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

Chapter 161 The Liberation of North America
The Zeon Navy's decisive and resolute decision to abandon everyone and flee surprised everyone, leaving the Zeon command with no way to intercept them. All the access routes from the dock to the outside world were blocked, making it impossible for vehicles and mobile suits to pass. Only infantry could get through, but when some military police finally managed to climb over, they only found an empty base and a jumble of unmanned aerial vehicles.

The Zeon Navy discarded the aquatic mobile suits that couldn't be taken with them, using all the extra space to store supplies and spare parts. After all, during long-distance voyages, logistical support is far more important than mobile suits.

Such news naturally infuriated the Zeon command. It's not that we dislike you running away, but at least give us a heads-up and take a few more people with you!

However, it was impossible to call them back at this point. The Zeon forces only had seven Shark-class and less than thirty Yukon-class ships, all of which were captured from the Federation Navy. The six Shark-class and more than ten Yukon ships that were taken away by the naval fleet were the only ones. As for the other ships, they were either lost in battle or had to be abandoned due to a lack of spare parts and maintenance. The naval ships that left were like Noah's Ark, each one fully loaded, and there was no room for them to return.

To ensure their safety during their escape, the Zeon Navy fleet remained completely silent. They even sank their ships onto the seabed to avoid the Federation Navy's blockade. Despite this, they eventually had to stop outside the Federation Navy's last blockade line because the ships and mobile suits in front of them were simply too dense!

"I entrust my family to the commander!"

A Yukon-class squadron then charged out of the seabed and launched an attack on the Federation fleet.

"Zeon submarine force detected, confirmed to be Yukon-class!"

"Inject water into the torpedo!"

"Enemy fire! Torpedoes coming from the three o'clock position!"

"Hard port, prepare for anti-submarine warfare!"

The Federation fleet immediately sounded the battle alarm, and the warships began to rush to take up combat positions at maximum speed. Anti-submarine helicopters on the destroyers, loaded with weapons and sonar, quickly took off, while in the hangars of the aircraft carriers, one after another fully prepared WaterGMs were quickly jumping into the water under the control of the pilots.

The calm sea surface was instantly filled with smoke and fire. Torpedoes, bubbling and moving at high speed underwater, rushed towards the Federation warships on the surface. Behind the torpedoes were a group of war crabs and demon crabs, mixed with a few turtle overlords.

Above the torpedo was the Federation Water GM entering the water, and depth charges were being dropped continuously.

The torpedo attack launched by the Yukang-class ships did not cause any damage to the Federation fleet; it was merely a means to disrupt the Federation's formation. Then, it was the turn of the aquatic mobile suits. Beam cannons fired from the deep sea easily tore through the warships' armor and destroyed the equipment behind it, while seawater continued to pour in through the wounds.

The Zeon GM's harpoon gun and missile launcher were also retaliating against the Zeon GMs, but thanks to their superior speed and weaponry, the Zeon GMs easily broke through the Zeon GMs' defenses and entered close combat, smashing several Zeon GMs into pieces. Then, these Zeon GMs charged towards the fleet without looking back.

"Have these guys completely abandoned protecting the mothership?"

"No, their target is the blockade line, stop them!"

One of the pilots, Jim, discovered that the aquatic mechs' objective was not to destroy Federation warships, but to force them to retreat, thereby creating an opening to the open sea.

Because those Yukang-class ships also adopted a do-or-die fighting posture, launching torpedoes at Federation ships while simultaneously assaulting the blockade line.

The Zeon Aqua-Giants wanted to stop them, but they were powerless to do so. The aquatic mobile suits were too fast, and they could only follow behind and fire with all their might. With a desperate stance, the Zeon aquatic mobile suits withstood the Federation's attack and sank several warships, successfully tearing a gap in the encirclement. Then, several fast-moving Yukon-class ships rushed towards the open sea without looking back.

Meanwhile, the aquatic machines remained in place and fought another bloody battle with the Federation forces. Under the siege of the Water GMs, these War Crabs were eventually destroyed in the sea because they ran out of ammunition and food. However, before they died, they took away more Water GMs.

After confirming that a Yukang-class ship had escaped the blockade, the Federation fleet quickly began to pursue it. Other fleets that were originally in the encirclement were also moved out, so the subsequent Shark-class ships were finally able to escape in the chaos, even though the Federation fleet did its best to pursue them after realizing the situation.

In the end, however, all of the Zeon's Shark-class destroyers and a handful of Yukon-class destroyers managed to enter the vast ocean.

"A few enemies escaped? No problem, just keep pursuing them. If the enemy lacks maintenance and upkeep, they won't be able to operate for long!"

Upon learning that some Zeon ships had withdrawn, Reiber was not angry. After all, a small number of naval vessels could not play a significant role, and the enemy's escape was simply to rendezvous with their allies in Central Asia. Therefore, all that was needed was for the Mediterranean Fleet to hold the Bosphorus Strait!
Right now, the garrison at the California base is still the most important!

The departure of the naval fleet was a devastating blow to the Zeon garrison, causing renewed conflict within the Zeon forces over whether to fight or make peace.

Many Zeon soldiers who had initially intended to fight to the death wavered and considered surrendering, but were met with opposition from their allies. What began as mere verbal sparring escalated into a brawl after officers joined in, even involving weapons and mobile suits, turning into a civil war. Fortunately, the fighting was eventually stopped by clear-headed individuals on both sides. Seeing the soldiers who had died in the infighting and the equipment destroyed, the Zeon defenders had no choice but to compromise. Zeon units wishing to surrender could take their personal belongings with them, but they had to hand over their positions to their allies and leave behind all their weapons and ammunition. Zeon units wishing to continue fighting could not prevent the former from surrendering.

Subsequently, tens of thousands of Zeon troops readily left their positions and surrendered to the Federation forces. However, these troops were mostly ordinary Zeon units, not the tough ones. For example, the Führer's Guard or the Kycilia Special Service Division were still holding out in their defensive lines, and they were even plotting how to inflict greater losses on the Federation forces.

As for the Zeon forces that intended to escape back to space via transportation, namely shuttles and HLVs, there were also some. However, as these aircraft slowly accelerated and gradually rose into the air, the Federation sniper teams deployed in various directions gave these aircraft a little bit of "lighting care".

Within a single day, the Zeon forces launched more than twenty HLVs, none of which successfully entered orbit. They were all blasted into brilliant fireballs by particle beams halfway through their journey, and scattered fragments rained down on the Zeon positions.

After opening a two-day window for the surrender of Zeon forces, the Federation forces continued their offensive. Makarius's Red Dragon Battalion was still the vanguard. Then, just one day later, Makarius's G3 Gundam blasted open the doors of the Zeon command post with a beam rifle.

A Zaku tank, unarmed except for two robotic arms for grabbing equipment, burst out from behind the door. Inside the open cockpit was a commander of the Führer's guard in military uniform. His troops had all perished under the guns of Makarius's advance, and now, only he remained!
Marcarius sheathed his weapon and decisively drew his saber, hacking the enemy's machine into scrap metal. However, he did not harm the enemy. The Federation forces had discovered numerous concentration camps outside the Zeon base, where laborers were being held. These were all the work of the Führer's guards. Therefore, if this guy died at his hands, it would definitely be a win for him!
Therefore, he would never let this guy die so easily!

As the destroyed mobile suit was brought to the ground by the Gundam, the Federation infantry who were following the Red Dragon Battalion rushed forward and pulled the enemy out of the cockpit. This process was naturally not gentle. The Federation soldiers punched the enemy with all their might. Then, the commander of the Führer's Guard, whose teeth had been knocked out and whose uniform had been turned into strips of cloth, was handed over to the arriving military police.

After that, Makarius's machine moved unimpeded, encountering no enemies wherever it went.

"Sir, you should take a look at this!"

After the infantry cleared the entire area, Makarius jumped off his machine and followed the infantry commander into the Zeon command post. Then, he arrived at the door of the most spacious office.

Before even entering, Makarius heard the stirring Zeon military music. After pushing open the half-closed door, he saw the corpses of more than a dozen Zeon officers sitting around a conference table, on which were laid out fine wine and food.

Clearly, these high-ranking officers had no intention of surrendering, so they chose to commit suicide here. Before doing so, these guys didn't forget to indulge in one last luxury.

"Our people didn't dare touch anything here. Should I send someone to seal off this place?"

Makarius walked to the head of the table, picked up the golden gun that was hanging on the ground, locked the safety, ejected the magazine, cleared the remaining bullets from the chamber, and then placed the pistol back on the table.

"Collect all the guns, guard the gate, and then notify headquarters. I think they'll be very happy to see this!"

Then, when Makarius walked out of the command post, he saw a dozen federal soldiers struggling to erect a military flag on a high place on the ruins on the ground. The howling sea wind made the flag flutter loudly.

After holding out for just over ten days, the Zeon base in California was completely overrun. Apart from a small number of Zeon naval forces that managed to escape, all the Zeon forces within the base were wiped out. The supreme commander, Commander Garmazabi, was killed in action, and one of the two division commanders was killed in action and the other committed suicide. Twenty-one generals under the Earth Attack Force Command were either killed or captured. The total number of Zeon forces annihilated in the entire battle exceeded 200,000, and the number of those captured by the Federation forces also exceeded 100,000. It can be said that after this battle, there were no more Zeon soldiers left in North America.

The Federation forces also destroyed more than two thousand captured Zeon mobile suits, including dozens of special-purpose mobile suits. As for other technical equipment such as tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, there were countless. In the final stage of the battle, the Zeon forces also lost all of their Dabdo-class mobile suits, and their artillery units lost 90 percent of their equipment and 70 percent of their personnel.

As for the Zeon Second Air Fleet, which was supporting the attack force, it was also completely wiped out. The fleet commander committed suicide. At its peak, the entire fleet had more than 2,000 combat aircraft and a large number of support aircraft. Now, the entire fleet has less than 170 combat-ready Dopps left, and the support aircraft are less than one-tenth of their original size.

In addition, the Federation forces also captured more than ten ships at the Zeon base that had to be abandoned due to a lack of spare parts, including one of the Mashark-class ships.

At the core launch site of the Zeon base, the Federation forces also captured a fully fueled Zanzibar-class cruiser. When discovered by the Federation forces, the ship was hiding a number of Zeon soldiers, two-thirds of whom were women and child soldiers, while the remaining third were a group of wounded personnel. These prisoners initially wanted to use Zanzibar to confront the Federation forces, until two assault tanks belonging to the Red Dragon Squadron rushed out without hesitation and fired warning shots at the surrounding area of ​​Zanzibar with their main guns. Only then were the Zeon personnel on Zanzibar forced to disembark and surrender.

At the same time, news of the liberation of the California base and the recapture of the San Francisco area spread throughout the entire Earth sphere. At this moment, Major General Yuri, who was commanding his troops in Central Asia to resist the Federation Army's offensive, almost fainted when he heard the news. Because without the restraint of North America, the Federation Army was able to devote all its strength to the counterattack in Central Asia. And most importantly, the Red Dragon Battalion would also be recalled. He could even start counting down the days until he died!

However, Major General Yuri was actually quite strong. In space, when Prince Dejin, who claimed to represent the 150 million residents of the universe, learned of the death in Kalmazabi and the fall of the California base, he fainted. If his guards hadn't been quick to call a doctor, the prince might have had to leave with his youngest son.

Even so, it took Dejin a long time to recover. Afterward, the old man in his sixties burst into tears and cried uncontrollably, forcing the doctor next to him to scramble to help him again.

The prince's outburst made it clear to many insiders that the entire Earth sphere was about to undergo a major upheaval!

　I've arrived at the airport hotel today and will resume updates. The past two days have been incredibly busy. Also, while I was writing, a couple next door were having a huge argument.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)