Gundam: From Piece to Player

There was a pause on the other end.

"It's you. You handled things very well today. Of course, I also made quite a few mistakes."

The other person's voice was very friendly, which eased Song Ren's tension slightly.

"I would like to ask why you did not choose to scatter Minovsky particles at the beginning?"

A sense of anticipation began to stir within Song Ren.

“The reason it’s called an exercise, I think, is to simulate situations that haven’t happened before,” Kalmar said. “Atmospheric warfare is divided into air, land, and sea. Minovsky particles may not necessarily produce permanent interference effects. Tank-MS battles like what happened today could happen in the future, right?”

Song Ren's heart pounded.

Is this really possible?

Didn't the General Staff already conclude that mobile suits are superior to tanks in land warfare because of the Minovsky particle?

They had to consider producing industrial waste like the Magella tank simply because of cost considerations.

Does Your Excellency have a different opinion?

"Do you have time? Perhaps we can find a place to talk in person, Major Song Ren. At the same time, I think it's a waste of your talents to train personnel for our army in a military academy, given your excellent tank officer and mobile weapons designer skills."

"Please schedule a time!" Song Ren said respectfully. "How could I trouble you to adjust the time for me?"

"Okay, come to Colony 83 tomorrow morning and tell the port staff that you're here to see me."

Kalmar hung up the phone. He was sitting in the chairman's seat with the Deep Space Industries technical team, listening to a report on the development progress of Project Ragnarok.

"Sir, are you Major Song Ren?"

Oliver, sitting in the second seat, couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, he was quite excited. It seems like we're about to have another talented person join our team."

Chapter 27 Electromagnetic Waves and Sound Waves

How can we defeat the Federation forces on the main battlefield?

This is a question that Karma has been pondering ever since she transmigrated here.

Should we start by improving the quality of the military? But given the size of the Federation, if we recklessly fill the ranks, even if we train the 101st Division or the future Earth Attack Force to be able to fight ten men each, we'll eventually be wiped out.

While comparing the Federation forces to a Zerg swarm in interstellar space might be an overestimation, their characteristic tactic of using sheer numbers of cheap weapons to drag the enemy into a protracted and messy war is indeed unique to them.

So much so that later on, even in the space front, which the Zeon forces excelled at, the Federation forces were able to break through Abaoa after just one "flashlight" attack, demonstrating that this tactic was indeed effective.

Some analysts say that if Kycilia doesn't take action, Abaoakong might be able to hold out, but even if Abaoakong can hold out, it won't be able to reverse the current gap in productivity and manpower between the Federation and Zeon.

Even if we can hold out for a year at most, we will still lose this war.

If the universe is like this, then the gravity front is even more so... That's what Karma originally thought.

It wasn't until a review meeting for the development of the Turtle King, organized by the Weaponry Development Bureau, which he attended six months ago, that he gained some inspiration.

This is a rather unique mobile suit, and one of the few Zeon mobile suits that can be described as cute and adorable.

The designer who gave the presentation spoke eloquently at the time.

"...The armor of the machine itself is also coated with radio wave absorber, and the body uses a dark brown color with high concealment as the standard paint, which is difficult to detect even with the naked eye in wetlands."

"The shape of the aircraft was also taken into consideration. The silhouette captured by the sonar sensors during flight could easily be mistaken for a large marine creature like a blue whale at first glance..."

Kalmar couldn't hear anything at the subsequent meetings, simply because he heard the word 'sonar'.

A question arose in his mind.

Minovsky particles can interfere with electromagnetic waves, so can they affect the transmission of sound waves?

After consulting with relevant experts, Kalma received an accurate answer.

Does not affect.

This allowed his brainstorming to continue.

Sound is the most primitive way of perception for all things in the world—mechanical waves generated in a medium through vibration.

Sonar is used because electromagnetic waves attenuate at a very high rate in water, making them unsuitable as a signal source for detection. Therefore, using sound waves to detect man-made objects underwater has become the most widely used method.

Both submarines and surface warships utilize derivative systems of this technology to detect underwater objects. Sonar technology shone brightly in anti-submarine warfare during World War II.

After the war, sonar technology continued to develop and was widely used in fish detection, offshore oil exploration, ship navigation, underwater operations, hydrological surveying, and seabed geological and geomorphological surveying.

From the perspective of the Universal Century, this is a rather ancient applied technology, and some aspects of it have even regressed due to the loss of technical personnel.

Can sonar be used in the atmosphere?

Humans have never developed a similar device.

Because sound travels at only a quarter of the speed in air compared to water, it is far less efficient than radar, which uses electromagnetic waves.

Kalmar didn't know if he could do it.

But the wondrous nature has already "evolved".

bat.

This nocturnal creature emits ultrasonic pulses at 10-20 times per second from its throat and receives the echoes with its ears. With this "active atmospheric sonar," it can detect very small insects and even metal wire obstacles as thin as 0.1 mm. In experiments, the detection distance can reach up to 612 meters.

But in an environment filled with Minovsky particles, that might not be the case.

Of course, this is just the principle. After discussing it with Oliver, I realized that there are actually quite a few problems to overcome.

However, this did not stop him from using ultrasonic pulse radar to create PowerPoint presentations to fool Kilink.

Of course, it's not exactly a scam.

That's because if this thing were actually made, the Federation forces inside the atmosphere would be much easier to deal with.

The following day, after Song Ren arrived at Colony 83, Kalmar took him to see the development of Project Ragnarok.

Song Ren didn't say anything during the whole thing, but he watched the whole thing almost without blinking.

When Kalma led him to the lounge, the tank instructor could no longer hold back. With red eyes and tears streaming down his face, he bowed deeply to him, saying, "You saved my profession, my future, my life..."

"Major, please don't do this."

Karma helped the middle-aged officer who was about to bow, and he was also moved; Karma was quite empathetic.

Whenever a groundbreaking technology emerges, it means that the previous generation of technology-related professionals are marginalized and eventually eliminated.

The technology that I spent more than ten years studying is now useless. How many decades does one have in a lifetime? It's not easy to get back on track.

“It was May who recommended you to me, Major. Your performance in the exercise proves that your ambition has not been extinguished,” Karma said. “You will definitely be involved in this project. I also want to ask you to help me train the armored troops of the 101st Division. The land war against the Federation still relies on armor and artillery, not mobile suits.”

"Of course, whenever you need it."

Song Ren nodded repeatedly and agreed almost without hesitation. Karma couldn't help but smile wryly. At this point, he would probably agree to anything. He gestured for the other party to sit down first, so that the expert could calm down from his excitement.

This thing hasn't even been prototyped yet.

"I heard that you, Major, once led the development of the YMT-05 Wolf series of mobile armored tanks?"

“That was a cobbled-together experimental machine.” Hearing the other person talk about his work, Song Ren was a little embarrassed, but he seemed to have come to terms with it. “The Fighting Wolf series still has too many flaws. As a product of Minovsky particles, it is less versatile than the Zaku and is more expensive. It’s not surprising that it failed.”

"I checked the records. Can that 300mm main gun snipe a target 32km away? It has an accurate range of 20km, that's impressive."

Song Ren shook his head.

"That data was not tested at higher Minovsky particle concentrations. It would require launching a special reconnaissance aircraft from the Wolf Fighter to transmit the strike coordinates, altitude, and wind direction via laser communication in order to carry out a precision strike. Moreover, it could only strike fixed targets or slow-moving targets."

Karma thought this data was also outrageous.

Hit slow-moving targets.

Give him a battalion (13 vehicles) of Wolf Fighters, and he's confident he can bring down floating targets like the Pegasus-class from mid-air.

Artillery is the god of land warfare... This statement is still relevant even in the Universal Century.

It's time to start designing a self-propelled artillery piece based on the Wolf Fighter.

No fighting ability is needed, and even armor thickness is unnecessary.

All you need is a heavy cannon and a tracked chassis to carry it.

Chapter 28 Is this a Gundam?

"When it comes to weapons development, I believe we should first clarify the needs and positioning before designing a machine. In your opinion, if the Fighting Wolf is to be resurrected, what should its positioning be?" Karma asked.

“Hmm, as a tank… it’s a bit too large. If your project can be realized, the Type 61 with its energy storage battery pack can carry out guided strikes. We can use a model that is easier to maintain and can handle more tasks, without having to use an expensive nuclear fusion reactor.” Song Ren considered, “If we use a nuclear fusion reactor, perhaps it would be for the artillery?”

"Yes, I believe that the Wolf Fighter equipped with a nuclear fusion reactor should be used as a powerful tactical unit to strike key enemy strategic and tactical units, or it can be modified into our heavy air defense platform."

"Air defense? In your opinion, will aircraft also have a place on the battlefield in the future?"

"I think it's almost inevitable."

Of course there are! Karma thought of the high-speed firepower platform after the transformation of Gundam Z, which is actually a fighter-bomber.

These platforms are faster than MS and can carry more ammunition and fuel for the same volume.

To avoid being picked up by these CAS (ground support aircraft).

Ground-based air defense platforms can only be equipped with more powerful multi-barrel anti-aircraft guns, or even beam weapons. Air defense weapons are actually something that the side with weaker air superiority needs to prepare, and Zeon will be fighting in the foreseeable future while losing air superiority.

The Federation has accumulated a great deal of experience in aircraft design.

“Land-based air defense vehicles are another direction.”

Looking at Song Ren, who was muttering to himself and deep in thought, Karma took a sip of coffee.

Major Song Ren, who was standing before me, had originally died in North America because his life had been negated by MS, but it was changed by his arrival.

"Perhaps the major could expand his research scope now? That would offer more room for future development?"

"Please speak, Your Excellency." Song Ren's gaze towards Karma already held a great deal of admiration.

"Tanks don't necessarily have to drive on the ground; they can also rampage through space."

You mean...?

"I remember your students didn't want to drive tanks because they could drive MS, but actually we can build not only tanks on the ground, but also 'tanks' in space."

"You mean MA, Mobile Armor, right?"