UC will eventually reach the stars

Almost simultaneously, just two days apart, the Earth Federation Forces' Midia transported its first batch of MS pilots, two squadrons of whom had undergone emergency training, to Africa. Meanwhile, the newly manufactured GAT-01 Daggers from Dawn Heavy Machinery Manufacturing Company were to be delivered soon to a Federation Forces base near Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa.

They will undergo local adaptation training, as well as other advanced driving and combat training. This is also considered the first officially deployed MS unit of the Federation Forces; another squadron will be added later, forming a complete MS battalion.

The reason for doing this is not only that these MS pilots have barely completed their training and can fly MS, but also that the base can no longer accommodate more trained MS pilots and their accompanying MS.

Moreover, the training ground simply couldn't withstand the onslaught of these people, after all...

A brawl involving entire MS squads...

What kind of battle are you planning to fight?

Yes, at this moment, Ye Yun's base has a full 800 drivers and two battalions with nearly 6 short swords! Meanwhile, the six fully-equipped mechanized infantry battalions training simultaneously can only live in tents outside...

There's just... no room, there's really no room!

Under these circumstances, in order to better fulfill the base's training functions, it was necessary to send out the drivers who had completed basic training!

Of course, because of Ye Yun's unique training subjects, these pilots seemed to have done more than just basic training! They also roughly knew some basic MS stations and the key points of MS cooperating with ordinary mechanized infantry in combat.

It was under these circumstances that Ye Yun heard that the Zeon army had carried out surrender operations multiple times, when he suddenly heard an unbelievable piece of news.

"You mean... the Zeon fleet is gathering above my head, and it's highly likely... they're going to launch a large-scale airdrop operation against my area?! Are you sure?!" Ye Yun, who had just finished a day's work, returned to his office and hadn't even settled in when the classified information hit him like a ton of bricks.

Under the current circumstances, the Federation fleet suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Loum in Side 5. The Federation space fleet can only play a reconnaissance and interference role against the large-scale mobilization and deployment of the Zeon forces. If they want to seriously stop the enemy's large-scale airborne operations, they may have to wait until those space ships are at least repaired to a certain size.

However, the large-scale mobilization of Zeon's fleet is an open secret that is almost impossible to hide. Furthermore, orbital calculation is already a very mature technology. Therefore, as long as the Zeon forces assemble, the Federation forces will most likely be able to guess where the enemy intends to airdrop. The only question is whether they can organize a defensive force on the ground.

Clearly, neither Europe nor North America has been able to mount a decent defense! Although North America is currently still in a stalemate, with the Zeon forces only occupying some cities, the fighting is not completely over!

"Okay... I understand!" Ye Yun took a deep breath and pressed the hang-up button. Ye Yun could roughly guess Zeon's purpose. Ye's Heavy Industry had been a long-term arms supplier to the Federation Army, and now, with Project G underway, there was a large number of troops gathered in this area, and mobile suits were active every day. If the Zeon army didn't notice, then they could only be said to be truly blind!

Therefore, it is highly likely that the Zeon army's airborne operation was aimed at Ye's Heavy Industry. After all, to outsiders, Shuguang Heavy Machinery Manufacturing Company is just a holding company under Ye's Heavy Industry.

"Genius, the Zeon forces are here. How many mobile suits in the factory are ready to be deployed immediately?" Ye Yun didn't waste any time and immediately made a communication call to Genius! Now was not the time to discuss production and delivery order. Ye Yun needed to deploy every mobile suit that could be used in combat to the battlefield. "Good... this is really good news."

Kinias wasn't too surprised by Ye Yun's words, but his already somewhat irritated eyes now held an even stronger sinister undertone. The Sakhalin family had just seen a glimmer of hope for revival, and Zeon... it was Zeon again! "The two squadrons of short swords originally planned for the African theater have just been packed and are ready to be loaded onto Media. They can all be back in combat readiness within an hour!"

"I will set up an ambush area near the factory. Remember to evacuate the staff in advance," Ye Yun reminded them.

"No need. From the beginning, the Dawn Society's presence on the surface was just a decoy. If they can penetrate 10 meters of the surface, then we can talk."

"Alright! I'll dispatch an MS pilot immediately!" Ye Yun said, then disconnected the communication and quickly pressed a few buttons on the phone. "Answer the broadcast." After a brief confirmation from the other end, Ye Yun spoke, "This is Lieutenant Colonel Ye Yun. The exercise is hereby immediately suspended. All units and logistics personnel, immediately collect ammunition! MS and armored units, move to concealed positions. Base readiness level two. I repeat, readiness level two! This is not an exercise!"

After speaking, he remained silent for a long time. "Brothers Ye Yun... how much hardship and suffering we've endured in the past month and a half, all for... billions of humans have died because of the atrocities committed by these utterly ruthless bastards! And now! They've actually come knocking on our door! Let these self-proclaimed invincible guys understand that real combat is not what they imagine!"

As the sound faded, the base, which had begun to fall silent, suddenly became noisy as countless people rushed to their posts.

Yes, what are they training so hard for?!

Greetings, Zeonians! We've been waiting for you for a long time!

Come on, come and die!

————————————————————————————————————————————

"Point 1, Zeon large airdrop pod 3, MS unit confirmed, light infantry confirmed, no armored units seen." Under the cover of a camouflage cloth, several Federation soldiers calmly reported. Although the Zeon MS were still very spectacular and imposing when in motion, especially their flashing crimson single eye, which looked extremely dangerous and oppressive.

However, these scouts were seasoned veterans who had been conducting reconnaissance on the front lines for a long time. They had many opportunities to come into contact with short swords, and some had even directly faced the electric swords that were about to be thrust into them. Those scenes were no less exciting than the MS a few kilometers away right in front of them.

"Point 2 is mostly filled with Zeon military vehicles and ordinary soldiers; no MS units have been detected yet." Due to the geographical environment of the Sichuan Basin, there are only so many locations suitable for large-scale airdrops, and not all locations are suitable as MS landing sites. Furthermore, the drop zone area is still too small, so multiple landing sites are the only options.

This was exactly what Ye Yun and the group of professional staff officers from the Federal Army had predicted.

"Point 3, Zeon's large airdrop pod 5, looks like I've hit the jackpot here! Coordinates marked, let's see the air force step up their game!"

“Point 4, Zeon didn’t take a liking to my location.”

……

While Zeon was still regrouping, they were unaware that their movements had been completely observed by the forward scouts! Based on the experience of the European and North American fronts, they should have landed in a relatively safe location immediately. Even at their fastest reaction time, it took the Federation forces nearly several hours to barely reach the vicinity of the Zeon landing site. By then, the Zeon forces, having already finished regrouping, were ready to launch a counterattack.

Under the active attack of mobile suits, the Earth Federation Forces, who had little experience in fighting mobile suits in a micro-scale environment, put up some resistance, but that was all they managed. They damaged a few Zaku IIs and suffered almost no major losses. They gained a stable landing site as their rear. For the Zeon forces, the real test was in the subsequent assault on the city.

But is that really the case?

"Minovsky particles detected! The air force veterans can fly back and rest!" a soldier said, somewhat speechless. It could only be said that although the Zeon forces felt they had a significant advantage, they were still very cautious given the life-or-death situation. Therefore, not long after landing, they began releasing Minovsky particles, which were detected by various electronic devices of the nearby Earth Federation forces, from search radars to communication channels.

However, they did not expect that the combat environment assumed by Ye Yun and his team was a Minovsky particle combat environment. Therefore, they assumed that a large number of devices that could be interfered with by Minovsky particles would be directly disabled. So, after Ye Yun and his team judged their possible landing points, they immediately decided to send out forward observation and search forces to focus on those large-scale landing sites that might be used by the Zeon army.

"Understood! The Zeon forces have basically completed their landing. As planned, all units move into the designated ambush sites. Trojan Horse, prepare." Ye Yun quickly gave the order over the communication channel. For the Federation Army, although they didn't know what the Zeon Army was thinking in launching an attack on them, the most important thing for them now was to submit a perfect answer in their graduation exam.

"Understood! The First MS Squadron has departed!"

"The Second MS Battalion is beginning to approach its designated positions."

Chapter Twenty-Five? What are you thinking about?

"Rapid fire attack!"

With the command coming through the radio, the Type 61 tanks, having already completed long-range strike targeting, immediately opened fire. The terrifying firepower of their twin 155mm barrels began to bombard the targets according to the predetermined markings.

At this time, the Zeon forces were not yet fully deployed, and the entire landing zone was still very busy. There were outer sentries that needed to be deployed immediately, mobile suits that needed to be unloaded immediately for outer defense, and of course, a lot of supplies that urgently needed to be transported. None of this could be completed quickly in a short period of time.

Ye Yun's ambush seized this opportunity, launching a surprise attack while the enemy was unloading supplies but hadn't finished! A series of bright spots flew in from afar, leaving the roar of artillery fire behind them!

Anyone who has been frequently hit by artillery shells knows that when a shell is flying towards you, it gives you the illusion that the shell's speed is actually very slow and that you can easily avoid it! But in reality, those who think this way will eventually discover, to their dismay, that their bodies move much slower than the shell! They simply cannot escape the killing radius of the blast wave and shrapnel, especially since the Type 61 missiles were firing at such close range that they had too little time to react.

A series of explosions created a deafening roar at several of Zeon's main landing sites. Zeon soldiers who had just disembarked from the drop pods were caught off guard and hit in the face by eight 155mm high-explosive fragmentation grenades. Yes, all of them were high-explosive fragmentation grenades!

In the previous battles, everyone was certain of one thing: MS were high-consumption combat units. Not to mention that 100mm shells were fired like water in their hands, in a short firefight of a few minutes, each side with a squadron of four could fire one or two hundred 100mm shells in one go.

This led the Federation forces to conclude during the exercises that... when you can get close to their logistics, attack their logistics first! Even if it means missing the opportunity to strike mobile suits! You must seize the opportunity! Especially for airborne operations like those of the Zeon forces, as long as you can destroy their supply resources, the Zeon forces' combat power will decline rapidly.

Eight shells hit the ground. Because the Type 61 was a non-direct-fire, quick-stop, curved-fire weapon, the impact dispersion was slightly larger. Apart from two shells that landed on the edge and had a moderate killing effect, one shell hit the side of the airdrop pod, and most of the impact and shrapnel were absorbed by the airdrop pod. The other five shells caused a massacre among the Zeon troops!

Two 155mm shells, possibly fired from a Type 61 tank, plunged into a large quantity of supplies that had just been moved out. These supplies were clearly all highly flammable and explosive. The two shells, each weighing 2-2 kilograms and containing no more than 10 kilograms of explosives, exploded on the ground with a force measured in tons, nearly knocking over a nearby Zaku II tank.

As for the casualties among ordinary Zeon soldiers, it was truly impossible to count, because everything within a 30-meter radius was either reduced to ashes or simply buried in the ground in the explosion, making it impossible to calculate at the time.

As for the loss of supplies... reporting it as a total loss would be close enough.

However, the most lethal shell was the last one. Perhaps influenced by the shells that exploded earlier, this shell miraculously deflected and plunged into the opening of the drop pod, exploding directly inside. The blood and flesh that sprayed out along with the smoke and dust undoubtedly proved how terrifying the destructive power of a 155mm shell that exploded in a confined space could be.

"Enemy attack!!" The Zaku on the outermost edge immediately raised his Zaku machine gun and opened fire blindly at the approximate area from which the shells had just struck! The Zaku machine gun fired 120mm bullets, which exploded on the ground, creating trails of smoke and dust, and tall trees collapsed in the explosion.

However, his decisive counterattack yielded no results.

As an armored company that has theoretically been "reorganized" for the 15th time, they have had countless encounters with mobile suits! Theoretically, their battalion has "destroyed" double-digit numbers of mobile suits! Therefore, these Type 61 tanks have quite rich experience in fighting mobile suits, so after a short stop and firing, the Type 61 drivers immediately stepped on the gas and sped away.

A direct confrontation? No way! Only a fool would stand still and try to fight you!

So when the dozens of 120mm shells fired by the Zaku II landed, the Type 16 tanks had already run hundreds of meters away, far beyond the kill range of the 120mm shells fired by the Zaku machine gun.

In other words: there was no paint chipping.

Then another 61st volley also made a brief stop to fire a follow-up shot, and then ran away!

This situation didn't occur at just one landing point, but at five of the Zeon's seven main landing points! The two that didn't occur were mainly because the Federation's armored column infiltration routes were blocked by the other landing points.

"The trigger for the second round of attacks is handed over to the front lines!" Ye Yun's lips curled up. This was an unexpected move by Ye Yun. He directly handed over the decision-making power for a bombardment to the front lines. However, it was only a matter of timing the opening of the first round of fire. After all the Type 61 bombardments were completed, they should run away! They would leave no trace except for exhaust fumes.

Anyway, all the armored battalions knew one thing: if you were greedy for firepower, given the reaction speed of the mobile suits, your second round of shelling wouldn't even be finished before you finished reloading! Even if the Federation's mobile suit pilots were inexperienced, they could still immediately give you a magazine of 100mm shells, not to mention that these veteran Zeon pilots of the Zaku II had 100-round drum magazines of 120mm shells in their hands. No Type 61 tank driver would want to try that.

Under Ye Yun's orders, all the forward scouts carried out his orders well, reporting the coordinates of the artillery bombardment at the most critical moment for the enemy. Almost immediately afterward, the shells came whistling in, and the Zeon army suffered heavy casualties amidst the huge bombardment.

However, it was clear that the soldiers dropped by Zeon were carefully selected elite soldiers, and their officers immediately made a decision. So the Zaku IIs that came out of the drop pods immediately started running towards the outside. They wanted to set up the outer defense line and find and kill all these unscrupulous Type 61 tanks.

The steel giant charged forward, and the ground began to tremble. The mobile suit pilots were also furious. After all, the explosive start of landing directly into the enemy's ambush zone made these Zeon mobile suit pilots, who had just defeated the almost invincible space fleet of the Federation Forces, feel as if they had been humiliated. With their anger rising, when they heard their commander order them to find and destroy the artillery positions, they did not hesitate and immediately began to act.

"Hey!"

The scout who had just issued the artillery coordinates chuckled mischievously. These Zeon MS pilots were actually charging around in an unknown environment without any infantry support?! Uh, it was just like those rookie recruits when they first arrived at the base. Oh~ that was probably the happiest time for these veterans who had been ravaged by countless underhanded tactics in exercises.

Now these damned soldiers are going to teach these clueless guys a lesson in the ways of Earthlings.

"Click..." The cable faithfully delivered the electrical signal to its preset location.

As the button was pressed, 20 kilograms of high explosives were detonated, and what was deadly was that there wasn't just one detonation point! Instead, there were twelve evenly distributed fan-shaped detonators! The exploding explosives destroyed Zaku's legs in one go!

Clearly, the violent explosion startled the Zeon pilots, who had never seen anything like it before.

Some of them had never participated in such a down-to-earth battle before. The Zaku IIs were shocked and slowly stopped in their tracks. They frantically pressed buttons in the cockpit, trying to scan their surroundings with various devices, hoping to find out the dirty Earthlings who were lying in ambush somewhere.

However, it's clear that if it could be found simply by scanning with machines, then it wouldn't be the complex Earth environment...

"First and second MS squads! It's up to you!" This time, Ye Yun glanced at the electronic map in front of him and a smile appeared on his lips. The other side was really giving him face, actually standing at the edge of the MS hiding area that he had prepared. Especially one of them, if they took a few more steps forward, the short sword hiding around the corner would not be able to hide anymore!

"We've been waiting for this!" A series of short swords seemed to suddenly awaken, breaking through their own camouflage nets, straightening up from their hiding places, and raising their hands to fiercely fire at the Zaku II, which had not yet figured out what was happening.

"Federal Army's...MS?" Clearly, the Zeon Zaku II pilots were prepared for a fierce battle, but they were still stunned when they saw the Dagger, not to mention, "This number?!"

To be honest, both the MS-06 Zaku II and the GAT01 Dagger are very good mobile suits, and they have a relatively good balance of the indicators of an important technical weapon. Their performance, cost, and difficulty of use are relatively balanced, which means that in fact, the performance difference between the two is not much. The Dagger has some advantages in overall performance, but there is no big gap (referring to the gap between the RX78 and the MS-06).

So the stunned reaction of the Zeon Zaku II pilots when they saw the Dagger gave the Federation mobile suit pilots a huge opportunity!

The 100mm cannons spewed long tongues of fire, and at least three cannons bombarded a standing Zaku. The squad leader's machine had no time to react and was hit by at least twenty shots in the first instant. The squad leader himself did not even leave a scream or a last word before he was turned into ashes in the explosion.

"Captain!" The Zaku II pilot in the rear of the Zeon army reacted and immediately raised his gun to return fire! The 120mm Zaku machine gun swept fiercely at the short sword.

The short sword itself couldn't possibly be made of Luna Titanium, but it had a thick shield. In addition, the 120mm ammunition of the Zaku machine gun didn't have very good armor-piercing performance. So, while the Zaku 2's counter-fire wasn't completely ineffective, it didn't achieve much damage either!

"You! You all die!" Some Zeon MS pilots even charged forward, brandishing their electric axes in preparation for close combat!

But... there's something called numerical superiority.

A numerical advantage often naturally leads to a firepower advantage!

You're being pointed at by three 100mm machine guns, are you going to engage in close combat?

what?

Chapter Twenty-Six: Landing Zone (crossed out) Ambush Zone

"Airfield No. 1 has been suppressed. Infantry units are beginning to move in, and mobile suit and armored units are beginning to expand their control area."

"Understood, loss report."

"Two short swords were lightly damaged, one was severely damaged and its driver was killed in action. There were no losses to armored units, and the infantry is currently engaged in combat and has suffered relatively minor losses."

It can only be said that even the new recruits among the Zeon MS pilots are fully trained pilots. Although their combat experience with MS is on the same level as that of the Federation pilots, their operational skills are far superior to those of the Federation MS pilots!

So soon after the battle began, they started firing crossfire and covering each other, and despite being at a significant disadvantage in firepower, they still managed to inflict casualties on the Federation forces.

By the way, the MS pilot who died in battle was caught in a hail of Zaku machine gun fire from two Zaku IIs. In his panic, he tried to retreat, but made a mistake in his operation. He should have retreated by raising his shield, but his movement was distorted, exposing his body. Then the short sword was engulfed by 120mm shells.

"...Collect the damaged short swords and analyze the lethality of Zeon weapons." Ye Yun sighed, then went to inquire about the battle situation at other drop points.

Fortunately, Ye Yun confirmed that only 3 pilots were killed in the battle and only 4 short swords were completely destroyed. Compared to the fact that they destroyed more than 20 Zaku 2s, as well as Zaku 1s and a large number of combat vehicles, this ambush that struck while the enemy was crossing the river can be said to have been a great success!

The Zeon forces have a total of 7 landing sites. Except for two that are in the rear and Ye Yun's troops cannot reach, the other 5 landing sites have entered the infantry clearing phase. There have been no casualties among the pilots at the other landing sites, but some were attacked at close range by Zaku IIs while clearing the landing sites.

Judging from the battle reports, the Zeon forces gained an overwhelming advantage in almost all close-quarters combat, and the Federation MS pilots were practically helpless.

"All troops advance, long-range rocket artillery provides final suppression of the enemy's drop zone." Ye Yun shook his head. The long-range rocket artillery was not part of Ye Yun's base. His base was not at that level yet; it was a friendly support force provided by nearby troops when they learned of the Zeon landing zone.

However, the result was somewhat disappointing for Ye Yun. It can only be said that the battlefield changes too quickly. Ye Yun did not deploy long-range rocket artillery at the beginning because he wanted to use rocket artillery to provide emergency support if the front-line battle failed, so as to cover the retreat of his MS and armored forces and form a defensive line with the heavily armed groups that had been set up in the rear.

If the enemy is repelled but not significantly damaged, these long-range rocket artillery units will be crucial for interception. The fleeing Zeon soldiers will likely appreciate the heavy rockets raining down from the sky.

However, things took an unexpected turn. Ye Yun had guessed what might happen, but he never imagined that the surprise he had prepared would lead to the complete annihilation of the enemy troops he had ambushed! This was something Ye Yun had never even considered.

So even though an emergency supplementary order had been issued for long-range rocket artillery units to bombard the Zeon landing sites that had not yet launched an attack, it was already too late! When the enemy learned that their other landing sites were under heavy attack by the Federation forces, they realized that they had fallen into a trap. Before the battle here could be concluded, they began to urgently evacuate to a distant location according to the established battle plan.

This resulted in the long-range rocket artillery strikes, despite their rapid deployment, inflicting far less damage than expected. The reconnaissance troops who managed to reach their positions reported, based on photographs, that while not entirely without gains, the enemy's main supplies and forces had been withdrawn. The remaining traces at the scene indicated that the enemy possessed at least two three-aircraft squadrons and no fewer than twenty tracked combat vehicles.

"Unlock communications and report the battle situation." Ye Yun took a deep breath. "The 4th MS Squadron and the 11th Mechanized Infantry Battalion will form a temporary MS mixed combat group to pursue the remnants of the Zeon army. Remember to be cautious." Ye Yun rubbed his temples. To be honest, he was a guy who had never attended military academy, and yet he had inexplicably organized a small-scale anti-airborne operation.

It can only be said that the modern staff system is truly impressive. Once the decision to fight and the operational mode are made, the remaining staff officers will do a good job of making specific operational plans and distributing them to specific operational units. They can even adjust the deployment of troops in the battle in a targeted manner based on the prepared plans.

Undoubtedly, the high-intensity exercises organized by our side in the previous stage have benefited not only ourselves but also the entire officer team below us. After all, in an environment where the changes in the battle situation are calculated in minutes, these staff officers were able to respond efficiently, and now they seem to be handling the attack operations against the Zeon airborne forces with much more ease.

However, these frontline officers found Ye Yun's style of giving orders and general tactical plans, then letting them carry them out without giving any absurd instructions, and providing as much support as possible, very welcome!

However, thanks to the advanced technology they possess, mobile suits are extremely powerful. If they advance recklessly, they risk being overwhelmed by enemy mobile suits and other ground forces. Therefore, the commanders participating in high-intensity exercises at Ye Yun Base prefer to set up a relatively solid defensive line 3 to 8 kilometers behind the contact line to prevent a rout when faced with a counterattack. These are lessons learned through blood and tears! Who hasn't had their crystal tower destroyed in a single counterattack due to a moment of carelessness or a decision to gamble?

"Take a short rest." Aina's voice came from beside Ye Yun, who was staring at the map and had his arms crossed. Turning his head slightly, Aina, dressed in the Federation Army uniform, handed him a cup of coffee. "Nores and Gao Long have both led their teams out to attack. You can rest assured about them." After Ye Yun joined the Earth Federation, Aina was also assigned to the Federation as Ye Yun's adjutant, openly starting to collect Federation Army salaries.

"The battle isn't over yet. As the commander, I can't rest just yet." Ye Yun rubbed his nose. "Contact the Air Force and ask if they're ready to move. Missiles couldn't be used in the Mi-grain environment before, and these old men in the Air Force don't even have any unguided bombs on hand..." Ye Yun sighed. He was only a lieutenant colonel; naturally, he couldn't interfere too much. Influencing the Earth Federation forces at this base was already his limit. As for the Air Force...

Ha... He's not even a general, who would care about him?

However, the nearby Federal Air Force was very cooperative. But an embarrassing thing soon happened: the enemy had no experience in fighting in a micro-scale environment. All of their advanced missiles and precision-guided ground attack weapons were rendered useless in the micro-scale environment.

So, in the first wave of attacks originally planned, the air force fighters could only watch from the air because the munitions could not be locked on. It was not that some angry pilots forced an attack, but the missiles they launched could not even detonate stably. Their flight trajectory was just a very straightforward straight-running rocket, and the power was not very strong...