UC will eventually reach the stars

Although it wasn't a barrage of bullets, the random draws that happened every minute or two were still making the Zeon soldiers' nerves fragile as they endured the constant, heavy tests.

Not to mention the soldiers who were injured for various reasons from time to time. Every wounded soldier or corpse carried away from them was a great shock to these Zeon soldiers.

So at first, the Zeon officers were able to remain calm, but before long, they found that their morale was rapidly declining. They had to start thinking of solutions and eventually ordered their small force, mainly composed of Majera tanks, to retaliate.

At first, the Zeon army's counterattack did indeed give the Federation army a little surprise, and many of the 61st tank crews who were greedy for artillery were targeted by the Magira tanks.

However, the Type 61 tanks then began maneuvering and firing briefly, and the Zeon forces' Magira tanks' hit rate wasn't so good! As for the Type 61 tanks' hit rate... oh, my tanks can move, so why did your positions grow legs too?!

So it basically became a one-sided bombing for the Zeon forces, which is why the Majera tank crew was so happy after hitting a Type 61 tank.

"The Zeon army's firepower is very weak, and..." Ye Yun frowned, somewhat incredulous.

Has the Zeon army assembled? Yes, it has.

Have the Zeon forces set up defensive lines? Yes.

But it seems like you only have one layer of positions! And it seems like the enemy doesn't even have any sense of concealment, and they've just started an artillery battle with a small number of Type 61 reconnaissance troops sent by Ye Yun.

what?

Are your brains full of shit?

Ye Yun was completely incredulous! What kind of RTS player is this, throwing all their defensive forces into the front line?!

After repeated reconnaissance missions involving air and scouts, Ye Yun, looking at his staff with bewildered expressions, had to admit one thing: the opposing commander was just as incompetent as he was in command, and they didn't have the systematically trained staff officers like those on his side.

"There's still about 2 hours left for the general offensive..." Ye Yun irritably threw his pen onto the map, glanced at his watch, and said, "In about an hour and a half, notify the artillery in the rear to suppress the enemy and destroy all of their main firepower points. Have the infantry prepare to clear the way for the MS."

The meaning of "clearing the way" here is naturally nothing other than clearing several paths for the MS troops to move through. The jungle warfare during this period taught Ye Yun one thing: no matter what era it is, the most troublesome thing in military operations is always the natural geographical factors.

For example, if he didn't launch an attack before the rainy season arrived, given the infrastructure and natural environment of Bangladesh, Ye Yun could prepare to experience a world surrounded by swamps, rivers, and rainforests if the rainfall was even slightly heavy. Just thinking about it makes my scalp tingle.

"Yes." The staff officers seemed a bit listless. After all, Ye Yun's initial simulation was for them to develop their own defenses against the Federation Army's combined arms forces. The staff officers had racked their brains and submitted a defense plan that made Ye Yun's heart pound.

Nothing special, just really "dirty"!

If there weren't so few dams here, these strategists might have readily decided to flood the Seven Armies! Their reasoning was sound: since the colony satellites were already destroyed, who cared about the lives of the common people! History is like a little girl who can be dressed up however one pleases; as long as they win, Zeon can write the history books however they want!

So when the facts were laid bare, the Zeon commanders were completely clueless about ground combat, utterly incompetent, which made Ye Yun and his advisors somewhat wary.

“Perhaps… the Zeon army’s manpower and equipment are not very sufficient, and…” a staff officer, as if making conversation, tried to cover up the Zeon army’s defensive posture, “where are their MS units?”

"The entire mining base initially consisted of only one battalion. The core of their initial attack force was nearly a squadron of mobile suits, which have now been largely destroyed. Due to the air force's recent efforts, they haven't been able to obtain many supplies, and even if they do, the numbers are very limited. Therefore, the number of mobile suits the enemy can deploy on this defensive line shouldn't exceed one squadron, and might even be only one or two squads, unless they abandon the base." Ye Yun stroked his chin, deep in thought.

After the Zeon forces landed, they were attacked all the way. By the time they retreated into the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, they had very few mobile suits left. Although they were replenished later, the mining cities they occupied did not have the capacity to produce mobile suits. Therefore, even if some of the mobile suits they replenished were repaired, their current scale could not possibly be restored to a full battalion size.

"How's the combat replenishment pack preparation going?" Ye Yun asked, turning around. Because of the large-scale continuous combat, the short sword would not have enough time to recharge. If it were to be counterattacked by Zeon due to insufficient power after a day of intense fighting, it would be truly a ridiculous situation.

However, regarding energy replenishment, the Dagger was designed from the outset with specific features in mind. Besides a dedicated battlefield charging vehicle that could provide four Daggers to a small squad, the machine's design also incorporated two external small battery packs in addition to a main battery pack deeply embedded within the fuselage. This allows for rapid replacement during combat to ensure the mobile suit's endurance and combat capability. Moreover, this replacement doesn't even require specialized engineering units; two Daggers can simply assist each other.

"Each of the replenishment packages sent by Ye's Heavy Industry contains 30 full magazines for 100mm machine guns and 10 small battery packs, which is theoretically enough to replenish the combat strength of a small team. We have received 100 such replenishment packages so far. Ye's Heavy Industry guarantees that the rest can be directly transported forward by Midia."

"100?!" Ye Yun turned around in surprise to look at the staff officer in charge of supplies. "What's going on... how come there's only so little?"

"It's said to be due to the untimely supply of magazines from the Eight Continents." The staff officer was also grinding his teeth. Anyone with a brain could figure out what was going on. The large-scale use and rapid popularization of short swords at the forefront, and the fact that preparations were even underway to transport them into space, had already caused a lot of panic. After all, it hadn't been long, and the Federation forces had already obtained hundreds of MS units.

As the Earth Federation Forces amassed more and more short swords and received increasingly positive reviews, some people felt that their interests had been harmed!

"Report this to the Federal Headquarters and let them put pressure on us. Damn it! We're fighting on the front lines, and these useless cowards are dragging our feet." Ye Yun's expression turned cold. If you're playing the abstract game of stalling, that's your own fault for not fulfilling your orders, but if you're affecting the battle on the front lines, see if the Federal Headquarters doesn't kick you out.

The conclusion is clear: Ye's Heavy Industry received the design blueprints for the 100mm machine gun magazine a day later, and the Federation Headquarters placed an urgent order for 3000 magazines without even asking for a price quote. At the same time, based on the combat records of the 666th Demon Hunter Squadron on the front lines and the test evaluations by the Federation Headquarters, the TYPE59 series machine gun also received an order for 1000 units, with a requirement for prompt delivery. Furthermore, they hoped to buy out the blueprints so that the Earth Federation Headquarters could produce them independently.

Clearly, the Earth Federation Forces were also dissatisfied with the repeated delays and abstract actions of the Eight Continents Group. Moreover, the TYPE59 was also very good in terms of performance. Just the spare ammunition alone could give the Federation Forces' mobile suits a greater margin of error and a greater strike effect, so why not?

After discussing it with Kinias, Ye Ning readily replied to the Earth Federation Headquarters: "We'll give you the blueprints, free of charge! No extra fees are required. However, no third party can produce them, including modifications and accessories, except for Ye's Heavy Industries and the Earth Federation Headquarters."

Gao Pu chuckled, muttered "a sensible little fox," and signed the document.

Of course, that's all a matter for a week or two later. For Ye Yun, the current troubles are still a headache.

"Arrange for mechanics to collect the magazines and reload them as soon as possible."

"Yes……"

Chapter 52 Attack

Ye Yun glanced at his watch. "Time's up. Proceed as planned." He also started his mobile suit. The charging cables behind the short sword, which had a Federation military insignia painted on its shoulder, disconnected. The short sword slowly stood up and grabbed its equipment from the maintenance table beside it. Behind it, an entire Federation MS squadron of 16 mobile suits also stood up at the same time, performing the same actions as Ye Yun's MS.

However, they used 100mm machine guns, while Ye Yun's Short Sword picked up a 180mm heavy cannon (in a sense, for a mobile suit, this is probably considered an anti-materiel rifle?). Of course, some also picked up the newly arrived 380mm heavy rocket launcher, but these Short Swords would hang the 100mm machine gun on their waists.

As Ye Yun watched the electronic screen, other markers quickly appeared. Two groups of MS, each a squad, rose from their respective concealed locations. These were the advance forces led by Norres and Gao Long. They would each receive support from a mechanized battalion to fight together. Ye Yun's main force also had three additional mechanized battalions and various support forces.

The distance between them is about 3 to 5 kilometers. The distance between Nolis team and Gaolong team is 3 kilometers, and the distance between Gaolong team and Ye Yun is 5 kilometers.

"Buzz..." A series of artillery bombardments from the rear slammed massive amounts of steel and explosives onto the heads of the Zeon troops. The continuous explosions caused the entire defensive line to tremble. In particular, the rocket bombardment that flew over everyone's heads was magnificent, eliciting cheers from the infantry marching on the ground.

Six artillery battalions and a rocket artillery battalion temporarily transferred and assigned formed a firepower cluster unlike anything the Zeon army had ever seen. At this evening, they rained down a real rain of fire on the Zeon positions, and the dense explosions even dispelled some of the twilight.

In particular, Ye Yun launched his attack at dusk, precisely when the Zeon army was preparing for dinner! This was to ensure that the enemy, after a tense day, had no chance to catch their breath and to strike at the moment when they were exhausted!

The barrage of explosions nearly threw the Zeon forces into chaos. The potential gun positions of the Magella tanks, which had been exposed during the day's exchange of fire, were given special attention. The dense explosions caused the rising smoke to almost block out the sunlight. The thick dust, shrapnel, the acrid smell of burning grenades, and the exploding ammunition turned the area around the Magella tanks that had not escaped into a no-man's-land.

"Minovsky particles detected!" A message that Ye Yun didn't really want to hear came through the communicator. After all, in terms of systems, the Earth Federation Forces' overall combat system had been established without Minovsky particles.

Therefore, if the Zeon army does not conduct the Minovsky particle walk, Ye Yun will absolutely not take the initiative to carry out this tactical action. Who would complain about having too many advantages?

The first thing the Space Force did upon arriving was to powerfully disperse Minovsky particles. This was simply because, given that the Space Force was currently not strong enough against the Zeon Force, they needed to at least bring the enemy to the same level as themselves. This way, even if the battle was difficult, they wouldn't suffer a complete defeat.

In fact, although the Earth Federation forces suffered a crushing defeat in L5, what was the situation of the victorious Zeon forces? The glorious victory portrayed in propaganda might just be propaganda; otherwise, why would Luna II exist?

So right now, the moment the Minovsky particle was detected, everyone understood that the real battle had begun.

"Looks like... the other side isn't very patient either! But the idea is good." Ye Yun suddenly turned his aircraft around, raised his hand, and fired his 180mm long-barreled cannon at the Zeon Zaku II that suddenly accelerated out of the woods.

"Thump!" The 180mm armor-piercing round hit the Zaku's chest cleanly near its left shoulder blade. The Zaku's entire body swayed, and the exploding armor-piercing round almost tore its entire shoulder apart. The Zaku's signature left shoulder armor was blown off by the force of the explosion.

Although the shell did not directly sever the main shaft of the Zaku II's body, it destroyed most of the equipment inside the Zaku. Even the Zaku's single eye was flashing like an incandescent light bulb. With flames ignited by the explosion, the burning machine immediately became a magnet for the shells and was blown up on the spot by a series of 100mm and 155mm shells.

"Well done," Aina praised, but she cautiously activated most of the scanning equipment on her short sword, observing her surroundings. Holding a TYPE59 90mm machine gun, she scanned the area, wary of any surprise attack. At the same time, she tapped the buttons twice to release the machine gun's safety, and then, with Aina lightly pressing the pedal, the short sword began to slowly move forward.

Meanwhile, the mechanized battalion had already begun advancing on the pre-prepared roads. The Type 61 tanks had repeatedly driven over these roads, carving out several clear paths through them. Now, these roads, which Zeon had previously ignored, had become the main routes of the advance.

The Zeon forces had already ordered a counterattack. After all, if they still couldn't understand by this point that the Federation forces' elaborate preparations for the offensive were actually for this very moment, they would be incredibly foolish.

"Squad 17 Short Sword Unit 3's right arm damaged! Pilot safe, continue propulsion." Under a barrage of 120mm shells, the first unlucky unit was quickly born. The moment this Short Sword from Squad 17 raised its arm to retaliate, its arm was instantly blown apart by the dense barrage of bullets.

"A Type 61 tank from the 27th Tank Company was hit by a bullet, and the crew has retreated." This is rather unremarkable. The Type 61 tank was cracked open, but thanks to the Type 61 tank's excellent automatic explosion suppression system, the crew had time to scramble out of the vehicle.

"The 7th Tank Company fired a salvo, seemingly destroying an enemy firing point." The staff officer didn't need to say anything, because the fireballs were quite large; even Ye Yun, at the rear of the battle line, could see them clearly. The 7th Tank Company had 12 Type 61 tanks, totaling 24 155mm guns. A single salvo was almost equivalent to the firepower of an entire artillery battalion…

"The Nores team has arrived at its position. Three aircraft are damaged, one is no longer combat-ready, and two are still operational. Plan to deploy to the flanks to clear the main passage." The staff continued to report the intelligence. On the simple tactical screen on Ye Yun's specially modified short sword, the blue dots representing the Nores team were now marked with arrows pointing to the sides.

Ye Yun glanced at the screen. According to the battle statistics, the confirmed results so far show that Norres damaged at least one Zaku II at long range and crushed one Zaku I at close range. In addition, several Magella tanks were confirmed to have been destroyed. He single-handedly displayed the terrifying power of the short sword.

At least at this stage of progress, Ye Yun was satisfied. "So, let's see if our surprise from the sky can really bring some surprise to these Zeon troops!" Ye Yun smiled as he looked at the markings of several Median aircraft approaching the battlefield. He raised his hand, slightly adjusted the angle, and pulled the trigger. The heavy recoil of the 180mm heavy cannon caused the short sword's supporting leg to kick up a circle of mud, and the resulting blast of air swept cleanly over a large group of Federation soldiers.

"Boom!"

"Impact point confirmed, no direct hit, but an entire squad in the trench is probably wiped out. Wind speed correction, 10 meters to the left." The reconnaissance soldier's report was quickly transmitted back via the pre-set directional laser communication system. Clearly, Ye Yun's side had some expectations for this 180mm laser, but from the current perspective…

Yeah, let's cover it up.

"The enemy has begun to counterattack, hmm... their hovercraft seem to be causing some trouble." The Federation's mobile suit forces advanced, seemingly reaching a Zeon attack line planned by the Zeon forces, and some Zeon hovercraft suddenly burst out of the woods.

Outside of the Minovsky particle environment, such low-lying, slow-moving, small targets would be easy targets for man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS)! However, at the current concentration of Minovsky particles, MANPADS are simply unreliable! As for anti-aircraft guns, the Federation Army does have them, but not in large numbers. Most importantly, Ye Yun has almost none, completely unable to cover the offensive area, which is quite awkward…

"Hmph..." Gao Long scoffed. The only thing this small motorcycle could do was try to get closer and throw the large explosive charge in the hands of these guys at the vulnerable parts of the short sword, such as the head or joints not covered by the armor plates.

But... don't these guys even realize how fragile this thing is and what its flight stability is like?

"Everyone sprint!" Gao Long's order was simple and straightforward!

Then the opposing motorcycle squad watched in horror as the 18-meter-tall giant ignited its thrusters and charged toward their lines...

A small motorcycle versus a steel giant weighing nearly 70 tons...

The moment the short sword ignited and began to advance, the Zeon flying motorcycles that had been bravely charging towards the Federation MS in a desperate fight almost instantly turned around and prepared to flee. One pair even collided with each other, whether because they had been flying too close and were affected by the airflow disturbance caused by the impact of the short sword, or because of a mistake in their hasty operation.

This was the first spark, followed by a series of car crashes. It proved that, in the face of the potential energy brought by mass, some tricks really can be used to simply run someone over!

Then the rear staff started grinning. They had just been thinking about what weapons to use to deal with these potential troublesome Zeon tactics; after all, compared to mobile suits, this was practically like using a giant to swat a mosquito. But then, wow, so this was the solution?

"666th Squadron, commence airborne operations!"

"very good!"

Chapter 53 Parachute Invasion and Disruption

"Arrived at the target location, just in time, we've reached our destination." The voice of the Midia pilot came through the communicator, and his attitude was clearly not very friendly.

"Start the system, begin self-check. Oh, the touchscreen design is so convenient." Sima raised an eyebrow as she watched herself complete the operation with just a couple of taps on the screen. If Zagu had to complete these self-check actions, starting each detector and comparing data, it would have taken her half a day. But now, the system starts up, the data stream flashes by, and any issues are listed separately, prioritized according to their importance, and there's also detailed data analysis. In short, it's all very clear and easy to understand.

"All I can say is that the engineers at Dawn Heavy Machinery Manufacturing are far more intelligent than the idiots at Zeonnik." The voices of the Sima team members were full of disdain for Zeon. Yes, by now, they felt an almost instinctive and physiological discomfort with almost everything about Zeon.

"Captain Sima, the hatch is open." Before Sima could reply, a mechanic in the cabin informed her of this.

"Received! Self-check complete, you can slide it out." Sima nodded in response, glancing at the display screen. All the short swords had completed their self-checks and were in good condition.

"Understood, best of luck in the operation." The maintenance crew gave a polite blessing, and then there was a mechanical dragging sensation as one after another, the kneeling short swords were pulled along the airdrop platform on the rails at their feet and smoothly slid out of the cabin.

"Whoosh..." A sharp whistling sound was accompanied by a strong sense of descent; Earth's gravity held the short sword piloted by Sima and the others firmly in place. However, this wasn't Sima and his team's first time parachuting. Because of Ye Yun's assessment of them, they had essentially been learning the parachuting process while familiarizing themselves with the Federation's MS short sword.

However, because the backpack system that Ye Yun envisioned for airborne combat has not yet been completed, the airborne methods that Xima and the others are currently experiencing are still very traditional, yes, that is, parachuting.

"Reach opening altitude, deploy parachute!" Sima pressed the button. Jump propellant was precious and couldn't be wasted at this moment. Therefore, the Short Sword's airborne method was to modify the parachute equipment used in traditional airborne equipment. After testing, it seemed to work, so it became the standard equipment for at least the Short Sword when conducting airborne assaults.

A small box on the back of the short sword opened, and a huge parachute deployed. The parachute's cushioning helped the short sword break free from the G-force's descent speed, and it began to descend slowly.

"Ground scan, thanks to MiLi, the Zeon forces haven't even detected our arrival!" Sima opened the system and began a further large-scale scan. Under MiLi's conditions, most common methods such as radar, infrared, and thermal imaging are severely interfered with. The only reliable intelligence gathering method is basically optical image analysis—in simple terms, AI scanning to capture and mark similar key features.

The Zeon forces at present seem to be either hastily constructing their defensive lines or overconfident; in any case, they don't seem to be making much of a show of deception. After the optical scanning device on the short sword scanned them...

“A very standard Zeon blocking position!” Sima immediately made the judgment. Without a doubt, as a former Zeon soldier, she was very familiar with this setup.

Because the Earth Federation forces used to have troops stationed in Zeon! Yes, they used to have troops stationed there! But they were overrun by a group of student soldiers led by Char and Garma... Later, due to various deals, the Earth Federation troops had to withdraw...

(While watching The Origin, my biggest question was... why were the Earth Federation's 61st Army already on Side 3, yet they were still only busy fighting street battles with the rioting crowds?! Go towards the Zeon parliament building! Use your twin-barreled 155mm guns to blast the Zeon parliament building! Then rush in and crush those unlucky Zabi family members, and the entire Year War wouldn't have started.)

So Zeon wasn't completely clueless about blocking positions; it's just that their preparations were for dealing with the original Federation forces—yes, Federation forces with only Type 61 tanks and no GAT-01 daggers.

"Looks like our happy time has arrived!" The voices of the Sima team members were full of excitement. Yes, yes, now they would be attacking these defensive formations that they could recite with their eyes closed. What did they have to worry about?!

"Yes! Send them all to hell!" A cruel smile crept onto Sima's lips. Now that the Zeon army had presented them with such perfect targets, what did they have to hesitate about?

The jet-black short sword, its mirror-like surface gleaming with a fierce light, drew a TYPE59 90mm machine gun from behind him and opened fire fiercely at the rapidly approaching Zeon position. Because it was firing from a high position, the range far exceeded the original range of the TYPE59.

After several rounds of firing, the 666th Squadron MS, which was very close to the ground, simply discarded their parachutes, ignited their thrusters, and landed steadily on the ground. Some of the bastards even landed in the pile of vehicles, crushing many Zeon vehicles with a single stomp.

So a strange scene unfolded, especially from the perspective of Gao Long and his advancing troops, which were a little further away. It looked like a series of fireworks falling from the sky and exploding on the ground. After that, the firepower falling from the sky could no longer be seen, but the firelight from the explosions behind the enemy's position flickered in the darkness that was beginning to envelop everything.

"Sima and the others arrived right on time," Ye Yun said briefly. "All troops advance! We can't let the Zeon forces in front think they have time to turn back!" Because of their absolute advantage in troop strength, Ye Yun's side fought quite steadily, advancing at a moderate pace, putting all the pressure on the Zeon forces.

Therefore, the Zeon commander tried every means to launch a frontal assault and engage in a tug-of-war with Ye Yun's forces. The flying motorcycles that had just been completely destroyed by Gao Long and his men were one of their last desperate attempts. And now, the aerial barrage had begun to bombard the Zeon forces' rear.

To protect the head or the butt? That's a good question.

"Yes!" Everyone in the Federation Army knew what had happened in the scene before them. Although the Zeon Army's release of the Strong Minovsky Particles had indeed crippled part of the Earth Federation Army's air force advantage, it had also rendered many of their own reconnaissance methods useless. Ye Yun's extreme and audacious act of directly launching MS units at the enemy's face was, frankly speaking, just taking advantage of the enemy's deafness and blindness.

So, after the enemy was clearly attacked from behind by the Earth Federation Forces and fell into chaos, the Zeon forces were horrified to find that the Federation Mobile Suit lines, which had been advancing at a pace, were now actually jogging forward. Moreover, on the flanks of these Mobile Suit lines, the Type 61 main battle tanks that had been giving the Zeon forces a headache all day suddenly appeared again.

Although these Type 61 main battle tanks are not insurmountable for the Zeon forces, the Zeon forces simply do not have the resources to deal with them at the moment.

So they had no choice but to reveal their last trump card. Several Zaku IIs rushed out of the dense forest. It was unclear whether they had really gone all out this time, but there was still a squad of mobile suits on this defensive line, which should have had very few mobile suits left! Moreover, the commander of this mobile suit squad was not only experienced, but also very calm.

In the previous series of battles, both the Zeon forces and the Federation forces have clearly realized one thing: in close combat, the Zeon forces have a greater advantage!

So how do you bring the engagement range to close range? The Zaku II squad in front of us offered a solution: let the Federation mobile suits walk over on their own!

The Federation MS pilots were genuinely shocked when the Zeon Zaku II broke through the camouflage net and crashed into the advancing Dagger.

Then it was the Zeon forces' turn to be shocked...

They were attacking the gap between two Federation MS squads, confident that this would disrupt the Federation MS formation and limit the enemy's ability to utilize the short swords' firepower advantage.

The idea was good, and the execution was excellent. When they charged out, the other MS pilots in the team, and even Gao Long himself who was hit, were a little dazed.

But in the next instant, he swung his gun, drew his sword in a backhand motion, and stabbed the Zaku II hard in the waist. In this moment of struggle between the two mobile suits, Gao Long did not hesitate at all when wielding his short sword and stabbed several times! He almost pierced the side of the Zaku II!

"Captain Gao Long!" Yes, Gao Long was piloting the short sword.