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

Chapter 115: The tactic of covering one’s ears and stealing the bell!
"Hurry, hurry, stand together!"

During the Zeon offensive, the few propaganda officers at the Baikonur base who had not evacuated before the battle rushed to the positions where the smoke had not yet cleared.

Then, he pulled a dozen dusty Federation soldiers and had them stand beside the wreckage of a destroyed Majella tank, holding a string of identity cards of fallen Zeon soldiers in their hands.

Afterwards, these soldiers started uttering all kinds of harsh words into the camera in the propaganda officer's hand.

"Yuri, you piece of shit! Didn't you say you were coming to Baikonur? I'll be waiting for you right here in the base square! When you get here, I'll rip your Zaku's head off and kick it like a ball!"

"The Zeon army is a bunch of trash. See this tank? I destroyed it with just one bullet! It's not satisfying, come again if you dare!"

Then, the soldiers shouted in unison in the video.

"We will stand firm until death!"

The propaganda officers filmed a lot of such videos, including those of ordinary ground infantry and tank troops. Even the tankmen, led by the deceased commander of the 11th Armored Regiment, wrote words such as "Revenge for Sydney" and "Fight for Rum" on their tanks.

As for the Red Dragon, it naturally had its share. Almost half of the Gundam's body had turned red, and although its body was covered with traces of repairs, no one would think that this thing was a piece of junk, because right behind the machine, Macharius had piled up a mausoleum with the heads of the killed Zeon mobile suits.

"Actually, I think you should string the enemy's head together with steel bars and carry it on the back of the machine. That would be more intimidating!"

When the publicity officer was filming, he also did not forget to make some small suggestions.

"That's a bit too intimidating!"

Macharius waved his hand. He didn't like chopping and slashing. For him, beam saber was a weapon he would only use as a last resort. If he had a magnum, who would use a beam saber!

At the same time, the Federation Army Headquarters and the Baikonur Command were in frequent and open communication, and the content was basically the same, both urging them to continue holding on. The Asian Command even extravagantly used medium-range tactical missiles to bomb a regimental headquarters of the Zeon Army. The long-range missiles were used before because the Zeon Army captured Hill 269 outside the base. Subsequently, three tactical missiles from the Siberian base directly flattened the mountain.

An entire Zeon infantry battalion that was attacking the heights disappeared along with the hilltop. Human bodies even rained down from the sky, so much so that the Zeon army had to proactively request a ceasefire as they wanted to collect the debris scattered around. However, this request was rejected by the Federation Army.

"Don't worry, we'll help you clean up after you're all fried into a paste!"

This was the Federal Army's response.

Afterward, the Zeon forces were forced to launch an offensive, trampling over the flesh and blood of their allies in anger. The Federation forces then withdrew from their frontline positions and laid a massive amount of explosives beneath their feet, causing the unsuspecting Zeon forces to lose another battalion of infantry. From then on, Zeon's offensives required the inclusion of engineers. Even when the Federation retreated, they would not rush into their positions, requiring engineers to ensure there were no traps before entering.

As a result, the Federation defenders could retreat at their leisure, because the Zeon army did not dare to pursue and expand their victory.

Faced with the Federal Army's determination to defend the city, the Zeon Army was also convinced. Major General Yuri was even preparing more body bag supplies in order to completely capture the remaining areas of Baikonur.

After making sufficient preparations, the federal army quickly began to prepare for evacuation.

The priority for evacuation was the wounded, hospitals and other logistical support personnel. Under the cover of Swordfish fighter jets, the Federal Air Force dispatched an entire Midia fleet in one go to evacuate all these personnel. When these Midias arrived, they also did not forget to unload a batch of high-performance explosives for the defenders.

The Zeon army's Dopp was powerless to do anything about this because the maximum ceiling of the Swordfish and Media was higher than it. What's more, there was a huge amount of anti-aircraft firepower on the ground. Because they had already made preparations for evacuation, the Federation Army had made full use of the remaining ammunition. Anti-aircraft missiles were like free of charge. They would fire five at the sight of a Dopp.

At first, the Zeon army's Dopp fleet wanted to launch a surprise attack during takeoff and landing, but they were frightened by the smoke from the missiles rising from the ground. Then, five or six Dopps were blown to pieces in the air.

So, the remaining Dopp had to return home. After all, they were exhausted some time ago.

Because they had to take into account the attacks on Baikonur and the other side, these Dopp pilots had almost no rest time and relied entirely on drugs to keep going. Even their bodies had reached their limit and they urgently needed to be properly prepared.

The Zeon army, frightened by the Federation Army's stubborn defense, gradually slowed down the pace of attack and began to use more artillery to knock down the Federation Army's fortresses bit by bit.

"How are the preparations going?"

On the evening of the second day after the Zeon army completed the encirclement, Macharius entered one of the few intact underground hangars of the defenders.

“It’s all ready!”

A black lieutenant wearing a pilot's uniform stained with gunpowder saluted Macharius and replied.

"Would it be difficult for you to drive a Zaku?"

"Yes, but we can overcome it, brothers. After all, you have other aces and more important things to do!"

"Yeah, otherwise I would go drive a Zaku!"

Macharius then pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes and tossed it to the other man.

"I got it from Colonel Eugen. Share it with everyone!"

Heinzper, the black lieutenant in front of Macharius, took the cigarette and then gave a wry smile.

He knew that this thing, to some extent, could be considered a good start!

The protracted battle had consumed a great deal of the Federation Army's mobile suits. Before the battle began, not counting the Red Dragons, the entire Baikonur base had more than 150 mobile suits. Now, there were only more than 60 pilots left, and only about 50 usable machines.

Some of these machines have been dismantled to supply the Red Dragon Team with various parts, so at this moment, there are only about thirty Jims that can fight.

However, their sacrifice was not in vain. The Red Dragon Team is still fully staffed, and this is all thanks to those ordinary pilots.

Now, the evacuation operation is about to begin, and these pilots who have no mobile suits to fly are also needed. They will switch to the Zeon mobile suits that Macharius and his men have been keeping. Then, pretending to be a defeated Zeon army, they will approach the Zeon army position on the east side and launch an assault to open a breakout channel for the defenders of the entire base.

This is a dangerous mission, but the Red Dragon Team cannot be sent here because, at the same time, Macharius and his men have to launch an attack on the Zeon army on the west side to attract the attention of the Zeon army and act as a meat shield and rearguard for the large force.

Therefore, only ordinary pilots with relatively skilled skills could be selected to carry out the mission. The black lieutenant in front of Macharius, Heinz Perl, was the commander of the false flag force. His technical level was already elite, and the number of personal and cooperative kills combined had exceeded ten. However, because he had no more machines to drive, this number could not be broken any further.

But now, having a Zaku is better than having nothing!
Afterwards, Lieutenant Heinz distributed this pack of cigarettes, which were not good at all, to his men. For these old smokers who had not had food supplies for a long time, this pack of wrinkled cigarettes was like nectar.

Soon, all the cigarettes were divided up, but most people did not rush to smoke them. Instead, they clamped them on their ears or stuffed them into their chests.

"Light it up for me when we fight!"

At the same time, the federal troops in other positions were also making final preparations before escaping. They made a lot of dummies, dressed them in military uniforms, placed them on the positions, and then connected rifles, machine guns and other equipment to simple timing devices. In this way, even if the people left, the weapons would still fire when the time came, creating the illusion that there were people in the position.

After finishing all this, everyone quickly began to gather towards the east side along the underground passage.

In the surging crowd, only Macharius was going against the flow.

"Red Dragon!"

"Give them a good lesson!"

……

Although the retreating soldiers were ordered not to make loud noises, the federal soldiers passing by Macharius would shout a word or two in a low voice and leave a solemn military salute.

"This is much better than some cosmic female ghost!"

Macharius didn't know what to say, because at this moment, the power of simple words was greater than countless others.

When he returned to the Red Dragons' camp, the garrison's headquarters had also begun to move. In order to confuse the Zeon army, the headquarters' communication equipment was not taken away and continued to work. However, Major General Antonov had left enough time bombs, enough to destroy everything in the headquarters.

"I never thought that now I have to rely on you to cover my retreat. I'm so ashamed!"

"This is what we should do. If you feel bad about this, go back and try to drive a mobile suit. Then it'll be your turn next time!"

There was no flattery in Macharius' words. After all, elite troops were meant to carry out more dangerous missions.

Major General Antonov could only salute and leave under the escort of the guards.

Now, except for a few engineers who stayed behind to carry out the blasting mission, the Red Dragon Team is the force closest to the enemy in the entire base.

"Everyone, I won't say much else. I'll just say this: work closely together and unite against the enemy. I may not be the first to arrive at the battlefield, but I will always be the last one to withdraw. So, in order to survive and witness victory with your own eyes, please lend me your strength!"

Before nightfall, Macharius gave a final speech to the entire team before the action.

Then, the entire Red Dragon team, led by Gundam, entered the pitch-black underground passage. Simultaneously, the Federation Army artillery deployed on the ground began a final, sustained, all-around bombardment, accompanied by missile support from the Federation Army's rear. To ensure the defenders' evacuation, the Federation Army's rear base launched four batches of over twenty tactical missiles.

Although several missiles were intercepted by the Zeon defenses, the remaining missile attacks still frightened the Zeon troops, especially the brigade commanders, who were afraid that their headquarters would also be sent flying by missiles.

"Damn it, what's wrong with the federal army!"

"I guess he's going to fight back!"

"Damn it, the red dragon is coming!"

"Tell the guards outside the headquarters to disperse and not crowd together. You're worried that I won't be able to be killed by the Red Dragon, right?"

Amidst the continuous artillery fire, Macharius and his men had already passed through the positions occupied by the Zeon army and appeared behind them.

"Safe, no one!"

A Jim raised its own reconnaissance kit at the open passage. This is a device similar to the reconnaissance mast on the hover truck. It can be raised to a height of more than ten meters and can clearly capture the situation within a radius of one kilometer.

After confirming that there was no one at the exit of the hidden passage, the Gundam, which had already replaced a lot of GM accessories on its body and even had an extra layer of external armor on its chest, came out first.

With Macharius on guard, the remaining Jims rushed out with confidence.

"Ready?"

After receiving a positive response, the Red Dragons launched an assault on the position occupied by the Zeon forces.

Although the Zeon army knew that there would be a surprise attack from the Federation army after the bombardment, they were unfamiliar with the area and had no idea where the enemy would emerge from, so they could only be cautiously on guard in their positions.

Then, a Zaku that was on guard was pierced through the cockpit by a beam of light shot out from the darkness.

"The enemy is behind us!"

The Zeon soldiers' heart-wrenching warnings were followed by the heavy footsteps and gunfire of the mobile suits.

Bazookas, machine guns, beam rifles, and even captured Zaku grenades directly turned the positions occupied by the Zeon army into a sea of ​​fire.

Macharius was in the middle and rear position, accurately firing at targets that might pose a threat to Jim. His beam rifle had little chance to recharge, so he just fired in one go.

There were less than twenty Zeon mobile suits deployed at the front-line positions, and there were even two simple Zaku tanks. These were battlefield equipment made by Zeon using the remaining Zaku upper torso and the Majora tank chassis. After all, due to heavy losses, the front-line troops received very few replenishments.

These twenty-odd mobile suits were immediately beaten down by the sudden attack of the Red Dragon Team. After Macharius killed a few daring guys, the remaining mobile suits even retreated further back than the infantry, but this could not save them at all.

"The 3rd Brigade's forward position was attacked by the Federation Army. The entire Red Dragon team was dispatched. The position is probably untenable!"

Soon, calls for help flooded Zeon's command posts at all levels.

"Send reinforcements immediately. We can't let them take back the front line. If we lose the position, you won't be able to come back to see me alive!"

The commander of the 3rd Brigade immediately sent out all the reinforcements he could scavenge, having already lost a thousand men in his brigade defending that line.

Later, he even asked Yuri for command of the division's artillery.

"Full firepower, covering strike!"

"Then there are our people!"

"For Zeon, sacrifice is inevitable!"

As soon as the Zeon army's artillery preparations landed, Macharius immediately fired three flares into the sky!

"Retreat, retreat!"

The federal artillerymen who remained at their positions immediately destroyed their equipment, jumped onto transport vehicles, and began moving toward the east side of the base under the cover of steel tanks.

"Retreat, retreat!"

The Red Dragons, which had already shattered the Zeon defenses, also began to evacuate. However, they still lost two GMs. Fortunately, the pilots successfully escaped to the cockpits of friendly forces.

As soon as the Red Dragon Team left, dense artillery fire from the Zeon army roared down like a tidal wave.

"Stop fighting, stop fighting, you are attacking friendly forces, attacking friendly forces, the federal army is retreating!"

On the front line, the Zeon army, which had already suffered heavy losses, could only tremble and look for cover everywhere. Due to poor communication, they even endured a full ten minutes of artillery bombardment before they successfully contacted the rear position.

But it was too late. The Zeon troops on the front line had been almost wiped out. Almost the same number of them were killed by their own artillery bombardment as by the Federation Army's surprise attack!

While the Red Dragons were raiding the Zeon positions, the Federation's false flag forces also launched operations on the east side of the base.

These Zakus, which had no repaints but only a white cloth band tied around their arms to identify friend or foe, quickly approached the Zeon army's position amidst the smoke. In order to make the performance more realistic, the Federation Army even arranged a dozen or so GMs to follow behind from a distance.

Therefore, the confused Zeon army thought that the enemy was chasing their own troops, and immediately sent mobile suits from the front line to provide support.

"Thank you very much. Then, please go to hell!"

Heinz operated the Zaku and quickly passed through the Zeon army's mobile suits, then immediately stopped, turned around decisively, pulled out the heat axe and chopped it down.

The other Federation Zakus followed suit. In order not to destroy the power reactor, they all used the beheading method. The Zeon pilots who were backstabbed didn't even have time to ask why before they followed the former President Deacon.

The Zeon troops on the battlefield were also startled by the sudden internal conflict. By the time they realized that these Zakus were being driven by the Federation Army, the heat axes had already hit their heads.

With almost no hindrance, the false flag squadron and a battalion of Jims in the rear tore through the already fragile defense line of the Zeon army. Then, a large number of Federation defenders quickly rushed out and poured into the gap.

"The Federal Army is breaking out?"

The Zeon frontline commander on the eastern defense line felt as if the sky was about to fall. After all, just a day ago, the command had issued instructions on how to deal with the Federal Army's desperate attacks, but now, those Federal Army's desperate defenses were striding out of their encirclement.

"We've been deceived. The federal army is retreating. Quick, report to division headquarters!"

Afterwards, Major General Yuri, who received the intelligence about the federal army's breakout, couldn't help but feel dizzy and almost stumbled and fell to the ground. Fortunately, the secretary was quick to help him.

"Are they going to break out?"

"How could they break through?"

It was also the first time that Cynthia saw Yuri lose his composure like this. The latter sat down shakily while holding onto the table, and then stood up suddenly.

"Oh no, launch center!"

Afterwards, Major General Yuri rushed out of the command center without even having time to put on his clothes.

As soon as he went out, he saw the sky suddenly brighten.

Then, an extremely loud explosion was heard from afar, and along with the explosion, there were waves of earth-shaking. The rapid vibration came and went quickly. When the vibration disappeared, there was only an extremely huge mushroom cloud on the other side of the horizon!
"thump!"

"Launch Center!"

Cynthia, who had chased Yuri out, only saw Yuri kneeling on the ground, howling in pain.

It was over, everything was over. The First Division had made such a huge sacrifice, but in return, it was all in vain. Even she herself couldn't help but shed tears at this moment.

As for the Zeon troops in other directions, they were also surprised by the earth-shaking explosion, and when they knew what it was, many Zeon soldiers collapsed.

"Ahhhhhhh, why?"

A group of Zeon officers who knew the importance of the launch center were already extremely anxious. They didn't even care about the poisonous gases released by the explosion and combustion, and were ready to rush into the launch center to try to save something. However, the Federation Army had been preparing for a long time and even piled up endless artillery shells here, so that the explosion completely destroyed the entire launch center, including various facilities. All the Zeon Army could find here was molten iron.

(End of this chapter)