Battle of Jackal Creek

The Battle of Jackal Creek was a large scale battle in the Shah Province during the Alpha Clan's Shah Campaign between two companies of the Alpha Clan and rebels in Shah.
== Prelude ==
Local insurgents in the Shah Province led by Deacon Hope successfully raided and destroyed a major Alpha supply depot. In response, Moth Company (led by Hauptmann Jessen) and Stripe
Company (led by Hauptmann Pereth) were tasked in tracking down the insurgents
and eliminating them.
The
companies spent multiple days hunting down the insurgent group to no avail. On
the fourth night, they set up camp along Jackal Creek. They hadn’t seen a
single trace of the rebels all day, which caused many of them to let their
guard down: Some took their armor off, some decided to drink a bit, etc.
That
night, a massive group of insurgents surrounded the camp. The exact number is
unknown. Some Alpha survivors claim it was at least 300, while others claimed more than 500.
== The Battle ==
At
roughly midnight, an insurgent leader set off a loud horn. The horn was
intended on rallying the rebels and intimidating the Dragoons in the camp.
Although the rebels were rallied by the sound, surviving Dragoons stated that
the horn actually alerted them and gave them some extra time to brace for
impact. One survivor of Stripe Company claimed they would have been completely
wiped out if the rebels had not sounded the horn.
About
30 seconds after the horn, the rebel forces attacked. Machine gunners positioned
in trees rained down fire, and they were accompanied by multiple rockets fired
into the camp. Some Dragoons were caught off guard and gunned down rather
quickly, especially by the rockets. Others took that 30 seconds to gear up and
get ready.
After
the volley of rockets, a massive wave of infantry and melee troops charged the
camp from all sides. What ensued was an incredibly violent and bloody event. The
machine gunners in the trees continued to rip through the camp, even hitting
their fellow rebels. On the ground, close quarters gunfire and melee fights
filled the camp. Some rebels even sacrificed themselves by suicide bombing
Dragoon tents. One of these suicide bombers managed to take out the
communications tent, making the task of calling for reinforcements difficult
for the Dragoons.
The
initial attack was extremely costly for the two Dragoon companies. However,
once they found their footing and begin fighting back, the tide of the battle
swung back in their favor. Although the rebels attacked with an overwhelming
amount of infantry, the close quarters battle was overwhelmingly in the
Dragoons’ favor. About 45 minutes after the initial attack, the Dragoons
managed to secure most of their camp.
The
rebels continued attacking with machine guns, snipers, and long range rockets
throughout the night. They attempted a total of three more banzai charges, but
they were all ineffective. The Dragoons battled through the night, slowly
picking off snipers and machine gunners in the trees.
== Aftermath ==
By
the time the morning light started to filter through the trees, the insurgents
had already fled the area. Dragoon reinforcements showed up at daylight, but
the battle was already over.
Rebel
bodies, bloodied and torn apart, littered the inside and outside of the camp. The
Dragoons took heavy losses. The average loss per squad of five was about three.
Casualties also included Hauptmann Jessen of Moth Company. Damascus Squad (Moth
Company) was the only squad from both companies that made it through the night
without a single casualty. Additionally, Sergeant Ruiz made it through the
night without her armor.
All
the survivors were taken back to the closest secure Alpha base for debriefing.
Upon
hearing about the incident, Field Marshall McQuade visited the survivors and
took personal accounts of what happened. He praised the survivors for their
hard fought victory. After assessing the accounts of the battle, he sat with
his Warlords and dealt with the issue of personnel distribution…
* Survivors who had served in the Shah Province for a prolonged period of time (such as Colts Bryant and Liao) were reassigned to lower risk posts around the continent.
* Surviving Dragoons who were reported as being extremely efficient before and during the battle (such as Colt Kirkland and Sergeant Ruiz) were shipped back to Founder’s Mesa and reassigned to the newly formed Recon Division.
* The remaining survivors (the majority) were redistributed to fill in the remaining squads, some being promoted to replace fallen or reassigned squad leaders. When it was all said and done, the two companies were consolidated into one fragmented company.
== Significant Casualties ==
Alpha Clan:
* Hauptmann Jessen
== Effects ==
Although
the Dragoons were technically victorious in the battle, it served as one of the
most costly for the Alpha Clan. The Alpha Clan lost lots of resources and more than a company's worth of Dragoons.
On the rebel side, it forced insurgent leaders
to reevaluate how they engaged the Dragoons. The rebel leader, Deacon Hope,
later commented how he was confident they could overwhelm the Dragoons with the
first wave and be done within the hour. He admitted his stubbornness caused the
conflict to last through the night, and it cost more lives than it should have.
The battle was said to have been one of a few that caused many Alpha Clan leaders to view the campaign in an unfavorable light.