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

Chapter 127 A Land Where Hope Is Buried

"Move quickly and seize advantageous terrain!"

"Send the mobile suits to the back, and the tanks, deploy them to the other side of the road!"

Looking at the large "80" on the roadside sign, which was swaying due to the movement of the heavy armored troops, a Zeon lieutenant colonel who was commanding his troops couldn't help but want to curse.

"What are those useless guys up front doing?!"

The Zeon forces set up numerous defensive structures along Highway 80, including well-equipped fortifications such as trenches, minefields, and mobile suit firing positions. However, these defenses were rendered ineffective as they were captured or destroyed by the Federation forces.

Now, upon learning that the Red Dragon had marched in with overwhelming force and unstoppable momentum along the highway, the Zeon soldiers, who had no defenses available, could only hastily rebuild on the spot.

Fortunately, with the help of mobile suits, digging trenches is still quite easy. The latter only needs to plow the ground a few times, and a trench can be formed. If it were a ground combat Gundam or a sniper GM, it would be even more convenient, as their shields are equipped with multi-functional serrations that can be used for both melee combat and civil engineering.

"Brothers, give it your all! Let the Federation people know we're not to be trifled with!"

"For Zeon!"

As expected of an elite guard unit, the Zeon soldiers were in high spirits under the encouragement of their commander, and even their shovels were swung around in a blur.

However, just as they had painstakingly dug their defenses and set up their firepower, quietly waiting for the Red Dragon team to attack, the distant roar of artillery fire gradually receded from their defensive zone.

"The enemy has retreated?"

Some Zeon soldiers looked curiously at the empty road and then began to whisper among themselves.

"It could also be a trick by the Federation forces!"

Lieutenant Colonel Zeon then waved his hand, and a squadron of hovercraft quickly rushed out from the defensive line. These hovercraft were almost naked, without any protection whatsoever, but they were fast enough that the Zeon army used them for reconnaissance and communication.

Soon, the motorcycle squad sent back good news: Red Dragon had retreated!
"The enemy must be afraid of us!"

A Zeon soldier, feigning composure, uttered a witty remark that made a nearby recruit burst into laughter. Then, the recruit was kicked to the ground by an officer standing nearby.

"Isn't it funny, you bastard? Those guys didn't come looking for us, so guess who they went to?"

The veteran, covered in dirt after being kicked twice, dared not show the slightest dissatisfaction, because he knew without a doubt where the Red Dragon Brigade, which was basically unharmed, would go.

After receiving supplies at the 4th Armored Division's defenses, the Red Dragon Battalion, which retreated along Highway 80, quickly headed north. Their mission was to blockade the international airport and Salt Lake. After all, the Red Dragon Battalion had the largest number of sniper GMs at this time. Meanwhile, a logistics convoy was also transporting the 79YK beam sniper rifle, which had not yet been used, northward.

The two sides then met up in the mountains west of Salt Lake City.

"They're all here?"

Marcarius jumped off the Gundam, quickly took the lunchbox handed to him by the mechanic, and stuffed food into his mouth while keeping an eye on the military heavy trucks parked on the reverse slope.

"No, only half of them have arrived, and there are only four external power supply vehicles!"

Chief mechanic Seitaro Sakaki said this as he watched a sniper GM take a fully adjusted .79YK beam sniper rifle off the vehicle.

"But it doesn't affect charging!"

"That's enough!"

These external power supply vehicles are naturally used to recharge the 79yk, since the 79yk, with its self-sufficiency of only two rounds, simply cannot withstand the blockade mission.

With the power supply vehicle, and provided that cooling is taken into account, the pilot can fire as many shots as he wants!
In addition, Seitaro Sakaki also brought Macarius his Sniper GM. Although the RX-78-2 is a Gundam, it is still inferior to the Sniper GM in terms of sniping expertise, even with upgraded fire control and electronic equipment. This is an inherent problem that cannot be solved unless the Gundam is sent to the factory to have its head replaced.

"Some people are really lucky. Some units are still scrambling to get their hands on old GMs, while he has to make a difficult choice between a Gundam and a Sniper GM!"

Seeing Makarius's smug look, the maintenance chief also smiled and started making sarcastic remarks.

"What can I do? I'm the person in the world who knows mobile suits the most!"

Macarius finished his somewhat chilled meal in large mouthfuls, then gulped down two mouthfuls of nutrient solution before boarding the Sniper Jim.

Compared to the Gundam, the Sniper GM's cockpit is much cleaner and its ergonomic design is more scientific. In terms of driving experience, it is indeed much better than the Gundam.

When Markarius raised the beam sniper rifle in his hand and linked it to the optical components on the mobile suit's head, he experienced firsthand what an astronomical telescope was like.

Standing on the hillside and looking down at the town ruins below, Makarius even saw incredibly clear details of a Federation infantryman crouching in a pit.

"Yudin, ask that guy squatting in the second rubble to the left of the repair shop at the foot of the mountain which unit he belongs to, and have their company commander lock him up for seven days!"

"what?"

Yudin was puzzled, but he still obediently carried out the order.

Afterwards, the Red Dragon Battalion, having completed its re-equipment and preparations, finally had a chance to rest. With troops from the 4th Armored Division guarding both their front and rear, they didn't have to worry about being ambushed.

However, after sleeping for less than half an hour, everyone immediately returned to a state of combat readiness because it was dawn!
"Sir, shall we open fire?"

As the sun rose, Makarius, standing on the hill, could see more clearly the Zeon troops operating in and around the airport. Through the lens, the fatigue and numbness on the soldiers' faces were particularly clear, indicating that they had also been deeply impressed by Farmington.

Besides the infantry, there were also a considerable number of mobile suits. Markarius saw several improved Tigers, the models without the finger cannons. The armor of these Tigers was also covered with smoke and bullet holes, and some even had clear bullet holes on their bodies. After arriving at the airport, these mobile suits were dispersed in all directions without any field maintenance. Obviously, the Zeon knew that they didn't have much time to waste.

Although the Zeon forces at the airport were within sniper Jim's range, Makarius, who had absolute command, refused his subordinates' request to fire.

"Don't rush, these guys are just rats pulling a shovel. The real feast is yet to come. These targets are just appetizers. We'll eat when the main course is served!"

The feast that Makarius was waiting for didn't keep him waiting long. When the sun was shining brightly on the airport runway, the roar of rocket jet engines could be heard in the sky.

Subsequently, a large number of Dopp aircraft flew over the battlefield and headed towards the rear of the Federation forces' positions.

The Zeon command knew the importance of the airport and understood the power of the Federation's artillery. Therefore, before the transport planes arrived, they had to suppress the Federation's artillery fire, especially the large pallet-class ship in the rear. If it opened fire, their own troops at the airport would suffer heavy losses.

Halfway through their flight, these Dopp fighters engaged in combat with the Swordfish fighters, and the two sides continued their struggle for air superiority.

Meanwhile, six fat transport planes flew in from the west at low altitude. Ground-based self-propelled anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft missiles belonging to the 4th Armored Division attempted to intercept them, but due to the distance and the interference of grains of rice, they did not cause any damage to the fleet. However, it obviously frightened the Zeon people quite a bit, because those fat planes even lowered their altitude to within tens of meters of the ground.

Should we fight this time?

"Wait until they land and fill the cabin before attacking!"

Makarius also understands human nature well. Compared to shooting down a transport plane in front of people waiting for rescue, it is more despairing to ruthlessly destroy a transport plane full of the first batch of evacuees in front of people waiting for the second batch of evacuation. After all, that's how it's portrayed in movies!
The besieged Zeon soldiers obviously didn't think so. When they saw the fat uncle's huge figure appear on the runway, cheers resounded throughout the entire airport.

"We are saved!"

"Long live the Lord! Long live the Lord!"

Even the Zeon officers who had maintained a deadpan expression now showed a hint of joy.

"Great! As long as we can evacuate these children before the Federation forces can react, we still have hope!"

Then, the six large transport planes landed, and subsequently, these massive transport planes opened their belly hatches and unloaded the ammunition and a large amount of construction materials they were carrying.

These construction materials were naturally intended for repairing the runway. The Zeon military command also knew that they could not completely stop the Federation forces from destroying the airport runway, so it was simple: you bomb yours, I'll repair mine. You bomb once, I'll repair once, that's all!
There are quite a few engineers among the besieged Zeon troops. With them there, ensuring the normal operation of the airport is not a problem!
After unloading the transported ammunition and building materials, the Zeon soldiers who had been waiting nearby quickly carried stretchers onto the aircraft.

"Why are they all wounded? Our orders are to evacuate the mobile suits first!" Uncle Fatty's crew was confused and stopped a sergeant.

"Our orders are to prioritize the evacuation of the wounded!"

The Zeon sergeant didn't care about anything else; he used his body to shove through the crew and barged inside.

Soon, the six planes were packed with a large number of wounded soldiers and a small number of medical staff to take care of them, and the crew had to take off quickly to prepare for a second trip.

Just as these transport planes began to taxi onto the runway in pairs, preparing to climb,

"Sniper team, take note: the first batch is mine, the remaining four are yours. Understand?"

"Dragon Flame One received!"

"Number Two received!"

……

After receiving an affirmative answer, Makarius glanced at the Sniper GM beside him, who had already plugged in the power cord for his rifle, then controlled his mech to kneel on the ground and raised the sniper rifle in his hand.

On the cockpit monitor in front of him, the crosshairs were firmly locked onto the fat uncle's aircraft. Makarius's hand was steady, maintaining the locked position. Soon, the fire control computer, having completed the entire process, took over the follow-up tracking. All he had to do was pull the trigger, and the target would be turned into a fireball.

The successful takeoff of the first batch of fat uncles reassured the Zeon soldiers at the airport. Subsequently, the second and third batches gradually took off as well. When the last batch of fat uncles took off, the Zeon soldiers at the airport started howling and screaming again.

"Fire!"

Then, amidst the continuous whistles, applause, and even cheers of the Zeon soldiers, six narrow beams of high-energy particle light abruptly pierced the air and precisely struck the climbing fat man.

The fragile armor couldn't even withstand a millisecond before being pierced by the beam. The beam then pierced through the armor and entered the cabin, instantly vaporizing the Zeon soldiers in its path and nearby. Finally, it pierced through the other end of the cabin.

In just a moment, the beam of light cleanly sliced ​​the five transport planes in half. Then, the out-of-control aircraft, burning and out of control, plummeted toward the salt lake below.

The sixth plane, the "Fat Uncle," only flew for half a second longer. After illuminating its first target, Makarius swiftly turned its gun and shot down its second target.

"Save people!"

At this moment, the smiles on the faces of the Zeon soldiers had not even faded before turning into distorted wails. Although some were shouting and others were running toward the direction where the disintegrated plane wreckage had landed, everyone knew in their hearts that no one could survive such an attack!

"The Federation forces have already deployed beam weapons on the mountain, no wonder they haven't rushed to bombard the airfield!"

Colonel Cleveland, the Geon commander in Farmington, suddenly realized what was going on, but what could he do? The 4th Armored Division had already built a tight blockade between the airfield and the hillside. If they could break through the blockade, why wait for the air force to evacuate?
"Sir, we need the Air Force's help!"

Do you think it will be useful?

"We still have to go. With them around, we can forget about using the airport, or even evacuating from the lake!"

Then, news of the fat uncle being shot down and the Federation's deployment of beam weapons was reported to the Zeon command headquarters in the rear.

"No wonder the Red Dragon isn't attacking!"

"Do we have any more Dop available?"

"There are two large brigades!"

"Send them away immediately!"

"Alright, tell the brothers to take cover and protect the power truck. The Zeon will definitely send planes later!"

"Are you so sure?"

"If it were me, I would definitely do the same, and I would drop the biggest bomb I could!"

Then, dozens of Dopp fighters swooped down from the sky with great momentum, but before they could find the location of the sniper GM on the mountain, the anti-aircraft fire of the 4th Armored Division had already started to rain down on them.

The dense barrage of anti-aircraft guns and missiles caused the Doppler aircraft to scream in chaos, and seven or eight unlucky ones were even shot down on the spot.

"Damn it, the anti-aircraft fire is too dense, we can't break through!"

"We must force a breakthrough to give our allies hope!"

"Six o'clock position, missile lock-on, Federation Army Swordfish!"

Before these Dopp could break through the ground fire, a group of swordfish swooped down from the sky behind them.

"Avoid, avoid!"

"I'm locked in!"

"Saber One, there are enemies behind you!"

"Jump! Jump!"

Under the combined air and ground attack, Dop's attack had no effect whatsoever. The Zeon pilots could only hastily drop the ground-to-ground missiles, guided bombs and other munitions they were carrying, and then turn around to fight the Swordfish. The unguided munitions fell to the ground, which only destroyed a lot of flowers and plants!

"The attack had no effect!"

"We must continue, and also continue sending transport planes!"

"Sir, doing this is just a waste of valuable transport capacity!"

"What about the troops that are surrounded?"

"Perhaps we could release smoke on the ground to protect the transport plane during takeoff!"

Following the advice of some unknown genius, the Zeon soldiers at the airport immediately began releasing smoke in an attempt to block sniper GM's attacks on the transport plane. This was indeed effective; at least near the airport, GM could not lock onto the transport plane. However, the problem was that the area controlled by the Federation forces was much larger than the airport.

So, after escaping the smoke cover of the airport, the two fat uncles were once again shot down by beam sniper rifles.

Then came even worse news. During the previous raid on the salt lake, the surviving War Crabs, after attempting to use the salt lake as cover to engage in a sniper duel with sniper GM, were all wiped out. Although the War Crabs' particle cannons also had an amazing range, their fire control system was a hindrance, making them completely incapable of accurately striking targets at extremely long distances. On the contrary, their huge bodies were particularly conspicuous in the salt lake, making them easy targets for sniper GM.

The attempt to evacuate troops by sending small boats through the salt lake also suffered a major failure, because the Federation forces deployed armed helicopters that were usually virtually invisible. These aircraft, armed with Queen missiles and machine guns, might be easy prey for fighter jets and mobile suits, but they were an insurmountable barrier in the face of the unarmed and unprotected hard-hulled boats.

In one morning, the Zeon army lost dozens of small boats, but only a handful of their own soldiers managed to evacuate!

Many more people have become corpses submerged in the salt lake.

In the afternoon, the Federation artillery, having lost patience, joined the attack on the Zeon forces within the encirclement. The Zeon air force's suppression of Federation artillery fire was nipped in the bud by the Swordfish.

Subsequently, the heavy artillery bombardment from the large pallet-class destroyers definitively sealed the fate of the surrounded Zeon forces.

With nowhere to escape and no way to run, the Federation forces had completely blocked the escape routes of these Zeon troops from the air and water. What terrified these Zeon troops the most was that, so far, they had not even received any information from the Federation forces urging them to surrender.

"What messenger? Cannons are my messengers! If these guys don't understand, then they can all die!"

(End of this chapter)