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

Chapter 153 MS-08TX Ifrit
After nightfall, the gunfire surrounding the entire Zeon front finally subsided considerably, and the Zeon soldiers who had spent the entire day hiding in their bunkers were finally able to leave their bunkers under the cover of darkness and breathe some fresh air.

Although the air still smelled strongly of gunpowder, it was much better than the smell inside the bunker.

Behind the Zeon positions, hidden underground bunkers slowly opened their above-ground doors, and then mobile suits, tanks, and even behemoths like the Dabude-class emerged from the ground.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please wait for my good news!"

After bidding farewell to everyone at the command post, the commander of the 2nd Zeon Division, who was in charge of directing the operation, boarded a Gallup-class ship. At this moment, he had to personally lead the attack, because all the remaining troops of the 2nd Division were involved in this night counterattack. As the supreme commander, even if he died, he wanted to be with his men.

Karma really wanted to participate, but due to his special status, Dejin had issued twelve orders from Zeon to return immediately. However, each evacuation order only made Karma's desire to stay stronger, to the point that he eventually had a fight with Dejin.

"If the people of Zeon believe that a commander who abandons his troops and deserts can succeed you as the new prince, then I am ready to leave at any time!"

Looking at his conflicted youngest son, Dejin felt he had no words to express his suffering. Why was he in such a hurry to send Karma to Earth in the first place?
At this moment, Karma's heart was filled with indescribable complex emotions, because not only the commander of the Second Division himself, but also Char had left his side to participate in the battle on the front line.

"At this moment, as the Red Comet, I cannot let down the soldiers who idolize me!"

After hearing Char's words, Karma felt even more embarrassed, and Char kindly comforted him.

"We each have our own battles to fight, and we just need to stick to our posts. If you feel bad about it, then when I return victorious, welcome me with authentic Earth wine!"

"no problem!"

Then, under Garma's watchful eye, Char boarded his crimson high-mobility Zaku and disappeared into the night along with the departing Gallup-class.

After the troops completed their assembly, the Zeon forces quickly began suppressing the Federation forces with artillery fire. They hadn't been idle all this time; at least the coordinates of the artillery bombardments were clearly known. So, even though the effects of the bombardments on the Federation forces couldn't be clearly seen at night, the Zeon artillery still ensured the accuracy of their shelling.

The Federation forces deployed at the Zeon breakthrough point were unaware of the Zeon army's nighttime raid, and even their superiors were unaware. As a result, the Federation forces under attack were thrown into chaos.

This was indeed cruel for these troops, as it meant that their superiors regarded them as pawns to be sacrificed, but in order to ensure that the Zeon could act according to the predetermined plan, Rebil resolutely carried out the plan.

Despite the chaos, the attacked Federation troops quickly launched a counterattack. Although the wireless communication and detection methods of each unit were rendered ineffective by the interference of the rice grains, the Federation troops at the front line were still able to call in rapid artillery support through wired communication.

The rocket artillery units deployed behind the Federation forces unleashed a massive barrage of rocket-propelled mines in the darkness, targeting any direction the Zeon forces might be attacking. Then, cluster munitions, incendiary bombs, and other special munitions were scattered as if they were free.

Under this fierce attack, the Zeon army's offensive was met with a head-on blow as soon as it was launched, and even caused many Zeon commanders to consider retreating.

"With the Federal Army's deployment so tight, how can our army possibly break through?"

However, a Zaku commander was the first to step forward.

"That is?"

"It's Colonel Carmant!"

He was a veteran Zeon regimental commander. Seeing his subordinates beginning to slack off, the commander immediately and without hesitation piloted his mobile suit to the front line.

"Charge, soldiers, for Zeon!"

Then, the machine leaped forward and plunged into the hellish battlefield.

Seeing their commander set such an example, a group of Zeon mobile suits followed suit. Led by more and more officers, the Zeon forces descended into utter madness. Bullets rained down from above, and mines, craters, and the remains of their comrades lay beneath their feet, yet they still charged in, howling as they went.

Although the colonel's cockpit was blown up by a sniper on the Federation's defensive line less than a kilometer into the distance, the Zeon forces' momentum had already taken shape.

Such a frenzied attack immediately put the Federation troops under tremendous pressure and caused them to suffer heavy losses. However, the Federation troops were also almost in a bloodthirsty frenzy. Even at this moment, the Zeon people were still thinking of fighting to the death, so they would fight them to the bitter end.

The Federation troops on the position turned all their firepower toward the enemy in front of them, but the Zeon soldiers still managed to break through the Federation's fire blockade and reach the vicinity of the position by sacrificing themselves.

"Fix bayonets, brothers, let's fight the Zeon!"

"Forget about the extension of firepower, the Zeon is right in my face, fire at me, fire at me!"

While the defenders and attackers were exchanging blows in a narrow area in a near-suicidal manner, the federal reinforcements in the rear were also rapidly advancing toward the front line according to the normal plan, trying to support the friendly forces as quickly as possible and help them hold the line.

Just as they were hurrying forward, blurry black shadows quietly appeared above their heads.

"Captain Schneider, we've arrived!"

"Well, I saw it!"

On the lead Dede YS, inside a machine with a design different from the Zaku and Tiger, but also with a single eye and pulse lines extending from its waist and abdomen, and spikes for melee combat covering its body, a bald black pilot pointed the camera at the Federation forces below. Through the monitor, he could clearly see GMs and Type 61s.

"We can't let these guys interfere with our brothers!"

The black pilot, named Doug Schneider, then spoke into the communications channel. Immediately afterward, one after another, the Dede YS aircraft began their dive, accompanied by sharp whistles as aerial bombs and rockets were launched from beneath them. Simultaneously, the Zeon aircraft atop the Dede YS raised various weapons and began firing downwards.

Caught off guard, the Federation forces were thrown into chaos. GMs and tanks were blown to pieces without even firing a shot, and some vehicles even crashed and wrecked themselves in the attack.

However, as Dede dived, the Federation's mobile suits also detected these aerial creatures and quickly launched a counterattack. Amidst the howling gunfire, Doug Schneider's unique mobile suit nimbly leaped out of the air and, illuminated by two trailing barrages, crashed into a GM that was firing on the ground.

The two Gatling guns mounted on the nose of the machine rotated and sprayed bullets at the enemy to disrupt their aim. Then, Doug pulled out a heat spear and stabbed it fiercely at Jim.

When Jim's pilot saw the lit spearhead, he instinctively raised his shield, but the spear was longer than he expected. His mech was pierced through by the spear and collapsed helplessly to the ground.

"That guy's suspicious, let's all attack him together!"

Upon seeing the strange shape of the other machine, the two GMs closest to it became more alert. Subsequently, the two machines dropped their MG79s, which had run out of ammunition, and pounced on the other machine at the same time.

They had planned to attack from both sides and take down the enemy, but to Jim's surprise, the enemy's machine was more agile and had a greater output of power.

"Don't underestimate Ifrit!"

Doug maneuvered his machine toward the enemy, slamming his thermal spear down hard, causing one GM to lose its balance. Then, the machine spun around in a large windmill with the spear before stabbing the second GM hard in the waist, forcing it to stagger back a few steps.

Then, Doug changed the direction of his spear and thrust it straight through the first GM. He then pulled out the spear with one hand, turned his machine around and knelt down. After spinning around in a big circle, the spear was thrust into the chest of the second GM by the opponent in a kneeling thrusting posture.

This is a new type of mobile suit developed by the Zeon military, designated MS-08TX, named Ifrit. This mobile suit was developed at the same time as Tiger, but it was abandoned by the Zeon high command due to its poor maintainability. However, due to its excellent close combat performance, the Zmador Corporation, which manufactured it, still built eight units for use by Zeon special forces.

The Magasija team, led by Doug Schneider, received three of the boards.

This unit is also a special unit established by Kycilia Zabi. Its members are young pilots in the Zeon army who are skilled but have not been selected as elites due to their background and origins. Kycilia promised that as long as these pilots can achieve results, they will be transferred to her ace unit, the Chimera Squadron.

Now is the time for these three machines to show their skills.

After eliminating the enemy in front of him, Doug piloted his mech forward and soon spotted several Federation mechs engaged in a fierce battle with his own people.

Without the slightest hesitation, the Ifrit, like a raging bull, ignited its rocket propulsion engine and charged towards the enemy. Its thermal spear was drawn again, deflecting the beam saber aimed at its allies. The Ifrit then spun around and crashed into a GM, smashing the GM's head with the melee spikes on its shoulder.

Then, he continued to charge at Jim, swinging his spear again to deflect one of Jim's beam sabers. With a thrust and a flick of the spear, he severed one of the opponent's legs. Jim's pilot tried to interfere with the opponent using his head cannon, but Doug completely ignored him. With a retraction and another flick of the spear, he severed Jim's shield-wielding arm.

Then, Doug swung his elbow backward again, causing the Jim he was using as a human shield to stumble. He also used his spear to strike and destroy the Jim on the ground.

Then, a burst of sparks suddenly erupted on the right side of his machine. It was a GM that had circled around and hit Ifrit with its MG79.

Doug reacted quickly. He controlled his machine to release the spear, and then, using the swaying Jim behind him as a shield, he took the shotgun assigned to Ifrit with his right hand and fired a shot at Jim.

The 42mm armor-piercing projectiles slammed into the GM, sending sparks flying across most of its body. Then, Ifrit fired several more shots, completely obliterating the upper half of the GM.

Then, finally, he turned around and fired two more shots at the headless Jim behind him.

Magasilia's raid went very smoothly. The seven squads of mobile suits wiped out twice their number of enemies and destroyed the same number of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. Their own losses were only two mobile suits destroyed and three Dedas shot down.

This loss might not seem like much to the Federation forces, but the front lines were desperately short of reinforcements. With their reinforcements cut off, the defensive line began to crumble. Then, the Magasian forces attacked from the rear of the Federation forces, directly cutting off their command post. Without proper coordination, despite the Federation troops fighting desperately and even suffering total annihilation, Zeon managed to breach their defenses.

"Sir, the Federation forces have been repelled!"

"Well done! I'll recommend you for commendation!"

The commander of the 2nd Zeon Division was also startled by the shock. After all, they really didn't expect that the Federation Army was completely different from the past. Back then, a single Zaku could chase down an entire regiment of Federation soldiers, but now, even if all they had left were rocket launchers, these Federation soldiers would still fire one at the weakest Zaku units before they died.

Regardless of the circumstances, they had at least managed to break through the Union Army's defenses after paying a heavy price. The 2nd Division and its follow-up units then focused on advancing. If they could reach the vicinity of Seattle by the next day, then the Union Army would be surrounded by the Zeon forces.

"At all costs, keep advancing! Get the troops along both flanks and make sure they link up with our allies in Seattle before Union reinforcements arrive!"

"Also, tell Captain Doug that the Federation Army is very likely to mobilize the Red Dragon Battalion to participate in the operation to retake the defensive line, and tell him to be careful!"

Then, a steady stream of Zeon troops quickly advanced northward along the breach that had been torn open. Even when the Federation forces called in artillery fire, they were unable to stop the advance. They charged forward relentlessly, disregarding the risk of casualties, even under a hail of rocket fire.

"Report to command immediately! The defense line has been breached. Request reinforcements immediately. Also, call in the reserves. I will personally lead the team to take back the defense line!"

Upon learning that the defense line had been breached, the Federation commander hurriedly tried to reorganize his troops to retake it. However, after working for a long time and finally managing to gather a small number of mobile troops, the command ordered him to cease all operations.

"Why is that? The enemy is pouring in continuously. If we don't plug the gap, our troops still in the encirclement will be wiped out!"

Faced with the other party's question, the Federation Command did not offer any explanation. However, the commander soon realized the significance of the command's actions, as the white Gundam belonging to the Red Dragon Squadron arrived in his defense zone.

(End of this chapter)