78th Division (ComStar)
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Obliterated by Clan Steel Viper during the Battle of Tukayyid, the sacrifice of the 78th Division ensured the Vipers defeat.
Contents
History
Prior to the initial Clan Invasion, the regular rated 78th Division was known by the nickname of Vigorous Defiance and was assigned to the 6th Army. Then a IV-iota based formation, the 78th's headquarters world was Fronde in the Capellan Confederation. [1]
Assigned along with the rest of the Sixth Army to face Clan Steel Viper during the Battle of Tukayyid, the 78th Division was positioned inside the hellish Devil's Bath, a horrific combination of geysers, boiling mud and narrow paths walled by massive granite columns, stretching for dozens of kilometers between the Viper's intended dropzone and their target cities. As the 78th held their ground and waited, after an inital exchange of fire outside Bath, the 6th Division withdrew and lured the Steel Vipers in.[2]
With the tight paths negating the Clan weapons' superior range and missteps sending entire Stars into the bottomless pools of boiling mud, Viper Khan Natalie Breen realized her troops had stumbled into a massive trap and ordered a retreat. In desperation the 6th's CO issued an insulting public challenge to goad them into continuing their attack, the enraged Vipers pushing both divisions through Devil's Bath. While inflicting extremely heavy damage on the Com Guard forces, both of the Vipers Alpha and Gamma Galaxies used up their ammunition at a tremendous rate.[2]
With any hope of resupply dashed when the Com Guards elite First Division struck the Vipers supply lines, Khan Zalman ordered Gamma Galaxy's 57th Striker Cluster to flank and cut off the hated 6th from the 78th. Desperately attempting save the beleagured 6th from destruction at the hands of the Viper's Alpha Galaxy, the 78th suffered heavy losses as it unsuccessfully attempted to fight their way through the rest of Gamma Galaxy, inflicting losses of over 20% and forcing the Vipers to use up the last of their ammunition in the process.[2]
When the Steel Viper Khans ordered their reserve Zeta Galaxy to escort their virtually unarmed Alpha and Gamma Galaxies out of the Bath, the shattered remains of the 78th launched a token effort to to try and divert the Viper forces. Despite the heavy losses inflicted on them by the 6th, the Viper's Alpha Galaxy crushed the remnants of the 78th in a rearguard action.[2]
Despite its valiant efforts against the Jaguars, with almost all its equipment lost and so few of the unit's members left alive, Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht elected to disband rather than rebuild the 78th, transferring its survivors to other units.