UC will eventually reach the stars

"Not enough to drink...right?" Ye Yun turned around and took out another box from the car. "Drink up, we're happy today, so I, this damn rich man, will bleed a little more!" Ye Yun's words made everyone present cheer. "Unload everything from the back seat, otherwise, with so many of you, it really isn't enough to go around."

"Oh~" Cheers erupted. Clearly, the soldiers were overjoyed to hear that their superior had actually paid a hefty price. They rushed to Ye Yun's jeep and unloaded a lot of expensive cigarettes, alcohol, various fruits, vegetables, and meats.

"Did you bring back a whole market?" Gao Long joked with a smile.

"It's rare to find someone who can make fun of others." Ye Yun laughed as well. After all, Gao Long and he were not just simple superiors and subordinates. They had been through thick and thin together for many years and were already the closest of brothers.

“To be honest, you brought back all this stuff in a jeep.” Gao Long took a sip of his red wine, narrowed his eyes, and snatched a bottle of soy sauce-flavored liquor from a box carried by a soldier walking past him. “This one suits me better.”

"Colonel Ye Yun, why didn't you give yourself this time..." Nores walked to Ye Yun's side and said softly.

"Me? What would I do with these kill counts? As a commander, such a record is meaningless to me. I'd rather let them go where they can be most effective." Ye Yun shrugged. "For me, winning is the most important thing."

"As a commander, the most important thing is to win the battle." Aina smiled, adding a final comment to Ye Yun's words.

“That’s true.” Norres nodded. The victory at the Chuanbei base defense would bring Ye Yun benefits far beyond just a promotion. And now, if Ye Yun could defeat the mining base…

Norris recalled a conversation they had had with their group about the future.

Why did the Sakhalin family decline during the Principality of Zeon?

How did the Ye siblings manage to break the deadlock on the ceiling that was barely visible above Ye's Heavy Industries?

Plan G is an option.

Joining the Federal Army became another best option for Ye Yun.

"By the way, Rachel just made a call; it seems Miss Ye Ning is looking for you."

"Oh? About what?"

"The people from the other side have arrived."

"It seems my sister is very satisfied with their offer."

"……Yes."

Chapter Fifty-Nine: Parachute In!

The mining fortress... no, it shouldn't be a mining fortress yet. It's just a group of soldiers stationed in a mine that's being renovated. Zeon plans to restore at least some mining capacity here, and then give it some MS repair capabilities. Of course, if possible, it would be best to directly enable production.

But... all of this is now impossible. The mining capacity has not even been restored yet, and the Federal Air Force has already begun to repeatedly "plow" the mine. Even if you have precision-guided weapons that interfere with the grains of rice, our Air Force has brought out something similar to the FAB1500. How will you deal with that?

Because iron bombs are not technically difficult to manufacture, the Air Force quickly obtained the technology of iron bombs that were completely unaffected by rice grains. After all, being close to Yeh's Heavy Industries, manufacturing such iron bombs was not troublesome.

The air force veteran almost immediately went into a state of venting his anger by dropping bombs!

Hmm... and it might not just be FAB1500.

3000? Not impossible, 5000... Hmm, do you have an airplane that can carry it? Oh, yes... then build one.

Anyway, the Federation Army has started to requisition Ye's Heavy Industries' production lines on a large scale to convert them into military production. Many of the damaged armor plates of the recovered Zaku were simply removed, melted down and used as shell casings, and then returned to the Zeon Army at the mining base.

Anyway, the Zeon troops at the entire mining base had a tough time. The air force had to check in at least three times a day, and when they were in a good mood or a bad mood, they would be served morning tea, afternoon tea, and even midnight snacks! The huge explosions often shook the entire mountain.

Under such circumstances, the Zeon forces were naturally unable to properly carry out production recovery at the mining base, let alone complete the production and modification tasks of at least the major repair line of mobile suits.

But what's even more crucial is that the news coming back from the front lines is actually good news...

Their defensive line, built with most of their forces, was crushed by Ye Yun's attack before it even lasted the night.

How could this not shock them? This was almost the entire base's fighting force.

Fortunately, it seemed that Ye Yun's troops had reached their limit, so they did not attack immediately but went to rest. Otherwise, if the enemy continued to attack, it was hard to say whether the Zeon army would collapse on its own before the Federation army's troops arrived.

Even though the Federation forces didn't seem to launch an immediate attack, and it seemed that the Zeon forces' worst fears hadn't come true, the significantly increased bombing density by the air force over the past two days had greatly increased the pressure on the Zeon forces. Not to mention, there was clear evidence that the Federation's mechanized units had begun to advance along the river valley, crossing their original defensive lines, and heading towards their base.

Yesterday, there was even an incident where the air force attempted to intercept the Zeon forces' airdrop, which did fail. However, due to the long distance, the Zeon forces at the mining base were unable to obtain the dropped supplies.

It's possible they didn't go... but looking at the craters along the way from the mining base to the supplies dropped from the orbit, it's hard to say whether the air force deliberately left a carrot dangling in front of the Zeon forces, so they would come out of the mountains to be bombed. In the end, as long as the Zeon forces didn't get their hands on the supplies, that was fine.

"The Federation Army is here..." Finally, the Zeon soldiers watched in despair as the supplies they received each day went from a standard day's military ration to just one dry biscuit per person. What could their morale do? They could only endure the hardship in despair.

In other words, the Federation's propaganda about Zeon's atrocities went a bit too far, making the Zeon forces think that the Federation's attitude towards Zeon prisoners of war was to leave no one alive! That's why there wasn't a large-scale surrender at this base, which was full of wounded soldiers and lacked everything except body bags.

So, while Ye Yun was busy repairing MS, replenishing ammunition, and mobilizing the Median fleet, the Federation Air Force launched a large-scale attack. The continuous bombing allowed these guys to finally vent their anger and release their frustrations that had been building since the start of the war.

Let your rice grains interfere!

You're preventing me from using smart ammunition!

I'll disable my radar capabilities!

Ah! If you're so capable, why don't you seal off the explosion as well!

Damn it! You're so good at sealing off explosives! Seal them off!

I weigh 5000KG!

The violent explosion almost made the Zeon troops inside the base think that the Federation army was planning to use explosives to strip away the surface rock of the mine base, removing their biggest protective layer, and then just kill them indiscriminately. Such speculation naturally caused the morale of the Zeon troops to plummet even further.

So after being bombarded by various heavy and super-heavy bombs for a day or two, Federation fighters suddenly flew in at low altitude, and the silhouettes of large transport planes were vaguely visible. Without a doubt, anyone who wasn't blind could understand the Federation's plan: they were finally going to launch a decisive attack on the Zeon army's mining base.

After the last of the Zeon forces' Dop's struggles were crushed by the Swordfish and the Flying Scarf, the transport fleet arrived over the mining city.

"Whoosh..." As the cabin door opened, a gust of wind began to rush in. The maintenance crew inside the cabin looked at the sunlight outside and felt a little uncomfortable. They used one hand to slightly shield their eyes from the sunlight, but quickly put it down. One after another, short swords were kneeling in the cabin, ready to be used.

"Initiate landing! All pilots, put on oxygen masks! This is an order!" Given that there are occasionally a few rebellious individuals among the MS pilots who weigh 100 pounds but have a 99-pound body, Ye Yun reiterated this order. There was definitely no time to pressurize the cockpit of the Short Sword, so what could be done was to urgently install a batch of breathing systems similar to those used by Air Force pilots. In this way, the MS pilots would not suffer accidental losses due to lack of oxygen during intense combat.

"Squadron A, order confirmed, all personnel put on oxygen masks." This time, Nores led the 1st Squadron.

"B Squadron, confirmed, all personnel wearing masks." Naturally, the leader of the second squadron was changed to Gao Long, and both of their voices were audible due to the breathing masks they were wearing.

“666th Squadron, confirmed. How thoughtful of you, sir.” Sima’s voice already carried a hint of teasing.

"Minovsky particle dispersal, air force to suppress possible Zeon air defenses, hand over the landing opportunity to the navigator!" Ye Yun ignored Sima's teasing and gave the order decisively.

"Confirmed, estimated landing time 30 seconds ahead!" The navigator's voice trembled slightly. He was about to command not just the landing of one or two mobile suits, but the strongest mobile suit combat group in the entire Federation Forces! This feeling of having decided a certain history made him very excited.

"Deployment begins!"

"Follow me in a surprise attack!" Ye Yun said softly, then quickly looked away from the cockpit of the Media. The entire aircraft was illuminated by the sunlight in that instant. He lowered his head slightly, and the excellent camera of the short sword clearly showed Ye Yun the situation in the surrounding area.

A series of fighter jets swept overhead, their afterburners creating Mach rings that were clearly visible to Ye Yun and his men. Meanwhile, at the mining base further away, the smoke and dust from the explosions continued to burst open, and the fireballs proved that the Federal Air Force was hurling bombs made by Ye's Heavy Industries at the Zeon forces!

"Beep beep beep..." The alarm device sounded, and Ye Yun glanced at it, which was reminding him that he had reached the parachute deployment altitude.

"Hoo..." With heavy breathing, Ye Yun gently pressed a button on the screen. A signal was transmitted, and the parachute behind the short sword opened. He felt a sudden weight on his body. Undoubtedly, this was the feeling of defying gravity. Ye Yun's lips curled up.

Because he saw...

Around him, a series of enormous gliders unfolded, and steel giants, wielding large shields and 100mm or TYPE59 90mm machine guns, floated in the sky, drifting towards their destination.

The scene before him was so spectacular that it shook Ye Yun's mind! The Federation Army had never even launched such a crazy and decisive MS air assault in its history, let alone ever airdropped more than 60 Type 61 MSs in one go!

The last time the Federation carried out a large-scale MS airborne operation was the battle where Sima and his team outflanked the rear of the defensive line in the North American theater. Although MS airborne operations have been carried out many times, they have mostly been small-scale operations, never at the squad level, let alone an MS battalion-level airdrop like this.

When forty or fifty MS-specific load-bearing parachutes unfolded in the air, not only were the Federation forces shocked, but the Zeon forces felt as if they were facing an impending catastrophe. The oppressive feeling was almost tangible and overwhelming.

Because everyone knows that in just a few minutes, the giant robot that lands will unleash a barrage of bullets upon them.

If you combine this with the distant fortress city engulfed in smoke and dust from the relentless bombing by Federation aircraft, the visual effects are truly spectacular.

It's perfect for the dramatic scene at the end of a war movie, where both sides are gearing up for a final showdown.

"Hmm?" Ye Yun glanced over and saw someone flying over his head. The dark gray fuselage was undoubtedly Xima's 666th Squadron.

"We'll be going now!" Sima smiled and waved to Ye Yun. He waved the TYPE59 90mm machine gun in his short sword at Ye Yun, then gently pushed the control lever to make the thrusters run at a low speed. Only at the last moment of the critical point did he choose to open the parachute!

This allows them to fly several kilometers away.

“…These guys!” Ye Yun glanced at their location with annoyance, but didn’t say much. Xima and the others had already shown their loyalty, and Ye Yun had gained a little trust in them, though not much. So Ye Yun simply replied, “Be careful.” On the communication screen, Xima put his index and middle fingers together in a simple salute to Ye Yun.

"Whoosh...whoosh..." A series of whooshing sounds suddenly came from below. The Zeon army obviously understood that such a large-scale airborne operation could only mean one thing: the time for the decisive battle had arrived.

Of course, if they were to conceal their fighting strength at this point, everything they possessed would soon be gone, and they could take it all to their graves.

Therefore, all the hidden weapons capable of anti-aircraft fire were naturally opened fire on the MS units descending from the sky. However, the Federation's flares filled the airspace, and the Zeon forces were now subjected to blind firing without radar guidance. The fire they were firing was essentially visual air defense, and the effectiveness of their anti-aircraft fire was predictable.

"Hmph!" Ye Yun decisively pressed the button, directly detonating the parachute on his back, igniting the thrusters, and forcibly slowing down. Doing this was indeed somewhat risky, since doing this during landing would most likely burn up most of the propellant of the Short Sword Treaty that Ye Yun was piloting!

However... it's clear that Ye Yun wasn't the only one or two who made similar choices!

"Earth Federation Forces 1st MS Battalion, commence combat now! Destroy those obstructing anti-aircraft guns!"

"Yes!"

Chapter Sixty: Changing Situation!

"Tsk!" Ye Yun, piloting the short sword, positioned himself in front of Aina, unleashing a barrage of bullets upon his shield. "I didn't expect that even though the Zeon forces have no mobile suits left, they still have quite a few combat vehicles, and even..."

There were even Type 61 tanks, though it's unclear whether they were captured or built from blueprints. They weren't numerous, but when I faced a Type 61 myself, I realized that tanks were indeed a significant threat. Every time I tried to block their 150mm heavy cannons with my shield, I would be greeted with a warning from my wrist monitor.

"Buzz..." The muzzle of the TYPE59 roared, and a series of 90mm shells accurately hit the Type 61 tank. Then Ye Yun witnessed how his own Type 61 faced the Zaku II. A few short bursts of 90mm shells bombarded the top armor of the Type 61, easily opening the not-so-thick top armor of the Type 61 (suddenly I thought of the Panther's head, so brittle it was heartbreaking).

Watching the turret blown away by the explosion, Ye Yun clicked his tongue and said, "Be careful!" Ye Yun's Short Sword was used as a command aircraft and had been using the 180mm cannon for a long time. It could be said that most of the combat data of the 180mm cannon came from Ye Yun's aircraft. It rarely went to the front line. Such a scene was indeed rare.

"Thank you!" Aina felt a warm feeling in her heart after Ye Yun helped her block the shell that was fired at her back. She had been dodging what seemed to be a Majera tank's shell in the distance when, without her noticing, the enemy sent a Type 61 tank to ambush her.

"Mm." Ye Yun nodded, not saying much. It wasn't appropriate to show affection in public during combat, but Aina's sweet smile on the communicator was the best reward.

"It seems the enemy has given up on sending MS to contest the outer perimeter with us!" Aina looked at the group of Zeon soldiers on a building not far away on the integrated scanner, who were trying to attack her with anti-tank weapons. Without hesitation, she fired a series of 90mm shells at them.

Compared to the 100mm machine gun with only 28 rounds of ammunition, Aina preferred to use the TYPE59, since it had a larger ammunition capacity. The 40-round magazine allowed them to have a very generous distribution of ammunition. However, unlike other drivers who used the TYPE59, Aina did not prefer to use the 75-round drum magazine, as it was too heavy and disrupted her balance when firing.

However, most MS pilots don't think that way. This is a 75-round drum magazine! They can keep the enemy Zaku IIs from even raising their heads!

That's right, just like Soviet soldiers wielding drum-gun PPSh-40s, overwhelming WWII German troops with their ferocious firepower. When I fire, dare you even look up? Dare? Look up! Look at me! You piece of trash!

"Thump!" However, an anti-tank rocket launcher (the same model used by Rocket Assault Trooper Char Aznable) still blasted towards Ye Yun at very close range. The soldier was very patient and seized the opportunity. However, at the moment of firing, it was unclear whether Ye Yun turned his short sword, causing the angle to change, or whether he panicked when he noticed Ye Yun's movement and hastily fired. In any case, the rocket hit Ye Yun's skirt armor. But obviously, the angle was not good. Not to mention the short sword's armor plates, it didn't even penetrate the additional armor.

Ye Yun's current short sword has undergone adaptive modifications. Putting aside the dirty tricks, the 180mm cannon manufactured by Bazhou has excellent performance and Ye Yun is very comfortable using it. Kinias simply took the opportunity to collect data for the development of artillery combat equipment in the backpack system, and also made corrections to the original design based on Ye Yun's MS usage data. From time to time, some modification parts would be delivered.

Just as in order to better utilize heavy firepower, Kinias added additional armor to Ye Yun's body and adjusted the weight distribution, thus giving the body better stability. When Ye Yun uses heavy cannons, this ensures that the short sword's body posture is kept as stable as possible when firing, so that the impact when the cannonball leaves the barrel is minimized.

Furthermore, it enhances the wrist's resistance to impact, a feature highly praised by the base's maintenance staff! This structure should be extended to all short swords, so that after each battle, every inspection reveals an error indicating that the wrist needs repair, or at least the replacement of certain consumables (or even parts that weren't originally consumables), which sends shivers down their spines.

Later, Kinias did indeed take their advice to heart. Although he did not directly use the wrist design of the artillery armor, he did improve the durability of the wrist of the standard model.

"Oh, there are still some that slipped through the net!" Without hesitation, Ye Yun unleashed a barrage of 90mm shells at the building. The high-explosive shells mixed in the magazine directly collapsed an entire floor. Ye Yun then drew his electric sword from another short sword beside him and plunged it inside. This was a skill honed through long-term exercises: "I don't care how many people are inside a building, I'll just smash it to pieces, what are you going to do then!"

As the scorching electric sword plunges into the building and sweeps across, the building's weight will take care of the rest! The collapsing building will most likely give the Zeon soldiers inside a less-than-dignified "burial."

"Ye Yun! You've been shot!" Aina frowned, scanning her surroundings, seemingly not finding any other Zeon soldiers.

"The self-inspection found no damage..." Ye Yun smacked his lips. Very good.

The Chuanbei Base is known as the most important MS training base of the Earth Federation Forces. It is even known for its special training methods, such as the large-scale military exercises within the Federation Forces that have been dubbed "Endless Battlefield". The practice of having veterans who are about to be transferred give new recruits a few hard lessons allows the Federation Forces to quickly acquire a group of relatively experienced non-combat officers and lower-ranking officers, which is very important.

On the other hand, the Zeon forces stationed at the mining base didn't have the time or resources to learn how to fight against mobile suits.

In a sense, from the moment they entered this mining base at an altitude of 5000 meters, they were already trapped inside, unable to adapt to the high-altitude environment. Moreover, thanks to the Federal Air Force's well-planned interception, they lacked sufficient resources to modify the mining base and turn it into a fortress.

As for things like creating a track inside the mountain that can launch Zanzibar-class aircraft, and a major repair line that can manually manufacture mobile suits, or even a manufacturing facility that can produce mobile armor in the hundreds of meters...

Haha, all I can say is that you can have anything in your dreams. Oh, actually you can, but it seems like all of that is now...

Next to the Chuanbei base—well, it should be called Dawn Heavy Machinery Manufacturing Company now, I think—the serial numbers of the short swords they produce have already reached over 400. It's the most important MS supply base for the entire Earth Federation Forces. And yet, the Federation is still desperately pushing for increased production capacity, wishing that the production capacity of Dawn Heavy Machinery Manufacturing Company and Ye's Heavy Industry could be more than doubled.

Meanwhile, the Federation Forces have completed the formation of eight MS battalions, one of which may be sent to Luna 2 so that the Federation Space Forces can also begin training MS pilots.

Besides the MS produced by Dawn Machinery Manufacturing Company, there are nearly two battalions of production lines that come from the Chabro production line located underground at the Federation headquarters. Of course, some key parts are produced by Ye's Heavy Industry and transported directly to the factory via Midia Air Force.

It is said that the Federation MS pilots who completed their training at the Chuanbei base had a lot of complaints about these short swords after they came into contact with them. They felt that the performance of these short swords was inferior to those manufactured by Shuguang Heavy Machinery, and the accompanying 100mm machine guns were also very unfamiliar to these pilots who had trained at the Chuanbei base and were basically using Type 59s for combat (in accordance with the principle of proximity, all the MSs issued during subsequent training were Type 59s from Ye's Heavy Industry assets).

The current timeframe is March 3rd, nearly four months before the expected completion date of Operation V. However, the Earth Federation forces have already begun large-scale combat deployments, with even organized clashes between the two sides' mobile suit units in the Afrika Korps (the Southeast Asia and North Sichuan bases are close to the production site of the GAT-00 Leviathan, and in a sense, they are not considered serious war zones; the objective of the operation is to eliminate the Zeon threat to the region). Ultimately, after the Afrika Korps commander caused a scene at the operational meeting, he received a replenishment of 4 GAT-3 Leviathans and 4 GAT-01 Leviathans.

The few Zeon soldiers stationed outside the mountain could only put up a desperate resistance. However, facing a considerable number of Federation mobile suits, their resistance was quite weak. Lacking supplies and long-range firepower, they could not employ the effective and relatively safe tactic of guiding long-range fire to attack the mobile suits like the Federation soldiers.

They had no choice but to fight hand-to-hand! The result was naturally heavy losses, but little gain. Lacking sufficient equipment and without any infantry anti-MS training, they simply wasted most of their manpower in a pointless struggle. They did not inflict much damage on the entire battalion's MS; only a few unlucky ones were hit, and the total number of damaged MS was only 4 Daggers.

Ye Yun piloted this short sword without giving it any special designation, only marking it as Ye Yun's commander's machine. If it were to follow the Federation Army's usual practice, it would probably be renamed GAT-01FA Full Armored Short Sword after all the kits designed by Kinias were installed.

(The equipment in the background is a disassembled 180 cannon.)

Now that this heavily armored Dagger has appeared on the front lines, it has attracted the attention of the Zeon army and naturally suffered the most damage...

This caused a considerable shock to the Zeon forces. After all, which mobile suit was more eye-catching because of its appearance? After being concentrated fire by the enemy, it not only dodged a bunch of attacks, but also took four or five anti-armor rockets with added charges at roughly the same location (Ye Yun took the hit with the thickest part of his shoulder armor when he couldn't dodge them). As a result, when the smoke cleared, the mobile suit was still alive and kicking as if nothing had happened.

Are you making animation? Smoke but no harm?!

Ye Yun was also quite annoyed. "So many MS, why are you all targeting me?!"