Taurian-Canopian War

History

The Taurian-Canopian War was a border dispute between the Taurian Concordat and the Magistracy of Canopus in the year 2813. Also known as the '200 Hour War', the 'Magistracy-Concordat Conflict' and even the 'Rockwellawan Crisis', the two nations briefly and mostly cleanly fought over the possession of four worlds along their shared border; Detroit, Rockwellawan, Portan and Spencer. The battles were spaced out over a period of some four weeks, but actual combat was less than 200 hours, hence the '200 Hour War'. This waste of resources that they could not spare taught both Periphery realms a valuable lesson in the futility of military adventurism given the general decline in prosperity, interstellar communications and technology following the end of the Star League.

The war was started by Protector Semyon Calderon who sought to add worlds to his realm in preparation against Davion imperialism and was only made possible by the First Succession War's aftermath on the Inner Sphere. Semyon had decided that he needed to expand the Concordat and managed to convince the Privy Council to go to war to protect the Concordat from a war. The two worlds Semyon sought to claim were at that time largely undeveloped and held small populations. But both Detroit and Rockwellawan could be used by the Taurian Defense Force to launch counter-strikes into the Federated Suns 'when' the Davions attacked. Admiral Gertrude Blake-Andrews was in charge of the two world invasion. She was replaced by General Natal Choudhoury who later quipped 'It was not a total loss, it can always be used as a bad example!'.

Rockwellawan

Thing went bad for the Taurians almost immediately after jumping into the Rockwellawan system. Not even trying to conceal themselves the Taurians advanced from the jump point directly to the recharge station. The Canopians literally saw them coming from miles away and were fully prepared to repel the invaders eight days later as the Taurian DropShips closed on the planet. Many of the DropShips were simply shot out of the sky, arriving on the surface as debris. One of the few units to even make it to the ground was the 19th New Vandenberg BattleMech company under the command of Major Josiah Brandamas. Major Brandamas saved his unit by surrendering before his DS doors opened. This flagrant attack moved Magestrix Rwannah Centrella to launch her own aggression on the Taurian Concordat. She had the Magistracy Armed Forces target two of the Concordat worlds for invasion; Portan and Spencer.

Detroit

The Taurians fared somewhat better on the low population world of Detroit, at least they got most of their forces down to the surface alive. Once there though the Taurians and Canopians mostly chased each other around the few military significant targets trying to draw the other side out into ambushes. With neither commander foolish enough to oblige the other by running into the prepared meat grinders, 'fighting' on Detroit faded into defensive holding actions until word of the truce arrived.

Spencer

Spencer was the MAF's turn to play the patsy; it was Rockwellawan in reverse. Magistracy DropShips entered the system and burned toward the planetary center of Capitol City. There the MAF was hit by forces under the leadership of Comptroller Hendras Mohandun who had emptied the city and used its confines as a trap to hold the invading forces. Unable to get clear of the city before off-world reinforcements arrived, the remaining MAF units surrendered rather than be destroyed.

Portan

Portan was a more conventional battle where the MAF units were able secure a landing zone, but because of the sparse population and lack of hard targets spent most of the time chasing after the Taurian militia to stop their guerilla raids. The Taurian's vastly superior knowledge of their world allowed the smaller force to engage the invaders and evade retaliation with ease. The Canopians simply had to abandon the planet before the defenders cut them into pieces.

Aftermath

The war was settled by a treaty between the Concordat and the Magestracy that was nearly identical to the Star League treaty that had set the border before the conflict. Semyon Calderon lost most of his prestige and influence over his ignominious defeat and the total lack of any Davion aggression (or even interest!) made him a laughing stock in both Periphery realms. This would be the only Periphery war for nearly two centuries; not until the Canopian invasion of the Capellan Confederation in 3030 would any Outer Realm gird itself for a national conflict.

Notes

It is not recorded what happened to Semyon Calderon for his failed leadership, but he is not mentioned outside of this military action in any of the referenced sources

Bibliography

• Field Manual: Periphery
• Handbook: Major Periphery States
• The Periphery (sourcebook)

Dates

• Start Date - 2813
• End Date - 2813