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

Chapter 236 Mobilization
"Damn bastard!"

"Grenade launcher, take cover!"

In the muddy rainforest of a tropical island, two mud-covered figures, their clothing unrecognizable, stumble and run across the rugged terrain, bullets constantly whizzing past them, sending grass clippings and leaves flying.

The mud and shrapnel kicked up by the grenade explosion exploded right in front of them, then struck the two men. If they hadn't been wearing bulletproof vests to protect their torsos, they might have already fallen.

"QRF, where are you?"

The sniper named Sanders scooped up the fallen Wallace and shouted into the comms.

But all he got in response was a rustling noise.

He was caught off guard, lost his footing, and fell to the ground in a sorry state.

Wallace struggled to pull Sanders up, trying to move forward, but another grenade hit and blasted him back.

"Damn bald monk!"

Feeling a stinging pain on his face, Wallace gritted his teeth and tore off a piece of deformed shrapnel from his face.

"Looks like we can't escape!"

Sanders was panting heavily as he wiped the mud off his weapons.

"Yeah, I still have two magazines and a grenade. What about you?"

"Only one magazine! But that's enough to take a few people with us!"

Major Wallace rolled over in the mud, then opened his submachine gun to the folding platform. Through the swaying grass and trees washed by the rain, he saw the approaching warrior monks.

"Da da da……"

Two submachine guns fired in alternating bursts, instantly taking down several monk soldiers in front. The rigid spacesuits were insufficient to stop the small-caliber armor-piercing bullets they fired; instead, the bullets would tumble and deform after penetrating the armor, causing even more serious damage to the human body.

The monk soldiers reacted just as quickly, scattering to find cover the moment the shots rang out, while simultaneously launching a concentrated counterattack. Then, they swiftly and decisively spread out to both flanks, preparing to swiftly encircle the two audacious Federation spies.

Suppressed by intense firepower, the two men, unable to even lift their heads, finally found themselves out of ammunition and supplies. Sanders pulled out a grenade and gripped it tightly in his hand, while Major Wallace moved closer, pressing himself against the other man so that the exploding grenade would obscure their facial features and prevent identification.

The enemy's gunfire continued unabated, and their footsteps drew ever closer. As the two men took a deep breath, preparing for the final moment, they suddenly heard something rapidly approaching.

"missile?"

Major Wallace looked up and saw countless black dots flying across the sky before landing among the pursuing troops of the Nanyang Alliance.

Then came the buzzing of the 30mm Gatling gun firing, and several blinding lines of fire, like rays of light, descended from the sky, cutting the rainforest into countless fragments.

With the roar of propellers, several Fangfang armed helicopters belonging to the naval fleet appeared before Major Wallace.

The Nanyang Alliance monks who pursued them suffered heavy casualties in an instant. The remaining monks could no longer even care about pursuing the Earth Federation spies they had previously pursued, and were trying to escape into the deeper rainforest to avoid the air attack.

But Fangfang's armed helicopters had no intention of leaving. Several armed helicopters formed a carousel formation in the air, swiftly and decisively strafing all suspicious targets below. Directly below them were two federal agents who were grinning from ear to ear.

After repeatedly sweeping the ground several times, Fangfang lowered its altitude and dropped two towing tools.

"Damn it, I thought you guys weren't coming!"

After being hoisted into the cabin, Wallace looked at his comrades inside with tears in his eyes, while they smiled and answered as they took out medical injections.

"How could we? We'll never abandon our brothers!"

"I'm going to give you an injection of a hemostatic agent now. It might be a little cold, so please bear with it!"

"Yes, I can endure it!"

The major lay on the deck of the aircraft. Through the still-open hatch, he saw the battlefield below where fuel-air explosives had just been dropped. The explosion and shockwave had created a fairly flat crater in the ground.

Just as the helicopter was preparing to return, the pilot suddenly saw an unidentified signal coming from the radar.

"Mobile Suit! The enemy has deployed mobile suits!"

"Fire! Fire! Suppress them!"

The helicopter, still with ammunition, immediately turned around, squeezed through the forest into the distance, and launched missiles at Zani, who was half-exposed.

"hateful!"

Zani's pilot, hearing the urgent missile warning, could only hurriedly raise his arms to protect his vulnerable cockpit. Then came the violent shaking of the aircraft and the crackling of electrical sparks. As the cockpit suddenly plunged into darkness, the pilot couldn't help but shout out.

Fortunately, these Fangfangs did not carry large-caliber Queen missiles, but used smaller multi-purpose missiles. Therefore, although Zani was badly injured by the bombing, he did not suffer fatal injuries.

When the pilot moved his arm away, he only saw the helicopters flying low away.

"Asshole, don't even think about running away!"

Seeing its own wrecked and battered machine, Zani immediately picked up its 120mm machine gun and gave chase.

"Don't let them escape! Follow me! For the sake of Lei Fan Hu Sengzheng!"

The pilots were already aware of the heavy losses suffered by the infantry ahead. Seeing the culprits swaggering away, they were filled with rage and did not hesitate to follow the first Zani. After being refueled with propellant, these Zani were very fast. With just a few jumps, they spotted the fleeing Federation helicopters again.

"Bang bang bang..."

The 120mm cannon roared and fired a barrage of shells into the air, but due to dispersion issues, all the shells missed their mark, giving the pilots in the cockpit a big fright.

"Keep descending. If you get hit by that thing, there's no chance of survival!"

The squadron commander shouted this.

"What about the pursuers behind them?"

"They can be arrogant for another thirty seconds!"

The commander glanced at the rearview mirror and saw several Zani tanks leaping through the rainforest. Judging from their relentless pursuit, they were clearly determined to chase them to the ends of the earth.

but it does not matter!
After glancing at the markers on the map, the commander gave a cold laugh. "Then you can chase me all you want!"

Soon, the group of planes swept across a river that had swelled considerably due to the rain. The airflow from the rotors created ripples on the water's surface, revealing glimpses of something.

Just moments after the swarm of planes passed, a dozen or so Zanis rushed over in a great force. Upon seeing the river, the Nanyang pilots simply jumped in, since the river wasn't deep anyway.

Just as the lead aircraft was about to reach the shore, suddenly, several dark figures emerged from the river and surrounded Zani of the Nanyang Alliance from all sides.

"Federation Mobile Suit!"

A pilot stared at the dark machine in front of him and only managed to shout once before a large number of bullet holes appeared on his machine's torso.

These jet-black GMs are naturally the assault GMs of the Shadow Special Forces. Although the range of their assault shotguns is limited, the Luna titanium alloy bullets are extremely lethal within that range. With just one shot, the armor of the Zani was pierced through as if it were cardboard, and its interior was as gruesome as if it had been smashed to pieces.

After swiftly and decisively taking down Zani in front of him, the assault GM immediately turned its gun towards the next target.

The pilots of the Nanyang Alliance were naturally thrown into a state of panic by the surprise attack. Many of them were blown to pieces along with their cockpits before they could even raise their guns. The Zani at the front did raise its gun, but the fully automatic shotgun fired a dense barrage of bullets at an even faster speed, tearing half of the Zani's body apart.

Less than a minute had passed before the battle ended. More than a dozen Zanis were completely destroyed without any chance of retaliation; their wreckage lay scattered on the riverbank and in the water, still emitting wisps of black smoke. "Retreat!"

After eliminating the Zanis, several squads of assault-type Jims headed towards the coastline without any delay. They then boarded the hovercraft that had been waiting for them and quickly evacuated the scene.

Even Lei Fanhu did not expect the Federation Army's response to be so swift. The troops sent to pursue the enemy were annihilated in a very short time, leading the monk soldiers to believe that the Federation Army had launched a full-scale attack. Therefore, their top priority became to evacuate Lei Fanhu.

By the time they realized what was happening, the Shadow Special Forces had already rendezvoused with the Pacific Fleet's aircraft carrier a hundred kilometers away.

"Abbot, what should we do now?"

"We need to hurry!"

Looking at the mess on the battlefield, Lei Fanhu remained calm, but his tone quickened slightly. Clearly, this monk was not always so composed.

Major Wallace and Agent Sanders were immediately taken to the medical room after being brought to the aircraft carrier. Both were covered in wounds, and although their torsos were protected by bulletproof vests, other parts of their bodies had inevitably suffered severe injuries.

After the surgery, doctors removed several bullets and dozens of shrapnel fragments from the two men. Major Wallace also suffered severe damage to half of the nerves in his face, meaning he would only be able to smile on one side of his face in the future.

After the surgery, the major, who had only received local anesthesia, even requested a wheelchair and was then pushed by military police to the aircraft carrier's command room.

"Sir, I have an urgent military report to report!"

"Mental Zaku, these bald monks, they really are masters at finding gold in dung!"

Major General Lunes couldn't help but slam his fist on the table. After receiving the intelligence, he immediately demanded all the information about the Psycho Zaku and even watched the battle footage. Even though the spaceship had been torn in half, the bald monks of the Nanyang Alliance were still able to find relevant information.

Now, the situation is beyond what Major General Luens can handle. After all, the Federation is now aware of all of the South Pacific Alliance's actions, including the secret development of unauthorized military equipment, human experimentation, and recruitment of Zeon remnants. Every step of these actions is like dancing on a minefield for the Federation.

"These bald monks are no longer ordinary traitors; we must strike hard!"

At the military intelligence meeting at Gabro base, Lieutenant General Djamitov, currently the most hawkish figure in the Federation, spoke first.

"Kill them! Kill all these troublemaking bald monks! This so-called Order Cult is nothing but an evil cult and must be banned!"

"The Federal Department of Justice is already in a meeting to discuss how to proceed!"

As the victors of the One Year War, the Federation Army inevitably suffered from the negative effects of being the victors of a world war. Specifically, it is now impossible for the Federation Army to assemble a fully combat-experienced expeditionary force. This is because veterans retire and new recruits serve, and in order to maintain a balance of combat power, the veterans who remain in the army have been assigned to various units.

Therefore, compared to the Federation Army during the One Year War, the Federation Army's combat effectiveness has declined significantly. Although the training received by new recruits is more comprehensive than during the One Year War, training and actual combat are incomparable.

"Then why not follow General Huaken's example and form a task force?"

"I think we can use the Pegasus-class destroyers that are not currently on combat duty in our army to form the force for this operation!"

"I agree. These assault landing ships have sufficient firepower and can carry enough combat troops!"

"So, to whom should we entrust the command?"

"How about handing it over to Major General Lunes? The Military Intelligence Bureau has been in charge of strategic reconnaissance operations against the Nanyang Alliance!"

"Indeed, I feel at ease entrusting him with this task!"

Jamitov couldn't help but nod in agreement. Major General Luens was in the same faction as him, and he felt at ease handing over command to him.
But at the crucial moment, Gao Yun, who had been silently reading the report in the corner, suddenly raised his head.

“I think it’s a bit inappropriate to send Major General Luens. Intelligence indicates that Revan Hu is a special individual with strong Newtype abilities, and he can even communicate remotely. We must be on guard!”

"Regarding this, Lieutenant Colonel Monica Humphrey from the New Human Research Institute will also be deployed with the troops. Her research can help our army avoid interference!"

"That won't help the battle. I think a reliable and stable Newtype officer should be in charge of the operation!"

As soon as Gao Yun finished speaking, everyone was stunned for a moment. Reliable and stable, a new human, a high-ranking federal official, just tell us your name!
"Colonel Markarius is currently directing further studies at the academy!"

"That's perfect! It's about putting what you've learned to practical use! And then we can pair him with Major General Luens!"

"No, that will cause problems!"

Gopp rarely expressed his dissent, but his view was that Lunes couldn't control Makarius, which could easily lead to a misalignment of command.

"Then, I'll take on the role of commander!"

Lieutenant General Jamitov-Heyman reiterated.

"I have no opinion!"

General Kinklini glanced at Djamitov and then spoke.

"I agree too!"

Rebil looked at Jamitov and then spoke.

"Then, I'll have to trouble you to do it!"

Gop was somewhat taken aback, after all, in his view, both Jamitov and Makarius were the kind of people who would start killing at the slightest disagreement. If these two were to join the battle, wouldn't the Nanyang Alliance be plunged into bloodshed?
However, after the meeting, he got the answer to his question from King.

"Yes, if these two were to act independently, they would both ruthlessly massacre the Nanyang Alliance. But when they're together, their radicalism makes them more restrained!"

"Is this what they call two negatives making a positive?"

"That's it!"

After finalizing the personnel selection, the next step was to assemble the fleet and deploy the troops. The Federation Army Headquarters ultimately decided to send four Pegasus-class ships, including the White Trojan Horse, the Gray Ghost, the Thoroughbred Stallion, and the newest Spartan. Each of these Pegasus-class ships comes with a relatively stable combat force. Next, the Federation Army only needs to fill any gaps and make up for any shortcomings.

Considering the situation of the South Pacific Alliance, Major General Gao Yun also brought out a secret weapon: an amphibious Gundam developed by the Federation Army's research and development department, named Atlas Gundam. Originally, this mobile suit was to be sent to the Navy for service, but now, it's fine to use it for the strike fleet. At worst, it can be transferred after the war.

As for whether the Navy will have any objections, that's naturally impossible. For them, a second-hand Gundam is much better than a mere Water GM!
Not to mention that the Navy already knows that the Federation's military restructuring plan also includes mobile suits to replace the Water GM, so they are overjoyed and have no reason to object!
"I have an opinion!"

Marcarius stared indignantly at the transfer order before him.

He had been reporting to the command academy for three months, and had already completed his thesis proposal. He was just waiting to make a name for himself and shock the federal military academic community. Now, suddenly, a transfer order pulled him back to the war. Having gotten used to the comforts of a warm and soft mattress, he had no desire to go back.

But the old man who gave him the order didn't care at all, and even looked quite happy.

"Don't be like that. Don't you want to see the new experimental machine from the Naval Strategic Research Institute?"

Major General Gao Yun flashed a bright white smile as he spoke.

His recommendation of Macarius was naturally driven by his own selfish motives. The Rear Admiral already regarded Macarius as a confidant. No one was more professional than Macarius in what kind of machine they built and how to use it. Therefore, in order to test the prototype Gilai of the Naval Strategic Research Institute, he naturally had to support Macarius.

"It's not a new Gundam, what am I testing? Besides, funnels can't be used in an atmospheric environment!"

Marcarius shook his head; another reason he didn't want to move was the lack of new mechs.

"There are flying tigers! And they're the brand new, improved version!"

Major General Gao Yun then pulled out his other trump card. He knew that Makarius was absolutely obsessed with this thing and had been talking about it ever since the One Year War.

When Marcarius heard about flying tigers, he raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"Since you're being so sincere, I can't refuse you. So, what improvements have you made?"

(End of this chapter)