"In a retreat during modern warfare, there are only two things that matter most: the route and the means of transportation. The route should be easy enough to understand. Basically, just don't run toward wherever there are a lot of enemies.
"The means of transportation are even simpler. When your pursuers are chasing you in vehicles and searching for you with helicopters, you wouldn't want to run away on two legs, would you? And don't say you'll run into a forest or an underground passage. Terrain like that isn't available everywhere."
The person speaking was the Red Guardian, Alexei Shostakov, on the screen. Gilgamesh and Thena were talking to the Red Guardian, who was far away in Europe, about the mutant school.
Unless they wanted to attract the attention of the U.S. military, they could not simply rely on their physical abilities to charge through the enemy and unleash the Eternals' powers. They had to obediently use the tactics and tools of this era to conceal their identities.
That was not to say they were afraid to use their true abilities. The problem was that once they did, it would cause considerable trouble if their fellow Eternals found out, especially Ajak. When they first moved into their new home in New York, their leader had come over, and there had been at least some warning behind her visit.
There were plenty of manuals on modern tactics, and anyone could figure out the basics by reading a few books. But the two Eternal heavyweights staying in New York were not exactly the sort who liked using their brains. If something came up, wasn't it faster just to ask someone?
And as a tactical master who had fought alongside them before, the Red Guardian was a very suitable person to ask for advice.
The same applied to Cassandra. From ancient times to the present, whenever she encountered a problem, she had only two ways of dealing with it: assassination from the shadows, or switching into berserker mode, walking straight in, creating a mountain of corpses, and then walking straight back out.
But even before the age of firearms, Cassandra had already withdrawn from that kind of life of endless fighting and killing. Most of the time, she remained hidden behind the scenes of history, waiting for the day when her mission would finally arrive.
So if they asked her how to fight a modern war, the most she could do, despite being a Spartan warrior, was bring up the Rambo: First Blood trilogy.
Cassandra naturally had no objection to asking someone who genuinely understood modern tactics. So the group contacted the Red Guardian, who was staying in Europe.
Alexei was naturally delighted that the people in New York had taken the initiative to contact him. He had helped them fight the vampires last time, and he had at least partially repaid the favor he owed them.
Now he was a lone wolf. Although he wasn't desperate to find himself a powerful backer, having a group of people who could help one another wasn't bad either. So he took the matter particularly seriously and asked a few more questions.
"Who are you planning to deal with? Oh, Henry, you're here!"
After finishing dinner at the Hepburn residence and taking care of the night's affairs, Henry arrived at the secret base and came face-to-face with the huge face on the big screen.
"This is a direct connection?"
"Yep. It's just past noon here, and I'm having afternoon tea. But who exactly are you dealing with? Want me to come over and help?"
Henry looked helplessly at the other three. But Gilgamesh, Thena, and Cassandra all seemed to think there was nothing strange about the suggestion.
"No need to come over. At most, we're carrying out a covert rescue operation. We're not planning to massacre anyone."
"Is that so? What a shame. Tell me what happened. Maybe I can offer some more advice."
Faced with Alexei's enthusiasm, Henry couldn't bring himself to dampen it repeatedly.
"Have you heard the news about a mutant attempting to assassinate the President of the United States?"
"Oh, that news. It caused quite a stir over here in Europe too. Personally, I think it's fortunate that the attempt failed. Your Vice President doesn't have a very good reputation in my circles. If he becomes president, America might be happy, but the rest of the world is going to be in trouble."
"Anyway, after that incident, we've concluded that the U.S. military might target the mutant school north of New York."
"What! There's a school for mutants in the United States?"
Alexei's surprise shocked Henry just as much.
"Hey, hey, aren't you part of the intelligence world? You don't even know about something like this?"
"Mutant intelligence is divided into different categories. I'm guessing the school you're talking about has something to do with Professor X."
"That's right. Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Charles Xavier, also known as Professor X, is the headmaster of the school. It's also the secret base of the X-Men."
"So you think a spy would have the nerve to go jumping around in front of a powerful telepath like that? He claims that he won't casually invade other people's minds or read their memories. But do you think we'd dare bet on that?"
Well, that was indeed a very realistic problem. People in the espionage business really didn't dare gamble on Professor X's character. The best option, naturally, was to keep their distance.
"So, since you say the U.S. military might target that mutant school, and you've come to me asking how to arrange an evacuation plan, you intend to help those mutants?"
Gilgamesh answered bluntly.
"There are quite a few children in the school. What the U.S. military is doing would be going too far."
"Are there many children?"
Everyone looked at Henry.
As the Kryptonian who possessed the most information, Henry could only say, "According to the enrollment records, there are fewer than a hundred people currently at the school, including the teachers, but there are still several dozen students. It's a boarding school, so it can't accommodate too many people."
With the more detailed information, Alexei began calculating.
"So your evacuation plan needs a vehicle with a large enough capacity to get all the children out.
"Actually, the best type of vehicle would be a school bus in North America. But considering that the U.S. military is very likely to act at night, driving a school bus outside the school district at that hour would be far too conspicuous.
"The next best choices would be a bus or a box truck. I'd recommend using a truck to transport the people. Truck routes aren't fixed, so they won't attract as much attention. And the cargo container doesn't have any windows, so people outside can't see what's inside."
"Wait." Gilgamesh interrupted Alexei. "Why do you say the U.S. military will carry out its operation at night?"
Sitting in front of the little duck, Alexei counted off the reasons on his fingers.
"They'll be operating on home territory, and their target is a civilian boarding school. What's easier than launching a surprise attack under cover of darkness, when everyone is asleep?
"And from what you've told me, the U.S. military's primary objective is probably to capture as many mutants as possible. A nighttime assault would also reduce casualties on both sides. How could they not choose it?
"I can even tell you that the U.S. military's method of attack will almost certainly involve using large helicopters to transport troops, followed by using them to evacuate with their spoils. After all, helicopters are far more flexible than vehicles. They aren't restricted by roads, and they're much faster.
"This is practically standard tactics for U.S. special forces. You could grab any expert in this field, and they'd be able to give you a whole list of similar plans. And don't think the method is too conventional. As long as it works and gets the job done, they'll keep using it again and again."
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