Battle of Earth

### Result:

Alliance victory* Destruction of the *Olympus Mons* and death of Dr. Pierre Danois
* Amnesty granted to Twin Moon, allowing for the formation of a future alliance
* Destruction of the Combined Fleet and the United Saturn Fleet
* Beginning of the liberation of the Home Systems

## Casualties

The **Battle of Earth**, also known as **Operation Final Blow** to the United Hanza Fleet, was a major battle in the Home Systems campaign during the Great Galactic War where the Hanseatic League's United Hanza Fleet and its allies unsuccessfully fought the combined Earth Defence Fleet and the United Saturn Fleet, jointly known as the Shield of Sol, for control of planet Earth in the Sol System. The battle was marked by fierce close-quarters combat on the ground, in the air and in space alongside direct assaults on civilians. The Battle of Earth was the largest and deadliest battle in the history of warfare, with low estimations of around 15 million total casualties. The battle is universally regarded as the turning point in the Great Galactic War as it forced the Hanseatic League to withdraw considerable military forces from other areas in occupied space to replace losses in the Home Systems. The victory at Earth energized the Stellar Alliance and shifted the balance of power in favour of the United Colonies and Herschel Nations.

Earth, already ruined by the Lesson, was strategically important to both sides as a major industrial and transport hub in the Home Systems, while also serving as the capital of the United Colonies and a symbol of unity for all humanity. Controlling Earth would almost certainly ensure the League's victory in the war as it would solidify the League's belief in spacer supremacy, as well as prove a catastrophic morale loss for the Stellar Alliance.

The League's assault was led by its second-in-command, Dr. Pierre Danois of the UHFS *Olympus Mons*, and began with a surprise attack on the Combined Fleet of the Outer Planets that left the fleet completely destroyed, save for 20 ships of the United Saturn Fleet. The remnants of the U.S.F. used a stargate to return to Earth, destroying it in the process to slow the *Olympus Mons*' advance. Under the command of Admiral Leon Shaw, the U.S.F. was integrated into the Earth Defence Fleet, forming an impromptu force of ships called the Shield of Sol. With the unlikely aid of a Twin Moon fleet led by Pirate King Josia Price, the Shield of Sol and the United Hanza Fleet engaged in a brutal battle of attrition in Earth's orbit. The repulsion of the ground invasion and the death of Danois forced the Hanza to capitulate, followed by the reversal of enemy gains and the eventual liberation of the Home Systems.

## Background

By the spring of 2443, despite the failure of Operation Stranglehold to decisively defeat the United Colonies in a single campaign, the Hanza had captured vast expanses of territory, including Thermopylae. In the Battle of the Bridges, Hanza forces were restricting convoys of soldiers and supplies, and the Stellar Alliance, a military pact between SPACECOM and the DFFR, was still marred by tensions from the Herschel Wars. Salen Dune was confident that he could break the United Colonies despite the heavy Hanza losses of 2442 thanks to the immense equipment raids that had been conducted in the Battle of the Bridges.

To reverse losses in the Kepler Campaign, Dune decided that the Hanza's campaign of 2443 would be directed at the Home Systems, the core worlds of the human race. Among such worlds were key military capitals such as Teegarden, the new U.C. capital of Asgard, and the human homeworld, Earth. The initial objectives in the region were to destroy the industrial capacity of the U.C. and gripple their political core; such a loss would open the path to Hanza victory.

In March 2443, Dune personally rewrote the operational objectives for the campaign: instead of Asgard, the United Hanza Fleet was to attack Earth. The decision was more symbolic than strategic: seizing Earth would prove the ideological superiority of the Hanza, as well as give legitimacy to Dune's dream of building a spacer empire. Earth would also, in Dune's belief, be an easy target: its government was still in disarray after the Lesson, and much of its power had been transferred to Asgard, leaving it as a backwater guarded by only a few fleets.

## Prelude

> *See Also: First Battle of Centaurus, Battle of Saturn*
>
>

    By May of 2445, Hanza forces were already deep in the Home Systems. An advance towards Teegarden had allowed the 3rd Hanza Fleet, commanded by Pierre Danois of the UHFS *Olympus Mons*, to slip through into the core systems. News of the Hanza advance reached Earth on May 20th and the Directorate petitioned the Alliance for more armed support; echoing Dune's own ambitions, the Directorate argued that Earth's loss would eliminate any chances of the Alliance winning the war. Unfortunately, most of the Alliance's naval forces were preoccupied with the Battle of the Bridges and the Thermopylae campaign, leaving the Sol System with just three naval divisions: the Earth Defence Fleet, the Mars Fleet and the U.C.'s Combined Fleet of the Outer Planets. The Mars Fleet was forced to leave Mars on May 23rd to aid at Thermopylae, leaving just two under-supplied forces to guard the entire system.

Eventually, Home Systems High Command approved the diversion of the 3rd and 16th armies, including the 303rd Armoured tank division, and the 2nd and 24th air armies to Earth. Other supplies were directed to Sol to bulk up the naval forces stationed there; it was hoped that, by the time the 3rd Hanza Fleet reached the Kuiper belt, Earth's defenders would be positioned to repel them.

On June 4th through to June 7th, Centaurus, just four light-years away, fell to the Hanza invaders, giving them a stepping stone to strike Sol. Danois decided that Mars was not worth the supply expenditure and directed his fleet towards Earth. Hanza spies reported that the Combined Fleet was refuelling at Saturn; themselves requiring helium-3, the 3rd Hanza Fleet jumped directly into Saturn's orbit.

The result was a massacre: the Combined Fleet forces were taken completely by surprise as Hanza ships jumped deep into the system without warning. The immense thermal wake destroyed several frigates instantly, and the still-preparing troops had no hope of defending against the larger, heavier Hanza ships. Just 150 C.F. ships remained after just an hour; under the command of Damon Snow, the highest-ranking survivor, and the frigate *Retribution*, the 150 ships used a stargate to return to Earth, blowing it up as the last of their ships transited. The Hanza ships, having exhausted their roemer drives, were forced to travel at sub-light speeds towards Earth.

## Orders of Battle

### Alliance

During the defence of Earth, the remnants of the Combined Fleet of the Outer Planets were merged with the Earth Defence Fleet to form the Shield of Sol, which worked in tandem with forces on the ground including 303rd Armoured tank division, the 3rd and 16th armies, and the 2nd and 24th air armies.

## Attack on Earth

On 22 June the 3rd Hanza Fleet reached the L2 point, where they were confronted by a swarm of Alliance ships that formed a defensive dome around most of Earth. Danois, confident that his forces could easily overwhelm them, delivered a final ultimatum: unconditional surrender, or Earth would be purged. The Shield of Sol responded with a barrage of artillery, unexpectedly shredding the first wave of Hanza ships.

## Counter-Offensives

### Price's Support

Recognising that Alliance troops were ill-prepared to repel the invaders and keep civilians alive on the ground, Josia Price opened a comm link with Admiral Shaw from the *Ivan the Terrible*. Price praised the courage of the Alliance troops, claiming that their efforts moved him, and offered his fleet's support against the invaders; in exchange, Price asked for amnesty for their raids in the Sol System and free passage out of the Home Systems.

## Aftermath

### Significance

Earth was described as the greatest defeat in the history of the Hanza and the turning point for the entire Great Galactic War. Although the Shield of Sol were the defenders, they had the initiative, and the sheer will, to repel the Hanza invaders no matter the cost. A year of Hanza gains in the Home Systems had been wiped out, and the enemy advance was halted. Aside from the disastrous Scorpius-Centaurus campaign, the Hanza never attempted another major offensive, putting them into retreat until the end of the war.

Regardless of the strategic implications, there was little doubt about Earth's symbolism. The Hanza's defeat shattered its reputation for invincibility and dealt a devastating blow to their morale; the mood was sullen, depressed, fearful, and war-weary. The reverse was the case on the Alliance side: there was an overwhelming surge in confidence and belief in victory. Tensions within the Alliance's factions were calmed instantly over the shared success in Earth's defence, with the battle demonstrating that these former enemies could work together for the good of the people.

News of the battle quickly spread around the galaxy, birthing beliefs that the war would soon be over. Even Twin Moon was celebrated; under Price's formidable reign, Twin Moon were no longer seen as murderous pirates but as roguish outlaws. Price deliberately cultivated this image, opening up negotiations that led to the Parlay of '44 and Twin Moon forces joining Operation Broadsword in 2445.