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

Chapter 215 Construction Corps and Bad News
"report!"

"Please come in!"

"Good afternoon, sir!"

"Good afternoon. Is this the complete list?"

"Yes!"

Having received an affirmative answer, Markarius casually opened the flexible screen in front of him, and then a long list of names appeared before him.

This is the list of veterans of the Red Dragon Combat Group. After all, not everyone has a general grandfather like Markarius, so they don't have a bright future in the military. Therefore, even soldiers serving in such an elite unit sometimes want to retire and go home.

Some of these officers and soldiers were tired of war and weapons, while others felt they had better prospects in civilian life than in the military. In any case, for whatever reason, they all submitted their discharge applications, and now, as long as Makarius approves, they can quickly take off their uniforms and return to civilian life.

Marcarius was not a heartless capitalist, and he would not block his subordinates' applications to leave the military. However, he hoped that his subordinates could have a stable and reliable job even if they did not serve in the military.

Therefore, after reviewing the list, he did not rush to sign it. Instead, he called each of the officers and soldiers who were about to retire to his office one by one, had a detailed conversation with them, and then signed his name in front of them.

Most officers and soldiers have decent plans after leaving the military. Even if they are not clear about their plans, they at least have a skill or a good job before the war. However, the future of a small number of officers and soldiers is not clear. These officers and soldiers do not have any skilled professional skills or good family backgrounds. The only thing they learned in the army was how to pull the trigger and how to kill.

Marcarius was far from comfortable letting these soldiers go back. Yes, they would have enough severance pay, but how long could it last? Marcarius was certain that once these guys left the army and returned to their hometowns, they would unceremoniously take out all their cash and start squandering it, turning their severance pay into endless alcohol and countless women. And then, how would they live without money? Marcarius had no idea.

But there are only so many things you can do: either rely on the skills you learned in the military to get rich, or work for whoever offers the highest price!
Therefore, Makarius did not sign their discharge reports, but instead, in his capacity as the unit commander, ordered these officers and soldiers to remain in the army for several more months to provide military training for the incoming recruits.

This would also allow them to receive several months' salary in addition to their regular pay, so the officers and soldiers had no objections.

After finishing his work, Makarius turned on his computer and quickly began writing a brand new report, which he then sent to Gopp.

When Gop, who was also working through the night, received the report, he was taken aback. He then opened it and began to read it carefully.

"Hmm, not bad, not bad!"

Gop, holding his fragrant coffee, nodded repeatedly as he looked at the newly submitted report.

Then, at the routine meeting the next day, Gop brought out a proposal regarding the resettlement of retired federal soldiers.

"This is?"

Rebil said as he sipped his coffee.

"Some problems that have arisen in our military's retirement work may not seem like issues at the moment, but if ignored, they could cause us considerable trouble in the future!"

In fact, the problem that Makarius raised was not an isolated case. Due to the needs of the war, the Federation Army expanded to a scale of tens of millions. After the war, a large number of troops naturally had to be demobilized. Releasing millions of laborers to replenish society sounds wonderful, but the problem is that these millions of laborers are not ordinary people, but professional soldiers who have received rigorous training.

Most of these federal soldiers, like the subordinates that Makarius had retained, were unskilled and not even good at opening a can of luncheon meat as easily as they were at opening a box of ammunition. Releasing them back into civilian life so readily has become a real problem.

Although the Federation Army Logistics Department also offers skills training courses to train interested Federation Army veterans, these programs are limited and small in scale, so the number of Federation Army members who can acquire new skills through the training is naturally not very large.

The remaining veterans will not have a smooth journey after returning to society. After all, the sacred halo will not last long, and the good things may not be the same under the glamorous exterior. When the halo is removed, the contradictions will become apparent.

Therefore, it is essential to provide socialization training for retired federal officers and soldiers.

The proposal that Gop submitted was related to this planning proposal!

"To regroup and reorganize retired federal officers and soldiers into a construction corps?"

"That's a very novel idea!"

Rebil was also hearing such a proposal for the first time, and immediately became quite interested.

"Hmm, someone gave me a little inspiration!"

Gop then explained with a smile. The so-called Construction Corps was a semi-military, semi-civilian unit that organized retired soldiers of the Federal Army. It was unlikely that these soldiers would return to society and contribute to its well-being, but their obedience to orders and their proficiency in operating various engineering machinery made them very suitable for one thing: engineering and infrastructure construction!

In fact, this is an extremely good option for the Federation, because the neutral organization responsible for building the colony satellites, the Colony Commune, also suffered heavy losses in the war, and a considerable number of its personnel and equipment were conscripted by Zeon and the Federation, which makes it extremely difficult for the Federation to carry out post-war reconstruction.

By establishing construction corps in severely affected areas, such as the Australian continent and West Asia, the aim is to restore the operation of local cities and infrastructure. This would also allow the construction corps to make a smoother transition from military to civilian life, after which these personnel can settle in the areas they have built and revitalize the local economy.

The same applies to outer space colonies. The normal operation of a colony satellite society naturally requires a sufficient population, especially able-bodied laborers. So, what better able-bodied laborers are veterans?

Moreover, placing these loyal veterans in the rebuilt colonies and having them live alongside space refugees could influence the space refugees' political stance to some extent.

Making them more politically aligned with the Federation rather than Zeon would also suppress the idea of ​​a cosmic division!

Most importantly, the federal army can also obtain a batch of funding from the parliament to implement the project!

After listening to Gop's plan in detail, Rebil was naturally very satisfied with it. He did not want the Federation Army, whose reputation had finally improved, to go down the old path and become a cancer in the mouths of the Federation residents.

Therefore, he immediately submitted the plan to the parliament for review again. The parliament could not refuse the plan. The severely damaged areas did need manpower to rebuild, but these areas had suffered serious manpower losses. The emergence of the construction corps could save the parliament from the trouble of forcing administrative orders to promote the movement of people. At the same time, Rebil also stated that these construction corps were not under the jurisdiction of the Federal Army, but were divided into early and late stages. In the early stage, the Federal Army Logistics Department would plan and direct the reconstruction work. Later, it would be transferred to local government, and in this way, the ownership would be in the hands of the parliament.

Therefore, the plan was quickly approved, and a large number of federal army veterans readily agreed to it. After all, not everyone can find a job in a short period of time. The existence of the construction corps can at least provide them with a stable job for at least three to five years, and they can also learn various livelihood skills.

Thus, with the cooperation of all parties, a batch of experimental construction corps were formed in just a few days and then dispatched to various post-war reconstruction areas according to orders.

Under clear orders and unified command, their work results were very satisfactory to all parties. In the disaster-stricken areas of the Australian continent, the construction corps completed the repair of a damaged harbor in just one month. The GM, which used to wield a beam spray gun and a saber, was transformed into the most useful engineering machine, which was very useful for clearing debris or moving heavy objects.

In Central Asia, the oil extraction equipment that was previously damaged by the war has been extinguished thanks to the efforts of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and the oil well leak has been brought under control. All that is needed now is to rebuild the oil refinery so that it can resume production.

As the post-disaster reconstruction work is about to get on track and begin in full swing, both civilians and members of parliament are very happy. After all, it has made such a good start right from the beginning. After that, the Federation will surely be able to return to the rapid development it had when it was first established. The suspended deep space exploration will also be resumed. Then, the Federation's golden age will return like lightning!
But at this critical juncture, the Delaz fleet, which had been lying in wait in the space between the Earth and the Moon Reef, finally couldn't sit still any longer!
After all, the Federation's orderly resumption of post-war reconstruction was not what they wanted to see. So, the Delaz Fleet, which had finally managed to establish a foothold in the space, was reorganized. After grouping together the warships in better condition, the Delaz Fleet appeared in the side 4 space and attacked the Moorish Fellowships once again!
"Thirsty Geron!"

"For the greater good of the Zabi family!"

The Delaz fleet, which had been thoroughly humiliated by the Federation's regular army, found considerable presence within the Moorish Compatriots' group. Several patched-up Musai-class ships, in a loose formation, charged out of the ruins and, under the cover of dozens of similarly cobbled-together mobile suits, launched an attack on the Moorish Compatriots' rebuilt fleet.

Although the Moorish Brotherhood's rebuilt fleet had armed escorts, due to the profit-driven nature of capital, most of the mobile suits and Salamis cruisers they had previously used were returned to the Federation. After all, the cost of continuing to lease equipment was considerable, and the few remaining warships and mobile suits were no match for the ferocious Zeon forces.

Moreover, while the Moorish Brotherhood's Salamis was engaged in fierce battle with the Zeon forces, the Delaz fleet also brought out their secret weapon: a fully-fledged Gwakin-class battleship. Upon seeing this behemoth appear, the Moorish Brotherhood's escort forces were immediately thrown into a state of paralysis.

"team leader?"

"Don't be afraid, brothers! Even if we die here today, we must protect the transport fleet. That's our family's hope of returning home. Let's fight them to the death!"

The remaining ships and mobile suits of the Moorish Brotherhood still stood at the forefront without hesitation. Despite knowing that the chances were slim, the Brotherhood's Salamis continued to fire, using particle cannons and missiles to fiercely attack the attacking Zeon remnants.

The mobile suits of the Fellowship also showed the courage to fight Zeon's mobile suits one for one, but the Fellowship, which was at a disadvantage in both quantity and quality, was eventually dealt a devastating blow.

Salamis's attack had no effect on Gwakin's attack; on the contrary, Gwakin destroyed his comrade Salamis with just two volleys.

Despite the destruction of the warship, the mobile suits of the Brotherhood continued to fight until the last unit was destroyed. The engineering machinery and large quantities of materials transported by the reconstruction fleet to repair the colony became the spoils of the Delaz fleet.

Meanwhile, Vice Admiral Aijudilaz, commander of the Delaz fleet, did not forget to issue a statement to the entire Earth Sphere via intermittent signals.

"The Earth Federation's victory is nothing but a fabricated propaganda by corrupt officials. The resistance of the Principality of Zeon will not disappear. As the heir to the Zabi family's righteous cause, I declare that the Delaz Fleet is at war with the Earth Federation!"

With the situation looking so promising, Ajudiz's declaration was like a drop of water falling into a pot of boiling oil, immediately causing a great uproar. Although the group attacked by the Dilaz fleet was the Moorish compatriots, they were also part of the Earth Federation. In particular, the destroyed Salamis warships and GMs were naturally Federation standard equipment, and they just floated quietly in the camera as broken wreckage. This was undoubtedly a resounding slap in the face to the Federation.

In particular, several members of parliament who had spoken out in front of the media, claiming that Zeon would no longer have any ability to threaten the peace of the Federation, were besieged by the media at their doorsteps.

Coincidentally, almost immediately after the Delaz fleet emerged, an incident occurred on Earth where Zeon's submarine force transformed into pirates, attacking transport ships and ports, causing losses to civilian ships and personnel. Furthermore, the submarines also sent aquatic mobile suits ashore to plunder warehouses, stealing a considerable amount of supplies.

Although the scale of the attack was not large, the remnants of Zeon were a hot topic, which naturally reignited public opinion and cast doubt on the Federation, which had just won the war.

(End of this chapter)