Why would I join the army if I can’t drive a Gundam!

Chapter 101 The end of the battle
The most brutal battle between Zeon and the Federation has come to an end, and the losses in the battle were also extremely tragic. The entire Side 5 was slaughtered by the Zeon army. Except for a small number of civilians rescued by the Federation fleet, all other personnel have died. The direct death toll is as high as billion.

The war has only lasted for more than a month since it broke out, but the total casualties have accounted for half of the entire Earth's sphere, and 80% of these deaths are residents of the universe.

As for the military losses of the Federation and Zeon, they were equally devastating. Seventy percent of the Federation fleet's warships were sunk in battle, and three fleets were even directly eliminated. Even the warships that were withdrawn mostly required emergency repairs. Except for the non-warships, the fleet's flight squadrons were almost wiped out, and there were only more than 30 mobile suits left in the unit.

It can be said that since then, the Federation's armament rearmament project, which began in the 1970s, has been declared bankrupt, and the huge fleet that was once enough to deter the entire Earth sphere no longer exists.

The Zeon side was not much better off, as there was an insurmountable gap in the number of fleets between them and the Federation. The main combat force of the Zeon army was the large number of mobile suits. Relying on the interference of rice grains and the surprise attack of nuclear bazookas, the Zeon army seemed to have gained a great advantage, but in fact, it just swallowed a thorny hedgehog.

The Federation fleet's artillery fire also left an unimaginably deep impression on the Zeon mobile suits. More than two thousand mobile suits were shot down by the artillery fire alone. This loss had already made Dozle cry privately. If only the machines were lost, it would be fine. According to Zeonic's current production capacity, it would only take a year to replenish them. However, what was lost were also the experienced pilots who operated these machines.

This battle not only destroyed the Federation's wealth, but also destroyed Zeon's wealth. Except for hundreds of new recruits used to fill the gap, the remaining Zeon pilots were all veterans who had received training for a year or even several years. The pilot training brigade founded by Kycilia was almost wiped out, with only a dozen veteran pilots surviving.

The composition of a unit is inseparable from veterans and new recruits, but at this moment, the backbone of the Zeon mobile suit unit was directly broken and it entered a state of transition.

The losses to the fleet were also considerable. More than 30 Musai-class ships were damaged in battle, several Chibe-class ships were sunk, and even one Gwakin-class ship was added to the irreparable losses. Although the Gwakin attacked by Macharius did not sink in battle, it had basically lost the possibility of repair and was no different from a battle sinking.

However, for Gihren Zabi and Prince Dekin, these losses are no longer important. In their view, they have completely defeated the giant Federation Army. Next, they only need to kick the broken house called the Earth Federation again, and then the Zabi family's cause can be declared a success.

"Look, this is the achievement of our army!"

After the Battle of Loum, Gillian changed into his army commander's uniform, and together with Prince Dekin and his other brothers and sisters, boarded the Dekin Emperor, which had not yet been repaired, and returned to the Loum space region, which had become a country of the dead.

This time, they also brought a large number of media, accompanied by the Zaku, the Head of State Guard, painted with special livery, and prepared to record a promotional video about Zeon's victory.

Then, in front of the camera, he pointed at the battlefield ruins that were all ruins, and vigorously promoted the Zabi family's concept of superior race.

Even Prince Dejin had a bright smile on his face. After all, for him, this was a great achievement that would be recorded in history books for future generations.

Only Dozle stood in the corner, watching the sleek and bright Zakus of the President's Guard picking and choosing in the ruins, and even casually discarding the remains of the fallen Zeon soldiers to play with, or using the broken escape ships of the Federation Army as targets, firing at random, in order to film some shots of the heroic fighting of the President's Guard.

"Dozuru, what do you think we should do next?"

Although Prince Dekin was happy, he was not a fool or blind. He could see the countless wreckages of Federation warships and the wreckage of destroyed Zeon equipment. Even though the Zeon logistics department had found a way to recover most of the usable parts, the wreckage left in this land of the dead was still countless.

"I think we should negotiate with the Federation. After all, what we demand is Zeon's independence and equal political status with the Federation!"

In front of Dekin, Dozle spoke the truth honestly. The three fleets under his space attack army had all been crippled and had lost the ability to engage in large-scale battles again. There was also a big gap in the mobile suit unit. At present, he could only send a group of new mobile suits who had just completed space training into service in advance to make up for the lack of combat power.

"What the hell are you talking about!"

Gillian scoffed at Dozle's idea of ​​quitting while he was ahead, and even Kycilia beside him frowned.

At this moment, the two people who were at odds with each other actually agreed on whether the war should continue.

"We should continue our offensive and completely crush the Federation, forcing them to surrender and cede territory in exchange for peace. Now that we've reached a truce with them, you're going to wait for them to recover their strength before wiping us out!"

Gillen pointed directly at Dozle's head and scolded him rudely.

"Our army currently does not have..."

"No need for that. We've already broken the backbone of the Federation fleet. Next, we need to plant the Zeon flag on Earth. Their fleet is no match for us. How can a normal army under the constraints of gravity stand against our mobile suits?"

"but……"

"Dozle, you must understand that our country's reserve resources are running low. Attacking Earth isn't just to force the Earth Federation to surrender. We also need all sorts of supplies, even labor!"

Kycilia couldn't help rolling her eyes when she said this. The Zeon army killed billions of people in one go, but didn't even think about leaving some labor. Even during the Battle of Loum, facing the Federation Army's escape ships, the Zeon army, who were already bloodthirsty, didn't even think about capturing them, but instead fired another shell.

So in the end, the total number of Federation soldiers captured by the Zeon army was less than three digits. Instead, it was the Federation fleet that evacuated 5 million Side residents in a short period of time, which prevented the destruction of their country and race.

These captured Federation soldiers had no chance of going to labor camps. Before they returned to Zeon, they were taken over by the Principate Guard. They were then subjected to endless torture. When these soldiers had been squeezed dry of their value, they would be sent to serve in the Zeon Army's Undead Corps.

"This is indeed a problem!"

Dekin rubbed his big head. He was a prince, so he would have food and drink no matter what. But the same could not be said for the people of Zeon. They had already scratched out the last coin from their pockets, so they were hoping that victory would reduce their living burden.

And now, the transport ships in the Zeon fleet are looting usable supplies from the four destroyed sides and preparing to transport them back to the country.

But even so, the supplies that can be found are still very limited, especially those relatively intact satellites. These satellites have been injected with GG gas by Zeon, so all the resources and supplies inside cannot be used, including the most important food and fresh water.

The transport ships can only search for uncontaminated and well-preserved materials from the space debris and send them back to the country.

"So, Dozle, how long will it take for our army to recover its combat effectiveness?"

"At least half a year!"

"too long!"

"I'll give you three months!"

Dekin suddenly stood up from his seat.

"Afterwards, I will send envoys to negotiate a ceasefire with the Federation. During this period, you should quickly restore our army's combat capabilities. Once the negotiations are concluded, we will begin the battle on Earth!"

"Karma!"

"Ah, yes!"

Garmazabi, who had been standing behind Dekin, pretending to be an invisible Zeon nobleman and Char's close friend, hurriedly stood at attention, even though he had not fired a single shot on the battlefield but had been promoted to the rank of colonel because of his outstanding performance.

"I'm going to send you to Earth as the commander of the front!"

"Ah I……"

Karma was about to say "I can't do it", but he met Dekin's stern gaze. He could only swallow his saliva and then salute.

"As you command, Your Highness!"

Looking at their younger brother who was entrusted with an important task, disdain flashed in Gillian and Kycilia's eyes again, only Dozle had an encouraging look on his face.

"Don't worry, when the time comes, you can choose from the Space Attack Force!"

Then he whispered a promise to Karma.

"Really? Then I..."

"Char, no, I'm still useful!"

Dozle added, "He's already made up his mind to keep the two of them apart as much as possible before Karma gets married!"
In the headquarters conference room of Luna II, a group of federal army generals also gathered together to discuss the same thing.

"What do you think the Zeon forces' next move will be?"

After returning safely, Rebil recovered from the defeat in a short time and quickly began to adjust the remaining Federation Army forces to cope with the next strategic deployment of the Zeon Army.

"I think they will attack Luna II!"

Lieutenant General Green Wyatt looked depressed as he pointed to the reduced Earth sphere situation map and said.

"At present, our army has lost the ability to threaten Zeon's homeland. As a result, once the Zeon army has seized the strategic initiative, it should take the initiative to engage our army in another decisive battle!"

"No, the Zeon forces have also suffered heavy losses. They can't afford to suffer another bloody encounter with our heavily guarded Luna II!"

King Kreene interrupted Green, then stood up, picked up the command pole and pointed at the earth.

"The Zeon army's target is Earth!"

"In my judgment, Zeon will initiate ceasefire negotiations with our army and discuss the terms of the ceasefire. During this period, they will recover their combat power and, once we are paralyzed by the ceasefire agreement, launch a direct attack on Earth!"

"Aren't they afraid of being attacked from both Luna II and Earth?"

"The initiative currently lies with the Zeon forces. They can split their forces, use one fleet to besiege Luna II, and then gather the remaining main forces to suppress Earth. This way, when our forces attempt to reinforce Earth, the Zeon forces can turn around and attack us!"

"Most importantly, everyone, attacking Earth will directly cut off our military's logistical lifeline. Without Earth, Luna II will be nothing!"

Jin En knocked on the floor. Although Luna II is a huge asteroid and the federal army has established a nearly closed-loop ecosystem here, it is not Earth after all and still needs personnel and supplies from Earth.

"So, old friend, how's the war preparedness?"

"It's been going on since before the war! However, our army's top priority is still disaster relief!"

Gop, still looking sleepy, sat in his office in Gabro, looking quite relaxed, but in fact, the federal army forces across the entire Earth had already begun operating at full speed under the other side's dispatch.

The damage caused by the First Battle of Britain is still ongoing, and extreme weather occurs frequently, which has had a serious impact on normal production and life in East Asia, Australia, and even the Americas.

Fortunately, the world's most important food production bases in North America and Eastern Europe did not suffer any major damage. With sufficient food security, the victims will not face any major problems.

"But don't worry, military production hasn't fallen behind!"

Gop looked at his colleagues who were frowning, and then comforted them.

"Currently, Gabro has begun construction on five Magellan-class and Salamis-class warships. They will soon be added to the Space Force fleet. Furthermore, the mobilization of reservists has also begun, and a new batch of sailors will be added along with the warships!"

In fact, Gop was in charge of more than just these projects. The Air Force's reopening of previously closed bases, the Army's improvement of military equipment in a small environment, the reconstruction of the Navy's fleet, etc., all of these tasks were carried out in an orderly manner under Gop's leadership.

It can be said that at this moment, Gabro is a continuous blood-making machine. This huge base complex buried deep underground, which can even be called an underground city, is the ultimate backup of the Federation. As long as this base is still there, even if Luna II is lost, the federal army can still maintain the ability to counterattack in space!

The two earliest projects currently being carried out at the Gabro base are the improvement of army equipment and the production of mobile suits.

From the Federation Army's testing of the Zaku's protective capabilities before the war, the top brass had already realized that the M61A2 tank currently in service was not enough to deal with the threat of the Zeon Army, so this king of land warfare was subsequently urgently improved.

This included replacing the tanks with new anti-interference fire control systems and new twin 155mm main guns. Thanks to the Federation Army's powerful logistics system before the war, these production improvements could be completed quickly at various Federation Army bases. By the time of the Battle of Loum, more than half of the Earth Federation Army's tank units had completed the upgrade.

As for mobile suits, there is no need to mention that although the army wanted to build a thousand Gundams at once, the high cost and the most important problem of material replenishment directly shattered their dream of playing with the Gundam sea.

Therefore, the army had to settle for the second best and patch up the remaining parts of the RX plan, and then created the army's own land combat Gundam based on the simple Gundam made by itself at the Side7 test base.

But the aircraft is still under testing, and even the test pilot, the Army is eagerly waiting for someone to come back to take over.

In addition, the production of Jim was also being rolled out, but due to material supply and production issues, after the war broke out, the original enhanced Jim with a cockpit doped with Luna titanium alloy was discontinued and replaced by the ordinary Jim with slightly weaker protection.

However, because the factory's production line is still in the process of testing and producing at the same time, it will take at least three months to fully mobilize the troops.

But before that, the army and navy had already accumulated more than a hundred mobile suit units, but the biggest problem was still the training of pilots.

"So, since the Zeon army's next target is Earth, I think we should also deploy our most powerful fist troops to Earth to strengthen its defenses. What do you think?"

Although Gop did not mention anyone by name, everyone knew who he was talking about. In fact, in order to restore the low morale and scattered military spirit as much as possible, the federal army is currently vigorously promoting Macharius' heroic achievements throughout the army.

Moreover, these battle records are even real and there is enough video footage to prove it. After all, at the beginning no one believed that there could be such a good fighter. It has only been a short time since the war started, and you have achieved such incredible results. Moreover, you don’t even look like an adult yet.

However, as various proofs of the kills came out, those who had previously had doubts were completely convinced.

This also indirectly led to the rise in the status of Captain Conte, who was training new pilots in Europe. After all, he was a pilot who trained at the same time as Macharius. Even Conte's record of 436 defeats in 436 battles against Macharius became a kind of certification of his strength.

So, when Admiral King asked Macharius about his next plan, he naturally told him directly.

"Of course we're going back to Earth!"

"But before that, I have to go to side7!"

"Oh, indeed, your machine exploded again. You really need to go back and prepare more parts!"

Admiral King suddenly realized that when Macharius returned with the Eagle, he was driving a core fighter after all.

"It's not just about the accessories, I'm going to plant a bomb over there!"

Macharius has always been thinking about his little brother!
"Amuro!"

"Brother Krini!"

When Amuro, who had just returned from school, heard the call, he, who had been worried all the time, burst into tears and rushed into the arms of Macharius, who was dressed in military uniform and had medals hanging all over his chest, under the gaze of his friends.

Then punch!

"You bastard, you didn't say anything before you left!"

Amuro shouted.

"So, I'm back!"

So said Macharius.

(End of this chapter)