From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 548: Tomorrow and an accident, usually the latter comes first

"The 8th aerospace transport fleet is preparing to disengage, and the ships responsible for launching are preparing to enter the corresponding orbits as instructed!"

"Attention all aerospace transport crews, atmospheric information will be synchronized on channel D2, please pay attention to adjust the data receiving port!"

"Please note that the planet's airspace is still in a state of war. Please fly strictly according to the designated route. If you deviate from the route, you may be attacked by ground air defense forces!"

"Each fleet has completed the allocation of landing airports. Please confirm your respective target airports twice before leaving!"

"Notice."

In the outer space of Rubion V, the cargo fleet's 40 heavy cargo ships and more than 30 light cargo ships, under the escort of the Third Task Force that had completed its rest and recuperation, began the "delivery" operation to the Renaissance Alliance.

Under the guidance of more than a dozen frigates, heavy-loaded cargo ships and light cargo ships continuously lowered their orbits until they reached an altitude where they could launch aerospace transport aircraft.

After the civilian ship-borne control personality on the cargo ship confirmed that it had entered the drop altitude and turned on the green light, all the "aircraft and cargo" in the cargo ship's deployment bay were packaged and sold to the aerospace transport aircraft of the Renaissance Alliance, and then they were detached from the electromagnetic hangers one by one.

For the Renaissance Alliance and Franklin, acquiring these SSTO-TAV-82 'Valkyrie' space transport aircraft at a price lower than the market price is definitely a sure-win business.

After all, these 150-meter-long aerospace transport aircraft are the "heavy-duty earth-to-space transport units" that are currently in short supply on the Rubion V.

Not only can it enter the atmosphere alone at full load and take off and land at an airport in almost field conditions, but its dual-mode fusion engine also allows it to enter orbit within ten minutes of takeoff at full load.
Therefore, for Franklin and his team, although this batch of 490 Valkyrie space transport aircraft was a purely unplanned purchase project, they also spent a lot of the interest-free loans obtained from the Atlas Group.

But it allows them to obtain a huge fleet of earth-to-space transport aircraft at a relatively low cost.

Moreover, even if these "Valkyries" are not needed for the time being to carry out the transportation mission between the earth and the sky, if they are used only to carry out transportation missions within the atmosphere, they will completely surpass other transportation vehicles currently in the hands of the Renaissance Alliance in terms of speed and carrying capacity.

Soon, the aerospace transport aircraft, loaded with a large amount of supplies, important spare parts, and high-precision components, began to enter the atmosphere in sequence according to the procedure, relying on the booster engines and its own aerodynamic shape.

After the wings were fully spread out, these aerospace transport planes, which looked like paper airplanes with a large wingspan, hit the atmosphere of Rubion V at hypersonic speed with the initial speed given by the cargo ship.
Red light immediately appeared on the leading edge of the wings and the carbon fiber thermal insulation tiles on the belly, caused by shock wave heating due to friction with the atmosphere.

At this stage, these aerospace transport aircraft can be said to be in an absolutely safe state. With the current air defense capabilities of other forces on Rubion V, it is basically impossible to shoot down the aerospace transport aircraft at this stage.

Therefore, the route planning officer was also very "cunning" and arranged most of the dangerous airspace to be passed through during this stage, so as to minimize the possibility of the aerospace transport fleet being attacked.

Then, after entering a high altitude where the atmosphere is thick enough and completing the initial deceleration, the Valkyries will activate their turbojet engines and use them as power to maintain flight until they approach the destination airport.

At the last step before landing, the pilot will adjust the turbojet engine to the "vertical take-off and landing mode". In this case, the speed of the "Valkyrie" will drop rapidly, but it will make the final landing process very simple.

This is also why this huge aerospace transport aircraft does not have too high requirements for an airport on the surface of the planet for takeoff and landing.
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"How is the progress of the cargo fleet's deployment?"

"Reporting to the colonel, the current progress is 67%, but the commander of the cargo fleet said that the operation speed is faster than they expected, so all the delivery can be completed within 13 hours." Hearing the report from the officer on duty, Randall in the captain's seat of the "Infinity" nodded first, but after carefully thinking about the remaining events, he frowned again.

After thinking for a moment, Randall said, "Tell Major Marshall to speed up the process a little. The faster the freight fleet completes the "delivery" operation, the safer their situation will be."

"Yes, Colonel!"

Although he didn't know why Randall suddenly asked to speed up the already not-so-slow progress, the officer on duty saluted and turned to walk towards the bridge communications team.

Randall refocused his attention on the three-dimensional star map on the holographic projection platform. For some reason, he always felt a sense of unrest in his heart.

Thinking of this, he directly connected to the observation team's communication.

"Attention, observation team, this is the captain. Have you found anything in your air surveillance?"

"Captain, according to the current surveillance, everything is normal! No abnormalities have been found for the time being."

“Okay, keep monitoring.”

After Randall finished speaking, he suddenly remembered what Guterres had told him yesterday, and then added:
"By the way, strengthen surveillance near the two satellites. These are two areas where it is easy for the enemy to hide and conceal themselves!"

"Yes, Captain! I'll arrange it right away!"

Soon, Randall on the bridge saw a graphic representation of the 'real-time detection status of the warship'. An array of long-wave radars, infrared, ultraviolet, and optical observation equipment turned the detection angle to the two satellites of Rubion V.

After a while, the officer on duty came back after finishing his communication with the commander of the cargo fleet. After seeing Randall's order, he asked curiously:
"Colonel, are you worried about something?"

"Yeah." Randall stared at the situational awareness on the three-dimensional star map, then sighed.
"I'm a little worried that the federal fleet will suddenly attack at this critical moment. The cargo fleet's operation progress is less than 7%, and the remaining heavy-loaded cargo ships have already started to enter the launch orbit. If we are attacked at this time, it will not be a good thing."

Hearing Randall's words, the officer on duty comforted him, "Colonel, I don't think you need to worry too much. After all, the Infinity has just upgraded its detection equipment. Our air surveillance and long-range early warning capabilities are the strongest except for the artificial ladder fortress. If the Federation fleet jumps as a whole, we will definitely be able to detect any movement."

"But the problem is that detection equipment is only one part of 'reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance'. It cannot guarantee that the 'Infinity' can detect all anomalies. We still cannot rely too much on the equipment."

Just as Randall was about to take this opportunity to say something else, the voice he least wanted to hear rang out on the bridge.

"Warning! A large number of unidentified units have been detected at the edge of the shadow of the Rubion V-2 satellite. They are currently leaving the far side of the moon. According to the shipboard control personality, their characteristics are similar to those of a large-scale fleet!"

"Fuck! What a crow's mouth I have! It's a blessing, right?"

(End of this chapter)