At the same time as Chen Nian and He Hongwen met, at Kadena Air Base, Leon sat on an office chair, and in front of him sat Lyons and Weiss, who had been specially summoned.

He took out three cigars from the drawer, carefully cut off the cigar heads, and then handed them to the two of them.

"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 miss the cold wind of the Arctic. ”

The two of them looked at each other, they had long heard that the newly transferred commander had a strange temper, and they had always been a little apprehensive.

Seeing him handing himself a cigar kindly just now, I was already a little relaxed, but I didn't expect that the other party's words made them nervous again.

Is Kadena's spring-like climate bad?

What kind of person would say that he misses the cold winds of the Arctic?

...... Perhaps what he misses is not the Arctic winds, but the days when he faced off against the underwater ghosts of a country in Alaska.

Thinking of this, Lyons laughed dryly and replied:

"Maybe it's a different experience, but we've never been to the cold zone, I'm old friends with Ves, and it's always been hot when we've moved here from New Mexico.....

"Chance, boys, trust me, this is just the beginning for you."

Leon waved his hand and lit the cigar in his mouth, and then his expression became serious.

"Okay, I guess that's the end of the chat."

"Next, I want to ask you something, and I want you to say everything you know without reservation, understand?"

The two of them nodded hurriedly, in fact, from the moment they walked into this office, they knew what kind of "inquiry" they would face.

Leon smiled with satisfaction, and then, putting down his cigar, asked:

"On December 22, the two of you flew an EP-3E to the territorial waters of China and completed an unconventional reconnaissance there, right?"

"That's right, we were instructed to get as close to the coastline as possible, so we ......"

"Don't say anything superfluous, just answer my questions!"

Leon interrupted slightly impatiently and continued to ask:

"How many times did you encounter harassment during the approach, what were the configurations of the fighters that harassed you, did they have any weapons, what was the dispersion password, and did they make high-risk dispersal actions?"

"I want you to answer these questions to me chronologically, down to the second."

"And, if you want to say how you felt at the time, I need to rely on your information to judge how tough the other party is, understand?"

"Understood, sir!"

Lyons replied loudly, and a lengthy "interrogation" ensued.

This interrogation lasted a full three hours, and as Leon said, he really asked all the details.

By the second half of the interrogation, Lyons had begun to understand.

It's not that the other party can't read the flight log, let alone deliberately put pressure on himself, but is doing ...... Some kind of special profile.

He has to use a large number of details from the first perspective to restore the scene in his own mind, so as to support his own judgment.

Such an ability and such a method opened the eyes of the two people who were interrogated.

Being able to achieve this position at the age of 40 is really not an ordinary character......

Eventually, the two began to immerse themselves in it, and even when Leon finally announced that "the conversation is over", there was still some unfinished business.

"Is that okay? If we need more information, we can go back and think about it again. ”

Vis spoke.

"No, that's enough."

Leon picked up the extinguished cigar that he had only smoked from beginning to end, relit it, and then waved his hand for the two to leave.

And after they walked out of the office, he smiled with satisfaction.

Moments later, a young officer pushed the door open and walked in.

And he was none other than the "herald" who had delivered the order from Washington to Leon last time, Conant.

"It's over? How's it going? ”

His rank was much lower than that of Lyon, but he did not seem to be restrained in front of him.

"Yes, it's over."

"As for the situation....... It's hard to jump to conclusions just yet, but all in all, Operation Christmas Eve has given me more security. ”

"A sense of security? Why? ”

Conant asked, confused.

"A sense of security away from war."

"Judging from the current situation, it seems that the Chinese side does not intend to have a head-on conflict with us, and even small frictions do not want to occur."

"Their pilots were strictly restrained in their tactical maneuvers, and the drum maneuver should be the most dangerous dispersal maneuver they could do, and the previous rumors about the Barents Sea scalpel should be rumors."

"In addition, they have shown extreme restraint in our approach to the territorial waters."

"When the EP-3E was about to break through the territorial waters and airspace, our people were indeed given a stern warning, and even the aircraft was already locked by fire control radars."

"But in the end, they didn't fire."

"Maybe it's because we didn't cross that line?"

Conant interjected.

"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 now they really can't fight such a battle."

"I'm still saying the same thing, what are they going to use to fight us? Relying on a fighter jet like a toy? By those small fishing boats on the sea? ”

"Originally, I thought that they would fight hard with backward equipment, but now it seems that they have lost even such courage."

"So, that's my sense of security."

"In the face of a backward and cowardly opponent, war is not so easy to break out......"

After listening to his words, Conant first nodded, and then said cautiously:

"They don't have to be backward."

"According to our intelligence, the AL-31FN project was terminated with the utmost determination."

"There is news that Huaxia has launched a new project codenamed 'No. 22 Project', which seems to be related to the new type of aviation development."

"Project Twenty-Two? I don't see anything in the name...... Can't you dig deeper? ”

Conette smiled helplessly and replied:

"It's not easy just to get the name...... It may take us a few years to find out what to do. ”

"However, various evidence shows that this is indeed an aviation development project, but the specific content is not available."

"Engage in aviation development...... The Chinese are really whimsical. How could their leadership adopt such a plan? ”

Leon asked mockingly.

"If it hadn't passed, the project wouldn't have existed."

"Of course, your opinion is right, when the AL-31FN introduction project was stopped, most of the experts and scholars in Huaxia were opposed to the self-developed engine, and even a senior expert was interviewed to analyze the current technical status of Huaxia and explain why it can't be carried out now."

"Do you know what the interesting point is?"

Conette sold a pass, and Leon said impatiently:

"I don't know, say it!"

"Interestingly, this expert's opinion is very similar to the opinion of a college student from a traditional military university in China that we searched on the Internet."

"From the perspective of time, the expert should have seen the post of the college student by chance, and directly moved it to the TV to say it."

“....... Such a person is also an expert? ”

Leon asked incredulously.

"Of course it is, and it is a highly prestigious aircraft expert in China."

"That is to say, although he copied the opinion of the college student, at least this opinion is credible?"

"That's right."

Cognac replied with a head.

So what's the conclusion? Can you finish it all at once?! ”

Conant shook his head helplessly and said:

"The conclusion is actually quite simple."

"Based on the information from all sides, we can basically confirm that the AL-31FN was stopped because Huaxia launched a new project."

"This project must be based on some kind of technological breakthrough."

"However, with the current level of basic scientific research in Huaxia, 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 the WS-10."

"Of course, it won't take that long."

"Perhaps, in five years, they will come up with a finished product---- which is the most optimistic estimate for them. Their own industry insiders generally believe that the process will take more than 10 years. ”

Leon nodded, all he wanted to hear was the number.

"10 years, when I'm starting to get old."

"I wish they could be faster, that would be fun."

Conette smiled and said casually:

"I just wish there were more experts like this who went to TV to expose their weaknesses, and although I can't fully believe it, the information they revealed really saved us a lot of trouble......"