Gundam: From Piece to Player

They were surrounded and annihilated.

Even if the Zeon forces later find a way to destroy the bridge, as long as the bridgehead receives continuous air support, the bridge can be rebuilt.

"General, do you think Karma Zabi has already escaped?"

"Unless he abandons his MS forces, army, navy, and air force, then all the achievements he has made in the early stages will be wiped out, making him the biggest loser in human history."

Although he was quite confident, Bruce put down his vodka bottle and looked at the CIC communications officer: "Make a laser communication call to inquire with the 76th Guards Division, which broke through first, about any unusual situations."

"Reporting to the commander, the 76th Division Commander Andrei has already reported that the enemy is retreating steadily, and the bridgehead line has expanded to 5 kilometers."

Bruce laughed after hearing this and instructed, "Tell him to slow down; he'll be rewarded with military merit."

----Second Line of Defense-----

Zeon's command ship, the Dabd-class land battleship... The subsequent shipbuilding plans for this class of land battleship were cancelled by Garma because the Zeon forces could not gain air superiority in the Earth Sphere.

The one that had already been started was preserved and assigned to the European Front for use; in reality, this warship never left the Crimean Peninsula.

"The general is so fast." Yuri leaned against the bridge terrace with his arms crossed. "What happened to letting me stall for time like Beidan? Is he learning from Guderian?"

"It took four days. The advance wasn't as fast as you expected because of the weather. We can march slowly during the day... The Federation's [Air Force] is focused on us and probably doesn't have time to keep an eye on Southern Europe. As for the ground troops... who would leave the city for no reason and go out to scout far from towns in this wet and cold winter?"

Mark Bay reached out and caught the water-soaked snowflakes. In the sky, thick clouds obscured the Crimean Peninsula.

"In hindsight, the general didn't need to place the assembly point in the small town in the mountains; he could have placed it much closer to the main battlefield."

At 18:25 on December 1, after the White Horse began its retreat, the defenders of the second line of defense in Odessa received a laser-encrypted communication from Commander-in-Chief Kalma.

We have reached point A. Retreat as planned and let the Federation forces in.

Therefore, Yuri did not adopt a defensive stance of not retreating an inch, but instead fought and retreated, allowing the Federation army to establish a bridgehead on the second line of defense, even hoping that the enemy would probe further inward—

At 20:00 on December 1, Lieutenant General Bruce, traveling by helicopter from his ship "Peter the Great" to the Reiber's flagship "Pantheon," reported on this breakthrough and expressed his hope to be granted permission to increase the attack intensity in order to liberate the Crimean Peninsula as soon as possible.

Rebil paced back and forth for a moment.

"Commander-in-Chief, what are you still hesitating about?"

“I am concerned that Kalma Zabi has planted nuclear weapons in Crimea.”

"General, if he knew how to use nuclear weapons, he would have used them long ago. What's the point of flipping the table now if we're going to play the game of flipping the table? Don't forget they've already been driven to the Crimean Peninsula. If we use nuclear weapons, they'll be going down with us. If your Western and Northern Army Groups are afraid of nuclear weapons, then our Eastern Army Group can carry out the final offensive. We're not afraid of nuclear weapons."

"...You will be the ones to launch the main attack. You are the ones who will break through the defenses first, and you will be the ones to receive the military credit."

Rebil pondered for a moment, then gestured to his secretary to begin drafting orders and issuing official documents.

"Thank you, General!"

"You're welcome, you deserve it."

Bruce stood up and saluted Rebil again—meaning that the Eastern Army Group would be allowed to commit all its forces to annihilating the Zeon forces on the Crimean Peninsula, rather than being ordered to let other units reap the final victory.

Perhaps I will have the opportunity to become a general in my lifetime.

At 12:12 on December 2, after half a day of fierce fighting, the central part of the 4th Army began to cross the bridge one after another, and the 76th Guards Division inside it continued to attack the towns behind the defensive line, gradually improving its tactical position.

Meanwhile, the Zeon forces relied on town defenses, and artillery fire was already raining down on the 4th Army's advance route from the rear, reminding the Federation forces that they had not disappeared.

There was still no sign of collapse, which puzzled Bruce, who was in command. The battle had progressed to this point, yet the enemy still did not show any signs of disorder—such as fleeing or completely abandoning defensive discipline to attack.

Thirteen kilometers north of the 4th Army, a 30-meter-long tracked vehicle was covered with a thin layer of snow, and behind it lay what looked like a sleeping "giant." Karma looked at the radar image transmitted back from the ultrasonic radar vehicle via laser communication.

The troop deployment of the 4th Army is now clear... including the junctions between the various units, which he is waiting to break through with armored corps.

He stretched his body slightly, and his bones and joints made a cracking sound. His "Long March" was coming to an end.

A large number of armored vehicles were also lurking around, stretching for several kilometers with no end in sight... But as long as you moved the distance to 200 meters away, they would blend completely into the surrounding scenery.

Its pure white paint, combined with the power supply currently maintained by the battery system, achieves triple stealth in terms of optics, radar, and acoustics under the influence of Minovsky particles.

The route avoided towns entirely and used a Type 79 battery-powered motor, making it extremely quiet.

No wonder the Federation forces didn't notice.

Chapter 130 Reversal (A Key Milestone in the Battle of Odessa, 4000 words, please subscribe)

Karma arrived at the assembly point in her Gundam on the 28th, and then, after a five-day journey from Elisabethtovka, a small mountain town, she finally returned to the starting point.

During this time, they had to hide from the aerial "army group" in the sky, for fear of being discovered and having all their efforts wasted.

During the march, they also had to deal with various tank parts and strange malfunctions caused by poor road conditions. There were more than twenty armored vehicles that had accidents that they could not handle.

Before even engaging in battle, they had to collect all the data and then "execute" them by the roadside using other tanks.

He felt a sense of accomplishment for bringing the troops here... He himself rode in a Gundam when he set off, and returned with a 15-strong armored corps.

This was half of the North American Front, which he had previously hidden near the town of Elisabethovka, with zero fatigue and fully mechanized and armored. The other half was Song Ren's side, while he and his troops hid in the mountains of Vasilyevka.

Before Karma was a little imp whose upper body had already penetrated into the second line of defense, but found the cave somewhat narrow (the bridge's carrying capacity was limited), while her lower body was still outside, leaving her in a dilemma.

He's only concerned with the immediate problem, how can he possibly resist?

He actually arrived here yesterday, while Song Ren's army arrived at the north of the Federal 2nd and 7th Armies at 9 pm last night... He has to travel a longer distance than Karma.

Kalmar planned to first defeat the elite 4th Army with the Odessa garrison, then turn around and deal with the 2nd and 7th Armies together with Song Ren, and then advance from east to west until they reached the Dnieper River.

With that in mind, Karma picked up the phone, entered a number, and dialed it. It was a laser-encrypted communication system.

After multiple relays, the audio signal was not very good.

"Hello, General?"

“It’s me, Hartman,” Karma said. “Give me a report.”

"Reporting to the General... The ultrasonic reconnaissance submarine, along with the ultrasonic detection equipment inside the camouflage balloons deployed by Colonel Lamba over the past week, is now functioning normally."

"We have locked onto and tracked 100 targets at a range of 80 meters. The coordinates of all 100 targets have been located using ultrasonic sensors. The coordinates are updated every 2 minutes, and we are ready to strike them at any time."

Ramba Lal's professional skills are indeed outstanding. Although there was not much combat, the fact that such a large Zanzibar could secretly shuttle behind enemy lines without being detected by the Federation shows that he is quite capable.

"Nothing was missed, right?"

"No, General. We specifically dispatched Doppler fighters for long-range reconnaissance to check for any omissions. All large targets of the Federation forces have already entered the first line of defense."

In other words, there were 90 independent combat units of divisions/brigades participating in the Battle of Odessa. The exact number of units that Kalmar had been unable to confirm has now been clarified.

In the pre-war planning, he arranged for three ultrasonic radar submarines to navigate along the Kalginit Bay, in conjunction with the air balloons carrying ultrasonic devices deployed by Lamba Lal to complete the positioning.

The reason for abandoning the first line of defense and waiting for the enemy to enter the second line of defense is to ensure that all enemy land cruisers are within the search range, without missing a single one.

The five large nuclear submarines, including the Red October, carrying ballistic anti-ship missiles, only broke through the ice to enter their launch positions five minutes before launch... This was also to avoid federal reconnaissance aircraft.

"Have you found Rebil's Bataan-class flagship?"

"Yes, he's in the very center of the 3rd Legion's formation, heavily protected, and easy to spot. We're going to use two shots to secure the kill...?"

“No,” Karma said, “I mean… don’t attack the last one.”

Hartmann was somewhat puzzled: "But shouldn't Rebil's Bataan-class be the highest priority?"

“Hartmann, let me ask you this: if all the command posts on the battlefield ‘disappeared’ in an instant, leaving only the Bataan, where do you think those 500 million soldiers would run to?”

"Now that you put it that way... I understand, General."

In actual combat, Karma would choose to destroy Rebil's flagship to eliminate any future threats.

But what can you do when you have a good childhood friend? You have to make arrangements for him.

"The missiles will be launched at 12:30. I will launch a general offensive after the strikes."

"Yes, I wish you good luck in your military campaigns."

Upon hearing this, Karma couldn't hold back any longer. Wasn't this a sure win?

Hartmann made it sound like "the rise and fall of an empire hinges on this battle" or something.

He opened the car door, feeling the biting cold wind outside the window, then climbed onto the MS transport vehicle behind him, crawled into the canvas, and ZUDA sensed his DNA information, and the cockpit opened automatically.

Karma sat down, but instead of gripping the joystick, Alice on his watch jumped onto the dashboard.

"Alice, I need to focus my attention on military command later."

"Help me control the machine and take the other 200+ MS aboard the Dede to provide 'air defense' for the tank regiment. We're not sure if the Federation's [Air Force] relies on ground communication systems to call for air support... Whatever the case, we need to be prepared."

"Okay, big brother."

With the activation of command mode, the control stick descended a step, and the projection in the cockpit transformed into a command console, displaying "information" that was periodically updated by the ultrasonic radar in the previous laser communication.

There are 15 armored divisions under our command on the combat platform.

It contains various data about the division, including estimated troop numbers, supplies, and the status of important armored vehicles.

Of course, Kalmar doesn't directly command them remotely. Instead, he constantly observes whether each unit is executing the plan, what deviations it makes, and how to adjust response measures in case of emergencies.

For example, if Kalmar detects an unexpected enemy ambush or air attack in the air, he can give early warning to the troops below and directly airdrop "laser hand orders".

There was also a small display screen showing information about the surrounding aircraft's detection range of 8 kilometers, but Kalma basically never looked at it...

At this point, Alice was in complete charge of the airborne weapon system. Now, after absorbing so much experience from ACE pilots, Alice's piloting skills might even be better than his own.

Karma squeezed the toothpaste-like nutrient into her mouth... strawberry flavor, not bad.

This battle was indeed a turning point... After this battle, the Federal Army would suffer heavy losses, and Kalmar would completely gain the initiative on the gravity front.

-----

Thirty kilometers to the northwest, there was also a convoy of armored vehicles stretching for several kilometers. However, compared to the armored forces commanded by Kalmar, this northern force carried more land-based ultrasonic radar vehicles.

"The Navy will launch Operation Ragnarok after the strike at 12:30. Let's eat quickly," Song Ren said.

"Mmm." Barney nodded quickly and put the spaghetti with tomato sauce into his mouth.

Song Ren, who ate even faster, had already closed the lunchbox. He had received the message about the final battle. Compared to Karma eating toothpaste, he and Barney used self-heating meals in the car to solve their lunch problem.

"General Song Ren, do you think tanks can prove themselves in this battle, proving that they are still the main force in land warfare in the Universal Century?"

"No."

"?"

"Because this battle is too unfair to the enemy. The enemy will lose their army and division-level command posts, and they will still be in the fog of war, while our side has 'vision'. Such a victory is meaningless."

As Song Ren said, by the time the attack was launched, the negative buffs on the enemy had been stacked too many times, leaving the Federation Army's advantage only in numbers.