"Hah, with defensive fortifications like these, you actually ended up needing to request tactical guidance?"
After the divided Coordinator soldiers responsible for retaking the cliff pass arrived at their respective destinations, the supporting soldiers pointed at the well-established defense system at the distant pass.
Squinting their eyes, they questioned the soldiers who had retreated from the pass, their tone dripping with such blatant sarcasm and mockery it felt like they were slapping faces.
"I—!"
The retreating soldiers were about to retort angrily—they weren't made of dough, after all. Already seething with frustration, they were far from being pushovers. But any counterargument had to be grounded in reason; otherwise, they'd just sound like street brawlers. Not that they couldn't do it, but as Coordinators, not foolish Naturals, they still valued dignity among themselves.
However...
The retreating soldiers from the Gene and Qilin units stared at the scene before them, both familiar and strange, their mouths agape but unable to form words.
There was no helping it. Although the fortress at the pass had originally been built by Naturals, they had occupied it before. So, claiming unfamiliarity was impossible, but the strangeness came from...
Trenches built into the mountainside layered upon each other, with meticulously calculated firing positions scattered across the hilltops like stars in the sky. These firing positions were connected by moats intersecting at right angles. Without even seeing it firsthand, the Coordinator soldiers could imagine that command posts, supply stations, and observation posts were all fully equipped inside.
Mobile Suits are humanoid, so trench warfare from human military history must have its uses. Since they're essentially enlarged humanoid weapons, why stubbornly insist on standing up to exchange fire or engage in close-quarters bayonet fights?
Don't forget that the predecessors of Mobile Suits were engineering machinery. Given that, the East Asian Army wouldn't overlook traditional field engineering operations. In a short span of time, rolling up their sleeves and digging in, the East Asian Rems miraculously used their entrenching shovels to carve out trenches on the positions they had just seized from the Coordinators—trenches deep enough to provide cover, reminiscent of the endless trenches from World War I.
After all, humans have to consider the environment, but machines don't.
"Damn it, it wasn't like this earlier!" roared the Coordinator soldiers who had retreated from the position, furious and flustered. Pointing at the seemingly empty and silent trenches ahead, they stomped their feet in protest. "If there were fortifications like this, how could we have lost to the Naturals?"
"Alright, alright."
Immediately, peacemaking Coordinator soldiers stepped in to mediate. "Whatever the situation, our goal is to retake the position and secure the retreat route for our allies attacking the Allied Forces base in Alaska. We can't let those foolish Naturals regroup. Let's just give it a try first."
After some placating, the still-grumbling Coordinator soldiers formed up their ranks. Perhaps it was because, in previous engagements with the Allied Forces, the latter's firepower had been too weak to penetrate the armor of ZAFT Forces' Mobile Suits.
Thus, due to habitual thinking, high-ranking officers in the ZAFT Forces rarely equipped their soldiers with shields.
As a result, the Coordinator soldiers preparing to attack now faced the first bitter consequence.
Looking at the silent East Asian Army positions ahead, every Coordinator soldier present knew that once they launched their assault, they would inevitably encounter a wave of attacks as majestic as the Qiantang River tidal bore.
"What should we do?"
The Coordinator soldiers who had volunteered as the vanguard, standing in the front row, did not lack courage, but they had no intention of dying needlessly.
"My Qilin does have a shield, but is it enough?"
A Red-clothed Elite Coordinator piloting a Qilin hesitated as he spoke.
"Why don't we imitate the East Asian Army's previous tactics?"
A Coordinator soldier who had retreated from the front lines suggested, pulling up a video recorded in his Mobile Suit.
"Agreed."
After watching the video, the Coordinator soldiers in the vanguard unanimously decided to adopt the tactics of the foolish Naturals.
What belongs to others becomes ours, and what is ours remains ours.
However, as they lined up in a long formation behind the shield-equipped Qilin, none of the Coordinator soldiers in the vanguard considered one thing.
Or perhaps they selectively forgot and avoided mentioning it.
They had never undergone relevant training and had never attempted anything resembling infantry-armor coordination.
Could Coordinators really pull it off?
Sure enough, when the Coordinator vanguard began their advance, chaos ensued, leading to numerous blunders.
At times, the Qilin in front were pushed forward by the Gene units behind them due to mismatched speeds.
At other times, several Mobile Suits suddenly tripped over each other due to lack of synchronization.
"Damn it!"
Before they had advanced far, some hot-tempered Coordinators lost their patience, cursing both their allies and the enemy.
They cursed their allies for being foolish—how could they lack such basic coordination?
They cursed the enemy for being cunning—proper Mobile Suit combat should be like rival gangs fighting for territory, where the fiercest side wins.
This was how they had always fought, but the East Asian Army had to complicate things the moment they appeared.
After a round of grumbling, the impatient and overconfident Coordinator soldiers, convinced of their own skill, broke formation and charged forward alone.
Their logic was simple: if they were fast and brave enough, the Naturals' bullets would never hit them!
But...
Yes, it was the Coordinators who first brought engineering robots onto the battlefield.
However, when it came to the art of war, while the Western world was still brawling, the East had already mastered the intricacies of large-scale combat.
Mobile Suits were new to our forces, unfamiliar as they might be. But with a shift in mindset—
War was something we knew well!
In an instant, the silent East Asian Army trenches on the hill erupted with the roar of countless guns.
For the East Asian Army's Rem units, the ZAFT Forces' Mobile Suits charging straight at them were little more than human-shaped targets.
Beam Rifle fire fell like rain, and high-explosive grenades from their waist launchers hailed down like sleet.
The East Asian Army's overwhelming assault taught the Coordinator soldiers the meaning of "corpses strewn across the field."
Piles of ZAFT Forces' Gene wreckage paved a blood-soaked path to ruin.
"Damn it, you vile Naturals!"
Trampling over the corpses of their comrades, these were the cutting-edge Qilin mobile suits—Coordinator creations that had absorbed the Allied Forces' Gundam technology.
Emerging sporadically from mountains of corpses and seas of blood, the Qilin units were just one step away—a single step!
They were about to breach the cowardly Naturals' moats, ready to show them what Coordinator martial prowess truly meant.
"Push harder! Let the Naturals witness what real MS combat looks like!"
An elite Coordinator raised his arm in rallying cry, already able to see the enemy Rems with only their heads exposed above the defenses.
They were exhilarated.
"Oorah!"
The response came from the bloodshot, frenzied roars of other soldiers.
"Hey, is this the Cannon Rem unit in the rear?"
"Affirmative. This is Position 4 requesting saturation coverage on preset coordinates A34-A35."
Unhurried, facing the enemy Qilin mobile suits about to reach their position.
Inside the command cockpit of an East Asian Army Rem in the trenches, a sergeant major connected the communication line to the artillery positions in the rear.
"Roger that! I'll give you two extra volleys for good measure."
Answering the frontline comrade's transmission, the Cannon Rem sergeant major in the rear gladly obliged.
He feared not expending too much ammunition—only having none to fire.
"Boys! Hoist those cannons! Let our infantry brothers at the front see what our artillery company can do!"
Following the Cannon Rem sergeant major's orders, 240mm cannons were lifted by even more frenzied East Asian Army soldiers.
Aiming at the preset coordinates, rows of deployed Cannon Rems divided into three groups began continuous volley fire.
"Boom-boom-boom, boom-boom-boom, boom-boom-boom."
Transforming the artillery barrage into a thunderous, rhythmic symphony.
Massive shells arced over mountains, over the East Asian Army MS Rems in the trenches.
Every single one landed precisely atop the charging Qilin units—now barely ten steps from the moats.
"Incoming artillery!"
Shrill, desperate screams erupted from every Coordinator soldier.
Those serving as second and third waves in the distance remained relatively safe.
Watching the chaotic splatter of flying mud, they still had time to swallow nervously.
But the Qilin and other Ginn units caught in the bombardment zone faced far grimmer fates.
Shields could block beam weapon attacks—but not cannon shells carrying massive kinetic energy.
Under such firepower, even Gundams with PS Armor would suffer greatly.
Thus, shields twisted into pretzels danced alongside severed limbs, while MS with heads smashed into their torsos collapsed instantly.
Endless showers of ejected earth rained down, as if everything had reverted to a primitive, plantless past.
"They're finished."
Pupils continuously focusing, watching the still-falling shells bring deafening roars.
Coordinator soldiers in the rear began seriously considering whether to continue the assault.
Why was the East Asian Army's artillery different from the Atlantic Federation's?
Did the Atlantic Federation's procurement department take too many kickbacks?
Or were the East Asian Army's artillery barrels simply thicker and larger?
"Extend artillery coverage!"
Receiving another command from the East Asian Army Rem sergeant major in the forward trenches, the rear Cannon Rem sergeant major cheered enthusiastically.
Artillery fire was good—the more, the better.
"Hey, do any of you feel something different?"
Watching the seemingly endless artillery barrage, a clever Coordinator soldier raised a question.
"I also feel something's off."
Prompted by this remark, many Coordinator soldiers began to realize the strangeness.
It seemed, perhaps, possibly that the East Asian Army's artillery fire was getting closer and closer to their position?
"Are you idiots? Of course it's closer—their artillery barrage is extending toward us!"
A wall-like curtain of artillery fire gradually advanced toward the Coordinator soldiers in the rear.
At a fixed frequency and steady pace, it crept forward slowly and relentlessly, inch by inch, as if plowing the land.
"Let's retreat first and come back after their artillery stops."
Immediately, a Coordinator soldier unwilling to endure the shelling proposed.
"Agreed."
Following the sensible suggestion, the Coordinator forces composed of Genes and Qilin retreated in large strides.
"By the way, have any of you noticed that those annoying UAVs, like flies, seem to have disappeared?"
Another sharp-eyed Coordinator soldier asked.
"Oh? Where did they go?"
Indeed, since the East Asian Army's MS units officially entered the battlefield, the UAVs had stopped tormenting them.
"Why worry about that now?"
The impatient Coordinator soldiers had no desire to recall those irritating flies.
"Boom!"
As soon as the words were spoken, an explosion abruptly erupted within the Coordinator MS forces.
"Landmines! Landmines!"
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