But the Independent Group's three hundred Mountain-cutting Mechas were deemed to need leaving behind at least fifty units.
To be fair, that's not baseless. After all, those Duke Mechas and Prince Mechas, even though most can be said to have been captured by Ji Xinghe and partially by the Independent Group itself, the "Mountaintop Campaign" wouldn't have been successful without the support of the Federal main forces and the participation of the other three major battlefronts, involving the dispatch of troops from across the line.
Even if Ji Xinghe won, he wouldn't have been able to bring them back, and the Independent Group certainly wouldn't have stood a chance of victory.
We can't just ignore the losses the Federation suffered to assist the Independent Group, right?