Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Assessment and Calculation
"A fierce battle, is it?"
Lin Li rubbed his chin, his expression slightly heavy.
Ma Ning clasped his hands behind his back, appearing somewhat confident, and said:
"The likelihood of a fierce battle is high; both sides seem to have made certain preparations.
After all, if it were truly a doomed battle, the families in the city might have fled long ago—according to the footage transmitted by Squad Leader Yu, there are many figures coming and going from the mansions in the northern part of the city, suggesting that it’s not a mass evacuation.
This means that the city has certain preparations in place and can even estimate the approximate arrival time of the beast tide.
However, purely from an offensive and defensive perspective, the offensive side’s strength is generally stronger than that of the defense.
I believe that even if the city manages to defend successfully in the end, the cost won’t be insignificant, and the city falling into ruin isn’t impossible.
Therefore, I personally think the odds are seventy-thirty, with the beast tide at seventy and the city at thirty."
Another expert present, upon hearing this, suddenly cleared his throat and raised his hand.
This person was named Dai Chaohong, just over forty, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, possessing a refined yet capable demeanor.
He arrived with Lin Ziming as part of the second consulting team, from the Zhejiang University College of Humanities, and was also an expert in social humanities.
Previously, Dai Chaohong had questioned issues such as the height of the city walls and had early on made predictions about the war.
After his predictions were confirmed, Dai Chaohong’s credibility rose significantly, almost becoming the spokesperson for the second expert team.
However, his views on this war were opposite to Ma Ning’s:
"Professor Ma, I believe the city side has a better chance of winning.
Firstly, in the videos previously transmitted by Squad Leader Yu, we discovered multiple traces of post-construction filling on the city walls.
These traces are mostly concentrated in the upper-middle part of the walls while the foundation remains intact—indicating that the walls have not been breached entirely.
Secondly, signs discovered by Squad Leader Yu around the Octet Mansion suggest that the city is prepared for the incoming beast tide, having a relatively composed relocation plan.
This suggests that the city might not be facing the beast tide for the first time or has even repelled it before; coupled with the extraordinary powers present in the city...my view is that the odds are at least fifty-fifty."
Wang Qiang muttered quietly on the side: "Magic power seventy-thirty, fantasy fifty-fifty, well, all are assembled. I wonder if it’s a comeback after losing ten thousand in economy or just a 3-0 sweep."
Lin Li didn’t hear the mutterings of the slightly older unmarried woman; he quietly listened to the opinions of the two experts and then turned to Lin Ziming, whispering: "Colonel Lin, what do you think? Should we prepare to join the battle?"
Lin Ziming’s lips moved slightly as if to speak but hesitated, finally saying: "I do have some thoughts, but let’s wait for Captain Yao to land first."
"Wait for Captain Yao to land? Hasn’t everything on his side been reported?" Lin Li thought for a few seconds and suddenly understood: "I see, you’re planning to assess the extent of the aircraft’s damage before making a judgment?"
Lin Ziming nodded: "That’s right, I intend to wait until Captain Yao returns, then request Old Yan to send a few mechanics from their regiment’s anti-aircraft company to check the aircraft and landing gears’ damage."
The brilliance, no matter how magical, ultimately boils down to the word ’energy’—it’s merely a different form of expression.
With our current advanced technology, we can completely measure the power of that light flame."
Lin Li gently agreed, evidently in accordance with Lin Ziming’s idea.
Recently, under Yao Rong’s personal experimentation, one point has been confirmed at the camp:
Explosive charges can threaten the lives of ordinary supernatural creatures and can breach the surface defenses of commander-level giant serpents, causing them some degree of damage.
It must be noted, the explosive charge used by Yao Rong weighed five pounds, equivalent to 2.5 kilograms.
For the general public, such an amount is undoubtedly a significant source of danger.
But in the domain of military technology....
These explosive charges, in terms of either power or energy, are quite unremarkable—unlike Principal Gu’s sarcasm, they genuinely are unremarkable.
Materials like CL-20, RDX, PETN, and even HMX, there’s ample material that is stronger than explosive charges.
Not to mention medium to large weapons like missiles and howitzers can achieve devastating effects in one shot.
At the very least, rabbits don’t need to worry about the awkward scenario depicted in the Starship Troopers movie where conventional weapons fail to penetrate the skin of supernatural creatures.
However, for meticulous planners like the rabbits, merely understanding the ’defense’ capabilities of supernatural creatures is insufficient.
The ’offense’ capabilities of supernatural creatures also need to be gauged.
After all, who knows whether the extraordinary creatures of this world’s nature resemble those in certain animes depicting constant village conflicts, where each character has low defense but high attack?
Only by fully understanding the destructive ability of that commander-level supernatural creature can the command center truly make decisions on the next steps.
......
Half an hour later, Yao Rong’s crew successfully landed and returned.
Lin Li, who had been waiting, quickly stepped forward, warmly shaking Yao Rong’s hand: "Captain Yao, well done, welcome back safely!"
Having endured a life-and-death experience, Yao Rong’s face showed slight emotion, with a hint of moistness at the corner of his eyes: "Captain Lin, mission accomplished!"
Lin Li released his grip, forcefully patted Yao Rong’s shoulder, then called over a logistical officer: "Xiaolin, please take Captain Yao and the others to the tent to rest and recuperate."
After Yao Rong and Yu Guanghui had left.
Lin Li turned his head, pointing at the slightly damaged helicopter a dozen meters away, said to the three mechanics from the air defense camp beside him: "Comrades, please, it’s over to you."
The three mechanics saluted, with two skilfully rolling up their sleeves, carrying two instruments over to the helicopter to inspect the damaged landing gear.
The remaining one stayed aside, inputting the data measured by the colleagues into a computer.
Twenty minutes later, the mechanic responsible for inputting data stood up and reported: "Captain Lin, we have the results."
Lin Li immediately asked: "What should I call you, comrade? How are the results?"
"My surname is Zhao, Captain Lin can call me Xiaozhao."
Xiaozhao bashfully scratched his head, revealing a simple smile, then became serious:
"My colleagues conducted a salt spray test and laser line measurement on the helicopter’s landing gear, inputting the sample transmittance information into a set of X-programs developed by the Military Institute, and through modeling, we obtained a series of data."
As Xiaozhao spoke, he handed over a freshly printed report:
"Firstly, the salt spray test detected that the glowing flame has corrosion properties, with a corrosion rate of approximately 145.78 mm/a, meaning that it corrodes 145.7 millimeters of metal depth annually, which constitutes ultra-high-level corrosion."
Lin Li looked over the report for a few moments, showing a trace of puzzlement: "145.7 millimeters per year? So that’s only about half a millimeter per day? But the breach in the landing gear seems at least thirty centimeters deep, right?"
Xiaozhao explained: "Captain Lin, the damage to the landing gear wasn’t caused solely by the strong acid; initially, the flame’s kinetic impact caused a breach, resulting in what you saw, then the acidic substance began adhering and gradually corroding."
Lin Li nodded: "Understood, Comrade Xiaozhao, please continue."
Xiaozhao handed over another report:
"Here are the simulated kinetic unit test results.
Since the glowing flame only grazed the edge of the fuselage, we primarily estimated the impact energy of the flame based on the level of damage to the landing gear.
Then, by using the spatial distance recorded in the final frame captured by the camera, with help from the X-program, we constructed a model using the laser line data, deriving theoretical values for various aspects of the flame’s properties."
Lin Li impatiently asked: "What are the theoretical values?"
Xiaozhao replied: "The AC311A is a civilian model, its landing gear isn’t made from military alloys. Based on our calculations, the flame’s flight speed is approximately 1.2 Mach, or 1.2 times the speed of sound. It took 1.227 seconds from launch to graze the fuselage.
The upper limit of the energy contained in the flame is 3265.3 kilojoules, with a lower limit of 1753.2 kilojoules."
Lin Li pondered for a moment, then continued to ask: "About Captain Yan’s 99...99A tanks, how much energy is required to penetrate?"
Xiaozhao smiled again, correcting Lin Li’s misconception:
"Captain Lin, destroying a hard target through an explosion doesn’t require total energy, but rather the mechanical energy caused by the explosion, meaning the explosion speed has to be very high.
For instance, taking China’s renowned HJ-8 anti-tank missile, its warhead can penetrate armor approximately 800 millimeters; a standard HJ-8 can penetrate a 99A tank’s armor from the sides, but not break through the front main armor with a single shot." (Note 1)
Based on our calculations, the mechanical energy produced by the flame during its explosion is approximately equivalent to a quarter of one of our ’HJ-8’s.’
This means that while the flame cannot threaten our main battle tanks, it poses a certain lethality to infantry."