"MS of the East Asian Army!"
The Coordinators who were still dealing with the unmanned aerial vehicles exclaimed in surprise.
How should I put it? Let me use a vivid analogy.
It's like a lovesick boy constantly showering his goddess with affection.
Just when the boy believes it's a sure thing, convinced the goddess will definitely end up with him...
Suddenly, he sees the goddess walking down the street with some blond guy.
Yes, that's basically the feeling.
You must understand that at this stage of the war,
the psychological state of Coordinators had generally followed these phases:
Before the war: Can we really defeat those evil Naturals?
The Naturals have absolute numerical superiority, massive military scale, and brave, battle-hardened soldiers.
We Coordinators rebelling is like throwing eggs against stones - we'll probably all end up hanging ourselves.
Early war: Oh my god!
We're actually this powerful?
Those pathetic Naturals are nothing to worry about - they've already become corrupt and decadent.
If we Coordinators just put in some extra effort, the future will belong to us.
Mid-war: We Coordinators are invincible!
The only reason those foolish Naturals haven't surrendered yet is because we haven't really started trying.
Once we seriously apply ourselves, the Naturals will be singing and dancing for our entertainment.
This psychological shift among Coordinators relied entirely on two things:
First, the Neutron Jammer.
Second, the Mobile Suit - a weapon system previously exclusive to Coordinators.
But now?
The MS that Coordinators believed only they could use was now being deployed by the opposing Naturals!
Although there had been rumors about the East Asian Army and Allied Forces having MS called Gundams,
the vast majority of Coordinator soldiers had never seen them with their own eyes.
And compared to one or two special custom machines, the sight of mass-produced units floating in the sky like dandelions...
Without doubt, the impact of mass-produced models was far greater than that of custom machines.
Because this meant the Naturals had truly and completely mastered the Mobile Suit!
This former exclusive domain of Coordinators!
"It's fake! It's all fake!"
Another Coordinator soldier couldn't accept reality and went completely hysterical.
Seeing Naturals possessing MS on such a large scale was more painful to him than watching the fish he'd raised for years grow wings and fly out of the tank.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Soon, soldiers with poor mental resilience fell beneath the unmanned aerial vehicles.
Who told them to lose their minds on the battlefield?
"Bastards! What are you all doing?"
The Coordinator commander finally snapped out of it and began shouting angrily.
"You know exactly what the Naturals are capable of. What difference does it make if they have MS?"
"We are the invincible ZAFT!"
Though saying words that even made his own heart tremble, the commander's main intention was to calm his soldiers down.
Regardless of what these Coordinators were thinking or what they would do next,
led by the 40 Jeda prototype units assigned to Wang Hu's forces, accompanied by Methuss units in flight mode...
This unit transformed into a sharp blade, charging toward the strategic mountain pass according to pre-battle deployment requirements.
The Allied Forces headquarters in Alaska was situated in a basin within the mountain ridge, taking defensive considerations into account.
Thus, to trap and completely annihilate the main forces of these Coordinators, their primary objective was to seize the crucial pass currently held by the Coordinators.
As long as they secured the pass, the Coordinators would be like turtles in a jar, entirely at the mercy of the East Asian Alliance.
"How could we possibly lose to you Naturals!"
Of course, the Coordinators had also set up defensive lines at the pass, initially thinking it an unnecessary precaution.
Now, however, it seemed they had shown some foresight.
Or perhaps the Coordinator commander had been apprehensive at the time?
So when they saw four or five pairs of Jedas and Methuss charging toward them, howling like wolves, the Coordinator soldiers felt relieved that their unit hadn't been careless. Now, with the Qilin in their formation serving as the vanguard, they brandished their weapons and met the enemy head-on.
"Zap, zap, zap."
Several beam shots struck multiple leading Coordinator Qilin units.
"Boom, boom, boom."
The exploding fireballs stunned the wailing Coordinators.
Where did the attack come from?
They hadn't seen the enemy's unidentified Mobile Suits firing!
But in that brief moment of confusion among the Coordinators, the East Asian Army MS, advancing with imposing and disciplined momentum, showed no negligence.
Or rather, they had no intention of waiting around for the Coordinators to recover.
The Jedas on the ground raised their anti-beam shields, thoroughly protecting their fronts, then extended their guns through specially designed firing ports on the shields. They pressed close together, shoulder to shoulder, resembling both an impenetrable wall and rumbling steel war machines crushing all obstacles in their path.
They advanced step by step, steadily and methodically.
Behind the Jeda formation were the East Asian Army's land-combat Rems, lined up in a long queue following the Jeda array.
The Rems occasionally tossed high-explosive bombs over the Jedas' heads or suddenly dashed out from behind the Jeda formation to eliminate a few enemy MS attempting to flank the seemingly indestructible Jeda array, before quickly retreating back behind it.
With this seemingly simple tactic, the assembled East Asian Army MS steadily squeezed the Coordinator defenders at various passes.
"What's going on?"
Suppressed without understanding why, the Coordinator soldiers at the pass grew increasingly frustrated and agitated.
The East Asian Army MS weren't employing any flashy tactics or maneuvers!
None of the pilots exhibited exceptional individual prowess.
So why were their own army's usually skilled warriors being effortlessly turned into sieves by the enemy?
"Come out and fight me one-on-one if you dare!"
Utterly baffled, a Coordinator charged out again, challenging the advancing East Asian Army that loomed like a wall or forest.
The response was a synchronized volley of beams from the East Asian Army.
Of course, Coordinators were still Coordinators. A few exceptionally brave Red Coat Elites, paired with the main mass-produced MS Qilin, still posed a significant threat.
Not all East Asian Army units at the passes could smoothly suppress the Coordinators' desperate counter-assaults.
After all, they were fighting with their backs against the wall.
To die alone or take a few enemies down with you.
For Coordinators, this choice wasn't difficult to make.
Therefore, in various checkpoint battles everywhere, one could frequently witness Coordinator soldiers transforming into suicide squads.
At such moments, all eyes would turn to the Lightning Z Gundam piloted by Wang Hu, hovering high above the battlefield's center.
Remember?
During the initial assault on the checkpoints, the East Asian Army's Mobile Suits facing the Coordinators hadn't even launched their attack.
Yet when the battle commenced, the leading Qilin units of the Coordinators were instantly shot to pieces?
"Forty-sixth."
Whistling cheerfully beneath layers of fighter aircraft and UAV cover,
Wang Hu happily recorded another new achievement in this battle from his vantage point at the battlefield's highest altitude.
Having assembled his beam rifle into a beam sniper rifle, his current role was that of a sniper.
Coordinating with allied forces below executing combined arms advancement with their Mobile Suits, Wang Hu systematically eliminated all hardened resistance at the checkpoints.
Only after the East Asian Army captured all checkpoints would the true drama unfold.
"Bastards, bastards, bastards!"
Helpless and completely overwhelmed, Coordinator soldiers at various checkpoints could only vent their furious impotence.
Before reinforcements from the basin could arrive, they ultimately lost control of their checkpoint positions.
"Uora!"
Spitting out angry tongue-trills at the belated reinforcements,
the checkpoint defenders who had suffered heavy losses shouted:
"Are you all dead? Didn't you see our requests for tactical support?"
"You bear significant responsibility for losing these checkpoints!"
"What!"
Facing these accusations from their allies, the reinforcing Coordinator soldiers also burned with resentment.
"You know what? All you lost were checkpoint positions."
"But we lost lives to those disgusting enemy UAVs!"
"Huh?"
This response from the reinforcements made the checkpoint defenders laugh in furious disbelief.
So only we're the ones who haven't lost lives here!
Moreover, with the checkpoints captured and retreat routes cut off,
we're all going to die here!
Fortunately, before these Coordinator soldiers could resolve their differences through internal conflict,
new orders arrived from the Coordinator army's high command.
Reading the combat commander's directives, all Coordinator soldiers now fought for their own survival!
"Assault teams for retaking the checkpoints - with me!"
"Those concentrating firepower to raid the Allied Forces' Alaska headquarters - over there!"
"Quickly! The prosperity of the Plant Kingdom depends on this! Show your fighting spirit!"
To achieve victory under these circumstances,
the Coordinator army was divided into two forces by their commander.
Two-thirds would continue assaulting the Allied Forces headquarters,
striving to capture the enemy's central command as bargaining chip or victory claim before the East Asian main force entered the basin.
The remaining third would press toward various mountain checkpoints,
either scaling ridges or launching frontal assaults,
determined to either recapture positions or establish blocking maneuvers against the enemy.
After all, on this battlefield, we Coordinators still have overwhelming numbers!
Even if we were just pigs, it would take you East Asian forces days to round us all up!
(End of Chapter)