7th Tikonov Lancers

Brigade Insignia of the Tikonov Lancers
Seventh Tikonov Lancers
Disbanded Disbanded during the Third Succession War[1]
Nickname The Righteous Horde
Affiliation Capellan Confederation;
Tikonov Grand Union (previous)
Parent Command Tikonov Lancers

History

As a part of the Tikonov Lancers brigade, the Seventh Tikonov Lancers could claim a line of direct descent from some of the first military units to be formed outside of the Terran Alliance. Despite a number of regiments from the brigade being transferred to the Star League Defense Force, deactivating those regiments within the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces, it was considered unacceptable to create a new regiment of Lancers when the traditions of a former regiment could be revived. This helped to maintain the perceived connection between each regiment and the history of the Lancers all the way back to the earliest days of the Tikonov Union.[2]

The Seventh were active during the Age of War, where they earned the nickname "The Righteous Horde" for their actions in and out of combat; during battle, they fought with an implacable, remorseless fury that allowed no enemy to escape, but once combat was over, those enemy soldiers who had surrendered were treated with every courtesy by the Seventh. That same clemency granted to captured opponents was extended to civilian populations, who were treated equally well by the Seventh.[2]

The actions of the Seventh were a marked contrast to the actions of one of their sister Lancer regiments, the Fourth Tikonov Lancers; tasked with responsibility for removing civilian populations competing to colonize worlds claimed by the Tikonov Union and Tikonov Grand Union, the Fourth was home to the most callous, unfeeling soldiers that could be found, and swiftly earned the nickname "Coreward Reapers" for their brutality. The adoption of the Ares Conventions limited the worst excesses of the Fourth, but even before the adoption of the Conventions, when the Tikonov High Command wanted to moderate the behavior of the Fourth, it would often deploy the Seventh alongside them.[2]

It was during the Age of War that Franco Liao purged the noble trained bands that had been dominated by the families of the Tikonov Tetrarchs and sheng nobility, removing their influence from the various Tikonov Lancers regiments with varying degrees of success.[2]

First Succession War

In February 2785 a reinforced battalion from the Seventh raided Towne, a former Terran Hegemony world the Federated Suns had annexed in 2783. The Lancers emerged from a Lagrange point and burned towards Fetryl, an undefended continent in Towne's southern hemisphere. The defending forces on Towne consisted of the Fifty-sixth Avalon Hussars, the 123rd Aerospace Interceptor Wing, and the local planetary militia. As the defenders scrambled to intercept the Lancers, a second raiding party - this time from the Eighteenth Benjamin Regulars - appeared from behind the shadow of Crom, Towne's moon, and began burning towards Hyboria, a continent in the northern hemisphere of Towne and home to the planetary capital city, Port Howard.[3]

The relationship between the Hussars and the 123rd was poor, with little or no communication, and bordered on being actively dysfunctional. The arrival of the two raiding parties highlighted this dramatically, with the commanding officers of both AFFS commands bickering over which group of raiders was the bigger threat, enabling the Benjamin Regulars to land almost unopposed, while the Lancers penetrated the 123rd Aerospace's screen relatively easily, landing with only minimal damage. The Lancers and the Regulars then began rampaging around the continents they'd made planetfall on, looting and burning warehouses full of valuable supplies.[3]

It took two days for the two AFFS commands to begin cooperating, with the Hussars deploying a force to the city of Vale in Fetryl to reinforce the planetary militia; however, by this point the Lancers were already falling back to their DropShips. The planetary militia in Vale had managed to stage a daring guerrilla ambush against the Lancers, and that ambush had highlighted that the planetary militia was more than willing to fight to hold up the Lancers until assistance could arrive. The 123rd conducted sorties against the Lancers while they were falling back, but the Lancers were able to reach their DropShips and escape after taking only limited losses.[3][4][5]

In late 2787 the Seventh invaded and conquered New Florence, a former Terran Hegemony system that had been claimed by the Federated Suns. The Armed Forces of the Federated Suns defenders had been anticipating an attack by troops from the Draconis Combine, and when the Seventh invaded (with support from the Thirteenth Liao Lancers) the AFFS troops found themselves both outnumbered and unprepared for the hit, run and harass tactics used by the Lancers. New Florence had been conquered by November 2787.[6]

Second Succession War

During the Second Succession War, the Seventh took part in the CCAF's efforts to reclaim Chesterton. Together with its sister unit the Eighth Tikonov Lancers and supporting regiments, the Seventh successfully landed on that world in June 2828. However, fiercer than expected Davion resistance saw the Seventh stalemated outside of Chesterton City and the regiment was eventually forced to retreat off-world.[7]

When the Free Worlds League was crippled by ComStar's interdiction in 2837, the Seventh was one of the Capellan units dispatched to take advantage of House Marik's weakness. During the ensuing ComStar War the regiment clashed with the Ninth Proserpina Hussars on Kristiandsund.[8]

Third Succession War and Dissolution

At some point between 2864 and 3025 the Seventh Tikonov Lancers were struck from the rolls of the CCAF.[1]

Officers

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the 7th Tikonov Lancers

Tactics

Unknown.

Composition History

2765

Seventh Tikonov Lancers (Regiment/Green/Reliable)[2]

Note: In 2765 the Seventh Lancers were assigned to New Hessen and were considered to be a reliable but green regiment.[2]

2786–2821

Seventh Tikonov Lancers (Regiment/Green/Reliable)[9]

- In 2786 the Seventh were a heavy-weight regiment, operating at full strength and stationed on New Hessen.[9] In 2821 the unit was reduced to just under forty percent of full strength and were stationed on Basalt.[9]

2830

7th Tikonov Lancers (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)[10]

Note: At this point in time the heavy-weight unit was stationed on Basalt with an operational readiness of 84 percent.[10]

2864

7th Tikonov Lancers (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)[10]

Note: At this point in time the assault-weight unit was stationed on Moravian with an operational readiness of 37 percent.[10]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 House Liao (The Capellan Confederation), pp. 105–107: "Regimental Deployment"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Field Report 2765: CCAF, p. 15: "Tikonov Lancers"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 First Succession War, pp. 23, 26: "Towne"
  4. House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 60: "The Towne Debacle" - Towne changes hands after the fall of the Hegemony
  5. Handbook: House Davion, p. 55: "Timeline: First Succession War" - Dates of the Kurita/Capellan Raids and Towne's capture noted
  6. First Succession War, p. 45: "Neglected Front: Liao Takes Advantage"
  7. Second Succession War, pp. 25–27
  8. Second Succession War, p. 49
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 First Succession War, p. 136: "Capellan Confederation Armed Forces (CCAF)"
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Second Succession War, p. 96

Bibliography