February 7, CE71, before 12:00 standard time
"Sure enough, we should have seized the opportunity just now and tried to take the initiative to eliminate ZAFT in front of us, right?"
After hearing the report from the radar controller, one of the ZAFT new mobile suit squadrons that had previously chased the friendly forces returned first;
On the flagship of the 8th Fleet advance fleet, Nelson-class Battleship Montgomery, the first officer standing next to Colonel Koopman could not help but sigh like this;
Perhaps it is a pessimistic view or speculation that Archangel's friendly forces have been defeated?
Therefore, Colonel Koopman did not respond directly to the first officer's lament, but made a positive speculation out of the consideration of boosting morale.
"Perhaps friendly forces defeated ZAFT's new aircraft squadron, and the only ones who came back now are deserters.
After all, those are the new battleships and new mobile suits developed by Atlantic Federation and Orb!
But ZAFT is arrogant and takes the initiative to start a fight but can't do anything to us;
After being surprised by friendly forces, they dared to forcibly divide their troops;
When the friendly forces arrive and attack us from both sides, today we will let them know how powerful our 8th Fleet is!"
For the advance fleet in 'difficulty', they tend to believe the optimistic statement of fleet commander Colonel Koopman;
Moreover, Colonel Koopman's statement seems to be reasonable and logical, and the enemy in front of him is indeed just trying to contain him, and cannot help the advance fleet;
Therefore, with the powerful words of Colonel Koopman, the Montgomery bridge also responded in unison, cheering up and carefully dealing with the weak but lingering restraint of ZAFT, who only had a small team of mobile suits in front of him.
After the apologetic first mate expressed his concern, Colonel Koopman also took advantage of the current stalemate to reflect on his previous tactical choices.
In fact, the tactical choices faced by the 8th Fleet advance fleet in the previous situation were quite similar to those of Archangel:
Faced with a battle situation shrouded in the fog of war and with limited intelligence, the advance fleet also has three strategies to choose from: "Aggressive", "conservative" and "retreat".
As for the advance fleet, the first thing to be ruled out was the 'retreat' strategy.
Not to mention that although they failed to make contact, since Heine Westenfluss was able to judge that the surprise attack might be 'Hawk of Endymion' Major Mu La La Flaga who should be on Archangel at the moment, as the advance fleet coming to join Archangel, Montgomery could naturally make the same judgment;
Based on this, we can infer that Archangel is coming to join us, which is even more natural.
Therefore, for the advance fleet whose core combat mission is to unite Archangel, choosing to 'retreat' means giving up the combat mission and betraying the friendly forces who came to 'rescue';
Publicly and privately, these are not options acceptable to Colonel Koopman, who wants to rescue even suspicious friendly forces.
What's more, choosing to 'retreat' would bring real difficulties and risks to the advance fleet.
Relying on the tactical choice of "fortifying the stronghold and fighting a dull war", while gaining the ability to confront ZAFT's mobile suits head-on, the advance fleet almost completely lost its tactical maneuverability.
After forming a tight box formation, due to the characteristics of the battleship, it can still exert 6/70% of its maneuverability when moving forward, but its retreating speed is only about 10%;
And if you pursue mobility and abandon the formation in front of the enemy and retreat in a dispersed manner, it will directly expose the vital points of the power department at the stern of the ship, which is almost the same as committing suicide.
Therefore, no matter what aspect was considered, the 'retreat' strategy was the first to be ruled out by Colonel Koopman.
Then, after repeated thinking and hesitation, what Colonel Koopman gave up was the 'aggressive' strategy that the first mate also mentioned just now.
Although the first mate expressed regret for this just now, if the first mate was asked to make a decision, he would not choose the "aggressive" strategy unless it was a last resort.
In fact, the 'aggressive' strategy can almost be regarded as the standard tactic used by the Earth Alliance when facing ZAFT for a long time.
Earth Alliance, who originally thought that relying on numerical advantages, the mobile suits were nothing more than toys, after a whole year of repeated failures, everyone at least has understood the format.
Now unless there is an overwhelming advantage in combat power, tactical attack is completely out of the scope of the Earth Alliance's consideration.
Specific to the advance fleet, although Colonel Koopman has confidence in his selected subordinates, the CGUE on the other side, which can only be driven by an ace, ZAFT, is always reminding Colonel Koopman to act with caution.
You must know that Law Lu Rau Le Creuset, who also piloted CGUE and was also "wanted" by "Celestial Being", when he was driving a mere Ginn in the World Tree battle, he destroyed 6 battleships and 37 Moebius aircraft by himself;
Although the situation has changed, but with only 7 battleships and 10 Moebiuss left in the entire advance fleet, Colonel Koopman did not dare to bet that the pilot of the opposite CGUE was a parallel import - after all, ZAFT was still young when it was formed into the army, and it seemed that there were no relevant customers yet.
Therefore, after ruling out the two strategies of 'retreat' and 'aggressive', Colonel Koopman could only place his hope on the suspected friendly forces of Archangel being able to defeat ZAFT's new aircraft squadron alone, and rush to support and advance the fleet to attack the enemy in front of them, and then quickly retreat together.
"Colonel, look!"
Under the reminder of the first mate, Colonel Koopman came back to his senses from the review that reconfirmed that the decision was correct;
Soon, Colonel Koopman understood what the first mate wanted him to see - it seemed that he had made the right bet!
After all, the posture of the troops belonging to ZAFT--Gamow in front of them is consistent with the advance fleet earlier, and they are obviously preparing to wait for a change;
Then the only reason that can explain this tactical choice is that just as Colonel Koopman said just to boost morale:
Archangel is still alive and is about to form a two-sided attack with the advance fleet.
"As expected of "Hawk of Endymion" Major Mu·La·La Flaga, and Major Murrue·Ramius who is deeply trusted by His Excellency Halberton, well done!"
Seeing the reaction of Colonel Koopman, who was obviously excited all over, the bridge also burst into warm cheers, and some people even cried with joy;
As the first mate, or 'chief deputy captain', the first mate plays a role similar to Badgiruel.
"Stay alert, this ship is still in battle!"
Despite the first mate's statement, on one side Gamow's troops were retreating slightly, and on the other side the radar control officer brought certain good news.
"Confirm the ship shadow in the L3 direction, compare the data, it is Archangel!"
As the seemingly intact image of Archangel appeared on the home screen, even the first officer no longer suppressed the cheers of the crew members this time;
So this time, Colonel Koopman was replaced to cool down the fleet.
"Very good, prepare to flank the enemy with Archangel!
But stay alert, ZAFT might have reinforcements!"