Battle of Gienah (3152)

Battle of Gienah (3152)
Conflict details
Part of	IlClan Era
Start Date	6 June 3152
End Date	12 June 3152
Planet(s)	Gienah
Result	Wolf's Dragoons total victory
Attacking Forces
Affiliation	Wolf's Dragoons
Commanding Officer(s)	Haya Tetsuhara
Defending Forces
Affiliation	Clan Wolf
Commanding Officer(s)	Othar
Other Forces

Overview

The Battle of Gienah was an early ilClan Era military operation undertaken on that world by a single Wolf's Dragoons battalion against several Wolf Clusters in June 3152. The battle took place in and around the capital of Gienah, Alliago City.

Prelude

Wolf's Dragoons took part on the ilClan Trial on Terra and, due in part to their own tactical mistakes and to Wolf Khan Alaric Ward's orders, they were decimated in the battle. The survivors, already furious, were raging when the now ilKhan refused to allow them to reunite with Clan Wolf and subsequently paid them for their services with thirty silver coins as a calculated insult. After relieving the unit's previous commanding officers, their newly-appointed leader Colonel Henry Kincaid sent the survivors out against the Wolf Empire. For months, they struck targets inside the Empire, sometimes on their own, sometimes under contract, most of the time winning these engagements. The recently resurrected Zeta Battalion obtained many of these successes. But for the Dragoons even those victories were not enough. Kincaid and other senior Dragoons leadership planned a daring attack against the Empire's heart.

Battle

Landfall and Initial Clash

On 29 May, 3152, Zeta Battalion arrived at Gienah's Nadir's jump point, posing as a Yellow Sun Free Guild JumpShip. Their arrival was undetected by Clan Wolf forces. As Zeta's DropShips burned in-system to the planet, the Dragoon JumpShip Talbot arrived at the same jump point on June 6th. The Talbot carried two assault DropShips previously taken from the Wolves, the Elgrim and Falgrim. This force easily took control of the jump point, destroying the only Clan Wolf guard ship, Pack Mule. It then captured the Tiamat (Individual Invader-class JumpShip) on station there as well. As the jump point and space garrison were being overwhelmed, Zeta's DropShips announced their real colors and began making planetfall on Gienah.

The sudden appearance of Zeta Battalion over the Clan Wolf capital stunned Othar. To have made so deep a strike, the Dragoons would have to have jumped through several uninhabited systems to avoid detection, risking themselves and their entire unit should they misjump or suffer a jump drive malfunction. Othar offered a proper batchall to bid for the planet's defense, but the Dragoons ignored him; there was nothing they wanted to say or hear from the so-called Clan Wolf viceroy. As Zeta landed, their aerospace fighter escort cleared Gienah's low orbit band of all surveillance and communication satellites, blinding the Wolves to their future movements.<

Zeta selected a dropzone in an unpopulated area south of Alliago City and Othar sent his Ninety-first Cluster to engage them. As the Wolves' DropShips began to deploy the Ninety-first, they were targeted by Long Tom guns mounted on Zeta's Trutzburg-class DropShips. Two of the Ninety-First's three Union Cs were destroyed on the ground or while attempting to take off. Only the third managed to escape. Dragoon aerospace fighters also intercepted three Clan Wolf [Broadsword]] DropShips that approached, downing two of these. A star of Clan Wolf 'Mechs attempted to harass Zeta and draw them into a forest, but were unsuccessful. The Dragoons' destroyed four of the Clan 'Mechs without suffering any losses. The bulk of the Ninety-first still hadn't entered combat, but the losses had demoralized them. Othar ordered the unit's commander, Star Colonel Josip, to retreat back to Alliago City on foot.

Battle for Alliago City

The Dragoons did not allow Clan Wolf's forces to retreat unmolested. Their aerospace fighters continued to harass the withdrawing Ninety-first all the way back to Alliago City, inflicting enough damage that only two trinaries were still standing by the time they reached its safety. Zeta Battalion quickly reboarded their DropShips and redeployed just outside the capital, entering the city and engaging Clan Wolf forces there in ferocious, brutal close combat. By 11 June, the Ninety-first had been effectively eliminated and Othar's Den Keshik had been forced to pull back to the city's center. Zeta doggedly followed them, catching the command keshik in a pincer maneuver and downing Other in his Blood Reaper. The keshik quickly closed in around him, shielding him and escorting him to safety. Othar survived but the city and the planet effectively belonged to the Dragoons.

Aftermath

Zeta Battalion had no interest in occupying Gienah. On 12 June, after six days of heavy combat, they boarded their DropShips and departed. They left behind a shattered Clan Wolf garrison: both the Ninety-first Wolf Guards and Den Keshik had been destroyed and Star Colonel Othar had been brought down and humiliated. While Zeta Battalion had said nothing to the planet's population, many of the lower castes were unable to understand the reason for the attack. The message was clear to Othar however. They had proved that the ilKhan's realm could be bloodied and bruised, and that Alaric's decision to channel the majority of Clan Wolf's touman to the Battle of Terra had left the vast majority of the Wolf Empire underdefended and vulnerable. To add insult to injury, a message transmitted from Terra to the Empire— the first word they had heard in a year— stated that ilKhan Ward would not be sending any troops back to Empire any time soon. Unbeknownst to Othar or the Wolf Empire forces on Gienah, Zeta had also managed to make off with a sibko of Wolf Warriors that they intended to distribute to all other Clans as a means of fighting against the new ilKhan.

Units Involved

Clan Wolf

• Den Keshik
• Ninety-first Wolf Guards Cluster

Wolf's Dragoons

• Zeta Battalion

Bibliography

• Empire Alone (sourcebook)
• Redemption Rites (novel)