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

Chapter 223 Desperate Battle

"Pay attention to the three points of direction! Pay attention to the three points of direction!"

"Missile attack! Take cover!"

"Sir, sir, Captain Jerry is dying! What should we do?"

At this moment, at the mass launcher on the lunar surface, the battle was also spreading between buildings and space facilities. Although Eric's commando team successfully captured the control center, the Federation fleet returning to the moon arrived at almost the same time.

Subsequently, the Federation's lunar fleet swiftly began operations to recapture the mass launcher.

At this point, Eric's plan to use the mass launcher to project kinetic energy munitions toward Earth had completely failed. The Federation forces directly blocked the mass launcher's firing trajectory. If it weren't for the equipment and surrounding facilities, the Federation forces would have already begun shelling.

Even so, the mobile suits that fell from the warships were not something Eric's small force could handle.

The Federation forces deployed over a hundred mobile suits, launching a fierce attack from all directions.

At this moment, Eric felt as if he had returned to the Battle of Abaoakong. In different places and at different times, he had to face the enemy who surged like a tide. The only thing that was the same was that, whether in the Battle of Abaoakong or now, they were the ones who were helpless.

"Major!"

Eric was brought back to reality by his teammates' urgent calls. He looked at the display screen in front of him and saw that the radar was already crowded with red cursors representing Federation mobile suits.

He looked ahead and saw that a Rikki Domo had been destroyed next to a small building, which had been blown down to the ground floor. A Zaku FZ was using the wreckage of the Rikki Domo and the small building as cover, lying down behind it and firing continuously at the approaching Federation forces in the distance.

At the foot of the Zaku FZ, a dozen Zeon infantrymen set up machine guns and rocket launchers.

Then, a barrage of missiles rained down from the Federation warships, bombarding the area around the Zaku FZ. The smoke and dust obscured its presence. When the smoke cleared, the Zaku FZ and the Zeon infantryman in his spacesuit were gone, leaving only a dense array of craters.

"Major, what should we do now?"

Lieutenant Varis cried out in alarm over the radio, his machine right next to Eric's Warrior.

"Fight! Fight to the last moment, Lieutenant!"

Eric felt a surge of emotion as he listened to the other man's panicked voice. Perhaps he shouldn't have chosen him to join his squad. That way, this young lieutenant, who had nothing but passion, could have lived a little longer.

But in the end, he picked up his beam rifle and showed the other side what they should do!
With a flash of beam, a GM that was advancing was immediately shot in the leg by a beam rifle. Seeing the opponent fall to the ground, Eric fired another shot, blowing the GM's head off.

It wasn't that he didn't want to shoot the cockpit, but his marksmanship was limited, and it was already difficult to hit the enemy at long range. Moreover, that GM had already lost its combat capability.

Then, Eric fired again, relying on the excellent performance of the Warrior Beam Rifle to take down three more attacking GMs, and even destroyed one of them by piercing its torso when he was in the best condition.

"Well done, Major!"

Seeing Eric's bravery, Varys was also greatly encouraged. He controlled his machine and fired a burst of MMP80 from the engineering trench where the two were sheltering. He successfully hit a GM, and the armor-piercing rounds hit the enemy's shield and torso, causing sparks to fly everywhere.

"Major, I took him down!"

Seeing the Jim stop, Varis shouted excitedly, but then the Jim resumed its movement, and the MG79 machine gun in its hand turned around and began firing at the two men's position.

"At long range, it's best to use beam weapons, Lieutenant. The MMP-80s you're issued aren't very effective against their shields!"

"Understood!"

Varys then searched his surroundings for a beam weapon he could use, and then he saw a destroyed friendly warrior holding a beam rifle in his hand behind a ramp to the left of the launcher.

So he sprinted across the trench and ran toward the wreckage of his comrades.

"Lieutenant? What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for a beam rifle!"

"Damn it, get back here!"

Eric hadn't expected that his words would cause this guy to recklessly rush into an open area with no cover. It seemed that his father, who had died in battle, was protecting him from the shadows, or perhaps the Federation troops were also shocked by the enemy's almost suicidal actions. Varys rushed to the destroyed warriors with almost no attack.

Then, the lieutenant excitedly grabbed the beam rifle and was about to return when a narrow beam of light shot from afar, precisely slicing through Varys's machine.

"Target destroyed!"

Behind the Federation Army lines, a sniper GM SP2 casually changed the direction of the muzzle of its long-range beam sniper rifle.

There was no time for grief. Eric could only urge the surviving friendly forces on the front lines to move to a new position. The Federation sniper GM posed a great threat to them; the Pizarro-class transport ship had been shot down by a Federation sniper GM.

Now, the wreckage of that ship has fallen behind them, and a Warrior and a Rakkorma are using the wreckage as cover to try their best to block the Federation forces attacking from behind.

Now, Eric has only four mechs left, and almost two-thirds of his accompanying infantry have been killed. Everyone knows that their lives are now on a countdown.

Soon after, due to the threat of sniping GM, a Zaku FZ on the same front as Eric was being bombarded by several rockets while shifting its firing position. The explosion damaged the Zaku's leg structure, making it impossible for the pilot to run nimbly. He could only hop and skip towards the next firing position.

Then, more firepower was concentrated on the Zaku. Armor-piercing rounds, beams, and even rockets rained down from afar, almost instantly obliterating the Zaku FZ into pieces. "John!"

Eric's eyes were bloodshot. He and his companion, who had been encouraging each other since their escape from Abaoa, had lost another member. He was helpless and could only continue to fight back at the flickering light on the horizon until he heard another call from behind.

"Major, we can't hold them off!"

Eric maneuvered his mech around from the cover and saw two friendly mechs with only a grenade and a melee weapon left in their hands at the wreckage of the destroyed transport ship behind them, while the Federation mechs that had been fighting them had already pushed up to the sides of the transport ship's wreckage.

"Major, take care, for Zeon!"

Two mobile suits then suddenly emerged from behind cover, throwing out grenades. Without caring whether they could hit the Federation forces, the prepared Zeon pilots shouted slogans and launched a desperate assault on the Federation forces.

The well-prepared Federation forces also pulled the trigger almost simultaneously. In the barrage of dozens of beams of fire, the two Zeon mobile suits were unable to create any miracles and were torn to pieces by the dense gunfire.

The pilot of the Rick Domo didn't forget to push the engine to its maximum power during the charge. The moment his mech was torn apart, the lower half of the Rick Domo was ejected by the jet engine. Then, this jet structure, which the Federation Army jokingly called a skirt, landed at the feet of a GM, and was then kicked away by the GM.

"Wal, Kurt!"

Unable to do anything but watch helplessly as his comrades were killed by the Federation forces, Eric finally understood the pain he was experiencing. But the Federation forces gave him no chance to recover. After the obstacles in his rear were cleared, the Federation forces' offensive became increasingly fierce, even pressing Eric so hard that he couldn't lift his head.

The last Warrior beside him was trying to draw fire for Eric when it was targeted by a sniper named Jim from afar and became a disemboweled corpse.

Now, amidst the ruins, only Eric remains alive from the entire Zeon assault force.

Looking at the beam rifle, which was also running out of energy, and the grenade launcher, which showed zero ammo, Eric couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"There's nothing to be afraid of, nothing to be afraid of!"

With a trembling self-consolation, Eric's warrior drew his beam naginata and leaped from behind cover.

"Come on, you bastards!"

Eric maneuvered his mech into a fighting stance and then shouted into the public channel.

The federal troops also ceased firing, seemingly ready to grant Eric the honorable duel he had envisioned.

But then, several beams of light from Sniper GM arrived silently, instantly destroying Eric's arms and head display.

"You stray dog, what right do you have to fight us!"

Having lost his sight, Eric immediately heard the Union Army's mocking voice coming through the radio.

He gritted his teeth and switched the monitor to the backup unit, then stumbled and tried to charge again, only to be attacked in the next second, his legs.

The warrior, whose leg was broken, staggered and fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of moon dust. Eric then felt the ground tremble, and soon a GM GS emerged from the moon dust. Seeing the warrior lying on the ground, the GM GS stopped.

After a brief silence, the GM GS seemed to receive a command and immediately raised its beam rifle at the warrior.

The last thing Major Eric saw was the bright purple beam shooting out from the muzzle of Jim GS's gun, and then his consciousness returned to chaos forever.

"Today, the Federation Forces' lunar security forces thwarted an attack on a lunar city-mass launcher. It is understood that this attack, along with the attempted attack in the British Isles, was planned by the currently fugitive former Principality of Zeon war criminal, Ejudilaz. However, thanks to close cooperation among various branches of the Federation Forces, the attack has been thwarted, and the remaining Zeon remnants have all been killed..."

As the television screen flickered intermittently, showing a group of federal soldiers posing for a group photo on the wreckage of the destroyed Warriors, Aijudilaz, who was holding a cup of hot tea, closed his eyes in anguish.

He never expected that none of his planned operations would succeed, especially the special attack on Earth. The plan was going very smoothly. As long as the Zeon submarine fleet caused a ruckus, it would surely attract the attention of the Federation garrison. At that time, the First Parachute Regiment would only need to break through the council's close-range defenses and launch the nuclear missile. But now, all the channels of the Federation television station are reporting the news of his carefully planned attack failing.

The gruesome remains of the marine life piled up on the dock, and the whitish corpses of Zeon sailors floating on the sea, were all photographed in detail and transmitted throughout the entire Earth sphere via signal.

Clearly, this was the Federation's response to the remnants of Zeon. He had meticulously planned and sacrificed valuable manpower to implement his scheme, but in the end, it all came to naught.

Even with his eyes closed, he could almost see the faces of his departing subordinates, especially Eric. Eric's departure also caused Diraz great pain. Such a brave and resourceful young officer was a rare find in the talent-scarce Duchy Army, and could even become his successor a hundred years later!

Now, however, he has died in battle, and even Delaz cannot collect his body. He can only watch helplessly as the officers and soldiers of the Federation's lunar fleet triumphantly board Major Eric's destroyed machine in front of the camera and strike victory poses.

"Sir, we can't let the major and the others sacrifice themselves like this. Please grant us permission to retrieve their remains!"

Beside Diraz, several officers, their eyes brimming with tears, suppressed their sobs and gritted their teeth as they once again pleaded for the order to attack.

But Diraz shook his head.

"Sir!"

"Our army's top priority right now is to rest and recuperate. Major Eric was already prepared for this before the attack. This war is far from over, so for now, stay obediently in the base!"

In fact, Delaz was also deeply self-doubting at this moment. He even felt that if he hadn't been so eager to prove that the Zabi family's struggle was not over and had launched a combat operation without eliminating all the risks, the fleet might not have ended up in this state.

Now, he must suppress the entire fleet's vengeful fury and allow the fleet to lie low and recuperate; otherwise, the fleet's annihilation will not be far off!
Diraz could even foresee that the Federation forces would inevitably launch a brutal sweep and blockade against the fleet, so the only thing he could do now, and had to do, was to endure!

(End of this chapter)