turned cold, with everyone seemingly avoiding the topic of the traitor.
Zhou Zhisen gently blew on his tea and said indifferently, "Traitors exist in any nation, any ethnicity, at any time. It's not surprising."
He took a careful sip of the tea, finding it a bit hot, and put the cup back down, looking at Tian Xingjian, "We reviewed your simulation… and it is very precise. To be honest, apart from being personally named by the forward command, my task also included confirming the enemy's troop deployment and the result of the 'Ignition Plan.'
Tian Xingjian was puzzled, "Ignition Plan?"
The Lieutenant Colonel Military Adviser retrieved a document from his folder and handed it to Tian Xingjian, "This is an interim plan formulated by the command at dawn yesterday. After your simulation reached the command, they analyzed it and concluded that your simulated outcome was highly likely. To be safe, the command has already dispatched three Army Armored Divisions and two flight squadrons to strengthen defense within 200 kilometers around Katos Canyon."
Zhou Zhisen waved to take over the explanation, "As soon as the order went out, within an hour, the forward command received intelligence on large-scale enemy troop movements. It seems we have more traitors internally. The moment our order was issued, they began to act."
Probably to avoid further embarrassment to the Lieutenant Colonel, Zhou Zhisen took over the conversation about the traitor situation.
He continued, "Our intelligence is also quite good. The moment the enemy moved, we detected it. The troop movement area happened to be within the scope of this rescue operation. Therefore, to ascertain the enemy's actual troop numbers and to neutralize this overhead hanging bomb through a remote detonation, we decided to use the rescue operation's deployment to clear the area's enemy gathering forces."
Tian Xingjian suddenly realized, "So that's why they deployed the forces of five flight squadrons! No wonder. I was wondering why there were reports of fierce enemy resistance—this was their rendezvous point!"
Seeing Zhou Zhisen nod with a smile, Tian Xingjian asked puzzledly, "And what about the Mythical Army? Have their gathering points been discovered?"