13th Army (Star League)
Sarna News
The Star League Defense Force's Thirteenth Army was assigned to operations within the Lyran Commonwealth Military Region.[1]
Contents
History
Prior to the Periphery Uprising the 13th Army was responsible for the anti-spinward region of the Lyran Commonwealth, with the Army Headquarters located on Zaprudy. The Thirteenth was one of the smaller armies, with fewer than twenty divisions and nine independent regiments and was responsible for covering much of the Lyran Commonwealth Military Region. As such, the Thirteenth was stretched very thin and the Army's command staff worried that a flare-up between the Free Worlds League and Lyran Commonwealth would push the entire region into chaos. This wasn't helped by the fact that the Thirteenth would also send several units along the Commonwealth's border with the Rim Worlds Republic in the absence of the Twentieth Army.[2]
The Thirteenth's operations area wasn't a hotbed of activity like some other commands. The troops got along with their local counterparts (though they lacked the close working relationship of other SLDF commands) and the unrest typical to most Periphery commands was lacking. As a result the Thirteenth didn't see as much action as other armies, so to maintain their edge they engaged in extensive wargames. The army command staff would pick two corps and have those two units engage in mock combat for a decade. This provided a much larger scale of training, and was seen by the Thirteenth's commanders as having more value than the typical limited engagements. The last of these wargames took place between the XX and XXVIII Corps.[2]
With violence engulfing the Periphery the 13th was deployed forwards to the Magistracy of Canopus, leading the taskforce responsible for Lindenmarle. VI Corps and XXVIII Corps were subsequently shattered by the Canopians, with the 13th losing more than a third of its combat strength, although the other Corps within the 13th suffered relatively little damage. The two years of combat cost the 13th eight Divisions and three Independent Regiments, although one Division and one Regiment were disbanded as a result of combat losses, rather than being destroyed on the battlefield.[3]
Officers
In 2765 the commanding officer of the 13th Army was General Armand Surban.[3][2]