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

Major Parker chewed the mint and swallowed it. Relying on the memory of the Zeon tank's position before the smoke screen fell, he controlled the turret to turn slightly.

"boom!"

The gun barrel on the left side of the major retreated suddenly, and the shell of a 155mm shell was thrown out of the vehicle. The automatic loader buzzed to lift the next shell and push it back into the gun bore.

'Missed. 'Seeing that there was no movement behind the smoke curtain, Major Parker adjusted his aim slightly to the right based on his feeling;

"Boom-boom!"

The main gun on the other side of the Major also fired, and the speeding shells disappeared into the smoke; then, with a flash of fire, a Zeon airborne tank that was turning around was hit by Major Parker's blind fire, and the turret was violently exploded. Flying into the air.

The Federation Type 61 main battle tank with two main guns showed absolute suppression when facing Zeon's light airborne tanks. With twice the rate of fire and the dual advantages of firepower and armor, it was able to defeat Zeon's light airborne tanks. The armored troops that hit Zeon couldn't hold their heads up at all.

Major Parker's armored reconnaissance battalion plunged headlong into the smoke screen released by the Zeon army without fear. In a moment, the Type 61 tank advancing at full speed came out of the other end of the smoke screen——

"Good guy, we've caught the main force!"

Major Parker waved his fist excitedly; what appeared before him was——

On the highway built in the desert, the mechanized columns of the Principality of Zeon lined up in a long line, extending into the distance into the mist of rice particles;

As the vanguard, the airborne tank troops escaped and faced the follow-up troops who were rushing to the front and had not yet fully deployed their combat formations. They blocked the road and had to turn around and face the federal forces pressing behind them again. main battle tank;

Some Zeon armored personnel carriers had crashed through the guardrails on both sides of the road and drove into the desert. The rear hatches were open, allowing the Zeon infantry to jump out one by one;

But there were more Zeon military vehicles behind them, still staying on the road, honking their horns, and they hadn't even figured out what was happening in front of them.

The existence of rice particles on the battlefield greatly reduces the combat distance and reaction time for both sides.

The Zeon force in front of Major Parker was an armored mixed brigade belonging to the Zeon 2nd Descending Division that parachuted into Edwards Air Force Base. When they landed, they did not encounter any decent resistance. The federal airport that MS troops easily suppressed;

When they drove the tanks and combat vehicles out of the drop bay, they saw the wreckage of fighter planes all over the Federation and groups of prisoners with their hands raised in the air, being escorted past them.

"The Federal Army is nothing more than that. The guys from Zaku's army cannot take all the credit!"

Optimism spread among Zeon's airborne troops, prompting the division commander commanding here to make a radical decision:

The troops were divided into three groups. The subordinate MS brigade sent two squadrons of 24 Zakus and an armored mixed brigade to attack the town of Barstow eastward, which is the intersection of two roads leading to Nevada and Arizona. It is known that there are A federal National Guard brigade is stationed;

Another subordinate armored mixed brigade went south to attack the town of Palmdale, which is a highway from downtown Los Angeles that drills out of the valley into the desert area, and joined forces with other descending divisions to attack and occupy there. Federal Army Command;

The remaining troops stayed at the airport and repaired the base's runway as a drop-off point for follow-up troops and supplies.

The Type 61 tank approached at speed. Under the leadership of Major Parker, it turned left in front of the Zeon mechanized column and penetrated the Zeon army's flank.

"Free Fire!"

Major Parker shouted excitedly into the microphone, completely ignoring the failed intra-team communication; at this time, the excellent fighter opportunity made him forget about his initial confusion when entering the battle formation.

Adrenaline was sent throughout the body as the heart beat rapidly, and the Zeon airborne tank in the scope was reflected in Major Parker's slightly dilated pupils.

Encounters between armored units were brutal, especially when both sides were extremely close when they sensed each other;

No one had time to occupy the favorable terrain and build a position. On the flat yellow sand, the soldiers of the two armies could only trust their own armor and artillery.

The whizzing large-caliber tank gun shells landed between Zeon's convoys, tearing apart airborne tanks, overturning infantry fighting vehicles, and raising the broken arms and limbs of armored grenadiers high - but Zeon The troops did not fall into chaos at all.

Under the leadership of those experienced non-commissioned officers, Zeon's armored grenadiers quickly left the infantry fighting vehicles and spread out while carrying rocket launchers, looking for launching opportunities.

"Aim for their tracks!"

The commanders of the airborne tanks adjusted their muzzles and looked for a position on the hull of the Federal Type 61 tank where the main gun of the airborne tank could also cause effective damage.

A counterattacked 133mm armor-piercing round cunningly penetrated the skirt armor on the left side of a Type 61 main battle tank, shattering the inducer wheel on the left front side and causing the broken track to fall off directly.

The Type 61 tank, which was advancing at full speed, seemed to have stumbled, and the left road wheel sank into the sand. Although the right track was running, it could only make the tank with a broken leg spin in place. The fragile sides of the car body were exposed.

This Type 61 tank rotated the turret and wanted to make a final struggle, but——

"Aim at the immobile one and shoot!"

The Zeon armored vehicle equipped with four anti-tank rocket launchers seized the opportunity and fired two rockets in succession; the super-caliber tandem shaped charge warhead erupted into a high-pressure and high-temperature metal jet at the moment of contact, and penetrated the After the armor, the interior of the car body was in a mess.

"Tsk, have you recovered?"

As the battalion commander's rationality regained the upper hand in Major Parker's mind, he suddenly began to realize that even by the standard of fire reconnaissance missions, his reconnaissance battalion was a bit too deep;

Even the Federation Type 61 tank, which had the upper hand in pure armor-and-bomb confrontation, faced Zeon's entire mechanized brigade, and it only temporarily gained the upper hand through surprise attacks.

After calming down, Major Parker looked around at the troops behind him. Two Type 2 tanks had been destroyed. There was an error in the coordination of the five tanks and they moved towards the other side of Zeon. The coordinated mobile infantry did not dare to follow him towards the other side. Zeon's large forces charged, but were left behind.

"Forget it, that's enough."

Major Parker controlled the coaxial machine gun, finally mowing down a few Zeon infantrymen who were riding on hoverbikes and holding sticky bombs, and were approaching rapidly, and led the remaining Federation tanks to turn away from the Zeon troops.

……

"Where do these federal troops come from!"

Seeing the Zeon brigade commander who had been missing the whole time when the encounter broke out and who had just crawled out from under the car scolding his subordinates as if he didn't feel ashamed at all, even the combat staff on the side looked away.

"Your Excellency, the brigade commander, it is speculated that the federal troops stationed outside Los Angeles have taken the initiative to attack!"

Chapter 18: Desert Storm (2)

"[Side 3 expletive] Impossible! We made sure in the rehearsal before the start of the operation that the cowardly federal army will be dizzy and at a loss under our orbital attack. How could they take the initiative to attack?!"

Brigadier General Motenko, the brigade commander, was full of complaints about the combat plan that did not take into account the situation "if the federal army did not act as expected."

"Then what do you mean...?"

The staff of the Zeon Army had somewhat figured out the temper of their boss, who was said to be distantly related to the Zabi family.

……

In the Edwards Air Force Base occupied by Zeon, Zeon's logistics support force is repairing and transforming the base;

A large number of Federal Air Force aircraft wreckage were roughly pushed aside with forklifts and piled up, leaving a large runway and apron for Zeon's large landing craft to land, and various equipment used by the Zeon army were temporarily piled. Grow fuel and ammunition.

Although most of the troops that fell in the first wave had already attacked the next Federal stronghold on two fronts, there was still a squadron of Zaku, as well as a small number of armored grenadiers (Note 1) and artillery stationed here at this time.

"Our unit was attacked by a reorganized armored division that was three times our own and was hidden by the Federation. However, we still fought bravely and defeated the Federation's crazy offensive. However, we were outnumbered and feared that we would not be able to follow up. We urgently needed reinforcements from friendly forces. One hundred thousand... Urgent?"

The captain of the Zaku Squadron, who was responsible for defending the airport, glanced at the letter with suspicion. When he read the end, his eyebrows almost knitted into a right angle, with an expression on his face that what was written was nonsense.

"Do you know what is written on this letter?"

"Originally it was just a guess," the young officer who came to deliver the message on a hoverbike looked at the stunned look on the face of the squadron leader of Zaku's unit in front of him, "Now - I probably already know."

"Commonplace?"

"The same will happen to you later."

"So is what the letter says true?"

"Your Excellency, the Brigade Commander, you think this is true," Lieutenant Zeon, who came to deliver the message, shrugged, "Your Excellency, the Division Commander, is not at the base now?"

"Your Excellency has led a team to attack eastward, to occupy the transportation hub in advance to block possible federal troops coming from inland support... I'm sorry, does anyone here know you? I have to confirm your identity."

"Of course, the coordinator of the Space Attack Force is my contemporary."

Although most of the various units in the entire descending division have been standing armies for a long time, they were organized into the same unit to cooperate only last month, and the officers have just become familiar with each other.

After confirming that the identity of the officer who came to deliver the message was true, as the highest military officer currently staying at the base, the captain of the Zaku Squadron also had to assemble the squadron's airframes and mobilize some self-propelled vehicles from the heavy artillery unit that had just landed. Artillery, advance south——

After all, the friendly forces' request for help reports had been sent over. He definitely couldn't afford to sit back and watch the friendly forces being defeated by the federal army that was "three times his own", especially since the commander of this friendly army seemed to have quite a background.

……

On the position of the Zeon mixed armored brigade, it was raining heavily—a rain of fire composed of countless shells and shrapnel was falling.

After encountering a raid by the Federation's Vanguard Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Zeon's brigade commander, Brigadier General Motenko, although his way of thinking was very different from that of ordinary officers, he also judged that the Federation Army would not give up and there would definitely be something bigger. A large-scale offensive——

So when his current position had been contacted by the federal reconnaissance battalion, he issued the order to deploy his troops on the spot, build a position, and wait for reinforcements.

"It was just because we were careless and unprepared that we were successfully attacked by the villains of the Federation, but even so, they still ran away with their tails between their legs under my command with a calm expression——"

Brigadier General Motenko shook his head, ignoring the contemptuous looks of the officers around him, and drew a circle on the map centered on the current location of his troops.

"Then let's set up our positions and wait for the work. The Federation's offensive will not be able to shake us unless it hits the rocks!"

The Zeon officers standing across from the map began to whisper to each other;

"What are you talking about? If you have any objections, you can speak openly."

Brigadier General Motenko felt annoyed; he was placed in the army because of his family connections, and he always felt that these regular officers who graduated from the Zeon Military Academy were setting up a small group behind his back to plot against him. .

"Uh... I say, your Excellency, the brigade commander, congratulations!"

"Then return to your troops, defend your position, and disband!"

Looking at the Zeon officers who had received the order and dispersed, Brigadier General Motenko sat down on the stool, finally let go of the wrinkled sweat towel, pulled open his collar, and relaxed. tone.

'[Side 3 expletive], the staff at the headquarters are talking nonsense, wishful thinking that the Federation Army will wait for our Zeon Army to attack; and the so-called MS troops were sent to defend the base, but our troops were asked to do so. Attack alone...'

Brigadier General Motenko shook his head. Although he did not have a professional background, he could still see how he could defeat the Federation in a field battle just by relying on the performance of airborne tanks. Army armor?

There are also those young officers who are fooled by the news releases from the General Commander's Office every day. They attack with advantages and attack with disadvantages. How can he not understand this situation?

The blame for the setback in the first battle must not fall on him, Brigadier General Motenko thought in his mind. Relying on his relationship with the Zeon ruling family, he has already found out that the principal's next propaganda focus is the complete victory of the Earth Descendation Operation——

Not even a flawed victory.

However, Brigadier General Motenko, who tried to block the Federal Army's advance in the positional battle and save some face for himself, did not wait for the Federal Army's stupid attack. Instead, he was attacked by the Federal Brigade Artillery Battalion who obtained the coordinates from the reconnaissance battalion. .

The Zeon infantrymen hunched up slightly and lay in the foxholes they had just dug in the gravel. They felt the violent vibrations of the ground as if they were being struck by the heavy hammer of the God of War, and prayed silently.

Fortunately, the federal artillery was unwilling to waste more ammunition on artillery bombardments with unknown effects when it was unable to carry out calibration firing. It only fired half of the base number of shells and then stopped.

So, when the thunderous explosions of artillery shells gradually subsided, the Zeon soldiers slowly moved away their hands covering their still ringing ears; a large number of main battle tanks, which had been covered up by the sound of artillery before, gathered together and moved forward. The roar of the engine became increasingly clear.

"The Federals are coming!"

The three main heavy-armed battalions of the Federal 17th Armored Brigade spread out in a straight line, extending an attack width of about 5 kilometers to both sides;

75 Type 61 main battle tanks, in coordination with hundreds of infantry fighting vehicles and armored vehicles, charged towards Zeon's position through the smoke that had not yet dissipated and under the shining white light of the flares.

The Zeon army's frontline positions, which were full of craters, remained silent, as if they had been completely wiped out by the shelling just now, and did not react at all to the approaching Federation army.

"Pay attention to maintaining formation!" The battalion commander of the federal heavy equipment battalion leaned half of his body out of the turret, holding a loudspeaker to show off his loud voice.

Under the interference of rice particles, even the battalion-level commanders of the Federal Army had to go to the front line in person and use their own unique methods to solve communication problems;

Although it is a communication method that has indeed been used in the history of armored forces, the signal semaphore proposed by the agent seems to have been unanimously resisted by frontline officers.

'No response...Did Zeon's troops retreat? '

The commander of the heavy armored battalion held on to the edge of the hatch on the top of the turret, feeling the constant jolting of the federal heavy armored cavalry as it moved forward between the crater and the burning mechanical wreckage;

The sun had completely set at this time, and the few flares in the sky echoed the dots of residual fire on the ground, vaguely illuminating the trenches and destroyed war machines on the Zeon army's position.

The commander of the heavy armored battalion was hesitant. According to the tactics of the Federation Army, the tank troops should stop at this time and let the mechanized infantry following behind move forward to inspect the Zeon positions ahead that were hit by artillery.

However, due to the failure of radio communication, the three Federal Army heavy equipment battalions deployed on a frontal width of 5 kilometers have actually fallen into the dilemma of their own operations;

From the perspective of the Federation Army battalion commander, the progress of the friendly forces in the mist in the distance has greatly exceeded his own troops. It seems that they have crushed the Zeon Army's first-line positions and continued to advance toward the rear.

He hesitated, but ultimately did not give the order to stop.

At this time, the Zeon airborne tank hiding behind the sand dune in the distance suddenly appeared. It opened fire before it could stop and take aim, and then impatiently retreated behind the sand dune.

The inaccurate artillery shells advanced from the federal army and flew over the heads of the armored troops that were passing through Zeon's first line position, attracting the attention of the federal army; immediately several Type 61 main gun shells fired back, It fell on the sand dunes and stirred up quite a bit of smoke.

'Is that Zeon's second line of defense over there? '

The company commander of the Federal Army thought this way and picked up the trumpet again:

"Pay attention to the sand dune on the left side ahead. That's Zeon's first..."

"boom!"

The Zeon sniper hiding under an overturned truck pulled the trigger on the Federation officer arrogantly holding a loudspeaker on the Federation tank passing by not far away.

There was a gunshot, and the federal battalion commander fell limply with a big, bleeding hole in his head;

Like a starting gun, a large number of Zeon infantry jumped out of the foxholes, bomb craters, and the wreckage of Zeon armored vehicles.

"[Earth expletive], where do they come from?"

Reminiscent of the coolness of the bullets that had just flown overhead, an EFF Type 61 tank commander fastened and locked the upper hatch.

"Don't be afraid, the gap in strength between the enemy and ourselves has not changed, we still have the upper hand!"

As the commander said this, he aimed the Zeon Army airborne tank that had once again rushed out from the distance and tried to take advantage of the chaos to launch an artillery attack.