Battle of Andurien (3039)

Revision as of 16:16, 3 December 2022 by MahiMahi (talk | contribs)
Battle of Andurien (3039)
Conflict details
Part of Andurien Secession
Start Date 10 June 3039
End Date January 3040
Planet(s) Andurien
Result Free Worlds League victory
Territorial Changes Duchy of Andurien surrender
Attacking Forces
Affiliation Free Worlds League
Commanding Officer(s) Captain-General Thomas Marik
Command(s) First Free Worlds Guards (Initial)
Third Free Worlds Guards (September)
Eleventh Atrean Dragoons (Initial)
First Marik Militia (Initial)
Tenth Marik Militia (September)
First Fusiliers of Oriente (Initial)
Second Fusiliers of Oriente (Initial)
Stewart Dragoons' Home Guard (September)
Eighth Orloff Grenadiers (September)
First Regulan Hussars (Initial)
Always Faithful (September)
Defending Forces
Affiliation Duchy of Andurien
Commanding Officer(s) Duchess Catherine Humphreys
Command(s) First Defenders of Andurien
Third Defenders of Andurien
Fourth Defenders of Andurien
Fifth Defenders of Andurien
Sixth Defenders of Andurien
Other Forces


Prelude

Following the April 3039 surrender of Lurgatan, the Andurien Secession movement had been reduced to one unoccupied world, the capital Andurien.[1] Where previously the Duchy of Andurien forces had fall back worlds that spared the civilian centers the gruesome cost of heroic last stands, there was no such option any longer. From late April until 19 May the two factions held ComStar arbitrated peace talks in Terra's Geneva. Despite intransigence by both parties on particular points, Primus Myndo Waterly did succeed in securing agreements on ComStar-facilitated humanitarian supplies, involatile HPG and medical facilities, and civilian safe havens all protected by the newly revealed ComGuards. To underscore this Primus' point, both parties were invited to a demonstration of what the ComGuard's Star League technology-equipped force was capable of.[2]

With negotiations having failed, the invasion was slated to begin on 10 June. With the exception of the invasion of Tikonov in the Fourth Succession War, this was the largest military operation so far in the thirty-first century, and by the end of the campaign would involve more troops than any aside from the Battle of Tukkayid. Facing the League forces were all five Defenders of Andurien combined-arms units, who though they were bloodied were all hardened combat veterans at this point.[3]

Overview

On 10 June the JumpShips of the Eleventh Atrean Dragoons, First Marik Militia, and First Fusiliers of Oriente jumped into the polar jump points of Andurien. They were met with token resistance at the zenith recharge station and the cargo transfer stations at the poles. But the Defenders never expected those stations to hold, they were to report troop strength for the invaders, which they did. Unknown to the Defenders, the First Free Worlds Guards, Second Fusiliers of Oriente, and First Regulan Hussars had come into the system at an oblique pirate point, and it would be sometime before the Defenders realized their force projections were off by half. The main fleet settled in for a leisurely burn towards the planet, both out of an abundence of caution and to keep the Defenders focused on them. On 25 June the Defenders had massed a flotilla of aerospace fighters and attack DropShips which slashed through the FWLM flotilla with the help of slingshot velocity from the outer moon, Betic. Expecting such a maneuver the FWLM fighter screen and attack ships were deployed, and the space quickly became a massive battle. The FWLM lost a cargo transport, two assault DropShips and more than thirty aerospace fighters compared to the Defenders' six assault DropShips and fifty fighters. The Defenders pulled back to the moon in order to regroup, only to receive demoralizing news, FWLM troops were already on Andurien. As the Defenders focused on the main flotilla, the three regiments from the pirate point made a quick and mostly stealthy orbital insertion. Andurien space controllers registered the insertion, but had no uncommitted aerospace assets to oppose them with. [4][5]

The First Free Worlds Guards landed first, dropping on top of the military DropPort of the coastal city of Hulan, roughly 1,000 km north of the capital city Jojoken. Their landing was bitterly opposed by the militia forces stationed there, but after thirty minutes of hard fighting the militia commander recognized they could not hold and surrendered to spare his troops. The Second Fusiliers of Oriente and First Regulan Hussars likewise dropped onto logistic and administrative centers around northern Altay, facing equally stiff resistance but also managing to expand the bridgehead. Within 24 hours the regiments from the main flotilla had touched down at the Hulan DropPort and elsewhere, firmly implanting the FWLM on Andurien.[5]

The Defenders forces did what they could to oppose these landings, but Dame Catherine was well aware her meager forces could not dislodge them completely. Opting to bleed them as much and where possible, she still sent a series of probing and recon raids into the bridgehead. The FWLM would not achieve air superiority for several weeks, during which time several dogfights and recon missions occurred in the skies above northern Altay. The first major clash would not come until the second week of August in the town of Callan, about 500km from Jojokan.[5][6]

The First Regulan Hussars surprised a battalion of the Third Defenders of Andurien just west of Callan and immediately pushed on the offensive. The heavier Defenders battalion took heavy casualties at first and continued to give ground for the first several hours of the engagement. Unnoticed by the Regulan commander, the Defender retrogrades had the effect of positioning the Hussars in ground of the Defenders' choosing. Once the maneuvers positioned the Hussars where the Defenders wanted, they launched a series of counterattacks which pushed the Hussars into constrictive terrain between the town of Callan and the adjacent river, forcing the Hussars to endure the fire and pray superior numbers carried the day. As night fell the tempo began to tamper off, leading Colonel Tomaso Kinchuhara to worry the Defenders would try to break contact. He ordered his front lines to put a little pressure while hovercraft flankers helped to create the illusion on encirclement. As dawn broke the next morning the Defenders tried to disengage by shifting the line to the west. Unfortunately for them, their line of march put them right into the Eleventh Atrean Guard who were moving to support the Hussars. Now caught between two regiments, the Defenders were annihilated to the last ’Mech. After 22 hours of constant contact, the battle of Callan was over, claiming the life of Michael Humphreys, heir to the Duchy.[6]

[7][8][9]

[10]

[11][12]


Aftermath

[13]

References

  1. Historical: Brush Wars, p. 77: "3039: The Year of Two Wars"
  2. Historical: Brush Wars, p. 79: "Andurien and Everything After"
  3. Historical: Brush Wars, pp. 79-80: "Andurien (June 3039-January 3040)"
  4. Historical: Brush Wars, p. 80: "First Blood"
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Historical: Brush Wars, p. 80: "The Landings"
  6. 6.0 6.1 Historical: Brush Wars, pp. 80-81: "Bloody August"
  7. Historical: Brush Wars, p. 81: "Darnel Bridge Tri-Vidcast"
  8. Technical Readout: 3050 Upgrade, p. 188: "MON-66 Mongoose"
  9. Technical Readout: Succession War, p. 16: "MON-66 Mongoose"
  10. Historical: Brush Wars, pp. 81-82: "The Next Step"
  11. Historical: Brush Wars, p. 82: "A Tale of Two Cities: Baroda and Jojoken"
  12. Phoenix Hawk Lore and Blueprint
  13. Historical: Brush Wars, pp. 82-83: "The Occupation"

Bibliography