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

Chapter 218 A bad start
"Slow down and switch the whole team to a cover formation!"

Outside the outer edge of the side 4 space zone, a squadron consisting of several Salamis-class cruisers and two Nelson-class aircraft carriers is maintaining a high state of alert.

Thanks to the support of a relatively complete consortium, the reconstruction of the Moorish community is progressing very quickly. Even though the previous reconstruction fleet was attacked and its supplies and ships were looted, it still could not stop the Moors' determination to return home.

So, within just a week or two after the attack, a second fleet set sail again. This time, the Moorish People's Corps spent a lot of money to buy mercenaries from the Federation. A Federation detachment of the fleet stationed on Golden Rice Island was ordered to provide protection for the Moorish People's Corps' reconstruction efforts.

Then, under the cover of this squadron, the Moorish Brotherhood's reconstruction fleet quickly began the process of clearing their homeland. Because during the war, the Moorish Brotherhood had formed a squadron of pilots to participate in the Federation's counterattack by forming a group of young soldiers. They were a bit young, but these young pilots were now working very seriously in their Engineering GMs among the ruins.

To boost morale, the Compatriots Association plans to first clear out a satellite wreckage that is not too badly damaged, then repair and rebuild it. Once it is restored to habitable status, the entire Side 4 refugees who have been stranded abroad can be transported back to the mainland to live.

Inspired by this grand plan, the Moors worked themselves to the bone, to the point that the Federal Army troops protecting them tried to persuade them to take a break.

But in the end, the Federation forces' persuasion was unsuccessful.

"This is the obsession with returning to my hometown and being willing to pay any price for it!"

The federal commander, holding a packet of instant coffee and sipping it through a straw, spoke to his subordinates.

"Obsession? How terrifying!"

The second-in-command looked out the porthole at the mobile suits of his comrades who were busy at work, and couldn't help but sigh. Just then, the flagship's combat intelligence center suddenly sounded the battle alarm.

"Sir, radar report: Unidentified vessel detected outside the Moore space zone!"

With the radar officer's urgent call, the fleet commander practically dropped what he was holding and rushed to his position.

"Give me a detailed report!"

"The number is six, no, it's still increasing, the number is eight, confirmed signal, radar feedback is Gwajin level!"

"The main force of the Delaz Fleet!"

The fleet commander was taken aback at first, but then his eyes blazed with fury.

"Brothers, the time to collect our medals has come!"

Not all Union soldiers received their medals during the One Year War; many reinforcements were still en route when they learned that the front lines had ceased hostilities.

Therefore, upon seeing the Delaz fleet appear, the officers and soldiers of the Federation fleet were filled with a strong desire to fight. In their eyes, these were not Zeon remnants, but fragrant medals!
"Sir, there's a Gewakin-class destroyer on the other side!"

The deputy was worried that the commander might get carried away and try to take the cruiser to fight the battleship, which would mean that no one would get medals and they might even end up with medals for the enemy.

"I know. Have the Moore fleet retreat to the Sea of ​​Ruins immediately. Once they've entered, we'll follow and release the rice grains!"

"Minov particles are spreading!"

"Order the mobile suit units to deploy, and tell them not to rush into an attack, but to retreat into the sea of ​​ruins like the fleet!"

"Understood!"

The deputy immediately felt relieved. Although the Federation forces were inferior to the enemy in anti-ship firepower, they completely overwhelmed them in terms of mobile suits. The six Salamis ships carried forty-eight mobile suits, and if you add the twelve Nelson-class ships, that's a total of sixty. Although the Delaz fleet came with great momentum, the few Musai ships and the Gwakin ships could only carry forty mobile suits at most. Therefore, the Federation fleet commander had no intention of engaging in artillery battles. He wanted to lure the enemy into the ruins and fight a mobile suit battle!
If the Delaz fleet dares to pursue, whether they can withdraw after entering the ruins will not be up to them. The Federation mobile suits will hold them off. The fleet commander has already sent a distress signal to Jimmy Island. At that time, the Zeon will have to consider whether to abandon the mobile suits and run away or rescue them. If they choose the latter, they will have to face the reinforcements from Jimmy Island.

"Increased Minov particle concentration detected, the enemy is retreating, sir, what should we do?"

Delaz watched the Federation forces retreating methodically into the Side 4 space region and felt a surge of displeasure. He regretted letting Gwakin appear so early; otherwise, the Federation forces might still be fighting the Zeon fleet outside, but if they did that, the Zeon fleet would be attacked by Federation mobile suits...

"Keep pursuing, fire once they're within range!"

However, the Delaz fleet cannot turn around and leave now, as that would prevent the mobilization of Federation forces and buy time for friendly forces on the moon.

Therefore, the Delaz fleet has no choice but to press forward despite the difficulties.

Then, a violent particle beam swept across the battlefield, bombarding the ruins. The Federation forces made rapid progress, and by the time Gwakin was able to fire, they had all retreated deep into the ruins. Now, the Zeon fire control system could not detect anything, and even the highly sensitive optical equipment could not see the enemy. Gwakin's shelling was nothing more than fireworks.

"Order the First Squadron to advance into the ruins; retreat if attacked by Federal forces!"

After firing several shots at the satellite in a fit of rage, Gwajin ceased fire. Instead, two late-model M'sai and a Papua-class transport ship broke away from their positions and flew toward the Sea of ​​Ruins.

On the way, the Musai-class also released six Zaku FZs to provide cover for the fleet. As for the Papua-class, the ship did not carry any mobile suits, but instead resumed its original function, filling its interior space with a large number of old-fashioned missiles. This can be regarded as an improvement made by the Delaz fleet to make up for its lack of combat power. After all, they did not have that many mobile suits to carry, while many Papua-class transport ships had nearly a dozen.

These ships carried a large number of refugees from the Principality of Zeon. Now, most of them are building temporary bases for the Delaz Fleet in the Reef Space Zone, and the vacant Papua-class ships have been reassigned to make up for the fleet's lack of firepower.

Then, this small squad cautiously followed the route taken by the Federation forces as they withdrew into the ruins of the Side 4 space region.

"Sir, shall we open fire?"

"Hold on a bit, the enemy's main force is still behind us!" At this moment, the Federation's mobile suit units had already dispersed into the ruins. As the three Zeon warships chased into the ruins, pilots immediately tried to volunteer for battle.

The federal commander knew that if he gave the order, all three warships would be destroyed, but the enemy fleet outside would definitely leave. Therefore, he did not rush to order his troops to attack, but continued to wait.

However, the Zeon were also cautious. The detachment stopped after advancing a certain distance, as this was the maximum range they could maintain contact with the rear.

Seeing that the Federation forces refused to show themselves, Delaz had no choice but to order his squad to return to base.

"Hold the cavalry stationary for now. All other ships, charge their main guns!"

Just as the Zeon squadron completed its turn, the radar suddenly went off in a frenzy. The Federation fleet that had fled into the ruins had returned and had already deployed into battle formation within the ruins.

Then, amidst a sudden flash of lightning, the Federation fleet began its bombardment, with particle beams raining down on the retreating Zeon fleet.

Although most of the shelling was blocked by the constantly moving debris, some shells still grazed the Zeon ships at very close range. Many pieces of debris that were knocked away by the shelling even crashed into the Zeon warships. Although they did not cause any damage, they still frightened the crew quite a bit.

"Hard left! Missile salvo!"

The Zeon squadron immediately planned to make a rapid turn to engage the enemy amidst the ruins. The Papua-class destroyers even opened their bomb bays and began to bombard targets appearing on the fire control radar. Dozens of missiles, trailing white smoke, flew out of the bomb bays and headed towards the Federation fleet. However, due to the ubiquitous interference from the ruins, most of the missiles detonated before they even reached halfway. The rest either landed on the ruins or were intercepted by Federation close-in weapon systems. In short, they posed no threat to the Federation forces.

Meanwhile, the Federation fleet, in its constant maneuvering, approached the Zeon fleet. Salamis's direct fire then began to hit its targets, with the largest Papua-class ship immediately taking a hit, shearing off a large chunk of its port side.

"First Squadron, retreat immediately!"

When Delaz saw that the optical lens had captured traces of the firefight inside the satellite, he knew that his plan had encountered an unexpected setback. In order not to lose his precious warships, he had no choice but to order the first squadron to retreat immediately. At the same time, the outer warships also deployed their artillery formations to support the attacked friendly forces.

"Sir, the Zeon fleet has absolutely no intention of entering!"

"That bastard, isn't he going to fall for it?"

Seeing the Zeon fleet releasing smoke and preparing to flee, the Federation commander had no choice but to give orders to the mobile suit units.

"Cavalry, attack! Attack! Hold them off!"

"Go, brothers!"

Upon receiving the order to attack, the Federation mobile suits that had been lying in ambush above eagerly launched their charge.

"Multiple high-speed moving signals detected above; these are Federation mobile suits!"

"Attack! Attack!"

The Musai-class tanks, which were fleeing frantically, immediately raised all their gun turrets and began to desperately organize intercepting fire. Under the barrage of close-in weapon systems and particle cannons, several GMs were quickly destroyed.

But a larger number of GMs had already rushed over. Although most of the GMs were still equipped with beam spray guns, more than a dozen GMs were carrying rocket launchers for attacking warships. Seeing the fleeing Zeon warships below, the GM pilots immediately chose to fire all their missiles!
The high-speed rockets quickly exploded into a continuous burst of flames. When the smoke cleared, in addition to many rubble ruins, the three Zeon warships were also covered in dust and dirt, with multiple hits on their hulls, and thick smoke was billowing from them.

The Papua-class destroyer suffered the worst damage because of its hull layout, which resulted in the largest impact area. Its two separate compartments were blown to pieces.

Meanwhile, the Zeon mobile suits guarding the fleet also engaged in battle with the GM, but the small number of Zeon mobile suits were surrounded and annihilated by enemies several times their size in just one round of fighting, and the damage they caused to the enemy was even less than that of the Musai-class main guns.

Federation mobile suits weaving through anti-aircraft fire quickly closed the distance between them. Then, the GMs equipped with beam sprayers began their assault on the Zeon warships. The Papua-class, being the most heavily damaged, was quickly targeted for attack. First, its vulnerable bridge was shattered by particle beams, and then the hull was cut by beam sabers. Within minutes, the Papua-class, riddled with wounds, came to a halt. With both engines destroyed, the warship lost control and crashed violently into a massive piece of colonial wreckage.

The two Musai-class ships were also badly damaged. Under the attack of rocket launchers, large chunks of their hull armor were destroyed, and the lower compartments were being torn apart. It was clear that they would not be able to hold out for much longer.

But at this moment, they were very close to the edge of the ruins. The Zeon warships on the periphery had begun to use some artillery fire to try to support the staggering friendly forces. Even Gwajin began to charge his main gun and launched dangerous close-range fire towards the vicinity of the Musai-class, trying to disperse the Federation mobile suits.

Gwajin's shelling did have an effect. The Federation mobile suits surrounding the first Musai-class ship that was under siege stopped engaging it and instead continued to attack the ship's propulsion system with rocket launchers. In the end, the Musai-class ship escaped the ruins with its wrecked hull, the engine of which had been completely destroyed. However, the entire ship had completely lost its value for recovery.

The second Musai-class ship fared even worse. During the siege, the remaining Zeon crew could only escape on the Musai at the bow, while the main body of the warship subsequently suffered a violent secondary explosion.

"Suppressive fire, rescue the survivors immediately!"

This loss made Delaz want to vomit blood. He had intended to lure the Federation forces into a trap, but instead, he was outmaneuvered by them. The fleet's firepower advantage was completely wasted. Now, the Federation mobile suits had scattered like birds and beasts and disappeared into the ruins again, leaving only Delaz's fleet in impotent rage.

"Sir, should we halt the operation?"

Diraz's adjutant looked at the surviving troops of his own forces being taken in by Musa and then made a request.

"No, continue!"

Diraz pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

"The die is cast, there's no turning back now. At least we've mobilized the Federation forces, which gives Major Eric a little more time to order the fleet to turn around and head towards Earth!"

(End of this chapter)