UC will eventually reach the stars

Especially the reconnaissance soldiers sent out by Ye Yun, they are truly elite troops that every war zone unit wants. After all, there are several crazy guys among them who dare to tear apart MS with their bare hands using heavy anti-tank mines and succeed. Where else can you find soldiers like that?

The price to pay... was merely 50 in cash or its equivalent in gold...

50 to buy a Zeon mobile suit! That's a steal! For the Earth Federation generals in each war zone, 50 is nothing, they'd even pay double!

"Well, it's a pity. Gap gave him too high a rank back then, otherwise we could have promoted him now. He's too young to be promoted to general." Rebil sighed. If Gap had given Ye Yun a junior officer rank, they could have promoted him continuously without worry. Now... if Ye Yun were to be promoted again, he would be a major general. He could really become a powerful force on the ground battlefield of the Federation Army.

“Perhaps…” Tianm stroked his chin, “we don’t necessarily have to promote him.”

"Oh?" Rebil became interested. "What else?"

“Ye’s Heavy Industry previously submitted several plans for the conversion of the Salamis-class light cruisers, and even the conversion kits had been delivered. However, due to some people’s dissatisfaction with the conversion into quasi-light carriers, the conversion plan was blocked.” Tiam’s eyes flickered. “I have seen the plan. It’s a good plan. It’s more feasible than building the Nelson-class on a large scale. After all, it’s Ye. I think he will like it.”

“Good idea.” Rebil nodded. Ye’s Heavy Industry’s modification plan was simple: completely remove the missile bay at the front of the Salamis-class ship. In the Mi-grain environment, it was already a decoration. Instead, convert it into an MS hangar, carrying 3 to 4 MS. Place a small running gear in the opening at the front of the ship to provide initial speed for the attacking MS.

The design is ingenious, and quite touching, but...

The Federation Space Force is the headquarters of battleships and massive cannons!

Converting a light cruiser into a quasi-aircraft carrier?

You heretic!

They could even tolerate rebuilding a few Pegasus-class assault landing ships, but they couldn't accept converting the Salamis-class into warships with some MS delivery and basic maintenance capabilities!

This is heresy! He must die!

However, Tiam and Rebil didn't seem to care much about it.

Just like how aircraft carriers replaced battleships during World War II in the old Western calendar, simply put, a method that can precisely deliver more firepower to the front lines will replace the previously less efficient one. This time, it's just that carrier-based aircraft have been replaced by mobile suits (MS).

Therefore, the original method of calculating combat power will inevitably have to change. Instead of counting the number of naval guns and warships held by the fleet, it will become how many mobile suits the fleet can deploy in total, how many mobile suits can be deployed in one attack wave, the combat power, endurance, and continuous combat capability of the mobile suits, etc.

Simply put, the core of all combat has changed from how much firepower the fleet can project to how many mobile suits the fleet can project to project firepower!

Although the fleet will still be an important component of the Space Force, the core combat methods have quietly changed. If the Federation Forces do not change... it will just be a few more Loom 5s.

The Pegasus-class ships are expensive to manufacture and cannot be built on a large scale in a short period of time to meet the needs of the Federation Army. The traditional Columbus-class ships are slow and have weak defenses, making it difficult to keep up with large-scale fleet movements.

The original Nelson-class and Trafalgar-class ships were experimental aircraft carriers developed by the Federation Forces before the introduction of mobile suits. In terms of results, they only solved the functional problems, but brought some other problems, such as the additional hull structural strength and the drag on the ship's speed.

From this perspective, the Salamis-class battleship modification plan proposed by Ye's Heavy Industry, which can carry a small squad of mobile suits at a time, is very much in line with the current situation of the Federation Forces!

Because Yeh's Heavy Industries' plan involves removing the missile launchers at the bow, it does not alter the overall structure of the ship, does not require the removal of the main armament, and does not even affect the speed, making it a very good emergency modification plan.

“I remember there are a few ships with major damage to their bows that are still awaiting repair.” Rebil tapped the table, as if he was about to make a decision. Despite the strong opposition, everything was for the sake of victory. Since their approach could not succeed, then let the one that could succeed take the lead.

“Yes, and not just a few, but 12 is no problem at all.” Tiam nodded. “Ye’s Heavy Industries is very bold… They sent us six trial kits. If the modifications are completed, we will be able to transport one and a half squadrons of MS at a time.”

“One and a half squadrons?” Rebil’s lips curled into a smile. “How about we pick the six in the best condition and get to work? We can’t waste any more time.” As he spoke, Rebil beckoned to his adjutant. “Have the little guy inform his sister that if the price is right, I personally am willing to support this Salamis-class modification project. I hope Ye’s Heavy Industries can fulfill its responsibilities as an important supplier to the Federation Army.”

"Yes! I'll go and inform Colonel Ye Yun right away."

Chapter Seventy-Six: Sera's Heavy Pressure

"So..." Ye Yun covered his face, speechless. "Ye's Heavy Industry has already received the order from the Federal Space Force?" After finishing his MS training, he returned to his lounge. Before he could even catch his breath, Ye Yun was informed that Rebil planned to start testing Ye's Heavy Industry's Salamis-class modification project.

All six sets of equipment sent by Ye's Heavy Industry will be used. The bows of the six ships were damaged, but the remaining Salamis-class light cruisers with intact structures have been pushed onto the slipway and construction has begun.

Then Ye Yun happily went to send a message to her sister.

Ye Ning replied quickly, using Ye's Heavy Industry's standard internal confidential code. After Rachel transcribed it, she secretly showed it to Ye Yun, who was then completely devastated after reading it.

In his reply, Ye Ning first briefly mentioned that a few hours earlier, Ye's Heavy Industry had received an order from the Earth Federation Space Force for the first batch of twenty-four Salamis-class modification kits, and the Earth Federation Forces required Ye's Heavy Industry to deliver them as quickly as possible. He then concluded with a casual "Well done," as a small compliment to Ye Yun at the end.

"So what's the point of this?" Ye Yun rolled his eyes; his older sister, as always, had a habit of stabbing him in the back. After all, what she really meant was: "Read and approved, keep up the good work."

You're too lazy to even make empty promises?! How can I not be furious when I see this?!

However, Ye Yun could only keep his anger to himself. Bloodline suppression was a fact, even if Ye Yun denied it.

Look, Rachel and Doris are almost hurting themselves from trying so hard to hold back their laughter.

"How's Sera doing lately?" Ye Yun rolled his eyes at his two heartless assistants, annoyed. What kind of people were they, daring to laugh at their boss!

“Miss Sera has already established herself in space. After all, with the increasing number of survivors collected by the Maas family's fleet, the number of people in the Federation and Zeon forces who owe her favors is also growing.” Rachel knew Ye Yun might ask this question. “And just as you guessed, Ye Yun, there is a large amount of unclaimed wealth among those ruined colonies! Sera has already categorized and stored your share for you, and it's almost more than your wealth at Ye's Heavy Industries and Dawn.”

"Leaving aside Ye's Heavy Industry, Dawn is now a nuclear-powered money-printing machine, how could it be..." Ye Yun was complaining when Rachel's next sentence made him choke on his water.

“They emptied dozens of banks, found more than a dozen vaults, and dismantled dozens of factories,” Rachel said with a smile. “Once the equipment in these factories can be completed, SIDE5 will have the initial capability to repair space colonies, and of course, ships.” Rachel handed the documents to Ye Yun.

"Holy crap..." Ye Yun wiped his mouth, looking at the massive amount of resources that Sera and her team had looted while rescuing people, and suddenly he was speechless. "Hmm? More than 190 Leo units? Sera, she..." Ye Yun's lips twitched as he looked at the number. If it really was the kind of "Leo" that his sister had prepared for Sera, this number was several times more than the Federation Space Force's MS...

“They are standard-model industrial robots.” Rachel pointed to a section of the report. Well, they were free. Besides those recycled from within the company, some were even taken directly from Ye’s showroom and maintenance center on the space colony satellite. So, the majority of the industrial robots in Sera’s possession were obtained by her own efforts.

"..." Then Ye Yun saw another piece of information that made him speechless: rare metals! Various high-value rare metals. Ye Yun didn't know where Sera came from, but the sheer number of rare metals listed in the report made his brain nearly spin!

To put it simply, if Sera wanted to... considering the sheer amount of these rare metals solely from the perspective of money, which is the least meaningful thing, she might consider buying a colony satellite. Of course, there's nowhere to buy them right now.

A quick glance revealed that Sierra had begun dismantling other wreckage to repair the damaged colony satellite on Side 5. This included the colony satellite itself, as well as various destroyed ships and transport aircraft—which made perfect sense…

Incidentally, in the process, they also helped collect the bodies of their deceased human brethren, cremated them, and then recast the ashes into individual ash blocks, creating a "funeral hall" on a damaged space colony satellite of Side 2 to store these ashes.

"Keep it up, Sera. She's worked so hard." Ye Yun clicked his tongue. "Also, try to find a place to repair ships. I'm not talking about the armies on both sides, just ordinary ships." Taking a deep breath, Ye Yun said softly, "In the universe now, there really are opportunities and wealth everywhere."

Simply put, in the universe right now, this wealth is not very useful. For the space refugees who are still being gathered together, a stack of Federal currency is probably not as reliable as a bite to eat, a bottle of water, or even an oxygen tank.

After all, with the near-total destruction of the Side 1, 2, and 4 colonies and the severe damage to multiple Side 5 colonies, the situation in the universe is no longer as simple as a runaway price increase...

Fortunately, Side 5 originally had a lot of agricultural resources and a considerable amount of food reserves. Otherwise, Sierra would not have dared to launch such a large-scale rescue operation, since many of the resources consumed are currently non-renewable.

Similarly, for similar reasons, Sierra's current policy is relief, without paying many wages, only providing food, drink, shelter and housing. As a result, resources are being stockpiled very quickly. Of course, some federal relief agencies have also provided assistance as much as possible.

However, as news spread that aid organizations were taking in refugees on Side 5, many refugees who had originally fled to Side 6 and the lunar surface began to flock to Side 5... After all, at this time, having food is more important than anything else.

A small amount of assistance is a drop in the ocean compared to the rapidly expanding refugee population in Side 5. Side 5 consumes enormous amounts of food, water, and air every day, all of which are non-renewable resources in the short term.

"Let's not talk about that anymore. Is the order of the combat rotation ready?" To be honest, Ye Yun didn't have any good solutions for Sera's predicament. After all, they weren't on Earth, where he could at least try to send her some food by plane. In space, they really could only rely on Sera and the refugees to work together. Ye Yun could only suggest that he find an opportunity to mention it to the Federation Army and see if he could help the refugees and improve the goodwill of the space residents.

After all, they were once such supporters of the Zeon forces, who were the first to raise their swords and kill billions of people across Earth, the majority of whom were space dwellers. If they don't fight for unity now, when will they?

Ye Yun floated out of the room. The short rest time was over. The entire MS seed cultivation of the Federation Space Force was now on Ye Yun's shoulders. He needed to go to the computer room... ah, no, the simulator room to vent his frustration... no, to give some pointers to the Federation MS trainers.

After all, apart from Gao Long, who was not interested in beating up children, the pilots of Squadron 666 and Ye Yun were all very enthusiastic, and the Federation MS pilots also seemed to be very excited.

"It's all sorted out, except for some complaints from Sima and the others. They think you can't push them to their limits every day." Rachel shrugged. In Rachel's opinion, Sima and the others had put in a lot of effort, but unfortunately, time was too tight. Ye Yun couldn't stay in space for long, and both the Space Force and Ye Yun were well aware of this.

"There's no other way, we need to establish a complete MS training system as soon as possible..." Ye Yun sighed. "Is the ship ready? When do we set sail? We can't keep using Columbus forever."

"I estimate that everything will be ready by tomorrow afternoon. The Federation hopes we can consider a mixed tactic between mobile suits and the fleet." Rachel's lips curled up as she looked at Ye Yun's back in front of her. She could almost guess how Ye Yun would react.

"Huh?!" Ye Yun turned to look at Rachel. "Aren't the staff officers of the Federation Space Force supposed to be quite diligent? Why do we have to use our brains for even this?!" Ye Yun was referring to the reactions of the staff officers who had been caught out when they were drafting contingency plans for possible scenarios during training.

"Maybe they just want some advice." Rachel didn't believe that the Federation Space Force's fleet really needed their tactical setup. After all, this was practically cross-service command, and it was no wonder the other side wouldn't take it on! The Space Force was even more difficult to deal with than the Navy.

"Send more long-range reconnaissance units and more unmanned monitoring platforms. If possible, just camp out at the entrance of SIDE3." Ye Yun shrugged. Since the radar was blocked by Mie particles, they could only rely on some more "clumsy" technical means.

In any case, the Zeon forces don't really have any strategic depth to speak of. As long as the Federation forces are resourceful, they can always find a way to infiltrate.

"Understood, I'll write a simple report and submit it." Rachel said quickly. This was something she and Doris had always been in charge of. Now that Ye Yun had given a simple suggestion, Rachel had already started to form the framework of the report in her mind. After all, Ye Yun's meaning was simple: intelligence was a prerequisite for victory in war.

"Thank you for your hard work! Taking you and Doris around the war zone, and we'll probably be heading to the space battlefield next." Ye Yun shrugged and looked at Rachel with a somewhat apologetic expression.

"Ah... so you finally realize you should apologize to us?" Doris stood in front of the training center, a smile playing on her lips. Clearly, she also enjoyed tormenting those newbies, even if it was just on the simulator.

"Hehe... I'll be careful not to bring you next time."

"Ha! You bastard!"

Chapter Seventy-Seven: Space Exercise

"OK, sound the alarm! Give our guys a jarring wake-up call." Ye Yun said from the bridge, exchanging a mischievous glance with the captain beside him, his eyes barely able to contain his amusement.

"Enemy ships spotted approaching. Fleet enter anti-ship mode. Prepare for MS combat. MS squadrons, launch! Fleet deploy in anti-air formation!" The captain began issuing orders according to the plan he had previously discussed with Ye Yun. "Minovsky particle dispersal! Weapon systems, prepare for air and ship combat."

The warship Ye Yun was aboard was a very rare Trafalgar-class battle carrier in the Federation Army. It was converted from a Magellan-class carrier and had a huge hangar that circled the entire hull, designed to accommodate Swordfish aircraft...

Through specialized design, the firepower configuration of the upper and lower hemispheres was largely retained, while the firepower on the left and right sides was naturally removed. Clearly, in terms of firepower alone, it is inferior to the Magellan-class.

Even more critically, the Trafalgar-class hangars were originally designed to house Swordfish, but now they are being used to house mobile suits, resulting in a huge waste of space. In actual use, to achieve maximum efficiency, they can probably only accommodate about a squadron, which is far from the terrifying capacity of 60 Swordfish.

The captains of several warships received the signal, so the fleet was able to deploy its formation very smoothly. The Magellan-class ships, with the Magellan-class ships at their core, quickly formed a hemispherical formation on the side of the Trafalgar-class ships. According to calculations, this formation was designed to maximize the anti-aircraft firepower of the Federation warships.

The fleet staff had a good idea: the MS units would conduct long-range interception, disrupt the formation of the incoming forces, and then the fleet's anti-aircraft fire would deliver a devastating blow!

Ye Yun didn't say anything to this. What was there to say? He wasn't a Marine, much less a Space Force officer; he only knew a little about mobile suit operations. So Ye Yun's attitude was... well, let's give it a try. Anyway, we're here for training, you train yours, I'll train mine, and we'll all improve together!

Then Ye Yun smiled and arranged for Squadron 666 to go to the other side, while he and Gao Long did not attack.

After all, the exercise needs to be realistic. Right now, the Earth Federation Forces' mobile suit pilots are a bunch of novices, while the Zeon Forces do have quite a few veteran pilots, right?

The fleet commander had no idea about all these intricacies; he only knew that the opposing force was smaller than his own, and that the two Nelson-class light assault carriers operating independently resembled the Musai-class light cruisers that had been sneaking around Luna II.

Such battles, in which MS units are dispatched to harass fleets, occur almost daily around Luna 2.

"The MS team has begun its attack. Two squads of MS have started advancing. The second batch of MS is expected to launch in 10 minutes." The controller said quickly. Due to the time pressure, the catapult was not the one for carrying MS, but the one originally used to launch Swordfish. However, Ye Yun felt that there was nothing to complain about at this time, as long as it provided an initial velocity.

So they welded a hook onto a simple shield, allowing the mobile suit to crouch and lean against it. The posture was a bit odd, but it was enough to launch the mobile suit forward.

As for MS landings, there's a huge interception net prepared in the hangar, just waiting for these newbies to make mistakes and run into it!

Red dots began to appear on the tactical command screen, flashing as the MS units they were carrying began to appear. However, these marked red dots disappeared quickly as the concentration of Minovsky particles increased.

"..." Ye Yun glanced at his watch, tilted his head, and said nothing.

"Colonel Ye Yun, you've been looking at your watch. Are you waiting for something?" The captain's name was Newton H. White, and his rank was only one level lower than Ye Yun's. This was mainly because the Trafalgar-class assault carriers were not well-regarded. If this were a Magellan-class battleship, his rank would be colonel.

All I can say is that the Earth Federation Space Force has a deeply ingrained tradition of using large ships and heavy artillery! The mindset of fleet decisive battles is already an extreme fixed point, but you have to admit that these guys are really ruthless when they fight.

"No, Lieutenant Commander White, I'm not waiting for anything, I'm calculating the time. This is an exercise where we both know roughly when it starts, so I want to know the exact time of every change. For example, it's been nine minutes since the start, and about five minutes since the captain announced the release of Minovsky particles, with a concentration that... I see on the display it's around 30? However, all three levels of radar on this ship—long-range, medium-range, and short-range—are receiving strong interference, and the source of the interference is the Minovsky particles being released by this ship."

"..." Captain White pressed down on the brim of his hat, somewhat at a loss for words. To be honest, Ye Yun's conclusion left him speechless, but he couldn't refute it. In fact, they themselves didn't dare to walk any slower, because once the other party retreated into the shadows, if you didn't hide, you were simply asking for a beating.

After all, the rice grain is not electronic warfare, but rather directly cuts off signal transmission, so the enemy can easily attack it as long as they have terminal-guided anti-ship missiles.

"Observation point 1 has detected something in the opposite direction... No! Direction 3, at 9 o'clock! The direction of the sun! MS is approaching!" The intelligence officer's voice was tinged with fear.

"Hey! Look what we've caught in our nets!" Sima's voice came through the communicator. Clearly, compared to the less familiar ground battlefield, the 666th Squadron's combat power was being unleashed in space. By the time the Earth Federation fleet discovered the 666th Squadron, it was already too late.

"21 minutes." Ye Yun shrugged. Although he didn't say much, the phrase "21 minutes" had already severely shocked everyone on the bridge. Just over twenty minutes had passed! The entire fleet's outer anti-aircraft perimeter had been completely breached! They had entered the close-quarters combat range that mobile suits were best at! Based on Loom 5's experience, at this moment, the fate of the entire fleet had been decided! The Zeon mobile suit forces had already gained a fatal advantage!

"Don't panic!" Lieutenant Colonel White took a deep breath and said in a firm tone, "Organize anti-aircraft fire and accelerate the release of MS units..."

"No, have the MS launch immediately from the hangar using its own propulsion. After launch, immediately lower the blast doors." Ye Yun interrupted the captain. "This isn't the time to wait for the catapults. The important thing now is to launch the MS as quickly as possible. Besides, at this distance, it won't consume much fuel." However, to save face for the captain, Ye Yun added, "Also, recall the MS units that have already been dispatched and prepare to organize a fleet to intercept them!"

"Good!" Captain White chose to trust Ye Yun's judgment at this moment. After all, the man in front of him was the one who led a group of new recruits to sweep through the Zeon army's third landing and reorganized the order of the Earth Federation in Southeast Asia. He was the type with a talent for military command.

"Rear Admiral Birmingham rejected your proposal. He believes that the fleet's air defense capabilities are sufficient to handle small-scale attacks. There should be other Zeon mobile suit units on the perimeter, and the deployed mobile suit units should form a long-range interception network for the fleet." The communications officer quickly issued the order, but another order arrived that clearly surprised her.

"Understood, execute the Major General's orders! 24 minutes." Ye Yun didn't argue at all. After all, the Major General was the fleet commander, and his command authority was far higher than Ye Yun's. He was, after all, a general.

Therefore, Ye Yun didn't need to argue with the other party; he could just let the facts speak for themselves later.

"MS approaching! Fleet air defense perimeter... breached!" someone exclaimed. The radar was jammed, but if the enemy was close enough, some information could still be detected. Clearly, Sima Karahau, as a former elite Zeon soldier, had rushed into the Earth Federation Forces' very close range in a very short time! Even if the Earth Federation Forces wanted to intercept, they had to worry about accidentally hitting each other.

"The enemy has launched an attack!" Ye Yun glanced at it again and clicked his tongue. 30 minutes later, Ye Yun, standing by the porthole, watched a black and gray short sword speed past and fire several paintballs in his direction.

"Ah!" Screams erupted from inside the ship. Even paintballs make a clanging sound when they hit the bridge, let alone this one that hit the bridge glass. After a loud crash, the entire bridge was completely blocked out.

"Is this a slap in the face for Sima?" Doris looked at Ye Yun with a smile, trying to see a gritted-teeth expression on Ye Yun's face. Unfortunately, she failed; Ye Yun's face remained very calm.

"At 31 minutes, the bridge of this ship was destroyed, and the second bridge took over command. The ship was hit by multiple bullets and caught fire." Captain White sighed, "The MS force was too slow to attack and failed to form an interception on the perimeter."

"That's right, but it wasn't completely useless. At least it put up a fight. It's just a pity that the fleet didn't have time to deploy its formation, otherwise it shouldn't have been attacked so easily."

"Shot in the rear, engine badly damaged..." A voice made Ye Yun and Lieutenant Colonel White exchange a glance, their expressions mostly helpless. This basically meant that the Trafalgar-class assault carrier Ye Yun was on had been sunk.

"Good, we'll rest now." Ye Yun smiled, no longer struggling. "How's the fleet?"

"The MS team is engaged in combat with the MS units of Squadron 666, but the situation is not good. Two Salamis-class ships have been sunk." Ye Yun heard the information he wanted.

"..." Ye Yun frowned.

"How is it?" Captain White looked at Ye Yun with some anticipation.

"Squadron 666 is about to withdraw. Their ammunition, especially anti-ship ammunition, should be exhausted, which may be a problem. If we consider the range of the attack, their propellant should also be running low."

"Oh?"

Chapter Seventy-Eight: Divergence

"The Federation's mobile suit units are already operating on a large scale in Luna 2..." Gihren crossed his arms in front of him, his face grim as he looked at Kycilia. "I remember... you promised to handle this properly." After saying this, Gihren pointed to a thick stack of photos in front of him. "I want to know exactly how you've stopped Ye's Heavy Industries from supplying the Federation with a steady stream of mobile suits!"