The airdrop assault on the Zeon Army base had originally ended when the Zeon Army blocked them with anti-air positions, turning the raid into a frontal assault against a base that might already have been fully prepared with all manner of defensive installations. Even so, Xiao Ran did not have anyone chase down the defeated Zeon troops as they fled in disarray after their anti-air positions were breached. Instead, he halted the advance, ordered everyone to immediately clear the battlefield, conduct indiscriminate rescue operations, and put out the raging fires the battle had ignited in the jungle.
Though there was no water source to fight the fire, dealing with flames was not particularly difficult for steel giants like MS. The blaze could not be extinguished directly, but firebreaks could be cut to contain it effectively before the remaining burning areas were gradually put out.
The search-and-rescue effort was also progressing very slowly. While the downed personnel had been shot down in clusters while airborne, differences in their descent angles had vastly expanded the search area on the ground. With this being dense jungle, the rescue work had become even more difficult.
The pursuit that should have continued was completely stopped. The Federal Army, which should have pressed onward toward the Zeon base, had halted because of Xiao Ran's orders. Strictly speaking, continuing the pursuit would have been appropriate, but Xiao Ran's order to stop, inspect the mecha, and search for survivors could still be justified. After all, they needed to determine whether the Zeon Army had laid further ambushes along the pursuit route. However, putting out fires and indiscriminately aiding wounded Zeon soldiers were two actions that stood out as especially objectionable.
In some people's eyes, those two matters were clearly a waste of time. They could have dispatched scouts