Battle of Misery (3028)

The Battle of Misery, aptly named, as was the planet on which it was fought, occured for many reasons - for disputes over territory or ideology; because of mistakes or obscene accidents; because of the imbalance of a few, and their effect on the whole. The Battle of Misery was fought between the Wolf's Dragoons mercenary regiments and their former employers, the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery, and was the result of years of simple animosity and pure, undiluted rage. A slow campaign of petty insults, small injustices, and outright criminal acts on behalf of the DCMS threatened the Dragoons ever more as they refused to back down, and finally this erupted into open battle on the Dragoon's baseworld, An Ting.

Overview of the Battle

Prelude to the Battle

The many petty insults and so-called betrayals between the Dragoons and the Combine are unimportant to this battle - the man who watches his house burn in a forest fire doesn't particularly care how it started... he only knows his home is destroyed in the conflagration. So it was with the Combine forces who came to Misery to face the dragoons' challenge. Four remaining regiments of the Ryuken, two regiments of Galedon Regulars, and a Sword of Light regiment; all came because the Coordinator, through his minion Warlord Grieg Samsonov of Galedon, ordered them to put down the scurrilous challenge by the disgraced mercenaries. The Dragoons, who had issued the challenge, were fighting for revenge, for the absolution of a feud that had been brewing since Chu-sa Jerry Akuma's appointment as Professional Soldiery Liaison. Five weary regiments of Wolf's Dragoons against seven regiments of the Claws of the Dragon.

Forming the Lines

On 23 April 3028, all five Dragoon regiments left cover in the city of Farsund and moved south toward the main Combine positions on the equator. Tai-sho Tetsuhara quickly recalled all of his forces from outlying cities, impressed that the Dragoons were preparing to offer honorable combat. What followed was two days of skirmishing between advance elements as each force attempted to gain an advantage over the other. The Hamar Valley, in particular, on the edge of the Opdal Glacial Field, was host to a number of skirmishes, including the final battle between recon forces that resulted in the Dragoon capture of a Ryuken commander.

On the morning of the 25th the Ryuken, together with the Galedon Regulars, assembled in a great line across the Opdal facing the assembled regiments of Wolf's Dragoons. Both sides paused to examine the other - the Combine, eyeing the now-famous paint schemes of notable units like Zeta Battalion or Beta Regiment, and the Dragoons impressed at the sheer number of opponents. Much to the Combine's surprise, a lone Dragoon advanced and challenged the Ryuken to single combat. More combat followed, hours' worth, before a burst of fire from the Dragoon lines interfered in a duel. The Combine warriors, outraged, charged forward into the trap: the Dragoons had been playing for time, waiting on their engineers to burrow through the ice, planting charges. More than a regiment of 'Mechs were lost into the suddenly-opened pits, and the entire Dragoon line charged forward and crippled nearly a regiment more before withdrawing in the face of the last minute arrival of the Sword of Light.

A Month of Misery

The next weeks were filled with fire and death on the icy plains of Misery. Here a Dragoon battalion would encounter a Ryuken or Galedon battalion and destroy it - there a Sword of Light battalion would encounter a Dragoon company and annihilate it. Neither side could locate the decisive victory they sought, but both sides quickly slaked their thirst for revenge. By mid-month the heat of hate had died down and both the Dragoons and the samurai were intent only on finishing the job at hand and escaping.

By 20 May, a solid month of battling had ground both sides down precipitously. The long series of Skirmishes and feints, highlighted by the odd pitched battle and stinging ambush, had killed hundreds of warriors on both sides, but the Dragoons were slightly ahead. The Combine had recovered and repaired many of the 'Mechs lost in the initial trap, but the Dragoons always seemed to be one step ahead of them. Tai-sho Tetsuhara planned a series of raids to keep the Dragoons off-ballance while he consolidated the remains of his force, but a lightning strike against his command post threw his plans off-kilter. It was only the sudden return of one of his most valueable sub-commanders that saved Tetsuhara from death, but that reprieve was short-lived. His 'Mech force was isolated and his Dragon destroyed.

Without Tetsuhara to guide them, the remaining Combine forces were disorganized and easily dealt with by the elite Dragoons, who routed them off-world by the 25th. Soon after, as the Dragoons began their own preparations to withdraw to the Federated Suns, Tai-sho Tetsuhara committed seppuku.

Breakdown of the Fighting

Hamar Valley, 23 April 3028

When the Dragoons' contract with the Combine expired all five regiments moved out of their bivouacs near Farsund and advanced south toward the lines of the Ryuken and Galedon Regulars. They could have made the movement in a little less than a day, but they advanced slowly, probing with recon lances to see where the Kuritans would defend. These small units were the first Dragoons to engage the Kuritans, but the Ryuken and Regulars were just as incensed, and a few of the recon lances on either side kept to their customary rules of engagement.

The skirmishes across the Hamar Valley and the outskirts of the Opdal Glacial Field for the two days preceding the first large-scale engagement were far from decisive, but they did reinforce for both sides the knowledge that their enemies were taking this battle just as seriously as they were. In the end, though, the Dragoons were successfully able to maneuver the Combine forces into the location of their choosing, setting the stage for their first significant conflict.

Opdal Glacial Field, 25 April 3028

After two days of skirmishing, the Combine forces finally met the Dragoons en masse across the expanse of the Opdal Glacial Field, a kilometer-wide, windblown ice plain. Expecting a massive engagement, the Combine warriors were shocked when a Dragoon strode forward and challenged them to single combat. Although the first Combine warrior fell dishonorably, another stepped forward to accept the next challenge, and the next... and soon, the Dragoons were not winning them all. Unbeknownst to the Combine forces, though, the Dragoons were mining under the ice, planting explosives for a deadly trap.

The duels went on for hours before the Dragoons finally interrupted one by destroying the Combine 'Mech with combined fire. Outraged at the breach of honor, the Combine forces charged forward while the Dragoons drew back. Despite their commanders' attempts to slow them, the regiments moved forward until the Dragoons detonated charges beneath them, destroying a regiment's worth of 'Mechs in one gigantic trap. They immediately counterattacked across the cracked abyssal ice, only withdrawing when the Sword of Light finally made their appearance.

Trolfjel Highlands, 2 May 3028

The Dragoons were outnumbered on Misery, and they knew it. Five weary regiments, on the tail end of a five-year high-combat contract, having just fought their way off of several Combine worlds and suffering under equipment shortages, against seven full regiments of the DCMS. The Combine could afford to cycle units on and off the line, simply overwhelming the Dragoons with numbers. That was the plan, at least. What they did not count on was the Dragoon's superior gunnery and training.

The most notable example of the Dragoon's advantages in skill and experience came when Captain Danielle Rondema's assault company (Rondema's Roughnecks) encountered a company of Ryuken while on patrol. They signaled the contact report and attacked, destroying the company in a short and relatively simple battle. Captain Rondema congratulated her company, marked the location for salvage, and turned back toward Beta Regiment's laager. Her sensors pinged - another Ryuken company appeared behind the first.

Captain Rondema wheeled her company around and engaged, destroying a second company, again with little damage to themselves. When they returned to the Beta laager with ROMs showing two companies destroyed, the other Betas were amazed, and Colonel Shostokovich took the report personnaly to Colonel Wolf, who congratulated the Roughnecks on their incredible prowess.

100 Kilometers North of Laerdal, 8 May 3028

A week and more after the disastrous initial battle the regiments of the Dragoons and the Ryuken had broken up into smalle elements and probed toward each other, each side jockeying for position. It was a two-week game of vengeful cat-and-mouse, punctuated by fierce deadly battles and desperate struggles. Regiment against regiment, battalion against battalion, company against company - both sides fought like devils trying to gain the upper hand.

One of the many actions of the long string of battles that made of the campaign on Misery took place barely 100 kilometers north of Laerdal, when a battalion of Epsilon Regiment made a long-range strike south to try and destroy a Ryuken forward repair and replenishment base. A reinforced battalion of the Eight Sword of Light intercepted the Epsilon battalion just before it reached the base, however, and sprung an excellent ambush. Although the Dragoons destroyed the Sworder battalion nearly to a man, it cost them more than seventy percent of their strength.

Trolfjel Highlands, 14 May 3028

As the combat on Misery dragged on, more and more warriors on both sides were succumbing to fatigue. The constant battle meant no respite - no chance to repair battered 'Mechs, no chance to heal festering wounds. There was only honor, and anger, and the next mission. The Combine forces had suffered greatly. None of their regiments, not even the Sword of Light, was above sixty percent strength. The Dragoons were little better, but even a little better was enough. Both sides sensed the combat coming toward an endgame - and rather than slack off, both threw themselves into the attack, desperate for a final victory.

A Delta Regiment battalion on a strike mission toward a Ryuken mustering point ran into a blocking force from the Galedon Regulars in a wide canyon in the Trolfjel Highlands and decided to try and burst through and complete their mission. Despite the strong but inexperienced opposition, the Dragoons made significant headway until another company hit them in the flank during their advance. This second force caused great casualties amongst the Dragoons, who had to abandon their raiding target and concentrate on defeating the enemy in front of them. They did so, but at the cost of most of the battalion.

Trolfjel Highlands, 20 May 3028

After four weeks the Kuritans felt they were finally gaining the upper hand. They had repaired many of the machines lost earlier in the battle, including many pried from the jaws of the dishonorable trap sprung on the Opdal the first day. Tai-sho Tetsuhara had planned a full-scale attack into suspected Dragoon positions, despite the lack of intelligence. The battles between recon lances had often gone in the Dragoons' favor, and he was nearly blind, but he knew he had strength... if he could only bring it to bear.

In a last-minute conference in the Ryuken hidden commcenter, Tetsuhara gave his orders and watched the unit counters move - before they started disappearing, and explosions filled the air.

The Dragoon raid on the Ryuken's headquarters was a succes, but an incomplete one. Although they succeeded in destroying the vital communication nexus, they failed to capture or kill Tai-sho Tetsuhara, who escaped thanks to the timely arrival of his subordinate, Michi Noketsuna. Tetsuhara was able to board his 'Mech and leave the area before sufficient Dragoons could be flooded into the area, and for a short time Wolf and his officers feared they would have to track him down again. Luckily for the Dragoons, however, one of the trailing companies intercepted Tetsuhara's force before it could join the Ryuken-go and captured the Kuritan general.

100 Kilometers South of Boras, 23 May 3028

With the capture of Tai-sho Tetsuhara the cohesion of the Kuritan forces fell apart. The Dragoons were quick to exploit this, skillfully separating the Galedon Regular regiments from the Ryuken and tearing them apart before turning back to the Ryuken. Both Galedon regiments were shredded - to most observers, the Seventeenth would never recover - but the Ryuken hunkered down into tight defensive positions and began preparations to leave Misery Misery to the Dragoons. The mercenaries, their bloodlust nearly slaked, turned north toward the one last icon of Kuritan power on Misery: the Eight Sword of Light.

The Sworders put up a solid defense, but the Sho-sho had already ordered a retreat and the DropShips were nearly loaded. The assault by Zeta Battalion and elements of Alpha and Gamma Regiments was too slow to do more than blast the Sworders' rearguard, led by Sho-sho Torisobo himself. Although they took significant losses, including the capture of their headquarters before it could be destroyed, the bulk of the Sword of Light successfully boarded their DropShips and escaped. The Ryuken followed suit a day later, leaving Misery in the hands of the Dragoons.

Their thirst for revenge quenched, but not totally satisfied, the Dragoons turned to recovery operations and made preparations for their departure as well. A contract with Hanse Davion's Federated Suns had already been signed, and Zeta Battalion quickly departed to act as escort for the Dragoon dependants headed for Robinson. On Misery, Jaime Wolf failed to convince his friend Tetsuhara that he wasn't responsible for the Kuritans' failure. Despite much circumstantial evidence, Tetsuhara's honor demanded he atone to the Coordinator for his failure, and he slit his belly. A little over two months later, Jaime Wolf presented Tetsuhara's swords to Takashi Kurita himself on Terra, declaring a blood feud between the Dragoons and the Combine that would last for decades.

Units Involved

Wolf's Dragoons

• Wolf's Dragoons Alpha Regiment
• Wolf's Dragoons Beta Regiment
• Wolf's Dragoons Gamma Regiment
• Wolf's Dragoons Delta Regiment
• Wolf's Dragoons Epsilon Regiment
• Wolf's Dragoons Zeta Battalion
• Wolf's Dragoons Black Widow Company

Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery

• Ryuken-ni
• Ryuken-san
• Ryuken-go
• Ryuken-yon
• Eighth Sword of Light
• Seventeenth Galedon Regulars
• Twenty-First Galedon Regulars

Bibliography

• Historical Turning Points: Misery