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

Chapter 18 Artificial Rain

The heavy rain prepared for the exercise began to fall in the early morning. Although it was an artificial settlement, most of the colony satellites still had weather and season adjustment functions for the physical health of the residents.

After all, the colony satellite is so small, and if you don't come up with some tricks, the residents living in it will soon get bored.

So, just like on Earth, the regulation system within the colony satellite will occasionally create different weather for everyone, such as rainy or snowy days, but the rain and snow here are not naturally formed, but artificial, and the source is the fresh water reserves inside the colony satellite.

These fresh waters turn into raindrops and fall to the ground. In addition to replenishing the water needed for vegetation, most of the water resources will flow back to the collection device located below the ground for purification for the next use. Of course, the recycling rate is definitely not 100%, so the colonial satellites will also need to replenish fresh water regularly. For Zeon, the sanctions they suffered have made their lives tight, and the use of fresh water for ordinary residents is naturally restricted, but for this exercise, the Principality's General Staff has relaxed the restrictions.

"I heard this rain is going to last all day!"

"What a waste of time! Rain without even a hint of rain! These Zeon people are truly pathetic!"

The armored soldiers who had not slept at all that night because of the exercise were now sitting in the garage waiting for orders. All of them were fully armed, but because the order had not yet been issued, Macharius could only sit on the ammunition box and boredly look at the raindrops outside and chat with the people around him. However, no matter how they chatted, everyone's eyes were fixed on the two military police standing in the corner. They were the referees sent by the directorate, responsible for ensuring the fairness of the exercise, but also had to be on guard against these guys doing something bad, because it was a thankless job, so this kind of work had to be done by the military police, who were bad-faced.

"Beep! Everyone, attention! The drill begins!"

The military policeman, like a statue, stared at his watch face intently. When the pointer pointed to the time, he blew the whistle in his hand loudly.

Then, Macharius jumped off the ammunition box like an arrow and jumped onto the tank beside him. The gendarmes just blinked their eyes and the other party's figure disappeared. Then, the tank's engine roared.

Then, the tracks of Red Dragon No. 1 squeaked as they rolled over the hardened ground and drove into the rain.

On the left side of the tank squad, another row of garage doors opened almost simultaneously, and federal transport vehicles loaded with infantry filed out and followed behind the tank squad.

According to the exercise script, the Federation Army, serving as the blue side, has a tank squad and a reinforced infantry company, while the Zeon Army, serving as the red side, will have a mechanized battalion, a wheeled armored vehicle unit, and a heavy self-propelled mortar company. The strength of the two sides seems to be unequal at all, but this is actually for the sake of balance, because the Zeon Defense Force cannot have regular heavy tanks and other heavy support firepower. All they have are some tracked personnel carriers, wheeled armored vehicles equipped with light automatic guns, and tracked self-propelled mortars.

But the Federation Army has everything. If they were to fight on equal terms, the Zeon Army would not be able to fight at all. They would lose with just artillery firepower. Therefore, in order to balance the combat power, the Federation Army would have to suffer a little.

Moreover, judging from the steps of the exercise, the script also favors the Zeon side, because the Federation Army's mission is to attack and defend. They need to first attack a Zeon Army position full of fortifications and obstacles, occupy it, and then the Red Team composed of Zeon military cadets will recapture this position.

There is nothing wrong with just listening to the plan, but the problem is that the position that the Blue side is attacking is not guarded by Zeon people, but a simulated position. During the attack, the Blue side will compare its performance with the firepower of the defenders in the simulated position. If the tactical score is low, then a portion of the soldiers will be killed in proportion, and then the remaining people will be used to resist the fully equipped Zeon army.

Therefore, at this moment, when the Federation Army marched out in the heavy rain, the Zeon cadets were still lying in their warm beds. But even so, the morale of the Federation remained unshaken.

"Pioneer, this is Red Dragon One. The road conditions are bad. I'll lead the way!"

"Red Dragon One, Vanguard received! Wishing you a successful start!"

Vanguard is the code name of the infantry commander, Big Brother John Miller. Because the exercise was located in the mountains and it was raining heavily, in order to ensure the fastest arrival time, Macharius took the initiative to become the vanguard. Under his leadership, the federal army team passed through the mountainous area that had become somewhat worse due to the heavy rain in the shortest time, and even avoided a flooded road and arrived at the attack area.

"Alright, alright. Although I don't know how they'll perform in the future, for now, my evaluation is full marks!"

In the general command center of the exercise, Lieutenant General Dozle Zabi of the Zeon side couldn't help but applaud as he watched the Federation Army complete the assembly task neatly. Although they had different positions, he would not be stingy with his applause, especially to his enemies, because that would motivate him better.

"I'm looking forward to the exercise more and more!"

After arriving at the attack area, Macharius did not hide in the tank to avoid the rain, but turned off the engine and got out of the tank with all the crew members to meet up with John Miller. If both parties want to capture the attack point, they must work closely together, and in this process, the support of tanks is definitely indispensable. Therefore, it is very important for the crew to grasp the enemy situation. Macharius will not wait for the infantry to painstakingly scout the target intelligence and then send it to him. He would rather have first-hand information, and this has become the habit of the Red Dragon Team!
"You stole my telescope again!"

"It won't break if you take a look! Even if it does, the Federation Army won't reimburse you. Don't be so nervous!"

Looking at the tanker who pushed his men away from the reconnaissance mast terminal, John didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Although they only carried a set of company-level optical reconnaissance equipment, the tank soldiers could also get real-time data through the C4ISR system. But now, it was Macharius who was operating the reconnaissance mast. Wasn't this stealing the scout's job?

"Then what did you see?"

"The Zeon people are giving me, Fat Tiger, a hard time! The firing points they built are very tricky, and if your people aren't careful, they'll suffer a great loss!"

Macharius was multitasking, looking at the image displayed on the terminal while constantly making modifications and corrections on the flexible data board with a data pen. Soon, a defense map, although simple in diagram but full of details, was freshly produced in his hands.

"Look, is there anything else to add?"

(End of this chapter)