Battle of Van-Shindur

Initial deployments of the fleets, with asteroid fields in blue and minefield in grey

### Result

Decisive Terran victory

Strength| **135 Ships*** 25 Battleships
* 6 Carriers
* 62 Cruisers
* 36 Destroyers
* 56 Mechs

157 436 crew | **182** Ships* 31 Battleships
* 10 Carriers
* 52 Cruisers
* 89 Destroyers
* 90 Mechs

**Battle of Van-Shindur** was the largest engagement of the Sphere War between the Terran Navy and the Federal Star Fleet. The Battle was a colossal battle of over 300 000 men, ending in a decisive and surprising Terran victory. The battle was preceded by a multitude of tedious events for the Federal Star Fleets, culminating in a devastating defeat at Van-Shindur.

## Background

### Federal mishaps

The Federal Star Fleet planned for an offensive against the Uzhara Starzone immediately from the start of the War. However, due to poor leadership, the offensive never came. However, when Vice-Admiral Oluwafemi Taiwo was assigned the commander of 5th Fleet, his force of nearly 4 million men began their push into the Terran territory. Meanwhile the Terran Navy withdrew from Uzhara to the safety of the Mehrangahr Fortress, awaiting for the Federal fleet to arrive. The Federal fleet however suffered from a severe disease outbreak within the 3rd Fleet, effectively killing most of the men onboard, forcing the Federal Fleet to retreat back to Van-Shindur Starzone.

### Terran Push

The Terrans, after reinforcing their two fleets at Mehrangahr with the IV. Fleet of Admiral John Telkin, began their push into Federal holdings. The Terrans returned to Uzhara and started to move against Van-Shindur. The Federals then reinforced Van-Shindur further with the 2nd Fleet of Lance Heida, giving them 3/4 advantage. Nevertheless, the Terrans didn't falter and continued their offensive. In 4th June 965, Admiral Omar Mountbatten, the previous commander of the destroyed 3rd Fleet, once again contracted a serious disease forcing him to rest for the duration of the battle, leaving the rather unimpressive Rear-Admiral Yuri Ivastova to replace him as commander of the 7th Fleet. In 5th June, the battle began.

## Order of Battle

### Federals

The Federals held a serious advantage, as they not only outnumbered their enemy, but they had placed mines and were the defenders in the battle. The commander of the battle was Fleet Admiral Pedro Cogominho of the 1st Fleet.

* Centre — 1st Fleet: Fleet Admira Pedro Cogominho
* Centre — 2nd Fleet: Vice-Admiral Lance Heida
* Left Flank — 5th Fleet: Vice-Admiral Oluwafemi Taiwo
* Right Flank — 7th Fleet: Rear-Admiral Yuri Ivastova

### Terrans

The Terrans took a great risk engaging the enemy in very disadvantageous terms, but Fleet Admiral Raven Halifax was sure of victory. Admirals John Telkin and Frederick Rechter were also uneasy about being under the command of the rather unpleasant Admiral Halifax, who didn't treat his subjects fairly. Yet, the two admirals who had been friends since their time at Star Point, were ready to sacrifice all for victory.

* Centre — III. Fleet: Fleet Admiral Raven Halifax
* Left Flank — IV. Fleet: Vice-Admiral John Telkin
* Right Flank — VI. Fleet: Vice-Admiral Frederick Rechter

## Battle

### The Ram

By 13:00, the III. Fleet of Admiral Halifax began to slowly advance towards the stone wall defence of the Federal fleet. At the same time, Admiral Rechter cautiously advanced against the 5th Fleet of Vice-Admiral Taiwo. Both sides were careful and moved forward slowly for the first three hours. Everything changed when, after Taiwo had maneuvered his fleet through the minefield, Rechter aggressively attacked with one of his cruiser squadrons, provoking the nearby battleship squadron of admiral Heida. Heida then lunged his personal flagship squadron to attack Rechter's sudden attack, however, Heida's own attack was interrupted by the incredible charge of one of Halifax's cruiser squadrons that rammed Heida's battleships. Heida was pinned and suffered heavy damage. But then, Rechter seeing an opportunity to kill off the battleships of Heida, sent one of his destroyer squadrons to navigate through an asteroid field and attack Heida's fleet. This attack, carried out by Commodore Anthony Wayne was incredibly successful and soon Heida and his battleships were utterly destroyed, spooking the rest of Heida's fleet that began to rout away from the battlefield.

### Federal attempt at recovery

The Federals, especially Admiral Cogominho, were shocked by this stroke of misfortune for them, and began to doubt their chances at victory. Meanwhile the Terrans calmly advanced and began to unwrap the Federal formation. Taiwo then attacked Rechter's cruiser with his own squadrons, destroying Rechter's cruisers. Then one of Taiwo's subordinates, Commodore Ashley Broom, performed a rather dubious charge at Rechter's flagship. This attack failed and Commodore Broom and his squadron were easily killed off by Rechter's ships.

Rear-Admiral Ivastova however managed to score a small victory for the Federals against the fleet of admiral John Telkin, as the Federal starfighter squadrons destroyed their counterparts. Then Ivastova's fighters attacked one of Telkin's destroyer squadrons causing heavy damage upon the unit. But even with these victories, Cogominho thought the situation fruitless. He was constantly switching back and forth about continuing the battle or just withdrawing. His indecisiveness giving more time for the Terrans to keep picking off Federal ships. Eventually Cogominho ordered a general retreat and began moving away from the battlefield.

A blind warp jump was ordered upon the ships of Ivastova, however two squadrons one of which was a carrier squadron, were lost in the jump. And at the very end of the battle, the Terrans attempted to strike the flagship of Omar Mountbatten and Yuri Ivastova, but failed to kill their target.

## Aftermath

The battle was a resounding victory for the Terrans. The Terrans would use "*Charge* (Ram) *the Federals like at Van-Shindur!*" as their battle cry for victory. Admirals Halifax, Rechter, and Telkin rose to prominence within the Union and all earned awards and promotions. Commodore Anthony Wayne, the man behind the ramming attack upon the flagship of Admiral Lance Heida, earned a promotion and many awards himself. The Severloh Cruiser squadron became one of the most legendary formations of the Terran Space Fleet.

For the Federals, the battle was an absolute disaster. The already smaller Federal Star Fleet was even more diminished compared to the Terrans'. At the same time the Federation was suffering from financial crisis as they lacked funds to form another fleet. The fleets that survived the battle, withdrew to Ueppa Starzone, awaiting their next orders.