FSRB Chpt 161

==The Federated Suns Reborn - Chapter 161==
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June 3070Operation Ajax V
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===Ajax Operations - Progress Report===
The defense of the Benjamin Military District was becoming easier as more and more HPGs were brought back online by the Word of Blake. However it was becoming steadily harder as well as more and more DCMS units were either destroyed or chewed up and the AFFS forces pushed deeper towards the District Capital itself. Iruzun continued to be massively reinforced with conventional units and similar deployments were ordered to Umjiri and Hagiwawa. Worlds deeper into the Combine were stripped of conventional regular formations and even militias.
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===Benjamin Military District Invasion===
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====Donenac====
The grinding war on Donenac finally came to a conclusion in June. The 2 surviving companies of the 9th Benjamin Regulars were now outnumbered to a ludicrous extent. Indeed the threat they posed had diminished to such an extent that Marshal May of the 42nd Avalon Hussars retired his own unit and assigned the 1st & 5th respectively to each finish of a single company/garrisoned city. While a few members of his unit felt that they should finish what they started the Marshal had effectively taken the view that the 9th Regulars had been reduced to a training exercise for the less experienced 1st & 5th Avalon Hussars. Of course with his own unit in reserve.
As the two Hussar units moved in, copying the successful tactics they had seen the 42nd Hussars use so many times to reduce each cities garrison in turn. In a week long battle they each destroyed the remaining companies of the 9th with only light losses. Marshal May then spent the remainder of the month (with permission from the High Command) reorganizing the 3 Avalon Hussars commands. With the 5th designated as the planets garrison he transferred a number of now battle hardened troops from that unit into the 1st and his own 42nd to bring those 2 units back up to nearly full strength with further offensive operations in mind. Although this reduced the 5th to just over 40% of it's full strength this still left it with 5 Battlemech companies, 2 regiments of armor and 4 full infantry regiments as well as 2 slightly over strength battle armor battalions. This was felt to be more than sufficient to hold the world at least until further reinforcements could be sent.
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====Ludwig====
With the locals turning against them the 24th Benjamin Regulars are more than aware that it is only a matter of time before the AFFS forces on planet hunt them down and destroy them. As such they make a desperate and wholly unexpected decision to flee the world at the start of June. Attacking an isolated AFFS post guarding a small mining complex they manage to overrun it's small spaceport during the night and board the single Mule class transport which had landed to load the ore that was to shipped off world. Abandoning most of their remaining equipment they hurriedly forced the crew to blast off and make for orbit, while broadcasting on their black box in code that they would be making for a particular pirate point.
With AFFS fighters and dropships scrambled to chase them the remaining warriors of the 24th Benjamin barely made it to the pirate point an hour ahead of the pursuit. However just as they did a DCA Tramp jumped in to extract them using it's LF batteries. While Benjamin had been loath to risk the precious JumpShip the situation had become so desperate for troops that the 4 remaining companies of the 24th Benjamin were not something to be dismissed out of hand. The Jumpship heads for Hagiwawa where some Battlemechs are being prepared to rearm the unit.
The AFFS forces on planet leave the 12th FedSuns Dragoon RCT to hold the world as a garrison while the 2nd Dragonlords RCT and 4th Crucis Lancers RCT boarded their dropships and prepare to launch further attacks. The 2nd Dragonlords RCT and 4th Crucis Lancers RCT leave the system near the end of June, jumping for Irurzun.
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====Waddesdon====
The scattered remains of the militia and noble forces on Waddesdon last for nearly 2 weeks of June before finally surrendering. Totally outclassed from the start they have done little other than costing the 6th FedSuns Dragoons time, some ammunition and a handful of damaged Battlemechs and tanks that are swiftly repaired. 
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====Kurhah====
With the veteran conventional brigade of armor and infantry attached to his forces Colonel Hatfield-McCoy swiftly moves to destroy the last holdouts remaining on the planet. By the 14th of June, the last battalion of infantry have surrendered rather than face total annihilation. Leaving the conventional brigade to garrison the planet the colonel readies his 21st Rim Worlds for the next attack. 
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====Umijiri====
The 6th Ghost regiment is the primary unit rushed to the world of Umjiri with orders to hold and delay the AFFS advance for as long as possible. To aid them the 6th Arkab Legion is also dispatched to the world along with a wide selection off free conventional forces and militia's stripped from other worlds. The 6th Ghost quickly forms up a task force built around itself - with 4 of the best conventional armor regiments and no less than 7 various motorized and mechanized infantry regiments under it's direct command along with an additional fighter wing. The 6th Arkab is bolstered by a single regiment of light armor and a regiment of jump infantry. The less useful armor and infantry formations are then formed into ad-hoc brigades and assigned to the defense of key locations and cities.
The defensive preparations continue at a feverish pace which is only heightened when the AFFS finally arrive. Leading the way is the 1st Davion Guards RCT and the Davion Old Guards RCT. Also present are the 1st Revenant Guards RCT, 1st Kathil Uhlans, 41st Avalon Hussars RCT, 8th Crucis Lancer RCT, and 1st Cunningham Commandos. With 5 of the finest RCT's in the AFFS and an additional 2 battlemech regiments with supporting forces it's obvious that the High Command intend to seize this world. To further bolster the formation no less than 2 conventional armoured brigades and 3 infantry brigades are all assigned to the attack. A large number of naval air wings and assault dropships escort the huge flotilla as well as the 1st Cruiser Squadron.
Leaving the defense of the cities and fortifications to the second line formationsm the DCMS units on the planet fight a combined and integrated defensive campaign that attempts to preserve their units while also denying the AFFS the chance to pin them in place and destroy them. For that purpose the 6th Ghost has requisitioned or outright stolen almost any vehicle with anti-aircraft potential and attached it to their formation. Even with this flak "umbrella" the 2 DCMS formations are soon suffering from heavy attacks from the Davion air wings.
The 1st Davion Guards, Davion Old Guards, 1st Kathil Uhlans and the Cunningham Commandos keep up the pursuit of the 6th Ghost and their Arkab screen, harrying them across the planet in a series of pitched battles and skirmishes, but the veteran Ghost regiment manages to avoid being forced into a battle they know they can't win. However, as these running battles are raging the 1st Revenant Guards, 41st Avalon Hussars and 8th Crucis Lancers begin the systematic destruction of the second line garrisons that the DCMS battlemech forces have had to effectively abandon.
By the end of June, nearly half the planet has been secured or is in the process of being secured for House Davion. However, the 2 DCMS formations have proven elusive and continue to pose a threat. It's soon apparent that both units have an unknown ability to redeploy just the Davions think they have them trapped and reappear having crossed impossible terrain. Finally on the 30th of June an aerospace fighter from the 1st Davion Guards Air manages to shoot down the cause of this incredible maneuverability. A company from the Davion Old Guards quickly secures the wreckage and engineers begin crawling over the superheavy transport VTOL's wreckage.
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====Hagiwawa====
The fighting on Hagiwawa actually starts before the AFFS arrive. The 1st Ghost having fallen back twice now in the face of massive invasion forces feels that their actions have been entirely vindicated by the total destruction of over a dozen units who have tried to stand and fight against hopeless odds. However the command group on Benjamin does not agree. They order Tai-sa Kasigi taken into custody and shot as a coward. Along with his XO and all 3 battalion commanders. The ISF and DEST forces on planet with the support of the 27th & 28th Benjamin Regulars attempt to enforce this command. Unsurprisingly the 1st Ghost resist.
While outnumbered nearly 2:1, the 1st Ghost has the edge in experience and find their cause bolstered when fully two thirds of the units they evacuated from Junction side with them. Declaring their loyalty to the Coordinator and Kanrei they open fire upon those attempting to gut their officer corp and are soon hammering the 28th Benjamin Regulars in particular. The Benjamin Regulars are only saved due to the intervention of nearly 4 mixed brigades of conventional and militia forces assembled from a number of worlds which side with them. The fleeing 24th Benjamin Regulars lands on the planet and swiftly is rearmed and joins their fellow sister regiments in pursuing the arrest/destruction of the 1st Ghost.
When the AFFS task force consisting of the 3rd Crucis Lancers RCT, 1st New Ivaarsen Chasseurs, 10th Deneb Light Cavalry RCT, and the 1894th Light Horse arrive in the system they find the garrison tearing itself apart. The arrival of the AFFS troops at least brings a stop to the active fighting, although both sides refuse to cooperate. Swiftly realizing this the Davion forces deploy the 10th Deneb Light Cavalry to screen the Benjamin Regular forces and the remaining 3 units begin full scale attacks against the 1st Ghost as the most dangerous enemy formation. They deliberately leave openings in the air cover to allow the 1st Ghost to flee the world at anytime. Which they do on the 29th of June. At the time they break off and flee the 1st Ghost has lost nearly 5 companies of battlemechs, of which the majority were lost in the infighting before the AFFS even arrived. Again they take with them almost every trooper that sided with them.
This leaves the AFFS formations free to turn on the heavily damaged 24th, 27th, and 28th Benjamin Regulars with only the 27th at near full strength...
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====Homam/Sadalbari====
The 3rd Robinson Rangers RCT splits into 2 over strength combat commands and lands upon the 2 now almost entirely isolated worlds of Sadalbari and Homam on the 7th and 8th of June respectively. The 2 worlds have been stripped entirely clean of the few conventional units and even militia assigned to them and have little more than a corporal's guard of troops available to put up even a token resistance if they so wished. Which they wisely do not. The only notable point of these invasions are that the Homam combat command is commanded by none other than Colonel Arthur Davion, Duke of Galtor.
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====Irurzun====
The 1st Proserpina Hussars are the linchpin of the defensive forces on the prefecture capital world of Irurzun, supported by the 16th Galedon Regulars and 23rd Benjamin Regulars. Large number of conventional forces had also been assembled and with the 3 Battlemech formations concentrated on the continent of South Umbrian - where the capital and largest population centers are.
The 2nd Dragonlords RCT and 4th Crucis Lancers RCT jumps into the system and begins their burn towards the planet along with a large number of free aerospace wings and 3 battalions of attached combat engineers...
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