Gundam, but from the Ground Alliance to the Human Alliance to the out-of-control servitor

The bearded sergeant raised his index finger to his mouth and mouthed silently:

"Don't make a sound."

Although in this thick particle fog, the vehicle-mounted radars and infrared detectors carried by the Rangers have become a pile of scrap metal with increased load, and even the visual visibility is far less than 1 kilometer——

But this battlefield environment was created by the Principality of Zeon after all. Who knows if they have any special detection technology.

Then, the bearded sergeant made a few more gestures: "Have the explosives been set?"

The young ranger shook the detonator with the fuse in his hand in response.

The ground shook slightly, and Zaku, who was unaware of the ambush set up by the federal army rangers, stepped into the explosion range step by step.

"Wait a minute, it seems that the cosmonauts living in the sky haven't suffered the consequences of improvised explosives in cities and towns."

The bearded sergeant winked, and stretched out his rough hand to remove the young ranger's thumb that was resting nervously on the detonation button.

Zaku stopped slightly, but it was not that it sensed the danger. Instead, as if it was displeased by the abandoned car wreckage on the roadside, it raised one foot and stomped on it hard——

"Right now, roadside bomb, boy!"

Another group of federal army rangers hiding in the ruins of a collapsed building not far away smacked their lips as they watched the Zaku II being blown away by the huge impact of the explosion.

"Which group did this and made such a big noise?"

"Hey [Earth expletive], now all the Zeon guys know that we planted bombs in the streets, [Earth expletive], they feel good about themselves."

The Ranger sergeant who used the aerial bombs abandoned by the evacuated air force and hid more than 50 kilograms of explosives in the abandoned vehicle did not even think of it:

First, this Zaku II will take the initiative to step on it;

Second, this mobile suit that looks like a steel giant seems to be lighter than imagined.

Major Frederick's Rangers are obviously different from the troops that Lieutenant General Krueger worried about, being spoiled by overwhelming firepower and aviation support in security battles:

Not only did they not forget how to fight when the enemy and we are evenly matched in strength, or even when we are at a disadvantage, but they learned and imitated many of the opponent's flexible and harassing tactical styles through repeated battles with the guerrillas.

"Enemy...enemy attack!"

Other Zaku pilots who were in a state of high tension either slid to the side or jumped up on the spot to avoid the non-existent attack, and fired at the bunkers in front of them that might hide enemies.

"What's going on, Lieutenant, report the situation!"

The leader of the Zeon MS squadron inside Zaku's machine shouted anxiously into the communicator. The machine gun in Zaku's hand was raised high, but he could not find any target.

The rattling sound of Zaku machine gun fire echoed everywhere, as if suddenly the entire squadron of mobile suits was exchanging fire with an invisible enemy.

"Who is it... Who is it? Tsk, does this mean we have lost one machine? Everyone, please stay hidden, be careful not to accidentally hit friendly forces, and don't fire at will or act rashly!"

The squadron leader looked at the darkened column on the team's communication list. He, who was also on the surface of the earth for the first time, couldn't help but feel nervous: 'Unexploded bombs left behind by the bombing?Mines?Or a long-range artillery attack by the federal army? '

In the silent mist of rice particles, even the figures of friendly forces could only be seen vaguely. Even if they were riding in mobile suits, the Zaku pilots were still under tremendous psychological pressure.

However, the Zakus of Zeon carefully hid their huge bodies behind the ruins of the building. They hid for nearly 5 minutes, but there was no other movement. There was no trace of the enemy in the dead ruins around them.

'What the hell, damn it! '

Behind the ruins of the building, out of sight of the Zakus, the federal rangers moved silently among the rubble with the help of powered exoskeletons and individual propellers.

"Tsk, where is old K?"

The leading Ranger sergeant used a slide shovel to hide behind the broken wall of a house facing the street, where a Ranger anti-tank team was setting up a bracket for a missile launcher.

"The man is unlucky. He was buried under the wall that collapsed due to the Zaku attack. He can't be saved."

The young ranger gritted his teeth and shook his head, "Can't we ask the artillery or Army Aviation to do a [Earth expletive] shot?"

The rangers looked at Zaku, who was squatting half-crouched behind the cement fragments, but his big dark green head and half of his shoulders were still exposed.

"It's impossible. Unless you run back to the battalion headquarters and make a phone call now, I would have called for fire coverage. We have just moved to this position, and the phone line leading to the observation post has been cut off."

The ranger who was playing with the anti-tank missile did not raise his head. He kept his eyes tightly pressed against the viewfinder used for aiming, and tried to bring up the infrared image of Zaku who could even see the heat exhaust gas coming out of it not far away with the naked eye. , but the machine had no response.

"You move directly to the next backup position. The air-cushion armored vehicle is parked two streets back. My anti-tank position is probably useless."

The anti-tank man hammered the launcher in anger.

"Then why don't you go?"

"Someone has to give it a try. If it doesn't work, ask the troops to quickly update their equipment, whether it's one that recognizes image features or one that can be controlled by wire."

The anti-tank hand held his helmet, put his shoulder under the launch tube, and waved back without looking back;

"Go quickly."

……

Captain Zaku, who scanned the ruins in front of him dozens of times, gritted his teeth and glanced at the timer after the mission started on the side of the screen. If he continued to hide like this, his squadron would fall behind the planned insertion plan. .

This fully-staffed independent mobile suit brigade takes into account that traditional wheeled and tracked armored vehicles are difficult to pass through in this urban area that has been ravaged by a tsunami——

He was specially airborne to the ruins of this coastal city, responsible for flanking the federal army hiding on the edge of the city, close to the mountainous area, from behind.

"Pay attention to the surrounding environment, use the thrusters to jump, and keep moving forward!"

The captain Zaku suddenly waved his hand forward to signal the friendly aircraft to move forward, and he took the lead in pushing the throttle to full, jumped into the air, and used the height to search for the enemy in a wider range.

"Where……"

The Zaku II's thrust-to-weight ratio of less than 1 is not enough to keep the aircraft in the air for a long time. In these few seconds, Captain Zaku's eyes kept switching between the multiple monitor screens presented in the cockpit. ——

"I see!"

Flames flashed; a crooked and fallen wall rested on the base of another building nearby, and several federal infantrymen fired two anti-tank missiles from the space supported below.

It is always easier to avoid open fire than hidden arrows. Captain Zaku struggled to twist the operating lever to one side, causing Zaku to suddenly tilt to one side in the air. With the help of the full-thrust working thruster, he avoided the direct trajectory of the ballistic missile;

The missile showed no sign of tracking and missed Zaku who was struggling to adjust his attitude in the air.

At the same time, the 120mm machine gun of the Zaku leader also pulled out a line of fire as the aircraft fell, causing the explosion smoke to cover the area where the federal infantry was hiding.

“I [Earth expletive] just said that this anti-tank missile that is called fire and forget will definitely be finished in this environment!”

As soon as the missile left the hand, it rolled and crawled away from the launch site. The Ranger anti-tank man who moved behind the ruins complained loudly, "All the barrels we brought have to be used as RPGs!"

The shrapnel blown away by the explosion and the rubble stirred up from the ground swished past from time to time, causing the anti-tank soldier who had just made the heroic speech to break out in a cold sweat.

Another ranger bent over and ran with his head covered in embarrassment. He took out a lead from the backpack on his back, and then threw the backpack filled with explosives to the ground behind him:

"Stop talking nonsense. They might come here to take a look soon. Let's find a way to trick Zeon!"

"Did you hit?"

When the squadron leader Zaku was close to the ground, he activated reverse thrust again and landed gently on the ground; then he jumped forward in large strides, crossing a distance of several hundred meters in a few clicks.

Zaku's scarlet single eye glanced left and right. The place where the anti-tank missile had just been fired was now only a crater and fragments of bricks and stones, with no trace of the federal army.

"Is it buried underneath?"

Zaku fired a few more short bursts, blowing up several surrounding buildings that were better preserved and looked like they could still be used as bunkers.

"Hey - if the enemy's infantry is determined, it would be really troublesome for Zaku to clean them all up. Moreover, the grenades we carry are not all full-charge grenades."

"Squadron Captain, what happened!"

The other Zaku aircraft in the squadron, after seeing the explosion smoke caused by the leader's aircraft shooting in the air, immediately strode around to surround them from both sides.

The Zeon MS commander, who also had a high level of tactical literacy, made an accurate judgment after thinking for a while:

"It's a small group of federal infantry. Don't fight with them; it's difficult for us to eliminate them without the coordination of other troops. Don't go through the streets that look passable, advance by leaps and bounds, and break through the ruins of buildings quickly!"

"Yes!"

After hiding under another broken house, the ranger couldn't help but slap his thigh hard as he watched Zaku turn around and leave as he was about to enter the explosion range;

"I [Earth expletive], you shot my leg!" Another ranger who was bandaging his wounds caused by shrapnel scolded back unceremoniously, "Were you breached?"

"There's nothing we can do. That's all we can do. The phone line is also disconnected. Let the battalion commander figure out the rest."

For the Army Rangers who lack heavy armored equipment such as main battle tanks, and when traditional anti-armor means are difficult to take effect, the most they can do is delay the advancement of the Zeon MS.

……

Major Frederick listened to the explosions coming from time to time in the fog, and glanced at the urban map at his feet that was full of doodles and alterations;

After being washed away by the tsunami, the original urban topographic map has no meaning anymore:

Where are the ruins for hiding, where are the underground pipelines still passable, and which streets are preserved enough for wheeled vehicles to travel - these are all based on the post-disaster modified version brought by Lieutenant General Kruger;

After he took office, he personally led his subordinates to shuttle among the ruins in an air-cushion suspension vehicle, and revised it bit by bit.

It is precisely because of this that the Rangers can make good use of the complex terrain and cause a lot of trouble to the advancing Zaku Brigade.

'The ability to get around without the use of streets is really troublesome,' Major Frederick thought.

According to custom, his troops mainly set up ambushes on both sides of the streets - even after the tsunami, those streets in the city are still the flatter and easiest to pass;

But I didn't expect that the mobile suit with legs and a propulsion backpack was completely different from the way ground armored troops moved forward in the past:

You can jump directly from above with a boost jump over the high piles of building ruins after the collapse of high-rise buildings, pass through the sparse defense line of the Rangers, and avoid the large number of traps and explosives they set.

"Major Frederick, the army's long-range rocket artillery has been deployed. Can you give us the strike position now?"

At this time, the agent's calm voice came from Major Frederick's earphones, and the delicate face of Lieutenant General Kruger's new adjutant seemed to appear in front of people's eyes.

"Oops, this is going to be difficult."

Once he left the telephone line laid in advance on the fixed defense line, Major Frederick immediately lost contact with his subordinate troops. Now where Zeon has advanced can only be judged by the sound of firing.

The major couldn't help scratching his head in embarrassment: "I'm so sorry, Miss Staff, I hope you can keep the artillery unit on standby for a while longer -"

"Forget it, Major, federal troops in other directions are also engaging the enemy, and the pressure is great."

The agent, who was on the phone with multiple subordinate unit commanders at the same time, handling various reports and requests efficiently, had already begun to read the next unit on the priority list of fire support.

"——Wait a minute, rocket launcher ammunition is so precious and takes so long to reload. Shouldn't the most valuable target be selected for one round of shooting?"

"Major Frederick, you have one minute to state your plan."

Frederick looked through the big 'Hollywood' sign in front of him and looked at the urban Los Angeles city shrouded in the mist of rice particles at the bottom of the mountain, and he had some calculations in his heart.

Chapter No.16: Attacking the Earth (4)

“Everyone, it’s proofreading time!”

"D+1 hour and 37 minutes!"

The independent MS teams that dispersed through downtown Los Angeles reunited at the Dodger Baseball Stadium in the north of the city——

This large stadium, which can accommodate more than 5 people, and the surrounding parking lot, which covers an extremely large area, provide a temporary rest space for Zeon's mobile suit troops.

"Damn it, we are already almost 20 minutes late, and we lost a small team of Zaku before we even saw the main body of the federal army."

It has now been more than an hour since the Earth Lower Operation was launched. According to the original plan, the independent MS brigade at this time should have passed through the city center and arrived at a reservoir about 20 kilometers away in the north.

However, in the urban area, several scattered groups of federal infantry harassed the advancing Zakus as if they were everywhere. They hid under the ruins of buildings. Many times, the Zaku pilots did not even see anyone. Being attacked by missiles or pre-set explosives.

On rare occasions, Zaku, piloted by elite pilots, successfully circled back to the flank of the federal infantry and caught the federal infantry who were transferring on air-cushion armored vehicles. However, they were often led into minefields during the pursuit.

If the ubiquitous rice particles had not seriously interfered with the guidance head of the federal infantry anti-tank missile, the Zaku losses of this lone army deep into the complex urban environment would have been even greater.

Lieutenant Colonel Zeon, who was in charge of the command, counted the remaining propellant of each machine body and ordered the redistribution of ammunition. He couldn't help but feel a little anxious:

The cost of fighting the unexpected federal infantry was higher than expected, and if they had no choice but to flank the federal army and join up with friendly forces, they would not even have supplies.

"Next, we must hurry up..."

"It's a signal flare from the Federal Army!"

A warning came from the communication channel.

Less than 10 kilometers away, over the hills behind Hollywood, a special flare exploded and released an extremely bright yellow light that could be clearly identified even through the fog of rice particles.

"No, let's disperse first!"

The Zakus who first thought that the Federal Army was indicating the location for the bombardment fled from the open area and hid in the surrounding ruins, but no follow-up attack by the Federal Army was carried out.

The captain of the Independence Brigade looked at the mountains behind Hollywood in the distance, which happened to be stuck between Highway 101 and Interstate 5. There were several vantage points overlooking these two highways——

If Zeon's mobile suit troops no longer want to spend time taking a long detour, then it is inevitable to clean up the federal army on this mountain, but the Zeon army's mobile suit independent brigade is not worried about this.

It would be better to say that if the infantry of the Federation Army, which has been harassing them in the city and never engages in direct combat, were to fight them in a positional battle on this hilltop, it would be too late for the Zeon Army to be happy.

Although he didn't know what this signal flare meant, the captain of the Zaku Brigade was still determined.