FSRB Chpt 201

==The Federated Suns Reborn - Chapter 201==
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August 3070Operation Harvest - Wave 1 
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===Ongoing AFFS Operations rolled into Operation Harvest - Status Report===
With fighting already going on between the AFFS/ComGuard allied force and the Word of Blake Protectorate the High Command simply rolled all of the existing current combat operations into Operation Harvest. At the same time they were careful to liaise with not only the ComGuards, but also Clan Nova Cat and Clan Sun Jaguar as respected allies rather than giving any suggestion of passing them orders. Although this process was easier with the excellent working relationship already established with Clan Sun Jaguar. Indeed this relationship was so good (particularly between the Khan and First Prince) that Clan Nova Cat often requested liaison officers from Clan Sun Jaguar to help them interact with their AFFS allies.
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====Caph====
The 2nd Militia Division of the WOB had hurriedly retreated to the city of Aswan at the end of April, leaving the local raised Caph Protectorate Guard troops behind to fight a rear guard action to allow them to break off and regroup at the capital city. Unfortunately, for them the AFFS overwhelming numbers on the planet and almost total collapse of the 2nd Caph Protectorate Guard allowed the 1st Argyle Lancers to avoid the road block of the surviving 1st Caph Protectorate Guard and sweep down on the still damaged and exhausted WOB troops before they could enter into any real preparations for a follow on attack. The elite cavalry troops of the 1st Argyle Lancers managed to swiftly outmanoeuvre and outflank the hurriedly prepared fortifications that the WOB Militia had managed to occupy and ensured that when the 8th Crucis Lancers RCT (hurriedly rearmed) arrived to join them the front line was already broken and scattered. 
The 2nd Militia again lived up to their nickname and continued to fight despite their hopeless situation and while open warfare had ended by mid May ongoing guerrilla style attacks would continue well into June and even July. This ongoing threat led to the 4th Davion Guards moving swiftly to secure several vital industrial, military and infrastructural locations across the planet. These included the rebuilt Browning-Corning Limited, Skobel Mechworks and a new plant owned by Martinson Armaments. The continent of Steam was also immedietly put under quarantine to prevent any WOB hold outs heading to it's jungles there which might endanger the remaining dinosaur like local reptiles. Major Kalvin Gustafson (Junior or the Gustafson VI) is immediately declared the new Duke and as his first act declares that his House's old unit the Gustafson's Grenadiers will be re-founded and renamed the 1st Caph Grenadiers under the leadership of his sister, Major Melissa Gustafson. Two companies from the 4th Davion Guard are detached to form the core of this new unit and both the 4th and 8th Crucis Lancers RCT donate a company each. A handful of the 2nd Caph Protectorate Guard (after suitable debriefing and interrogating will be allowed to join the unit over the coming months). The two Gustafson siblings agree that the unit will be formed along the same lines as the storied and well regarded Kestrel Grenadiers. Two companies from the Davion Young Guards will be dispatched to replace the losses of the 4th Davion Guards RCT as per the units role as a feeder unit for the more senior Davion Guards RCTs. 
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====Graham IV====
With the planet fully liberated the various AFFS troops are joined by several brigades of conventional infantry who begin the process of "deWOBbing" the planet. Federated Suns Judges and public prosecutors drawn from the three senior branches of the Judiciary go into action supported by federal and military police. Attempts were made to take into account the lessons from the efforts of the Terran Hegemony following the Liberation of Terra to avoid some of the mistakes made then. 
Zeta Battalion of the Wolf's Dragoons dispatch one of their JumpShips back towards Outreach carrying a small number of officers and some technical data. The Battalion itself requests reassignment to a more active combat theater. 
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====Sirus====
The 13th Word of Blake Militia hae it's aerospace assets lose control of the skies over Sirius by the 4th of May. By the 5th of May, they and their Siruis Protectorate Guard allies are under almost constant air attack by elements of the AFFS forces based upon their own moon. The double strength aerospace brigade of the 10th Deneb Light Cavalry lead this attack, but the various aerospace brigades of the four Avalon Hussars RCTs on the planet are just as active. By the end of May the WOB troops have had to withdraw entirely from the surrounding areas and retreat back into the few urban centers on the planet to avoid being destroyed from the air. Which allows the 2nd & 3rd Avalon Hussars to formally move their base of operation to the planet itself along with the 42nd Avalon Hussars RCT and 10th Deneb Light Cavalry RCT. With the elite 42nd providing backup the 2nd & 3rd Avalon Hussars begin slowly grinding down isolated WOB garrisons. In the while, the 10th Deneb Light Cavalry maintain constant patrols and wait to ambush any attempt by the other WOB troops to come to their comrades aid. This is a refinement on Marshal May's tactics on the world of Donenac during Operation Ajax. 
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===ComGuards Operations===
====New Earth====
The addition of the 5th Army to the battered 1st Armies positions, on New Earth finally allow the ComGuards troops on the planet to feel less like they are holding onto merely their own landing zones by their fingernails and more like an invading force. The handful of arriving replacement troops from the 6th Army are almost entirely slotted into the gaping holes in the still combat effective units of the 1st Army. 
Leaving the 1st Army to hold the ground it has so painfully won, while the 5th Army launches a general offensive towards New Foundation. The WOB responded to these attacks by fighting back fiercely, fighting hard for every inch of ground and making the ComGuard pay in blood. On the 27th of May the WOB also detonated two nuclear "mines" that they had left hidden as they were forced back. These mines destroyed nearly a full Division of ComGuard troops and threw a huge amount of radioactive material into the atmosphere. 
Reeling back from this, the 5th Army are taken by surprise when the 7th Shadow Division attacks through the radioactive ruin that had been the front line. By the time the nearly suicidal attack is stopped at the end of May, the 5th Armies front line has been driven almost back to the former front lines of the 1st Army. For the loss of an entire division and heavy losses to the other six divisions of the Army the ComGuards had won almost no real ground. Although they had shattered a WOB Militia Division (suspected to be the 18th Militia) and caused heavy damage to the 7th Shadow Division - although a lot of that damage had been self inflicted from using the radioactive wastes caused by the mines to break the ComGuards' lines. 
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====Epsilon Eridani====
The ComGuards' 4th Army on Epsilon Eridani finally managed to pin the 1st Epsilon Eridani Protectorate Guard on the continent of Parassus and force them into battle. Catching the bulk of the unit against the shores of Lake Arous they managed to crush the units conventional forces, although most of the BattleMech forces manage to escape by walking across the lake bed. Combined with the 2nd Epsilon Eridani Protecotrate Guard and the 5th & 14th Militia Divisions the survivors of this battle still number almost seven battalions of BattleMechs as well as supporting forces. The 4th Army while having numerical superiority in conventional forces has only parity for BattleMechs and requests additional reinforcements before continuing to attack the enemy.
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====Carver V====
On Carver V, the 2nd Army completes the destruction of the 17th WoB Militia and the single Protectorate Guard division that had been raised from the planets population. With nearly three to one superiority, the 2nd Army had managed to force the 17th Militia into a running battle while pinning the Carver Protectorate Guard into defensive positions. In a series of bloody battles the 17th Militia had been wiped out and then the 2nd Army had turned it's guns on the Carver Protectorate Guard. Almost half of the Guard had surrendered rather than face total destruction. By the end of May the fighting is over and the 2nd Army begins a hurried refit, knowing it won't be long before they are dispatched to the next battle. They disband the heavily damaged 388th Division in order to bring the other units up to almost full strength. While this means that the 2nd Army is now officially the "smallest" Army within the ComGuards (leaving aside the effectively administrative forces of the August 6th) it means that all five of it's divisions are combat operational at the end of May.
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====Bryant====
The 3rd Army on Bryant more and more were coming to the conclusion that their intelligence assets had dropped the ball. While the initial landings had went well and they had swiftly managed to take control of the "habitable" areas of the planet at both poles, this had done little to stop the attacks by WOB forces. Using clearly brand new Grasshopper class BattleMechs these raids seemed to be escalating and appeared to be originating from bases deep within the uninhabitable portions of the planet wracked by storms. While the BattleMech armed elements of the six ComGuards Divisions assigned to the 3rd Army could pursue the raiders into that region, the vast majority of the 3rd Army assets were infantry and armor and their aerospace assets were worse than useless in the storms. Even the battle armor troopers who made up a larger and larger percentage of the ComGuards infantry forces were of little use beyond defensive in these conditions.
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===AFFS Operation Harvest===
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====New Home====
The defending 6th Militia Division of the WOB Militia can count on the backup of no less than four divisions of New Home Protectorate Guard formations. While heavy on infantry and light on BattleMechs these units do give them a strong conventional force to reinforce their lines with. The AFFS having intelligence on these formations assign the conquest of the planet to Marshal Jon Davion. Along with his Davion Heavy Guard RCT he is given command of the Davion Old Guard RCT, 1st Robinson Chevaliers, 1st New Ivaarsen Chasseurs, and the 11th & 27th Avalon Hussars RCT. Khan Nevversan leads her own Alpha Galaxy to fight alongside Jon Davion as well. 
The 3rd New Home Protectorate Guard makes the mistake of trying to contest the landings of the AFFS/Sun Jaguar joint task force and are rewarded for their bravery by having the Alpha Galaxy conduct a combat drop right on top of them, while the Davion Heavy Guards land nearby and sweep in to join the fight. Very few of the 3rd New Home manage to make their way back to their own lines by the end of the three day "battle" that seems them destroyed as an effective fighting force. Their few survivors are merged into the other units of the Guard. 
With their landing zone secure the remaining units are brought down and proceed to begin pushing out in all directions. While seemingly disjointed this advance makes sure that the WOB have to try and cover a multitude of potential targets, thinning their lines across the front. This allowed the veteran 11th Avalon Hussars to break three of it's four BattleMech battalions (with the fourth heavy battalion punching and holding the hole through the enemy lines) through the front and loose into the enemies rear areas on the 28th of May through a portion of the line held by Protectorate Guard units. A similar attempt by the green 27th Avalon Hussars however runs into a combined arms battalion or Level III of the 6th Militia which throws back the breakthrough and proceeds to counter attack with some support from nearby Protectorate Guard units. The 27th Avalon manages to stabilize it's lines and then push the counter attack back, but by the end of the two day battle has suffered the loss of almost a full battalion of it's BattleMech regiment and comparable losses to it's conventional forces. The only upside is that barely a Level II of the counter attacking 6th Militia's troops are left combat worthy. 
May ends with the 6th Militia and the remaining three Protectorate Guard forces trying to maintain their lines while also freeing up troops to hunt down the 11th Avalon Hussars who are causing havoc in their rear areas. Without much success at the latter.
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====Keid====
The 21st Militia, knowing it's limitations had dug in heavily around Keid City along with the two locally raised Protectorate Guard units. The 21st Militia had a predominance of heavy and assault weighted machines that made it ideally suited to dig in and defend an urban setting, put would limit them if they were to deploy into an open field engagement with faster units. Even the two Protectorate Guard units raised on the world had a much heavier than normal weight class of tanks and BattleMechs. Marshal Reinhardt Steiner was placed in command of the task force assigned to the planet. Along with his own 1st Revenant Guards RCT he was also given the 2nd Davion Guards RCT, 2nd Ceti Hussars RCT, 23rd Avalon Hussars RCT, 4th Robinson Rangers RCT and 6th Crucis Lancers RCT. As an added force the Clan Sun Jaguar Beta Galaxy is joined by Clan Nova Cats' Delta & Tau Galaxies. Combining the Nova Cats' Tau Galaxy with a Sun Jaguar Galaxy is considered a risk by some, but the Khan's of both Clans agree that the warriors of Tau Galaxy will need to learn that Clan Sun Jaguar is not Clan Smoke Jaguar. Clan Nova Cat also dispatches it's Transcendent Naval Star to join the AFFS' 2nd Destroyer Squadron to escort the attack. 
On the approach to the planet the AFFS warships and their Nova Cat allies come under attack from missiles launched from orbiting battle stations and even "civilian" dropships. The NCS Anna Rosse is vital in deploying her fighters to take down these orbiting battle stations in long range strikes alongside several fighter wings of Federated Suns Navy pilots who are deployed from Vengeance class Fighter Carrier dropships carried by the Davion III destroyers. However, these strikes and the anti-missile fire of the naval ships only manage to intercept most of the incoming missiles - which are revealed to be nuclear tipped. The cruiser NCS Blade takes heavy damage from a capital missile strike while the destoyer FSS Divine takes crippling damage from a nuclear missile that will leave it stranded in the system until it can undergo at least basic repair work. The worst damage however is taken the the NCS Perilous Vision which explodes when the missile detonates some of the tens of thousands of tons of ammunition it is carrying for the invasion - the missile that strikes it is one of the first launched by a Mule class "Q-ship" DropShipthat was until it fired fleeing the incoming warships. 
With most of the planet abandoned to the invasion, the AFFS/Clan task force lands almost unopposed. The 1st Revenant Guards alongside the 4th Robinson Rangers RCT, 6th Crucis Lancers RCT, and all of the Clan troops move against the dug in WOB troops around Keid City while the other three lighter RCTs sweep across the planet securing it for the task force. Even as the first artillery barrages are beginning against the heavily dug in lines of the WOB Militia and their local troops the AFFS forces are hurriedly seizing the rest of the world. The few partisans and lighter WOB troops are no match for the experienced troops particularly of the 2nd Davion Guards and the combined arms warfare of the 2nd Ceti Hussars. It will take well into June before this operation is finished. 
Along the siege lines the Clan troop's aggression was soon harnessed by Marshal Steiner who gave them free reign. Again and again the impressive skills of the Clan Warriors were used to break through the enemy lines and then the various AFFS troops would flood in and drive the remaining WOB troops back. The Clan troops of the three Galaxies were particularly furious after the use of nuclear weapons and made little effort to take prisoners/bondsmen.
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====Procyon====
The defending 20th Militia Division of the WOB found itself the beneficiary of the allocation of a number of Sirian Lancers veterans to the Procyon Protectorate Guard. No less than two of the three regiments of the Sirian Lancers had been merged into the four Procyon Protectorate Guard formations. The 2nd & 3rd Lancers had been used to form the core of the local Guard, along with new production and local militia, which gave each of the Guard formations around two Level III of BattleMechs to support the WoB 20th Militia. 
To attack these units, the AFFS had dispatched the 20th & 38th Avalon Hussars RCTs, 6th Dragonlords RCT, 5th Robinson Rangers RCT, 10th & 11th Chisholm Raiders LCT, and the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma regiments of the 12th Vegan Rangers. The units were formed into two distinct formations, with the veteran and elite units of the 20th Avalon Hussars, 5th Robinson Rangers and the Vegan Rangers mercenary formations grouped into the first, with the less experienced 38th Avalon Hussars, 6th Dragonlords, and both LCTs formed into the second. The plan was for the first formation to engage the enemy while the second operated in support and on the flanks. 
A plan that fell apart immediately when the bulk of the 10th Chisholm Raiders LCT formation was forced to divert from it's original landing zone under heavy air attack by the 20th Militia's fighter wing. While the arrival of Aerospace Fighters from the 20th Avalon Hussars and 6th Dragonlords fighter units were able to drive off the WOB fighters, the Colossus class dropship that was carrying the largest single contingent of the 10th Lancers was damaged and forced to make an emergency landing - while the rest of the LCT joined them. The 6th Dragonlord RCT was hurriedly diverted to reinforce the makeshift landing site and within hours of landing, the 10th Chisholm Raiders and 6th Dragonlords were under heavy attack from large scale elements of the 2nd & 4th Procyon Protectorate Guard. Both green units put up stiff resistance - with the Dragonlords' armored infantry formations proving critical in helping them hold out until the 5th Robinson could punch through to assist them.
One week after the initial landings, the AFFS and their mercenary support had managed to rejoin into a single force. The 10th Chisholm Raiders had suffered almost 50% casualties, while the 6th Dragonlords had suffered nearly 20% losses. Although at least some of these losses are merely injured or have damaged equipment and will return to service shortly. 
Not allowing this start to derail things, the AFFS' 20th Avalon Hussars and the Alpha Regiment of the 12th Vegan Rangers immediately launch an attack upon a Level III of Guard troops who had no doubt assumed that having linked up with their damaged units the AFFS would pause to recuperate. Catching them off guard, they shatter them and drive them back. When a battlemech heavy formation from the 1st Procyon Protectorate Guard attempts to intervene the 5th Robinson Rangers battlemech regiment with some supporting armor move into the fight and turn it into a general brawl which suits the heavier numbers of AFFS and mercenary troops. 
By the end of May both sides on Procyon have suffered losses and fall back to their own lines to repair damaged equipment and resupply.
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