The Hawaiian Islands are located almost in the center of the Pacific Ocean. Although they are merely the largest secondary archipelago within Polynesia, the vast surrounding waters offer no large islands suitable for stationing major forces.
This location boasts an exceptionally strategic position, serving as a perfect base for launching attacks against any country along the Pacific Rim.
Since the last century, the islands have been controlled by the core nations of the Atlantic Federation. Despite enduring numerous wars, they have never changed hands.
Thus, unlike the previous battle with the Atlantic Federation's Pacific Fleet, which took place almost on their doorstep while the Federation's supply lines were constantly harassed by ZAFT aquatic forces from South America, this time, it is the New Misurugi Kingdom that faces excessively long supply lines.
With the Atlantic Federation's underwater MS nearly wiped out by the New Misurugi Kingdom, domestic accelerated production has been like trying to extinguish a burning cartload of firewood with a cup of water. In this Hawaiian campaign, the Atlantic Federation has very few underwater MS left, rendering them largely incapable of engaging in open-ocean naval warfare against the New Misurugi Kingdom. They can only resort to defensive operations in shallow waters.
The current Pacific Commander of the Atlantic Federation is Dres, who was forced to surrender by Reid during the Orb Liberation War two years ago.
After multiple changes in authority within the Atlantic Federation military, Dres has now been promoted to Admiral, overseeing all maritime affairs in the Pacific. (Note: The Pacific Fleet Commander and Pacific Commander are two distinct positions, equivalent to a military commander and a theater commander, respectively.)
Admiral Dres possesses solid military expertise and is highly adaptable. With his MS forces depleted, he directly deployed the Atlantic Federation's attack submarines across the Pacific.
These attack submarines of the Atlantic Federation cannot carry MS and were already on the verge of obsolescence two years ago during the war. However, at that time, the Atlantic Federation lacked underwater MS and had to rely on these submarines to counter ZAFT's various aquatic units. It was only in the later stages of the war, with the mass production of the Forbidden series underwater units, that these submarines were gradually phased out.
Now, Admiral Dres has dragged these old relics out of storage, where they had been awaiting scrapping since two years ago.
Of course, Admiral Dres does not expect these attack submarines to compete with the New Misurugi Kingdom's unmanned underwater MS.
Their sole responsibility is to flank and attack the New Misurugi Kingdom's supply lines to the frontlines.
The sea route between Australia and the Hawaiian Islands is dotted with numerous islands and features complex underwater terrain, making it ideal for submarines to play hide-and-seek.
After all, the New Misurugi Kingdom cannot rely entirely on air transport to deliver supplies to the frontlines, as the Tiertan-class cargo ships are primarily used for space transport and supply.
Thus, the New Misurugi Kingdom also employs a large number of surface vessels to transport supplies to the Hawaiian Islands.
However, it is impossible for the New Misurugi Kingdom to equip all these transport ships with Automated soldier Kapools, as these are in high demand on the frontlines. They can only dispatch patrol ships carrying Kapools to extensively search the supply routes.
As a result, clashes occur daily along the routes between Orb and the Hawaiian Islands. The New Misurugi Kingdom loses one or two cargo ships each day, while the number of Atlantic Federation attack submarines destroyed daily reaches double digits.
To be honest, this wave of attacks by the Atlantic Federation failed to achieve its tactical objectives. Due to ample supplies and considering that the Hawaiian Sea might turn into a protracted war, the New Misurugi Kingdom is currently sending surplus supplies to the front lines daily. Even if one or two cargo ships sank, it wouldn't affect the frontline provisions.
However, the Atlantic Federation's decision to recommission attack submarines is merely a case of making use of scrap. As for the lives of the officers and soldiers aboard, that's not something Congress or high-ranking military officials need to concern themselves with daily.
Switching back to the front lines, aboard the Mystic Angel, Noin and Bargiruel are presiding over a high-level officers' meeting, discussing strategies for capturing the Hawaiian Islands.
Bargiruel begins by outlining the current situation:
"Everyone, our surface fleet has successfully blockaded the western and southern parts of the Hawaiian Islands, but the Atlantic Federation continues to provide uninterrupted support to Hawaii from the east. Currently, all of the enemy's underwater forces are protecting their supply lines, and our attacks on these lines have had minimal effect."
After Bargiruel finishes, a staff officer from the planning department asks:
"The High War Crab (large battery version) is already in limited mass production back home. Should we send some to the front lines?"
Noin immediately rejects the idea:
"The few High War Crabs we have in the rear aren't enough to attack the supply lines effectively. Moreover, sending our mothership deep behind enemy lines would be too risky."
However, after Noin speaks, Bargiruel raises another point:
"According to reports, the Archangel has arrived north of the Hawaiian Islands and is currently hidden on a small island. Could we deploy its Mobile Suits to attack the supply lines?"
Hearing this, Noin nods. While the Archangel itself is clearly unsuitable for attacking supply lines, the Jet Black Hunter onboard is perfectly suited for the task.
The Jet Black Hunter can stealthily approach, destroy a ship with a single shot from its Mega Particle Cannon, and then retreat unscathed.
Additionally, for underwater combat, the three original High War Crabs on the Archangel are more than capable of protecting the mothership.
After some thought, Noin says:
"The Archangel's diving capability was compromised after it destroyed the Bering Strait communication lines. We need to send them repair supplies to fix the hull before they can carry out missions to sabotage the supply lines.
Until then, let's deploy the Jet Black Hunter to scout the eastern port of the Atlantic Federation's Hawaiian base. We can assess its throughput and check if any new Mobile Suits are being transported there.
The Hawaiian base is too close to the Atlantic Federation's mainland. As long as their homeland remains unthreatened, it will be difficult for us to destroy their supply lines. So, even if we plan future attacks, they must be targeted. For now, with insufficient intelligence, we'll hold off on planning supply line raids until we have more information."
With Noin's statement, the matter of raiding the supply lines is settled—until more intelligence arrives, we'll only deploy a few Mobile Dolls for minor skirmishes. The primary focus remains on dealing with the enemy's frontal forces.
Bargiruel then points to the map again and says:
"Currently, the waters around the Hawaiian Islands are crowded with Atlantic Federation ships. We've already identified nearly a hundred modified and expanded Spengler-class seaborne aircraft carriers, along with the base's anti-air Mobile Suits. Conservatively estimating, the number of deployable Mobile Suits here is at least five thousand."
Though our Air Combat Pack Phantom Jegans hold a performance advantage, we only have about a thousand units. The new mainstay Rezels number just over fifty, while the Union Flag Automatic Soldiers alone exceed six thousand. Our overall air combat capability can only be described as marginally superior.
"Since we're the attacking side this time, when factoring in enemy base defenses and naval anti-air capabilities, we won't gain significant advantages in low-altitude combat," Bargiruel concluded.
Another staff officer reviewing enemy intelligence remarked, "Naval combat capabilities are fairly balanced too. While our warships are all Constellation-class, we're vastly outnumbered. Our most numerous vessels are non-combat drone transport ships. It appears this will truly become a war of attrition."
Hearing this, Noin immediately objected, noting this contradicted Reid's strategy. Pointing at Kauai, the northernmost Hawaiian island, she declared, "Not necessarily. Our plan is to seize control of Kauai within a week. Remember, we prevailed in near-Earth space combat. The Earth Alliance fleet is now confined to their northern hemisphere territories. Though the airspace over Hawaii hasn't fallen yet, it's imminent. With airborne troop support, temporary air superiority will let us gradually erode enemy defenses."
"Moreover," she added, "we possess secret weapons for ground combat. Victory is assured."
Morale lifted immediately among the others. In this space age, orbital dominance carried tremendous impact—particularly for naval warfare. Simply dropping large debris from orbit, whether hitting ships or just impacting the ocean, could generate waves capable of disrupting enemy formations and creating openings.
The meeting then focused on diverting enemy attention southward, making them believe the primary target was the Atlantic Federation base on Hawaii Island (the main island), while secretly deploying forces from the west to capture Kauai first. This foothold would enable gradual erosion of Atlantic Federation defenses.
That afternoon, the Hawaiian naval battle between the New Misurugi Kingdom and Atlantic Federation commenced.
Noin deployed the Mystic Angel and all Constellation-class warships to the southern front, creating the impression of a direct assault on the enemy base.
Atlantic Federation Pacific Commander Dres remained undaunted. His forces matched the New Misurugi Kingdom's strength, and this time there was no generational gap in mobile suit technology. Why should he fear them?
However, aware of the New Misurugi Kingdom's advanced artillery technology, Dres deployed forty Zamza-zahs not for offense, but to deploy SX1021 'Aegis Vanguard' positron reflection beam shields before his fleet, protecting them from various super beam cannons.
Unlike the original timeline, the Zamza-zah had entered limited mass production. After obtaining the PLANT version Minovsky particle reactor, the Atlantic Federation immediately initiated large-scale production with support from multiple defense contractors. With power systems guaranteed, the Zamza-zah naturally entered full-scale production.
It was well known that after the Atlantic Federation learned Reid had captured his own clone, everyone understood he would not let the matter rest. To avoid national annihilation and ensure people could continue living peaceful lives, the military-industrial enterprises spared no expense, pushing the Atlantic Federation's wartime industrial capacity to its absolute limit.
War is a catalyst for technological advancement. Unlike the First War, where a single Neutron Jammer had set the Atlantic Federation's industrial capabilities back by over a century, the current industrial system was rebuilt from the ground up to adapt to new conditions. Research into Minovsky Particles unleashed the latent potential of this world power, allowing its foundational strengths to erupt.
Mass production of the Zamza-zah was just one aspect of this transformation. Soon, an improved version of the Freedom Windam—which had performed exceptionally in South America and the L4 Colony Satellite—also entered mass production.
Through repeated combat experience, the Atlantic Federation realized that while the Justice Windam was formidable, few MS pilots in their ranks could fully utilize its combat potential. The machine was simply too demanding on pilot skill. In contrast, the Freedom Windam, with its heavy firepower, high mobility, and suitability for team-based operations, proved more compatible with Atlantic Federation pilots.
However, the Freedom Windam's exorbitant cost made large-scale production unfeasible. Following the precedent of downgrading the Strike Gundam, the Atlantic Federation implemented several reductions. First, the Minovsky Particle Fusion Reactor was replaced with the inferior counterfeit reactors Reid had previously compelled Orb to sell. These inferior versions required far fewer rare metals, significantly cutting costs.
For armor, the Atlantic Federation outright removed the Phase Shift Armor. Low-performance PS Armor had proven ineffective in beam-dominated battlefields. While it could enhance the survival of ace pilots—who were more valuable than the machines themselves—it was deemed unnecessary for mass-produced units. Instead, they employed improved Laminated Armor.
To boost shooting accuracy and enable multi-lock capabilities, the Mobile Suit's detection systems were extensively overhauled, resulting in the development of the Hundred-Eye System. Despite its name, it didn't actually feature a hundred cameras. Instead, the head was modified into an unusual triple-eye camera, with additional detection cameras installed on both shoulders and the left and right chest armor. This allowed for more precise targeting, effectively improving weapon accuracy. Additionally, the onboard computer supported quadruple-lock, enabling simultaneous attacks on four targets.
In terms of armament, the backpack was left untouched, as the Atlantic Federation was highly satisfied with the Freedom Windam's battlefield dominance. The inferior Minovsky Reactor still provided sufficient power for the two plasma beam cannons. For handheld weapons, however, they adopted an unconventional approach: the right hand's primary weapon was a physical heat axe, whose handle could double as a beam rifle. To reduce strain on the Mobile Suit's power supply, this weapon used battery magazines, requiring no energy from the unit itself and ready for immediate use upon pickup.
The Shield was equipped with a specialized spike shield coated with anti-beam coating, seemingly designed for ramming attacks.
Unsurprisingly, the Atlantic Federation decided against retaining the name "Freedom," which had originated from PLANT. Instead, they inexplicably renamed this new Windam variant the Idola Windam.
The Idola Windam was clearly a trump card unveiled by the Atlantic Federation, deploying three squads of fifteen units right from the start.
Equipped with a new fire control system, the Idola Windam's stationary firepower on the battlefield resembled a crude, budget version of Kira.
However, quantity made up for quality. Who had ever witnessed fifteen Mobile Suits unleashing Rainbow Cannons simultaneously? Within minutes, the unmanned Union Flags serving as cannon fodder for the New Misurugi Kingdom were shot down by the hundreds, with over a dozen Ghost Jegans also lost. The aerial front was pushed back.
Fortunately, Noin reacted swiftly. Seeing the enemy's new Mobile Suits appear, she immediately dispatched Salya and Hilda to lead six squads—thirty Rezels—to engage them.
Simultaneously, Noin ordered Mu to take the remaining twenty Rezels and flank the squad from behind, ensuring the destruction of these fifteen new Atlantic Federation Mobile Suits capable of rapidly clearing Mobile Dolls.
Frankly, Noin assigning Salya and Hilda to lead thirty Rezels against fifteen Idola Windams was overkill.
However, Noin had considered that the Rezel squads in their current force had missed the previous naval battle and lacked actual combat experience. She wanted to start them off with a straightforward yet challenging mission to let these pilots test their skills.
After all, these pilots were all personally selected by Noin from the officer academy and trained under her direct supervision—she treasured them deeply.
(End of Chapter)