"I cannot wait any longer. What if the internal departments of the Federation make another mistake, sending all the people here to their deaths?" After thinking it through, Tian Xing Jian instructed [Antenna] to immediately contact Rashid. The next plan he would be executing would require his help.
Very soon, Rashid passed over a detailed intelligence report regarding the Empire’s central logistic base behind the enemy front lines before agreeing with the road Tian Xing Jian decided to take. He had also especially given reminders regarding several places where one must take note of.
It was usually the case when one had almost completed the journey, the final stretch to success would be the hardest part. If they were to lose their breath in this final stretch, then all of their previous hard work would be wasted. Tian Xing Jian replied with a request for Rashid to contact the forward command team’s highest commanding officer, Bernadotte, so as to reduce the possible interception of news regarding this team.
Even if Tian Xing Jian did not tell him, Rashid would have done it anyways. Ever since the matter regarding the fake orders, the forward command team had become even stricter; they started thoroughly checking through everyone’s profile and background from head to toe. Due to the questioning by the Supreme Headquarters and the President’s Office, the rescue mission for the escapees had increased to the highest possible grade. Two aviation battalions, three commando battalions, an aviation ground-based squadron Battle Mecha division, and a transport company had been assembled. In order to pacify the sentiments of the population, to drive the direction of the international public opinion on this war, and to give an answer to all frontline soldiers, this team of escapees had to be saved. Currently, the one facing the greatest pressure regarding this matter was none other than General Bernadotte. Every single piece of news regarding the escapees had been classified as top secret from now on, and anything regarding the rescue mission would require his very signature in order for the orders to be acknowledged. Those who dared to thwart this mission or personnel who neglected their duties regardless of their positions would all be deemed as traitors of the nation.
This piece of news made Tian Xing Jian heave a sigh of relief while simultaneously feel delighted over the fact that he was the cause of such a big commotion. He felt honored that the extremely high status figures in the Supreme Headquarters and the President’s Office had become interested in this case. At the same time, he took joy in the calamity Bernadotte was facing since he was the one who sent him to the front lines.
At 3 in the morning, Tian Xing Jian’s discussion with Rashid had finalized into an action plan. General Bernadotte himself had approved this plan before giving the orders for the related groups to take action.
Since their plan had gotten a full-fledged support from the forward command team, Tian Xing Jian completely gave up the previous idea of attacking the central logistic base for obtaining means of transport and resupplying their equipment. In the new plan, the attack against the central logistic base did not change; instead, the main reason behind their attack had changed. Since the terrain of this location was quite flat and was also an airport used for medium-sized transport ships, they could definitely evacuate the entire team within six minutes. As a result, this base continued to be their target of assault.
If they did not attack this place, there would be no way for any medium-sized transport ship to descend amidst the mountainous region. Instead, everyone would have to be evacuated one by one using an aerial platform, which would take too much time and would paint them as clear targets for their enemies. If the enemy targeted them with their missiles and fighter aircraft, then even if there were more fighter aircraft protecting the transport ship, it would still be futile in the end.
Having enough Battle Mechas to use their Assisted Propulsion System had been a persistent issue ever since they left the camps. Furthermore, there was no point in asking those infantry soldiers to use all their strength to jump, as they could not jump higher than a meter. In addition, there was the repulsion force released by the medium-sized transport ship whenever it was floating at a low point in air, which could instantly turn any soldier without Battle Mecha into meat paste.
On this day before 10 in the morning, there would be two Federation aviation battalions worth of fighter aircraft who would move westwards to open a passage towards the coordinate (1201, 2210) — the location of the enemy’s central logistic base behind the front lines. The region of 50 kilometers in radius around their target objective would be the areas for their aerial assault. Anything suspicious between these two points would be eliminated by the artillery team with the usage of guided missiles. The three battalions of commando would use this air passage to reach the base via airdrop. After occupying the base, they would have to defend that place from forces of up to a maximum of a division's worth of Battle Mechas for half an hour.
As for the escapees behind the enemy lines, they would start their journey at dawn, moving towards the east. Before 10 in the morning, they must reach the appointed location. Tian Xing Jian would be leading the five [Devil Tigers] and a section of Battle Mechas as the advance party, looking for opportunities to infiltrate the base while destroying any anti-air weaponry or anti-radar interference equipment so as to coordinate with the assault by the commandos.
The start of the entire operation would be hidden with a facade by the Federation’s assault from the air and the commandos attacking from behind the enemy lines. That excuse was meant for them to clear all ground threats to their aircraft. The middle phase of the operation would be reached when they controlled the region 50 kilometers in radius from their target objective alongside the occupation of their target objective. The final phase of the operation would happen when every single soldier had evacuated from the place within half an hour of time. The total period for the middle phase would last not more than two hours, so this would be a lightning-quick rescue mission.
There was only one single chance. If they failed, then the Federation would not be able to organize another operation to rescue them for a short period of time. Moreover, their objective — the escapees — would be revealed to the enemy, preventing them from having a second chance of escaping.
At 3:20 in the morning, Tian Xing Jian gave the orders for the entire team of Battle Mechas to start moving. During these few hours, the escapees would not have protection from the Battle Mechas. However, it was fortunate that this location had been marked as a search zone in the enemy’s Sky Network System. Before the truth of their deceptive signal is revealed, they would have no issues in staying there for an extended period of time.
Five [Devil Tigers] had been assigned to five soldiers from the special scouts section since operating a different type of Battle Mecha was included within their subject of training. Even though they had never before seen this specially-used Battle Mecha by the Myth Legion, its control system was quite similar to other Beast-Model Battle Mechas. Within half an hour, the movement of these [Devil Tigers] was no longer shaky. The five open warrior-class Pioneers had then been assigned to the five best ground-based Battle Mecha soldiers amongst the captives. They would proceed with Tian Xing Jian on their assault operation.
Moving eastwards out of the canyon, after the section of Battle Mecha had traveled for 15 kilometers, they finally reached a region with several small hills. The terrain in this region started becoming flatter. After another five kilometers, it would be the enemy’s central logistic base. After ordering the team to activate their stealth mode, Tian Xing Jian activated [Logic]’s All-Round Radar. From the Anti-Detection and Interference System installed throughout the entire base, he could see that this central logistic base was heavily fortified. His original expectation of looking forward for the air-to-ground assault to work its magic had become a delusion. Right now, he only wished that there were not too many defending soldiers in it.
The result from the scan of his All-Round Radar showed that the defense of this base was not really that dense. This truly made Tian Xing Jian sigh a breath of relief. Using the Particle Accumulator to clear off all sentries around the base, the section of Battle Mechas entered the base smoothly under his command.
This central logistic base was surrounded by mountain ranges and countless tunnels and bridges — it was a high grade exchange center. The roads to four medium-sized cities and a big-sized city intersected right in this location. Two of those cities had long fallen into the enemy’s hands, while the remaining three were heavily surrounded by soldiers of the Imperial Army.
From its geological location, this place was indeed a natural choice for building a central logistic base. Other than having the mountainous region in all four of its directions which provided it with natural protection, the traffic for supply transportation was very much convenient too. They could also send in supply via descending in with transport ships bigger than medium sizes. No wonder, it had been rebuilt by the enemy after they destroyed this base.
Tian Xing Jian ordered for the Federation Battle Mechas to remain within the forest. He decided to only bring the five [Devil Tigers] that had the capability of turning invisible to first destroy the Anti-Detection and Interference System. Before 10 am, he had to identify all the Anti-Detection and Interference System and then place a timed bomb at their location. Otherwise, when the time comes, the fighter aircraft in the air would not be able to start their assault of this location. Furthermore, the medium-sized transport ship would not be able to descend down in this location too, and the commandos’ airdrop location would be forced to a place 10 kilometers away, outside the region of that Anti-Detection and Interference System.
After allowing [Logic] to transform, the six [Devil Tigers] moved in their stealth mode to place timed bombs in the interference devices on the outside of the base. Subsequently after reaching the southern entrance of the base, they entered like bosses under the brightly lit search light.