The technological competition starts with the integration of space-time memory

Chapter 309 Defending Freedom
Next to James was Will Collins, Brigadier General and Commander of the 25th Division of the Imperial Army.

Will Collins looked at Colonel David and the 1st Armored Battalion boarding the transport helicopter with envy, but he said, "General, do you still plan to postpone the attack for a day?"

There was a sly glint in James' eyes.

"We are making such a big move here, do you think the People's Army on the other side of the defense line will not know about it?"

Will Collins said, "But will a one-day delay allow the other party to relax their vigilance?"

James watched the helicopters take off one after another. The 1st Armored Battalion will arrive at the front line by helicopter. After a short rest, they will launch the attack as planned tomorrow night.

"I just want to create a little psychological gap in the People's Army, which will slow down their reaction a little bit."

After saying this, he turned and walked back, followed by Will Collins, and the two of them walked back to the command post.

James pointed to the sand table of Luzon Island and said, “In just over three months, it has become increasingly difficult to transmit effective intelligence from North Luzon.

This is enough to prove that the People's Army on the opposite side has completely taken control of that land.

Before I came, I had already obtained some intelligence from the War Situation Department.

The People's Army has at least one million people!"

Will Collins didn't look serious when he heard the number.

He said nonchalantly: “We already knew this information.

Lu Song's army has also carried out a full mobilization, and now there are 200 million troops in the recruit camp.

However, these new recruits are still far from being able to go to the battlefield.

In their hands, a gun is only slightly stronger than a fire poker.

The 25th Division can easily defeat such an army!"

詹姆斯摇摇头道：“25师1.1万人能够击溃10万这样的军队，那么20万、50万呢？

Even if it's a pig, you won't be able to catch it in time, right?"

Will Collins smiled and said, "General, think about Desert Storm. There were millions of soldiers who had experienced war.

In the face of high-tech warfare, even pigs can be caught in time!"

James stared at Will Collins for a full minute.

Will Collins couldn't help feeling uneasy when James looked at him.

"Do you know how the 1st Marine Division escaped the Christmas Eve trap?"

Will Collins was stunned and said, "You are talking about..."

"Yes, it is the 1st Marine Division commanded by the division commander Professor Smith."

Will Collins thought for a moment and replied, "That's because he predicted the enemy's possible attack, so..."

James shook his head, "It seems you haven't really understood that battle.

Commander Smith was able to lead the 1st Marine Division to escape because of one word. "

Will Collins immediately asked, "Which word?"

"Caution!" James spat out a word, "Commander Smith insisted on a cautious combat strategy when he led the 1st Marine Division in the Christmas Offensive.

Not only did they leave the division headquarters in the port of Xingnan in advance, but they also left troops and strongholds and stockpiled supplies along the way north.

Most importantly, an airstrip was built and expanded.

Do you know how many wounded were evacuated from that airport?"

Will Collins shook his head.

"More than 4000 people!" James continued, "and there is a crucial bridge on the retreat route. Smith prepared 8 sets of M2 steel-wood standard prefabricated bridges for this bridge.

It was this advance preparation that enabled us to withstand the opponent's three attempts to blow up the bridge.

This allowed the remnants of the 1st Marine Division and the 7th Marine Division, numbering more than 10,000 people, to successfully retreat across this bridge.

Although the Empire has reflected on that war, it is generally reluctant to recall it too much.

Will Collins only knew the general situation and had no idea about the details.

Listening to it now, I seemed to understand something.

"General, I will proceed with caution and try to get more boys home during Operation Defending Freedom."

James also saw that Will Collins was too arrogant and did not take his opponent seriously at all.

Give him a proper warning so that he won't be too proud and avoid the inevitable defeat of arrogance.

But I also don't want to undermine his self-confidence too much.

He smiled and said, “As long as you are cautious, I believe you can grasp the situation and realize the empire’s Lu Song strategy.

Remember one thing, Lu Song’s army is the main force in the battle, and the 25th Division is the supervisory team! "

Will Collins suddenly realized and responded, "I understand, General."

Christmas Eve, December 2023, 12 in the Peace Calendar.

On the day when Operation Defenders Freedom was scheduled to be launched, the front line was peaceful.

The People's Army, which had been ready for battle, waited in vain for a whole night in anxiety.

……

……

At this time, it was still Christmas Eve on the other side of the ocean.

At the Empire's Cape Canaveral Space Center, Starship V stands at the launch site.

Under the leadership of Eivor, all the space exploration personnel worked overtime.

Starship V was finally completed, and now it stands proudly at the launch site.

Inside its top fairing is the Orion spacecraft, the protagonist of this flight to the moon.

This time, there are four astronauts sitting in the spacecraft's manned cabin!
When the countdown ended, Starship V ignited and took off.

On Christmas Eve, countless people in the empire either watched the event live on a nearby beach or watched it on TV.

Many people were watching the launch live online. In the empire, whether it was the big bosses of the financial groups behind it, the elites at the top level, or the white-collar workers at the middle level, they all watched the launch with great anticipation.

This is the implementation of the Artemis Plan, the Empire's return to the moon, although it is later than the Dragon Kingdom.

But it wasn’t too late, just over 20 days.

As long as the launch is successful and the Orion spacecraft can successfully land on the moon, the empire will still be that powerful empire.

Starship V will send the Orion spacecraft, which has a four-person cabin, directly into lunar orbit.

The lunar lander then sent three astronauts to the moon.

When the first-stage rocket separated and was successfully recovered, there was jubilation at the scene, in front of the TV and on the Internet.

"We have taken one small step for mankind, and we will continue to take one giant leap!"

"The Empire remains a beacon of humanity!"

"The Empire will defend freedom!"

"Mars must also have a share of the Empire!"

"Artemis III has just entered space, why do I feel like the Empire is already celebrating the successful moon landing?"

"The person above, can this still be considered Artemis III? The SLS rocket has been replaced with Starship V."

"This is NASA's experiment for Mark's plan to colonize Mars!"

"The two superpowers are competing to head to Mars. Maybe this is a good thing for the Blue Planet!"

"Starship V has just flown to the moon, and [Golden Chariot] is already only 10 million kilometers away from Mars!"

"Everyone knows that the Empire has fallen behind, but the courage to challenge space is still commendable!"

"Wait a minute, why did the live broadcasts of various media on [Dream Shadow] suddenly shut down?"

"Yes, the CMM live broadcast room has also been closed!"

"No way, are you suddenly doing this kind of iron curtain behavior at this time?"

"I just got the news that since the Empire's live broadcast is no longer live, the [Dream Shadow] platform used this as an excuse to close those live broadcast rooms that claim to be live broadcasts."

"Fuck, this isn't a live broadcast? Another fake one?"

"Is this... a problem with Starship Five?"

……

At this moment, in the Houston Command Hall of the Imperial Space Agency.

NASA Administrator Ham Nick had a gloomy face and a frown on his face.

Starship V carries the Orion spacecraft to the Moon on the Artemis III mission.

This crazy plan was something that Ham Nick rejected the moment he heard it.

After all, according to normal plans, the Artemis III mission will be postponed until two years later.

The reason is insufficient funds.

But Mark found him and told him to replace the SLS rocket with Starship V.

In this way, the Artemis III moon landing will be part of the plan to colonize Mars, and funding from the new bill can be used.

Ham Nick knew that if he didn't agree to Mark.

Artemis III may not even be implemented in two years.

Because the empire seemed to be running out of money.

Now, the consequences of such crazy advances have emerged.

The second-stage rocket of Starship V carrying the Orion spacecraft was still flying around the blue planet. The astronauts in the Orion manned cabin heard a strange noise.

As a result, the live broadcast that was in progress was forced to be interrupted.

Because if it is broadcast live, this strange noise will also be heard.

Then the whole world would know that Artemis 3 might encounter an accident halfway through its flight.

The head of the mission center began questioning Matthew Dominic, the commander of the four astronauts.

"Artemis III, can you confirm that the noise came from the rocket or the Orion spacecraft?"

"Houston, we can't be sure, but the strange noise has begun to cause vibrations. We suspect that there may be some problem with the connection between the starship and the spacecraft."

"Did the command system in the spacecraft give an alarm?"

Matthew replied: "No, everything is fine."

Ham Nick turned and glared at Mark, "Mark, it looks like this is a problem with Starship Five, what should we do now?
Otherwise, we should cancel the flight to the moon and let Johnny and the others separate the ships manually.

Then we will arrange for them to return to the ground.”

Mark's face also looked unhappy. He didn't expect that after the first-stage rocket was successfully detached and recovered, there seemed to be some problem with the second-stage rocket.

He had been thinking just now and now heard what Ham Nick said.

I couldn't help but ask: "Please check, is the current flight trajectory of Starship No. 5 normal?"

In the command hall, a relevant person in charge immediately shouted: "Currently, the trajectory of the ship and the arrow is normal!"

Mark looked at Ham Nick, "Nick, I think we should continue to let Starship V take Orion to the moon.

Listen to me, the redundancy design of Starship V is very complete.

If this abnormal sound does not affect the flight trajectory of the ship arrow, it means it is just a minor problem..."

"Mark, are you kidding about the lives of astronauts?"

Ham Nick stared and asked angrily in a low voice.

Of course he understood what Mark meant, which was to take the risk and fly to the moon.

Space exploration is a scientific matter and there cannot be any deviation or error.

How could Mark be so reckless as to insist on continuing to fly to the moon when there were obvious abnormalities on the Artemis III's rocket?

That could be fatal!
(End of this chapter)