17th Royal Division
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Contents
History
The Seventeenth Royal Division was a part of the Star League Defense Force Regular Army. Formed as a part of VI Corps during the creation of the Star League Defense Force in the beginning years of the Star League, the Seventeenth Royal Division served alongside the other units of VI Corps in the Taurian Concordat campaign from the beginning of Operation BULL RUN in 2578 until 2582;[1] IV Corps was then reorganized and redeployed, forming one of the core units within Task Force MAILED FIST, the Task Force assembled to implement Operation MAILED FIST - the Star League intervention in the Rim Worlds Republic civil war.[2]
Persistence
One of the first wave of assaults conducted by Task Force MAILED FIST, the SLDF landings on Persistence were a deliberately provocative move intended to judge the performance of the Rim Worlds Republic forces. Stationed on Persistence was a battalion from the Fifth Amaris Fusiliers, a unit that had chosen to remain loyal to First Consul Gregory Amaris.[3]
The Fifth Fusiliers hadn't been given any orders relating to the deployment of SLDF units on Persistence, and as a result put up a determined resistance against the invading forces; when the SLDF attempted to land at the Danderson City starport the inbound transport DropShips came under fire from both surface-to-air batteries located around the city and Republican aerospace fighters. The Seventeenth Royal Division had to launch a ground assault to secure the spaceport and allow further landings, and the Fifth Fusiliers continued to resist the occupation of Persistence; the SLDF managed to force the Fifth to concede by systematically securing the desalination plants that were key to keeping Persistence habitable, but the Fifth fought until the last plant had been captured.[3]
Malibu
A destructive raid on Alarion prompted the SLDF to alter its initial strategy for the campaign, and the focus shifted to reducing Rim Worlds Army concentrations throughout the Republic. As a result the Seventeenth Royal Division found itself facing another Rim Worlds Army loyalist unit on Malibu in 2584,[4] where as a part of Battle Group Apollo the Seventeenth fought against the Third Amaris Dragoons.[5]
Derf
In late 2584 the SLDF changed tactics again; a number of major RWA units had been destroyed or captured, and the focus for the campaign shifted to capturing worlds of strategic importance, but the campaign was slowed by the greatly increased resistance offered by the RWA and local civilian populations, prompted by atrocities performed by the Draconis Auxiliary Corps when they captured Nightwish in mid-2584. The conquest of Derf was one such example of a campaign that took longer than originally planned due to the level of resistance offered by the civilian population; General Nathan Isaacson of Battle Group Apollo assigned the Seventeenth Royal Division to conquering Derf in 2586, but even a year after the planetary capital had been occupied instances of civil unrest were still occurring.[6][2]
Somerset, Wotan, and Bensinger
The Seventeenth's campaigns on Somerset in 2588, Wotan in 2590, and Bensinger in 2594 all saw the Seventeenth fighting local militia units; with the campaign to secure the Rim Worlds Republic moving slowly towards completion, forces were concentrated in the Apollo Province from 2591 onwards, and whereas the Seventeenth had operated alone in previous campaigns, three regiments from the 2nd Marik Auxiliary Corps - the Second and Sixth Marik Militias and the First Brigade of the Fusiliers of Oriente were assigned to the conquest of Bensinger alongside the Seventeenth.[7]
Taran's World
The campaign for Taran's World in 2595 was the last campaign of the Reunification War for the Seventeenth, and the third time that the Seventeenth would face a line formation from the Rim Worlds Army - in this case, the Second Amaris Legionnaires. While Task Force MAILED FIST had already secured the approaches to Apollo, General Isaacson wanted to ensure that the Second Legionnaires were contained, as they were the last active Rim Worlds army unit outside of those formations located on Apollo itself. The Seventeenth secured Taran's World and remained on the planet until the end of Operation MAILED FIST in September 2596.[8]
Officers
| Rank | Name | Command | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commanding Officers of the 17th Royal Division | |||
Tactics
Unknown.
Composition History
Unknown.
Notes
It was confirmed by the author of Historical: Reunification War that in general, the Divisions listed within the Star League sourcebook be traced back directly to those Divisions listed within Historial: Reunification War.[9] However, in 2764 there are three divisions listed as the Seventeenth within the SLDF: the Seventeenth Royal Mechanized Infantry Division, VIII Corps[10], the Seventeenth Jump Infantry Division, XXI Corps[11] and the Seventeenth Infantry Division, LXXI Corps.[12] It is not known which of these can trace their history back to the Seventeenth Royal Division of the Reunification War era.
References
- ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 142, "Taurian Concordat Front (Jump-Off - 2585)"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Historical: Reunification War, p. 152, "Rim Worlds Republic Front (Jump-Off - 2587)"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Historical: Reunification War, p. 132, "Persistence, Treeling, Star's End and Black Earth"
- ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 133, "Island Hopping (2582 - November 2590)"
- ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 154, "Rim Worlds Republic Front (Jump-Off - 2587)"
- ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 134, "Arlina to viborg (December 2584 - September 2588)"
- ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 153, "Rim Worlds Republic Front (2588-2596)"
- ↑ Historical: Reunification War, p. 139, "Bitter Harvests (2591-2596)"
- ↑ Ask The Writers: Star League Divisions: Reunification War to Liberation of Terra
- ↑ The Star League, p. 141, "Fourteenth"
- ↑ The Star League, p. 140, "First"
- ↑ The Star League, p. 154, "Seventeenth"