Gundam: From Piece to Player

"Received, I'll be right there."

After answering the phone, Xia stood up. "Karma, it seems we'll have to talk another time."

"Aren't you on vacation? You're going on a mission while on vacation?"

“Even if soldiers have leave, they must return to their posts when ordered,” Xia said. “It’s Von Braun’s side; the Space Attack Force is now continuously putting pressure on the Federation fleet near the moon.”

"No matter how many battles you achieve in the Space Attack Force, Dozle will never give you command of any of his units, not even a squadron. Even if he values ​​you highly, in his eyes you are just a very powerful ace, not a fleet commander."

Having formed an alliance with Char, Karma no longer hesitated to offer her reminders.

In his opinion, Char would be better off joining Kycilia's Mobile Assault Force sooner, where he could become his inside man.

The Space Attack Force fleet was formed too early and has too many veterans. At best, they can only have a dedicated special operations warship like Ramba Ral, which is the kind of treatment Char could have received in the past.

Anyway, his identity wasn't a secret to Kycilia, and given his sister's unrealistic fantasies about Char, he might just get the same treatment as Sima and have a "fleet" to command.

“I know that, but I need to earn enough merit in the first major battle of the Space Attack Force... Just like you said, I’m just an unknown ace right now, and I have to prove my worth.”

Chapter 44 Submarines and Anti-Submarine Aircraft

District 23 colony.

A colony themed around the ocean, its outer walls also feature a specially designed drainage system.

Every year, many domestic tourists from other colonies visit the beach, and you can occasionally see plenty of swimsuits on the beach.

Kalmar came to the colony not for tourism, but to observe the Sea Hound's training exercises.

The lead ship of the Seahound-class, the USS Seahound, is currently sailing slowly on the seabed of the colony.

"...Your Excellency, that concludes my presentation of the Sea Hound series' numerous exercises and measured data." Oliver explained the underwater projects to Kalmar.

Since Kalmar focused his efforts on Project Ragnarok, the project was handed over to Oliver, and Project Sea Hound is currently Deep Space Industries' most profitable order.

"Has a speed test been conducted?" Kalmar asked.

"The maximum speed reaches 60 knots, and the economic speed can be maintained at around 30 knots."

"Didn't they say it could reach 50 sections?"

"When entering combat, it can maintain a speed of 50 knots for more than 20 minutes. Your Excellency, the economic speed refers to the speed in non-combat conditions. If it is to maintain a speed of 50 knots in peacetime, it will significantly increase the cost of the nuclear reactor, the pressure of later maintenance, and the structural requirements of the submarine."

Kalmar understood.

Oliver's considerations are indeed more reasonable.

The side that manufactures better quality equipment is not necessarily the one that wins the war; rather, the side that manufactures a large quantity of durable equipment at a controllable cost is the one that wins the war.

How did you guys find the experience?

Karma looked at the submarine force commander beside him, Major Erich Hartmann, who had a large beard.

The reason why Zeon has no navy is the same as the reason why Mongolia has no navy.

However, Karma's strategy required a navy, so after becoming the commander of the Earth Attack Force, Karma also recruited personnel from the fleet and military academy to build up this force.

As the weaker party, it is naturally impossible for them to build any surface ships; the only option is submarines.

Fortunately, submarines and space fleets share many similarities in their operation, so they weren't completely clueless.

Because Hartmann was the most senior and experienced among those who changed tracks, Kalmar promoted him to commander.

"General, it feels much the same as being in a spaceship, but the speed and navigation details require special adaptation. The first batch of helmsmen have already been trained."

How is the training for sonar operators and weapons management personnel?

"We have completed training for 180 people, and we will train the second batch of intensive courses next."

"Too slow, we need to speed things up," Karma said, clearly dissatisfied.

"Yes."

Ten submarines have been deployed in Colony 23 for personnel training, with about 30 people on each submarine. These 300 people constitute a training brigade for submarine operations.

According to Kalmar's plan, the first descent operation would involve launching 100 submarines from low Earth orbit for intelligence gathering in the surrounding waters.

Depending on the war situation, production will also be carried out on U-class and Juno-class aircraft captured from the Federation.

To meet his strategic requirements, he would need at least 500 submarines to produce and train on-site using the shipyards of the occupied Earth.

The biggest problem right now is the lack of "sparring partners".

Kalmar cannot afford to waste its precious production capacity building a bunch of surface ships to be used as target ships.

In the long run, submarines can only be used in one-year wars, and after that, these people will have to be transferred to spaceship combat personnel.

For Kalmar, this was a short-term investment, but one he had to make.

On Earth, we can't seize air superiority from the Federation Forces, but we absolutely cannot relinquish control of the seas.

"I've thought of a method that we can practice. Could you take a look and see if it works?"

"Please speak, General."

"You will have five submarines completely afloat on the surface, treating yourselves as destroyers, while the other five will act as a submarine force, with each acting as a hypothetical enemy. I will also provide you with some intelligence so that you can understand the current anti-submarine warfare methods of the Federation Navy."

"no problem."

Seeing Hartmann take out his notebook and start taking notes, Kalmar nodded in agreement.

"In addition, there are anti-submarine aircraft, which are the biggest threat to the survival of submarines."

What is an anti-submarine aircraft?

"Anti-submarine aircraft."

Karma continued to explain, only to find that even Oliver and Hartman looked completely bewildered.

Well, this is not common sense for space colonists.

Keep in mind that the Zeon Navy was only three months old and hadn't even figured out how to operate submarines yet, so it was impossible for them to have imagined such an advanced anti-submarine aircraft.

In modern anti-submarine warfare, anti-submarine aircraft are the most formidable force against submarines.

It carries anti-submarine detection equipment such as sonar buoys, dipping sonar, and magnetic anomalies, as well as anti-submarine weapons such as torpedoes and depth charges to carry out anti-submarine warfare, which is also a one-sided hunt.

Most battle scenarios were greatly affected by the appearance of rice grains, while naval battles were among the least affected.

Because sonar and magnetic detection technologies can still be used.

However, the Federation's naval fleet is different; its carrier battle groups have always regarded anti-submarine warfare as an important training subject.

“Alright then, tomorrow I’ll pilot a mobile suit and act as an anti-submarine aircraft, so Major Hartman can also experience this weapon,” Karma said.

"Please give me your guidance, General." Perhaps it was his earnestness that impressed Hartmann, who gave him a very proper salute.

After the other party left, Oliver leaned close to his ear and whispered, "You also use mobile suits for anti-submarine warfare?"

Karma thought to herself, "How could I possibly be like that?"

He'll have to learn it on the spot, but he already has a plan.

That afternoon, he had Alice search for information online and in the library, and then had Deep Space Industries' design department work overtime to assemble the equipment using 3D printing.

The drill began at 10 a.m. the next morning.

Hartmann checked the time and then ordered the Sea Hound to begin its descent.

"Commander, how do you think the Major General will use mobile suits for anti-submarine warfare? There is gravity within the colony itself."

The first mate beside him couldn't help but ask.

"According to the general, it seems to be a flying platform, but due to the influence of Minovsky particles, it should still need to be submerged in water. That will be our opportunity to counterattack."

"Yes."

"On my command, disperse Minovsky polar particles, descend at full speed, and activate the active sonar detection system in 5 minutes."

The first mate repeated Hartmann's order, and the operation began.

Meanwhile, on the water's surface.

Karma, piloting the Gundam, landed on the Dedda auxiliary aircraft. The aircraft hovered slowly in the air, clearly overweight.

Because the D-D-D not only has Gundam, but also a weapon cabinet (bag) that is half the height of the MS.

Gundam opened the top of the weapon cabinet and took out the weapons stored inside.

The long rod unfolds, and the most eye-catching part is the wheel seat near the hand grip. Gundam has a glowing hexagonal component attached to the end of the rope.

Gundam holds the end of the rod with one hand and throws the cylindrical component down with the other.

As the components sank, the guide ropes were pulled by the colony's rotational gravity, causing the wheel to spin rapidly.

After the metal components were brought into the water, they slowly floated up, and the six rectangular buoyancy components unfolded like flower petals, with yellow indicator lights flashing on them.

Chapter 45 Fishing, Explosive Fishing

Although the machine has many movements, none of them are performed by Kalmar; they are all pre-programmed.

He had a tablet in his hand, on which was an electronic map of Colony 23. Along with the map, there was also a detection display, on which echoes detected in various directions would be displayed through headphones and on the display.

All he could hear at that moment was the white noise caused by the friction of the flowing water.

"Brother, this looks a bit like fishing, doesn't it?"

In order to better carry out the reconnaissance work, Kalma also brought Alice along to assist him in processing intelligence.

"Uh-huh."

In modern anti-submarine warfare, anti-submarine aircraft can deploy a dense array of buoys in a scattered pattern, and then conduct a net-like patrol of the area, which is why they are more efficient than helicopters.

However, this model can only be applied in the past when electromagnetic waves were still usable.

However, with the interference of Minovsky particles, it is not so convenient.

Everything requires a "network cable".

However, as the flying side, it still had a greater advantage in speed and information gathering after detecting the submarine's location.

"Are you sure you want to keep waiting? Brother, Deday only has enough fuel to hover for 15 minutes."

Karma thought to himself, "If only there were miniaturized Minovsky particle levitation devices..."