Operation PELAYO
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| Operation PELAYO | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Dark Age | |||||||
|
|||||||
| Factions | |||||||
| Federated Suns (Draconis March) | Draconis Combine | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Duke of Robinson Corwin Sandoval | |||||||
| Forces involved | |||||||
| AFFS | DCMS and Wolf's Dragoons | ||||||
Operation PELAYO was a failed invasion of the rimward Draconis Combine by the Federated Suns that lasted from April 3141 to December 3143. Under Duke Corwin Sandoval Draconis March units attempted to reclaim the Draconis Reach region and drive deeper into the Combine, but were stalemated and eventually forced to abandon all of their gains.
Background[edit]
After five decades of low-level warfare between the Federated Suns and Draconis Combine, the Draconis Reach was finally and definitively secured for the latter by Wolf's Dragoons in 3139. This victory was only the first step in Gunji-no-Kanrei Matsuhari Toranaga's plan for an all-out invasion of the Federated Suns. However, the operation, expected to commence in 3141, would be unexpectedly delayed both by a counterattack from the Draconis March and by a rebellion within the Combine itself.[1] [2]
Determined to prevent the Combine from solidifying its hold on the Reach, Duke Corwin Sandoval assembled every soldier he could from the Draconis March's own forces as well as hiring those mercenaries he could afford. Denied more support from the AFFS, due to First Prince Caleb Davion's obsession with his own planned invasion of the Capellan Confederation, Duke Sandoval pressed on with the operation.[3] [4]
Prior to the main assaults, many Prey Seekers were seeded on objective worlds. Operating independently or in pairs these advance scouts were able to provide the main body with timely intelligence updates when they landed.[5]
Operation PELAYO[edit]
Dubbed Operation PELAYO, the initial attacks mounted in April 3141 proved successful, with Sandoval's troops advancing rapidly on a front stretching from Barlow's Folly to Cassias. Taken utterly by surprise, the Combine defenders yielded ground at first and the invaders were able to claim planets formerly belonging to the Draconis Reach. But the DCMS, in the midst of preparing for its own invasion of the Draconis March, had assembled the intended participants in the very region Sandoval's units were attacking. As a result, by July the AFFS invaders were stalled on planets such as Irurzun, Huan and New Aberdeen and had barely fought their way past the former Reach. At its farthest extent the invasion reached Matsuida and Annapolis; on the latter Sandoval's troops tried and failed to take the planetary capital six times during three weeks of desperate fighting before the AFFS invaders were ordered to reinforce their comrades on Irurzun.[6] [4]
At this point, with the DCMS focused upon repelling the AFFS invasion, Clan Nova Cat began its long-planned for rebellion. Thanks to the stalwart defensive efforts of Wolf's Dragoons and the Ryuken, Sandoval's troops were unable to exploit this opportunity and break the stalemate. Instead, the fighting bogged down on Irurzen and four of the former Reach worlds. Between the tenacious defense of these planets, distracting raids across the Draconis March border, and an angered First Prince Caleb refusing any support for Duke Sandoval, Operation PELAYO devolved into a quagmire reminiscent of the warfare that had plagued the Draconis Reach for the previous half-century.[4]
With the Nova Cat rebels finally destroyed in January 3143, Kanrei Toranaga was free to turn his full attention to expelling Sandoval's forces. As the DCMS rebuilt and replenished its battered units, Duke Sandoval's advisors convinced him to begin ending the futile conflict. Elidere IV was the first planet to be abandoned in August, followed by Thestria a month later. On Christmas Day the withdrawal order was given for the AFFS units on Irurzun, New Aberdeen and Huan, with all three worlds ceded to the Combine by late January 3144.[4] [7]
Aftermath[edit]
Operation PELAYO not only failed to result in any territorial gains for the Federated Suns, but it also left the battered AFFS units along the border in a poor position to repel the Combine invasion that soon followed. By year's end, despite fierce resistance from the Federated Suns defenders, both Robinson and Duke Sandoval had fallen to the Dragon.[8] [4]