Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny. They belong to their respective copyright owners and publishers. This work is not created with any commercial aims. I make no money from it.
Phase 9: A new dawn
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Part 5
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Six hours of unprecedented heavy bombardment and vicious fighting – that's how long it took for the first Eurasian echelon to deplete itself after comprehensively shattering ZAFT's primary defence lines in Spain. Cities were bypassed and surrounded when at all possible, enemy armour and mechanized elements fragmented and disrupted by constant air and artillery strikes. At dawn, the second echelon of Operation Retribution was already racing through the breaches and had its forward elements massing for assault on ZAFT's secondary defence lines. In the south west only the need to ford Guadalquivir slowed down the advance until sufficient engineering elements and preparatory bombardment could assure a smooth fording of the river. To the north, Third Panzer Corps bypassed Carmora after breaching the defences on its flanks even as four infantry divisions moved in to complete its encirclement and demanded the surrender of the Community forces dug in the town's outskirts. Fifth Panzer-Grenadier Division swept west advancing towards Utrera hell-bent to complete the encirclement of Seville. First Panzer Division swept north-east aiming to cut off Community forces holding Marchena. Meanwhile, Second Panzer-Grenadier Division advanced towards El Coronil paving the road for mechanized and mountain infantry regiments sweeping in their wake.
At the same time, First Guard Tank Army and the Le Clerk Armoured division took advantage of pontoon bridges erected by the engineering elements of Third Panzer Division and First Guards Armoured Brigade who paid a steep price for securing multiple crossings over the Guadiaro river and destroying ZAFT and Community defenders in the area. At dawn, Las Lomas was declared secured; armoured and mechanized regiments poured south pushing down E-15 and towards Vista Real. The enemy reserve meant to stop such an advance failed to materialize – it was virtually destroyed during their doomed attempt to recapture Gibraltar. Scattered resistance covering E-15 slowed down the second echelon and it wasn't until the afternoon that the highway was reasonably secure. However that didn't stop Fifth Guard division from pushing two mechanized battalions to Concepcion even if they suffered moderate losses in crossing under intense fire. Said units wasted no time in linking with the airborne and marine units still fighting to secure Gibraltar Base and ensuring it would be captured reasonably intact. Still, fighting to dislodge Community infantry from Vista Real and Concepcion would continue until midnight on the 26th.
While Operation Retribution was far from complete, the Orbital Drop at Gibraltar ensured its much swifter resolution as well as
the opearation becoming a greater success that could otherwise be expected.
After midnight on the 22nd when Gibraltar Base itself was already secured, EF wasted no time in using it along with the Archangel to ferry units by air to the other side of the Bay of Gibraltar. They entirely bypassed Algercias and the towns and villages along route N-340 in order to land in the countryside near Tarifa thus threatening the only way for the ZAFT and Community forces in Spain to leave the continent in any significant numbers…
We dared: Operation Retribution
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Flag bridge
AFS Archangel
Gibraltar
Data streamed in from all over Spain courtesy to Eight Fleet and laser comms. We could see in real time how the various battles unfolded and while we were winning practically everywhere, it was anything but cheap. With Gibraltar itself in our hands, enemy units were busy consolidating and digging in at Algercas on the other side of the bay and the mountains behind it. Their intent was clear – they were going to do their damned best to keep us away from the tunnel that represented their only reliable bolthole out of Spain. Since midnight, our Air Force and Navy have been surging forward and Spain wasn't the only battlefield – all across the Mediterranean any and all Community and ZAFT naval and merchant vessels were busy blowing up, sinking or being hunted down even as their Air Force was fighting and dying in the skies and on the ground.
The butcher's bill here in Gibraltar was steep too – half of the marines we brought down were casualties with roughly a third of them, dead. The airborne got out lightly by comparison – they still lost three hundred men storming and securing buildings before the enemy could blow them up and not all of those attempt were successful.
Even now, when the place was more or less secure, the city beyond the ravaged ground that used to be its outer defence line was a battleground with enemy infantry making stands all over the place. They were of a negligent threat for Gundams with intact Phase Shift Armour and sufficient energy. The Hyperions and the conventional military – those were vulnerable and so the enemy infantry had to be dug out the hard way.
On the bright side, there were no heavy enemy forces that stood a chance of reaching the area much less taking it. With orbital control and the Archangel in place to provide protection, the odds of a saturation strike managing to wipe out the base were low as well. That made my latest crazy idea a hard sell, instead of people dismissing it out of hand.
"You want us to pull off another insane stunt and risk putting the enemy's back against the wall. They will fight that much harder if they know there's no way out!" Ramius snapped.
"That would be true, Captain, if I suggested that we actually take Tarifa at this time. My proposal is that we land in its general vicinity, form a fire base there and use it to interdict and ravage any enemy units that flee towards the tunnels. Doing so should lit up a fire under them and force them to abandon their defence positions and race to safety so they could be torn apart by air strikes and artillery, risk being cut off and destroyed or surrender. Once we're in place in sufficient strength, this will also give us a slim opportunity of capturing the tunnel reasonably intact. We can use the Archangel to ferry a strike force to the other entrance while the Spanish side is being assaulted as well. If we manage to capture it intact or at least prevent its complete destruction, the logistics of any deployment in Africa would be significantly easier."
"Whatever they did to put you back in one piece, obviously removed your common sense." Mu shook his head in sick fascination at my suggestion.
"If it wasn't for the Gundams, Hyperions and the Dragon Talon MA, not to mention the Archangel, any such attempt would likely end up in disaster. However, we do have power multipliers the enemy lacks good counter for. We have the initiative. I suggest we run with it."
"We can be cut off and destroyed." Ramius pointed out.
"True. However, in order to muster sufficient forces for it, the enemy will have to pull back enough units from their defensive lines to ensure they will collapse when the second echelon moves against them in strength. Even a failure has the potential to significantly reduce our casualties securing the rest of Spain."
"That's actually a good point. Mind you, your idea is still suicidal." La Flaga pointed out.
"That's in the best traditions of Moebius Zero, Mu. I don't see what you're complaining about."
"We're actually winning now so I'm no longer sold on any desperate tactics that might work or more likely, end up in tears." My old friend countered.
"All I'm asking is for you to back me up and present my suggestion to the brass. It's going to be up to them to accept, shoot it down or modify it to make it feasible."
"It can save lives if it works, can't it..." Ramius sighed. She has been looking particularly tired and haunted after last night.
"Anything to avoid as much city fighting as possible. If we can force the enemy to surrender or run in the open in order to avoid encirclement and destruction, its going to be worth it."
"I'll call command once you've got your proposal in writing. Go talk with the colonel in charge of the airborne battalions. He might have an insight or two to add." Ramius suggested.
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Part 6
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Gibraltar
I found the airborne maniacs' CO at a nearby administrative building he had taken up as his HQ. It was close to one of the intact hangars turned into makeshift hospital by our medics and the fact that it took more than one of those to house just the critically wounded drove the point home how expensive my brainstorm was to date. It wasn't over either – there was a constant stream of wounded being carried inside trickling in from the mop up operations in the nearby residential areas. As if that wasn't enough, I knew that this was merely a small fraction of our dead, military and civilian both, and the fighting in Spain was far from over even if the ultimate outcome was no longer in question.
That realization gave me pause, hitting me like a sack of bricks. I was pretty sure that if it wasn't for my subdued emotions, I might have fallen apart then and there. Instead, I grit my teeth and marched in the Colonel's HQ, doubly determined to do my best to bring the fighting to as swift an end as possible.
The Green Devils on the other hand were very happy when I met them – most of them were in high spirits, grinning and laughing as they joked between themselves. I swiftly gained the impression that if given the choice, they would do this again without a second thought, the madmen. I shook my head, went to the sentry and gave her my request to meet their CO. She did rely it up the chain of command, leaving me to be stared at by the airborne who now took notice of my pilot suite and began speculating.
Soon enough, I found myself in a large room turned into a makeshift communication centre from where the Colonel directed his forces.
"Lieutenant Veil from the Archangel, sir." The Corporal who led me inside announced.
"What can we do for you, Lieutenant?" The Colonel turned around from the table he had been leaning on to look at me, speaking with a thick German accent. He was about one eighty, with the figure of a swimmer. His short blond hair stood decidedly out of place compared to his dark complexion.
"I've come to sound you off about a certain operation your people are uniquely qualified to execute, sir." I answered and saluted.
"Do tell, Lieutenant. The way I hear it, its you we have to thank for todays fun and games." The Colonel answered with a grin. "I'm colonel Jonas Schwartz." He introduced himself.
Yep, a certified madman that one, just what the doctor prescribed for my next crazy scheme. Why I felt surprised at that revelation, I would never know.
I did as required, outlining my rough plan. Schwartz rubbed his scarred chin while listening, then went back to the table and waved me to approach. There were multiple maps strewn over it, showing both our immediate area, as well as the whole of southern Spain, complete with up to date friendly and enemy positions.
"You want us to jump over those hills and the small forest east of Tarifa, with the Archangel and its Mobile Suits acting as heavy fire support. Then we're to interdict any enemy units racing for the tunnels and threaten their only viable escape route for the Community forces in Spain." Now we had everyone's undivided attention, which prompted the Colonel to bark at his people to go back to their jobs.
"That's in a nutshell, sir."
"I like it, in concept. There are a few issues – jumping over hills and forests at night, not a good idea generally. We'll take otherwise avoidable losses. Can't we use the Archangel to deploy?"
"I thought about it, sir. The plan is to load her with as many of our surviving marines and heavy weapons as possible and unload it ASAP once we've secured our landing zone."
"Good, we can use any additional firepower, perhaps we can poach some heavy weapon teams from the mechanized forces coming to reinforce us?" Schwartz wondered aloud.
Needless to say, we wouldn't be going anywhere before our reinforcements arrived in strength and locked down the whole area.
"That would be prudent if possible."
"Don't get me wrong, that's the kind of missions we're meant for, however we aren't exactly well equipped to take on mechanized and armoured formations, much less Mobile Suits." Schwartz grumbled at that obvious oversight.
I didn't mention the obvious, that light infantry shouldn't be tangling with heavy units under most circumstances as a matter of course. After all, that was precisely what I was asking of him and his people, though we would be there as well to take care of any enemy heavy equipment.
The Colonel hummed, then brightened up and began rummaging through the maps on the table until he found what he was looking for – one that showed both southern Spain and Northern Africa across the strait.
"Wouldn't it be better if we jump on the other end of the tunnel? We can comprehensively block it by smashing any enemy armoured force trying to get away to safety." Schwartz suggested.
"The thought has crossed my mind sir, however at best I believe that doing so should be a phase two of the operation depending on available friendly forces and the success of the air-strikes against Community targets in Africa. The odds of any force we deploy on the other side of the strait being cut off and destroyed is much higher, potentially not worth it."
"Well, capturing the tunnel intact sounds like a worthy objective..." Schwartz mussed.
"That's the ultimate goal if at all feasible. We'll need a force ready to strike it from this side at a moment's notice when we deploy on its far side, that would give us better chance of capturing it intact. As far as I know, right now we simply lack the ability to deploy sufficient forces at both locations to make something like that feasible."
"So establish a fire base and a jump-off point near Tarifa and if practical, jump over the water to capture the tunnel." Schwartz nodded. "That's my kind of mission. I'll call command and see what they can break lose and send our way to aid us in this worthy endeavour. The Colonel clapped me on the shoulder, hard. "You know, contrary to popular belief, you fly-boys aren't all bad."
"Thank you, sir." I answered. I think, I added in my head.
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Forward Command and Control centre
The Pyrenees mountains
Northern Spain
The operation was going much better than General Claudio Trevayne feared, though despite some stunning successes, it was a far cry from the more optimistic expectations of some of his colleagues. The reason was simple – the enemy forces fought, often to the last soldier, despite facing overwhelming odds, putting to rest any hopes that at least the Community units would shatter and might often surrender without offering strong resistance.
Trevayne hid a grimace when he thought about the casualties suffered to annihilate the enemy's primary defensive lines – despite a monstrous artillery barrages, enough enemy formations survived reasonably intact and he had to throw his whole first echelon in their teeth. While his boys and girls did a commendable job, they paid a steep price in blood for their achievement. The reasons for that were many – while mitigated, the effects of the N-Jammers were still acutely felt making smart munitions next to useless and often requiring the artillery to try and erase whole grids of the map. The need to advance fast once the EF intention to attack became clear meant that he lacked the luxury of leveraging his advantage in artillery and simply methodically blasting every enemy strong-point from the face of the Earth. It didn't help that some of the defensive lines were in cities, towns and suburbia, making indiscriminate deployment of heavy weaponry a bad, bad idea. No one in the army signed in to level down their own cities after all.
Now the second echelon was on its way, attacking through multiple axis and taking advantage of breaches in the enemy defences. As importantly, one of the primary objectives of Operation Stardust was now complete – Gibraltar was secure and heavy reinforcements would reach the base within the next few hours. That thought brought him to the request he received a short time ago from the officers who captured said base. Putting down a harassing force at Tarifa was an interesting idea, however it ran the risk of losing it depending on how the various battles unfolded. While the ultimate conclusion of Operation Retribution was foregone – Trevayne had too much men and material to throw at the enemy, the persistent fanatical resistance could very well slow the advance enough to see anyone deployed near the tunnel overran. That went double for a force ferried over the strait. Still, the idea was quite appealing despite the high risk – a direct threat to the one reliable evacuation route might be the straw that broke the camel's back and if it worked, it could allow him to liberate Spain at a much lower price in men and material, resources that could be put to good use in retaking Victoria…
"Maya, give me a line with Central Command. I have an idea I need to run past them." The President too, considering he would need to deploy the Archangel and her Mobile Suit contingent as well if the plan was to have a prayer in hell of working. Not to mention that it would be nice if the Navy could offer them some support…