2nd Armored Division

Insignia of the 2nd Armored Division
Second Armored Division
Formed 2572
Affiliation Outworlds Alliance
Parent Command Alliance Armored Corps


Unit Description

The Second Armored Division was one of four armored divisions that formed the Alliance Armored Corps during the Reunification War.[1]

History

Formation

Formed as a result of the order issued by Outworlds Alliance President Grigori Avellar in 2572 that created the Outworlds Alliance Militia, the 2nd Armored Division was a part of the crash armament program that resulted, and was equipped with a mixture of vehicles and equipment sourced covertly from outside the Alliance and those armored vehicles manufactured by Alliance industries which had been realigned by the President to produce armaments.[2][3]

In the years between 2571 and 2581, military recruitment from within the Outworlds Alliance was extremely low, and the OAM was forced to rely on recruiting foreigners. This would change after events in the first year of the war, but by the time the war began, the 2nd Armored Division was largely crewed by foreign-born troops with military experience.[3][4]

Reunification War

Nexus Ri

When the DCMS launched attacks into the Alliance in 2582, the 2nd Armored were entrenched on two worlds, Nexus Ri and Zlatousi. When the 4th Galedon Regulars landed in September, they found that not only were the 2nd Armored present in force, but that the militia was larger and better equipped than anticipated, had been trained by advisors from the AFFS and that the planetary defenses were stronger and deeper than expected. This combination of factors allowed the 2nd Armored to turn the swift conquest of Nexus Ri into a grueling campaign where the 2nd Armored and militia forces continually blocked the Kuritan attempts to attack the civilian population and engaged the 4th Galedon in strength. The 4th Galedon had a deeper and more resilient supply chain, allowing them to grind the Alliance forces down, but the 2nd Armored made the DCMS troops fight for four months to capture Kazanka; by the time the 2nd Armored had been heavily damaged enough to force a retreat off-world in mid-January 2583, the Kuritan forces had burned through more than a years-worth of supplies in a few short months and the inner Alliance worlds had valuable time to fortify their defenses against future attacks.[5]

Zlatousi

The 2nd Armored Division force on Zlatousi was in a similar position to that of the detachment on Nexus Ri, although on Zlatousi elements of the 1st Armored Division were also present. On Zlatousi the Alliance forces faced the 24th Galedon Regulars, and the battle for the world rapidly took on the same characteristics as the struggles on both Nexus Ri and nearby Kazanka, where the bulk of the 1st Armored Division were deployed. The only major difference was the length of the campaign; the combined Alliance forces held out for two weeks longer than those on Nexus Ri.[5]

Quantraine

The 2nd Armored Division had taken heavy damage in the battles for Nexus Ri and Zlatousi, and were redeployed onto the nearby world of Quantraine; six months later, the 2nd Armored found themselves facing the 4th Galedon Regulars for a second time, as the DCMS attempted to add Quantraine to the list of captured worlds. This time, the 4th Galedon didn't have the supply chain they'd had on Kazanka... and the Alliance defenses were stronger on Quantraine than they'd been on Nexus Ri. The 4th Galedon faced the entire 2nd Armored Division, along with a planetary militia which had recruited strong infantry and armor regiments and more heavily fortified their world. Whenever the 4th Galedon attempted to break out to attack the civilian population, their advance were blunted by the militia infantry, who used anti-'Mech training to launch attacks that crippled the 4th Galedon's lead forces, holding them up long enough for the 2nd Armored to redeploy and halt the attack. This time, the Alliance forces forced the 4th Galedon to retreat off-world in November 2583; the 2nd Armored would keep a presence on Quantraine throughout the remainder of the war, and although the Combine forces would try to capture the world again in 2584 the 2nd Armored and the planetary militia would continue to hold out until peace was declared.[6][7]

Cerberus

The key industrial world of Cerberus had been invaded in strength by the SLDF in 2583, but despite widespread atrocities against the civilian population and concentrated attacks on the industrial base of the world, the population continued to resist, and the Outworlds Alliance Militia reinforced Cerberus where possible; this turned the battle for Cerberus into a three-year grinding battle that would tax both sides. Having successfully defended Quantraine in 2583, elements of the 2nd Armored Division were deployed to Cerberus, where they fought alongside units like the Alliance Grenadiers, Santiago Carabiniers and the Pitcairn Legion.[7][1]

Officers

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the 2nd Armored Division

Tactics

Unknown.

Composition History

Four Armored Regiments and five mechanized Regiments [8]


References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Historical: Reunification War, p. 141, "Outworlds Alliance Front"
  2. Historical: Reunification War, p. 108, "Something From Nothing"
  3. 3.0 3.1 Historical: Reunification War, p. 108, "Guns and Diplomats"
  4. Historical: Reunification War, p. 110, "Alliance Preparations"
  5. 5.0 5.1 Historical: Reunification War, p. 121-122, "Kazanka, Nexus Ri and Zlatousi"
  6. Historical: Reunification War, p. 125, "Kurita's Overeager Appetite"
  7. 7.0 7.1 Historical: Reunification War, p. 126, "Negotiation"
  8. Historical: Reunification War, p. 42, "Outworlds Alliance Militia"

Bibliography