From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars

If the main problem faced by the temporary 83rd Combined Brigade before the attack on Blue Bay was the lack of frontline combat troops.

After taking Blue Bay, this problem became just one of many problems.

Whether it was personnel, weapons and ammunition, fuel supplies or food and medicine, they had already begun to be in short supply after the war.

The 83rd Combined Brigade had originally broken out of the encirclement like a refugee, and they did not bring enough supplies, so the previous battles were fought in a stingy manner, with the main focus on running away.

As a result, in the anti-HCP operation just commanded by Amber, the frontline combat units alternated firing to maintain suppression, and quickly consumed ammunition and battery packs at a speed that would make the quartermaster's brain congestion.

This made the 83rd Combined Brigade, which was not considered "rich", even worse.

Although the federal forces finally won the victory in this brutal urban combat, the frontline combat troops suffered a lot of casualties again.

The main combat force of the original two combined battalions may now be less than one and a half battalions, including a large number of wounded.

Not to mention the wheeled armored vehicles and multi-legged chariots, there are still many fresh and smoking wreckages lying on the streets of the city.

Although the mechanical soldiers and engineering troops tried to take away all the usable parts from the wreckage, the loss of mechanical units still made Lieutenant Colonel Dallas feel a little painful.

Even the air defense battalion and the tactical support battalion suffered losses in the counterattack of the Imperial HCP.

Especially the loss of technical weapons of the tactical support battalion.

It can be said that the Imperial HCP pilot "Sulfur" used up all his luck in this round of attack. Not only did three anti-radiation missiles complete the breakthrough, but they also hit the target and destroyed three wide-area electronic suppression trucks in one go.

And his wingman "Saber" also relied on the coverage of plasma rockets and the lucky draw-style "double gun shooting" to successfully destroy two air defense vehicles when attacking the air defense battalion of the 83rd Combined Brigade.

However, despite the heavy losses, there is still good news.

Originally, Lieutenant Colonel Dallas and the quartermaster in charge of logistics were still worried that the ground effect aircraft at the port might not be able to carry too many supplies after loading the troops.

They even considered whether to use two more cargo ships, load some additional supplies and set off behind the main force, and then pray that these ships with a maximum speed of 30 knots can arrive at the destination safely.

But now this problem has been solved.

Because after this battle, all the personnel and equipment of the temporary 83rd Combined Brigade only account for less than one and a half ships.

According to the normal organization, this brigade should have about 2,000 front-line combat personnel, plus more than 3,000 support, technical and logistics personnel.

But now, only more than 1,000 front-line combat personnel and more than 2,000 other personnel have successfully reached the port.

In terms of vehicles and technical weapons, less than 60% have been preserved.

So instead, a whole ground effect vehicle has been freed up with extra carrying capacity, which can be used to transport supplies.

Now the brigade staff and logistics quartermaster are not worried about how to transport so many people, but how to fill the third ground effect vehicle.

While they were having a headache, Amber also led the team to the dock.

Isabel, who stayed behind with the medical truck, rushed to the port with three vehicles and a mobile infantry squad in the preparation area according to Amber's instructions after the urban battle came to an end.

After the two met, they only had time to say a few words before they had to go about their business.

Isabel needed to help collect the wounded and give first aid. During this time, this imperial female spy seemed to have temporarily forgotten her identity.

Although she still would not participate in direct combat, she would devote herself to post-war medical work and saved many federal soldiers.

And Amber asked Randall to help take the mechanized infantry reinforcement platoon to the seaside parking area to wait for boarding. According to the information uploaded on her personal terminal, she went to the location of Lieutenant Colonel Dallas and others.

Lieutenant Colonel Dallas and others, who were near a ground effect vehicle, saw Amber coming over.

The expression on the face of this tough lieutenant colonel seemed a little tangled, because he could be said to be "love and hate" Amber now.

On the one hand, this psychic agent did show strong combat power, and at the same time he also had the ability to command the battlefield.

But at the same time, this guy's tactical command style also tested the logistical supply capabilities of the combined brigade. Now he is only temporarily commanding a small number of troops, and the consumption of ammunition and supplies is a headache for the quartermaster. If Amber is allowed to command more troops later, Dallas dare not even think about it. However, in the current environment, Lieutenant Colonel Dallas thinks that it is good to win. After all, it seems that the officers under his command are not as experienced as Warrant Officer Amber, at least in the battle against HCP. As for the problem of logistical supply, it can only be left to his subordinates to worry about it for the time being. "After all, he graduated from the first military academy of the Federation, which is different." Lieutenant Colonel Dallas thought while looking at Amber, who walked in front of him wearing an exoskeleton and raised his hand to salute. "Sir! Warrant Officer Amber is here to report!" "At ease, there is no need to be so particular about these things now. I notified you to come here to let you see this thing." Lieutenant Colonel Dallas led Amber to the side of a gangway, through which he could directly enter the cockpit of the giant ground effect vehicle. "Can you drive this thing?" "Ah?"

Seeing Amber's confused expression, Lieutenant Colonel Dallas sighed and said:

"These three ground-effect aircraft were all equipped with crews on standby at the port. After the imperial forces occupied Blue Bay, they dispersed and detained them at the port. I guess the imperial forces originally wanted to use these three big guys."

Lieutenant Colonel Dallas took the lead in climbing up the gangway and walking towards the cockpit above.

"But in the battle just now, the building where one of the crew members was imprisoned was unfortunately swept away by a heavy particle cannon. Well, I think you psychic agents have received a lot of vehicle training, so I asked you if you can Start this big guy."

Lieutenant Colonel Dallas' words made Amber not know what to say.

He could only ask for emergency help from the audience outside the venue in his mind.

"Lilith, can you turn this thing on?"

"Master, if all the links of this big guy are integrated into one system and there is a basic operation manual to learn, can you give me some time to try it?"

Seeing that Amber still didn't respond, the Lieutenant Colonel turned back to look at him and smiled.

"How about it, do you think it can be done? I can ask two people to be selected from the other two crews, and then find some people from the mechanics and engineers who are familiar with large machinery."

"Then let me try?"

Amber followed Lieutenant Colonel Dallas to the cockpit. The latter also found a few helpers through the communication channel and were on their way.

Amber was startled the first time she entered the cockpit.

Because the cockpit equipment and layout of this ground-effect aircraft really seem a bit outdated now.

"Good guy, isn't this still the vehicle driving framework of the previous generation?"

The overall layout of the cockpit is similar to that of a large aircraft. The conventional crew consists of four people, namely a dual pilot, a navigation and radar operator, and a communications officer.

After walking to the driver's seat and sitting down, Amber stared at the various screens and buttons in front of her for a while, and finally found a data interface that was obviously added later on top of a certain screen.

"Fortunately, it seems that a later upgrade has been made. I wonder if there will be auxiliary AI."

He plugged the data cable into the interface, found the APU (auxiliary power system) button on the operation panel in front of him, and pressed it.

As the 'buzzing' sound sounded, the auxiliary power supply of the ground-effect aircraft began to supply power to various subsystems. Various equipment in the cockpit started operating, and the multi-function display and HUD on the front window also lit up. .

At the same time, Lilith also followed the data cable to connect to the onboard computer of the ground-effect aircraft after it was started.

Soon, the relevant information and data of the ground-effect aircraft were extracted by her and displayed after Amber put down the tactical mask.

KM-03 ‘Pelican’ nuclear-powered ground-effect flight launch platform.

To be honest, Amber was confused when she saw the words 'nuclear power'.

Amber really doesn't know much about this kind of transportation vehicle inside the planet, especially the older 'antiques'.

So he really didn't expect that the Federation would put the fusion reactor on the ground-effect flight platform so early.

Amber quickly browsed all the information given by Lilith, and soon had a preliminary understanding of this huge 'pelican'.

The SW-85 three-layer concentric fusion furnace serves as the power source for the entire machine, supporting 10 TF68-GE-3C turbofan engines to provide the thrust required to move this behemoth.

Driven by ground effect, this huge ground effect flying platform can 'fly' at an altitude of 15-20 meters, avoiding the sea waves of Robert 4, with an effective carrying capacity of 5,600 tons and a maximum carrying capacity of 6,000 tons.

And when fully loaded, the speed can reach 720 kilometers per hour.

The carrying capacity of a cargo ship, the speed of a transport plane, and the fusion furnace can operate continuously for nearly a thousand hours without refueling.

Therefore, this kind of vehicle is very common in many colonial planets in the Federation that are sparsely populated and have oceans.

As a vehicle that improves the efficiency of cross-ocean transportation within colonized planets, the 'Pelican' is generally produced through modularization, and then packaged together with fusion furnaces and turbofan engines and sent to various planets.

And the final assembly is carried out in the shipyards of cities near the shuttle airports and space elevators on these planets.

There are a total of 12 'Pelicans' on the Robert IV.

They are all assembled in the shipyard of Jabra, the city where the space elevator is located.

And this city is where Amber and the others will go next.

"How about Lilith, is there any way to turn this thing on?"

"Hmm, Master, I can simply modify the underlying operating program, and then replace the original driving assistance AI to control all subsystems of this big guy."

While Lilith was speaking, a virtual assisted driving AI shape was also projected on the bridge in front of Amber.

Although this villain was wearing the uniform of the Federation Navy, Amber could still tell that the face of this villain was almost exactly the same as the avatar of Lilith she had seen before.

"However, the specific driving, radar, and navigation still need to be operated manually. After all, the Master doesn't want it to be driverless. That would be too suspicious."

"Okay, I'll be the main driver, and we'll sing a double act. You will guide me in the basic operations, and then be responsible for driving assistance."

While Amber communicated with Lilith calmly, she also pressed the self-test buttons of the 'power', 'communication', 'navigation' and other modules under the latter's guidance.

Then, amidst the "ticking" sound of the system's self-check, he turned his head and looked at Lieutenant Colonel Dallas who was watching from the side.

"Sir, it should be fine to drive, but you need to find me a co-pilot, navigator and communications officer."

Amber pointed to the other seats in the cockpit and continued:

"It is also necessary to arrange personnel who are familiar with fusion furnaces and large-scale equipment to go to corresponding positions in each functional area."

"No problem, no problem, I'll find someone!"

Lieutenant Colonel Dallas looked like ‘Hey! You're really good, kid! ' With an expression on his face, he fully agreed.

Soon, Lieutenant Colonel Dallas removed a few people from the other two crews, and then found some qualified soldiers in the team to form the temporary crew of the 'Pelican'.

In the end, Major Randall, who came from the Federation Navy and had experience in capital ship service, became Amber's co-pilot.

After all, in the temporary 83rd Comprehensive Brigade, where all members are "Army idiots", Lieutenant Colonel Dallas and the staff really can't find anyone with experience in driving large ships and aircraft.

As for Major Randall, although he only stayed on the battleship for three years, he was transferred to Port Lansford. His position on the ship was not the helmsman but the combat system coordinator in the combat intelligence center.

But in the view of Lieutenant Colonel Dallas and others - giant ships/vehicles, nuclear power, and organization all belong to the Federation Navy.

This is simply a professional counterpart.

"Amber, are you sure you know how to drive this thing?"

Major Randall, who was forced to sit in the co-pilot's seat, fearfully held the Pelican's operation manual and followed the pre-flight preparation procedures to check whether the various system data of this giant ground-effect aircraft were normal.

Although under Lilith's real-time monitoring, Amber herself can know whether the 'Pelican' is in normal condition.

But in order to let others see that it was them who were driving the ship, Amber still asked Major Randall to confirm the self-inspection situation.

It also gave the naval lieutenant commander a sense of participation.

"You weren't going to crash while driving, were you?"

"Major Randall, your mouth still smells as bad as ever."

Under the guidance of several skilled workers transferred from the other two Pelicans, this temporary crew finally completed the basic preparations.

Amber also received the signal from Lilith that "all subsystem self-tests are completed" at this time.

After patiently waiting for the fusion furnace to heat up again and reach the 160 million Kelvin temperature that can be started, Amber looked at Lilith, who was temporarily disguised as a driving assistance AI.

"Start the startup process."

"Received, the startup procedure is being executed."

"The temperature of the fusion furnace core has risen to 95% to 98% of the critical level, entering fusion operation!"

"The start-up of the fusion furnace is completed, cut off the auxiliary power supply, and start supplying power to the entire system!"

Soon, the noise of ten high-power turbofan engines came in through the cockpit glass, and all the subsystem icons of the 'Pelican' on the screen in front of Amber turned into 'working normally' green.

He looked at Lieutenant Colonel Dallas, who had been standing by, and made an 'everything is okay' gesture.

"Lieutenant Colonel, you can let others board the ship!"