Chapter 20: The Glory of the Golden Eagle Unit

"We dare not, sir," Lei Bin and his group quickly replied.

Disobeying the orders of a superior officer would result in trial by military law. Furthermore, as soldiers, obeying orders had become second nature to them; they had no choice but to submit.

"Hmph, then execute the order. Recount the process of your operation and the plan you have below. I will conduct an analysis and formulate a new strategy," Long Teng said calmly, picking up a teacup from the conference table and taking a sip.

"Yes." Loulan realized that since things had reached this point, she would have to be the one to report. She stood up immediately and loudly recounted the story of their escape.

During her narration, Loulan deliberately highlighted Lei Bin’s command abilities and his contributions to the group, painting him as a flawless commander, top-tier in both character and capability. Lei Bin felt his heart bloom with joy as he heard this.

After listening to Loulan’s report, Long Teng’s expression showed clear astonishment. He naturally understood the immense difficulties involved: capturing enemy mechs, hacking into their network, jamming their signals, disguising themselves as enemy troops, and making it all the way here—this was certainly not something an ordinary person could achieve.

What was even more remarkable was that under those circumstances, instead of choosing to escape back to Base No. 2 on their own, they had come to rescue them. That required immense courage. It could be said that with their meager forces, coming to a prisoner-of-war camp to save people was practically seeking death. Yet, they had actually pulled it off.

For a long time, Long Teng remained silent, not uttering a word.

"Your plan is to wait for the enemy transport ship to arrive and then use it to escape, is that correct?" Long Teng finally asked.

"Yes, sir," Loulan replied.

"Your idea is good, but what if the enemy has battle cruisers for escort? You may be able to control mechs, but can you control their battle cruisers? You must know that warships can switch from automatic to full manual control at any time. If there is a battle cruiser escorting them, your plan will fall apart. Given the number of prisoners being transported, it is impossible for them to send only one transport ship," Long Teng said flatly, looking at Lei Bin and the others.

Hearing this, Lei Bin replied without hesitation, "If they have warships, we will eliminate them on the ground. This site can accommodate up to three warships. With careful planning, it is not impossible to take out two of them." Xing Meng had already calculated these possibilities.

"What if their warships do not dock?" Long Teng snorted coldly. He seemed to have a deep prejudice against Lei Bin; a private becoming a commander and showing off like this—especially after saving them—made them feel like they had lost face.

"Warships typically perform routine inspections after reaching the camp; they rarely bypass docking." These were Xing Meng’s words, which Lei Bin relayed. It was a statistical probability calculated by the computer.

"And what if they don't perform a routine inspection?" Long Teng asked coldly.

"Then I wouldn't know. You are the commander; I must ask you to formulate the plan," Lei Bin said, feeling defiant since Long Teng was clearly nitpicking.

He had saved them, and if they weren't going to show gratitude, the least they could do was not look down on his achievements. People like this, frankly speaking, were just jealous; they couldn't stand it when others were better than them.

In reality, Xing Meng did have plans for how to take out the escort ships if they didn't dock, but the success rate was much lower. After all, using a transport ship to fight a warship was extremely difficult. The shields on warships were powerful; the small cannons on a transport ship might fire for ages without causing significant damage.

"Hmph, as a commander, one must consider every eventuality. I will formulate a detailed plan for the next steps; you do not need to participate. When it is time to act, I will tell you what to do," Long Teng said dismissively.

With those words, Lei Bin’s authority was stripped away entirely.

Lei Bin felt a surge of helplessness. Who could blame him? The man was his superior, and he was part of the Golden Eagle Unit. Now, Lei Bin could only think of how to protect his own life, as well as Loulan’s and Daisy’s. Even though he had grown attached to the comrades he had traveled with for so long, he no longer held command and felt powerless to intervene.

Leaving the command room, Lei Bin and his group felt deeply discouraged. Loulan walked over to Lei Bin and comforted him, "Lei Bin, don't take it to heart. Those people in the Golden Eagle Unit are just like that—arrogant and full of themselves, though they don't necessarily have the real skills to back it up. I’ve seen plenty of them."

Lei Bin was surprised that Loulan would comfort him. He felt a rush of joy and chuckled, "Ha, I won't let it bother me. I’m just thinking about how to preserve what we’ve achieved and get back to Base No. 2. We’ve come so far; it would be a shame to let our efforts go to waste."

"Exactly, we must find a way back. We can’t give up halfway. Most of the people still follow our orders; if it comes down to it, we’ll just act on our own," others nearby chimed in.

"Yes, alright. I’ll think hard about the next plan. Damn it, those bastards from the Golden Eagle Unit only know how to act tough in front of their own people. They were captured and treated like dogs for so many days, and yet they still act like this," Lei Bin cursed out of frustration.

"That's right! If they were really that capable, how did they end up as prisoners? So much for being 'elites.' I used to envy them," the others joined in, venting their anger at the Golden Eagle Unit.

They waited for another two days. During this time, another wave of prisoners was brought in, and Long Teng continued to follow Lei Bin’s method, pretending to be Imperial troops to lure them in before turning them into prisoners.

Lei Bin spent these two days constantly pondering how to ensure they all made it back alive. Xing Meng continued to assist him with calculations; after all, Lei Bin was Xing Meng’s host. However, without command, things were difficult. He could only hope that Long Teng and his group would follow the plan and not cause any disasters.

On the third day, Long Teng summoned Lei Bin and his team to a meeting. For the past few days, all decisions had been made by Long Teng without consulting them, so this sudden summons came as a surprise.

Back in the conference room, Long Teng stood with a solemn expression, his hands behind his back. He looked at them for a long time before slowly saying, "The Empire has sent word that they will dispatch a transport ship tomorrow to pick up the prisoners. Because Federation warships are approaching, they will temporarily divert two warships to provide an escort. These two escort ships will arrive later than the transport vessel; they will not land but will rendezvous with the transport ship after it takes off."

Hearing this, Lei Bin was stunned. He hadn't expected that despite all their calculations, the Empire would actually do this. This meant they would have to find a way to take out those two warships in mid-air. While not entirely impossible, the difficulty had increased significantly, and it would depend on what kind of warships the enemy sent.

Lei Bin remained silent, working with Xing Meng to calculate every possibility of destroying the two warships in the air. Although it was difficult to fight a warship from a transport ship, there were always ways. Xing Meng’s database contained various schemes, but the success rates were not high.

After all, a transport ship and a warship were not in the same league. Their greatest advantage was that the enemy did not know they were Federation soldiers; if they knew, they wouldn't stand a chance—the two warships would simply blast the entire prisoner camp to nothing.

However, Long Teng continued, "We have already formulated a plan. We will certainly be able to shoot down those two warships. The task of taking everyone else back to Base No. 2 will depend on you."

"Huh?" Hearing this, Lei Bin and the others were dumbfounded. If they were to take the others back, what would Long Teng and his men be doing? It sounded like a final farewell.

"What is your plan?" Lei Bin asked, stunned.

Long Teng looked at him for a long time before saying, "You don't need to worry about that. In any case, we will have a way to shoot down the two warships. Your job is to get the others back to Base No. 2 safely."

"You... you aren't planning a suicide mission, are you?" Hearing his tone, Lei Bin had already guessed the truth.

Long Teng smiled calmly. "When we were captured, over a hundred flight suits were seized and brought here as well. The lasers on these suits have the capability to breach a warship’s shield. The enemy doesn't know our identities. By catching them off guard and using these hundred-plus flight suits loaded with enough explosives, we can definitely blow up the two warships."

"You... you are going to use flight suits for a suicide attack to destroy the warships?" Loulan was shocked. She never expected that the Golden Eagle Unit, which she perceived as arrogant and conceited, would resort to such a method to clear a path for them.

"I’ve calculated many methods, and this is the only one with the highest success rate, ensuring you can return safely. Trading the lives of a hundred of us for tens of thousands of lives—it’s worth it." Long Teng’s tone was natural, without a trace of hesitation or fear of death.

There is a saying: to look upon death as returning home. That was exactly the state Long Teng and his men were in—they spoke of their upcoming sacrifice as if they were talking about going home.

"No... there must be another way. They don't know we are Federation soldiers. If we seize the transport ship, we can find another way to destroy those two warships." Lei Bin’s eyes were moist. He finally understood what kind of unit the Golden Eagle Unit truly was. At first, he thought they were just jealous of his ability, and he had looked down on them for being captured, thinking they had no honor.

Now he realized he was dead wrong. The Golden Eagle Unit was simply too proud; they were the elite of all Federation forces, and they had the credentials to be proud.

Long Teng smiled faintly. "What was the highest success rate of your other methods?"

Lei Bin was stunned for a moment before replying, "23.98%." This was the probability Xing Meng had calculated.

"There you have it. Say no more; this is our decision. We should never have been captured in the first place, and we will not be captured again. We thank you for giving us a chance to defend our honor." Long Teng’s voice held a hint of reflection, and he gently touched the Golden Eagle emblem on his chest.

His expression remained proud and self-assured, for they were the Golden Eagle Unit—the soul of the Federation military.