ALJ Chpt 72

frameless|right|300px|link=A Long Journey
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==Chapter 72 - A Long Journey==
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May 2787
Federated Suns
Draconis Combine warships leaped into systems all along the Federated Suns border destroying or capturing any shipping they found, clearing the way for follow on invasion forces who had only a single warship as escort. The initial Combine warship groups recharged and leaped deeper into the Federated Suns sweeping for any AFFS warships or shipping they could locate to destroy or capture. By the end of the month, a dozen AFFS warships and over three dozen Jumpships had been destroyed or captured. The DCMS Navy had watched the SLDF deal with the Amaris forces and had learned well, making use of heavy fighter strikes and nuclear tipped missiles to avoid damage to themselves.
After clearing a system of all space traffic, DCMS invasion forces would land and inflict as much damage on defending forces until follow on forces could complete the capture of a system. The main invasion force would then repair and rearm before boarding their Dropships and moving on to another Federated Suns' system to repeat the process. So effective had their invasion been that the AFFS defenses began to crumble before the onslaught. Command and control broke down quickly, with Combat Region commanders refusing to aid regions next to them. Some units were ordered to hold while units on nearby worlds were ordered to fallback. It was a complete disaster for the AFFS. By the end of May, the DCMS was in control of most of the Clovis Combat Region, half of the Robinson Combat Theater, half of the Dahar Combat Region and six worlds of the Fairfax Combat Region. The list of destroyed AFFS commands was brutal. This did not even include all the Planetary Guard units.
AFFS Destroyed Commands
1st Syrtis Hussar
13th Avalon Hussar
16th Avalon Hussar
38th Avalon Hussar
45th Avalon Hussar
3rd Robinson Chevaliers
4th Robinson Chevaliers
7th Robinson Chevaliers
9th Robinson Chevaliers
10th Robinson Chevaliers
13th Robinson Chevaliers
15th Robinson Chevaliers
25th Robinson Chevaliers
27th Robinson Chevaliers
28th Robinson Chevaliers
31st Robinson Chevaliers
Dahar DMM
Clovis DMM
Many more AFFS commands had been mauled in the fighting so far and no one knew how long the fighting would last.
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