"Talking about this now isn't very useful. All we can do is find a way to eliminate this guy, even if it requires deploying massive forces. Otherwise, as long as he remains alive, he'll continue to deliver combat effectiveness equivalent to more than an entire Air Wing. The longer this drags on, the greater our losses will become."
Hearing the casual remarks from his staff officers, Horton sighed before speaking with unwavering determination as he expressed his thoughts. Everyone who heard Horton's opinion nodded in agreement without exception.
...
Victoria Spaceport
Felix's Quarters
Seated in his chair, Felix used the signal relay from the outer space garrison forces to place a call to the PLANT homeland's Ministry of Defense. The moment the communication connected, Patrick's face appeared on the screen.
"Is something the matter?"
From beneath his stern expression, Patrick's inquiring voice came through. Hearing the Chairman's voice, Felix raised his hand in salute and asked, "Chairman, could the troop reinforcements be expedited somewhat?"
"Are the losses that severe?"
Patrick's pupils widened slightly as he asked in return.
Nodding slightly, Felix responded through the communication, "Today we engaged in another battle with the Earth Alliance Forces. In this engagement, we lost over fifty GINN units. Combined with the approximately forty GINN units lost previously, we now have only about half of our original Mobile Suit Unit strength remaining. If we experience another battle like today's, we'll be completely unable to defend Victoria Spaceport."
"Why were the losses so much higher this time?"
Frowning, Patrick asked through the communication.
Felix replied, "The Earth Alliance Forces have found a way to overcome the interference caused by the activated Neutron Jammers on radar and communication systems. Their units can now communicate with each other, and their Missiles are no longer inaccurate as before. This change has nearly eliminated the advantage provided by the Neutron Jammers."
"I understand."
Patrick nodded and responded before continuing, "The Ministry of Defense will dispatch the reinforcement troops ahead of schedule. However, the supplies aren't fully prepared yet, so I can only send you the already prepared supplies earlier."
"Chairman, how long can these supplies sustain us?"
Upon hearing this, Felix looked at Patrick and inquired.
Patrick answered through the communication, "They'll support you through one or two battles without any problem! Rest assured! I'll continue preparing the remaining supplies and strive to deliver them according to the original schedule."
Thinking that they could sustain one or two battles, Felix felt somewhat relieved internally. Though the situation remained pressing, it wouldn't be impossible to hold out until the new supplies arrived.
"I understand, Chairman."
After replying, Felix stood up, saluted, and said, "Thank you, Chairman, for your understanding!"
"No need for thanks, this is our duty. Rather, I should express gratitude to you brave warriors for continuing to hold Victoria Spaceport for PLANT."
Waving his hand, Patrick declined Felix's thanks while expressing his own appreciation to Felix.
After speaking, Patrick chatted with Felix for a few more moments. After ending the communication, he called in the three defense committee members: Ezalia, Herman, and Yuri.
Soon the three arrived in Patrick's office.
"Is something the matter, Zala?" Ezalia asked first as she entered.
Looking up at Ezalia, Patrick remained silent and instead pulled up the report on the screen for all three to see.
After reading the report, Ezalia's expression turned grave as she spoke.
"I never imagined our forces would suffer such heavy casualties!"
"If the current situation continues, we'll lose many more excellent soldiers in future battles. The deployment of Neutron Jammers appears necessary."
Herman spoke gravely after Ezalia.
Compared to the other two, Yuri remained relatively calm and offered no opinion on the matter.
His inner thoughts were conflicted - on one hand he didn't want to see the Neutron Jammers deployed, yet on the other hand he hoped they would be.
This internal contradiction left him unsure how to speak up.
Seeing Yuri's silence, Patrick didn't question him but nodded directly at Herman, saying:
"You're right, deployment has become inevitable."
After speaking, Patrick stood up and continued:
"I've already requested Siegel to convene the Council. Shall we head over now?"
"Yes!"
The three nodded in agreement.
PLANT Supreme Council Hall
The PLANT Supreme Council members gathered together. Siegel looked at the several defense committee members led by Patrick and thought:
'This is going to be another heated debate!'
After this internal remark, Siegel declared the meeting open.
As the meeting began, Patrick distributed the battle report from Felix for everyone to review. While they were reading, Patrick spoke:
"As you can all see, our forces have suffered severe losses at Victoria Spaceport - we've lost half our troops in just two battles.
If we don't take action, our losses in subsequent battles won't decrease. Therefore, to reduce our military casualties and simultaneously restrict the Earth Alliance's nuclear weapons production capability, I once again propose deploying Neutron Jammers."
As soon as the proposal was made, Louise raised her hand in agreement.
"I support the proposal to deploy Neutron Jammers!"
Just as Eileen was about to speak after Louise, Ezalia seemed to anticipate this and preemptively addressed Eileen:
"Eileen, are you still going to reject this proposal? Do you feel no compassion for our soldiers?"
This morally charged question momentarily stunned Eileen. But she quickly recovered, mentally adjusting her response as she spoke to Ezalia.
"Of course I don't want to see our military casualties remain consistently high, but I also have to consider PLANT's future. We can't abandon long-term interests just to protect current benefits.
Therefore, I believe rather than deploying Neutron Jammers to solve the problem, it would be better to research new weapons and equipment that can address the issue, striving for both present and future gains.
Instead of having to sacrifice either the present or the future."
"Eileen, I agree with your proposal. But the optimal solution to reduce our military casualties is to weaken the Earth Alliance's military production capacity and prevent nuclear weapons manufacturing, so they cannot use their production advantages and nuclear destructive power to cause us significant harm.
And the best method to weaken their production capacity and ban nuclear weapons is the Neutron Jammer. Currently, no better or more effective equipment exists."