Kent's reaction was quite calm. Back when he was a student, he'd known that Teacher Yang wasn't the type to leap from one thought to another. But he was, in fact, the type to speak in riddles, which could make him seem a little erratic.
In any case, after serving as an aide to a leader like that for over half a year, an elite officer like Michiel Kent had naturally adapted to his way of doing things. He didn't even bother pulling up a report on his terminal. He simply said, "On March 14, the Thirteenth Fleet received twelve Type 6 Tiger and Leopard special assault ships equipped with Wing of Light from New Jade Gate, along with two Ranger-class light cruisers, one support ship, one nanorepair ship, and 5,400 combat personnel."
"What was the personnel makeup?" Yang Xiyi asked.
"Most were skilled crew members transferred from back home. A small number were local residents of New Jade Gate and New Lushun, most of whom had shipping experience."
Yang Xiyi nodded. If Kent said so, he had surely reviewed the personnel roster.
That meant the force, which had originally been no more than a local patrol fleet meant to fight pirates, had grown into a strike force made up of sixty new, high-speed warships. A year ago, back in the New World, such a fleet could have gone wherever it pleased. It might even have charged across the New World Highway into the Empire's Glory colonial sector for a bit of fun.
Even so, it was still only a raiding force on the scale of a detachment, mainly because its ships lacked any capital vessels capable of standing toe-to-toe with the enemy. Its two heaviest warships were still the carriers Lexington and Saratoga, and its flagship was still the