Gundam: From Piece to Player

The European Federal Air Force still harbored psychological trauma from the air battles of the past... leading to increased caution in carrying out ground attack missions. As Rebil watched the armored breaching forces being torn apart by enemy artillery fire, his anxiety grew until it reached a breaking point.

"Order all army and division command headquarters: don't wait for air support, use naval guns to take it out!"

Upon receiving Reibir's order, the Palatine-class land cruiser turned its hull sideways and began bombarding the heavy artillery positions deep within Odessa with its 460mm main guns.

This was actually a very dangerous maneuver, because the land cruiser was in fact the command center for this operation.

But such a risk was worthwhile; a high-explosive shell weighing nearly a ton crashed into the artillery and anti-aircraft positions, instantly silencing the artillery units of the Zeon commander's "second line of defense."

Just as the land cruiser was about to continue firing, streaks of meteors flashed across the sky.

The ultra-long-range rocket artillery, mounted on the core defense line, roared towards the land cruisers serving as command centers for various armies. Even after striking the Pallas-class ships, the rockets still produced a sickeningly metallic scraping sound.

Although in theory the heavy armor of a land cruiser is strong enough to withstand the attack, these behemoths, which are 85 meters high, 215 meters long, and 134 meters wide, still managed to evade it... Their hovering, fire control, and radar electronic components are still somewhat vulnerable.

This weapon was designed from the outset to require the Federation forces to maintain air superiority... otherwise their survivability would be extremely poor.

In the first round of combat, apart from the Federation's frontline army suffering heavy losses from artillery fire, the heavy artillery of the land cruisers also destroyed several automatic artillery positions on Zeon's second line of defense. Neither side suffered significant losses.

Following this, the Federal Army continued to advance on the outer defensive line, while Zeon's long-range precision artillery fire continued.

Such probing attacks continued along the 200-kilometer front for two days and two nights. Bruce's troops, located in the eastern attack group, were the first to break through the outer defense line under Zeon's artillery fire.

Reibell thus learned about the Zeon army's defensive situation on the outer lines... Apart from a small number of reconnaissance forces being active, there should not have been a large-scale combat force deployed.

“General, the enemy is playing the empty city ploy. I think we can speed up the pace and frequency of our attack. There are still two lines of defense behind us. Considering our supplies, we need to accelerate our advance,” the 3rd Army staff officer advised Rebil.

Rebil nodded.

"Order the western and northern attack groups to double their attack forces... but first send engineering units to carry out mine clearance operations."

"Mine clearance?"

“Kalma Zabi is a shameless and treacherous man. He may have planted mines and explosives in these outer defenses. We must learn from this experience in the Odessa air battle,” Rebil said.

"Yes."

The Federation's movements were relayed to command by Zeon's fire reconnaissance teams at the front lines.

This time, Rebil guessed correctly. Kalmar had planted mines in the outer defense line, but they were not trigger-activated; instead, they were remotely controlled via wire.

"Should we still bomb it? Only the Eastern Group has entered the outer defense line now."

Yuri asked Karma this question.

Karma did indeed learn the traditional skill of another vengeful prince by laying numerous landmines in the city's outer defenses.

This was originally intended as a "reward" for the Federation forces when they launched a major offensive, but now it seems that the Federation forces are much calmer than expected.

How to do?

They'll bomb them again; even the annoyance and pain of mosquito bites, Karma will make sure the Federation forces experience it all.

“Didn’t the Federation send out engineering troops? We’ll wait until they get close to clear the mines before detonating them,” Karma chuckled.

Two days later, the western and northern attack groups finally "captured" Zeon's outer defenses. Compared to the casualties when breaking through the fire defenses, the casualties during the mine clearance process in the city were not significant.

But Rebil's face darkened when he found out.

The reason was... that the Zeon forces only triggered the mine fuses after the engineering troops entered the outer defense line and began clearing mines.

A series of explosions occurred in the minefield, destroying many specialized engineering vehicles used for mine clearance and bomb disposal, and killing many professional technicians in the process.

This could have an adverse impact on subsequent operations.

The Eastern Army Group fared even worse, as they were the first to breach the outer defenses. When the minefield exploded, the fire reconnaissance team hidden on the outer defenses called in artillery fire, forcing the Eastern Army Group to dodge both ground bombs and artillery fire... Yuri orchestrated this operation.

However, the brutal battle continues.

After a full three days of rest and recuperation, the Federation finally completed the rotation of its combat troops and replaced them with a second batch of fresh soldiers.

Federation reconnaissance forces also detected the defensive forces in front of the first line of defense and learned that there were a large number of Zeon garrison troops among them. They then launched an attack on these towns without hesitation.

Compared to the outer defense line, the armored forces advanced more smoothly until they reached a point less than 2 kilometers from the first line of defense... where a barrage of artillery shells rained down on them.

The assault troops themselves entered a carpet bombing zone created by continuous firepower, and Kalmar ordered the artillery units to execute the [Van Fleet ammunition quantity] order.

In response, the number of fire reconnaissance teams increased significantly, the accuracy of some of the reduced firepower declined, but the intensity of the artillery fire increased to more than five times the original level. The long-range Wolf-type rockets began to fire high-performance molten ammunition mixed with old rocket engines—supposedly capable of directly melting the steel of the Type 61 rocket.

Even if the federal forces wanted to retreat, it wouldn't be that simple. The shelling would continue until the forces were broken up into smaller units, at which point the shelling would cease.

Karma wanted to test whether the firepower superiority doctrine was stronger or the Federation's human wave tactics doctrine was stronger... Now it seems that the firepower superiority doctrine is stronger.

Napoleon was right; artillery is the god of war.

It's a pity Reibill didn't deploy a few GMs to foolishly advance with shields, otherwise we could have witnessed the spectacular sight of MS exploding into nuclear fireballs amidst the enemy forces.

Under such attacks, the Federation's combat forces had to use drugs to numb the brain and nerves and enhance the senses.

Perhaps the front lines were too harsh and hopeless, so General Reiber, the instigator, issued an incentive order—if the unit captured the first town on the first line of defense, all officers and soldiers would be promoted two ranks.

This has never happened before, but is it really possible to receive this reward?

The effects of medicine and medals can never ward off the fear of death. Even with short-term medication, the mental breakdown will only happen faster once the effects wear off, especially after seeing the charred remains of one's comrades.

Intelligence from the front lines revealed to Kalmar that a large number of Federation conscripts were fleeing the front lines out of fear and instinct.

It's hard to say whether Rebil was incredibly prescient or just very thoughtful, as he even considered the consequences for deserters.

The federal military overseers executed the federal officer who led the escape, and used tank machine gun fire to intimidate the soldiers, forcing them to return to the hellish front lines.

What is "The Siege of the City"?

Such measures can only address the symptoms, not the root cause.

If the Space Force hadn't intercepted that colony satellite and had let it crash into Sydney, killing two billion people on Earth... then maybe they could have pushed forward despite the Van Fleet ammunition load.

Now... it's hard to say.

A large number of soldiers died from wound infections, and the federal field hospitals were already operating beyond capacity.

The seriously wounded sergeant on the front line is beyond saving and needs a military doctor to determine if there is any value in saving him, so as to avoid wasting medical resources.

Of course, given that the battle had lasted for so long, the Zeon forces couldn't have won indefinitely.

They also paid a price.

Although the Federal Army, which was on the first line of defense, had not yet engaged in large-scale close-quarters combat with the Zeon forces, Kalmar still received enough casualty reports that day to fill more than a dozen A4 pages.

The casualties among the Zeon forces were caused by the high-powered aerial bombs of the Federal Air Force.

Compared to the empty city strategy of the outer defense line, the first line of defense already has a large number of Zeon troops stationed in the buildings.

When they were tracked by federal reconnaissance aircraft and their coordinates were exposed, they were attacked by aerial bombs, resulting in the entire platoon being killed without firing a single shot.

To hold the line, people need to stand guard, and if people stand guard, it's only a matter of time before people die.

...But if no one stands in the line, the defense will not hold.

War is that cruel.

Chapter 124 The Federation Army's [Phase Two]

"Rotate the vanguard and send infiltration troops to investigate all the enemy's traps."

At this point in the battle, General Reibell believed it was time to press the pause button.

The air force was instructed to spread smoke over its own outer perimeter positions to delay and interfere with the landing points of the Zeon artillery.

They demanded that major military factories rush to produce a large number of smoke bombs and sent a request to Russia, the largest republic, hoping to bring out the stockpiles of artillery and rocket launchers produced before the 60s cosmic century and honestly use the barrage creeping advance tactic.

There was no other way; otherwise, the horrific casualty figures would demoralize the soldiers on the front lines, leading them to question Rebil's decision, and in severe cases, it could even cause a mutiny.

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Seeing that the Federal Army had built a temporary position 5 kilometers outside the first line of defense in order to maintain the front line, even though the fortifications were not yet complete.

Karma couldn't resist when he saw it... On the night of November 14, he ordered the Zeon army to bombard the fortifications of Army Group North.

While the enemy forces were in chaos, Karma and Char split into two groups, each leading 100 elite mobile suits, and launched a "decapitation" operation against the land cruisers of the 2nd and 7th Armies of the Northern Army Group under the cover of artillery fire (to mask the roar of the mobile suits).

They utterly annihilated the escorting force, and even destroyed two military command posts (land cruisers)...

Logically, with the corps-level command headquarters destroyed, the Northern Army Group should have been completely paralyzed. However, the "decapitation strike" did not bring the expected success.

After the chaos of the morning, the federal government completed the personnel changes by the afternoon of the 15th.

The commanders of the strongest main force divisions under the 2nd and 7th Armies were immediately promoted to army commanders by Rebil, and the divisions had pallet-class cruisers, which minimized the impact of the decapitation strike.

After two lieutenant generals of the corps level were brazenly beheaded by Karma, the Federation forces went into a state of extreme red—entering the berserk state of [Phase Two].

The 200 MS units of the GM squadron, reinforced by heavy transport aircraft from Jabulo, were tasked with the defense of the area surrounding the pallet-class (command center).

The previously destroyed engineering armored units were also redeployed from around the world.

The situation is even more alarming in terms of air power. If Kalmar was previously facing only the European air forces, now the Federation has mobilized all the air forces from North America, South America, Africa, and Asia... The Federation has practically deployed everything that can fly to the air bases on the Odessa front.

They were organized into an "Air Force Group".

Karma felt that the Federation was treating him like an "alien," which stirred up a lot of hatred.

On the 16th, the battle resumed.

After the federal reconnaissance and armored engineering forces cleared away various dangerous traps and roadblocks, the federal army, under the dual cover of advancing barrages and air raids (a cloud of air power that obscured the sky), launched a fierce attack on the first line of defense.

This time, even with artillery, the Zeon army couldn't stop them.

The Federal Army stormed into the cities along the first line of defense and successfully established "bridgeheads".

The two sides engaged in a bloody battle in the city, the first line of defense, calling for support from aerial bombs and artillery shells, and even hurling bullets at each other from a distance.

But once they get within 200 meters, it becomes a contest of the wisdom, tactics, and will of the infantry on both sides, with Yuri overseeing the operations in each area.

While the fighting raged on the front lines, the rear was also bustling with activity.

In order to completely destroy the artillery group in the Zeon army's second line of defense that was causing a large number of KD attacks for the Federation, the Federation's Air Force launched a large-scale air strike operation under the escort of fighter jets.

The anti-aircraft version of the Fighting Wolf, modified from the Fighting Wolf chassis, was also used in this battle. Its chassis was based on the Fighting Wolf, while the upper body was modified to be able to carry a 155mm caliber rapid-fire quadruple anti-aircraft gun, increasing the ammunition load.

The munitions fired are specially made magnetic induction explosives (passive detonation based on sensing the surrounding metal magnetic field, not electromagnetic wave detection) – these are specifically designed to attack Federation near-ground support aircraft such as the Flying Ray.

It is also equipped with four sets of quadruple short-range linear thermal decoy air defense missiles—designed to counter heavy bombers.

In addition, the Dopp fighter squadron/towed anti-aircraft guns carried out interception operations as usual.

Meanwhile, the base's 500 mobile suits on the ground at the second line of defense provided auxiliary defense using long-range weapons such as sniper rifles.