One Year War
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| One Year War | |||||||||
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| Depictions | |||||||||
| Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO, Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO 2: The Gravity Front | |||||||||
| Canon information | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Earth Federation | Principality of Zeon | ||||||||
| Commanders | |||||||||
| General Revil† Admiral Tianem† Admiral Watkins† Jamitov Hymem |
Degwin Sodo Zabi† Gihren Zabi† Dozle Zabi† Kycilia Zabi† Garma Zabi† |
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| Casualties | |||||||||
| 5,800,000,000 (roughly 3 billion civilians) | 200,000,000 (roughly 60 million civilians) | ||||||||
The One Year War (一年戦争 Ichinen Sensō) is a fictional conflict from the Universal Century timeline of the anime Gundam metaseries. The One Year War is analogous to World War II, where almost all nations choose a side and only very few neutral factions remain on the sidelines, only that it is changed to a science fiction setting and some major battles occurred in space. The war was originally depicted in the first Gundam anime, Mobile Suit Gundam, and later series of the same timeline also depicted other parts of this fictional war.
The war is a major part of the Gundam franchise. A PlayStation 2 game called Mobile Suit Gundam: One Year War (機動戦士ガンダム 一年戦争) was released by Bandai and Namco (now Namco Bandai Games) on July 4, 2005 in celebration of the franchise's 25th anniversary, retelling the story of the first Gundam anime. Various stories and models are based on the units of the war, and half of the animated series in the UC timeline is of this period, including Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO and Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO 2: The Gravity Front. A special series of models called UC Hardgraph features units and soldiers in a realistic style are also based on the war. Games of the strategic genre like Mobile Suit Gundam: Gihren's Greed is also present depicting the if scenario of the war, letting players try out different characters like Char Aznable, Gihren Zabi, and even Tim Ray, the father of Amuro Ray, the chief Engineer who developed the Gundam, to attain victory in the war. Parody games like SD Gundam: Scad Hammers are also based on this fictional war.
The fictional war is also seen as a fictional depiction of a battle of social classes.[1][2] Some view it as a war of wealthy versus poor.[3]
It is the largest military conflict depicted in the Universal Century series, involving tens of thousand of mobile weapons, thousands of war ships and millions of combatants. Its casualties, both military personnel and civilians were in the billions. Series with its plot coming after this war refers to it as The War.
The war is also known as the Zeon War of Independence to the soldiers of the Principality of Zeon in the plot, in a later series, like the anime Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory and manga Char's Deleted Affairs, some Zeon remnants refuses to admit defeat and claimed that the war is still on going.
Some speculated the war is not really an independent war since Zeon claimed independency more than 20 years before the war.[4] However, it is not an official view. Official material explaint the war is started to stop the Earth Federation sanctions made against the declared independence and Zeon will not have any strength to fight for its independence if being sanctioned any longer.[5]
In the current official story, the One Year War occurs on January 3, UC 0079 (the Universal Century calendar begins some time after 2045 AD, according to the official timeline). A short period in the first week of the war is known as the "One Week Battle", where most civilian casualties are accrued by indiscriminate use of WMDs. The portion of the war depicted in Mobile Suit Gundam is mainly the last few months of it, where only the intro narration mentioned the earlier events including the colony drop and half of the human population is eliminated. It technically ends on January 1, UC 0080, when the Republic of Zeon, reinstated after the fall of the Principality, signs a peace treaty with the Earth Federation. An earlier description of the dates of the One Year War before the official timeline is release, as depicted in the Gundam Century, a special booklet published by the Monthly OUT Magazine in 1980, used November, UC0079 as the starting date,[6] since the anime did not specifically mentioned the start and end date and only mentioned it is UC0079 when the war started and UC0080 when the war ended.
[edit] World War II analogues
The One Year War closely resembles World War II, mainly an amplification of the European theatre. The war is started by a dictator in a country with few resources and an inferior economy. Like WWII Germany, the Zeon have the advantage of technologically advanced units at the beginning of the war. The ensuing blitzkrieg shattered Federation defenses and allowed the Zeon to conquer a large swath of territory, totaling two-thirds of the Earth's land mass (including most of Asia, Europe, and North America). However, they did not possess enough troops to control all of this territory and thus, were forced to defend key manufacturing and material centers. The Federation was thus able to catch up in terms of technology and eventually defeat an exhausted Zeon military.[3]
[edit] Introduction
In Mobile Suit Gundam, the story focuses on a small group of survivors aboard the new Federation space warship White Base, where they experience the war from their view point starting in September U.C.0079. The One Year War is not completely told and the early events, like the colony drop in the One Week Battle, are only briefly told in the introduction of each episode. Duration of the war is also later than the current official timeline, and in the first book published to tell the events in more detail, Gundam Century (published on September 22, 1981), the war starts in November U.C.0079, about ten months later than the actual official timeline dated January U.C.0079.
After the Earth Federation forces the emigration of the major part of humanity to the space colonies, tensions between the space colonists and the Earth elites are common and ubiquitous. The Republic of Zeon at Side 3 starts pushing for a peaceful independence under the leadership of Zeon Zum Deikun. The Earth Federation considers this a threat of instability to the Earth Sphere, so they apply economic pressure in an effort to force them back into the Federation, an effort that ultimately fails. In U.C.0068, Zeon Deikun unexpectedly dies (though never confirmed, his death is strongly suspected of being an assassination by the Zabi family), and the independent Republic becomes the Principality of Zeon when Deikun's deputy, Degwin Sodo Zabi, seizes control of the administration. When Degwin Zabi takes over, he rapidly militarizes the state by expanding the size of the Zeon National Guard, elevating it to the status of a full-fledged army. The mobile suits and the majority of the Zeon space force is formed during this time period, as was the Flanagan Institute.
Alarmed at the sudden build-up of arms at Side 3, the Earth Federation launches the 60's Armament Reinforcement Plan and the 70's Armament Reinforcement Plan, both aimed at building up the strength of the Earth Federation Space Force (EFSF). Federation engineers converts the mining asteroid Luna II into a major military base and roll out the Salamis and Magellan-class warships during this time period.
[edit] The One Year War
In October UC 0078, the Principality of Zeon officially announces mobilization orders, and splits the army into the space attack force and the mobile assault force. The Federation, anticipating a traditional ship-to-ship type warfare, begins reshuffling its fleets and issues a general alert status to all of its forces.
[edit] The One Week Battle
The opening to the One Year War is originally referred to as the One Week Battle or One Week War, due to the horrific scale of civilian casualties inflicted.
[edit] "The Three Seconds of Declaration"
At 0720 on January 3, U.C.0079, the Principality of Zeon unilaterally declares war against the Earth Federation. Merely three seconds later (known to UC historians as Zeon's "Three Seconds of Declaration"), the Zeon forces launch all-out surprise attacks against the Federation's garrisons at the space colonies located in the Zahn province of Side 1, the Hatte province in Side 2 and the Mua province in Side 4. NBC Weapons are used indiscriminately, while Zeon nerve gas attacks (used to suppress the garrisons from mobilizing) slaughters the spacenoids Zeon claims to protect. In just one day of fighting, over 2.8 billion innocent civilians are killed.
[edit] Operation British
The One Week Battle culminates in Operation British, supposedly named after the American Revolution against British rule in the 1770s. Operation British's goal is to destroy the Federation's central military command at Jaburo in South America, a facility hardened against nuclear assault. The plan calls for the use of depopulated colony cylinder; during the opening battles of the One Week Battle, Zeon troops launch a gas attack on Island Iffish, a colony in the Hatte province of Side 2, and use a highly-toxic nerve gas known as 'GG' to kill the colony's entire population in 20 minutes. After the gas attack concludes, Zeon forces prepares the colony by attaching it with nuclear propulsion engines, before initiating the second phase of Operation British.
The EFSF mobilized as the Principality sets the colony on a slingshot course around the moon. An intense battle rages above the Earth's satellite orbit, but the EFSF is unable to stop the colony drop. As the colony passes the point-of-no-return, both sides withdraw from battle and an emergency evacuation of Jaburo is ordered. However, the heavily damaged colony falls short of its intended target, instead shattering into large fragments due to the heat of re-entry over the Indian Ocean. The largest piece, comprising most of the main colony cylinder itself after being shot at while over the Arabian peninsula, falls on the heavily-populated city of Sydney, Australia, obliterating the city of its 10 million citizens. The strike causes a 60,000-megaton blast (estimated to be 3 million times the power of the Hiroshima bomb), creating a 500-kilometre (310 mi) crater along Australia's coastline (later named the Sydney Crater). The immediate effect was of a Magnitude 9.5 earthquake at the impact point and Magnitude 9 earthquake over a third of Australia, a 200-metre-per-second (660 ft/s) shockwave being detected in Melbourne; it destroys roughly 16% of the continent. The ensuing shockwave also leads to massive tsunamis around the globe, incapacitating a large portion of the Earth Federation's planetary defense systems, while also causing huge humanitarian crises.
Up to this point of the war, close to half of the population of the Earth Sphere perishes. Side 1, 2 and 4, all heavily populated, are completely destroyed. Earth's climate is severely and permanently affected by the colony drop, with the environmental aftermath still felt decades after the war.
[edit] The Battle of Loum
The Battle of Loum, taking place on January 15, U.C.0079, is one of the most devastating battles during the war and one of the deadliest in all of mankind's history.
Following the failure of Operation British just days earlier, the Principality of Zeon still believes it can succeed in achieving a quick end to the war with colony drops. This time it attempts to hijack and utilize colonies at Side 5, also known as Loum province (however, it is rumored this is false information leaked to the Federation forces to draw them away from Luna II). As the nuclear engines are put into place, the Earth Federation's 1st Combined Fleet led by General Revil arrive and the two forces clash.
This battle is the first ever major space battle in history, and also the first time new-age war machines called as mobile suits play as a primary offensive mechanism. The Earth Federation's fleet suffers heavy losses against the highly mobile Zeon MS, as their AA defences are unable to operate effectively under the dense Minovsky particle interference. General Revil is forced to escape after the flagship Ananke is sunk, and is captured by Zeon's Black Tri-Star attack squad. The fleet's second-in-command, Commodore Rodney Cunningham, is killed after his own ship the Nereid is destroyed while single-handedly rear-guarding the retreat of the remaining fleet (however, his sacrifice minimized the fleet's casualty numbers). With Revil captured and 80% of the Federation's 1st Combined Fleet lost, the battle is tactically won by the Principality of Zeon.
During the battle, nuclear weapons are used indiscriminately, resulting in massive military and civilian casualties. Almost every space colony in Side 5 is destroyed, killing their inhabitants, resulting in over 2.5 billion dead. Another combined 500 million combatants are killed in action. The Second Operation British is aborted after Admiral Dozle Zabi realizes his fleet no longer has the capacity to carry it out.
Several of Zeon's most famous aces earned their wings in the battle. Char Aznable destroys five of the Federation's top-of-the-line Magellan-class battleships, earning him the nickname "Red Comet". Johnny "Crimson Lightning" Ridden destroys three, while Shin "White Wolf" Matsunaga sinks six and the Black Tri-Stars gain fame by capturing General Revil, the highest-ranking general in the EFSF. However, many of Zeon's original mobile suit training cadets are killed, leaving very few experienced pilots. This eventually causes repercussions for the Principality during the remainder of the war.
In the end, the EFSF lost approximately 3/4 of its battle strength. Military casualties numbered in the millions, and 2.5 billion civilian casualties results from the annihilation of Side 5. Only the heavily-damaged Texas Colony survives, and the debris from Side 5's remains forms the Shoal Zone.
[edit] The Antarctic Treaty
| "Zeon’s strength was expended in the Battle of Loum. There is no way they can create soldiers overnight, and Gihren Zabi knows it. I therefore appeal to all the citizens of the Earth Federation, to each and every one of you. Zeon is exhausted! Now is not the time for us to kneel before Zeon. It is time for us to rise! Now, more than ever, is our chance to defeat Zeon!" |
| — Excerpt from Wikiquote, Full text here |
With the capture of General Revil, the aborted colony drop and heavy losses on both sides, the Earth Federation and Principality of Zeon agree to a truce. Using the recent victory at Loum, Gihren Zabi intends to intimidate the Federation into submission by threatening dropping Luna II on Jaburo. While negotiating the conditions of the Federation's surrender, Revil is rescued by federal agents within the Principality and makes a speech to the Federation Assembly, revealing "Zeon is exhausted!". The Federation receives a boost in morale and rejects the conditions of surrender, but agrees to a treaty prohibiting the use of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, colony drops, and attacks on the Jupiter Energy fleets, whilst recognizing the neutrality of the space colonies at Side 6, and determining the rules of war. This Antarctic Treaty was signed on January 31 UC 0079.
[edit] The Earth Drop Operations
With the signing of the Antarctic Treaty, the rules of engagement went in favor of the Principality of Zeon, who is at the advantage in close-range combat, thanks to their mobile suits. The ban on nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, and colony drops dashes Zeon's hope for a quick conclusion to the war, forcing them to invade Earth territories to secure mining resources, which are scarce in space.
Zeon begins mobilizing for the invasion of Earth and forms the Earth Attack Force, staging its first drop operation on March 1, UC 0079. With the Earth Federation's defense severely undermined by Operation British, the drop operation quickly captured the Federation force's Baikonur launch facilities, then moving onto the resource center of Odessa.
A second drop operation occurs in North America, with two divisions being dropped on both coasts and moving inward. One division captures the strategically important California Base, a series of massive manufacturing plants and ports along the West Coast of North America. Along with this, much of the Earth Federation's naval fleet is captured and later pressed into service under the Zeon flag. A third drop is directed at the destabilized region of Australia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania, while a fourth drop operation commences on April 4, landing on the Red Sea and in the Persian Gulf.
[edit] Stalemate
For the next five months, the Zeon battlefronts expands. However, lacking knowledge about atmospheric battle, the Zeon forces fail to achieve any air supremacy, and the Federation manages to stop the Zeon advance with out-of-date, but sufficiently massed conventional weapons. Zeon advances are halted, and the situation solidifies into a stalemate, which persists for over 8 months until the Odessa Campaign. At this point, Zeon controls over two-third of the Earth's landmass, although guerilla resistance and defense vacuums in Zeon-occupied territory is a common sight.
[edit] Gundam Rising
On September 18, in a space colony at Side 7, an incident changes the entire course of the war. The Federation's newly developed Pegasus-class warship White Base arrives at the colony to transfer components for the secret Project V, being followed by Char Aznable's Musai cruiser along the way. When a Zeon reconnaissance team infiltrates the colony, a member of the team goes against orders and begins attacking the colony. In sheer desperation, the Federation crews put up a hopeless defense against the fully armed Zaku mobile suit. In the confusion, civilian boy Amuro Ray comes across the result of the secret project, the RX-78 Gundam prototype. After obtaining the Gundam's operating manual he decides to board the machine. Unaccustomed to battle, but possessing a high degree of technical aptitude, Amuro manages to get the second unit to rise up from its trailer and successfully destroy two of the recon team's Zakus. This is the first mobile suit battle ever fought inside of a space colony. Unfortunately, the colony is heavily damaged and Amuro's father, Tem Ray (team leader of Project V), goes missing and heavy civilian casualties are reported. The survivors embark as refugees aboard the White Base, with Amuro and many other civilians temporarily conscripted as combat pilots.
The White Base, with its precious prototype mobile suits, begins a perilous return to the Earth Federation headquarters at Jaburo, being incessantly pursued by Char. During atmospheric reentry, the White Base is again attacked and veered off of its projected course to Jaburo, landing deep in Zeon territory in North America.
[edit] Operation Odessa
| "Many of your fathers and brothers have perished valiantly in the face of a contemptible enemy. We must never forget what the Federation has done to our people! My brother, Garma Zabi, has shown us these virtues through our own valiant sacrifice. By focusing our anger and sorrow, we are finally in a position where victory is within our grasp, and once again, our most cherished nation will flourish. Victory is the greatest tribute we can pay those who sacrifice their lives for us! Rise, our people, Rise! Take your sorrow, and turn it into anger! Zeon thirsts for the strength of its people! SIEG ZEON!!!" |
| Excerpt from Wikiquote, Full text here |
Shortly after the arrival of the White Base on Earth, the ship's crew engages and destroys a Zeon Gaw fleet, killing Captain Garma Zabi, the youngest son of Degwin Zabi. A state funeral is held for the fallen commander, with Gihren Zabi delivering the eulogy in his famous Sieg Zeon speech. While the Zeon mourn for the loss of Garma his death leaves the earth-based Zeon forces without a clear commanding commanding officer.
Seizing the opportunity to strike while the Zeon are regrouping, the Earth Federation amasses one third of its terrestrial forces along Eastern Europe for one of the largest land battles in UC history. Codenamed Operation Odessa, its aim is to recapture the Odessa mining facilities and break the Zeon hold on Earth resources. The counteroffensive begins on November 7; over the next two days, Federal Forces stage a blitzkrieg attack on the Zeon's defensive lines, breaking through and overwhelming them. On November 9, Federal Forces penetrate the last of the Zeon Occupation Force's defensive lines, triggering an ultimatum from the Zeon commander Colonel M'Quve, demanding that Federal Forces withdraw or face a nuclear attack. It is said General Revil simply signals to his communications officers not to respond to M'Quve. Fleeing the battlefield with other top Zeon officials in the Zanzibar-class mobile cruiser Madagascar just before Federation forces break through their base, M'Quve launches a single nuclear missile, but it is successfully disarmed by Amuro's Gundam. Several Zeon units remain isolated on Earth and eventually surrender, although some, such as Rear Admiral Yuri, find their way to other Zeon-occupied bases, where they escape into space.
[edit] Minor Operations Following Operation Odessa
Exploiting the discord within the Zeon forces after the fall of Odessa, the Federation begins Operation Rainbow Valley on November 23, with the objective of recapturing the entire Australia. The operation is spearheaded by Master P. Rayer and his "White Dingo" team. The team captures Alice Springs on November 25, Simpson's Gap on December 1, repulses a Zeon counterattack at the Federation Torrington base on December 26, and seizes one of the last remaining Zeon heavy lift facilities at Hughenden on January 2, U.C.0080.
The Federation also launches an offensive into Lepanto region of North Africa, beginning on November 18 and completing its objectives ten days later.
[edit] The Jaburo Drop Operation
After a hired spy manages to infiltrate the White Base, Char discovers the precise location of Earth Federation's vast underground fortress of Jaburo. On November 30, after gathering mobile suit squads from the California Base with massive air and naval support, Zeon forces launch an airborne assault on Jaburo. Amphibious mobile suit and commando teams lead by Char himself make numerous probes and raids into the heart of the base, but fail to take the facility or destroy its mobile suit production factories. Underestimating Jaburo's defensive capacities, the Jaburo attack results in an operational disaster for Zeon forces (large proportions of Zeon mobile suits are destroyed in mid-air and never makes landing), forcing a Zeon retreat on the very same day. The combined losses at Odessa and Jaburo breaks the Zeon/Earth-bound armies, making it easy for the Federation to begin launching counteroffensives against other holdings in Africa and North America. Over the month of December, Zeon ground forces are in full retreat, abandoning strategically critical bases to escape into space. The Cape Canaveral Base is liberated by the Federation on December 5, at a cost of 34 fighters, 71 tanks and 2 mobile suits due to Zeon ace pilot Ian Greydon, while the California Base is successfully recaptured on December 15.
[edit] Minor Operations Following The Jaburo Drop Operation
Operation Rubicon is a secret Zeon commando operation performed by Steiner Hardy's "Cyclops Team". The mission is to steal or destroy a new prototype Gundam designed for "a pilot on White Base". This series of events is narrated in Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket.
[edit] Battle of Solomon — Operation Cembalo
With the battle on Earth grinding to a close, the Federation begins to retake space supremacy. The Federation military high command's plan has two parts:
- The White Base will be deployed as the 13th Autonomous Mobile Squadron and given the mission to head to the neutral colony group at Side 6. Since the Zeon forces pay so much attention to the Gundam and the White Base, the Federation believes Zeon will act to prevent an invasion on the Zeon lunar base Granada, with the White Base as the vanguard.
- The rest of the Federation fleet, with the White Base as a decoy, will secretly mobilize and launch an attack on the Zeon space fortress Solomon, located in L4, around the remains of Side 1.
After distracting the Zeons' attention with a one-sided space battle outside the Side 6 colony of Baldur Bay, where Amuro single-handedly destroys 12 of the latest Zeon frontline mobile suits, the MS-09R Rick Dom, in the span of merely 3 minutes, the White Base rendezvous with the Federation fleet to assault Solomon on December 24. The Battle of Solomon is the first where the RGM-79 GM, the Federation mass-produced mobile suits derived from the Gundam, are used in numbers (prior to Solomon, the GM only sees limited, squad-level engagements during its test phase and on Earth).
Public-class assault boats neutralize the space fortress' beam cannon defenses with beam-dispersing smoke clouds, forcing Zeon mobile suits stationed there to advance beyond the base's defensive radius, making them easy targets for advancing Federation warships. The Federation also unleashes their secret weapon: a solar reflector array, known as the Solar System, utterly decimating Solomon's primary space gate and all mobile suits and ships attempting to sortie from there.
With casualties mounting and reinforcements being delayed by "political complications", Zeon Space Attack Forces commander Dozle Zabi orders the evacuation of the base and boards the mobile armor Big Zam. While the Big Zam's initial deployment decimates many Federal warships and mobile suits, allowing many Zeons (including Dozle's wife Zenna and daughter Mineva) to retreat from Solomon, it is ultimately disabled by a daring and sacrificial maneuver on behalf of 13th Autonomous Corps pilot Sleggar Law, and subsequently destroyed by Amuro's Gundam. Solomon is quickly run over thereafter by the EFSF and renamed Konpei Island.
[edit] The Ghost of Solomon
After the conclusion of primary hostilities at the Battle of Solomon, Lalah Sune, a young Newtype recruited by Char Aznable, sorties in the mobile armour Elmeth. Using the Psycommu system, Lalah is capable of guiding small remotely controlled beam weapons called bits to destroy Federation ships undetected. This causes panic among the EFSF during the initial occupation, earning the mysterious weapon the nickname The Ghost of Solomon. This guerilla tactic, though destructive, is short-lived, as the Elmeth is later discovered by the White Base and destroyed in action by Amuro.
- In the Mobile Suit Gundam movie trilogy, the Elmeth's guerilla tactics prove much more effective, but the effort is cut short when Zeon recalls it to assist in the frontline defense of A Baou Qu. When the Granada fleet attempts to blitz through the advancing Federation battle group in order to get to A Baoa Qu, the Elmeth is sortied for what is to amount to little more than a decoy attack on outlying ships. It is here that it meets its ultimate fate at the hands of Amuro Ray.
[edit] Battle of A Baoa Qu
[edit] Operation Solar Ray
Following the loss of Odessa and Solomon, the Zeon military is fully on the defensive. Fearing the Federation's next move will be a full-scale assault on the Side 3 homeland, Zeon Supreme Commander Gihren Zabi orders the construction of a massive solar-powered beam projector, the Solar Ray System. The project originally starts in the Mahal colony in September, exploiting the same loophole in the Antarctic Treaty as the Federation's Solar System. Supervised by Colonel Asakura, who also developed the Zeon's lethal GG nerve gas, solar batteries from other colonies are collected and a projection array is built within the colony walls. On December 21, 6.5 million inhabitants are forcefully evacuated from the colonies.
As the construction of the Solar Ray is near completion and the Federation fleet draws near, Sovereign Degwin Zabi, growing tired of war, leaves on a secret mission to save what is left of the Principality of Zeon. He arranges a meeting with General Revil at the Geldolva Line to negotiate the terms of a peaceful surrender. However, his departure is noticed by Gihren, who quickly rushes the Solar Ray into operation, limiting its design to a single shot.
Revil reorganizes the main EFSF fleet into three battle lines. At approximately 2035 GMT, Gihren orders all Zeon fleets to pull out of the firing range of the Solar Ray System. At the same time, Degwin and Revil discuss a peace treaty to end the war. 35 minutes later, Gihren orders the Solar Ray to be fired at the Geldolva aiming point. General Revil, Sovereign Degwin Zabi and about a third of the EFSF are wiped out by the weapon's 6-kilometer wide beam. The IR band signature from the Solar Ray's discharge is detected by Zeon Mobile Assault Force Rear Admiral Kycilia Zabi's fleet, who travels to reinforce the Zeon's last line of defense. Additionally, Amuro suffers a severe emotional attack at the moment of firing, claiming to be able to see the ships and the people inside them, as they are vaporised by the horrible weapon.
[edit] Operation Star One
Following the firing of the Solar Ray, Kycilia, aware of her father's secret meeting with the Federation's General Revil, learns Degwin's ship, the Gwazine-class battleship Great Degwin, was on the Geldolva line at the time of the Solar Ray's discharge. Only she and her brother Gihren know of their father's negotiations and true fate.
The disarrayed Federal Forces quickly regroup, using the White Base as their rallying point. While the EFSF reorganizes, Gihren meets with the A Baoa Qu defenders, raising their morale by declaring Zeon as the superior race, and with the Earth Federation's remaining forces now halved thanks to the Solar Ray, they will win this battle and war and "rise up to the future".
Fearing that Zeon will again fire the devastating superweapon a second time, the Federation launches a desperate attack on A Baoa Qu's N defense field with the second and third mobile suit battalions, while their remaining fleets use the Magellan-class battleship Luzar as its flagship to penetrate the S field. The White Base spearheads an assault into the F line, A Baoa Qu's crossfire aiming point but also its weakest defensive position, all the while when a small fleet rumored to be led by the assault carrier Pegasus attempts to breach the V line, guarded by Zeon's Dolowa carrier. Gihren's counterattack relies heavily on his mammoth Dolos-class heavy carrier ship and the MS-14 Gelgoog, Zeon's latest (and costly) mass-production mobile suit that rivals the Gundam in strength and weaponry. The Federation attempts to use beam-dispersion smoke again, but Gihren launches a counterstrike of missiles, all the while keeping his mobile suit forces held back.
Kycilia's Mobile Assault Force arrives as the Federation begins to penetrate A Baoa Qu's lines. While she orders her fleet to position itself along the N field, she provides Char with the MSN-02 Zeong, a prototype mobile suit using Psycommu technology, which allows him to pilot using his Newtype abilities. After Char sorties in the Zeong, Kycilia confronts Gihren with the news of their father's death, and after hearing him confess to the killing without remorse, immediately executes Gihren for the crime of patricide. With his death, it is discovered Gihren miscalculated the effectiveness of his fighting force and the determination of the oncoming waves of Federation forces. The two Dolos carriers are quickly destroyed, depriving their large number of mobile suits of fuel and munitions, with the fact the Gelgoogs and Doms are piloted by student conscripts who barely received enough training to properly use their highly-advanced (and rookie-unfriendly) mobile suits. Many of Zeon's ace pilots also are killed or missing-in-action, such as Thomas Krutz and Johnny Ridden, hurting the Zeon's attempt to hold A Baoa Qu. Also, angered by the execution of their Supreme Commander, the Delaz Fleet, an extremely fanatic Gihren-loyalist battle unit, led by Admiral Aiguille Delaz, resigns from the battle, further reducing the number of ships and mobile suits in the Zeon lines.
As A Baoa Qu's N field is overwhelmed by the Federation's mobile suit battalions and the Zeon's S field is on the verge of collapsing thanks to the Gundam, the Zeong is sent to reinforce it and keep the Federation from penetrating deeper into Zeon territory. The fighting becomes so thick that Amuro's Gundam and Char's Zeong soon engages in close combat inside the fortress, and the fight continues with handguns and rapiers, after both pilots have destroyed the other's mobile suit. The White Base suffers heavy damage and is forced to beach itself on the fortress and fight Zeon infantry in close quarters.
As the battle for A Baoa Qu spills into the heart of the fortress itself, Kycilia begins preparations to flee from the collapsing stronghold. Her plan is to escape to a rally point and meet up with fleets from the Zeon's Granada lunar base and the Zeon homeland and continue the war. She orders Base Commander Twoning to wait 15 minutes after her exit before surrendering the base, promising Federal POWs will be exchanged for him later. However, her plan is interrupted by Char, who assassinates Kycilia before she can leave the asteroid fortress. Her Zanzibar-class mobile cruiser, the infamous Chimera, is subsequently destroyed by Federal warships.
[edit] The Principality Collapses
On January 1, UC 0080, Zeon Prime Minister Darcia Bakharov, who under the Zabi family's dictatorship was just a rubber-stamp to approve of the Zabi's edicts and provide the appearance of a democracy, takes control of the government and sues for peace. Following preliminary negotiations in the lunar city of Anman, the formal signing of the end of hostilities occurs on January 14, UC 0080 at the Granada lunar colony. The treaty between the Earth Federation and the newly restored Republic of Zeon is named the Treaty of Granada.
[edit] Aftermath
Many loyalists to the Zabi family, dedicated soldiers, war criminals, and others who could not integrate with the new government voluntarily, leaves the Zeon homeland and goes on an exodus to the asteroid Axis, which is a previously used waystation for the Jupiter Energy Fleet. Others, such as Cima Garahau's marines, become pirates while other Zeon soldiers continue fighting inside the Earth Sphere and on the Earth's surface in various guerilla and insurgency actions. Many of these Zeon insurgents become attracted to the various uprisings and movements in the following years, such as the Delaz Fleet's Operation Stardust, Haman Karn's Axis Zeon, Char Aznable's Neo-Zeon and Mars Zeon. Such insurgencies continues until the UC 0100s, but eventually dies out and is replaced by conflicts from new-generation space warlords, such as the Crossbone Vanguard, Jupiter Empire and the Zanscare Empire.
[edit] References
- ^ MS Strategy Analysis, MS戦略分析, Hajime Ichigaya, ISBN978-4-575-29993-9
- ^ Great Mechanics 6, One Year War's Space battle, Futaba Publications
- ^ a b Gundam and World War II, ガンダムと第二次世界大戦～かくしてジオン軍、ドイツ軍戦い、敗れた～, 鈴木ドイツ, ISBN4-331-50999-0
- ^ モビルスーツ開発秘録, ISBN 4812438691
- ^ Gundam Officials, One Year War entry.
- ^ Gundam Century Renewal Version, Ginga Publications, ISBN4-87777-028-3
[edit] External links
- Anime Radar (archive link, was dead)
- UC timeline including OYW
