When Xiao Ran got off Black Astray, a major also appeared in front of Black Astray with several officers. He saluted Xiao Ran and then said, "General Xiao, please follow me. General Johnson is already waiting in front."
Xiao Ran nodded lightly, looked into the distance, and saw a middle-aged man standing in front of the base building. At this time, he saw Xiao Ran looking over and nodded to Xiao Ran.
The major turned around and led Xiao Ran over. On the way, Xiao Ran asked, "How are Transport Aircraft's preparations going?"
The major replied quickly, "Transport Aircraft has been prepared, but there is still half an hour before the last time for the main personnel of this operation to gather, and the departure time will be in forty minutes."
"Yes." Xiao Ran nodded slightly, and put on a smiling face to greet the middle-aged man who came over, General Johnson, who was also the supreme commander of the base. Xiao Ran Although there is a mask on his face, it is only a half-mask. The smile on his face can still be seen. Even if he is old, he can probably see it from the parts that are not covered by the mask.
Naturally, General Johnson had read Xiao Ran's information and knew Xiao Ran's age. He came over with a smile and said, "Hello, General Xiao Ran. I didn't expect General Xiao Ran to be so young. He is really young and promising."
Xiao Ran didn't even feel that the other person was sarcastic about himself when he said he was young. He just understood the other person's words with a very kind idea, and then said, "You're welcome, General Johnson. Although I consider myself to be very capable, I'm still far behind seniors like you. I have to learn many things from my seniors."
General Johnson waved his hand and smiled, "Sooner or later, we old guys will have to retire. From now on, the world will still be dominated by you young people. Since the military and political leaders have agreed to hand over the operations of the Japanese military base to you, I believe this is enough to prove your ability. I am afraid that you may give us old guys some surprises in this mission."
"Haha." Xiao Ran shook his head and smiled bitterly, and said, "I'm afraid that I will only be surprised but not happy. I don't know how to explain it when the time comes. I can only say that I tried my best to complete this action."
General Johnson patted Xiao Ran on the shoulder. "Don't be so unreasonable. You are just the vanguard. If it doesn't work, just wait for the larger troops to arrive and think of a solution. The most important thing is to ensure your own safety. If something goes wrong for an outstanding young man like you, the entire UNION cannot afford it."
"Yes." Xiao Ran nodded, turned to look at an MS that had just appeared over the base, then turned to General Johnson, and asked, "General Johnson, when I came here, the President told me that you would explain to me the specific arrangements for this operation. I want to know how many people are participating in the vanguard and the number of MSs."
General Johnson nodded and waved to the adjutant beside him, who then took out the tablet and handed it to General Johnson.
General Johnson opened the tablet computer and pointed at what was on it to explain to Xiao Ran, "In this operation, you will mainly set off to Japanese Special Economic Zone as the vanguard. The main purpose is to ascertain the specific situation and strength of the enemy. If the situation permits, you can choose to directly attack and recapture the base."
"Due to time constraints and the relationship with the vanguard, the military can only mobilize Elite Pilot who are nearby and have no mission to participate this time, so the number of MS that can be dispatched is only fifty-three, all of which are the sharpest flag-type models of our army. All of them will go to Japan in the large Transport Aircraft."
"There are less than thirty people gathered at this base, and the others will meet you on the road."
"In addition, the follow-up troops will also set off after the preparations are completed. We may not send too many troops this time. After all, the other party only has so many people. If you can successfully complete the mission, the follow-up troops will not set off."
"I understand." Xiao Ran nodded while listening. General Johnson continued, "At present Japanese Special Economic Zone, in addition to the captured base, the other three bases have almost all troops dispatched to the target point. They will arrive in about three hours to complete the encirclement work. The total number of MS that can participate in the battle exceeds 300. At that time, they will be fully under your command and participate in your operations."
"But most of those pilots are just ordinary pilots. Even if they can win by force, the losses will be very heavy. The military and political leaders don't want to see such a situation, so the main force is still those of you who rush over from the mainland." General Johnson said here and glanced at Xiao Ran: "I have also read that battle record. I am not one of those people who just sit in the office and give blind orders. I know very well that the performance of those machines is much higher than that of our army's MS in every aspect. It is unwise for you to take this mission."
"Based on the performance and actions of those machines, unless a large force is used to suppress fire, it may be difficult to cause any damage to those MS, but in that case, our base will be destroyed."
"Thank you, General Johnson, for your concern." Xiao Ran smiled slightly, and had a good impression of this senior who kept reminding him, and then said, "I have some rough ideas about the performance of those aircraft, but the performance of my aircraft is not weaker than those of those aircraft."
"Is this the new machine mentioned in the report, which was independently developed by your family?" General Johnson looked at the Xiao Ran machine and nodded, saying, "It is very different from the machines in the world today, and it seems to be somewhat similar to those machines."
Xiao Ran nodded and looked at Black Astray: "This machine body was made based on the information I obtained by accident. I suspect that the MS in those positions should have similar origins. Although the styles look similar, there are still big differences. It is very likely that they were manufactured as different types of test machines."
"It's not impossible." General Johnson nodded in agreement and turned to look at Xiao Ran: "Then does this machine have a name?"
"Astray."
"Astray, it's different from a regular mobile suit." General Johnson said the meaning of this name at once, and said with a smile, "I am looking forward to your performance in driving such a machine on the battlefield. If this machine can be used on the battlefield, I think you and the family behind you may get a big military order."
Xiao Ran smiled slightly, "I believe it too."
General Johnson left after saying a few more words to Xiao Ran. As the main gathering point and coordination point, his base had quite a lot going on, so naturally he couldn't always accompany Xiao Ran to brag.
After General Johnson left, the assembled pilots headed by Graham Aika, a total of about seventeen or eight people, were also brought to the front of Xiao Ran.
Among this group of pilots, the only one Xiao Ran is familiar with is Graham. However, he also saw two people with impressions. It was in the original plot that Graham was included in the battle against Gundam Special Investigation Team. pilot, although Xiao Ran remembers that there were a total of three people besides Graham who were recruited at that time, but Xiao Ran only has an impression of Graham and these two people. Of course, he cannot remember the names at all.
In addition to these pilots, Xiao Ran also saw a person who should not be here. He was obviously a man but had long hair and was named Billy. He liked the person Miss Huang had been pursuing for a long time but to no avail.
The pilots lined up neatly, with Graham and Billy standing in the front row. Xiao Ran glanced at everyone and said directly, "State your names, ranks, and original departments in order."
Graham stepped forward and saluted Xiao Ran: "Lieutenant Graham Aika, formerly a pilot in the MSWAD unit, has been assigned to the general's command and currently has no specific position."
After Graham finished speaking, he took a step back. Billy stepped forward and gave a military salute as well. "Billy Katagiri, the former technical advisor of the MSWAD unit, will join the general's command in the future. This time he will be responsible for data recording and analysis of unknown mobile suits. He has no other specific duties other than that."
Xiao Ran listened to the words of the two people, his eyes under the mask also narrowed, but overall he was still very satisfied. "I didn't expect that these two people would be directly transferred to me. It was an unexpected surprise."
The people at the back took their names and positions one by one. The one with the highest military rank was Graham. Most of the people present were directly assigned to Xiao Ran. Only a few people were just seconded. Among the people assigned to Xiao Ran, in addition to Graham and Billy, the two people Xiao Ran had an impression of were also assigned to him.
One is named Howard Mason, Warrant Officer, and the other is named Daryl Dodge, First Sergeant. In Xiao Ran's memory, these two people have very good technical skills. They have the potential to become UNION's ace. They were also the people who joined the Gundam Investigation Team team in the original plot. However, the last person Xiao Ran really has no impression at all.
No impression means mediocrity, and Xiao Ran doesn't really care.
Until the final gathering time came, all the pilots who had gathered here had also arrived. Xiao Ran glanced at the pilots standing in order, nodded slightly, and then said, "Special promotion Lieutenant Graham Aika was temporarily promoted to major, responsible for the MS command of this operation, and technical advisor Billy Katagiri was promoted from second lieutenant to captain."
"Howard Mason was promoted to lieutenant, and Daryl Dodge was promoted to second lieutenant." After Xiao Ran finished speaking, he thought for a moment and then continued, "I have known these four people before and know their abilities. I don't know you well enough about the other people yet, so I won't make other arrangements for the time being. After this operation, if you are willing to stay under my command, I will make arrangements for you. If you are willing to stay, then you will be rewarded based on your merit."
Seeing that Yi Zui is so busy that he still keeps updating, shouldn't he give Yi Zui some rewards, such as monthly tickets and recommendation tickets?