Battle of Chantilly

The Battle of Chantilly was fought between the Republic of Haven Navy's picket in the Chantilly System and Task Force 81 of the Royal Manticoran Navy, which had come to raid the system as part of Operation Cutworm II.
== Prelude ==
In response to the Manticoran Alliance's first raids on inner Havenite systems, Rear Admiral Jennifer Bellefeuille, CO of Chantilly System Defense Command, and her staff devised an operational plan dubbed "Smoke and Mirrors": the instant Perimeter Tracking picked up evidence that the RMN was scouting Chantilly, her six battlecruisers, in preselected positions, went to stealth and strict emissions control. In addition, two-thirds of her total LAC strength of six hundred went to immediate readiness, but were restricted to bases. She continued to operate two hundred LACs normally, making certain the Manticorans saw them, but four hundred additional LACs, based on the planet Vespasien's main space station and a dozen other innocuous orbital platforms, outwardly indistinguishable from any freight-handling facility, stayed completely covert. ()
== Order of battle ==
=== RMN ===
Task Force 81, RMN – CO Vice Admiral Alice Truman:
* CLAC force:
** CLAC Squadron 3 – two divisions – CO Vice Admiral Alice Truman
** division of Cruiser Squadron 7HMS Edward Saganami and HMS Quentin Saint-James – CO Commodore Winston Bradshaw
* Battlecruiser Squadron 81 – CO Rear Admiral Gold Peak
** Battlecruiser Division 81.1 – CO Rear Admiral Gold Peak
** Battlecruiser Division 81.3 – CO Captain (SG) Michael Oversteegen
** subjugated screen – a division of Light Cruiser Flotilla 18HMS Amun, HMS Anhur and HMS Bastet
* recon destroyer elementHMS Whippet and HMS Greyhound
=== RHNS ===
Chantilly System Defense Command – CO Rear Admiral Jennifer Bellefeuille:
* a battlecruiser squadronWarlord-class units, includiing RHNS Cyrus
* a destroyer element3 Trojan-class units
* a LAC elementCimeterre-class units
* fixed defences
== Course of battle ==
== Aftermath ==
Rear Admiral Gold Peak advised her superior officer, Admiral Honor Harrington, CO Eighth Fleet, to keep a close eye on Rear Admiral Bellefeuille, whom she had come to consider a formidable enemy. ()
== References ==
Chantilly, Battle of
Chantilly, Battle of