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

Chapter 191 Unrest
"I am back!"

"Welcome back, sir!"

Listening to the call from CIC on the channel, and watching the hangar hatch slowly open in front of him, Makarius suddenly felt a sense of disorientation.

This feeling wasn't the aftereffects of PTSD from the battlefield, but more like a sense of unreality. Markarius felt as if he had been put on fast-forward; the battle that had lasted for almost a day seemed to him as if it had only happened in an instant.

He donned his armor and charged into battle, tearing through the enemy formation as if it were just a moment ago. Now, however, he has returned to the Enterprise in a Gundam covered in various scars, frightening but not lethal.

While Makarius was still immersed in the surreal feeling of jumping, the ground crew waiting outside had already jumped onto the aircraft, which was covered with a thick layer of satellite dust, and urgently opened the cockpit door from the outside.

"Sir, are you alright?"

"It's nothing, I'm just a little tired!"

"Get a stretcher, quick! Get the infirmary ready!"

Before Markarius could provide further explanation, the ground crew members had already started shouting anxiously.

After being pulled out of the cabin by several people, Makarius realized that all his strength had been drained. Clearly, a whole day of such high-intensity fighting had taken a heavy toll on him.

When his pilot suit was removed, even more beads of sweat appeared, gathering in clumps in the air.

Watching the ground crew silently cleaning up the sweat with their tools, Chief Maintenance Officer Kiyoshi Sakaki, with his gray hair, couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

"That guy, I thought he wouldn't get tired!"

"He's not Superman, but we also have to thank him. Without him, how could we have won so easily?"

Captain Paul glanced at the bridge in front of him. Immediately after the battle, he tallied the losses of the entire battle group and fleet. To his surprise, the losses of the entire battle group were very small, with less than a dozen mobile suits and one Salamis-class cruiser damaged. Most of the damage was recoverable. In particular, the Enterprise hadn't even been hit by a single bullet. Keep in mind that the Enterprise's position was not far back at all, but even at the forefront of the battle line. Another Magellan-class battleship in the same opposing fleet had even been hit by a particle cannon shot. It could only be said that this was probably just luck!

In reality, the Federation's overall losses were not that severe. Of the more than 7,000 mobile suits and Iron Balls that were deployed, only a little over 1,500 were lost, and one-third of them could still be repaired. As for the warships, the Salamis, which served as human shields, suffered greater losses, but only 20 were sunk, while nine Magellan-class battleships were sunk.

Such losses were mainly caused by the fortress's defensive firepower. Fort Solomon itself was a huge armed fortress with countless weapons, including all kinds of missile launchers and gun emplacements.

However, this firepower configuration ultimately failed to play a significant role, even preventing the Federation's secretly developed anti-fortress weapons from being deployed. Due to the lack of mobile suits, the Zeon fleet was powerless to stop the Federation's advance, allowing the Federation fleet to unleash its full firepower at its leisure. The Magellan-class battleships' artillery squadrons could focus on long-range sniping of the fortress's gun emplacements and missile silos without distraction. Even Dozle's other two Gwakin-class battleships were destroyed in the ensuing exchange of fire.

The Federation forces suffered the most heavy losses in the attack boats responsible for releasing the light-screen chaff. In an effort to weaken the Zeon forces' firepower as much as possible, the Federation deployed more than 280 attack boats, but only about 60 of them were able to return safely.

Of course, under the powerful blows of the Federation forces, the Zeon garrison in Solomon suffered losses no less severe than those in the previous battles on the ground.

The main force of the mobile suit unit was almost completely wiped out. Of the more than 2,200 mobile suits, less than 300 escaped. Moreover, most of these mobile suits were old Zaku series. The elite Rikki Domo was completely lost in the Federation Army's siege.

In addition, several mobile armors were destroyed in the battle. These mobile armors were probably not designed to be surrounded by enemies hundreds of times their size. They only ran rampant on the battlefield for a short while before being dealt with by the Red Dragon battle group and Amuro.

The fortress's garrison fighter force also encountered a massive enemy attack. The Federation fighters and mobile suits that took off from the Columbus-class aircraft carriers joined forces to decisively break the wings of the Zeon Air Force. Of the nearly 600 fighters, only less than 100 were able to land safely. Most of these fighters were later destroyed by the pilots and ground crew who had received surrender orders. This was the only thing those unwilling soldiers could do.

As for the Solomon garrison, which was almost completely wiped out, all of the Musai-class cruisers and Chibe-class heavy cruisers were sunk or captured. Of the three Gvakin, two were sunk in battle and one was severely damaged and captured. What pained Zeon the most was that their supercarrier, the Dolores, which they had built at great expense, could not be safely evacuated.

This was unavoidable, since Anabelcardo wasn't going to become Solomon's Nightmare and slaughter the Federation's pursuit fleet this time. Instead, Macarius sent Amuro to pursue Zeon's rearguard.

The Zeon mobile suits, already traumatized by the G3 Gundam's "Scattering Flowers" move on the battlefield, chose to flee immediately upon seeing Amuro Ray with his massive particle cannon. Now, dozens of mobile suits are left to drift in the vast universe, slowly waiting to die, their fuel exhausted.

Of course, if they are lucky, they will be captured by the Federation patrol fleet and then become civil workers to participate in the reconstruction of the ruins of Earth's war.

If they're unlucky, once the oxygen, food, and water are all used up, they'll have no choice but to go and report to the cosmic ghost.

As for the personnel and troops stationed at Fort Solomon, their main losses came from the internal strife that followed Dozru's orders. At that time, the Federation forces had not even entered the fortress yet. Then, the Zeon forces, unwilling to surrender, engaged in a fierce and bloody battle with the surrendered troops.

The intensity of the battle was comparable to that of Stalingrad. Both sides even deployed heavy firepower, including mobile suits and tanks, inside the fortress. The reason, of course, was the difference in their positions. The Zeon forces, unwilling to accept defeat, regarded their laid-down allies as enemies and intended to slaughter them. The Zeon forces under attack, unwilling to surrender, had no choice but to fight back desperately.

The battle between the two sides lasted for a long time until the Federation forces, with the cooperation of the surrendered Zeon troops, entered the fortress and then, together with the surrendered forces, carried out a suppression operation.

At the time, the Federation commander, who only knew how to fight, felt that life was extremely messed up, since he had to command his troops to cooperate with the Zeon army to fight the Zeon army.

Fortunately, the Federation forces, who held an overwhelming advantage, easily dealt with the remaining enemy forces inside the fortress.

After the battle, Zeon immediately obtained firsthand detailed information about the outcome of the Battle of Solomon Fortress, especially after the Zeon high command learned that Dozle had not died in battle but had been captured alive by the Federation forces.

"That damned coward!"

Kilian's furious roar echoed across the roof of the palace. He couldn't accept that Dozru had survived. After learning of the Federation forces' attack on Solomon, he had even prepared a speech for Dozru in advance, just in time to give him another big boost to morale.

And you tell me that the muscle-bound gorilla who looks like he has no brains was actually captured alive!
“The Zabi family has no such cowards. Our beloved brother, Karma, has died in battle, but Dozru is clinging to life. We should expel him from the family tree. Yes, wipe this bastard out completely!”

However, compared to Gihren, Deakin looked relaxed, and even seemed happy to Kycilia. Clearly, having already lost one son, Deakin was still afraid of losing another, especially Dozru, who was more obedient than Gihren.

"Enough, Kiran, now is no longer the time to talk about this!"

Dejin tapped the floor with his cane, his tone serious.

"The Federation forces have already taken Solomon; next, it'll be Abaoa's turn!"

“Abawakun and Solomon are not the same!”

Kilian turned around and glanced at his father. The brilliance in his father's eyes had vanished, replaced by timidity and hesitation. Clearly, the other side had changed its mind about the war.

"With me here, Abaoakong Fortress will never fall!"

"You just need to stay here quietly and wait for my good news of victory!"

"Moreover, instead of worrying about Abaokong, we should think about how to settle those two!"

Kilian then ignored the two people in the room and strode out.

"Kycilia?"

"Father?"

"Is the situation beyond saving?" After Gihren left, Dejin immediately looked at his daughter, who took off her strange hat and mask and knelt down beside him, appearing very obedient.

"The situation of our army is indeed very bad!"

"I understand!"

Dejin glanced at his daughter and then nodded.

"Alright, you can leave now. Let me have some peace and quiet!"

Deakin then sat down in a chair and closed his eyes as if he were asleep, but after Kycilia’s footsteps left the room, he suddenly opened his eyes again.

"Get me contact Prime Minister Darcia! I want to meet with him at a discreet time!"

Although there seemed to be no outsiders in the room, Dejin still casually said this to the air.

Not long after, Prime Minister Giondarsia, who was working at the Prime Minister's residence, received a note from his secretary.

"Do those black stray dogs know?"

After glancing at the contents of the note, Darcia crumpled it into a ball and lit it with a lighter. He put it in the ashtray when the note was almost completely burned. Then, his secretary poured a cup of hot water into the ashtray to dissipate the ashes.

"I don't know, it's a secret passage, it's extremely urgent!"

The secretary put down her water glass and then answered carefully.

"I understand!"

Prime Minister Darcia seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, then put aside the document in his hand that outlined the reduction of domestic food rations for the front lines, and then casually mentioned it.

How's the weather today?

"The meteorological department is preparing for rainfall!"

"Rain? Hmph, what, even the Führer's Guard can't control the situation in Zum City, so they're trying to use rain to control the people!"

"After all, our army lost the Solomon Fortress. Now, many people are coming to me wanting to find out some information!"

The secretary answered cautiously.

"Gathering information? What information are they gathering? These opportunists are already preparing to welcome their new master?"

Darcia found it amusing, but what could he do? He couldn't very well order the Führer's guards to drag these guys out into the street and hang them one by one. He and Gihren were only there because they had no other choice.

"Don't pay any attention to those guys anymore, or I won't be able to protect you if something happens!"

"understand!"

The secretary nodded repeatedly.

"What about over there?"

Let's wait for it to rain!

Before long, artificial rainmaking operations began throughout the city of Zim. To ensure it was more in line with the weather, even the lights inside the satellite were dimmed.

Then, in the drizzling rain, an ordinary little car drove straight to Dejin's royal palace along the grand road. Perhaps because of the heavy rain, the royal guards stationed outside the palace did not conduct a thorough inspection of the vehicle. After seeing that Dejin's private doctor was sitting in the car, they immediately let it pass.

Once the car entered the palace, a nimble old man emerged from the trunk—Prime Minister Darcia.

"Minister Darcia, I am prepared to make peace with the Federation!"

Although Darcia was mentally prepared, he was still taken aback when he met Dejin, who was covered in dust from his journey.

"Was this your idea or the Commander-in-Chief's?"

Dejin looked at Darcia helplessly. This was the result of him sidelining Gihren. After hearing any plan or scheme, the other party even had to ask who it was from first.

"It was my idea. Gihren has completely lost control. He's going to drag the entire country into an abyss!"

Dejin appeared particularly agitated, and even coughed.

"I understand, if that's what you're thinking!"

After listening to Dejin's words, Darcia's expression gradually became resolute.

After finishing his conversation with Dejin, he climbed back into the trunk, but this time when he went out, the head of state's guards had to carefully inspect the vehicle again.

Just as the trunk was about to open, the guard in the driver's seat had already reached for the pistol in his pocket, but suddenly, several explosions were heard in the distance.

"what happened?"

"It looks like the Ministry of National Defense?"

"An explosion has occurred at the Ministry of Defense!"

The royal guards had no time to inspect the vehicles; they all rushed onto the road and quickly set up roadblocks, since they were responsible for both monitoring the royal palace and protecting it.

Darcia's car was then roughly driven away by the other party.

"That scared me to death! But how could there be an explosion at the Ministry of Defense?"

Darcia looked at the gunboats whizzing overhead, full of doubt.

"Could it be a coup?"

(End of this chapter)