Chapter 364

Because of the help of artificial intelligence computers and robot instructors, Tang Long managed to get into the Silver Eagle Empire's training unit, undergoing a brutal life-and-death battle.

Upon graduating smoothly, he was awarded the rank of second lieutenant, after all he was the sole and outstanding trainee in the entire training camp.

Subsequently, the era of great turmoil arrived, and war broke out.

Tang Long was originally assigned to garrison the planet Heka in the Bone Dragon Cloud star system, but he received an urgent notice that all officers assigned to the Bone Dragon Cloud star system had their leave canceled and must immediately report to their stations.

Tang Long had no choice but to cancel his plan to go home and visit his relatives.

After entering the unit, he was first assigned to the 45th Company, then was called up for special training, and after passing successive selections, he became a warship commander.

While depicting Tang Long's growth and progress, the film also devotes considerable length to showing the causes and various preparations for the war that erupted between the Myriad Net Federation and the Silver Eagle Empire.

From the content shown in the film, the war that Tang Long is about to join appears to conceal a huge conspiracy, leaving the audience vaguely worried about his fate.

Tang Long became the commander of a "self-propelled gunship," which is 100 meters long, 40 meters wide, and 30 meters high.

Compared to ordinary humans, it is naturally quite large.

But in the vast universe, compared to those gigantic space warships, it is insignificant.

However, because it possesses a massive nuclear-energy cannon capable of destroying an A-class warship at a distance of 100 kilometers with a single shot, it is not entirely useless.

Tang Long selected his subordinates, and together they entered the self-propelled gunship to participate in the Ministry of Defense's test order.

The destination was the notorious "Death Zone."

On the screen, tens of thousands of self-propelled gunships poured out in full force, sailing through space, and the scene was still very spectacular.

Inside the warship, Tang Long seemed to suddenly recall something, leapt up, and shouted in panic: "Activate the shield! Full-power radar scan! Warship, descend rapidly!"

The other personnel aboard the warship were stunned, not knowing what madness the commander had spoken.

The audience in the venue also felt curious, with some speculating that Tang Long had participated in the Silver Eagle Empire's drills and tests, making him highly alert.

Tang Long's subordinates reflexively carried out the order; the warship descended rapidly and the shield activated.

Meanwhile, the crews on the surrounding warships were curious about Tang Long's ship's reaction, while the warships beneath his scrambled to dodge, of course cursing while dodging.

After shouting those orders, Tang Long immediately rushed to the communications officer and yelled: "Connect all channels, tell them the enemy is attacking!"

The communications officer pressed a few buttons, and upon hearing the last sentence, he involuntarily stopped his actions, lifted his head, and looked at Tang Long in surprise.

His expression seemed to say, "Where did the enemy come from?" The remaining soldiers asked, "Is there an enemy?"

The soldier in charge of radar said, "Within a hundred-light-day distance, there is no enemy."

The communications officer was dissatisfied, saying, "Sir, false military reports will get you court-martialed."

Tang Long paid no heed to those remarks, merely ordering the communications officer to notify the other warships to activate their shields.

Subsequently, the radar operator's face turned ashen as he cried out, "Cold-energy laser!"

In the depths of the dark universe, a cold-energy laser came from afar and struck the Myriad Net Federation's formation of self-propelled gunships.

The defenseless self-propelled gunships fell like flies struck by a blow, dropping and disintegrating one after another.

In the blink of an eye, out of ten thousand self-propelled gunships, only over a thousand remained. Because this segment featured many close-ups of gunships being destroyed, along with cuts between long shots and close-ups, the audience in the venue was left shocked.

It truly was a grand spectacle; it seems the budget for the film "Little Soldier Legend" was spent in the right places.

In the film, Tang Long hurriedly contacted the artificial intelligence computer, asking why it suddenly employed a cold-energy laser, why they were ambushed, and whether someone had betrayed them.

The computer's explanation was that the cold-energy laser was intended to clear away starship debris, and the Silver Eagle Empire likely wanted to sweep a passage here to launch a rapid attack on the Federation.

The soldiers aboard the warship estimated that such a cold-energy laser must have been fired jointly by ten thousand cruisers or three thousand battleships.

Tang Long promptly reported these circumstances to Commander Lina Sha.

Lina Sha ordered them to withdraw quickly, not wanting Bone Dragon Cloud star system group army commander General Gu Ao to suddenly come on the line; he promoted the rank of every soldier present by one level and ordered the remaining self-propelled gunships to intercept the enemy for one hour to buy time for their side.

"Holy shit, this is basically sending them to their deaths!"

"So despicable!"

Many viewers felt indignant, because it was utterly impossible to be a match! Lina Sha also explained to General Gu Ao that a thousand untrained self-propelled gunships could not possibly accomplish such a mission; they would only be sacrificed in vain.

The general merely said coldly, "Major, your training mission is complete; now command authority belongs to me!"

On Tang Long's side, he discovered the situation was worse than imagined; the jump system had been destroyed, making escape via "space jump" impossible, even if they were not afraid of a court-martial.

The energy converter also broke, limiting the shield's power to only 20%.

At the same time, the president of the Myriad Net Federation was convening a military meeting, his face grim.

Because the election was about to begin, and the Silver Eagle Empire's invasion was about to become a fact, such a stain would severely affect his approval ratings.

The marshal then explained to the president the true battle plan: that thousand self-propelled gunships were indeed cannon fodder, merely intended to deceive the enemy into thinking reinforcements had arrived.

Because under normal circumstances, one would not use such a few and weak force to block a large army.

The scene cut to the Silver Eagle Empire's warship command cabin, where Brigadier General Darren s, portrayed by Shidelesston, and Brigadier General Kester, portrayed by a Black actor, chatted and drank via virtual image video conference, discussing this military operation.

These two also did not know what scheme the duke and count were hatching; first they tossed the two into a border star system for several months with no orders, then suddenly gave precise coordinates and time, ordering them to conduct a saturation strike with cold-energy lasers.

Thereafter, battle reports came from the front, and these two generals finally understood what was going on.

Brigadier General Kester felt somewhat disappointed; he had expected a fierce battle, but all that awaited them was a bunch of cannon fodder.

On Tang Long's side, the remaining over a thousand self-propelled gunships had gathered together, and the officers were arguing over the communications channel, vying for command authority.

Tang Long here remained somewhat silent; naturally he sought help from that omnipotent artificial intelligence program.

Of course, with the assistance of such a super cheat, Tang Long smoothly obtained command authority.

Because the avatars on the communication screens of the other warships had all disappeared, swallowed up by Tang Long's huge image, making it impossible for anyone else to contend; the other warship commanders could only acquiesce and accept Tang Long as the boss.

Moreover, following Tang Long's order, they calculated the enemy warships' jump points.

(End of chapter)