Why would I join the army if I can’t drive a Gundam!

Chapter 103 Antarctic Treaty
The leader of the Zeon delegation that came to Earth for negotiations was Kycilia's confidant, Mark Bay, who currently serves as the commander of the 7th Division of the Grenada Fleet.

Because of his outstanding performance in the Weekly War, he has been promoted to Lieutenant General. Although this rank does not seem to be equal to the generals on the Federation side, Markbay is also Kycilia's confidant, so he can also be directly regarded as the spokesperson of the Zabi family.

As for why the Zabi family members did not come in person, it might be that they knew that their reputation in the Earth circle was not very good. After all, the Federal Security Forces had intercepted many space refugees who tried to smuggle across the Drake Passage. These people wanted to sneak into the neutral city in Antarctica and fight to the death with the Zeon delegation.

"Oh, this is snow!"

Few of the young Zeon officers who followed Markbay were born on Earth, so they were naturally very curious to see the white ice and snow world outside the glass dome. Although they did not lie down in the terminal aisle to watch, they still twisted their necks from time to time when pretending to speak.

As for Mark Bay, although he was born on Earth, he had not been back here for decades. Naturally, he was distracted for a moment when he saw the snow scene. But then, with that frivolous smile on his face again, he walked out of the terminal under the guidance of the staff.

When the Zeon delegation walked out of the building, the officers who had just been immersed in watching the snow stopped again, and even Markbay's expression became serious and solemn.

Because Macharius's Gundam was standing on the street outside the terminal building.

"This is?"

"It's just our mobile suit unit providing security for the negotiation site!"

The Federation officer leading the Zeon delegation introduced them in a very nonchalant manner.

"That's fine, let me go over and take a look!"

Mark Bay was about to step forward, but the federal officer next to him did not stop him. He had received orders in advance that as long as he did not get too close, there was no need to stop him.

Markbay didn't get too close because a large area near the Gundam was covered by the warning projection. He just stood outside the warning range and looked at the body and its appearance, especially the Zaku mark that occupied the entire left arm.

"This should be the Federation Army mobile suit codenamed Red Dragon!"

A Zeon military officer stepped forward and spoke quietly.

"Is this the Gundam? I wonder if we can meet the pilot!"

Markbay turned to look at the Federation Army officer, who immediately took out a communicator and began to report the situation. Then, he smiled and said to the Zeon delegation.

"Of course, but it depends on whether the pilot is willing!"

"Then please ask for us! We've heard about this machine a long time ago!"

Markbay led the Zeon delegation to retreat on their own initiative to avoid causing any misunderstandings. After all, at the intersection on the left and right sides of the Gundam, there were two fully armed GMs standing, and the shoulders of these two machines were also densely painted with Zaku logos.

Then, the federal army officers began to talk in a low voice on the radio.

Then, the Gundam's cockpit door opened.

"Ok?"

Looking at the figure coming out of the cabin and stepping down the elevator, Mark Bay shuddered subconsciously.

The reason was simple, because the federal pilot who appeared was dressed very incongruously. He wore a federal army officer uniform, but on his head he wore a half-face helmet with a Gundam-style antenna, and half of his face under the bridge of his nose was wearing a camouflage mask.

Markbay saw Kycilia dressed like this every day in Zeon, so at this moment, he had a lot to say, but he didn't know where to start.

Then, what made Markbay even more stunned was that after the Gundam pilot landed, he trotted over and greeted him in an extremely enthusiastic voice.

"You must be the famous General Markbay. I've long heard of you. It's a pity I couldn't find you during the Battle of Loum!"

Macharius' words immediately stopped Markbay's opening remarks in their tracks. "What do you mean you didn't find me? What did you want to do by finding me? You're just going to turn me into a symbol on the machine, right?"
While Markbay's brain was stuck, Macharius had already greeted the Zeon officers behind him who were looking at him with complicated expressions.

"I've heard a lot about you, but I haven't asked for your name or occupation. Oh, you're a battleship captain? That's great. Could you please tell me what tier your battleship is, and any unique personal liveries?"

"Oh, you're a pilot too, what's your personal livery like?"

The Zeon delegation was confused and even answered the questions honestly. Then, everyone reacted.

"So, you're recording our machine markings, preparing to shoot us down on the battlefield?"

A Zeon officer with the rank of colonel then spoke.

"Yeah, after all, it's fate that we met here. So, if we meet again in the future, we'll definitely have to fire a few more shots!"

"Aren't you afraid of being killed by us?"

"I've seen many pilots like you, but in the end, I killed them all!"

Macharius wanted to repeat that classic line, but when he thought about it carefully, he realized that mobile suits had only been around for a little over a year, so he could only say it to the Zeon delegation in a different way.

The Zeon delegation could only remain silent. After all, the densely packed shootdown marks on the opponent's aircraft were the most powerful convincing evidence.

"Not bad, not bad. This reminds me of an old saying on Earth: heroes emerge from youth!"

Mark Bay, whose brain had finally recovered, finally found a reason to interrupt.

"You're welcome. There's a saying on Earth: 'Older people are wiser,' so next time we meet, please be sure to say hello!"

You still want to kill me, right?
Mark Bay's eyes couldn't help but twitch. If he had known that the other party's trump card was so abstract, he would have gone directly to negotiate!

"Indeed, we are about to usher in eternal peace. Then there will be no more reason for us to fight and kill each other when we meet in the future. Once we meet, we will be good friends and naturally greet each other warmly!"

Then, Mark Bay took the initiative to extend his hand, intending to end this conversation that should not have started.

"By the way, General, there's an old saying on Earth: Only women and villains are difficult to raise!"

Macharius shook the other's hand, then whispered a suggestion, and then he spoke loudly.

"Then may peace come soon!"

“May peace come soon!”

Then, Markbay and the other Zeon officers hurriedly left the street as if fleeing.

"General, the Federation has no sincerity in pursuing peace. They actually let this kind of guy come and disgust us!"

"Yeah, a character like this could kill so many of our soldiers. Is this a trick of the Federation?"

Listening to the complaints of the people behind him, Mark Bay turned his head with a gloomy expression.

"Idiot, can't you see that guy is acting? You thought the ace who could kill so many of us would be a fool? You better pray that you don't really meet him, otherwise, you won't even know how you died!"

Then, as Markbay walked, he was thinking about what Macharius had said to him. The other party obviously knew a lot of information about him, otherwise he would not have dressed like that. So, the hint was obvious.

My immediate boss!
As a confidant, Markbay is well aware of Kycilia's skills and abilities, but he can't understand why Macharius mentioned this. Doesn't the other party know that he is Kycilia's confidant?

As a calculating man, Markbay felt that Macharius was deliberately plotting against him, but he couldn't help but reflect on why the other party did this, so he felt even more aggrieved!
"General Mark Bay, you're not used to the climate here. You look very pale! Do you want to take a rest?"

When he entered the meeting hall, the federal official sitting opposite him kindly asked.

"No, no need. I just feel the heavy responsibility on my shoulders!"

"Yes, after all, our negotiations determine the future of the entire Earth Sphere!"

The federal official opposite nodded in agreement.

"It seems that we can reach a lot of consensus in this negotiation!"

"Yes, we think so too!"

Then, on December 12, when the whole world was looking forward to the arrival of peace in the festive atmosphere of Christmas, the two negotiating parties poured cold water on everyone.

Because there was no announcement of the successful signing of a peace agreement at all, instead there were interviews with both negotiating parties.

Federal Team: Our two sides had cordial and friendly exchanges, fully exchanged views, enhanced understanding, and appreciated some of the provisions of the agreement. This meeting was beneficial, but for some reasons, we can only express regret!

The Zeon team said: "We didn't reach an agreement. We will hold a second round of negotiations later!" This undoubtedly poured cold water on the anxious space residents. As a result, everyone could only pray silently, hoping that the second round of negotiations would go smoothly.

But that's impossible!
Neither the Federation nor Zeon has any intention of peace, nor will they make any concessions in the negotiations.

In fact, at the beginning, many members of the Federal Parliament felt that if the Zeons really wanted to negotiate, then everyone could sit down and make peace. However, when they saw the so-called peace demands put forward by the Zeons, even the most appeased members of parliament became staunch anti-enemy factions.

Because Zeon's negotiation demands were not outrageous, but excessively outrageous. They demanded the disbanding of the Federation Fleet, the independence of all colonies, war reparations and the cession of the Jupiter Fleet. This series of demands was equivalent to asking the Earth Federation to declare its unconditional surrender and then allow the Zabi family to slaughter it.

In fact, a conflict broke out between the two sides over these conditions on the day of the negotiation.

Although some of the Federation negotiators were civilians, they relied on their bravery to fight the Zeon people on equal terms until they were separated.

The temporary suspension of negotiations on December 12 was simply because many people were injured and needed to go to the hospital for examination and treatment.

After recovering, both sides can have a second team battle in the conference room!

During this break, Gop took some free time and called Macharius to play chess and drink tea with this promising young man in the army.

"You don't seem to care at all about the progress of the negotiations?"

"Because negotiations are pointless!"

Macharius sat across from Gop and answered while secretly copying the chess moves using the chess software.

"why?"

"Because peace will never come!"

"Good move!"

Gop couldn't help but admire when he saw that his carefully designed killing move was easily resolved by the opponent.

"So, how do you think Zeon will conduct military operations going forward?"

"A large-scale orbital drop attack. Zeon's only advantage over us right now is its massive mobile suit fleet. So, if I were the Zeon Command, I would throw all of my mobile suits into this attack at once, attacking and occupying every continent on Earth as quickly as possible, and forcing the Federation to surrender!"

"That's a pretty good judgment, not much different from what old man Rebir thought!"

Gop nodded.

"So, from now on, our army's combat focus will return to the gravity range. Originally, I wanted to have the Red Dragon Team serve as a mobile reserve and stand by in Gabro. However, now, I want to hear your thoughts as the commander!"

"Serving as a reserve force is a good arrangement, but I personally think that the Red Dragons should take on more difficult tasks. Once the Zeon forces begin to descend and fight, their command system will inevitably be overloaded due to excessive operations. This is what happened during the Battle of Loum. Therefore, the Red Dragons should seize this opportunity and take the initiative to strike at key Zeon nodes!"

"For example?"

“Central Asia, for example!”

Macharius then gave an embarrassed smile, as if he had been caught doing something bad.

"I would like to ask for your permission to allow my unit to destroy the Baikonur base if necessary!"

"Ok?"

Gop's face changed when he heard this.

"Do you know what that place is?"

"It is the largest space launch base currently owned by our military!"

"So you still want to destroy it?"

"The Zeon army also knows this, but Baikonur is not Gabro and lacks complete defenses. If the Zeon army begins to descend and fight, then their primary target will be here. After occupying the base, they can use the local launch system to quickly plunder resources and feed them back to Zeon, thus continuing to maintain the operation of their war machine!"

"Are you so sure that the base cannot be defended?"

"I am quite sure of it!"

"Even if I give it to you, you can't keep it?"

"Then I'll need no less than six hundred mobile suits!"

Gop then spread his hands.

"Don't even think about it. All the new mobile suits have been added to the newly formed troops!"

"Then I can't defend it!"

In the original timeline, the main target of the Zeon army's attack was this Federation Army base in Central Asia. The first batch of Zeon troops launching the attack deployed 80% of their troops in this direction.

There were more than four digits of mobile suits, and coupled with the interference released by the grains of rice, the entire base was occupied by the Zeon army on the first day.

Afterwards, a steady stream of resources were mined and sent to Zeon's arsenals, where they were produced into massive amounts of military supplies to be supplied to the Zeon army on Earth.

Even later, Markbay, Kycilia's confidant, used this base to supply Zeon with minerals that would allow it to fight for another ten years.

So, this time, Macharius will not let the Zeon army take over this place so easily!

Gop stopped what he was doing, then held his chin with both hands and began to think. As the real steward of the current federal army, he was very clear about the value of a large launch base. Once it was destroyed, the funds needed for repairs would be enough to make the audit department lose a lot of hair.

"If the situation is really as you say, then I allow you to do this, but the premise is that the situation is really that bad. Do you understand?"

"understand!"

Macharius nodded. With Gop's endorsement, he could do what he wanted. Otherwise, if he did it without the other party's permission, he would probably be dragged by the other party to work ashes for half his life to pay off his debts.

"Well, since that's the case, tell me what you need right now. I can solve it for you all at once!"

"Then I'm not welcome!"

Macharius was overjoyed. A single mobile suit unit might be invincible in space, but it was not the case on the ground. Synthesis and multi-type coordination were the key. According to his expectations, what the Red Dragons needed most was an exclusive Media transport fleet!
Then there are the ground armored forces with attached mobile suits, including self-propelled artillery for fire support, tanks, air-cushion reconnaissance trucks, as well as air intelligence support, attack helicopters, reconnaissance helicopters, attached mechanized infantry, and if there are additional fighters and bombers...

Listening to Macharius's words, Gop couldn't help rolling his eyes. The other party's request was obviously carefully considered, but the problem was that the cost and energy of forming such a complex synthetic force was too high!

"How about, instead, I give you another mobile suit battalion?"

"Sir, there's no joking in the army!"

"It is the duty of a soldier to obey orders!"

Gop snorted in annoyance and knocked on the table.

"Keep playing chess, and I'll tell you when you beat me!"

Afterwards, after the delegations of both sides had rested, they held the second, third, fourth and even fifth rounds of negotiations.

It lasted until late February, when the Zeon delegation finally stopped performing after receiving information that the military preparations were complete.

"Then it seems that there is no need to continue our peace talks!"

The federal side was not surprised at all, after all, everyone was trying to buy time for military preparations!
Subsequently, the negotiations made rapid progress, but the content of the negotiations was no longer a peace agreement, but restrictions and agreements on the means of warfare and the protection of the lives of prisoners.

The most important one is to stop using nuclear weapons to attack colonies!

Afterwards, these agreements were recognized by both parties.

On March 1st, the Antarctic Treaty was signed!

(End of this chapter)