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

Chapter 279 The Moment of Decision
"The commander just fainted from anger and will be fine after a few days of rest! However, high blood pressure is a chronic condition, and if it is not taken seriously, it will be very dangerous in the future!"

The ship's doctor from the Gwadian quickly arrived at the bridge, examined Delaz, and then drew a conclusion.

"If the commander needs to wake up immediately, I also have a heart stimulant and a slow-release agent here!"

"Then administer the injection! Make sure it's the minimum dose, the kind that won't put too much strain on the commander!"

After a moment's thought, the adjutant spoke.

Normally, if Delaz gets dizzy, so be it; the adjutant can simply take over command of the fleet to leave. But at this moment, the fate of the entire fleet rests on Delaz's shoulders. Unless the other side gives a clear order, the adjutant can only ask the old commander to do the extra work.

So the doctor didn't stand on ceremony and immediately inserted the needle.

"hiss!"

Although it wasn't an immediate effect, it only took a short while for Diraz to wake up. Looking at the swaying figure in front of him, he then spoke in a hoarse voice.

"What's going on now?"

"Our rearguard has been completely wiped out. Lieutenant Colonel Frank sent a farewell message three minutes ago. We are still an hour's journey from the Reef space station!"

"One hour!"

Diraz took the hydration pack handed to him by the doctor and drank it down his throat, then stood up unsteadily.

"Let's see if our enemy can give us an hour!"

"Where is the Red Dragon?"

"They just returned, presumably because they ran out of ammunition and went back for resupply!"

Hearing his adjutant's words, Diraz felt his head buzzing again, and then he felt relieved. If the Federation army had been equipped with nuclear rocket launchers, they would have been wiped out in the first wave of attack!

But it's good now. The enemy is going back to resupply, which will at least give them twenty minutes... right?

"Listen up, everyone, maintain relative speed, take your feet off the accelerator. The cost of one supply drone is equivalent to twenty years of your salaries. If anyone crashes it, they'll be stuck in the engine room for life!"
Delaz assumed that the Federation mobile suits would return to their motherships for resupply, since both fleets were currently maneuvering at high speeds and the Federation forces didn't have time to deploy support modules. However, in reality, the Federation mobile suits returning for resupply simply moved close to the bottom of the fleet and maintained a relative speed with it.

Immediately afterwards, a group of drones shaped like the Chinese character "工" flew out from the fleet, spewing flames.

"Activate the laser channel and switch to fully automatic mode!"

Guided by the maintenance team, drones quickly flew in front of the mobile suits and then began to slow down.

Guided by the laser pointer, the drone's robotic arm slowly extended and then fixed itself to the torso of the mobile suit. Subsequently, the ammunition boxes installed at both ends of the I-shaped structure moved closer by the track, loading the ammunition inside onto the GMs carrying external weapons.

As for unarmed mobile suits, the robotic arm will deliver the rocket launcher ammunition and the beam rifle e-cap magazine. Damaged weapons are no problem either, as the maintenance team has long prepared replacements, which will be delivered by drones.

In addition to spare energy magazines, Macarius's drone also brought him a fully loaded rocket launcher. Since it was a bit of a stretch to use the NT1's floating cannons to attack warships, but it was easy to puncture mobile suits, Macarius decided to learn from Amuro and switch to the twin-barreled rocket launcher mode!

With the support of the supply drones, the assault group led by Makarius completed the ammunition resupply mission in less than seven minutes. Although this method does not allow for detailed inspection of the aircraft or refueling, it does not matter if the aircraft itself is not in problem. Moreover, it is very beneficial to the maintenance troops, as it can greatly reduce their workload.

During resupply, the pilots didn't forget to open a packet of energy drink to replenish their energy. After the resupply was completed, the I-shaped drones retracted their robotic arms, turned 180 degrees on the spot, and began their return journey.

Meanwhile, the assault group set sail again, heading towards the Delaz fleet.

"how is this possible?"

Seeing the Federation mobile suits return, the Zeon captains stared in disbelief, their mouths agape. According to Zeon's supply and support procedures, a round trip would take at least twenty minutes, but now, in less than ten minutes, the enemy had pounced again. This speed immediately sent chills down the spines of many Zeon officers.

Delaz on the Gwadian was also in disbelief, but the cold, hard facts were already laid out before him.

"The Federation forces have made progress again, without our knowledge!"

"Commander, what do we do now?"

"Let's reorganize the air defense formation!"

Delaz sighed. Originally, the Zeon fleet was fleeing in a relatively loose assault formation to avoid the Federation's artillery fire, but now it had to switch back to a denser anti-aircraft formation. After all, it was going to be attacked either way. It could dodge the Federation's artillery fire by luck, but the attacks from the mobile suits were impossible to drive away without forming an anti-aircraft formation.

But he soon realized that even if the fleet formed an anti-aircraft formation, it would be of little use.

Marcarius slung his beam rifle over his leg holster, carrying rocket launchers on either side, and charged directly into the Zeon battleship's defensive fire. Under his control, NT1 weaved through the barrage of bullets with dazzling speed. While the anti-aircraft fire was drawn to him, the recharged funnels mounted on NT1's shoulders took the opportunity to clear out the fire-resistant turrets.

After the defensive firepower was reduced, the two heavy rocket launchers began to unleash their firepower on the warship in front of them.

A Musai-class ship in the middle section was hit by seven rockets in succession. The high-explosive warheads tore a huge gash more than ten meters long in the deck. Some unfortunate Zeon crew members were even sucked into space because they did not have time to evacuate, and the rockets flew right past Makarius.

Then, several more GMs stepped forward and finished off the Musai-class ship, firing dozens of rockets that blasted the entire ship in two.

Under Makarius's command, the Federation's mobile suits made full use of their numerical advantage, concentrating their firepower to launch a fierce attack on the rear Zeon warships. Relying on the tactic of ants biting an elephant, they destroyed several more Zeon warships within minutes, while their own losses remained in the single digits.

By employing the "peeling the onion" tactic, the Delaz fleet has been reduced by half. Almost all of the auxiliary ships that followed have been sunk, and most of the ordinary Musei-class ships are also gone. Now, Makarius can even clearly see the Gwadian leading the way and the few Chebe-class ships beside him.

While they were busy peeling the onion, another mobile suit assault group that had been sent out for a large detour finally reached the front of the Delaz fleet.

In addition to their own weaponry, these mobile suits also carry large quantities of space mines. These space mines, designed specifically to block shipping lanes, may look unremarkable, but they are loaded with explosives, relying on sheer force to achieve remarkable results.

After encircling them, these Federation mobile suits were swiftly and efficiently deployed along the Delaz fleet's route.

"What are you all doing? Open fire and clear a path for us!"

The main guns, which were not needed at all during the escape, began to fire randomly into the minefield, actually hitting quite a few mines, causing flashes of fire across the channel. As for the Federation mobile suits that had laid mines, they had long since scattered to the flanks. When the Delaz fleet rushed through the minefield, these mobile suits rushed up and, together with the main force, began to sway the Delaz fleet from side to side, gripping its neck.

As they passed through the channel, the remaining mines gave Delaz a small surprise. As the largest ship in the Zeon fleet, the Guvaden lived up to expectations and touched several of the stragglers. Although the explosives did not damage the Guvaden's core, they still caused the ship to shake violently. Several huge craters were blown into the hull of the warship, and thick smoke billowed out.

"Sir, the Fast Sail is asking if we need to move!" "No, this ship isn't that..."

Before Delaz could finish speaking, the Gwadian suddenly shook violently again, and then Delaz heard strange noises coming from the stern of the ship.

"Our speed is decreasing?"

"What happened in the engine room?"

"Sir, the Gevard engine has triggered a landmine!"

The chief engineer's voice came through the communication immediately.

The good fortune of the Guevara seemed to have come to an end with the series of mines it hit. It was almost out of the minefield, which had hardly any mines left, when a mine that was flying around due to the shock of the shelling happened to be carried along by the warship and crashed hard into the left rear armor of the Guevara.

That location was exactly where the leftmost auxiliary engine of the Gwadian was located. The explosion directly penetrated the armor and tore apart the energy pipeline below, forcing the engine room to shut down the energy lines of all three auxiliary engines on the left side. This caused the warship to instantly lose 15 percent of its thrust.

"Sir, please transfer to the Fast Sail!"

The adjutant, who had just gotten up from the ground, spoke to Diraz without even picking up his military cap.

"No, impossible, this is my ship, I want to..."

What interrupted Diraz this time was the radar operator's scream.

"Sir, enemy mobile suits are descending from above at three times the speed!"

"What are the anti-aircraft guns doing? Shoot him down!"

"Firing! The enemy is still approaching. He opened fire!"

The Zeon soldiers on the bridge all looked out the portholes. In the darkness, eight very obvious white plumes of smoke were rushing toward the foredeck of the Gewaden. Above the plumes, closer to the bridge, a red mobile suit was tumbling and climbing away from everyone's sight amidst a barrage of bullets and particle beams.

"Prepare for impact!"

Amidst an unidentified warning, the Gwadian experienced another violent tremor. Those on the bridge could see a surge of energy erupting from the foredeck area. Eight rockets had accurately struck the Gwadian's midship turret, followed by a barrage of metal fragments and other debris, including flames. The flames quickly extinguished upon entering space, but the gruesome wound continued to spew out various fragments.

"Turret number two is destroyed!"

"Close the mid-deck! Damage control team, take your positions immediately!"

Upon hearing the sudden alarm, the adjutant beside him did not ask for any further instructions and immediately raised his hand to summon four military police officers.

"Sir, we must transfer you to the Fast Sail!"

"I'm not leaving. I'll stand here today and see who dares to touch me!"

"Then I'm sorry to offend you! What are you waiting for? Go!"

Four military police officers immediately stepped forward, lifted Delaz up, and began transferring him to the lifeboat.

At this moment, the Delaz fleet had only a handful of warships left. The Federation's onion-peeling tactic had worked, and they had reached the core: the damaged Gwadian had drawn the Federation's attention. Otherwise, the other ships would have been surrounded and attacked long ago.

At that moment, after Markarius destroyed one of the main gun turrets of the Gwadian, more Federation mobile suits rushed forward, braving the firepower of the surrounding warships to target the Gwadian's engines.

Clearly, the federal army wanted to keep the ship, which is why the adjutant ordered the military police to forcibly move Delaz.

Then, in order to draw the attention of the Federation forces, Delaz's adjutant ordered the warships to turn around and prepare to cover the rear, in order to buy time for the warships, especially the two best-preserved Chibe-class ships, to escape.

"Forget about this Guvadian, let's attack the remaining warships and leave this one to the fleet! Today, none of them will escape!"

The mobile suits that had been besieging the Gwadian then scattered and rushed toward other warships.

"Sir, the Gewadian..."

"I know!"

After being transferred to the Chebe-class ship called the Quicksail, Delaz himself seemed to have all his strength drained away. He slumped in his chair and looked at his old superior who had lost all his energy. The captain of the Quicksail made a decision in an instant.

"Disengage from the fleet, quickly!"

"Sir, are we going to abandon our allies?"

"That's right, at least for now, we'll take whatever ships we can get away!"

Upon receiving the communication signal, the two Chibe-class ships quickly abandoned the Mse behind them and launched a final sprint toward the not-so-distant Reef space area.

"Sir, those guys are trying to escape!"

"Chase chase chase!"

No sooner had Makarius given the order than he saw the remaining Mse-class ships suddenly turn around and charge toward his location, following the badly damaged Gwadian.

Even the ship's cannons started firing indiscriminately at him without bothering to aim carefully, forcing Makarius to take cover.

Left with no other choice, Makarius could only focus on the Muse-class ship in front of him. And just as he finished dealing with the Muse-class, he caught a glimpse of a Chebe-class ship entering the asteroid belt.

Just as the second Chibe-class vessel was about to enter, suddenly, a thick beam of particles crossed Macarius's entire field of vision and struck the Chibe-class vessel.

Within seconds, the Chebe-class ship was reduced to ashes by Birmingham's 20mw particle cannon.

(End of this chapter)