Battle of Rindus Col

The Battle of Rindus Col started at 12:57PM on the 17th May 2519 (Earth date and time) at Rindus Col, a large rice plantation area. The battle took place between elements of the UNSC Army's 175th Infantry Division and the Ortel Federal Army who is though to have sought a deep penetration attack with elite light infantry in an attempt to cause confusion in UNSC lines.
CENTCOM Twenty which managed the Ortel V System had received information regarding the possible secession of Ortel V from the UEG. The 175th Infantry, CENTCOM Twenty's immediate reserve, was deployed to Ortel V under the guise of a major military exercise with elements of the Ortel Federal Army. 
D Company, 2/73 Infantry was deployed as the western security post for 95th Brigade Group who were conducting live fire exercises nearby. D Platoon was conducting a foot patrol close to D Company HQ when they clashed with elements of the 9th Light Infantry Regiment, a unit of the OFA's Special Forces. This soon spiralled into a full blown engagement which soon pinned down D Platoon.
D Company soon came under attack by an entire special forces regiment, Captain Yan Po Que quickly called down artillery fire. The 9th Light Infantry attempted to encircle and destroy the Army troopers whilst D Company desperately attempted to hold them off. Support came after several hours in the form of resupply from a pair of UH-144 Falcons who delivered supplies to the beleaguered company, this was soon followed by A Company in Mastodon APCs and finally a platoon of Scorpions. D Company was withdrawn by the end of the day and replaced with B Company, the area was swept by the next day and the elements of 2nd Battalion was withdrawn from the area.
The attack by the 9th Light Infantry was later discovered to be an attempt at a regimental infiltration, the special forces were planning to penetrate deep into UNSC Army lines who were conducting their exercises and attack logistics and communications centers in order to make way for a full blown OFA assault the next morning. The failure of the 9th Light Infantry allowed the 175th Infantry to pull back forces and consolidate in good order, allowing them to hold a key foothold on Ortel V whilst waiting for units from CENTCOM Twenty to arrive on planet.
==Background==
175th Infantry Division was allocated to CENTCOM Twenty at the beginning of 2518 and was based at Fort Pascal on Ortel III, the Division was recently reactivated after a 30 year hiatus due to Army Reforms as the Insurrection Crisis began to become more serious. The Division consisted of 3 Infantry Brigades: 95th, 182nd and the 973rd Infantry Brigades. The division was supported by a squadron from the 91st Tactical Air Control Wing.
The Federal Ortel Republic had been sanctioned by the UEG in the beginning of 2514 due to rumours of them supporting insurrectionist actions on the nearby world of Ortel II, the members of the military and the government had became disillusioned with the UNSC and the UEG and there were elements that were planning the overthrow of the current government and the secession of the world. By 2519, the Army had almost entirely turned to the side of the insurrectionists and most senior ranking politicians were also of the same mind. However, these preparations soon caught the attention of CENTCOM Twenty's Military Intelligence Brigade soon became aware of these preparations and informed 8th Army Group. Plans were drawn up for Exercise Brightspark, a planned UNSC Army live fire exercise on the world in order to ostensibly provide the division with it's annual live fire exercise. However, the true purpose was in order to provide a short term presence on the world in order for a foothold to be established for future Army operations in the event of the secession of the world. Supporting the division was a team from ONI Section One who began espionage operations on the world in order to discern to rumours of possible secession of the planet.
Exercise Brightspark began on 11th May, the 175th Division began it's live fire exercise with the 182nd Infantry Brigade acting as OPFOR against BLUFOR made up of the 973rd and the 95th. The 95th allocated security posts to 3 companies in order to provide perimeter defence against possible insurrectionists and wild life. The exercise went smoothly for 5 days, the 175th's Division Staff becoming less anxious as the days went by. 
However, the rebellious elements of the Federal Ortel Republic began unravelling it's plans, elements of the Army's Federal Guard began mobilising inside the capital for the coup whilst the 9th Light Infantry began movements towards the 175th's Divisional Headquarters Zone which meant passing through the 95th Brigade. Whilst the 9th Light Infantry made it's move, the Ortel Federal Army's II and V Corps began preparing for an assault on the 175th Division on the 18th May. 
===Order of Battle===
The Ortel Federal Army's main force in the engagement at Rindus Col was the 9th Light Infantry Regiment, a Regiment of crack special forces trained by UNSC Army Special Forces. The Regiment was considered to be the best on the world and were well trained regimental level operations, something that was not achieved by other elements of the disorganised and poorly trained OFA. The Regiment was broken down into 3 Battalions of 3 Companies each. A total of 2,600 men, commanded by Colonal Hitachi Yasha. The Regiment was supported by 82mm Mortars as well as 50cal machine guns and ATGMs, it was also rumoured that the Regiment was supported by a battery of 120mm Mortars although that was never fully confirmed. 
The Regiment was also supported by the 8th Pioneer Battalion, another unit from OFA's Special Forces which provided the demolitions and additional infantry support for the infiltration mission. The Battalion was local to the area, the battalion being attached to the local Army Corps for the region. The battalion was only equipped with small arms with a few 50cal machine guns and was divided into 2 Companies and comprised of 230 men commanded by Major Suba Tsumi. 
The UNSC Army deployed in the region was the 95th Infantry Brigade, comprising: 2nd Battalion, 73rd Infantry led by Lieutenant Colonel Graham Chang, 1st Battalion, 73rd Infantry led by Colonel Rosie Chamberlain and 4th Battalion, 18th Infantry led by Christian Hayesworth. Other units included 1st Battalion, 871st Armor led by Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Roome operating M808B Scorpion Main Battle Tanks, 190th Artillery Regiment equipped with 36 M400 Kodiak Self-Propelled Guns led by Lieutenant Colonel Sirena Escobar. Supporting units also included the 198th Engineer Battalion and the 175th Combat Support Battalion, aerial support was provided by 1 Squadron, 2nd Battalion, 96th Aviation Regiment as well as the 18th Fighter Squadron whilst Detachment 1, 2nd Tactical Air Squadron provided air control capabilities for the Brigade. 
==Battle==
The evening of the 16th May, D Company was formed in a line formation with HQ located at the center flanked by it's 4 platoons. The rest of the Battalion was busy conducting a mock assault at a nearby training location 15 kilometers from D Company. The Company was primarily tasked with protecting the western flanks of the 95th Infantry Brigade from enemy forces and providing early warning in case of an attack. 
The Company was arrayed in a line formation, D Platoon anchoring the right flank whilst A Platoon anchored the left with the Company HQ situated just a bit to the rear of the platoon. Each platoon covered around 100-150 meters each with around 8-10 meters between each soldier, the Company lacked their heavy machine guns due to supply shortages for the Brigade having arrived only a week ago.
The 9th Light Infantry Regiment moved up in a column formation through the jungles near the positions of D Company, the commander seeking to infiltrate through the jungles and through the rice fields in order to get into the Division rear areas. The Regiment was equipped with suppressed weaponry and did not seek to reach contact with the enemy. 
===Initial attack=== 
At 11:25, a squad from the 9th Light Infantry reached the end of the jungle when they sighted a patrol from D Platoon walking around 100 meters from their positions. This was passed down to the Regimental Commander who realised that this presented a serious block to their movements. Their inability to manoeuvre due to the lack of concealment around the flanks of the enemy. After 40 minutes of reconnaissance, Colonel Yasha realised he was on against a single company of soldiers and thus resolved to eliminate this company and disappear into the night before the rest of the enemy could be brought onto him. 
At 00:46, the Regiment began getting into position with mortars ranged and machine guns put in position to prepare suppressing fire against the company. Concurrently, D Platoon reported no contact with the enemy to Company HQ. At 00:56, elements of the 9th Light Infantry began firing at the forward elements of D Platoon, their 1st Squad. The Squad was immediately cut down by enemy fire, 4 immediately being killed by enemy machine gun fire as the rest went to ground. 
D Platoon immediately reported contact which went up the chain of command to 175th Division Headquarters as they went to ground. The 9th Light Infantry's jamming equipment malfunctioned, making them unable to jam the communications of D Company. D Platoon's commander, 2nd Lt Guo Chian, immediately ordered the Platoon to move out to recover the lost squad. D Platoon began making a rapid advance 100 meters to reach their squad whilst under heavy fire. Despite taking casualties, the Platoon linked up with 1st Squad as the fire began to die down. D Platoon, now 100 meters forward of the defensive line, began peeling back towards the defensive line under the cover of smoke.
At 1:06, the 9th Light Infantry opened up again with mortars beginning to bring down fire on D Company's elements. The fire was much more intense, soon D Platoon became pinned down. D Company's JFO, Captain Lee Han-Sul, requested a battery of 155mm artillery on the enemy positions in the jungles. Unknown to D Company, whilst under heavy enemy fire, a company of Light Infantry began moving on the right flank of D Platoon to put flanking fire on their positions. They set up position by 1:47 and began laying down fire into the right flank of D Platoon, causing them to take more casualties.
Soon, Captain Que began to realise he was facing a force bigger than he realised. The lack of muzzle flashes and suppressed fire meant that he was against a unit of special forces, realising that D Platoon needed help, he send A Platoon to peel behind the defensive lines to support the positions of D Platoon. However, as A Platoon began moving off the hill they were occupying, they came under fire from elements of the 8th Pioneer Battalion at 2:52 on their left flank. The Platoon soon became pinned in position under the heavy fire.
===D Platoon is cut off===
The heavy fire on D Platoon was soon exacerbated by the accurate mortar fire, Captain Lee Han-Sul directed fire from 1 Battery onto the enemy positions. Unable to see the enemy through fog and the rain, Lee had to be sure that the spotting rounds landed further away to make sure that it didn't land too close. Corrections were made directly by 2nd Lt Guo Chian who regularly had to peek his head up to observe the shots falling. The soldiers met the hail of fire with accurate rifle fire from their MA37s, inflicting many casualties on the enemy special forces units who seemed considerably less trained than them. 
After 2 hours of combat, over a third of D Platoon was made a casualty. 82mm mortar rounds landed all around the Platoon as they began to separate D Platoon from the rest of the Company by mortar fire. Smith reported mortar fire at 2:34 and by 3:27 was requesting for heavy enemy reinforcements. However, Graham reported that the Battalion was spread out with Alpha and Bravo Company located 15 kilometers away whilst C Company was defending their ammunition depot. This meant that it would take a long time for a relief force to arrive and support the beleaguered company. 
As such, Captain Que resolved to bring his company into an all-around defence. It was at 4:02 that 2nd Lieutenant Que was hit in the stomach from the shrapnel of a 82mm mortar shell and was unable to command the element, thus D Platoon was left to it's Platoon Sergeant Benjamin Mansour. B Platoon was moved to relieve pressure on D Platoon as they began to regroup with the rest of the Company. By 4:24, the Company had formed up into an all around defence with depleted D Platoon on the rear, B Platoon at front whilst C and A Platoons covered the flanks. Whilst this went on, Captain Lee requested fire from the regiment. However, multiple batteries were busy with the exercise and were not available for supporting the Company as they had to swap out ammunition
===Reaction at Brigade and Divisional Headquarters===
Lieutenant Colonel Chang became deeply worried of the news of enemy contact with D Company, there was no quick reaction force organised in case of an attack due to the ongoing exercise and thus it took hours to organise a possible relief force as a result. Chang's superior, Colonel Henry Popa who commanded the 95th Brigade became worried of the possibility of more attacks around the area from OFA Special Forces units or maybe a full conventional assault and became apprehensive about deploying a relief force which could weaken the overall defensive line. Despite the low intensity of the battle, only a single company with artillery support involved, Chang realised that his entire force may now be at risk from enemy forces which may be seeking to attack his command post. Despite Popa's apprehension to sending reinforcements, Chang organised for A Company to begin swapping out their ammunition and loading into their Mastodons for a possibility to move in support of D Company despite the fact they had been undergoing tiring exercises for the last few days. 
Requiring his Brigade Commander to approve for him to move out with the relief force, however Popa was worried about the column being ambushed due to the cut off nature of D Company. Despite this, realising that losing an entire infantry company was not an option for the Division, Popa approved of the deployment of the relief force in the Mastodons. Popa also realised that the force was not of conventional nature, suppressed weaponry and also jamming capabilities which required the force to move to secondary radio frequencies, indicated a special forces unit. It also soon filtered to him that a coup had just occurred at the Ortellian Capital, the ONI Section One Team now on the run after being located by enemy counter-intelligence units. He reasoned that having A Company deployed to support D Company was not a massive drain on his defences, even if most of his artillery was held up. He thus approved of the relief effort and organised for an armoured element from 1st Battalion, 871st Armor Regiment to move to support D Company if they request armoured support.
===Ammunition shortage and urgent need for supplies===
As the Battle entered into it's 6th hour, the ammunition supplies started to get extremely low. Most men were now down to their last magazine and were forced to fire carefully aimed round every minute or so in order to preserve ammunition.