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

Chapter 105 Welcome to Earth!

Macharius left Antarctica in early March and arrived at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

In addition to a squadron of mobile suits at his headquarters, Gop also gave him an additional armored battalion and an intelligence squadron.

As for the Media transport plane, forget it. It is a strategic transport force controlled by Gop himself. The Gabro base is eager to use one plane as two, so there is no extra one to allocate to Macharius.

However, as compensation, Gop also gave Macharius an extra squadron of RX75B mass-produced steel tanks. Compared with the prototype steel tank, the mass-produced model naturally also had many reductions. The armor, additional propulsion nozzles for space combat, and complex core fighter systems were all cancelled. The only thing that was not reduced but strengthened was the artillery system it carried. The Federal Army Logistics Department lengthened the gun barrel. Now, the maximum range of the mass-produced steel tank has reached kilometers.

As for the Red Dragon Team's deployment, the base defense commander, Major General Antonov, seemed very conflicted.

"Logically, I should be happy about the arrival of an elite force like you, but your arrival means there's a high chance I'll be attacked!"

Antonov said this, but he gave Macharius a bear hug very generously, and then prepared to give him a glass of vodka as a Slavic welcome.

Of course, Macharius didn't drink it. He was underage and couldn't drink alcohol, so the vodka was replaced with kvass.

Afterwards, the Red Dragons officially entered the Baikonur base.

As the largest launch base of the Federal Army, Baikonur has been continuously expanded since the Earth era. Today, it has become a huge base complex with an area of ​​tens of kilometers. In terms of area, only the California Base and the Gabro Base have surpassed it.

However, there are actually less than two divisions of federal combat forces stationed here, and the rest are various technical personnel, logistics personnel, military families, etc.

After all, this is a launch base, not a military base, and it is located in the heart of Central Asia, where the area is vast and sparsely populated, and there is usually no defensive pressure at all.

However, now, as more and more intelligence gathered in Baikonur like a tide, Commander Antonov broke out in cold sweat, so much so that he had to make consecutive reports to the European Command and the Asian Command, requesting that experienced and capable military commanders be dispatched to the base to fill the combat effectiveness of the garrison.

Afterwards, the European Command actually sent him a group of military commanders, including Macharius' old acquaintance in Zeon.

Colonel Eugen, who once served as the commander of the side 3 garrison.

The federal garrison on Side 3 was withdrawn by the federal army before the war, the fleet was added to the various fleets of the space force, and the army troops naturally returned to Earth.

Therefore, Colonel Eugen is quite lucky. His colleagues in the Space Force who were stationed at Side 3 at the same time as him may have lost their ashes, but he can still drive his own little jeep and barbecue in the desert.

Of course, preparations for Baikonur did not stop, or rather, they became even more frantic after the arrival of the Red Dragons.

When the Zeon army began its pre-war reconnaissance, Macharius directly ordered all the Red Dragon team's crew members to hide in underground bunkers, and all members stopped all communications, and all orders were to be relayed through messengers.

Macharius was afraid that Zeon would not attack Baikonur, but in fact, he was worrying too much. If the Zeon army wanted to gain a foothold on Earth, Baikonur would be a target they could not avoid.

When the Zeon army began to attack, Macharius, who had been worried for several days, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, he strode out of the underground command post and gave instructions to Nagase Ying and You Ding who were following him.

"I'm going to get some sleep. Wake me up when the Zeon break through the Kármán Line!"

Then he jumped into the cockpit without closing the door and fell asleep quickly.

He hadn't slept well since arriving in Baikonur. He had been planning how to counterattack when the Zeon army launched an attack so as to inflict heavy casualties on it.

Now that everything has been settled, all we have to do next is proceed step by step.

"Why did that guy go to sleep?"

An army pilot who was confused saw Macharius sleeping soundly, and then curiously asked the old soldier next to him.

"That means it's stable. The enemy doesn't even need the Dragon Knight to worry about it. If he acts like he's facing a powerful enemy, then everyone will just wait for death!"

As the veteran spoke, he looked outside the bunker. At this moment, it was still dawn in Baikonur, but the exploding anti-aircraft fire had turned the night into day. Through the intermittent flames and the shining lines of fire, occasionally, huge round shadows could be seen swaying and descending to the ground.

Artillery fire continued to hit the shadows, and then, in the next second, these shadows would explode into a very bright ball of fire.

Seeing this scene through the observation equipment reminded the veteran of the day when the wreckage of the colony satellite fell.

I guess these Zeon people never thought that this day would come!

When the landing corps broke through the Karman line under fire and entered the atmosphere, Nagase Ying, who had been on standby, immediately jumped onto the maintenance pier and knocked on Macharius's cockpit.

"Boss, they're coming!"

Macharius then twisted his neck and picked up the headphones.

"All squadrons, follow the predetermined plan and take up combat positions!"

"First squadron received it!"

"Second Squadron received it!"

"Squadron 3 received it!"

"Bombardment team received!"

Then, the cross arm and pier that fixed the Gundam slowly opened, and under Macharius's control, the Gundam slowly walked out of the hangar.

"Gundam, attack!"

Macharius walked out of the underground hangar and looked around. The entire Baikonur base had entered a full combat state. The defenses in various parts of the base had been activated. The sounds of gunfire and air defense alarms were intertwined, deafening.

Macharius dispersed the three squadrons of the Red Dragons to the high ground of the entire base, and the artillery squadron was deployed in the launch area together with all the barreled artillery in the base. The facilities here are very important to the Zeon army. Without clear orders, the Zeon army would never dare to open fire on the launch area.

"Attention, teams, free fire!"

Looking at the huge carrier rocket that was getting closer and closer to the ground in the gradually turning pale night sky, Macharius slowly raised the beam rifle in his hand.

The fire control immediately locked onto an HLV that was opening its parachute. After the parachute opened, the opponent's landing speed slowed down and it was locked, unable to escape.

After the fire control was locked, Macharius pulled the trigger, and a purple particle beam pierced the night sky and accurately hit the outer wall of the HLV.

The high-temperature resistant shell of the rocket only lasted for a short time before being penetrated. Then, the light beam penetrated the shell directly and shot into the space inside the rocket. A team of Zeon infantrymen in the direction of the beam were fastened to their seats by their seat belts. The next second, the light beam burned away these soldiers and their seats, leaving nothing behind.

"Ahhhh!"

The Zeon infantrymen in other positions looked at the melting steel and the burning landing capsule, and then screamed and tried to unlock the safety locks on their bodies, but the falling fixtures were locked. They could only watch helplessly as they were fixed in position and watched a fire quickly ignite inside the rocket, then ignite the fuel pipeline, and finally, turn into a burning fireball.

After killing the first HLV, Macharius quickly shifted his gun and aimed at the next one.

The Baikonur base has complete logistical support, and there is naturally no shortage of compressed particle equipment to supply beam rifle ammunition, so Macharius's Gundam carried four beam rifles at once.

Next to him, there was a transport truck that had been parked long ago, which was specifically responsible for transporting rifles that had run out of ammunition back to the underground base for resupply.

Except for Macharius, the entire Red Dragon team also had a beam rifle in hand. But except for a few pilots who were confident in their marksmanship, everyone else used the Franz EF-KAR98K 75mm semi-automatic sniper rifle. The maximum range of this thing is about kilometers, which is enough for air defense.

Although the accuracy may not be high enough, the semi-automatic fire and magazine feeding allow these shooters to spray bullets into the sky.

A small HRSL airborne capsule thought it could use the huge size of the HLV to cover its landing, but the HLV was destroyed at an altitude of less than two kilometers from the ground, and then it was exposed to anti-aircraft fire.

When it appeared in the air, more than four Jim pilots belonging to the Red Dragon Team noticed it at the same time, and then a series of 75mm armor-piercing shells were fired at this thing.

The armor-piercing bullets easily penetrated the airdrop pod, and the broken shrapnel bounced repeatedly in the small space, like layers of metal storms, repeatedly hitting the Zeon soldiers inside. In the end, although the airdrop pod fortunately did not explode, but fell to the ground instead, no one came out alive.

When the Zeon troops who had already landed opened the hatch for unknown reasons, an officer who thought he had forged a strong will immediately vomited.

Under the close supervision of the Red Dragons, the 1st Infantry Brigade of the Zeon Army, which was used to storm the Baikonur base, suffered extremely heavy losses. The entire brigade airdropped more than 3,200 infantrymen, 220 mobile suits, and nearly 300 combat vehicles in one go, but after landing, the dusty brigade commander could only assemble less than 2,000 soldiers and more than 120 mobile suits. The vehicles suffered the most serious losses, with less than 100 left.

"Don't worry about those damned wounded soldiers. Anyone who can hold a gun, get to the front!"

"Have the mobile suits expand the defense area and find a way to advance!"

"Where are our allies? Haven't we contacted them yet?"

The chaos of the landing was only a small problem for the 1st Brigade. The real big problem was that when they landed and began to assemble, the federal artillery in the launch area began firing at full speed.

The bombardment area was naturally the landing and assembly point of the 1st Brigade.

"Get out of here and don't worry about the damn supplies!"

"Let those HLVs take off, don't stay here!"

The artillery's main focus was on the massive HLVs. These heavy-lift vehicles could enter the atmosphere in a single unit, and after landing, their high-powered thrusters could autonomously propel them back into space. Besides transport, their extensive internal facilities allowed them to serve as battlefield structures. However, their sheer size made them prime targets for the artillery.

Under the guidance of the Sky Saucer reconnaissance plane floating high in the sky, the federal artillery directly and recklessly projected all its firepower towards these big guys. The HLVs only had time to let the troops they were carrying roll down in a mess, and then, before they could even take off, they were destroyed by artillery fire.

The pilot of an HLV at the edge was lucky. After noticing that the artillery did not attack his position, he even restarted the engine and took off without caring about the Zeon infantry running around him.

The huge tail flame instantly ignited dozens of Zeon infantrymen who were busy unloading ammunition supplies, and also detonated the bullets piled on the side. Amidst the crackling explosion, the HLV was also moving away from the ground little by little.

Seeing that his altitude had risen to about a thousand meters and he had avoided the bombardment range, a smile appeared on the face of the Zeon pilot, but the next second, a purple beam of light made his smile freeze here forever.

With nowhere to escape, the 1st Brigade was misled by erroneous intelligence from ground reconnaissance before landing and chose to land in the abandoned area of ​​the Baikonur base. There were large areas of abandoned debris and a large enough blank area. If the defenders were not prepared, landing here might be a good choice.

But the federal defenders had already been prepared. In order to expand the defense area, Eugen even spread a division of armored forces to the periphery, so that the First Brigade fell directly into the crossfire of the federal army.

At this moment, outside the base, hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles, as well as hundreds of Jims have been waiting for a long time in the bunkers dug in advance. If the First Brigade wants to break out, it will only suffer a bloody defeat in front of them.

"Dig quickly, dig quickly!"

The surrounded Zeon infantry no longer had the arrogance and bold words they had when they arrived. Covered in dust and dirt, they could only howl while trying to dig a usable shelter for themselves on the leveled hard ground.

Many people even abandoned their baggage in order to escape the bombardment. They had nothing on them except weapons and a small amount of ammunition. They could only use bayonets, helmets, and even their hands to dig in the ground.

The situation of the mobile suit units was even worse. Their tall bodies gave them almost no cover, so many pilots could only awkwardly imitate the infantry and make their machines lie on the ground.

Only a few teams of Tigers could barely stick their shields into the ground to serve as cover, but it was only a matter of time before they were destroyed by the federal army's artillery fire.

Their opponent, the Federation Army, had complete cover, and even the GM had available crouching shooting cover. The Zeon Army could only watch in vain as their mobile suits were destroyed one after another under the enemy's artillery fire.

The commander of the 1st Brigade could only pin his hopes on the friendly forces that had landed in the periphery. However, the interference from the rice grains was too severe. The only thing he could hear clearly was the opera "Nessun Dorma" that was repeatedly played by the federal army on the public channel.

"We're screwed!"

The brigade commander was in his makeshift command tent, looking at the dozen or so officers in front of him in despair. The command system of the First Brigade had been completely disrupted. Officers of some units were killed, while only officers were left in some units. There was even one battalion whose entire headquarters was evaporated in mid-air, and then the subordinate company-level commanders were killed after landing, so that three companies had to be commanded by a rookie platoon leader who had just graduated from military school.

"The communication is completely unable to reach the friendly forces!"

The brigade commander said this, then shrank his neck. A shell had just landed not far from the tent, and the dust it kicked up hit the tent, making a crackling sound.

"We can't count on any reinforcements. The federal army has set a trap for us that we have no choice but to jump into. Now, we are the prey trapped inside!"

"Can't we hold on?"

"hold fast?"

The brigade commander looked at the young platoon leader and gave a bitter smile.

"What can we hold on to?"

"The logistics were all on the HLV, and there was no time to move them. Those idiotic pilots thought they were on a training ground, landed neatly, and then the Federation artillery fire took them all to the sky!"

"How can we hold on? How much ammunition do you have?"

"Report, I still have ten magazines!"

"I have four more. Take them and see how long you can hold on!"

"The Second Brigade should be able to support us. If they changed their landing location, then it should be the second backup location..."

Before a staff officer could finish his words, he saw a light on the horizon. That was the landing site of the Second Brigade. The federal artillery fire that destroyed all the HLVs of the First Brigade had shifted most of its firepower there.

"We have to find a way to break out!"

The cruel reality finally shattered the dreams of these officers who were obsessed with the glorious pioneering work of the Zabi family. They thought that their attack was easy to carry out and that the federal army would surrender without a fight just by seeing their presence.

But now, they are the ones who are about to be destroyed!
"So, where to break out?"

"Heading towards the 2nd Brigade, the mobile suits will lead the way. As long as we can withstand the Federation Army's artillery fire, we can break out!"

"What about the infantry? What about all the wounded and the field hospital?"

"At this moment, we can only let them sacrifice themselves!"

"Do you think the Red Dragon will let you leave so easily?"

"At this moment, I can't care less. As many as I can escape, I'll let them. Do you want that guy to cut open your cockpit and smear his body with your blood?"

Thanks to the appearance of the Antarctic Convention, most of the Zeon mobile suits now know about Macharius's new hobby, which is to dye his body with the markings of destroyed enemies.

The rumor then spread that Macharius would do this with the blood of his enemies.

Moreover, because of his action, many Zeon pilots who wanted to paint their own machines quietly changed their machines back to the base color. Only a few shameless ones changed the color of their machines regardless of the consequences, such as Char, who became famous for sinking the Anankai.

"That guy, why is he here?!"

A famous Zeon mobile suit commander muttered to himself in grievance.

While the Zeon army was still worrying about how to break out, Colonel Eugen, who was in charge of commanding the entire battlefield, had already issued the order for the final attack.

Because the Sky Saucer reconnaissance plane reported that the 2nd Brigade of the Zeon Army had completed its assembly under artillery suppression and began to prepare to approach the base to support the 1st Brigade.

Then, the besieged First Brigade must eat!
Originally, Eugen wanted to consume the strength of the First Brigade. After all, at this moment, they still had a lot of mobile suits and armored vehicles, which were still a piece of hot meat.

But at this moment, the battle situation has changed. It doesn’t matter if it’s hot in your mouth, just eat it first. After all, as the old saying goes, it’s better to have it in your pocket than to be safe!

"Then let's go!"

Macharius was the first to step out of the bunker, raised his beam rifle and marched towards the position of the First Brigade.

Above his head, dense artillery shells whizzed past, and the artillery units resumed their full suppression of the 1st Brigade to cover the attack of the federal forces.

"The Federals are attacking!"

In the brigade headquarters, when the Zeon troops were still discussing how to break out, a shrill wail interrupted everyone's thoughts.

Then, everyone rushed out of the tent eagerly, bypassed a team of tigers that served as cover and guards, and climbed up the huge ruins in front of them.

Afterwards, the brigade commander could see the purple light that occasionally appeared in the thick smoke a kilometer away without even using a telescope.

Then, a Zaku 2F stumbled out of the smoke, and then a beam of light shot out from behind it, piercing the cockpit. Then, the beam continued forward without weakening at all, flying above the crowd and into the distance.

Then, through the drifting smoke, a pair of bright eyes appeared in the telescope.

As the Zaku 2F collapsed helplessly on the ground, a white mobile suit with sparks of metal friction still lingering on its body and traces of smoke and fire stepped out.

"Red Dragon!"

The brigade commander's hand holding the telescope dropped weakly, and then he looked at the people behind him with a ferocious smile.

"Everyone, please wish yourself the best. Also, if anyone manages to see Lord Dozle alive, please tell him that I'm waiting for him in hell!"

"Sir!"

The faces of the officers changed drastically and they were about to step forward. However, the brigade commander was even faster. He pulled out his pistol, put it to his mouth, and pulled the trigger.

"boom!"

Then, the corpse with a big hole in the back of its head staggered and fell from a height, landing in the dust. The blood and other mixtures instantly mixed with the soil.

"It's a relief if you die!"

A senior Zeon officer covered his eyes in pain, and no one knew why he was sad.

Then, the Zeon pilot who had previously said that the mobile suits should evacuate silently saluted the corpse, and then left the command center first.

Now is the time to wish yourself good luck!
(End of this chapter)