17th Army Group (Star League)

Seventeenth Army Group
Formed	~August 2767-October 2769[see Notes]
Affiliation	Star League
Parent Command	Star League Defense Force

Overview

The Seventeenth Army Group was a Star League Defense Force Army Group formed during the Rim Worlds campaign, to provide training and occupation forces to other SLDF commands. It became operational during Operation CHIEFTAIN, the effort to liberate Terra.

History

Star League Era

Following the 2767 formation of the Fourteenth Army Group to lead the invasion of the Rim Worlds Republic, General Aleksandr Kerensky also authorized four additional army groups to serve as training and occupation commands.

Along with the Fifteenth Army Group, the 17th was reoriented as an operational force after the launch of CHIEFTAIN, as a core component of Task Force Confederation. By the closing of August 2772, the group had moved into the Terra Firma and Lockdale Provinces, landing on the planets of Acamar, Azha, Bharat, Hamal, Nopah, Slocum and Yangtze. Tenth Army's IV Corps landed on Acamar, prepared for the world that was described as "a constant winter wonderland"; the combat force easily defeated the single RWA regiment, with the routed survivors fleeing for Woodstock. Similarly, XXVI Corps had little trouble with Azha. However, Slocum proved to be a consistent, years-long issue for XXXIX Corps, as the planet had two Castles Brian and four enemy regiments to displace. These challenges had been previously identified and for which the invaders had prepared, but what had gone unrealized was the planet's recent transition into a severe climactic event that was projected to develop constant snow, wind, and rainstorms for another twenty years. The planetary campaign was prolonged by 27 months, with the exacerbating factor of strong solar flares intermittently obstructing communications for long periods of time. Fifteenth Army's XV Corps faced considerable resistance on Bharat—after quickly securing their initial targets—when export armaments were turned against them. Hamal and Nopah were not major challenges for XL Corps, though the occupation timeline had to be adjusted to deal with some regions that had to be resecured on Hamal. A similar delay was experienced by XXIII Corps on Yangtze, in order to deal with defenders operating among the local communities.

The available units of the Tenth moved onto Woodstock in 2773, where their efforts were aggravated by the defenders' strong defensive measures.

In early 2775, the Tenth Army was assigned the task of relieving the "salted" Sheratan, a world outside of the unit's assigned invasion corridor. The planet had been abandoned by the Amaris Empire Armed Forces (AEAF), but just as with eleven other worlds ringing Terra, it wasn't before the planet's ability to sustain the populace was eradicated by nuclear weapons, forcing Kerensky to respond. This relief effort freed up the Fifteenth Army for its planned attack on Fletcher, which XXXV Corps pulled off with the help of preinvasion asymmetric insurgency operations.

Very early in the morning Terran Standard Time, the Seventeenth Army Group (along with most of the SLDF's Operation LIBERATION) descended on Terra. The group was assigned two regional targets in Europe: Germany (Berlin was the specific objective of the Tenth Army) and England (London and Sandhurst Castle) for the Fifteenth Army. Berlin-specific objectives were the capture and occupation of the spaceport and the Ruhr industrial centers, with the Castle Brian in Bochum. The 149th BattleMech, 210th Jump Infantry, and 14th Infantry Divisions landed to the west and east of Berlin, promptly securing and expanding the beachhead. Further to the east, the 120th Jump Infantry Division and 146th Mechanized Infantry Divisions moved along the River Spree towards towards the city, encountering and engaging the Second and Nineteenth Hegemony Patriots, the latter a unit of conscripts formed mere weeks earlier. These engagements would be played out with feints and false retreats, and eventually urban combat, in the outskirts before the enemy was cleared. By 28 February, the objective was completed when an insurrection overthrew the final vestiges of the AEAF defenders. Bochum Castle Brian was only secured in mid-May, three weeks following the combat assaults that provided the SLDF entry. The rest of the Tenth would then move on to occupy Prague and Vienna and to link up with the forces handling the Italian landings.

No earlier than the northern hemisphere's 2779 springtime, the Seventeenth Army Group was to target a drop into Iceland, followed by a move to Greenland, with minimal opposition anticipated.

Officers

In common with the other SLDF Army Groups, the Seventeenth Army Group was commanded by a General-rank officer who answered only to the SLDF High Command and the First Lord of the Star League.

Composition History

2772

Seventeenth Army Group (7 BattleMech Divisions, 22 Infantry Divisions, 13 independent regiments)

• Tenth Army
• Fifteenth Army
• Fifth Regimental Combat Team
• Sixth Volunteer Brigade

Notes

• The citable range for the Seventeenth's formation date can be narrowed down by the following criteria:
  • The Fifteenth through Eighteenth Army Groups were organized during the Rim Worlds campaign.
  • The Rim Worlds campaign began in August 2067.
  • The campaign ended, with the RWR's capture in 2769, sometime prior to 29 October.

Bibliography

• Field Manual: SLDF
• Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1
• Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2