Gundam, Gravity Elegy

"Boom!"

Suddenly, the thunder grew even louder, but the messenger's voice could be clearly heard outside the door:

"Your Excellency Erlan, Commander Bruce invites you to a war meeting regarding the Western European Plain."

"I understand, I'll go right away."

The white light filtering through the gap in the curtains illuminated a sinister face:

"War...tsk, what a beautiful word."

Author's message

…………

Erlan's character development is relatively weak in both the TV series and GTO, but he is indeed a genuine Zeon spy.

By the way, the idiot below is Judak.

Chapter Thirty-Five: The Bombing

As the sun gradually rose, its scorching rays poured down like molten lead, baking the barren and parched earth.

There are no towns or villages here, although they once existed, but this once-famous music mecca has long been reduced to ruins in the flames of war.

At this moment, only the bright yellow land warships sped forward, their thermonuclear jet engines playing the symphony of war in this once-sacred place of music.

July 28, UC.0079

10: 00 AM

As a base, Salz Base itself has an excellent geographical location, with usable mine tunnels and an abandoned mine behind it, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

However, considering that it was already a dilapidated base and that its coordinates had been exposed to Zeon, it chose to evacuate early in the morning. Some of the troops went to search for survivors in the destroyed villages, while the main force moved further south, essentially retreating into the mountains.

"However, even though it seems rushed, considering that Zeon's main forces have already advanced, they can be safe for a long time as long as we report the results of the battle on the Salz base in the name of the Sand Lizard Squadron."

Still inside the bridge of the Hump, the fourth squad, which had now taken over the warship, was still holding a small meeting.

Of course, for some reason there are now a few Zeonians on the bridge, but that's not important.

Whether it was Top, the acting commander, or Sofia, the communications officer, they were already in the same boat from the moment they chose to surrender:

"Compared to the situation of the 44th Brigade, our time can only be described as urgent."

At this point, Cuvatro gently tapped the electronic screen with his pointer, and with the diver's skillful manipulation, some information appeared:

"Last night, the European Command sent a message that the Federation Army plans to formally assemble its combat forces in the Normandy region. At this rate, the conflict will officially break out in the Western European plains in about four days."

"Are you still planning to fight?"

Gao Ren was taken aback, but then frowned deeply:

"But at this point, there's absolutely no need to fight, is there?"

"That's true, but General Bruce, the commander-in-chief of the European forces, believes that the situation on the front lines is far worse than before due to the rapid expansion of Zeon and the failure to fully digest the occupied territories. Therefore, he is preparing to personally lead the troops to counterattack."

Of course, that sounds correct.

The Zeon front is getting longer and longer, making the battle increasingly difficult.

"However, the strongholds of those troops that interfered with the Zeon army's logistics have been completely exposed, and the guerrilla forces are probably in dire straits."

"That's right, so we also have the right to suspect that this war is likely to end in failure."

And all of this can be attributed to one thing—spies.

Unfortunately, after reaching this conclusion, no further discussion was conducted due to a lack of decisive ideas.

But now...

"Let's play a game of guessing the traitor."

At that moment, several large blue portraits suddenly appeared on the screen, and the details on their collars all spoke of their exalted status:

"The old guy in the middle who looks like Santa Claus is the famous General Reibir, Commander-in-Chief of the Earth Federation Forces; the shifty-eyed guy with forked eyebrows is Lieutenant General Erlan from the intelligence department, who also has some command authority; and the one who looks a bit simple-minded is Lieutenant General Bruce, Commander-in-Chief of the European Army. These are the three powerful generals in Europe today!"

"Then I guess it's Lieutenant General Erlan."

Looking at the three 'ID photos', Gao Ren spoke casually.

"Seriously?"

"Otherwise, after all, he's the only one who looks shifty-eyed."

There was no evidence; it was purely a first impression, which is why the error occurred... probably.

"Back when I was in the intelligence department, it was Lieutenant General Erlan's intelligence unit that rescued General Rebil from Side 3. At the same time, it was also he who arranged for the media to give the speech that General Rebil gave on Luna II."

"You mean to say he's a hard-blooded, pro-war figure?"

"At least it seems so?"

Meeting Gao Ren's silent gaze, the female diver simply shrugged:

"But don't rush, I actually have other lists here, such as Colonel Noctis, commander of the 6th Armored Division, and Lieutenant Colonel Judak, who is in charge of supplies for the European army..."

"Could it be that they're in charge of logistics?"

"I don't know, but you can guess that, and then we can open a betting pool... Ouch."

Just as the diver was getting into it, the long-awaited pointer finally spun around and landed on her head, stopping what seemed like an attempt to get even more outrageous.

Of course, Captain Cuvatro easily regained control:

"In short, this is the general situation. Although there are many problems with the divers' account, we have no way of pinpointing who is behind this, so we have decided not to report our findings. Of course, we also need to keep our next steps a secret."

"So, does that mean we'll be fighting alone for the next period of time?"

"You could say that, so our mission is simple: to find out Zeon's true strategic intentions within a limited time. The first thing we need to do is to approach this place under the guise of the Sand Lizard Squadron."

Cuvatro operated the control panel, zooming in on a point on the electronic map:

"Ruhr Industrial Base - In order to support the main battlefield, we must find clues about espionage or Zeon strategy here. Everyone can speak freely on this point and let's brainstorm together."

"Drip drip drip"

Before Captain Cuvatro could finish speaking, a short, urgent sound echoed through the bridge.

"Communication has been received from the 44th Mixed Battalion."

In the silence, only Corporal Sofia's somewhat timid voice remained:

"Excuse me... would you like to connect?"

…………

"We have reached the target location."

"Instructions have been received confirming that the Sand Lizard Squadron has left the target location."

"Then, fighter squadrons, take escort and begin carpet bombing."

At this point, the already sweltering sky was quickly covered by a shadow.

The sudden change made the soldiers of the 44th Battalion look up. They had already retreated into the mountain roads, using nature to cover their figures.

But such evasive tactics seemed meaningless in the face of that behemoth.

"What are you looking at? Most of us have already escaped anyway."

Just as even the truck driver couldn't help but peek out, Lieutenant Yang De'er in the passenger seat finally couldn't hold back and slapped the driver on the forehead.

"Keep going. We must get out of the mountains before dark. The forests of Styria will provide us with cover."

'Boom'

Looking down from the earth, heavy steel soars into the sky, and particle beams that should have been used on space battleships fall from the sky, mercilessly suppressing the earth along with bombs.

"I'm just glad I got out early, what the hell is this?!"

Michael gently covered his face and squinted his eyes:

"Speaking of which, how's the communication?"

"Major..."

"I'm asking you how the communications are!"

"Communication is working perfectly and it can be used."

"Okay, take over the Hump for me."

'patta'

On the back of the off-road truck, the major simply propped his legs up on racks displaying weapons.

"We need to inform the other party about all the mess here."

Author's message

…………

I forgot to post a chapter titled "[Contemplation]" this morning.

Chapter Thirty-Six: The Intricate Military Situation of the Duchy

"So you mean Zeon directly conducted targeted bombing of this wretched place, the Salz base?"

“That’s right. There were no signs of reconnaissance. We hadn’t even gone very far when we saw that huge iron lump, comparable in size to a warship, fall from the sky and start bombarding us. Its wingspan looked to be over two hundred meters. I even saw air-to-ground particle weapons.”

Inside the bridge of the Hump, a blurry image appeared on the communications screen.

Although the specific environment over there wasn't very clear, the major's voice sounded incredibly relaxed:

"It feels like I've gone back to watching the Federation's anniversary fireworks show when I was a kid, with all that booming noise."

Their tone was light, but that doesn't mean they actually took what they said seriously.

"So, did you have any casualties on your side?"

"I didn't bring the main force with me, but I don't know about those who were responsible for the search and rescue in the area and haven't returned yet. Those unlucky guys still haven't given me any news."

Brief words, but behind them may very well mean the passing of life.

However, no one can comment on this at the moment.

In the silence: only the languid voice of the lieutenant commander, who seemed still half asleep, echoed within the bridge.

"Also, I saw that the 'big plane' was flying towards Switzerland. I guess it was going to fly to the front lines from there? Of course, it could also be to bomb other units, but that's none of my business anymore."

In the still shaky video, the major's bloodshot eyes seemed to become clearer.

It was a numbness that was hard to describe in words:

"Okay, that's about it. I'll hang up now... I've been busy all night and need to catch up on some sleep in the car."

Then, communication was interrupted.

There was no time to think about anything else; the sudden influx of information from this communication completely disrupted my pre-planned thought process.

At this moment, only one question lingered in Gao Ren's mind:

"Air-to-ground bombing, particle weapons, does Zeon have these things?"

"There really is one. Intelligence records show that Zeon apparently started testing a super-large transport aircraft on Earth at the beginning of the month, called the 'Gau-class.' The initial discussion by the General Staff was supposed to be about some kind of large transport aircraft, but now..."

Kuvatro couldn't help but reveal a somewhat subtle smile:

"It can only be said that Zeon was perhaps too greedy."

greedy……

Upon hearing what Kuvatro said, Gao Ren involuntarily closed his eyes:

"In any case, this kind of thing is a deadly threat to some troops that are still active behind enemy lines. Apart from a few large underground bases that are still in operation, other hidden facilities do not seem to have any high-strength bunkers, let alone sophisticated air defense equipment."

"So theoretically speaking, after they bombed around once, the European Front would find it difficult to continue to effectively disrupt Zeon's logistical lines..."

"More importantly, many people will die."

In response, Kuvatro simply crossed his arms and watched as the boy spoke, each word deliberate and earnest: