Battle of Jaburo

Battle of Jaburo
Battle of Jaburo
Data
Other Names	First Battle of Jaburo
Part of	One Year War
Beginning	November 30, 0079 U.C.
End	November 30, 0079 U.C.
Location	Jaburo
Result	Earth Federation Victory
Belligerents
Earth Attack Force
Earth Federation Forces
Miscellaneous
Movie	Mobile Suit Gundam II: Soldiers of Sorrow
Manga	Aggressor
Game	Mobile Suit Gundam: Journey to Jaburo

The Battle of Jaburo (First Battle of Jaburo) is a conflict of the One Year War, featured in Mobile Suit Gundam.

Prelude

Zeon forces descend upon Jaburo (late November, U.C.0079).

The Principality of Zeon's original military strategy during the One Year War had been predicated on the idea that they would quickly overwhelm Federation resistance in space and then use space colonies as weapons of mass destruction to either take out the Federation's leadership in one fell swoop or to cow them into submission. This culminated in Operation British, where Zeon forces under the control of acting-commander Cima Garahau gassed the population of a Side 2 colony so that it could be dropped onto Jaburo and, it was hoped, destroy it utterly. Unfortunately for Zeon, Federation forces successfully interrupted the drop, and the remaining pieces of the colony ended up obliterating the city of Sydney in Australia instead. The devastation of this incident led to the signing of the Antarctic Treaty, which banned the dropping of colonies for military purposes.

Without this trump card in their arsenal, Zeon had no choice but to begin the Earth Drop Operations, whose goals were to conquer as much of the Earth as possible for resource procurement. The second and third Earth Drop groups in particular targeted the coasts of North America, as part of an attempt to both control the Earth's food supply and to prepare for a direct assault on the Federation's core military complexes on the continent. On March 13, the second group captured the western coast military bases known collectively as California Base, and immediately converted them into submarine production facilities. At the same time, Zeon's engineers began producing experimental mobile suits in preparation for a eventual decisive battle in the Amazon.

On November 29 0079, the White Base finally reached the Earth Federation's HQ at Jaburo after an arduous voyage across the sea. Unbeknownst to them, Char Aznable was in close pursuit, and discovered a major spaceport entrance to Jaburo by observing where the ship disappeared from observation. Char's division immediately launched an advance force consisting of two Goggs led by Boraskyniv in the new MSM-10 Zock, one of the prototype units recently produced at California Base. The advance force was quickly able to identify the location of the spaceport entrance, and Char began preparing for an impromptu assault. Although the engineers at California Base had successfully manufactured several specialized units such as the Agguguy and the Agg for their planned assault on Jaburo, the sudden nature of Char's offensive meant that the majority of these were left behind and never took part in the assault they were intended for.

The Battle

Initial Battle

Nevertheless, California Base mobilized what units they could expedite and quickly transported them to the combat zone. Zeon began their initial attack by launching massive air raids from a formation of Gaws and Dopps, which deployed at at least 28 mobile suits of almost every land type fielded by Zeon at this time - Zaku IIs, Goufs, Doms, and an amphibious attack team of MSM-07 Z'Goks led by Char himself. However, the two Z'Goks assisting Char were destroyed during their initial airdrop, and he was forced to join up with the advance team to continue his attack. The Earth Federation quickly returned fire from massive numbers of concealed beam batteries and at least one Big Tray land battleship, while launching Fly Manta fighter-bombers to intercept the approaching Dopps.

Char managed to successfully infiltrate the space port through an underwater entrance with the help of the advance team and quickly became engaged by the defenders. Although he successfully destroyed one of the Federation's newly mass-produced GM units and dueled Amuro's Gundam, his main camera was damaged by a suicidal Fanfan attack by lieutenant Woody Malden and he was forced to retreat. The entire advance team other than Char was killed in this offensive.

Covert Infiltration

Later, Char led a group of Acguys in an attempt to infiltrate the underground base, wiping out an observation post on the way. This new commando squad had two goals: to destroy the GM manufacturing factory inside Jaburo with explosives, and to infiltrate the White Base on foot (a strategy previously attempted by the late Ramba Ral). Unfortunately for the Zeon forces, a group of orphans from the White Base had recently escaped from the child care facility and accidentally discovered the commandos while they were planting the bombs. They tied the children up next to the explosives and left them to die while they escaped, but the kids were able to break free of their bonds and helped alert other defenders at the base so the bombs could be disposed of before it was too late. Meanwhile, Char's personal team attacking the White Base quickly determined that the resistance was too strong, and the Zeon commandos were forced to retreat without completing any of their primary objectives.

On the other part of Jaburo, the RX-78-6 Mudrock Gundam was forced to defend it and the Pegasus-class ship the SCV-73 Blanc Rival, while incomplete, however, both were severely damaged by Zeon's Midnight Fenrir Corp

Aftermath

Ultimately, the Zeon assault on Jaburo failed to cause much damage. The only known incursions into the underground came from Char's personal teams, with the Mobile Suit apparently being routed on the surface before they could break into the interior. California Base expended the majority of its remaining strength in this operation and would be recaptured by Federation Forces about two weeks later, leaving the North African forces such as those that would later be known as the Kimberlite Forces as the only major Zeon resistance on Earth. Char would escape and follow the White Base into space on a Zanzibar-class when it left to perform a decoy operation, allowing Jaburo to launch the Tianem Fleet that would play a pivotal role in the Battle of Solomon one month later almost completely unobserved.

Notes & Trivia

• The battle is featured in Dynasty Warriors Gundam with only the Federation's side of the story available. In its first appearances, the battle initially starts with the White Base's pilots clearing out the outskirts of Jaburo before a wave of Zeon forces appear and ambush the base, forcing the Federation forces to scramble back before it is too late. In Dynasty Warriors Gundam Reborn, the player is also given the additional mission of stopping the bombs placed by the enemy forces as a reference to Akahana's forces.

External links

• Battle of Jaburo Diorama Kits on Gunplapedia
• Jaburo