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

Chapter 154 All of you come at me at once, I'm in a hurry!
"Sir, it feels so quiet here!"

"Yes, it's so different in the city compared to the front lines, with no Federal troops blocking our way!"

Under the pitch-black night sky, a squad of mobile suits was advancing rapidly. Behind them was a massive, endless line of soldiers. Although the lights were off, the outline of this long steel mill could still be vaguely seen in the dim moonlight.

"They probably transferred all the troops stationed in the rear to the front lines!"

Captain Doug, driving his Ifrit, surveyed the dark town before him. Most of the buildings were intact, and the doors were locked, indicating that the residents had fled their homes. The Federation forces occupying the area had not yet had time to use the city as a defensive stronghold.

"But those things are no longer important!"

A Zeon pilot stomped on an unfortunate car as if playing a prank, then maneuvered his mech closer to the house to inspect the rooms on the sixth floor.

Are you in a good mood?

"Yes, you know, I've already destroyed seven GMs, so I'm definitely qualified to join the Chimera Squad! If I achieve further merits, I might even receive a title from the Duke and become a nobleman, or even a knight!"

"Yes, that's true."

"Doug said."

"What we've accumulated over the years hasn't all been in vain. And it will continue to do so in the future; as long as we keep moving forward, the road will continue to extend."

As a commander who felt like a father to his men, Doug truly wanted a bright future for them, and at this moment, he was genuinely happy for them!
"Alright, don't get complacent just because you've done something. We still need to keep moving forward!"

As they spoke, the team had already passed through the town and emerged from the other end.

"A tiny flower blooms in the wilderness, her name is Erica!"

Makarius raised his hand to activate the G3's fire control system, while simultaneously resetting the warhead fuses on the rocket launcher's ammunition to ensure it could detonate precisely both in front of and behind the enemy.

"Thousands upon thousands of tiny bees flew swarming toward Erica!"

The detection system's blue aperture quickly captured the humanoid target in the field of view, and then began to perform data calculations on it.

"It's because the flower's heart is full of honey, and its petals exude a captivating fragrance!"

The fire control locking device quickly completed the data calculation, and then the blue circle turned into a red circle indicating that it was ready to fire.

"A tiny flower blooms in the wilderness, her name is Erica!"

As soon as the red locking beep sounded, Makarius pulled the trigger, and the G3 Gundam fired all four rockets in the magazine within two seconds with almost no tremor.

The rocket, which had been hurtling out, exploded right in the middle of the vanguard squad led by Doug, and the explosion and flames instantly engulfed several machines in front of the squad.

"Where is the enemy?"

As the explosion subsided, Doug looked anxiously to his side and saw his subordinate, who had just been chatting with him about the future, lying on the ground covered in shrapnel. Due to the angle of the shot, the enemy's machine had actually blocked a lot of the shrapnel for Doug.

"asshole!"

"Where is the enemy?"

"The rocket was fired from our side, it was quite far away... wait, what's this?"

The squad behind quickly began to shout warnings.

"Sir, a mobile suit has been detected approaching our forces at three times the speed!"

"Three times the speed? Do you think you're Char Aznable?"

The other pilots of the Magasija squadron quickly moved forward, ready to meet the approaching enemy. Soon, they saw the enemy's figure rushing away at high speed.

"This mobile suit is a Gundam. Target confirmed, it's the Red Dragon!"

"Red Dragon?"

"Just his one machine?"

"So far, only this one has been detected!"

Seeing the signal finally appear on his radar, Doug couldn't help but clench his fist. Just a mere machine—how little did the other side take them seriously?

"Let's go!"

Seeing the G3 Gundam suddenly stop thousands of meters away, the pilots of the Magasiia team were about to move forward when suddenly, the G3 Gundam raised its right hand at them and then made a firing gesture.

"That despicable fellow, daring to mock us!"

"No, wait, disperse!"

Makarius's actions were naturally intentional. Although he was the only mobile suit present, it didn't mean he was truly the only one. As he raised his right hand in a firing gesture, long-range fire from the ambushing Federation forces landed right above the Zeon army's main force.

The Magasija team's location was naturally within the strike range. Seeing the rows of fire falling overhead, the Magasija pilots could only do their best to rush forward in order to avoid the fatal blow.

Of the seven squads in the entire company, only the first three managed to escape; the rest were immediately engulfed by the scorching flames.

Before the Magasian pilots could even catch their breath after breaking out of the attack range, another deadly, scorching beam of light shot down from their front.

Marcarius, wielding a double-barreled rifle, first fired at Doug's Ifrit, as this machine posed the greatest threat to him. However, Doug's piloting skills were not to be underestimated; he successfully dodged Marcarius's first two shots by utilizing the Ifrit's maneuverability. The other Zeon pilots, instead of fleeing, opened fire on Marcarius, clearly confident that they had him cornered!

Makarius then decisively shifted his firepower, prioritizing the other ground-based Zaku.

Although these Zeon pilots were veterans who had been through many battles, they could not be considered true experts. With just a few bursts of fire, the two ground-based Zaku were reduced to raging flames.

"Damn, how can that guy be so accurate?"

"Keep moving. As long as you move at high speed, you won't get hit!"

"No, I can't dodge it, he's aiming at me... Ah!"

Chaos erupted in the Magasian pilot channel. Doug felt his heart bleed as he heard about the slaughter of his men. He could only do his best to get Ifrit closer to the enemy, thus giving his allies a chance to fight back.

"Federal pilot, is all you do is bully the weak?" Doug even turned on public communication, and finally, he heard Makarius humming. The other party's cheerful singing made him even angrier.

"Bullying the weak? No, I'm hunting beasts!"

Makarius methodically charged and fired his double-barreled rifles in sequence, his gaze fixed on the Zeon mobile suits in motion, while his beam rifle, with slight adjustments, unleashed deadly beams.

Under his lock, apart from Doug's Ifrit, the other Magasian units were hit one after another like turkeys.

"enough!"

Seeing that his subordinates had been killed or wounded, Doug's Ifrit finally rushed to the G3 Gundam. Then, Ifrit raised his shotgun and fired repeatedly at the G3 Gundam.

"Instead of running away, he's challenging me?"

Marcarius raised his shield to block the shotgun attack, then unleashed another beam from his right-hand light gun. This shot left Ifrit with no way to dodge, forcing him to overload the rocket propulsion engines in his legs to barely veer to the side. However, the aftershocks of the beam still melted half of his shoulder.

But for Doug, that was enough. He dropped his shotgun, which was empty, and then fired like a dragon, his thermal spear thrusting straight at the shield that G3 was protecting in front of him. But when the spearhead struck it, the opponent nimbly sidestepped, causing Doug's spear to miss.

"A bold attempt, but it didn't work!"

The double-barreled beam rifle in the right hand of the G3 Gundam has been put back into the leg holster, and in its place is the beam saber held in the backhand.

Without giving Doug any chance at all, Makarius flicked his wrist and cut off the front half of Doug's spear.

Then, Makarius swung his shield backhand, smashing it heavily onto Ifrit's head and shattering his monitor.

"This is the Ifrit? It's rubbish! If I were an external Zeon pilot, I'd rather fly a B-3 Tiger!"

"you shut up!"

Doug roared as his head slammed into the cockpit and bled from the direct hit of the shield. He then dropped the unusable thermal spear, drew his last thermal sword, and charged at the G3 Gundam once more.

Ifrit's reaction speed was indeed fast, but Doug's reaction speed was no match for Macarius's. Doug's horizontal slash and upward thrust were once again accurately blocked by Macarius. Then, both machines simultaneously activated their head cannons.

In the intense exchange of Gatling gun fire, Ifrit was the first to succumb, as his head armor had already been shattered by the shield. G3's headshot directly destroyed the opponent's unprotected head monitor. Then, Markarius swung his shield again and slammed it heavily into Ifrit's chest.

This attack caused Ifrit to lose his balance and fall to the ground. Then, Macarius's beam saber swiftly pierced into the cockpit.

Only after he destroyed the Ifrit did a massive swarm of GMs emerge from the hillside behind him.

At that moment, the Federation's artillery fire began to extend towards the rear of the Zeon forces. The Zeon soldiers who had barely survived the shelling looked up and saw the blood-red Gundam standing on the ground amidst the flames.

Then, Macarius sheathed his beam saber, raised his right hand again, and swung it forward.

"Attack! Today, I want to see rivers of blood!"

Then, one after another, GMs, at the shouts of their pilots, overtook the G3 Gundam and charged toward the already routed Zeon vanguard.

At this moment, after the devastating bombardment, the Zeon vanguard had little ability to resist. More than 80 percent of the vehicles were destroyed. The Federation forces had used a large number of terminally guided munitions to launch a top-attack on the Zeon armored forces. Although many vehicles did not appear to have any obvious damage on the outside, their interiors were horribly damaged by the top-attack munitions, and many had their engines destroyed.

While the mobile suits had better defenses, the artillery fire still caused them considerable damage. Before they could find a way to repair them, the Federation forces on the front had already pushed forward with hundreds of GMs.

The Zeon forces never imagined they had stepped into a meticulously planned trap. Dazed and confused by the bombardment, the Federation forces hadn't even recovered when their mobile suits were already upon them. Overwhelmed by sheer numbers and firepower, the Zeon vanguard vanguard vanished like bubbles in an instant.

"Damn it, how come the main force of the Federation Army is facing us? Let the First Brigade hold them off to the death, and let the rear troops spread out from both sides. The enemy can't be the main force, at most some reserves!"

The Zeon commander still didn't believe that hundreds of GMs could appear head-on. He thought it was more likely a bluff by the Federation forces. He believed that as long as he adopted a posture of flanking from both sides, the Federation forces would inevitably retreat.

However, under the cover of the Dabude-class, the Zeon forces in the rear quickly advanced towards the flanks of the Federation forces. But in the end, they inevitably ran into the Federation forces that were also advancing, and the two sides engaged in fierce fighting on the spot under the mutual bombardment of each other's artillery.

"How could this be?"

"How did so many Federation troops suddenly appear in front of us?"

The Zeon commander was at a loss for words. If this was not an accident, but a premeditated ambush, then it would make sense.

"No wonder we broke through the defenses and penetrated dozens of kilometers without encountering any resistance!"

The commander suddenly realized that he had thought the Federal Army had moved its main force to the front, leaving the rear vulnerable, but now it seemed that the enemy had made preparations long ago.

"Sir, the First Brigade is wiped out!"

Just as he was racking his brains to find a solution for the next step of the plan, the communications soldier sitting next to him brought another piece of bad news.

"How is that possible? They've only been fighting for less than two hours!"

"Report from the front lines: They've encountered the Red Dragon; the enemy has launched a surprise attack on the brigade command post!"

What about Magasia?

"The Magasia team has completely lost contact!"

"damn it!"

Just then, intense artillery fire suddenly came from behind the Gallup-class base, and the Zeon troops stationed at the rear defensive line began to request reinforcements.

Since it was a trap, it naturally had to look like one. With Makarius and seven divisions of the Federation Army blocking the way, the Federation Army at the defensive line, led by the Red Dragon Battalion, launched a counterattack against the previously lost positions.

Under the rapid offensive of the Ground Gundams possessed by Amuro and other Federation forces, the Zeon forces at the defensive line were forced to retreat due to being attacked from both sides. Then, more Federation forces pressed forward and recaptured the previously lost positions in less than four hours.

Now, the entire 2nd Zeon Division plus two additional independent brigades are surrounded, a force one-third the size of the garrison at the California base.

"Launch a general offensive immediately and annihilate the enemy within the encirclement as quickly as possible!"

Looking at the electronic sand table in front of him at the front-line command post, Rebil knew that although the Federation forces had recaptured the defensive line, it did not mean that the enemy would sit idly by and be annihilated. If the enemy launched a desperate counterattack, the defensive line could still be lost.

Now, it's a race against time!

(End of this chapter)