At the same time that Chen Nian and He Hongwen were meeting, at Kadena Air Force Base, Leon was sitting in an office chair, with Lyons and Weiss, who had been specially summoned, sitting in front of him.
He took out three cigars from the drawer, carefully cut off the ends of the cigars, and then handed them to the two of them respectively.
"The weather in Kadena is still as bad as ever... I really can't stand the temperature here. It's almost January and the temperature is still 20 degrees Celsius... I really miss the Arctic. It’s cold wind.”
Lyons and the two looked at each other. They had long heard that the newly transferred commander had a weird temper, and they had been feeling a little uneasy.
They had already felt a little more relaxed when they saw him handing them cigars in a friendly manner, but unexpectedly, the other person's words made them nervous again.
Isn’t it nice that Kadena has a spring-like climate all year round?
What kind of person would say that he misses the cold winds of the Arctic?
...Maybe what he misses is not the Arctic wind, but the days when he faced off against a certain country's underwater ghost in Alaska.
Thinking of this, Lyons laughed dryly and replied:
"Maybe it was a different experience, but we have never been to the cold zone. Wes and I are old partners. We were transferred here from New Mexico. The weather seems to be always hot..."
"You have a chance, boys, believe me, this is just the beginning for you."
Leon waved his hand generously and lit the cigar in his mouth, and then his expression became serious.
"Okay, I think this is the end of the conversation about the weather."
"Next, I want to ask you something. I want you to tell me everything you know without reservation. Do you understand?"
The two nodded quickly. In fact, from the moment they walked into this office, they knew what kind of "query" they would face.
Leon smiled with satisfaction, then he put down his cigar and asked:
"On December 22, the two of you flew an EP-3E close to China's territorial waters and completed an unconventional reconnaissance there, right?"
"Yes, we received instructions to get as close to the coastline as possible, so..."
"Don't say unnecessary words, just answer my questions!"
Leon interrupted slightly impatiently and continued to ask:
"During the approach, how many times did you encounter harassment in total? What were the configurations of the fighter jets that harassed you? Did they have weapons mounted on them? What was the eviction command? Did they make any high-risk eviction actions? "
"I want you to answer these questions in chronological order, accurate to every second."
"And if you want to tell me how you felt at that time, I need to rely on your information to judge how tough the other party is. Do you understand?"
"Understood, sir!"
Lyons and the two responded loudly, and then a long "interrogation" began.
The interrogation lasted a full three hours, and as Leon said, he really asked about all the details.
As the interrogation progressed to the second half, Lyons began to understand.
It's not that the other party can't understand the flight log, nor is he deliberately putting pressure on himself, but he is doing... some kind of special profiling.
He needs to use a large number of details from the first perspective to restore the scene in his mind to support his judgment.
Such abilities and methods were an eye-opener for the two people being interrogated.
To be able to achieve this position at the age of 40 is indeed not an ordinary person...
In the end, the two of them began to be immersed in it, and even when Leon finally announced that "the conversation is over", they were still a little unfinished.
"That's it, okay? If we need more information, we can go back and think it through."
Weiss spoke.
"No, these are enough."
Leon picked up the extinguished cigar that he had only smoked from beginning to end and relit it, then waved his hand for the two of them to leave.
After they walked out of the office, he showed a satisfied smile.
After a while, a young officer opened the door and walked in.
And he was the "messenger" who delivered the order from Washington to Lyon last time, Connett.
"It's over? How's it going?"
His military rank is much lower than that of Lyon, but he doesn't seem to be restrained in front of him.
"Yes, it's over."
"As for the situation...it's not easy to draw a conclusion yet, but in short, Operation Christmas Eve gave me more sense of security."
"A sense of security? Why?"
Connet asked doubtfully.
"Safety from war."
"Judging from the current situation, it seems that China does not intend to have a head-on conflict with us, and does not even want small frictions to occur."
"Their pilots are strictly restricted in their tactical movements. The roller maneuver should be the most dangerous eviction maneuver they can do. The previous rumors about the scalpel in the Barents Sea should be just rumors."
"In addition, they have shown extreme restraint in our actions approaching territorial waters."
"When the EP-3E was about to break through the territorial waters and airspace, our people did receive a severe warning, and even the aircraft was locked by the fire control radar."
"But in the end, they didn't open fire."
"Maybe because we didn't cross that line?"
Connett interjected and asked.
"No, of course not. I believe that even if we do cross their airspace, as long as we do not enter the interior, they will never use force."
"Because they really can't fight such a battle now."
"I'm still saying the same thing, what are they going to use to fight us? Are they going to use toy fighter jets? Are they going to use those small fishing boats on the sea?"
"Originally, I thought they would fight hard despite their backward equipment, but now it seems that they have lost even such courage."
"So, that's how safe I feel."
"Facing a backward and cowardly opponent, war is not so easy to break out..."
After listening to his words, Connett nodded first, and then said cautiously:
"They're not necessarily backward."
"According to our intelligence, the AL-31FN project has been terminated in an extremely decisive manner."
"There is news that China has launched a new project code-named 'Project 22', which seems to be related to a new type of aviation engine."
"Project No. 22? You can't tell anything from the name...Can't you dig deeper?"
Connet smiled helplessly and replied:
"It's not easy just to get the name... It may take us a few years to know the content."
"However, various evidence shows that this is indeed an aviation development project, but the specific content cannot be obtained."
"Engaging in aviation development...the Chinese people are really whimsical. Their leadership would actually approve such a plan?"
Leon asked mockingly.
“If it didn’t pass, this project wouldn’t exist.”
"Of course, your view is correct. When the AL-31FN introduction project was stopped, most experts and scholars within China were opposed to the self-developed engine. There was even a senior expert who was interviewed and analyzed the current The current technological status of China shows why it cannot engage in aviation development now."
"You know what's interesting?"
Connet gave it a try, and Leon said impatiently:
"I don't know, tell me!"
"Interestingly, this expert's opinion is very similar to the opinion put forward by a college student from a traditional military university in China that we searched on the Internet."
"Judging from the time, the expert probably saw the college student's post by chance and directly moved it to TV."
"...Such a person is also an expert?"
Leon asked in disbelief.
"Of course he is, and he is a highly prestigious aircraft expert in China."
"That means that although he copied the opinions of college students, at least this opinion is credible, right?"
"That's right."
Connett nodded in reply.
"So what's the conclusion? Can you finish it all in one go?!"
Connet shook his head helplessly and said:
"The conclusion is actually very simple."
"Based on all information, we can basically confirm that the AL-31FN was suspended because China launched a new project."
"This project must be based on some kind of technological breakthrough."
"However, with China's current level of basic scientific research, a single breakthrough cannot support the complete implementation of a project."
"So, the product of this project may end up being a long tug-of-war like WS-10."
"Of course, it won't take that long."
"Maybe, within five years, they will have a finished product - this is their most optimistic estimate. Their own industry insiders generally believe that this process will take more than 10 years."
Leon nodded, what he wanted to hear was just this number.
"In 10 years, I will start to get old by then."
"I wish they could go faster, that would be more interesting."
Connett smiled and said casually:
"I just hope that more experts will go on TV to expose their weaknesses like this. Although I can't completely believe it, the information they reveal does save us a lot of trouble..."
