WCGW Chpt 151

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==Chapter 151 - What Could Go Wrong==
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30th December, 3043
Thazi (Former Outworlds System)
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Counting of the votes was accomplished quickly and the totals showed an 86% approval of the reduction of the bonus amount. Luckily, no one asked to be returned to Inner End or a discharge from service. Scuttlebutt quickly made the rounds that even those that had voted against the reduction were still happy with the ten percent bonus amount. Sacrifices had been made in the past for expansion. The why should this time be any different, was the response from those that supported the reduction. Aboard the Intrusive, Intruder Assault Dropship, the senior command staff began planning the Onverwacht operation in earnest.
"Estimates of the defending pirates is based on Intel from two years ago. So, we are going in with outdated intel. At that time the pirates had roughly a Battlemech company, Armor company and Infantry battalion. We know for a fact that there are remains of SLDF equipment there, since the pirates we faced on Joshua were using exactly that. We need to plan for possibly facing equipment that is better than what we field currently. Unlike those pirates on Wokha or here on Thazi where the people were treated halfway decent, those on Onverwacht are slavers, pure and simple. Those that are deemed no longer capable are traded away to other groups.
We know the planet used to house the 157th Royal Mechanized Infantry Division in 2765. The unit suffered 37% casualties before being relieved by the 114th Mechanized Infantry Division from the SLDF 16th Army. This is from after action reports filed by the 157th Royal Mechanized Infantry Division to 18th Army. There were four cache sites established on the planet, but I can find no reports saying they were recovered or left behind. Same as on Joshua, equipment was stored for use by surrounding systems as their militias were formed. So, if they are there, we can expect older equipment along the lines of Joshua.
The intel we gathered two years ago indicated that the locals were forced to dig up downed SLDF Battlemechs that still littered the surface. So if that is factual, the SLDF did not police the battlefields and the caches might actually be there. We do know that a naval engagement was fought in the system, this from a report filed by the 157th RMID. The 114th MID had two Jumpships declared destroyed and lost 2 Dropships during the run from the Jump Point to the surface. They lost another Dropship that crash landed on one of the five moons that orbit the planet.
Onverwacht had mining colonies on each of its five moons. It seems that only the 157th RMID Battlemech units were stationed on the surface of Onverwacht itself along with most of the divisions support elements. The Infantry units were all stationed on the various moons protecting the mining colonies. There is no indication that the pirates did anything with the moons, but we will have to check those out also." Captain Nathan Davis halted when Brigadier General Herbert Horbaugh had a question.
"This operation is sounding way more complicated than a simple taking out of a pirate group and setting a bunch of captives free. Your talking about a campaign that could take a year to accomplish. Hitting six different targets with possible hostile action at each location. This is beyond madness. You need a full-on Regimental Combat Team to have certain success in a reasonable time frame. As much as I respect everyone's desire to free these people, we are not equipped for a year long campaign against an unknown enemy in an unknown system using two year old Intel. Too much could have changed by now. The 9th FedCom RCT just got chewed to pieces in the Tortuga region and lost quite a few troops in the process." Brigadier General Horbaugh said
"What do you suggest, General Horbaugh? Let those people wait for freedom longer?" Lieutenant Colonel Gweneth Rolando asked
"Yes. That is exactly what I am saying. We currently field just over two companies of Infantry against a possible battalion. Those kinds of fights cause heavy losses and massive collateral damage. I have heard about the fight on Wokha and you took heavy losses there and several thousand civilians lost their lives in the fighting. Do you want to repeat that experience?" Brigadier General Horbaugh replied
"For how long? How long do those people have to wait?" Lieutenant Colonel Rolando fired back
"As long as it takes until we can assure success with a minimal of collateral damage. Is their life any worse today than it was six months ago? a year ago?" Brigadier General Horbaugh asked
Major General David Mitchell decided it was time to insert himself into the discussion "Everyone take a deep breath for a second. Both of you have sound arguments but as much as I too want to free those people, General Horbaugh makes a good case for us to postpone the operation. I for one do not want a repeat of Wokha. Those people will get their freedom when we are ready for that kind of campaign. So, the Onverwacht operation will be placed on hold until such time as we are ready to undertake it properly. I know this is sitting like a bad meal in your stomach, as it is in mine right now, but we are not ready. But we will be.""Until we are, we will focus on restoring the base here on Thazi by recovering the equipment from Pilon. We are going to go ahead and bring the Wokha equipment over here to Thazi. If we are lucky, by the time we complete that task, we will have our new people and be ready to move on Onverwacht."
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