Second Pleiades Hussars

Second Pleiades Hussars
Affiliation	Taurian Concordat
Parent Command	TDF

The Second Pleiades Hussars were a BattleMech regiment in the Taurian Defense Force during the First Succession War.

History

Reunification War

The 111th Concordat Chasseurs, the 129th Concordat Chasseurs, the 122nd and the 17th Concordat Chasseurs alongside the Second Pleiades Hussars were the five BattleMech regiments assigned to the defense of New Vandenberg when the Star League arrived in January 2588 under the overall command of Colonel Alana Bar'Dyness. When the Star League Defense Force launched its assault, Field Marshal Amos Forlough was the overall commanding officer, and he was determined to achieve a quick victory and then launch an assault on the Hyades Cluster, the heart of the Concordat. Forlough dispensed with any attempt at demanding the surrender of the government or population, and began his assault with forty days of orbital bombardment by the combined WarShips of the First and Second Fleets and his available aerospace fighters, an attack he broadened the scope of after twenty days by ordering the defoliation of the continent of Brittain in an attempt to locate the 111th and the other elements of the Taurian garrison. Forlough was determined to break the spirit of the population, and his attacks incorporated industrial sites and cities intentionally; his aerospace fighters dropped more than 200,000 tons of munitions during the bombardment, mostly incendiary.

Forlough's initial efforts were unsuccessful despite their sheer destructiveness, as Colonel Bar'Dyness had ordered the construction of a huge number of underground shelters, both to house the garrison and millions of civilians - bunkers that included hospitals, schools and complete industrial sites. As soon as Forlough began landing forces from I, II and IV Corps - and later IX Corps and the Federated Suns Auxiliary Corps after they were made available - the 111th and the other garrison units launched attacks on the SLDF units, frustrating them and offering a much stiffer resistance than expected. Forlough responded with characteristic brutality, ordering the use of chemical weapons and nerve agents on the population and nuclear strikes on selected targets, attacks to which the TDF responded in kind several days later.

By August, all elements of the garrison had been destroyed, but the toll exacted was immense. For the SLDF, the conquest of New Vandenberg was the single costliest operation of the war to date; more than five thousand troops had died in direct combat against the TDF, with many more dying as a result of attacks using weapons of mass destruction, and more than five times as many had suffered wounds so severe and debilitating as to prevent them ever returning to combat duty, and many died from wounds during the following months. I, II, IV and XI Corps could only muster approximately forty percent of their preconquest combat strength, while the AFFS Auxiliary Corps was at approximately sixty percent strength, having joined the battle later.

The Second Pleiades Hussars was reconstructed after this.

First Succession War

Taurian-Canopian War

During the First Succession War the unit was tasked with the invasion of Herotitus as part of the Taurian-Canopian War.

The Second Pleiades Hussars were assigned to the invasion of Herotitus, supported by conventional forces and under the overall command of Comptroller Augustin Shapiro. From the outset, the invasion was marred by Shapiro's arrogance; the TDF task force arrived at the system zenith jump point and seized the recharge station there. Shapiro didn't bother to interdict or disrupt the station's communications, possibly in the belief that the arrival of his force represented an overwhelming display of strength that would intimidate the defenders. Comptroller Shapiro's decision was one of psychological warfare, in clearly announcing the superior might of his 'Mech regiment and its supporting armor and infantry, he hoped to demoralize the MAF troops into surrendering and avoid a protracted fight. He was proved wrong and the results were deadly for the task force.

In truth the intelligence reports Shapiro had received were flawed, while the MAF garrison indeed had a relatively small 'Mech element, the Taurian scouts had failed to uncover that this lack was compensated by a significant volume of aerospace assets. Thus with eight days to prepare, a large mix of Canopian aerospace fighters, Small Craft and low-flying DropShips swarmed the shocked Taurians as they entered planet's atmosphere, savaging the inbound forces, destroying some and forcing others to crash land. The aerial interdiction was so effective that barely two companies of Hussar 'Mechs made it to the surface, along with half a mixed regiment of conventional forces. Shapiro was one of those killed during the approach to the planet, and the highest-ranking officer to survive the landing was Subaltern Josiah Brandamas of the Nineteenth New Vandenberg BattleMech Company. The catastrophic losses suffered during the approach rendered Brandamas' situation hopeless, and the surviving TDF personnel surrendered to the local garrison. That decision would earn him decorations after he and his troops eventually returned to Taurian space.

The swift Canopian retaliation for the invasion, along with news of the disastrous battle for Herotitus, resulted in a quickly-negotiated truce and an agreement that Detroit, Herotitus and Spencer should all be reaffirmed as demilitarized system. The prisoners captured on the various worlds involved were repatriated, and Semyon Calderon was widely scorned by the media of both nations.

The Second was not reconstructed after this.

Officers

Rank	Name	Command
Commanding Officers of the Second Pleiades Hussars

Tactics

Unknown.

Composition History

Unknown.

Bibliography

• First Succession War
• Historical: Reunification War
• The Periphery (sourcebook)