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

Chapter 318 Knocking on the mountain and shaking the tiger
"Sir, supplies and fuel have been replenished!"

"Then you can send the signal, Captain Brad!"

Upon seeing Markarius, who was wearing an officer's overcoat and a peaked cap and sitting in the command seat at the rear of the bridge, Bradnoa, who had been specially transferred from the First Fleet by Markarius, immediately raised his right hand in salute.

"As ordered!"

Then, beams of laser signals emanated from the Rakaram-class battleship beneath their feet, painted in a blue-black color that matched the riot control aircraft of the Federation Army.

Before long, a series of Federation warships in the same color scheme emerged from the darkness and surrounded the flagship Enterprise.

Compared to the colony satellites beside them, these 400-meter-long Rakellam-class ships looked like tiny caterpillars, but for Brad in the bridge, they were the largest warships he had ever commanded.

"All ships, maintain course and proceed!"

Without any farewell ceremony or alarming anyone, the strike group arrived as secretly as it had during its assembly, and departed just as secretly. As a result, the residents of Side 7 only realized several days later that the warships that had been their neighbors had suddenly disappeared.

However, keeping a low profile is exactly what this strike battle group is all about. The most deadly hunters are the ones who remain hidden. Just as the Federation forces have not made any public statements about the existence of the fleet commanded by Makarius, they have instead released a lot of ambiguous information, both true and false. As a result, the remnants of Zeon are still unable to confirm whether there really is such a fleet formed specifically for them.

If the remnants of the party were unaware of this, then it goes without saying that Mark Bay, who had just arrived in the Earth sphere and was setting up camp in the asteroid belt, was even more oblivious.

"The Federation Army's high command must still be furious about our raid!"

On the flagship of the Gevadan class, Macabe held a grand expedition celebration party. After all, they had traveled thousands of miles from Axis to the Earth Sphere, and not only had they not suffered any damage, but they had even achieved a victory against the Federation forces as soon as they arrived in the Earth Sphere. For those superstitious guys, there was no better start.

Returning from the expedition is a victory, striking the Federation is a victory, and the fleet successfully establishing itself without being discovered by the Federation is a victory. We've won so much that it's no surprise that the brothers are having a party.

Anyway, there are still plenty of supplies scavenged from Mars, so using them up now won't be a big deal. After all, Mark Bay doesn't have any other way to appease the soldiers, and he can't exactly make him go on stage and sing a song!

Even the fleet's few female soldiers were transferred to the flagship, where they are currently accompanying officers of all ranks, serving them tea and water.

"However, this Martian wine is still quite unpalatable!"

"It's alright, Commander. The advance team has already purchased a batch of supplies for us, which will be delivered in a few days. Among them are fine Bordeaux wines, so you'll be able to enjoy them to your heart's content!"

"Haha, very good, very good! It seems the advance team has done a great job!"

Upon hearing this, Mark Bay couldn't stop smiling. After all, he had always maintained a high standard of living. Even in Axis, he didn't forget to eat steak with a silver knife and fork. Now that he was back in the Earth Sphere, although he couldn't afford a full-course banquet, he should still enjoy other things!

The Zeon officer who was speaking also raised his glass and smiled to hide his unease.

After all, the advance team's main task was not to gather supplies for the main force that arrived, but other things. However, those tasks were all done very poorly, so they could only prepare some supplies first, which was also a way to give Mark Bay some explanation.

Meanwhile, on other warships, the Zeon soldiers were enjoying a rare moment of revelry. Although the food and drinks from Mars were of average quality, they were still much better than synthetic foods and the cherry tomatoes grown in the warships' own greenhouses. After all, these spaceships had to make trade-offs to meet various requirements.

After that, the Mark Bay fleet will be stationed in the asteroid belt for a long time, since only here can provide them with a place to hide. Of course, since it is not the core area of ​​the Reef Space Zone, after a short stay, the fleet will set sail again and continue to go deeper into the asteroid belt, since there is still a risk of being discovered by the Federation forces here!
After a few days of brief rest, the advance force that had arrived in the Earth Sphere first, along with several transport ships and a fleet, completed their rendezvous.

These transport ships didn't carry much in terms of living supplies. Most of their cargo consisted of various building materials and engineering machinery. After all, just like the previous Delaz fleet, if they wanted to settle down in the asteroid belt of the Reef Space Region, living on warships wouldn't be enough. They would need some space facilities, or at the very least, a simple maintenance station. After all, the entire Macbeth fleet had traveled a long way from Mars to reach Earth, not to mention that several warships had been damaged in the previous battle and needed to be repaired.

Along with the transport ships arrived the remnants of the Communist forces recruited by the advance team during this period.

"Finally, we've seen the main force!"

When the remnants of Earth on the transport ship saw the massive fleet outside the window, many of them immediately let out a wail, followed by two lines of tears streaming down their faces. For so many years, they had been chased like dogs by the Earth Federation forces in the Earth Sphere. They thought their lives would end like this forever. Unexpectedly, they would see a regular army in their lifetime. At this moment, their backs, which had been bent for so long, straightened involuntarily. It seemed that if they joined the fleet today, they could launch a counterattack against Zeon tomorrow, recapture Abaoa Sky Fortress the day after tomorrow, and plant their flag at the Gabro base next Monday.

But Macbeth and many of the fleet's officers were not happy at all.

Because these remnants of the Earth Sphere forces are vastly different from what they imagined!
Although they already knew that the Earth Sphere's allies had been reduced to a sizable force following the defeat of the Delaz Fleet, they hadn't expected that the remnants who responded to the call now seemed to have nothing to do with those pirates, and were even less than pirates. Those guys who made a living in the gray area at least had some courage in their eyes, but these guys had numb eyes and unsteady steps, and didn't look like veterans of many years of combat. Their spirit had been broken, and it would take at least ten or eight victories to get them back on their feet!
"The environment here is really this harsh?"

"It's worse than you imagine. The Principality of Zeon's army receives absolutely no support from the space inhabitants. Even the Lunar Merchant Guild no longer wants to associate with us. As for the Republic of Zeon, which is the country established by those rebels, it goes without saying that they have launched an extremely brutal attack on the Principality's army!"

"It's already quite an achievement that we were able to gather this force of a few hundred men. Even before we gave the assembly signal, these men had already given up resistance and turned to small businesses to eke out a living!" "And what about Diraz? Is he dead?"

“Commander Delaz, since escaping back to the Reef Space Region, he has disbanded his troops. He and a very small number of his personal guards remained on the ship. We have lost contact with him for a very long time!”

"Incompetent piece of trash!"

Mark Bay snorted coldly. He knew that the generals under Gihren were all incompetent idiots. Apart from learning the arrogance of that commander-in-chief, they hadn't learned anything. Especially Delaz, he was the one who bore the greatest responsibility for the Earth Sphere remnants becoming like this!
"No, we can't go on like this!"

Mark Bay, sitting back in his chair, reached out and touched the treasure pot in front of him, then said...

"We must reorganize the resistance forces as much as possible, contact all available forces in the Earth Sphere, and gather them together. Now is no longer the time to worry about factions; we must unite to fight against the Federation's strangulation!"

"We can now resume the annihilation of known remnant strongholds. Let the Military Intelligence Bureau share intelligence; if we're going to take action, let's do it together!"

In the Enterprise's combat information center, Markarius stood atop a massive holographic map and addressed the officers around him in a deep voice.

Directly below his feet lay the troublesome Reef Space Region.

After the Mark Bay fleet attacked the Federation patrol fleet, they immediately disappeared from the Federation's sight. Although no one knew their whereabouts, even the most incompetent Federation officer could guess where they went with his back to the ground.

Only the Reef Space Zone in the entire Earth sphere could hide the Mac Bay fleet.

"But, sir, won't our high-profile actions frighten the remnants and make them afraid to fight, instead playing hide-and-seek with us?"

"If it were Diraz, he would do that!"

Marcarius took a few steps and kicked the holographic map under his feet, causing it to change direction.

“But Mark Bay is different. They came with a mission, and a very urgent and important one at that. Delaz can try to play hide-and-seek with us in the Reef Space Zone and buy us time, but Mark Bay can’t. Unless he doesn’t want to achieve his plan, he has to make a move!”

"Eliminating those remnant strongholds forces him to make a choice: whether to live like Delaz, a savage in the Reef Space Zone for the rest of his life, or to jump out and fight us. And unlike in the past, when time was in Delaz's hands, now time is in our hands!"

Times have indeed changed. During the Delaz era, the Federation Army was still building up its military capabilities and was completely unable to launch an expeditionary attack. But now, with a steady stream of new and advanced warships being added to the Federation Army fleet, the Federation Army has a plan to attack Axis.

Therefore, Mark Bay could simply follow Delaz's example and stay in the Reef Space Region, allowing the Federation forces to directly attack Axis. Without its final stronghold, Mark Bay's fleet in the Reef Space Region would be nothing more than a clump of duckweed.

Therefore, Mark Bay had no choice but to either sit and wait to become isolated or take the initiative to see if he could seize upon the Federation's tactical mistakes, thereby causing losses to the Federation and shaking its already solid foundation.

But Makarius wasn't going to give Markby time to think; he wanted to make an example of him!
Subsequently, relevant intelligence from the Federation Military Intelligence Bureau was transmitted to the Enterprise. The Shadow Special Forces of the Intelligence Bureau, stationed on Kimmy Island, also ended their rest and sailed towards the strike combat group currently hiding in the edge area of ​​Side 3 to rendezvous with the main force.

Currently, the Military Intelligence Bureau doesn't have many remnant bases under its control. There are three in the asteroid belt, and one each in side 6 and side 3. These strongholds aren't all gathering places, but rather newly established supply transit points for the remnants. So, there won't be any big fish here, just small fry at most, but Makarius doesn't care.

Mark Bay might feel that his current foundation is unstable and he cannot operate in the Earth Sphere. He needs to lie low for a while and wait until he has a stable logistical support base before taking action. However, Makarius will not give him this opportunity. He desperately wants to see the other party, slap that letter in his face, and ask him how he should reply!

Of course, Makarius wouldn't let his emotions interfere with his command. Right now, the two sides were like playing hide-and-seek with blindfolded squeaky chickens. As long as there was any movement, the squeaky chickens could immediately make a sound to tell others where they were!
And those Zeon outposts are screaming chickens!

Soon, the war center assigned attack forces to the strongholds. The Military Intelligence Bureau would go to side 6, while Makarius's strike combat group would be responsible for the strongholds in the asteroid belt. As for side 3, it would be handed over to the Public Security Investigation Agency of Ramball. Although the Zeon Republic Self-Defense Forces did not have much heavy equipment, at least the special police's equipment was at a world-class level. Attacking a small stronghold was not a difficult task for them.

As for the strongholds that the strike group had taken over, it goes without saying that Makarius was going to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut. He deployed three Gundams to three strongholds, all for the purpose of deterrence!
After all, Mark Bay is hiding here right now, and he might just witness firsthand how the Federal Army comes to check the water meter.

If the other party could see the process firsthand, Makarius believed the effect would be even better. Without scaring and pressuring Markbe, how could he continue to inquire about the Chimera team? If he wasn't worried about arousing the guy's suspicion, Makarius was prepared to release information from the shadows and fabricate the location of the Minaret.

In fact, he did the same thing in the database of the Zeon Public Security Investigation Agency. Makarius prepared a calculation model similar to the movement trajectory of the minaret, just waiting for Markbe to eagerly search for it in the database.

Makarius had already planned out the script for how the other party would act next. He would make sure that model was Mark Bay's only hope and his only option. As for whether Mark Bay would see through it, that was simply impossible. Currently, the whereabouts of all known members of the Chimera team were under the control of the Federation Army, and it was impossible for Mark Bay to have any contact with them.

So, when he finds what he wants with full confidence, he will discover that a big gift awaits him at the finish line!
(End of this chapter)