Operation Odessa
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| The Battle of Odessa | |||||||
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| Part of the One Year War (Mobile Suit Gundam) | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Image:EarthFederationFlag.PNG Earth Federation | Image:Duchy-Zeon.gif Principality of Zeon | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| General Revil | Colonel M'Quve | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 20 Big Tray class land battleships 1 Pegasus class mobile suit carrier 33 Mobile suits 315-325 Type 61 tanks 300 fighter aircraft |
5 Dobday class land battleships 3 Gallop class land battleships 85-100 Mobile suits 200 Magella Attack tanks 100 fighter aircraft |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| About 4,000 killed or wounded, 7 Big Tray class damaged or destroyed, 12 mobile suits damaged or destroyed, 139 tanks damaged or destroyed, 33 aircraft damaged or destroyed, 230 tanks damaged or destroyed | About 8,000 killed or wounded, 4 Dobday class destroyed, 3 Gallop class destroyed, 55-65 Mobile suits damaged or destroyed, about 130 tanks damaged or destroyed, 65 aircraft destroyed | ||||||
Operation Odessa (オデッサ作戦), also known as The Battle of Odessa is a fictional battle from the Japanese anime series Mobile Suit Gundam. The battle was a major turning point of the One Year War in the first Gundam series. It broke the back of the Zeon Earth Attack Force. This, along with the loss of California Base, ensured that the Earth Federation had all the resources it needed to take the fight to Zeon in space.
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[edit] Background
After the signing of the Antarctic Treaty (which banned the use of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons), the Principality of Zeon realised that a quick victory through the use of another colony drop operation was now impossible. The Federation had to be defeated through force of arms and for that the Zeon forces needed resources. Unfortunately for the Principality, such resources were scarce.
In order to redress this problem, Zeon organised an Earth Attack Force and began Earth Drop Operations. Their forces captured the vital resource center of Odessa sometime in March of 0079. The Zeon Earth Attack Force, under the command of Garma Zabi, would hold on to Odessa for much of the year.
Then, sometime in late September 0079, Garma Zabi was killed in action by the Earth Federation's powerful new prototype Mobile Suits. These three Mobile Suits were carried by a ship codenamed the Trojan Horse by the Zeon forces, and Garma had thought to destroy them to prove his worth as a leader and hero. The distressing news damaged Zeon morale, and the Earth Federal Forces decided to take advantage of this and retake Odessa.
[edit] Preparations
Nearly one third of all available Earth Federation earthbound forces were assembled in Eastern Europe for this operation. In overall command of the Earth Federal Forces was veteran soldier General Revil. It was Revil who managed to revive the Federation's will to fight when it nearly surrendered in January of 0079, and his presence did much to encourage the Federal Forces. Besides thousands of tanks and fighters of various types, Revil's forces also included small numbers of the newly developed RGM-79 GM Mobile Suit. More powerful than many of Zeon's aging MS designs, the GMs would prove the Federation had learnt the value of MS warfare.
On the Zeon side, Captain M'Quve was put in command of the Odessa defense forces. Among his forces were the dreaded Black Tristars, a trio of ace pilots. Using information from a high-ranking spy, M'Quve learned that the dreaded Trojan Horse was on its way to join the massing Federal Forces and sent the Tristars to ambush it. Despite killing Matilda Ajan, one of Revil's most trusted officers and chief supply officer to the White Base, the Tristars were repelled with one of their number slain by the vengeful pilot of the Gundam.
[edit] Actions
The Federation's preparations were soon completed and on November 7th 0079, the Odessa Operation began. Despite the fact that Zeon had had most of the year to entrench their forces and had a number of powerful new Dom Mobile Suits, the Federation staged blitzkrieg attacks that overwhelmed and overran their defenses. The few GMs included in Revil's forces proved to be more than a match for Zeon's Zakus and Goufs, though the Doms proved to be difficult opponents. More importantly, the GM pilots who survived would later go on to train more and more MS pilots for the Federation.
The Black Tristars attempted to locate General Revil, hoping to duplicate their actions at the battle of Loum, but upon encountering the White Base attacked it instead. Their desire to avenge their dead comrade would prove to be their undoing, and the two remaining Tristars were killed in battle with the White Base's Mobile Suits.
By the 9th of November, Federation forces had broken through the last of the Zeon defense lines. M'Quve issued an ultimatum: The Federal Forces would withdraw or he would use nuclear weapons. This was in direct violation of the Antarctic Treaty and constituted a war crime, but M'Quve was determined not to lose Odessa. Revil, for his part, chose not to respond.
M'Quve escaped aboard a Zanzibar-class Mobile Cruiser and launched a nuclear missile. Luckily, the Gundam and its pilot Amuro Ray managed to destroy it. Other Zeon officers also fled the main base before it fell to the Federation.
[edit] Aftermath
The loss of the Odessa mining facilities was a huge blow to the Principality of Zeon's war effort. It forced the Zeon forces to adopt the Unified Maintenance Plan, whereby Zeon Mobile Suits would use as many similar parts as possible to streamline production and make it easier for pilots to switch from one MS to another. M'Quve claimed that Zeon had mined enough resources to last a decade, but events proved him either delusional or overconfident.
Gihren Zabi, the de facto leader of Zeon, briefly considered imprisoning M'Quve for launching the nuclear missile, but ultimately declined after a petition from his sister Kycilia. M'Quve would later meet his death at the hands of Amuro Ray and the Gundam.
The capture of Odessa granted the Federation all the resources it needed to speed up production of its forces in order to strike back at Zeon in space. With both Odessa and the many manufacturing facilities of California Base now back under Federal control, the Earth Federation's chances of victory rose dramatically.
[edit] Summary
Shortly after the arrival of the White Base on Earth, the ships crew engaged and destroyed a Zeon Gaw fleet, killing Captain Garma Zabi, who was the youngest son of Sovereign Zabi, the leader of the Principality of Zeon. Seizing the opportunity to strike while the Zeon were regrouping, the Earth Federation amassed one third of its terrestrial forces along eastern Europe for possibly the largest land battle in the UC history. Codenamed Operation Odessa, its aim was to recapture the Odessa mining facilities and break the Zeon hold on resources. The campaign began on November 7th. Over the next two days, the Federal Forces staged a blitzkrieg attack on the Zeon's defensive lines, breaking through and overwhelming them. On November 9th, the Federal Forces broke through the last of the Zeon Occupation Force's defensive lines, triggering an ultimatum from Colonel M'Quve. M'Quve demanded that the Federal Forces withdraw or else he will be forced to use nuclear weapons, in violation of the Antarctic Treaty. It is said that General Revil signaled to his communications officers not to respond. Fleeing the battlefield in the Zanzibar-class mobile cruiser Madagascar with other top officials, M'Quve launched a single nuclear missile, but it was destroyed by Amuro Ray in the Gundam. Zeon's commanding officers escaped the base just before the Federation forces broke through. Several Zeon units remained isolated on Earth and eventually surrendered. Some found their way to other bases where they could escape into space, such as Rear Admiral Yuri from 08th MS Team.
[edit] See also
- The Battle of Odessa, episode 25 of Mobile Suit Gundam
[edit] References
- "Entertainment Bible 1", Ban Dai, Tokyo, Japan, 1988.
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