Battle of New Avalon (3151)

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Battle of New Avalon (3151) is an early IlClan Era military conflict that was undertaken by the Federated Suns against the Draconis Combine in the Dragon's Tongue region world of New Avalon. Utilizing two different operations (DAWN and UMBRA) the battle took place both in the space around and on the ground of New Avalon, and marginally in some nearby systems.

Battle of New Avalon (3151)
Part of The IlClan Era
Start Date From 17 May to 17 September 3151 Planet New Avalon Result Federated Suns victory
Factions
(Attacker) Federated Suns	(Defender) Draconis Combine
Commanders and leaders
First Prince Julian Davion Admiral Gillian McMasters	Kanrei Matsuhari Toranaga
Forces involved
First Avalon Hussars Fifth Avalon Hussars 1st Davion Guards First NAIS Cadre Sixth Crucis Lancers First Davion Auxiliaires Second Davion Auxiliaires	Ryuken-hachi 5th Sword of Light 2nd Genyosha

Introduction

The military campaign known as Operation Dawn was launched by the Federated Suns during the IlClan Era. Its objective was to target the Draconis Combine forces on the world of New Avalon, which was located in a region called the Dragon's Tongue. The operation involved both space and ground combat on New Avalon, as well as some minor engagements in neighboring systems.

Prelude

The end of the Dark Age Era marked one of the most challenging times in the history of the Federated Suns. Following the Palmyra Disaster, the Combine forces had destroyed most of the AFFS's leadership and elite units, leaving them vulnerable. The Draconis Combine created an occupation zone called the Dragon's Tongue, which extended from Coloma to New Avalon. The all-out assault on the Federated Sun's capitol New Avalon resulted in the Battle of New Avalon (3146), with the Kuritans taking not only the planet but also the capital of the Draconis March, Robinson. Additionally the Capellan Confederation seized the Capellan March capital of New Syrtis. The arrival of the new First Prince, Julian Davion, from Lyran Commonwealth space did little to improve the situation. Without their three key capitals, the Suns' economy was in disarray, their military weakened, and the Federation was on the brink of collapse.

Despite the dire circumstances, the situation slowly began to change. In 3149, the Kuritans' mistreatment of mercenaries caused them to lose the Wolf's Dragoons, depriving them of almost five full regiments. Weakened, the Kuritans were unable to expand the Tongue region further, and even the Federation raids, such as Operation PERCEVAL, caused them significant harm. Julian focused his efforts on retaking New Syrtis, and with the assistance of the Republic of the Sphere, they managed to recapture Robinson as well. The only planet left was New Avalon, and both sides concentrated all their efforts to either free or keep the crucial planet.

Launch of the Operation

On May 17th 3151, a large fleet of Federated Suns JumpShips launched a surprise attack on the nadir jump point of New Avalon. The fleet quickly overwhelmed the defenders with a swarm of assault DropShips, fighters, and transports filled with marines. The assault was focused on the Draconis Combine's JumpShips, particularly the larger carriers like the Star Lord and Monolith class vessels. While most of the Combine ships managed to jump away, some were captured in rapid boarding actions.

The attack put New Avalon on high alert, with Toranaga suspecting that Julian's main assault was imminent. The dismantling of the command circuit that Toranaga once used to visit Luthien made it impossible to quickly reinforce the Combine's interior, but the kanrei sent a courier ship to Coloma to summon the 22nd New Samarkand Regulars to strengthen New Avalon's defenses. Unfortunately, the courier ship returned a day later, having hot-charged its drive, with grave news.

Operation UMBRA

Admiral Gillian McMasters executed a brilliant maneuver with her Operation UMBRA by analyzing reconnaissance data and civilian reports on Combine traffic patterns to determine that Kuritan transports were gathered at New Avalon's nadir jump point. She devised a plan to attack the transports, knowing that if they were uncertain whether New Avalon's zenith jump point was also under attack, they would follow protocols and jump to Coloma to gather reinforcements. The plan succeeded, and the AFFS fleet captured nearly twenty vessels, leaving the Twenty-Second stranded. This allowed Prince Julian to move all of Task Force Dawn in one jump.

While Toranaga fortified his position, the captured JumpShips were brought to Argyle, crewed, and loaded. On June 7th 3151, Task Force Dawn arrived at New Avalon, and Prince Julian broadcasted his return to the system and urged Toranaga to surrender peacefully. However, the kanrei did not respond, and riots erupted across the planet. Angry civilians beat Combine officials to death, and within three days, the Combine only controlled Avalon City, where Toranaga and the Fifth Sword of Light were holed up, and Ryuken-hachi manned the Corean Enterprises factory.

Despite the unfavorable odds, Toranaga was determined to defend the honor of the Dragon as a samurai. As the Davion fleet approached the planet, Toranaga had kept some of his assault DropShips hidden behind the moon Galahad. When the Kurita task force saw an opportunity, they undetected and skimming the surface of the moon and targeted the troop carriers. The Kurita ships raced past the Davion screen and struck the heart of the fleet with kamikaze fury, devastating the Sixth Crucis Lancers’ transports and inflicting heavy losses on the First Davion Guards’ ships. The crews of the Kurita ships knew that this was their last flight and sacrificed themselves for the chance to kill Julian Davion. They destroyed or crippled nearly twice their number before the last ship, the Nekohono'o-class Willing Sacrifice, was destroyed.

On the command ship Running Fox, Admiral McMasters struggled to hold the fleet together as Combine aerospace fighters rose from the planet.

Ground Battle

The First and Second Davion Auxiliaries grounded nearby Achernar BattleMechs facility, facing immediate artillery bombardment. Though the Genyosha has only a token force of infantry, they hold the factory hostage, tie up the Auxiliaires there for most of the campaign. Meanwhile, both Hussar regiments, due to the aerospace fighter harassment, missed their approach window and had to ground far from teir objective of Corean Enterprises. Once there, the Ryuken-hachi engaged both Hussar units in a running battle back to the plant. The Davion Assault Guards and Sixth Crucis Lancers performed a combat drop into the regions surrounding Avalon City. THe Fifth Sword gave no ground, savaging the Assault Guards before retreating into the bulwarks they'd built into the city. The Prince's Champion, Erik Sandoval-Groell, led the ground battle. Julian Davion had wanted to do it himself, but his advisors convinced him to not put himself into risk, so he overseed the battle from the Running Fox's bridge. Meanwhile, other AFFS units participated also in Operation Dawn, but in other systems: Julian had sent the Dawn Guards and the Kestrel Grenadiers to tie down the Twenty-Second New Samarkand Regulars on Coloma, and mercenary raids increased across all the Dragon's Tongue, coordinated by Marshal Philip Rahm of the Eight Crucis Lancers.

Conclusion

However, not all the Combine invaders on New Avalon were captured: Tai-i Saul Pereira, officer of the Fifth Sword of Light, managed to escape during the victory celebrations, joining with some squads of DCMS infantrymen, refusing to surrender and fleeing deeply into the Gran Avalon mountain range. However, their survival at long term was unlikely, as they were hunted by a disproportionate number of Davion troops.

Operation Dawn was quickly followed by the AFFS Operation Solar Flare, the reconquest of all the Dragon's Tongue worlds. After the Battle of Greely (3152), the conflict ended de facto, with both sides quickly adopting an undeclared truce to rebuild their forces. But the devastation of the battles, fough almost exclusively in Davion space, and the huge military losses of Operation Dawn, ironically, left the Combine -technically, the loser- in best shape and stronger than the Federated Suns, technically, the winner.

Gallery

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  Matsuhari Toranaga's Atlas when defeated by Julian Davion's Marauder II

Bibliography

• The Damocles Sanction (novel)
• Dominions Divided