Christian Chronicles (Complete) - 6

Chapter Three: The Battle of Lower Rumm.

Thinking about how it would have been Jacobson and Hans, those two bastards he'd known day and night, who had died, he could understand the blow Claessen had suffered. His comrades, with whom he'd faced life and death, were now gone!

"You're all alone. Once you find Captain Steiner, ask him to let you temporarily join our squad, okay?"

"Let the captain decide!"

That dejected look didn't seem like Claessen at all! Although they were from the same squadron, because the members of different squads were on different warships, Christian and Sher didn't have much of a relationship. While he regretted Sher's death, he didn't feel a strong sense of grief. Instead, he felt a sense of helplessness, wondering if it would be his turn next.

After regrouping, Christian, on behalf of his teammate Klassen, reported that following Conrad, their squad leader, Sher, had also been killed in action.

"Sher's gone too!"

Captain Steiner was deeply shocked; two of their twelve members had been lost.

"In that kind of chaotic fighting, there was nothing they could do!" Jacobson said.

In that melee, who wasn't on the brink of death? If they had been unlucky enough to encounter more enemy planes or, like Sher, run into skilled Federation soldiers, they might have been dead. Thinking of this, amidst their regret and sympathy, their will to survive grew even stronger; they were determined to defeat the enemy and live.

"If it weren't for defending that propulsion engine, this wouldn't have happened!"

Klassen's angry voice was filled with strong resentment towards his superiors.

"Judging from the battle just now, the Federation forces didn't use tactical nuclear warheads, which is a stroke of good luck. At least the danger won't be as high as the last colony satellite crash." "

Yeah, Captain! Even a Zaku would be finished off in one hit from a nuclear bomb," Leopold said.

"We should have about two-thirds of our fuel left. The squadron commander has already contacted us; in three minutes, the ship will fire resupply ammunition for 280mm rocket launchers and 120mm machine guns. We should be able to launch a preemptive counterattack against the Federation forces then."

"This time, we'll kick the Federation forces in the ass!"

Christian said, rubbing his hands together excitedly. The deployment of 280mm rocket launchers meant an attack was imminent.

"But now we only have ten men left. What should we do? Can we let Clason join our team?"

"Alright! Jacobson, how about letting Clason join your team too?"

"No problem! One more woman makes it two men and two women."

Normally, this would have led to another verbal sparring match. Although they weren't afraid of facing a powerful enemy, having just lost a comrade, they were in no mood for jokes. Christian simply glared fiercely at Jacobson.

"But what about the fleet's air defense?"

Alim on Earth was safe. But Yoko and Risna on the Babenhausen were a real worry for Christian.

"We'll have to hand it over to another unit."

The captain's answer was hardly reassuring, but even the captain was just a Zaku commander for a squadron. He had no chance to know which unit would be responsible for air defense and how many Zakus would be.

"What's wrong? Are you worried?" Jacobson asked, lowering his voice.

Christian glared fiercely at the bastard.

"Worried about what?"

Klassen, who had been watching Christian intently, asked.

"No, nothing at all."

"He's hoarding pornographic magazines and he's worried about destroying the ship along with the books," Hans chimed in, making matters worse.

These two guys' brains are either made of rock or straw. Christian deliberately avoided looking at Klassen, pretending to listen attentively to the discussion and the captain's instructions.

However, Klassen's gaze, because of Hans's nonsense, seemed to hold a hint of disdain for the two idiots.

After the Zaku communication meeting ended, the three squads contacted their respective Musei units to resupply ammunition and weapons.

"Yoko, give me two 280mm rocket launchers, 15 rounds each. Also, 12 magazines for 120mm machine guns." Squad leader Jacobson was responsible for contacting Yoko.

"Should we launch an attack?"

"Of course! We can't just let the enemy shoot at us!"

"Be careful, Christian." Yoko then asked him kindly.

"Don't worry! I'll definitely survive. But you must survive until we return."

Looking at Yoko's worried face, Christian couldn't help but feel concerned. This time, the enemy was the largest they'd ever faced, and it was led by the renowned Federation general, Reibell.

"I'll guard this ship, the Papensen, until you return."

Yoko's eyes were filled with confidence and trust in Christian. Christian raised his hand in a formal military salute.

"Fool! Alright. Jacobson, I'm handing over the weapons now, you guys better keep them safe!" Yoko laughed and scolded before cutting off the communication.

It seemed to be Christian and the maintenance director named Yoko. Klassen looked at the image on the communication channel; the mature and beautiful Yoko and Christian, who wasn't even an adult yet, had a really strange relationship. But Klassen felt a little jealous. As for the reason for her jealousy, she didn't even understand it herself; perhaps it was because she had never been in a relationship before!

After successfully receiving the weapons, the Battle of Loum entered another phase.

From the perspective of the overall battle situation, since the escort fleet abandoned its defensive strategy, the fleet maintained distance and retreated, while simultaneously deploying two-thirds of its mobile fighters who were on standby for attack. In the previous battle, over 400 of the 3,000 Zaku aircraft were lost.

As for the Federation, since the Self-Defense Forces had proactively retreated, their plan to press the entire fleet into close-range gun battle had failed. Admiral Reibell therefore made a change, ordering the faster America-class destroyers and Cuba-class frigates to detour, hoping to eliminate the Zakus from the rear.

Regarding fighter aircraft, at least 2,000 were lost in the previous battle. Using fighters to fight the Zakus was extremely unwise, both offensively and defensively, so they had to continue concentrating their attacks on the ships to avoid direct confrontation with the Zakus.

"Now it's time to decide the outcome," Stewart solemnly addressed the four surviving battalion commanders.

"In less than an hour of fighting, we've already lost a quarter of our fighters, and that's with the enemy on a passive defensive posture. Now that they've abandoned the colony satellite crash operation, they have more freedom of movement. I'm afraid that next..."

"It doesn't matter how many survive. Even if I die here, I've already gained something. Mire and I sank an enemy ship together earlier."

"Captain, don't say that. I'm still planning to fight my way to the Principality of Self-Defense's homeland!"

"If we win this time, the Self-Defense Force will lose the war because they have no chance of losing. Once they lose, they will have no way out. But what about us? Even if we lose this time, we still have the equivalent of two fleets on Luna II, but that won't be enough to stop the Self-Defense Force. In order to achieve final victory, the enemy will inevitably launch another colony satellite crash on Earth, or even directly invade Earth. To avoid massive casualties in a long war, the only way is to defeat the Self-Defense Force here."

Stewart looked at Perry, Hales, Gibbs, and Milley, who had already come to their senses.

"Please lead your men to victory in this battle. The fate of the Federation and the future of humanity rests in our hands. Once resupplyed, launch another attack immediately. Unfortunately, warships are no longer the decisive factor. All I can do is hold this position, ensuring you have a place to return. I wish you a victorious return."

Stewart and the four men exchanged salutes.

"We won't let those who have gone to heaven down,"

Milley's playful remark eased the tense atmosphere.

"That's right, winning and returning alive is the only way to honor those who died in acts of self-defense; the best compensation. Mutual destruction is never a good thing," Perry said.

"Farewell."

The Zaku, with its weapons directly received from the ship and its longer range thanks to its nuclear fusion propulsion engine, launched its attack first. The Federation forces, who had to return to their ships for resupply and faced longer resupply intervals, were on the defensive. The second phase of the battle began.

Thousands of Zaku were actively attacking, including Steiner's squadron.

"Jakobsen, let me and Klassen handle the anti-ship attack. You and Hans will provide cover!"

"Alright, but you're such a wimp, always following women around." Jacobsen shook his head and sighed, stirring up trouble again.

"You old codger, you'll always be like this! Believe me or not, I'll really break your bones when I get back to the ship!"

"Heh! You little girl are the petty one who can't take a joke. Whether you're happy or unhappy, you're still killing people, so you might as well kill happily."

At this point in the conversation, Christie couldn't laugh at Jacobson's forced smile.

"We're talking about killing people! This isn't your average job!"

"So what if it is! You idiot, you can't let go. You're killing people, but the enemy is killing you too. We're all equal killers and victims. We're alive only because we're lucky. If we have to feel guilty for killing, and live with that guilt for the rest of our lives, wouldn't that be a complete waste of life?"

"But it's life!" "

We're soldiers, not generals, much less presidents or heads of state. We're just like the soldiers of the Federation, betting our lives on this life-or-death roulette. Everyone's gambling with their life equally. Once you've placed the bet, you're different from those who hide in safe places and order killings."

"The blame should fall on those above us. We are merely soldiers fighting for survival. Throughout history, the responsibility for war has never been placed on soldiers, except for those who personally killed prisoners of war or raped civilian women. So we live with integrity; we are innocent."

This statement deeply shocked Christian. For him, who had always felt guilty about his crimes, this was enough. As long as he hadn't personally committed the bloody crime of killing civilians, there was no reason for him to bear the blame for others' crimes.

"So we're not killing people while joking around, we're being killed at any moment while joking around. No one says joking before being killed is a crime, right?"

"You bastard, scum, trash, you war criminal. Thank you!"

Christian's voice choked with emotion. If he had to consider joint responsibility, then after the war, he could simply do good deeds every day or die in battle and go to hell to atone for his sins. That was enough for now; otherwise, if he continued to feel guilty, he would go insane even if he didn't commit suicide.

"It's a bit cunning, but it's not wrong! We also have the right to survive. The meaning of fighting is simply to survive."

Although Hans didn't seem to feel any guilt about the Holocaust on the surface, he was actually deceiving himself. Whenever he thought about it, he would recite the official propaganda lines, shifting the blame to the Federation. Otherwise, he would be even less able to bear the psychological pressure than Christian.

"Then let's try to survive together!"

Klassen looked at the several grown men on the screen, and the frustration and pain of losing his comrades didn't seem so severe anymore.

"To be honest, Klassen, are you a man dressed as a woman? Otherwise, how come your chest is flatter than Christian's?"

Jacobson, that guy! Christian noticed that he liked to make these sarcastic jokes more and more whenever he went to war. They must have figured out they couldn't fight him in the Zaku!

"You're going to die. While I can't say I'm a beauty, I'm still a living, breathing woman!"

Having shed the guilt of their initial battle, though a lingering fear of death remained deep within them, they could finally approach this slaughterhouse of life and death with a lighthearted and relaxed attitude.

Nearly twenty battalions of Zaku had already approached the Federation's three combined fleets.

"Damn it! The enemy struck first."

Milley whistled, seemingly showing no sign of tension.

At that moment, Reibell's flagship fired the signal flare to engage.

"Alright! Dare to kill my woman? I'll slaughter you all!" Milley pressed the attack signal and led his team into battle.

Surrounding his squadron were the squadrons of Hales, Perry, and Gibbs. More than five thousand Federation fighters were attacking simultaneously.

"Are we carrying the fate of the Earth on our shoulders? That's far too heavy a burden," the relatively calm Perry said from his fighter.

Hales and Gibbs, like any other soldier, were consumed by a frenzied desire for revenge; life and death were meaningless to them.

Facing the oncoming Federation fighter squadron, Steiner's squadron members launched the first attack.

After a burst of machine gun fire, Jacobsen noticed that he, Klassen, and Hans had all missed their targets, only Christian managing to shoot down an enemy aircraft from a distance.

Even the best distance-based technique is useless at this distance; hitting accurately is purely a matter of luck. While luck might strike once, twice, or three times, it's not uncommon, but hitting every time is definitely not luck. How did Christian manage it?

His threatening fire from beyond effective range, though hitting few, disrupted the enemy formation.

The enemy planes grew larger, and then they launched missiles almost simultaneously, while the Zaku tanks of the Self-Defense Force opened fire with machine guns.

In the split second, Christian launched a heat decoy and initiated evasive maneuvers. He immediately locked onto an enemy aircraft, not aiming directly at its fuselage, but at a short distance in its direction of travel, ensuring the bullet would land precisely where the enemy aircraft was.

This required not only skill but also a combination of intuition and luck, as the enemy might not necessarily move in your predicted direction. Although his skills had improved considerably over the past week, Christian discovered he possessed a remarkable 'luck'—almost always correctly predicting the enemy's movements—which surprised even himself.

The flash of 120mm machine gun fire shattered the target fighter into a pile of fragments, claiming a life. But instead of guilt, he felt a slight thrill of victory!

The next enemy plane, though it evaded two or three times, ultimately couldn't escape becoming part of Christian's crash record. After taking down two opponents, no new enemies came knocking. Christian immediately turned back to help his three companions.

"Damn it!"

Klassen watched the target whiz past, missing his chance to attack.

But this escaped fish became someone else's prey; two bullets pierced the enemy's fuselage. In the flash, the enemy was also pulverized and destroyed.

"Klassen, are you alright?"

"You stole all the prey."

"Look for Hansen and the other guy."

The two men turned their Zakus around and began searching the vicinity.

"There they are. 330, 45."

Finding their comrades in this close-quarters combat was no easy feat. Just as Klassen looked in surprise in Christian's direction,

two Zakus were approaching at top speed, followed by a barrage of missiles.

"You two jinxes, why did you bring these things?"

"Haha! Christian, don't be angry, we share the bad and the good!" Hans said.

The four Zakus desperately fired heat decoys while trying to escape, with at least a squadron of enemy aircraft behind them.

Several minutes later, they finally shook off the enemy, during which the four men shot down two more.

"The Federation troops are really spirited today!"

Hans was still laughing, and Christian felt that they were truly going insane. To be able to laugh when facing death was unbelievable.

"They're charging like madmen!"

Klassen was still shaken; the enemy's stubbornness was truly extraordinary.

"They want revenge, don't they? But we can't let them satisfy us with our own lives."

The four of them temporarily escaped from the most intense fighting area, advancing while keeping watch on enemy aircraft.

"Fighting as a squadron won't work anymore, and four people seem a bit too many! What's next?"

"Christian, what are you going to do with that 280mm cannon on your Zaku's back?"

"Okay! Got it, squad leader. You two bastards, cover us."

"You're the bastard!"

The four-man squad, led by Christian, charged towards the Federation fleet, which was surrounded by flashing flames.

The orbs of light formed by exploding fighters and Zaku were truly dazzling, and the dark space in the middle was filled with the red glow of anti-aircraft guns, interspersed with large explosions of destroyed ships.

Christian and Klassen, holding 280mm rocket launchers in their hands, traversed the deathly darkness with graceful but irregular curves, entering the vortex of fierce battle! The enemy ships they encountered were easily dodged, leaving Jacobson and Hans behind to deal with them.

With only fifteen 280mm rockets in total, they could only cautiously use one or two to repel some dangerous enemies.

"This one!"

Christian had chosen Stewart's Magellan-class battleship.

"Hey! There are quite a few enemy planes around her."

"That makes her even more worthy of being a target!"

Christian felt this was the flagship of the dozen or so enemy ships nearby. He gestured to Klassen and then led the charge at high speed.

"Fool! I don't want to be a virgin heading to hell!"

Klassen muttered to himself, blushing, in the cockpit before changing course and giving chase. The Federation fleet was ablaze with red lights as the fierce anti-ship attack continued.

"Captain, there's a new enemy on our left flank. Contact Captain Perry."

In the midst of the chaos, Stewart, unable to command his entire squadron, focused on the situation around his ship. Upon spotting danger, he immediately alerted his men. Perry, who had returned to protect the flagship, signaled receipt and led the remaining fighters in a proactive engagement.

Facing more than a dozen enemy aircraft charging towards him, Christian showed no fear.

"Klaassen, you follow the hole I've opened. Leave the rest to Jacobson and Hans."

"Hmph!"

More than ten enemy fighters fired simultaneously, over twenty missiles hurtling towards them.

"If I time it right,"

Christian counted in his head, his aircraft continuing to advance straight ahead.

"Alright! Now."

Christian fired a heat decoy, simultaneously launching a 280mm rocket with a pre-set detonation time.

A single second to decide the outcome.

The 280mm rocket exploded one second after launch, engulfing the incoming Federation missile. After a massive chain reaction of explosions, Christian had created a hole in the missile wall ahead.

Zaku passed through the hole, followed by Klassen, while the remaining missiles chased the heat decoy.

Perry, alarmed, tried to turn back to fight, but Jacobson and Hans had already arrived.

"You brat, leaving so many enemies for us, are you trying to kill me?"

"Those two women are bastards."

Hans agreed wholeheartedly. However, even if they tried to escape, the enemy might not let them go, so the two had no choice but to fire machine guns as they charged in.

"Damn self-defense!"

Perry risked being pursued and turned back to rescue the flagship, leaving Jacobson and Hans to his men.

Christian locked onto the bridge of the giant ship before him.

"Fire anti-aircraft missiles and anti-aircraft guns! Shoot down that enemy Zaku!"

Stewart, disregarding his authority to interfere with his subordinates, shouted the order as death loomed large.

This was the first confrontation between these two rivals who were unaware of each other's existence.

('This is a woman's romance! Two men she loves fighting for their lives. I really wanted to jump out and yell "Stop!" then. '...My dear wife...please don't do things that reveal the contents of your autobiography! You always add your own bets when we didn't even know each other existed. Women! The most imaginative creatures in the world.')

Christian ignored the anti-aircraft fire, knowing it was unlikely to hit, and even if it did, it would only cause minor damage. Instead, he slightly dodged, avoiding the missiles fired from the ship.

"Goodbye! Don't blame me, this is war. You were just unlucky."

Christian felt a chill run down his spine as he pulled the trigger. In his hasty dodge, the rocket missed its target.

Christian, who had dodged at the last second, avoided two missiles fired from behind.

"Damn it? That didn't work either."

Perry, close behind Christian, cursed.

"Is this the end?"

Stewart murmured from the command post. But his men's desperate rescue pulled him back from the brink of death.

Klassen's rocket missed its target due to excessive evasive maneuvering. Christian's, however, struck the turret in front of the bridge. The blinding light forced him to close his eyes, and the reinforced bulletproof glass of the bridge shattered from the shockwave.

"Whoa... ah..."

Stewart, almost thrown from his seat, opened his eyes again. The broken windows had been shut off by emergency gates, most of the instruments in the command room were destroyed, and all the personnel had been thrown from their positions. Beads of congealed blood floated before his eyes, along with the limbs of his subordinates severed by shards.

"Help!... It hurts... ahh..."

Low, painful groans echoed around him.

"Commander, the ship's command function is temporarily lost. Please switch to the flagship!"

Stewart saluted the captain, whose forehead had been slashed, before rising and leaving the command post.

Arrange a small boat for me.

"Killing me won't be that easy!"

Stewart muttered under his breath, gritting his teeth as he left, Christian's spoils of war floating behind him: severed hands, drops of blood, and shrapnel.

Five fighter jets were close behind Perry, the others engaged in combat with Jacobson and Hans. Perhaps "hunting down" the two of them would be a more accurate description.

Continuing to engage with 280mm anti-ship guns would be too disadvantageous.

"Switch to machine guns!"

Regardless of whether Klassen received the communication, Christian, while dodging the enemy's 40mm machine guns, preemptively switched equipment.

Klassen wasn't as quick as him. Pressed by the enemy, he had no choice but to fire a rocket and throw the cannon itself at the enemy before he could draw his gun from his waist.

"Three for me, two for Klassen?"

Christian, taking advantage of the Zaku's superiority, immediately flipped his aircraft and retaliated against the departing enemy after they passed each other.

One of Perry's wingmen was instantly turned into a fireball.

"Damn it! What's so great about the Zaku!"

he muttered, but inwardly he thought: if the Federation had mobile suits, he wouldn't have lost so many men. But now he could only turn around and attack again as quickly as possible!

By the time he completed the turn, another wingman had already perished before him.

"Damn self-defense."

After locking onto Christian with lightning speed, he fired all his missiles except for the last two life-saving missiles.

But Perey, who was confident that his opponent was either dead or seriously injured, saw Christian dodge the missiles with surprising agility and then fire at him. In this position and angle, evasion was a dead end. Perey had no choice but to fight with all his might. After aiming his nose at Christian, he kept pressing the fire button on the machine gun.

120mm against 40mm head-on.

With Christian's evasion, most of the fire was delayed, and a few were blocked by the Zaku's thick armor.

But Perey's Swordfish fighter was hit by the 120mm cannon, and its fuselage was severely damaged.

"Let's die together, you loser!"

At the last moment, Pelee, attempting a ramming attack to take everyone down with him, was hit squarely in the cockpit. The fighter exploded right in front of Christian.

"Christian, are you alright?!"

Amidst the flash of the explosion, the Zaku, with pieces of fighter wreckage embedded in its body, reappeared.

Even though they were fighting through machines, Christian felt a real, palpable hostility and killing intent emanating from his enemy, even a sense of regret. It almost suffocated him!

"I'm fine. How are things on your end?"

"We took down one, and another escaped." "

Then let's go find Jacobson and the other two, and make sure they don't get killed by the enemy."

With the Federation's numerical advantage, they should have been able to barely hold their own against the Self-Defense Forces, but the outcome would depend on the soldiers.

The Self-Defense Forces' soldiers had gained combat experience that no training could provide after a week of fighting.

In contrast, most of the Federation's troops were units that had not participated in previous battles.

Although neither side made any obvious strategic mistakes, this difference in experience determined the outcome. The Self-Defense Forces gradually gained the upper hand in terms of survival and losses, and as the numbers became closer, their superior quality completely turned the tide of the battle in their favor.

In the numerous engagements over the course of an hour and a half, the ratio of Federation fighter losses rose from three to one to five to one, and even seven to one. Ship losses also increased rapidly along with fighter losses.

Steiner's Zaku squadron returned to its ships to resupply for the final offensive, as even the Zakus with their nuclear fusion engines could not sustain such prolonged fuel consumption.

"Phew! You little brat, you want to kill us both and then send two female soldiers to replace us, so you can have a homosexual relationship, huh?"

"Jacobson, that was a matter of luck, how can you blame me?" Christian retorted, unable to take it anymore.

"Hey! Just now, the Federation Army really chased us like our butts were on fire," Hans said.

"Your place's on fire."

"You're still spouting nonsense."

"Perfect, let you get all that fat baked out, so you can lose some weight!"

"Look, what kind of comrade is Jacobson?"

"One word is enough, he's a traitor."

Christian said, "In the end, I had to turn back to save you, that's how you escaped danger."

"Now he's taking credit!"

"Don't you think so, Hans?" "

Alright! Land! Stop bombarding me!"

The three Zaku, though somewhat damaged, finally returned safely to the ship. However, they were completely out of fuel and ammunition. As for Klassen, she returned to her assigned ship, the Grisbach, for resupply.

"It stinks to death!"

Even she couldn't stand the stench of her own sweat. Christian took off his helmet, opened the cockpit, and flew out. Jacobson and Hans followed.

"You three, I've prepared water and food. Take a rest!"

Yoko and the maintenance crew were already waiting inside the hangar.

"Yoko, you're quite clever this time!"

Jacobson and Hans, who smelled even worse than Christian, also came over.

"You two stink!" Yoko yelled, covering her nose.

Christian was more tolerable in comparison.

"Here you go, Christian."

Yoko gave Christian a chicken leg sandwich, while Jacobson and Hans got ham sandwiches.

"Hey! That's such unequal treatment! We're all going out to fight, why are we treated so badly?" Jacobson said.

"Captain Kirsten ordered me to prepare this for you. As for Christian, I upgraded his portion myself."

"Hey! Different people, different fates, don't you think, Hans?"

"How about you find a Federation female prisoner to be your sex slave?"

"Isn't there one on board? Go fuck her right now!"

"You two, stop joking like that!"

Christian couldn't stay silent now that the topic had been shifted to Lisina. But... as soon as he said it, Miss Yoko's expression changed slightly.

"Eating too much can cause peritonitis when you get shot. I'll eat the rest."

With a friendly expression, Miss Yoko snatched the chicken leg sandwich that Christian had only taken a bite of.

"Alright! Let's get to work! Replenish fuel and ammunition, and do emergency repairs on the damaged areas." Yoko gave the order, and the maintenance soldiers began their work.

"Yoko! I didn't mean it...Yoko..."

"You deserve it, you deserve it!"

Jacobson smugly retorted.

"Haha! You deserve it."

"You two are such a menace!"

The three then excitedly offered their condolences with fists and karate chopsticks.

"You brat, were you trying to steal the squad leader's position by fighting so hard?"

Jacobson rubbed his fat belly, groaning in pain.

"Heh! A resounding victory."

Hans, that bastard, was disappointed on the battlefield, but his stomach was doing him a favor. Taking advantage of Christian and Jacobs's brawl, he devoured almost all the food.

Although he was attacked by the two of them afterward, he was unharmed despite taking multiple hits.

"Hey! What if we end up like Sher..."

"Ouch!"

"Stop talking nonsense about Kirian! Look forward, don't mention the dead."

Christian rubbed the back of his head, which felt heavy. It wasn't that they were cold-blooded, but perhaps being a little forgetful was the way to survive on the battlefield in the long run.

"What if we win big this time?"

"We took out the sixth, seventh, and eighth fleets during the week-long battle, the second, fourth, and ninth when the colony satellites crashed, plus the first, third, and tenth from Rum this time. Except for the fifth fleet plus some remnants, the Federation Space Force's ten space fleets would be almost completely wiped out!"

Hans counted on his fingers for Christian.

"Then maybe if we win this time, the war will be over."

"I wish that were the case too," Jacobson said with a wry smile.

At this moment, Captain Kirsten's head appeared on the hangar's communication screen.

"Jacobson, enemy aircraft are approaching in large numbers. Deploy immediately once resupply is complete!"

"Ugh! This is overtime! Is there any overtime pay?"

"No!"

"You guys have absolutely no sense of humor."

"Alright, you bastards, get out there!"

"Who's the bastard?!"

Christian's forehead veins bulged.

"Just some young idiot who leaves a trail of womanizing debts, is rude to his superiors, and has a strangely good run of luck in battle."

"I'll finish my battle before I go out to fight the Federation!"

"What bad luck I've had! Sending me someone like this as my subordinate."

On the Federation's side, the losses are staggering. The number of ships sunk alone exceeds half. And that doesn't even include those that are damaged or rendered combat-ineffective. The loss of fighter jets is even closer to 60%!

"Captain Perry is dead too?"

Milley sighed.

Individual skill alone couldn't turn the tide of battle! Although he single-handedly shot down three Zaku and a warship, half his men were lost.

Hales and Gibbs were in even worse shape.

"This is a message just sent by Acting Commander Rear Admiral Rodney Canningan: His Excellency Reiber's flagship has been sunk, and he may have perished in the line of duty,"

Stewart said in a heavy voice. Milley, Hales, and Gibbs, who had fought until now, felt a chill run through them.

"So, we've lost?"

Gibbs bit his lip until it bled, his face burning with rage.

"The results of one or two squadrons won't change the overall battle situation, especially since you're just squadron leaders. At the current rate of loss, our forces will be wiped out in one or two hours, or even faster, because the enemy-to-our ratio is widening further and further; we no longer have a numerical advantage." "

Rear Admiral Rodney has ordered a full retreat. This squadron will retreat towards Earth. However, to minimize our losses during the pursuit, all combat-capable fighters must launch a final attack on the enemy fleet. Be careful not to run out of fuel. After the battle, rendezvous at coordinates X170, Y564."

"Although we lost this time, it doesn't mean the war is over. The road ahead is long!"

Stewart's resentment was no less than that of his three subordinates, especially since many of his men believed they were his own had perished, and he couldn't bring them victory as a reward.

"Commander, as you command."

Gibbs saluted resolutely and turned to leave.

Of the Federation's ten space fleets, only one remained intact after this battle. Victory! When would that be? Let the long road to victory be pursued by the young men like Milley!

At this moment, he had decided he would not return alive.

"We'll take our leave as well."

Milley and Hales saluted and withdrew.

"If the Federation is to win, it absolutely must defeat the Self-Defense Forces' strategic space force; otherwise, everything else is just empty talk! And rebuilding the space fleet and developing a Federation version of mobile suits will take at least a year!"

Stuart muttered, gripping his military cap.

"A protracted war of attrition is probably the only way for us to change the situation!"

Damn it!

He cursed inwardly. Besides cursing the Self-Defense Forces, he also cursed himself. Three battles. Each time, he lost many of his men.

"If only the higher-ups weren't so foolish and inflexible, if only we had mobile suits..."

In this moment of regret, he wished he could hear Alim's lively voice.

The plan to annihilate the Self-Defense Forces' fleet failed, and the Federation ships suffered heavy losses instead. With Admiral Reibell, the fleet commander, missing and presumed dead, the remaining forces were forced to retreat in three columns. As cover for the retreat, the remaining Federation fighters rallied, preparing for a final preemptive strike to halt the Self-Defense Forces' pursuit.

A force of less than three thousand aircraft launched their attack. The Self-Defense Forces, however, still numbered over fifteen hundred Zaku.

"The enemy has decreased significantly!"

Christian said, counting the enemy numbers on the monitor.

"That makes things much easier!"

"Yes, Klassen."

"That guy's a womanizer, always hanging around women,"

Hans interjected, overhearing their conversation.

"What do you mean?"

"No! I just have a bit of a problem with 'woman's glutinous rice balls'."

"What 'woman's glutinous rice balls' !"

"They're those things that stick to women all day."

"Huh!"

"Stop yelling! Christian, you're not an animal. Hans, don't be jealous, we're all equally miserable men! The peacemakers are here."

"Don't call me 'you'!"

The banter ended there; the Federation aircraft were closing in.

On the Federation's side, Perry's squadron was almost completely wiped out. Milley, Gibbs, and Hales organized all the survivors into a force equivalent to a reinforced battalion and launched an attack.

As the vanguard, Milley agreed with the two captains before the attack to avoid direct confrontation with the Self-Defense Forces' Zaku, prioritizing ships. Killing one or two Zaku mobile crew members was less cost-effective than killing hundreds of men on an entire battleship. On this point, he had Gibbs's full support.

The highly skilled Milley, as the vanguard of the formation, was positioned at the very front. Facing the Zaku's fire, he advanced in a serpentine flight path while locking onto enemy aircraft.

The first missile detonated at its pre-set time as it approached the enemy.

The Zaku was affected by the explosion, slowing its evasive maneuvers. It was hit by a second missile. The slightly damaged machine immediately prepared to retaliate after the explosion.

However, Milley had already arrived! He used his specialty to fire a barrage of machine gun fire at close range, targeting not the Zaku itself, but the distinctive disc-shaped 120mm magazines on its machine guns.

The detonation of the bullets blasted the entire Zaku into two pieces.

Through the breach created by Milley, their squadron engaged in a head-on battle with the Self-Defense Force's Zakus. After losing more than ten fighters, they broke through with less than a battalion's strength.

Their chosen target was none other than the four M'Sai ships of Steiner Squadron.

"What are those guys doing on the perimeter? Letting such a large formation in!"

"Stop arguing, let's attack!"

Captain Steiner stopped Jacobson's complaints and used the remaining ten Zakus of his squadron to engage the Federation forces.

Finally, two nearby units provided additional support with six Zakus each. Their luck hadn't run out!

At the start, Milley and the other Federation fighters launched missiles first. They didn't expect to shoot down many Zakus, just enough to clear a path! The target was the enemy's protected warship.

Jacobson, Hans, and Klassen, among others, returned fire with machine guns. They seized opportunities to spin and counterattack as the enemy passed, each shooting down at least one enemy.

Christian shot down two, but couldn't manage the third! A barrage of bullets were dodged by the enemy.

"Damn it!"

His opponent was none other than Milley of the Federation Forces. He had barely managed to dodge the enemy's machine gun fire after using every trick in the book, leaving him drenched in cold sweat.

"Chase them! The enemy's target is the warships."

Not only Christian, but Steiner's squadron and others saw through the enemy's objective. And those four warships, which belonged to their family, absolutely could not be sunk. If they charged straight in and let the Zaku fire from behind, the terrifying price of sinking the warships would be the annihilation of their entire force!

Hals's fighters lit up their lights and led his squadron, which was now less than a full squadron, back to engage.

"Don't block the way!"

Christian's machine gun fire continued relentlessly, sacrificing another enemy plane to clear a path for his squadron.

Finally, the two remaining squadrons, one small and one small, continued towards the battleship. However, Steiner's direct squadron and a support squadron were left behind by Hals.

Determined to exact revenge, Gibbs led his men in a near-straight line, heading straight for the four M'sai.

"One!"

Straight-line flight was tantamount to suicide! Christian's bullet pierced another enemy plane. Watching his men disappear before his eyes, Gibbs didn't even flinch.

"Now let's avenge everyone!"

Although it was an act of suicide, the straight-line flight also ensured that his remaining squadron of less than a full squadron arrived first. Multiple fighter jets simultaneously targeted the Grisbach. Christian and his team made a final, desperate pursuit.

One after another, Federation fighters were reduced to orbs of light, but the fierce battle could not change the enemy's resolve.

"Die!"

Gibbs fired all his missiles except for two for self-defense. But at that moment, he became the target of Christian's team, Sherrell's team. A 120mm shell tore half of Gibbs's fuselage apart.

"Is it over?"

After the violent tremors, feeling shrapnel embedded in his body, Gibbs coughed up blood in excruciating pain.

At that moment, the missile struck the Grisbach.

"Good, it's worth dying here."

After assessing the situation, Gibbs rammed the heavily damaged fighter into the enemy ship.

"Wife and children, I'm letting you go first! I'm so sorry, I'm here to see you now. You won't blame your father for being a few days late, will you?"

A more powerful explosion blinded those nearby, making it impossible to see clearly.

"The Grisbach?"

Klassen cried out desperately. After losing two companions, was she going to lose even her home ship?

Thankfully, the Grisbach, though severely damaged—the bow and starboard stern were blown off, and several small holes were torn in the middle of the hull—was still able to sail. And it was under the heavy protection of Sherrell's squadron.

"Klassen, let's stop the others!"

Christian looked at his comrade with tears in his eyes on the fluorescent screen!

While dodging enemy fire, Mirei watched his old commander disappear into the bright light.

"After Captain Perry, is this Captain Gibbs? Sir, I'll send these self-defense bastards down as your sacrifices right away."

Goodbye! Too busy to salute, Mirei could only murmur this in his heart.

Mirei felt his breathing become more rapid, and his eyes seemed to be welling up with tears.

"Sigh! Do old people cry more easily?"

After a self-deprecating laugh, he ordered his men to engage the enemy Zaku in a melee. He carefully observed the battle, and finally advanced from the rear of the Grisbach. From this blind spot, Milley swooped in, adjusted the missile's performance settings, and fired a missile with a delayed detonation fuse.

Then he charged out from the ship's hull, locking onto Cheryl, the one who had killed his old superior.

"Die!"

Forty-millimeter guns, plus two missiles.

But! The squad leader was indeed a squad leader; his skills were truly impressive. In the instant before being hit, he barely dodged.

"He should have stupidly let me hit him; that would have been a good way to vent my anger!"

Milley grumbled, boldly passing through Cheryl's line of fire.

"Damn it! How dare you ambush me!"

Just as Cheryl's machine gun locked onto Milley, the missile that had hit the Grisbach exploded! The dodge maneuver had brought Serell too close, and he was caught in the explosion.

The warship and its hundreds of crew members, whom they had painstakingly saved, ultimately perished.

Seeing this, Klassen's hope sank back into despair. Home… his only home was gone!

"Ugh! Damn it… everyone… everyone was inside!"

Tears streaming down his face, Klassen could only open his helmet and continue fighting!

That's how war is. When you're killing enemy comrades who are like family, you don't think of them as human beings, because it's just a victory, and you might even feel excited because you've won again. Christian now deeply understands this feeling: the companions he risked his life to save could instantly become the fruits of the enemy's victory.

In this arena, if he didn't want misfortune to befall him, he had no choice but to let misfortune befall his enemies. Awakened by this realization, Christian, with his agile skills, accurate judgment, and inexplicable luck, sent his enemies to hell one after another.

His opponent in the arena, Mireille, naturally wouldn't allow this exceptional rival to slaughter his few remaining men.

Dealing with Christian seems a bit difficult! As a champion of slamming, the most important thing is to kill the weak and avoid the strong; on the vast battlefield, who can guarantee that there isn't an ace among the enemy who is stronger than themselves? A duel between ace and ace can be deadly at any time, and it can only happen once.

But Milley noticed that Christian was unusually close to a warship, and that presented an opportunity. Sink the warship first, then use the explosive orbs as cover for a surprise attack.

Christian, Jacobson, Hans, and Klassen were guarding the perimeter of the Babenhausen; any Federation fighter daring to approach would be torn to shreds by the four 120mm machine guns.

Milley chose Hans, the least skilled of the four, as his target.

"This...this guy is so hard to hit!"

Just as Hans exclaimed in surprise, Milley had already dodged his barrage of bullets and launched a fierce counterattack with his machine gun.

Before Hans could even figure out when he was hit, his right-hand machine gun exploded.

Amidst the blinding light and the jarring impact that left him dazed, the first small explosion ripped off Zaku's right hand and blasted the machine apart. This allowed him to survive the more powerful second explosion.

"The third warship today!"

A surge of exhilarating excitement coursed through him as he locked onto the Musei-class warship before him.

"Die!"

At the same time, Milley fired six missiles.

But for Christian, it wasn't just his comrades on board who he had to protect. The two women on board, Yoko and Lisna, were deeply intertwined with him. He would rather die himself than see them die before his eyes.

Christian had noticed the attack on Hans when it began. After leaving the enemy behind to Krassen, he immediately came to their aid!

"God, gods, Buddha! If this luck is a gift from you, then grant it to me again!"

Christian, his mind in turmoil, faced the deadly missile before him, gambling everything on his strange intuition.

The 120mm machine gun fired only one bullet.

It wasn't just about hundreds of lives; it was about his own heart—to have Yoko and Liz killed before his eyes. He would never recover.

"No way..."

Just as Mirei dodged, preparing to ambush Christian, the missile he had fired earlier was hit by that single bullet. And in the chain explosion, all six missiles were destroyed. Faced with such absurdity, even he, who had killed countless people in the past week, was stunned. And this moment of hesitation on the battlefield was enough to be fatal!

Christian's Zaku turned around and fired back at the extremely dangerous Federation fighter.

The flashes of bullets passed right before his eyes.

Just when he thought he was doomed, Milley didn't exhaust his luck. Christian, who was too focused on Milley, also became the enemy's prey. The 20mm cannons hitting the machine guns made them completely inaccurate.

"Go! Only one or two out of ten survived!"

"Ugh!"

As the three forces passed each other, Milley communicated with Hals, who had saved his life. He withdrew from the vicinity amidst the hail of bullets from the Imperial Guard.

"Huff! Huff! Huff!"

Christian was so nervous that he couldn't even speak as he watched the enemy disappear into the distance.

"That lucky brat is always so lucky!"

Jacobson muttered, watching from afar. What on earth was the reason? He didn't believe Christian's alertness to the crisis and his inexplicable accuracy could be explained simply by luck! He had never seen such a human before; if he had to call it luck, it was like winning a lottery.

"Could this kind of luck be due to the new humans? Okay, let's try it at the gambling table. If the new humans really have this ability, wouldn't I be able to wipe out everyone?"

In short, a scoundrel will always be a scoundrel!

On the Federation's side.

"Ha! Only six, including me, the battalion commander, only six. Isn't that a nine-out-of-ten chance of survival?"

Milley laughed, then slammed his fist heavily on the dashboard!

"We should still have fuel!"

Hales was completely drained of energy except for these life-or-death matters. Their lives had been snatched from the jaws of death.

"The Zaku, who were relentlessly pursuing us, have retreated."

The communications officer's voice held no excitement of rescue, only utter exhaustion.

"Is it over?"

Stewart, now in a spacesuit, looked at the corpses and bloodstains floating on the bridge, and the remaining fleet reflected on the monitor. Despite their different ranks, the fatigue after the fierce battle was the same. The brutal Battle of Loom, in its final stage following the Federation's defeat, had finally ended.

Although he was saved... However, in this decisive Battle of Loom, over 85% of the Federation's forces perished in this region of space. Faced with such a crushing defeat, the vitality and fighting spirit of the people were completely drained.

At that time, neither the defeated Federation nor the newly victorious Self-Defense Forces could accurately state the actual losses of the Federation army since the start of the war.

However, a week after the Battle of Loom, the Federation counted all the surviving forces that returned to Luna 2, Earth, and the Moon. It was confirmed that more than 80% of the ships had not returned. As for casualties, considering factors such as surrender, capture, and desertion, it could only be said that the number of those not returned was over 30 million. As for civilian casualties, calculated by reversing the total number of survivors after the war, the estimate is around four to five billion.

These numbers have caused far more than just devastation. From members of the Federal Congress and Federal Army generals and marshals to corporals and civilians, those who lost loved ones permanently are undoubtedly grieving, but others are equally stunned into a state of mental blankness. And the war had only just begun two weeks ago!

In terms of self-defense, as a small nation nearly thirty times weaker than the Federation, it also lost one-fifth of its space fleet as the price of victory; if heavily damaged ships are included, the figure is as high as one-third. The casualty rate of its mobile combat units, the decisive force, was also one-third.

The war potential gap between the two sides, if the fragility of the space colonies is disregarded, is significantly reduced to five to one. Although the colony satellite crash ultimately ended in failure, the leadership of the Protectorate is prepared to extend a hand of peace to the Federation and accept the fruits of victory. This

comes after a three-second declaration of war and the death of nearly half the Earth's population.

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