Ronin War

(Redirected from Ronin Wars)
Ronin Wars
Part of Succession Wars
Start Date 3034
Result Free Rasalhague Republic remains independent
Factions
Free Rasalhague Republic
Loyal DCMS forces
Ronin DCMS forces
Environment
Standard
Conditions
Normal

The Ronin War was an uprising of several Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery elements who refused to follow orders and withdraw from the newly formed Free Rasalhague Republic in essentially independent, loosely coordinated uprisings on several worlds. They were branded ronin and vanquished by the combined forces of the KungsArmé and (loyal) DCMS.

While often perceived as a single war, it is also referred to as the Ronin Wars[1] because of the numerous individual conflicts it comprises of. In a 3071 lecture at the Sun Zhang Academy, it was summarily referred to as the Ronin Crisis.[2]

Overview[edit]

Background[edit]

In the aftermath of the Fourth Succession War, where it had performed below expectations, the Draconis Combine found itself in a precarious situation. After Hanse Davion's sweeping victory against the Capellan Confederation the Combine was obviously going to be the next target, and urgently needed to prepare for what was coming. Poor leadership had incurred heavy losses in the Fourth Succession War and the Combine could no longer ignore the state of their outdated equipment and battle doctrines. The fact that only Kanrei Theodore Kurita's reformed military units had seen notable success, making him a war hero, had even led to a clandestine leadership crisis within House Kurita.

In this situation, Theodore Kurita struck a secret deal with ComStar: House Kurita would finally grant the Combine's unruly Rasalhague Military District its independence, and allow them to form the Free Rasalhague Republic. This would practically force the Lyran Commonwealth to cede their recently captured worlds from the Rasalhague District to the nascent Republic, nullifying their gains from the Fourth Succession War. It also created a buffer state between the Combine and the Commonwealth along most of their shared border, and even earned the Combine some degree of good publicity. ComStar for their part agreed to supply the Combine with much-needed military hardware including BattleMechs as part of the deal.[3]

Formation of the Free Rasalhague Republic[edit]

Anticipating their resistance, Theodore Kurita sidelined his own father, Coordinator Takashi Kurita, in the matter and preemptively had Rasalhague District Warlord Ivan Sorenson killed, and even faked the Coordinator's signature code in the HPG message by which the Draconis Combine recognized the new state the day after the Free Rasalhague Republic's proclamation of independence on 13 March 3034.[3] (To save face, the Coordinator acquiesced in his son't action, while privately he was furious about it.)

"The Dragon devours its own brood", a device often used as insignia for the Ronin[4] (apocryphal)

However, many DCMS soldiers refused to recognize the new realm's independence from House Kurita, having just fought and bled in the Fourth Succession War to defend these worlds from invasion. They stayed on the worlds of the former Rasalhague Military District against orders and fought the nascent KungsArmé forces for control. Since these renegade DCMS soldiers acted in direct contravention of Kanrei Theodore Kurita's orders, staining the Combine's honor, he declared such renegades ronin (masterless).

There was some degree of coordination among the ronin forces, as the ever-scheming Marcus Kurita moved to become their leader and use the uprising to build a power base; another prominent figure was Tai-shu Vasily Cherenkoff who balked at Theodore Kurita's audacity in sidelining the Coordinator and sided with the resistance.

Fighting[edit]

Even before the Republic's declaration of independence, a weapons cache was found in an abandoned bunker in the remote wilderness on Polcenigo. The ISF determined that the bunker's contents had been falsely declared lost or stolen, and that the site was operated by businessmen and two DCMS officers with ties to Marcus Kurita, implicating him in some ongoing conspiracy. In late March, shortly after the beginning of what was going to be called the Ronin Wars, the bunker was destroyed (implicitly, through ISF sabotage) and its content destroyed, causing a significan fire event in the Yomita Grasslands region.[5]

On 14 March the Eighth Rasalhague Regulars and Twelfth Sun Zhang Academy Cadre were ordered to detain Marcus Kurita, but they were solidly involved in his conspiracy and instead turned on the infantry from the First Tyr Regiment who had arrested him. This devolved into the first actual battle between ronin and Rasalhaguian forces. Marcus Kurita escaped, and before jumping out of the system issued orders to units he knew to be loyal to him or to his late rival Ivan Sorenson. Not trusting ComStar, he used a series of fourteen JumpShips as couriers to disseminate his orders. Subsequently, ronin forces attacked several Rasalhaguian planetary governments. They also frequently attempted to seize ComStar HPG compounds in a recurring pattern, in an attempt to gain hyperpulse communication technology.[6]

The fighting spilled over to worlds that had falled under Lyran Commonwealth authority, such as Kandis, where a similar disobedience of political and military elements occurred on a smaller scale.

The ronin uprising posed a grave danger for the Free Rasalhague Republic. The newly formed KungsArmé lacked in experience to fight the ronin DCMS forces, and the nascent state's mercenary forces had hastily been hired with poorly worded contracts that allowed the mercenaries to mostly bow out of the actual fighting while still getting paid. Being taken advantage of in this fashion would sour the Republic's opinion of mercenaries for many years to come. Citizens viewed mercenaries with either contempt, disdain, or outright hatred. Even units noted for their skill and honor like the Kell Hounds and who had no part in the Ronin Wars were not immune to this feeling.

By May 3034 the Combine had sufficient evidence to tie Marcus Kurita to the uprisings in some form or fashion. Kanrei Theodore Kurita broadcast a declaration branding the disloyal forces ronin and calling on them to lay down their arms; some did. Shorty after this declaration, the Free Rasalhague Republic formally requested the assistance of the Draconis Combine in rooting out the resistance. Theodore Kurita personally led a force of several loyal DCMS regiments into the Republic to destroy the ronin forces, with the consent of Elected Prince Haakon Magnusson.[7] Clashes between the ronin and loyal DCMS troops were often bloody, the loyalists infuriated by the dishonor shown to the Combine by the renegades. By 3035, all DCMS forces had withdrawn from the Republic to the newly-created Alshain Military District after successfully destroying the last of the ronin forces.

Involved Units[edit]

DCMS (Ronin)[edit]

DCMS (Loyal)[edit]

Free Rasalhague KungsArmé[edit]

Mercenaries[edit]

Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces (LCAF)[edit]

Lyran Commonwealth-employed Mercenaries

Armed Forces of the Federated Suns (AFFS)[edit]

Maps[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Historical: Brush Wars refers to the conflict as "Ronin Wars" on its back cover while the respective chapter within the book calls it the "Ronin War".
  2. Historical: Brush Wars, p. 92
  3. 3.0 3.1 Heir to the Dragon
  4. Colored versions of this device appear on the front and back cover of the Ronin! scenario pack; a black-and-white rendering on p. 47 is captioned with "The Dragon devours its brood - a device often used by Ronin"
  5. Historical: Brush Wars, p. 104
  6. Historical: Brush Wars, p. 107
  7. Historical: Brush Wars, pp. 109-110

Bibliography[edit]

Dates[edit]

  • Start Date - March 31, 3034
  • End Date - June, 3034