13th Royal Division
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| Thirteenth Royal Division | |
| Formed | By 2575[See Notes] |
| Affiliation | Star League |
| Parent Command | V Corps |
The Thirteenth Royal Division was a part of the Star League Defense Force Regular Army. It was one of the SLDF's Royal units, which consisted of troops from the Terran Hegemony.
History[edit]
Formed as a part of V Corps during the creation of the SLDF in the beginning years of the Star League, the Thirteenth Royal Division served in the Outworlds Alliance campaign from the beginning of Operation UNION HOLD in 2581 until peace was declared with the Treaty of Cerberus in 2585.[1]
As a part of the Outworlds Alliance task force, the Thirteenth was stationed on Pondicherry and Chirala when the invasion of the Alliance began, moving forward to pacify the occupied world of Bad News before seeing active combat in 2582 after the commander of V Corps, Major General Laszlo Hooker used his personal contacts higher up in the Star League Defense Force to have V Corps be given an active role in the invasion.[1][2]
Unfortunately, one of the first of these actions was disastrous for the Thirteenth; the Thirty-seventh Royal Brigade were tasked to take the world of Haynesville, and would be involved in one of the biggest single defeats the SLDF would suffer in the campaign against the Alliance. Constantly harasser by enemy forces consisting of the Haynesville Militia and two battalions of the Pitcairn Legion, taken in by the deception that the opposition appeared to be much stronger than it actually was, and with no news of reinforcements, the commander of the Thirty-seventh Royal Brigade surrendered to the Alliance forces. The resulting morale boost echoed throughout the Periphery, and the salvage obtained from the Thirty-seventh allowed the Alliance to field two complete new BattleMech regiments in following years. Liberated a few days later by the Thirty-ninth Royal Brigade, General Amos Forlough made the officers of the Thirty-seventh the subject of military trials, with punishments ranging from execution to imprisonment and demotion, and the Thirty-seventh spent the rest of the war rebuilding on Bryceland. Forlough also tried or removed from service officers from the Thirteenth Royal Division as well as the commander of V Corps as a result of the Haynesville debacle.[3]
The Thirteenth Royal Division wouldn't engage in an active assault again until 2583, when its two active brigades were deployed forward to Ki Zoban after the planet had been captured, before being deployed on seek and destroy raids on Morthac and Banori. As a part of General Amos Forlough's plan to defeat the will and ability of the Alliance to resist, the raids on Morthac and Banori saw the Thirteenth Royal Division lay waste to towns, cities and factories.[1][4]
The division next saw combat in 2585, when the Thirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth Royal Brigades were added to the ongoing battles on Cerberus, and were still on the planet when peace was declared.[1] After the war, Thirteenth Royal Division and the bulk of V Corps formed the major part of the Outworlds Alliance Army of Occupation, establishing bases alongside the new Star League administration offices on each of the Outworlds Alliance worlds.[5]
Officers[edit]
| Rank | Name | Command | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commanding Officers of the 13th Royal Division | |||
Tactics[edit]
Unknown.
Composition History[edit]
2581[edit]
Thirteenth Royal Division[1]
Despite the doctrine and organization originally defined for divisions during the creation of the SLDF, the Thirteenth would most likely have been a mélange of combined armed units.[6]
Notes[edit]
- ^ The Star League and Historical: Reunification War state that in 2575, the SLDF had ten full corps with each divided into three divisions and nine brigades in a set organizational structure.[7][8] The Thirteenth was listed as being a division of one of those corps.[1]
- It was confirmed by the author of Historical: Reunification War that in general, the Divisions listed within The Star League can be traced back directly to those Divisions listed within Historical: Reunification War.[9] However, in 2764 there are three divisions listed as the Thirteenth within the SLDF: the Thirteenth Jump Infantry Division, XL Corps[10]; the Thirteenth Royal Infantry Division, XXXV Corps[10]; and the Thirteenth Royal Mechanized Infantry Division, XII Corps.[11] It is not known which of these can trace their history back to the Thirteenth Royal Division of the Reunification War era.
References[edit]
- ↑ a b c d e f Historical: Reunification War, p. 140: "Outworlds Alliance Front"
- ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 119: "Haynesville"
- ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 120: "Haynesville"
- ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 124: "Baby Killers Unleashed"
- ↑ Historical: Reunification War, pp. 157–160: "The Terms of Outworlds Freedom"
- ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 27: "Divisions and Brigades"
- ↑ The Star League, p. 47: "Battle Plans"
- ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 27: "Image and Reality"
- ↑ "Ask the Writers: "Star League Divisions: Reunification War to Liberation of Terra"". Official BattleTech Forums. 5 October 2011. Archived from the original on 17 August 2025. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
- ↑ a b The Star League, p. 148: "Fifteenth Army"
- ↑ The Star League, p. 142: "Ninth Army"