Battle of Radstadt (3050)

Tyra Miraborg's kamikaze run into the Dire Wolf

The Battle of Radstadt was a two-part engagement on the surface of and in space around Radstadt during Operation REVIVAL, the Clan invasion of the Inner Sphere. Clan Wolf first attacked and captured the planet from the Free Rasalhague Republic during the fourth wave of the invasion. The planet's conquest symbolized the tremendous success Clan Wolf was enjoying compared to the other invading Clans' failures, and news of its fall especially enraged ilKhan Leo Showers. In an attempt to stymie the Wolf Clan's rapid advance, the ilKhan called for a Grand Kurultai to take place, and after negotiations it was agreed the meeting would be held aboard the Wolf Clan flagship Dire Wolf in orbit above Radstadt. Before the meeting could commence though, the Rasalhaguain Elected Prince Haakon Magnusson and his escort, fleeing from the fall of Rasalhague, jumped into the system without knowing the Clans already occupied it. In the surprise encounter battle which followed, the Elected Prince managed to escape and ilKhan Showers was killed when Tyra Miraborg rammed her Aerospace Fighter into the bridge of the Dire Wolf. The death of Leo Showers put the entire Clan invasion on hold and gave the Inner Sphere a "Year of Peace" as the Clans returned to their homeworlds to elect a new ilKhan.

Invasion of Radstadt

The planet Radstadt was one of the last targets in the Wolf Clan's fourth wave of the invasion, though it would not go down without a fight. The 4th Drakøns, a veteran unit of the KungsArmé under the command of Överste Carl Sleipness, stood ready to defend the planet alongside the native 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Radstadt Militia Divisions. The Överste's plan was to harry the Wolf Clan's landings with his aerospace forces and use the wooded hills and deep sound surrounding the capital Munich to his advantage.

Unbeknownst to him the Överste had another advantage: the Wolves believed the Flying Drakøns, the elite aerospace wing of the 1st Drakøns, was also present on Radstadt after their flight from Rasalhague. Because of this belief, Galaxy Commander Conal Ward chose to land his forces, the Red Keshik, 11th Wolf Guards, and 37th Striker Cluster, at a considerable distance from the capital. The Red Keshik and Wolf Guards made planetfall at the small village of Varberg, 300 kilometers west of Munich, while the Thirty-Seventh landed on the island of Froya some 500 kilometers distant.

As the two units approached Munich, the Wolf Guards were the first to make contact with the enemy. Their advance came to a halt as they engaged in pitched combat with a Drakøn heavy company supported by a mechanized infantry regiment. Though the defenders were successful at first, their defense was undone with a Star of Elementals discovered a drainage culvert which allowed them to circumvent the Drakøn defensive line; with Elementals popping up in their rear area, the Drakøns were forced to retreat after suffering serious casualties. Pressing onward, the Wolf Guards continued to push the defenders backward despite several small-scale ambushes, outflanking them again in the battle at Tönsberg and causing further casualties.

Meanwhile, the Thirty-Seventh was having an easier time during their advance towards Munich, following a chain of islands which lead directly towards the capital. Though their way was harried by air attacks and missile boats, they were able to quickly travel across the shallow waters between the islets. Their advance finally came to a halt at the small fishing village of Kjakan, located on the mainland where the island chain came closest to the shore, as the defenders had arrayed an imposing defensive line along the beaches.

Fortunately for the Wolves, the situation became favorable following their victory at Tönsberg when Överste Sleipness was forced to pull forces away from Kjakan to defend the western approach to Munich. The defenses around Kjakan significantly reduced, Star Colonel Marcos Radick launched air strikers on the enemy's positions while his OmniMechs and Elementals marched underwater, braving depth charges along the way, towards the mainland. Emerging onto the beach the first wave of Elementals were gunned down by the shore defenses, but as more Wolf Clan forces forced their way onto land the tide began to turn in their favor. When the Drakøn mobile HQ coordinating the defense was destroyed by a Star of Elementals, the defenders were forced to retreat.

Överste Sleipness tried to regroup his forces for a final stand at Munich, but the speed of the Wolf Clan's advance was too much. By October 9th, with his defenses compromised in several locations, Överste Sleipness was ready to surrender. The stubbornness of the planet's political and religious leaders, however, would allow no capitulations and forced the defenders to fight on. By the end of the month, the 4th Drakøns had been obliterated in a holocaust all too similar to the destruction of Rasalhague.

Bibliography

• BattleSpace
• Lethal Heritage
• Wolf Clan Sourcebook