Gundam: From Piece to Player

He's undoubtedly a formidable opponent, and he definitely needs to be on high alert.

Chapter 60 Game Theory

The OODA loop in the Federation Space Forces curriculum. The two sides proposing a conflict will compete in the speed of executing the "Observe-Judgment-Decision-Action" process.

The side that is faster and executes more effectively will gain the initiative in the battle.

Compared to past beyond-visual-range combat, the first and second phases now rely entirely on field of vision and optical instruments.

Countermeasures... In order to ensure that possible opportunities are seized, decision-making should be shortened as much as possible. After the enemy is spotted, flashbangs should be fired immediately to mark the location and guide wingmen and rear fleets to carry out support operations.

Lieutenant John, in charge of the forward reconnaissance fighter, recalled the squadron leader's pre-battle warning.

And he finally spotted the target.

After a sharp turn, bypassing a moving colony, his fighter brushed past the bridge of a Zeon Musai-class cruiser...

The reason he only discovered it when he got close was because the other side had turned off all the lights on the warship, and he could only spot it by moonlight.

Without wasting a moment, John, quick-witted and agile, immediately pulled the trigger and fired a flashbang.

The next moment, his fighter jet was cleaved down by a Zaku lurking on the bridge with an axe, and he was killed.

But his death was not without meaning; the explosion at the moment he was shot down was like a death knell.

That was the second "flashbang".

This completely exposed the Zeon warship that was lying in wait.

The next moment, beams of light from the Federation fleet swarmed in, along with missiles that had lost their guidance and were being used as rockets.

Despite the smoke being drawn up by Musai, the shelling did not stop.

The federal troops continued to fire blindly into the smoke.

Despite losing the ability to calibrate the optical instruments, a large number of stray bullets still blindly hit the unfortunate warship. Its already poor armor protection caused multiple breaches and internal fires inside the ship, and the rudder was also hit, rendering it unable to move.

Upon seeing this, the two nearby Musai warships, which were in a state of lurking, also broke their silence.

They were also releasing smoke, and the Zaku, responsible for fleet air defense, was also equipped with 120mm machine guns and began to intercept the Swordfish formations rushing into the smoke.

As for the Swordfish fighters that slipped through the air defense network, three warships used hand-cranked anti-aircraft gunners to visually drive them away.

Seeing this, the other Federation fleets began to flank and encircle the Zeon cruisers from the flanks and rear, attempting to completely destroy the three Zeon cruisers: one disabled and two rescue ships.

“…What bad luck.” Karma, piloting the Gundam, complained as she witnessed this scene.

On the way out to SIDE2, you may encounter the Federation fleet, but being damaged may lead to an attack, which is a scenario we have anticipated.

Kalmar launched a red signal flare into space.

At this point, simply defending won't work.

Offense can relieve defensive pressure.

Since he had limited troops, he could only attempt a decapitation strike... and the Federation fleet's usual practice was to place the command ship on a large ship.

Thirty seconds after the red signal flare was fired, the Magellan-class air defense networks on the flagships of the four Federation fleets opened fire.

Then, a total of nine blue nuclear fireballs exploded in the night sky.

A squadron of nine mobile suits swooped over the Federation fleet.

The three formations, each consisting of three aircraft, carried out anti-ship attack missions. The three Zaku aircraft flew in parallel and attacked the Magellan battleship, the largest ship in the enemy fleet.

To ensure a kill, each group targets the same battleship.

Even though the enemy has set up a barrage of attacks, as long as one of the three attack points is breached, the victory can be achieved.

Of the four Magellans in the four squadrons of the Federation fleet, three were immediately rendered combat ineffective, two were paralyzed, and the ammunition depot on one was detonated. The huge shock fragments even damaged the escorting Salamis-class ships.

This left the squadron that wanted to launch a flanking attack in a state of temporary commandlessness, and the enemy's attack intentions were thwarted.

A single anti-ship attack destroyed three Magellan-class ships, a tremendous achievement even in the context of naval warfare of the old century.

Kalmar did not stop, continuing to patrol and observe the airspace between the two sides, especially around the surrounded warships.

Then his Gundam intercepted a laser communication... sent by the Federation. They didn't seem to be used to the combat environment with the Minovsky particle dispersion yet, and the laser communication was actually sent in plain text.

Karma quickly fired a blue signal flare into the space above.

.

A minute earlier, on the bridge of a Magellan-class ship, Wojnarowski, who was also the fleet's flagship, had lowered the brim of his hat.

"Use lasers to signal the squadron's deputy ships to prepare to launch nuclear weapons, targeting the smoke fleet and the colonies on it."

"Commander, our carrier-based aircraft have not yet withdrawn from the combat airspace," Lieutenant Nada, the military attaché in charge of nuclear weapons management, hurriedly reminded him.

"Send them a laser signal forty seconds before launch," Huaken instructed.

“…Received.” Lieutenant Nada hesitated for a moment before replying.

Wakken thought that the enemy would be alerted by the unauthorized withdrawal of his anti-ship attack squadron, but he would not do anything to kill friendly forces.

Several large nuclear warheads with an explosive yield of 200 megatons were loaded into the missile launch tubes of his flagship and launched along with a barrage of missiles.

The next moment, the ship's anti-aircraft guns also began firing continuously.

The next moment, Warken saw from the bridge a small fireball explode in the air, as well as blue explosions on three other Federation warships... All three battleships lost signal at the same time.

They launched attacks simultaneously.

Holding the cross in his hand, Wakken stared intently ahead, while the anti-aircraft guns gradually ceased firing.

Will they survive?

Feeling his own heart pounding, Hua Ken suppressed his unease and began to analyze the shooting situation using CIC.

Blue flames emanated from the colony behind, their light brighter, while the other four blue fireballs exploded in the night sky, causing electronic devices to malfunction and display black and white screens due to the impact.

The colonies behind were also hit.

Sigh, were only 5 nuclear bombs dropped in this wave?

"Lieutenant Nada, what's going on your end? Did you reduce the yield? How many nuclear missiles did you launch in total?"

While confirming the results of the battle, Hua Ken sensed something was wrong and quickly picked up the phone on his seat to call Lieutenant Nada at the armory.

"Colonel, our missiles are all 200 megatons in size. They are too powerful and could accidentally hit friendly fighter jets. So I only included 3 in the conventional missiles."

As if to confirm Waken's concerns, CIC also sent back news that Waken found unbelievable.

"Colonel, the enemy fleet is still intact."

Wakeman remained silent.

Some of those exploding nuclear bombs weren't dropped by them... It's easy to infer that, since the operation to destroy the colonies wasn't fully executed, this Zeon fleet seems to have a considerable stockpile of nuclear weapons.

"Send laser communications to all squadrons and have them follow my ships to continue launching nuclear missiles at the remaining colonies. Ignore the enemy fleet for now."

"Yes."

In addition to these three Zeon warships, seven other warships also concealed their whereabouts.

Continuing to use nuclear weapons in fleet warfare is both dangerous and insane.

Huaken remembered the most important strategic objective and gave instructions to Meita: "Continue the loading of nuclear bombs, without mixing them, target... the moving colony satellite."

Chapter 61 Waiting for a Rabbit to Run into a Tree Stump

Karma piloted the Gundam into the smoke and arrived near the heavily damaged Musai battleship.

The damaged Musai warship is being connected to a nearby warship through a supply tunnel. This tunnel, originally used by Zeon warships for resupply, is now being put to use, and the crew is being transferred through it.

Although the maintenance and damage control team carried out emergency repairs on the warship, the damage was too severe and it was beyond repair.

"The Musai warships are really thin-skinned and full of stuff," Karma thought to himself. "Zeon's shipbuilding industry is really terrible."

The only good news is that there were no casualties.

Warships can be rebuilt; changing their name is like reviving them. But the dead cannot be revived.

A patterned, horned Zaku was placed on his shoulder, and the communication was connected.

"Your Excellency, thank you for your fleet's valiant fighting. The remaining battle will now be handed over to Fleet B."

Karma recognized the voice.

This is Eric Mansfield, the deputy commander of the training battalion, the captain of the Gihren SS, and the fourth-ranked Zeon fighter.

Has Char ever lost to this guy?

"Alright, then I'll leave it to you, Lieutenant Colonel Eric."

Kalmar gave a brief reply, turned on his binoculars, and quickly captured the surrounding clues through the high-sensitivity camera.

—Fleet B has already laid an ambush on the acceleration trajectory of Iphisius Island.

Has Killian been keeping a close eye on the battle?

A test? Or a statement of punishment for his actions?

...Forget it, continuing the fight will only lead to losses and no profit. He doesn't want to invest any more money in the war against Great Britain. He's already in debt for over two billion, and he really needs to find a way to raise funds.

Gundam boarded the still-operational Musai battleship, while the other hidden battleships also left the battle line.

Accompanied by blue nuclear flames, four more moving colony satellites were destroyed by high-yield nuclear bombs launched by the 2nd Fleet.

"Commander, we've detected two Zeon warships leaving the smoke. Should we pursue them?"

"So, we finally sank one?"

After thinking for a moment, Hua Ken shook his head. "Have the fighter jets return to their units immediately for maintenance."

"Yes, what is the situation regarding the destruction of the quality weapons?"

"There's one left, and it's been accelerating much faster than the other colonies since just now."

Wakeman pondered for a moment.

So it seems that of the 10 colony satellites that were moved out, 9 were decoys, and only 1 was the real weapon... Why would the enemy go to such lengths to set them up?

"Commander, the liaison officer from headquarters has just landed on our ship. He brings orders and intelligence from command."