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

Chapter 124: The Fisheries Brigade makes a grand appearance

Salt Lake City gets its name from the huge salt lake on its north side. It covers an area of ​​nearly 4,000 square kilometers. Due to its unique geographical environment, it has always been an extremely famous tourist attraction.

The salt lake is huge, but the water is actually not deep. The shallowest part is only four or five meters, and the deepest part is only about fifteen meters. Under normal circumstances, no attacker would regard this place as a breakthrough direction.

But the problem is that the battle crab is also eighteen meters tall, and the water is not deep enough to submerge its body. Of course, if it were during the day, if such a huge body were to move in a lake that was just deep enough to submerge itself, it would certainly not escape the eyes of people on the shore, but at night, there would not be much of a problem.

The Federation would not deploy any decent defenses in the water. At most, they would install searchlights and detection sensors on the shore to see if there were any objects moving on the water. As for deploying underwater units, that was even more impossible. The current Water GM squadrons were transferred to the west coast. In order to defend the coastline and fight against the infested Zeon aquatic products, it was already good to have a few inland combat boats here.

As for the Federation Army troops deployed along the lakeshore, there were not many of them, mainly armored units and infantry. There was not a single mobile suit, because there was no need for it. After all, in the plan, the Zeon Army could only rely on hard-shell boats to make a breakthrough. Facing this type of enemy, the Type 61 tank was enough!

Then, when night fell over the North American land, the two sides, which had been fighting fiercely for a day, stopped fighting and retreated to their respective positions to rest. After all, the fighting during the day was brutal enough. Both sides continued to pour troops and firepower into the city that had become a ruin. The Federation Army alone had rotated two divisions of troops, and the attacking Zeon Army would only have more.

Of course, this does not mean that the night will be peaceful. Although mobile suits will not operate at night due to the noise they make when moving, small-scale infantry infiltrations have never stopped.

This can be considered the forte of the Federation Army. After all, their training level is much higher than that of the Zeon Army. Therefore, under normal circumstances, in nighttime infantry battles between the two sides, the Federation Army will win. After all, those elite amphibious special forces belonging to the Army and Navy are not raised in vain.

However, the Zeon Army also has its own elite troops. Although the special forces under the 7th Division of Kycilia lack experience, they are also constantly learning and growing. However, the price of growth is a bit high. These elite troops who are proficient in techniques such as infiltration and destruction of colonial satellites have suffered heavy losses in infantry confrontations. Although there are new recruits, they cannot keep up with the loss rate of the old ones.

During the daytime battle, Macharius, who had only sniped seven mobile suits, also took advantage of this rare rest time to stretch his muscles. Compared with the mobile suit confrontation, he still preferred this squatting mode. He didn't have to work hard to find the opponent's flaws, and heads would naturally be delivered to him continuously.

Now, Macharius's ideal battlefield is that he drives a mobile suit specializing in long-range shooting and squats on the top of a mountain, with an extremely open plain under his feet. The enemies are all stupid Zakus, and then he can shoot the Zakus one by one like turkeys.

However, after he relaxed his muscles, he did not feel any relaxation in his spirit. Instead, he had a feeling of uneasy foreboding.

"Boss, go get some sleep!"

Yudin drove his own machine to Macharius's shooting position, ready to take over his position and continue the guard.

"Well, no rush. I'm always feeling a bit bad. Let's all work harder tonight. No rotations, everyone, stay at your posts!"

Naturally, not many people liked to hear such words asking their subordinates to work overtime, but Macharius had already established enough prestige in the army with his keen perception, so the other pilots did not protest. At most, they cursed Zeon for being inhuman, and then continued to lurk honestly in their respective battle positions.

At the same time, on the west shore of the salt lake, a squadron of battle crabs were slowly walking down the lakeshore under the watchful eyes of many Zeon soldiers.

These war crabs will be the first troops to launch an attack from the lake. After that, the Zeon army has also prepared a large number of hard-shelled boats, enough to transport a battalion of light infantry.

This number will not play a big role in the battle situation, but there are mountains behind the lakeshore, so these infantrymen are not fighting, but infiltrating into the mountains as much as possible.

They carried enough communication equipment, and as long as some of them could successfully infiltrate, they could use missiles from the rear to attack important nodes of the federal army. In fact, the reason why Salt Lake City could not be captured for a long time was also due to the developed road network in North America. A steady stream of troops and equipment arrived at the front line through these facilities, and the North American Command even formed an additional Army Engineering Corps to be responsible for maintaining road facilities.

As for the Zeons, it was not just now that they thought of disrupting the Federation Army's logistics transportation. The rice grains scattered in the previous battle also caused great interference to their reconnaissance. In addition, the Swordfish taking off and landing at the many local military airports that have been restored to use have formed a tight blockade, so that conventional attacks have no effect at all.

"I wish you good luck in martial arts!"

Before the War Crab Troops set off, the Zeon Commander presented them with farewell wine according to ancient Earth customs. However, since sake could not be found locally, the Zeon Commander served them a bowl of wine.

Then, under the watchful eyes of the people on the shore, the War Crab Squadron sank into the lake little by little.

Afterwards, the only sound on the lake was the splashing water that gradually faded away.

At the same time, in front of Salt Lake City, a large number of Zeon mobile suits and other ground equipment were being towed by transport vehicles and quickly turned to Farmington on the north side of Salt Lake City.

In order to cover up this troop movement, the Zeon army released a small amount of interference as usual, and continued to carry out artillery preparations from the front. In order to make the performance more realistic, the special forces of the 7th Division also carried out several platoon-level infiltration breakthroughs on both the upstream and downstream sides.

Immediately, the sound of fierce gunfire dotted the dark night.

"Hit me hard!"

Although also equipped with night vision equipment, the Federation infantry did not rush to launch an assault. Instead, they pinned the Zeon people to the river bank with dense machine gun fire. Then, mortars, howitzers and other indirect fire support came roaring down.

Only this kind of special forces can be competent for this kind of suicide mission. After all, the grassroots Zeon forces lack the former's spirit of sacrifice and fearlessness of death, and also lack the corresponding technical and tactical training.

These tactical actions, which were no different from usual, also successfully paralyzed most of the Federation Army. After all, in their view, tonight was no different from any other night except that there was no moonlight. The Zeon Army would give up after their infiltration failed, which would be around three or four o'clock. In this way, everyone could sleep comfortably for four hours before dawn.

"Ah, damn, I want to go to Salt Lake City too!"

A Federal Army machine gunner sat in his machine gun bunker and couldn't help yawning.

They had been transferred to the lakeshore for several days, but there were no suspicious targets, let alone Zeon people. The machine guns were fully loaded with ammunition, but not a single shot was fired. It was so depressing.

"Come on, that's not the place for little ants like us!"

His teammate poked half of his head out of the foxhole at the back, holding a cup of hot coffee, sipping it in small sips, and then spoke.

"Do you know what's going on over there? Type 61 tanks are disposable. Those Zeon mobile suits only need one shot to blow up our tanks. Your machine guns are just for show. It would be better to stay here!"

The machine gunner did not answer, but threw an empty can behind him to express his attitude.

Then they heard the sound of someone approaching.

"lightning!"

The machine gunner quickly pulled out his pistol and whispered in the direction of the footsteps.

"Thunder!"

Then, a familiar voice was heard.

"Captain Lacey?"

"Jerry, and Tom, if I catch you two bastards making a loud noise while on guard again, I swear I will kick your asses with my leather boots!"

A rather young army second lieutenant, with a rifle tucked under his arm, staggered over from the side of the hillside.

"Sorry, sir, it's my fault!"

The machine gunner hastened to apologize.

"What's the situation?"

"No, sir, just like usual!"

The machine gunner hurriedly gave up his position in the position to the enemy.

After the second lieutenant entered the position, he slapped the machine gunner's buttocks. The latter grimaced in pain, but had to endure it.

"no more chance!"

The officer immediately released his right hand and stared silently at the pitch-black lake. Then, the whistling wind and crashing waves reached his ears. "The waves seem a bit loud today?"

"Normally, the wind is pretty strong today. Sir, would you like a cup of coffee? I added milk and sugar!"

Jerry, who was squatting in the foxhole, immediately brought over two cups of hot drinks. The officer did not refuse. He had been wandering around various positions all night, and it would be great to have a cup of coffee and take a break!

However, he was still worried and grabbed the wired communication on the position.

"Observation team, how is the situation over there?"

"Sir, there's nothing unusual on the lake, except that the waves are a bit big!"

"Continue to strengthen surveillance!"

Afterwards, the lieutenant felt relieved and continued to savor the flavor of the battlefield coffee. However, the more he drank, the more he felt something was wrong, because the sound of the lake waves was changing, and it felt more and more rapid.

"Did you hear that?"

"Something seems to be wrong!"

The machine gunner immediately took his position, but everything in his night vision sight was normal. Confused, the machine gunner could only keep turning his weapon. Then, he suddenly saw a dark shadow emerging from the lake.

"Sir, one direction, there's something!"

"Squad One, your searchlights, point to the right!"

A set of searchlights that were originally slowly sweeping across the lake were switched to manual operation and then shone towards the place the machine gunner said. The next second, everyone saw white foam surging on the lake, and it was obvious that something had just sunk.

"Something's wrong, sound the alarm!"

Just as the lieutenant was about to shout, suddenly, a thin beam of light flashed across the lake and hit the searchlights.

Then, the searchlights exploded.

"Enemy attack!"

As the lieutenant finished his words, more beams of light shot out from the dark lake, quickly destroying all the other searchlights.

"Woo~"

The alarm was immediately sounded, and then the federal troops on the lakeshore launched a counterattack towards the lake. The roaring machine guns turned the tracer bullets into a net, covering the lake surface. There were also grenade launchers and other infantry firepower.

After the firing, a flare quickly rose into the sky. Then, the federal soldiers discovered that on the lake, more than a dozen strangely shaped mobile suits were advancing towards the shore unscathed.

"Get those damn tanks to fire now!"

The federal army troops on the shore were also stunned. They never expected to encounter mobile suits here.

Fortunately, the crew of the Type 61 had already started the vehicle when the searchlight exploded. Now, seeing the Zeon mobile suits appear, they immediately began to measure the distance.

"Enemy mobile suit, twelve o'clock direction, firing range, 1200 meters!"

"Armor-piercing shells loaded!"

"emission!"

A Type 61 tank then fired a salvo, and two 150mm steel needles whizzed towards their target, but there was obviously an error in the installation. The steel needles flew past the round head of a battle crab, splashing a ball of metal sparks before shooting into the water.

"Only tanks?"

The Zeon pilot in the battle crab slowly straightened up, and the mega particle cannon on its abdomen immediately opened fire. The beam shone on the tank armor, piercing it almost instantly, and then detonated the ammunition in the turret. Then, the Type 61 exploded into a fireball, pushing the turret into the sky.

While the war crabs in the front row were using particle cannons to clear the federal tanks, the war crabs in the back row raised their heads and fired the loaded cluster rockets at the federal positions using the launch tubes on their backs.

In an instant, the entire mountain was blown into a sea of ​​fire.

The particle cannon of the War Crab was an absolute dimensionality reduction attack on the Type 61 tank. The composite armor was okay at resisting live ammunition, but it was no different from tofu in front of the particle beam. Although the tank crews fought back desperately, they only managed to kill one War Crab or cripple one in the end, but the price they paid was the annihilation of the entire army.

"Vulnerable!"

After the battle lasted less than ten minutes, the federal army troops on the lakeshore defense line were wiped out. Without the support of tanks, these brave infantrymen continued to fight the Zeon mobile suits with rocket launchers, grenade launchers, and even bayonets. Tom's machine gun seized the opportunity to destroy the nozzle on the back of a battle crab, but the next second, a rocket bullet fell at his position.

When the battle broke out, the Zeon army on the other side of the lake also quickly began to move. The hard-shelled boats quickly delivered the infantry. Then, the infantry and the War Crab Squadron parted ways. One continued to move forward, while the other turned and continued to go downstream using the river channel that had been widened and dredged.

The intelligence of the attack on Lake Shore was also transmitted to the Federal Army Headquarters almost at the same time. The North American Commander in charge of combat operations immediately ordered nearby friendly units to transfer personnel to plug the gap. However, what they did not know was that the Zeon army that attacked Lake Shore had already moved south and was advancing towards Farmington.

Although the federal army in the direction of Farmington was also prepared for battle, the focus of their defense was on the road to the north. After all, the situation was urgent, and those ordinary federal soldiers could not tell the difference between Zaku and War Crab, so the federal army troops mistook the attacking mobile suits for Zaku.

"You call this a Zaku?"

After arriving in Farmington, the war crabs quickly climbed up the river bank and launched an attack on the federal army positions. It was only then that the federal army troops discovered that the attackers were not Zakus at all!
When a Jim saw the war crab open the cannon on its abdomen, it did not think of dodging, but fired with the MG79 while trying to block the attack with its shield. However, the mega particle beam easily penetrated the shield without beam coating and then pierced Jim's body.

Jim's armor-piercing bullets also made a row of bullet holes on the war crab's head. Although they injured the war crab, they did not cause any fatal damage.

Moreover, the high output of the battle crab also caught the Jim pilots off guard. Under the surprise attack, both sides inevitably fell into a close combat. But when Jim rushed forward with his beam sword, he found that he was suppressed by the opponent in terms of strength.

The huge fighting claws pushed Jim's beam saber away little by little, and then suddenly stabbed Jim's body. The next second, Jim's cockpit was pierced by the fighting claws as expected.

"Where is this thing's weakness?"

A Jim pilot couldn't help but complain because after he hit the battle crab's torso, the latter was able to fight back and even used a particle cannon to destroy an innocent building.

"Just aim for the torso, that's their cockpit!"

Pilot Jim, who was speaking, replaced the magazine for his MG79 and continued to fire at the trunk of a battle crab. This time, he successfully killed the opponent. The huge body fell to the ground powerlessly, and the light of the monitor flashing above the head also dimmed.

"The enemy's machine is quite large, so we need to be more precise!"

Although the surprise attack of the war crabs caused a lot of chaos to Jim, Jim still had an absolute advantage in terms of numbers. Therefore, after adjustments, one war crab after another died in the beating of Jim. However, before these war crabs died, they could often use particle cannons to take someone else with them.

If nothing unexpected happened, this Battle Crab Squadron would soon be wiped out by the GM, but just as the few remaining three Battle Crabs were evacuating towards the waterway, reinforcements from the Zeon army arrived.

A squadron of Zakus transferred from Salt Lake City immediately joined the attack on the Farmington Line and successfully saved the Battle Crab Squadron from being destroyed.

"For Zeon, charge!"

(End of this chapter)