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

Chapter 134 You are not allowed to pass.
As dawn broke, the second batch of reinforcements arrived in Winnipeg. In addition to the first batch of transport planes, there were dozens of ordinary tactical transport planes. Under Makarius's watchful eye, white parachutes bloomed in the sky.

The second wave of federal troops to reinforce Winnipeg consisted of a brigade of paratroopers and a mobile infantry battalion. Although not many, it was a significant reinforcement for the garrison, as there were previously only two battalions of mobile infantry there. The arrival of the paratroopers filled the infantry gap.

"Major, what do you need us to do?"

The brigade commander was a man with a rather gentle demeanor, but to lead a well-trained paratrooper brigade, he was certainly no ordinary commander.

Makarius is currently just an ordinary major. According to the order of command, he has to listen to Winster. However, Winster doesn't understand mobile suits, and given Makarius's legendary reputation, Colonel Winster voluntarily relinquished command.

"I don't know anything about paratroopers either, we just need to work together!"

Marcarius didn't actually take over command and make the paratroopers listen to him. Colonel Winster was being polite to him, so he naturally had to give him face in return.

Then everyone took their own command, but to ensure smooth communication, Makarius specially arranged for a GM with enhanced communication equipment to be stationed at the entrance of the paratrooper command post as a switchboard.

Winnemaca's terrain resembles a narrow pass, flanked by continuous mountain ranges. A river flows through the city, and Highway 80 splits into three branches here: one leads to Salt Lake City, another heads north to Ontario, and the third extends towards San Francisco.

Strictly speaking, Zeon troops could appear in any of these three locations, but considering the current situation, Makarius focused his main force on the Salt Lake City area.

Colonel Winston was similarly positioned in Winnipeg. There was a hill less than 100 meters high in Winnipeg, which stretched from the direction of the Great Basin and then gradually descended after entering the city. This hill naturally became the deployment area for the paratroopers.

With the help of mobile soldiers, the paratroopers quickly dug a winding trench several kilometers wide on the high ground. In addition, the paratroopers also laid the landmines they carried with them on the road and in the fields on both sides.

This high ground also provides good cover for mobile suits. GM only needs to maintain a crouching posture to hide most of his body behind the hillside. With the shield's cover, he can filter out most of the direct fire.

As for indirect fire, the paratroopers have their own light howitzers, and can pose a threat to the Zeon forces using extended-range ammunition. However, they don't carry much ammunition, so they can't lavishly use it like their allies in previous battles.

To Makarius's surprise, since they didn't have time to clean up the battlefield, the paratroopers who arrived later found hundreds of local villagers who were being held captive at the Zeon base. A significant portion of these people were mechanical engineers who had been brought there by the Zeons to provide support for their troops. And now, they had put their expertise to use, piecing together two Zaku tanks from the Zeon wreckage.

However, due to weaponry issues, one of the two Zaku tanks was equipped with a 120mm rotary machine gun, while the other was equipped with a 280mm rocket launcher specifically designed for Zaku tanks.

"It's alright, as long as it can fire, even a malfunctioning bullet can take down Yamanaka-kun!"

"what?"

Although they couldn't understand what Makarius was saying, the mechanics knew that he was praising them. These days had been quite miserable for them. They had not only eaten and slept poorly, but they were also exhausted from their daily work. They didn't even have a chance to wash off the grease on their bodies.

So much so that when the paratroopers rescued these people, they thought the technicians were all Black men.

After thanking the technicians for their help, Makarius settled them at the rear of the town. He was certain that the Zeon army would do anything to destroy the town in order to break through the defenses, and leaving the technicians in the town would only harm them.

To this end, he also assigned these people three Zeon trucks, so that if things went wrong, these civilians could escape by truck. As long as they hid in the wilderness for a few days, they would encounter the advancing Federation forces.

Then, when everything was running smoothly according to orders, Makarius suddenly found himself with nothing to do again, because even Amuro was helping the enemy dig trench after trench, all under the watchful eyes of the paratroopers.

Seeing Amuro pouting as the paratroopers praised him, Makarius felt extremely relieved. It's no wonder that troublemakers would cause problems when they're together. Now that Amuro has the care of his colleagues and the protection of his leader, he no longer looks like a troublemaker.

After observing the paratroopers' work for half a day, Markarius finally found his place to shine. After all, he still held the title of commander, so he stopped a few paratrooper officers and gave them orders for the machine gun positions they had dug.

"There's something wrong with your position. I think you should move it five meters to the left!"

"Understood, Major. We'll carry it out immediately!"

The paratroopers had no objections, after all, the other side had a higher vantage point and a wider view, so there must be a deeper meaning behind this arrangement.

Makarius couldn't stop smiling as he looked at the machine gun emplacement that had been moved five meters to the left, because he had wanted to do this for a long time, but now he just needed to replicate the port side barrage because it was too thin.

While the ground operations were nearing completion, the transport planes continued to deliver supplies to Winnemarca without stopping for a moment. However, as dawn broke, the transport had to stop, as the Zeon ground forces would soon resume operations. At that point, the Federation forces in Winnemarca would have to rely on themselves!

As the sun rose fully, the last batch of transport planes brought Makarius bad news: the Zeon army had dispatched an unspecified force toward Winnemarca, while more troops were being deployed in the rear. It was only a matter of time before they arrived!
"That's good, at least they finally came!"

Colonel Winster put on his helmet and then spoke.

"For me, waiting is the most painful thing!"

"me too!"

Makarius raised his right hand toward the other person.

"Well then, good luck, Colonel!"

"Good luck to you too, Major!"

After returning the salute, Winster left the town's command post. He preferred to command from the front lines because that way he could be closer to his brothers (the paratroopers).

Soon, the observation post on the high ground spotted a large convoy heading towards Winnipeg.

"It looks like a support regiment from the 2nd Division; they don't have many mobile suits!"

"Then let's get closer and fire!"

Marcarius wasn't worried about whether he could handle the situation. He currently had three whole battalions of mobile suits under his command. If he were in space, he would even dare to lead this force to attack the Zeon homeland!

Makarius wasn't sure if the Zeon forces had received news of the fall of Winnemaca, so he placed a Zaku with its cockpit destroyed but otherwise almost undamaged by the roadside on the high ground outside the city. This way, it could serve as a weathervane; if the Zeon knew that this place had fallen, they would definitely fire at the Zaku standing on the ground to test the waters.

As for whether the large hole would be visible, Makarius arranged for someone to cover the wound with a black plastic tarpaulin they found. Although it looked a bit odd, it was not noticeable from a distance. The only drawback was that the Zaku's head monitor could no longer see the moving red dot!

The Zeon convoy showed no intention of firing; in fact, several vehicles increased their speed, seemingly preparing to reach the town ahead of everyone else.

"Ready!" Colonel Winster shouted as several jeeps were about to drive into the high ground.

"beat!"

The next second, dozens of gun lines appeared from one side of the road and surrounded the speeding jeep. The paratroopers had equipped their weapons with silencers, so the gunfire was not loud, only a low thud echoed.

Although these open-top jeeps were bulletproof, they weren't really bulletproof, because the Zeon soldiers had removed the doors for easier movement. So, under the intense gunfire, the Zeon soldiers in the jeeps were quickly knocked off their feet, and the vehicles, out of control, crashed onto the side of the road.

Then, the paratroopers, still not entirely at ease, fired another burst at the corpses, only feeling relieved after confirming there were no survivors.

Their gunfire went completely unnoticed by the convoy behind them, as the massive convoy itself generated considerable noise.

It wasn't until the lead car of the convoy reached the higher ground that the driver looked at the cars swaying precariously ahead and felt puzzled.

Is that one of ours?

"Enemy attack!"

After seeing the bomb craters on the vehicle, the Zeon soldier in the co-pilot's seat was about to grab the radio to notify the convoy when he saw a huge steel body suddenly emerge from behind the town buildings a hundred meters away.

The next second, a 90mm armor-piercing round swiftly and cleanly tore the vehicle apart, even penetrating the second vehicle behind it before it veered off course. The Zeon soldiers inside were instantly killed in the shrapnel storm.

The gunfire from that GM became the signal for the entire garrison; the next second, artillery fire erupted from the high ground at an angle to the road.

"Federal Army!"

The Zeon army never expected to encounter the Federation forces here. They were unaware that Winnemac had lost contact. Thus, the entire convoy was engulfed in flames under the attack of mobile suits and paratroopers.

One Queen Missile after another roared out of the gun barrel and hit the seemingly valuable logistics vehicles, while the mobile suits rained down bullets on more threatening targets such as armored vehicles and Majera tanks.

As for the flatbed transport trucks carrying the Zaku at the rear of the convoy, they were also the preferred targets for the mobile suit rocket launchers. In transport mode, the pilots would not stay inside the mobile suits, so these Zakus would not even be able to resist before being blown into the sky by rockets one after another.

Meanwhile, the Zeon Marder infantry fighting vehicles and Magella tanks, having recovered from the initial shock, were also trying to turn around and rush off the road. However, they were paralyzed after only a few meters due to hitting landmines. One Magella tank was particularly unlucky; after running over a landmine that severed one track, it then ran over a second one, causing the other track and several wheels to be blown off.

Before the gunners could separate the turret, a Queen Missile struck the turret's hull connection point, the metal jet piercing through the armor and killing all the crew behind it.

Because the convoy was too long, the Zeon forces couldn't reverse directly and had to drive the vehicles off the road. Meanwhile, the Red Dragon Squad's sniper GMs were keeping an eye on these vehicles. They didn't need expensive beam weapons like the 79YK; their standard 75mm sniper rifles were enough to destroy the vehicles.

Zeon's resistance gradually weakened as their equipment was destroyed. The logistics support forces didn't have much heavy equipment to begin with, and even some of the Marder infantry fighting vehicles had downgraded configurations, with the 20mm automatic cannon replaced by a 12.7mm machine gun, making them ineffective against mobile suits.

The mobile suits assigned to them were all Zaku I discarded by the front-line troops. Even so, not a single one of these Zaku I could get up. Their pilots didn't even have a chance to get close to the vehicles before watching their mobile suits being destroyed one by one.

The battle lasted less than twenty minutes, and only hundreds of burning vehicle wrecks remained on the road and along both sides, with dead Zeon soldiers lying scattered all over the ground.

"Stop shooting!"

Seeing that there was almost no way to retaliate, Colonel Winster immediately ordered a ceasefire.

Subsequently, a squadron of Jims, accompanied by a battalion of paratroopers, rushed out of their bunkers and began the final suppression of the enemy on the road.

In reality, under the fierce firepower of the mobile suits, there were very few remaining Zeon soldiers. In addition, some people took advantage of the vehicles being attacked to abandon their equipment and flee directly along the road towards Salt Lake City. So, soon, with the last burst of chaotic gunfire, this Zeon force that had broken into the ambush area was completely wiped out.

"Quickly clean up the battlefield, check the ammunition, and evacuate the wounded immediately!"

Despite the victory, no one smiled. Instead, they silently quickened their pace, collecting usable ammunition, equipment, and even rations.

While we may not always need these things, it's always better to have as many as possible, since you never know when you might need them.

"Sir, what should we do with the prisoners?"

While looting the spoils, dozens of ragged Zeon prisoners stood out. The paratroopers, just like cowboys used to string together black men, tied these prisoners together with ropes and then escorted them to Makarius.

"Tsk tsk, this is a bit tricky!"

Looking at the terrified faces of the Zeon people below, Makarius was at a loss. On the surface, everyone still had to abide by the Antarctic Treaty, and even killing prisoners could only be done secretly under special circumstances, but these people could not be evacuated.

"Let Colonel Winster interrogate them first, then lock them in the base's prison. Don't give them food, just leave them half the amount of water, and weld the cell doors shut. Anyone who causes trouble should be shot on sight!"

After a moment's thought, Makarius made what he considered a prudent arrangement, and Colonel Winster generally agreed with it after learning of it, except for the allocation of water resources.

"Just leave these guys only a third of their water supply. Don't give them purified water, river water will do!"

This arrangement is naturally intended to prevent any accidents from happening.

Then, looking at the densely packed wreckage, Makarius had another idea.

"Give me a few Jims!"

He piloted the G3 Gundam and summoned several more GMs, then dragged the wreckage to a spot less than five kilometers from the high ground. There, Makarius rebuilt his favorite mound of kyō, but this time the material was no longer Zaku heads, but vehicle and tank wreckage.

After building the mound of corpses, Makarius found a large sign and wrote on it: "This is the place of burial. Do not pass. Lay down your weapons and you will have a chance to live." Then he placed the sign in front of the mound of corpses.

"Oh, and don't forget to bury some explosives under the sign!"

(End of this chapter)