The fall of the entire Newfoundland Island was undoubtedly a heavy blow from the New Misurugi Kingdom to the Atlantic Federation.
Looking back now at the standoff between the New Misurugi Kingdom and ZAFT in the Azores, the Atlantic Federation could only wish to slap itself.
With PLANT having already planted someone by Reid Isaac's bedside, how could they have been so foolish as to believe the two sides would suddenly turn on each other?
If they hadn't misjudged the New Misurugi Kingdom's troop reinforcements to the Azores as targeting ZAFT, how could they have failed to deploy heavy defenses on Newfoundland Island?
Moreover, the forces stationed on Newfoundland Island were far too incompetent. Although they lacked superweapons like Large Mobile Armors, they had plenty of Mobile Suits. How could the entire island fall in less than a day, leaving the New Misurugi Kingdom with enough spare capacity to deploy new Mobile Armors to test their firepower at a mainland base on the western coast of Newfoundland Island?
But now, Newfoundland Island was lost, and the Atlantic Federation had no choice but to exhaust every means to reclaim it.
However, a significant portion of the Atlantic Federation's eastern forces had already been redeployed to support the Paradise Island Base, as prior to the Azores incident, the Atlantic Federation had believed the New Misurugi Kingdom's target was there.
Now it seemed the New Misurugi Kingdom had been misleading them from the very beginning. Reid Isaac truly lived up to his reputation as a commander who prided himself on strategic deception—this feint to the east while striking the west was executed brilliantly.
But the loss had already been incurred, so the Atlantic Federation wanted to spit it out before the damage grew too severe.
As for the Paradise Island Base, there was no point in holding it any longer. Elite forces needed to be urgently recalled to launch an attack on Newfoundland Island from the northeast.
Meanwhile, the Atlantic Federation's mainland forces would mobilize to attack from the west and south, forming a pincer.
As for the eastern front, it would be left open for now. After all, the Atlantic Federation understood the principle of leaving one side unsealed in a siege. However, the supply line from the Azores to Newfoundland Island had to be severed.
Additionally, the space forces at the lunar base had to be mobilized. With the New Misurugi Kingdom consistently dominating space supremacy over Earth, the war had become exceedingly difficult to fight.
Yet, at present, the Atlantic Federation's eastern mainland had almost no military presence. With the Eurasian Federation's precedent as a cautionary tale, the Atlantic Federation dared not strip all city garrisons to drive out the New Misurugi Kingdom forces from Newfoundland Island.
As mentioned earlier, space supremacy over Earth was entirely in the hands of the New Misurugi Kingdom forces. If they withdrew all garrison troops from inland cities, the New Misurugi Kingdom could drop surprise forces from the skies and execute a devastating "blossom from within" strategy, spelling their doom.
With no readily available forces in the east, they had no choice but to transfer troops from the west, even though the New Misurugi Kingdom's Pacific forces exerted considerable pressure along the Pacific front.
However, the west had the Rocky Mountains as a natural barrier, stretching north to the former Brooks Range in Alaska and south to the Sierra Madre Oriental in former Mexico.
Even now, as long as the Rocky Mountains were heavily fortified, ground forces would find it difficult to break through this defensive line unless they resorted to Space Airborne Forces for every assault.
As for flying over from high altitude, that was certainly possible, but how many troops could ships capable of such flights realistically transport?
The Atlantic Federation's territory was vast and deep, unlike the Oceania Union, which had grown accustomed to playing the role of a subordinate.
For the civilians of the Atlantic Federation, who had been the world's leading power for centuries, making them completely submit was no easy task—they wouldn't surrender so casually.
In fact, according to the calculations of the Atlantic Federation's top brass, with the current military strength of the New Misurugi Kingdom, it would be impossible to fully occupy the Atlantic Federation.
The people in the core regions of the Atlantic Federation were not so easily controlled. The New Misurugi Kingdom would have to station heavy forces to suppress them by force. As they spread their troops across the territory, it wouldn't be long before the New Misurugi Kingdom realized the Atlantic Federation was too vast to swallow whole—they'd choke on it.
However, that was the worst-case scenario. At present, the Atlantic Federation's leadership didn't believe they would lose. They even planned to adopt tactics similar to those of the East Asian Republic, dragging the New Misurugi Kingdom into the quagmire of a people's war.
After all, the New Misurugi Kingdom was famously kind to civilians, while the Atlantic Federation's populace, whether living like beasts of burden or in relative comfort, had been brainwashed by ideals of freedom and democracy, making them experts at all kinds of protests.
If their quality of life declined even slightly, these civilians would have plenty to riot about.
Thus, they decided to cede some cities west of the Rocky Mountains first, then focus their defenses on the Rockies. With the limited forces from the Hawaiian base, it was estimated that after occupying the west, they'd have no strength left to advance eastward, instead becoming bogged down in endless violent conflicts.
Of course, during this troop deployment period, the Atlantic Federation wouldn't let the New Misurugi Kingdom forces on Newfoundland Island sit idle.
You, Reid Isaac, like launching rockets, don't you? Well, we'll launch plenty for you too—and from eastern cities all at once.
With the Atlantic Federation's industrial capabilities, producing rockets was a matter of minutes. The reason they hadn't been quickly supplied to external forces earlier was because most production capacity was tied up with other tasks.
But now, with the urgent need, numerous low-level military factories and small bases went into simultaneous operation, launching relentless rocket barrages at Newfoundland Island every day.
Fortunately, Reid had long anticipated this outcome, so the equipment airdropped by the Cosmic Army was mostly anti-air weaponry.
To counter the rockets, they even produced some laser anti-missile systems from the previous century.
In the CE Universe, these laser anti-missile systems were actually obsolete.
During the space colonization era, although missiles remained prevalent, before Neutron Jammers were deployed on Earth, high-end missiles could simply be coated with anti-beam coating to render laser anti-missile weapons useless.
After all, high-end missiles were extremely fast, and laser anti-missile weapons had limited time for laser irradiation. With anti-beam coating, they could almost entirely ignore the damage from these anti-air lasers.
As for Cosmic Battleships, their primary means of attack were Beam Main Cannons or Large Railguns, with missiles serving mainly as cover.
Moreover, laser anti-missile weapons were highly energy-intensive. Equipping them on early-generation battleships would reduce the power of the main cannons, putting them at a disadvantage in direct confrontations. Fighters carrying such energy-hungry weapons would suffer from severely limited endurance.
Thus, after the Reorganization War in the CE Universe, laser anti-missile weapons were quickly phased out, as it became clear that traditional Anti-Aircraft Guns were often more effective.
With the subsequent advent of the Mobile Suit era, these weapons were utterly useless against MS. To increase their power, it made more sense to simply equip Beam Cannons instead.
It wasn't until Reid decided to use rockets—those super antiquated weapons—to remind the enemy of the terror of saturation bombing that laser anti-missile systems were manufactured once again.
Reid was well aware that rocket suppression tactics had virtually no learning curve and would inevitably be copied by others. So, when considering countermeasures, his first thought was laser anti-missile systems.
These weapons were exceptionally effective against rockets, so Reid produced a batch of them, planning to deploy them for defensive battles.
The only problem was that Newfoundland Island was plagued by heavy fog, which severely hampered the effectiveness of laser anti-missile systems.
As a result, during the morning hours when the fog was thickest, the New Misurugi Kingdom forces often couldn't intercept all incoming rockets.
However, the New Misurugi Kingdom forces had no trouble ensuring the interception of rockets targeting military bases and other key areas. After all, there were many ways to clear fog from a specific region. Without fog interference, conventional inertial rockets were nothing more than fireworks in the face of laser air defense systems.
The outcome was that the Atlantic Federation's missiles that managed to land mostly struck the island's cities and uninhabited areas.
Initially, as the Atlantic Federation had anticipated, the residents of Newfoundland Island were highly uncooperative with the occupation by the New Misurugi Kingdom forces.
The Atlantic Federation was a country where civilians were allowed to bear arms, so attacks against the New Misurugi Kingdom's public security maintenance forces were incessant.
Moreover, most attackers had no real justification. When questioned, their only response was, "You're invaders, so I fired."
Regardless of whether anyone was actually injured, Reid dealt with such attackers with a zero-tolerance policy—executing them all by firing squad.
He also began forcibly deploying A-Laws-style automated robots to conduct door-to-door searches for firearms using high-precision metal scanners. Those who cooperated faced no issues, but anyone who dared to resist with firearms was killed on the spot.
As for those wielding cold weapons, a few warning shots at their feet from the robots usually made them comply.
As the saying goes, "Compassion has no place in commanding troops." Reid harbored no sympathy for rioters.
However, this approach inevitably sparked widespread discontent among Newfoundland Island's residents, though for now, they dared only to seethe in silence.
But everything is relative.
When the Atlantic Federation's bombings left civilians homeless, they suddenly began to see the New Misurugi Kingdom forces as the good guys.
Even though the rockets were provoked by the New Misurugi Kingdom forces, they hadn't bombed civilian homes during their invasion of the island.
Now, the Atlantic Federation's daily rocket barrages were flattening cities across Newfoundland Island, as if declaring, "If I can't have it, neither can you."
In contrast, the New Misurugi Kingdom forces, who provided shelter, water, food, and medical aid in several bomb shelters to protect local lives, seemed positively angelic.
Thanks to the Atlantic Federation's inhumane actions, opposition to the New Misurugi Kingdom forces on Newfoundland Island gradually faded away.
Of course, bombing their own cities was merely the Atlantic Federation's entry-level display of inhumanity.
Soon, the advanced version arrived.
Seeing that inertial rockets failed to inflict any real damage on the New Misurugi Kingdom forces stationed on Newfoundland Island, the Atlantic Federation investigated and discovered that the New Misurugi Kingdom had deployed laser anti-missile systems. They quickly understood the situation.
It was now a game of "animal chess." Since the elephant (Mobile Suits) was ill-suited to fight mice (rockets), the New Misurugi Kingdom had brought out the cat (laser anti-missile systems), which could defeat what the elephant couldn't.
However, the Atlantic Federation decided to proceed with the rocket barrage, but they planned to send elite troops to infiltrate the island and destroy these laser anti-missile weapons.
To be honest, Reid found this idea somewhat laughable.
Destroy the laser anti-missile weapons? Is the Atlantic Federation planning to send special forces or Mobile Suits? Are they sure they can breach our defenses?
But this time, the Atlantic Federation genuinely surprised Reid. A squad of three Mobile Suits actually took advantage of the daytime fog and braved the rocket barrage from the sky to assault a New Misurugi Kingdom military stronghold in western Newfoundland.
Within ten minutes, they defeated a garrison of twenty Jegans and a hundred Mass-Produced GM Astrays, and destroyed the laser anti-missile weapons stationed there.
If Reid hadn't originally equipped the other units with surplus laser anti-missile weapons, they might not have been able to intercept all the rockets targeting the New Misurugi Kingdom's naval forces in Placentia Bay.
This piqued Reid's interest. However, after reviewing the footage from the Mass-Produced GM Astrays' recording devices at the scene, Reid fell silent.
The Mobile Suit had the standard appearance of a Gundam, but with a head resembling that of a Dagger L. Its entire armor could burst open, revealing a strange red glow flickering inside.
In terms of armament, it appeared to have a Jet Pack similar to the Windam's.
But the Beam Rifle in its right hand was astonishingly powerful, almost as if the Multiple Array Phase Energy Cannon had been rifle-sized. Its left hand held a Beam Shield combined with a Physical Shield.
How should I put it? This Mobile Suit, well, if you ignore the Jet Pack on its back, it bears a striking resemblance to the Unicorn Gundam.
Alright, isn't this thing just a fusion of the Blue Destiny Unit 1 and the Unicorn Gundam?
Reid couldn't help but want to complain. He hadn't even visited the Unicorn universe yet, so how did the Atlantic Federation manage to create such a Mobile Suit?
Of course, Reid didn't believe this Mobile Suit utilized any technology related to the Unicorn. After all, he didn't even have Psycho-Frame Technology himself, and the Atlantic Federation couldn't possibly conjure up the NT-D System out of thin air.
As for the Blue Destiny Unit 1, unless Kirst Mosjous betrayed him, the Atlantic Federation couldn't have obtained its blueprints.
However, with the System guaranteeing loyalty, Kirst Mosjous couldn't possibly betray him. Moreover, he had never left Star Palace City, so it was unlikely the Atlantic Federation had contacted him.
Thus, the resemblance could only be a coincidence.
But this Mobile Suit's performance was not weak.
From the footage, the Mobile Suit was exceptionally agile, capable of performing acrobatic maneuvers to dodge beams. The pilot was at least on par with Mu.
As for the red glow inside the Mobile Suit when its armor burst open, it seemed like a form of heat dissipation.
Moreover, the Mobile Suit's output was not low—far exceeding the current output of the Minovsky Particle Fusion Reactors developed by PLANT. It could simultaneously power a Beam Rifle version of the Multiple Phase Energy Cannon and a Beam Shield, reminiscent of the ZZ Era Dinosaur Mobile Suits.
So Reid suspected the Mobile Suit was equipped with two or even more Minovsky Particle Fusion Reactors.
However, even with PLANT's Minovsky Particle Fusion Reactor technology, it would be difficult to fit two into a standard-sized Mobile Suit unless it was unmanned or the cockpit was located in the head.
But from the footage, the head didn't appear to house a cockpit, as during the battle, one of the Jegans punched one of these Mobile Suits in the head.
However, this punch had no effect on the Mobile Suit's movements at all. The pilot was most likely not in the head; otherwise, the impact would have definitely caused the Mobile Suit's operation to freeze momentarily.
As for unmanned drones, if the Atlantic Federation had such advanced drone technology, they wouldn't have been pushed back into their own territory by us. They would have long since mass-produced Mobile Dolls like us, competing in industrial capacity.
Thus, Reid's curiosity was piqued, and he decided to personally confront these three Mobile Suits.
However, with the enemy hidden and us exposed, the three Mobile Suits withdrew from the island before the fog over Newfoundland cleared.
Three Mobile Suits, capable of flight, could only be roughly confirmed to have left Newfoundland heading northwest.
Therefore, Reid could only first send the Automated Soldier Murasame to fly over the coast and attempt to locate them, though he held little hope.
To capture these three Mobile Suits, a trap would still be necessary.
(End of Chapter)