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

Chapter 123 The Second Generation of Officials Using Backdoors

The right wing of the 4th Armored Division, which was freed, immediately gathered almost all the combat-capable soldiers, from the female soldiers in charge of communications to the maintenance team responsible for repairing tanks. Everyone who could hold a gun immediately pressed towards the left line of the Zeon army with overwhelming force.

The Zeon troops, which had already begun to retreat, became even more chaotic, especially the engineers who were blowing up the bridge, who pressed the detonator without even waiting for the mobile suits to arrive. As a result, the 4th Armored Division, which had failed to catch up with the main Zeon force, vented its anger on the remaining Zeon troops on the east bank of the river.

The Zeon army trapped here could not cross the river at all. The west bank had been occupied by the Red Dragons. They could only hide in a group of buildings and fight to the death. The two mobile suit battalions of the 4th Armored Division charged twice but failed to capture the enemy position. The annoyed Colonel Taylor directly called for long-range fire support from the Cheyenne Mountain Base.

An hour later, a roar that seemed to pierce the eardrums came from afar, and then landed on the east bank of the river.

"Holy crap, what is this? A battleship?"

Macharius was still ruthlessly clearing out the Zeon troops that had not been able to evacuate completely on the west coast. Then, he heard the overwhelming roar. He was startled and shook his hand, and a lucky Zeon truck successfully escaped his sight.

“It’s a large tray grade!”

Andre, who was the commander of the first squadron, immediately said in the communication.

"It seems the North American Command is getting furious and sending out all these things!"

"We're almost at Cheyenne Mountain. It would be strange if we weren't anxious!"

The Gallup-class ship that was previously destroyed by Macharius was already a behemoth with a size of nearly fifty meters, but it pales in comparison to the Pallet-class ship. As a true land battleship, the Pallet-class ship had a hull height of eighty-five meters and a total length of two hundred and fifteen meters. In terms of size alone, this thing was even larger than the Salamis.

Moreover, in terms of cost alone, the large pallet-class is much more expensive than the Salamis. Therefore, the Federal Army only has a small number of large pallet-class tanks in service. This big guy even exists as a theater-level command.

And now, this giant used its twin main guns to completely evaporate the remaining Zeon troops with just two rounds of shooting, and also wiped out the city where they were hiding.

At this moment, the Zeon Army's North American Front's first attack on Salt Lake City was declared a failure.

Perhaps because a senior commander was killed, the annoyed Zeon army launched a continuous attack on the entire urban area of ​​Salt Lake City from behind the front line with long-range rocket launchers and rare cruise missiles. Although the Federation Army suffered little loss, many civilians who had not yet left the city suffered unprovoked disasters.

However, the Union Army's North American Command subsequently sent three armored divisions to Salt Lake City to reinforce the defense of the area from Pocatello in the north to Salt Lake City, which was also a way to accumulate strength for a counterattack.

After noticing the reinforcements of the Federation Army, the Zeon Army immediately mobilized two more brigades and continued to attack Salt Lake City, an important hub on the defense line, under the attack of air power and long-range artillery.

The two sides gathered nearly 100,000 people here and fought an extremely brutal battle for several days. In order to fight for the high ground on the west side of Salt Lake City, the infantry-based forces fought back and forth, and even engaged in dozens of hand-to-hand combats. Long-range artillery bombarded this area over and over again, so that when Macharius looked at the west side of the city from the east coast, he found that there were no buildings higher than two stories here.

"As expected, every era must have its own Mamayev Kurgan!"

When he was expressing his feelings, Nagase Ying, who was carrying a lunch box, said,

“But Salt Lake City is not Stalingrad!”

"Then we'll turn it into Stalingrad!"

Macharius took the other person's lunch box, opened it and took a look, then nodded with satisfaction.

Fighting in North America, where agricultural production is quite developed, there is really no need to worry about supply problems. These pilots basically have big meals of fish and meat every day. Macharius even couldn't help but miss the taste of MRE rations.

After all, the shrimp and pineapple fried rice in the rations tasted pretty good! And the raspberry jam with the cookies was his favorite sweet and sour flavor when he was in Baikonur.

"Then we have to build a mobile suit factory here first!"

"Forget it then!"

Macharius thought about himself jumping onto a newly produced GM that didn't even have a hatch installed, and then fighting the Zeon people, and then shook his head.

Afterwards, the two continued to enjoy this rare moment of tranquility in the ruins. After all, it had been less than two hours since the last attack by the Zeon army.

But obviously, they underestimated the patience of the Zeon army. They had only eaten half of their meal when whistling shells fell on the east coast city again. Looking at the ashes that were shaken into his bowl, Macharius could only speed up. After swallowing the last of the food in a few mouthfuls, he quickly climbed onto the Gundam hidden in the ruins.

Through the retractable reconnaissance mast mounted on the Gundam's head, he quickly saw a group of Zeon troops rapidly dispersing in the ruins of the city.

He was not in a hurry to open fire. At this moment, he was not the only one who was keeping an eye on the movements on the west bank. The entire Red Dragon Tactical Brigade was divided into small groups and scattered along the eastern defense line, acting as sharpshooters. They wanted to hit valuable targets, so naturally someone would take care of these miscellaneous soldiers.

Then, artillery fire from the rear roared down, blasting columns of smoke on the ruins on the west bank. Then, Macharius discovered that this batch of attacking Zeon troops were obviously newly arrived on Earth, because those old Zeon soldiers who had fought against the Federation Army would not advance under artillery fire at all.

So, it was obvious at a glance that these guys were new to Earth. This was also the benefit of occupying the California base. By utilizing the launch facilities that had not been destroyed by the Federation, the Zeon Army could transport troops more quickly. Less than two weeks had passed since the landing operation began, and the Zeon Army had already transported nearly 200,000 troops to Earth.

At this moment, this high-spirited Zeon army finally broke out of the Federation Army's artillery coverage area and approached the river.

Although the number of people and technical equipment had been reduced to nearly two-thirds, the remaining Zeon troops still maintained their rapid momentum. Several engineering vehicles that were already riddled with holes but still operational plunged into the river without slowing down and quickly deployed to prepare to build a floating bridge for heavy equipment to pass through.

"Don't worry yet!"

Looking at the Zeon engineers toiling under fire, Macharius couldn't help but curl his lips. It was too early to interrupt them now. Once they had finally completed the pontoon bridge, a Majella tank eagerly drove up. As the Majella crossed the river, more than a dozen Zakus followed. When the Majella was halfway across, Macharius shouted.

"It's now!"

The next second, a Jim belonging to the Red Dragon Brigade flashed out from the east coast, and the 240mm short-barreled recoilless gun on its shoulder roared.

Then, a high-explosive bomb landed precisely in the middle of the floating bridge that the Zeon engineers had painstakingly built.

The next second, the pontoon was split into two by the explosion, and the Majla lost its balance and plunged into the water. The Zeon soldiers in the turret subconsciously wanted to split up, but as soon as the turret flew up, more than a dozen wire-controlled missiles whizzed towards it.

Then, the ruins on the east bank turned into a fire-breathing hedgehog, and countless artillery shells, missiles, and even rockets flew towards the Zeon troops trying to cross the river. Those Zakus that swam across the river were immediately killed by the Red Dragon Squadron pilots. Many Zakus didn't even raise their heads, and then fell headfirst onto the riverbed with bubbles coming out of their mouths.

The Zeon army also launched a fierce counterattack. The Federation firepower points and mobile suits deployed on the east coast were hit from time to time, but the next second, these silent positions would be taken over by substitutes.

The battle lasted only a dozen minutes before the Zeon forces on the other side began to withdraw, leaving behind a mess.

"Damn pighead!"

Watching their own troops retreat in a panic, the commanders of the newly arrived Zeon 2nd Mobile Division turned to their colleagues in the 3rd Division with dismay, but the latter also looked unhappy.

After all, in their opinion, the Second Division came to steal the credit, and now that they have suffered a setback, the Third Division is so happy that they can’t wait!

The cause of this situation is naturally the fault of Zeon's current supreme prince.

After nearly 200,000 combat troops were deployed in North America one after another, the strategic focus of the Zeon army was naturally placed here. As a result, the previous method of dividing war zones according to fronts was naturally no longer suitable.

Therefore, Dekin directly set up the Earth Front Command and the North American Front Command in California, making it the core of the Principality Army's ground forces.

The commander of the Earth Army is the dream lover of thousands of Zeon girls, an excellent role model for lifelong learning for Zeon youth, a leader among Zeon young officers, and the sweetheart of His Highness Prince Dekin, His Excellency Garma Zabi!

In terms of personal achievements, Kalmazabi could be said to have surpassed billions of people, even Macharius. It could even be said that he was one of the few people in human history who became a leader of a large army at the age of twenty.

You have to know that it has only been more than a year since he graduated from the military academy, and in his entire military career, the last time Kalmazabi commanded so many troops was when he was still in the military academy.

And now, in just over a year, the little military cadet who was only commanding a battalion at that time has transformed himself into the commander of an army of hundreds of thousands.

Being able to do this is also a reflection of Karma's own qualities. After all, not everyone can take the back door to the battlefield where Prince Dejin shed blood and sacrificed his life, not to mention that Karma did not intend to enjoy a peaceful life in the rear, but to be the first to go to the front line carrying a bag of explosives to blow up the bunker.

That's right, this appointment could even be considered as Karma's request. Prince Dejin actually didn't want to send his youngest son, whom he had high hopes for, to a battlefield where the outcome was still unclear. But Karma himself was encouraged by the continuous battle reports.

Seeing his brothers and sisters all commanding the battlefield, he naturally wanted to join them and prove that he was also a member of the Zabi family.

So, Dekin waved his hand and put the hat of a front commander on his beloved youngest son.

After all, Karma is already an adult. As his designated successor, he must have convincing achievements and a reliable team to compete with Gillian and Kycilia.

Dekin knew that once he was dead, Karma would not be able to defeat Kihlen and Kycilia, so he could only force himself to protect his son at this moment.

The Zeon Command naturally fully supported Dekin's appointment. Even Gihren and Kycilia had no objections. The only one who was truly happy for Karma was the gorilla Dozle.

Therefore, seeing that such a young and promising gentleman was about to come above them, it was impossible for the Zeon frontline commanders to say that they did not have the intention to curry favor with him.

In fact, the Zeon North American Army has reached a consensus and hopes to present the victory in Salt Lake City as a gift to the incoming commander of the Earth Army.

Therefore, in order to win this honor, the Zeon army began a fierce attack on Salt Lake City and its surrounding defense lines. The various divisions and brigades were also fighting with all their might. After all, this gentleman currently did not have his own trusted military force.

Once they gain the other party's appreciation, the entire army can enjoy the so-called "one person's success brings prosperity to the whole family" treatment, and transform from the so-called Zeon Defense Force sequence into the so-called Royal Guard.

But hope is beautiful and reality is cruel. Salt Lake City is here now, as within reach as the top of the Kremlin for the soldiers of the Third Reich. However, the efforts made by the Zeon army to take this place are unimaginable.

After a week of continuous attacks, the Zeon army suffered more than 20,000 irreversible casualties and countless technical equipment were destroyed, but they still failed to touch an inch of land on the east coast.

Seeing that Lord Karma was about to arrive on Earth with the next wave of reinforcements, the Zeon commanders, who were hoping for a huge victory, could no longer sit still.

After reaching an agreement, the Zeon army immediately began to redeploy its forces, preparing for a large-scale breakthrough operation.

To this end, they also mobilized the War Crab Force, which had previously made a big splash in the attack on the Pacific Fleet.

"As long as these aquatic creatures attack, everything will be fine!"

A Zeon commander who had drawn up a battle plan assured his colleagues beside him with a solemn promise.

(End of this chapter)