Battle of Ur-Sumtka (2647)

Combatants| * Terran Federation
* Surben Republic

Commanders| * Grand Admiral Lawrence Callaghan
* Grand Admiral Marcel Faubourg
* Grand Admiral Vladimir I. Medvedev
* High Admiral Sarah Lopez
* General Bruce Smith
* Admiral Verkhan Perzak
* Admiral Me-stukar
* General Pamarek
* Commander Vala-ur-baki

The **Battle of Ur-Sumtka**, also known as the **Fall of Ur-Sumtka** or **Operation Blackstorm** by Terran forces, lasting from January to June 2647 was the last major action of the Great Galactic war. It is also considered the largest planetary battle in galactic history, due to the number of troops deployed and the casualties. The battle took place during the last few months of the war and ultimately saw a complete military occupation of the Ur-Han capital, which lasted up until 2669. This Terran victory forced the Coalition to sign a cease-fire and ultimately the Treaty of Mars. The battle was marked by heavy civilian casualties and a high number of displaced due to indiscriminate Terran shelling of cities hosting resistance.

The orbital battle was fought by elements of battlegroup BELLICOSE on the Terran side, including armadas Fenrir, Black Eye and Sauron. The Coalition's forces were made up of the Surben Fourth Corps and the Royal Fleet. The ground battle was fought between the Terran first Expeditionary Ground Corps and the Emergency Defence Corps of the Coalition.

## Background

The Terran entry into the war in 2636 marked a turning point. Within a few months the Ur-Han loyalists which had for over two decades fought on were forced to surrender to Coalition forces. The Federation however continued its advance into Ur-Han territory, and in early 2637 began entering Surben territory. The Coalition forces were overwhelmed and were only able to slow down Terran progress. In 2639 the Dermkha territories were reorganised into the Dermkha Protectorate, a Terran puppet-state. A year later the Tesrat Protectorate was declared and followed the same model. The Mirdesh which had so far been neutral entered the war on the Coalition's side, and with all other galactic powers now opposing it the Terran offensive slowed down and ultimately came to a halt in 2641, even being pushed back in some areas, most notably in Dermkha space.

Terran Supreme Command then launched Operation Tenbatsu, which aimed to occupy Ur-Han and Surben civilian worlds, so far left alone so as to avoid heavy civilian losses. The operation, whilst it succeeded in its tactical aims, was a strategic failure, as it did not force the Coalition into peace. By 2645 Terran Command had decided to replace Operation Tenbatsu. In October of the same year was launched Operation Invicta, with two main aims: pushing back the Coalition out of Dermkha and Tesrat space (Operation Aurelian) and to capture the Ur-Han homeworld and capital of Ur-Sumtka (Operation Overlord). Operation Aurelian launched in December 2645, and was largely unsuccessful, however it pulled many Coalition forces away from Ur-Han space. In July 2646 Operation Orverlord began and with few Coalition forces to oppose them Terran forces pushed through Ur-Han territory with ease. In November Ur-Termal (Ur-Han homesystem) was reached, and by December all surrounding systems had fallen. Operation Blackstorm, the ultimate phase of Operation Overlord was now able to begin. The Coalition was however able to reinforce Ur-Sumtka before the system was surrounded, and the Surben Fourth Corps and a large Surben army of over 500 divisions was deployed on Ur-Sumtka.

## Battle of Ur-Termal

The Battle of Ur-Termal is the name given to the naval battle which immediately preceded the planetary invasion of Ur-Sumtka. The Ur-Han Royal Fleet and the Surben Fourth Corps were at this point the best Coalition units on the Ur-Han theater, but were still small in size relative to their opposing force. The Terrans brought three full armadas to secure the system: the Eight "Fenrir", the fifth "Black Eye" and the sixth "Sauron". In total, the Terrans gathered around 500 combat ships against the Coalition's 230.

On the 23rd of January the first Terran ships of the Eight Armada entered the system. The Coalition forces, at this point more numerous, refused to engage as they were aware of future Terran reinforcements. As such, there were no engagements for the first few hours, until the Fifth Armada arrived. The Coalition forces believed this were all the Terran reinforcements, and believing the terms of engagement to be as favourable as they would get, they engaged. The Coalition forces, though slightly outnumbered, were able to trade relatigely evenly with the Terran forces. Two hours into the battle however, the Terran Sixth Armada "Sauron", the largest, entered the system. Despite a courageous defence, Coalition forces were unable to withstand the overwhelming power deployed against them, and within a few hours all Coalition ships had been put out of action.

Over the following days, the system was slowly secured by Terran forces. As Ur-Sumtka was the only inhabited world of the system, the system's outposts and stations fell with little serious resistance. During this period the Terrans brought thousands of transport ships to invade the planet.

## Planetary Operation

### Start of the planetary operation

On January 30th the Terrans launched the planetary invasion proper. Landfalls occurred in over a hundred cities, including near the Imperial Palace. The assault on the Imperial Palace was pushed back by the Royal Guard, but most other landfalls were succesful at establishing footholds. The Ultramarine Corps was deployed only sparsely, but with the exception of the Imperial Palace every Ultramarine operation was successful. Fierce resistance from the locals slowed Terran forces, and by mid-February their advance on most of the planet had stalled. This was especially true in the urbanised northern continent of the planet, whereas the much larger southern continent which had many smaller cities as opposed to large metropolises offered a much lighter resistance.

### Planetary bombardment and second wave

On February 23rd, a second wave of Terran forces was deployed across the northern continent. This time however they were supported by indiscriminate bombings of resistance heavy areas, with the exception of the Imperial Palace which was to be left intact. This caused hundreds of millions of civilians to flee the cities for rural areas, which although affected by the fighting were neither bombed nor as heavily affected by the occupation. This event has come to be known as the Little Exodus. This allowed the Terrans to renew their advance, and by mid-March all but the capital of the world, Jermengakra, had fallen.

### Fall of Jermengakra

The city of Jermengakra was defended by the Royal Guard as well as the best troops of both the Ur-Han and Surben forces. Jermengakra was also difficult to capture due to being surrounded by mountains and its population of over fifty million had been armed to offer a stiff guerrilla resistance. All previous Terran footholds in the city had been pushed back. As such on March 18th the Terrans began a mass-bombing campaign, which lasted up until the 26th of March. This considerably softened up the city's defenses, at the cost of over 2 million deaths, mostly civilian. On the 29th a third and final wave of landings began across the city, this time exclusively carried out by Ultramarines. They met a fierce resistance, especially around the Imperial Palace which had not been affected by the bombings. On April 1st the land forces already on the planet began their advance into the city. By the end of May the entirety of the city had been captured with the exception of the palace. The Royal Guard was ultimately surrounded, but was able to hold out for a week. On June 6th, two brigades of HERAKLES supersoldiers were sent into the palace. Within two hours the Royal Guard had been annihilated. This is considered to have been the end of the battle.

The fighting would however continue for months, and would even continue well into the cease-fire signed on the planet on the 23rd of August, which nominally put an end to the war. Various resistance groups and local militias of Coalition ex-soldiers fought the Terrans across the planets, with 36745 major incidents being reported planet-wide in 2669, when the Terrans withdrew.

## Legacy

The Terran victory at Ur-Sumtka had the decisive effect the Terrans had hoped for. With the fall of its capital the Ur-Han were rendered utterly unable to offer meaningful resistance, as most if not all major military infrastructure was concentrated on the world. The hit to Coalition morale was also immense, whilst it was an equally great victory for the Terran war propaganda department. Ultimately Coalition ambassadors signed a cease-fire on the planet on the 23rd of August, which is considered to be the end of the war. On the longer run, the capture of Ur-Sumtka led to the Treaty of Mars, which secured favourable terms for the Federation at the end of the war.

The battle also had meaningful long-term effects on galactic politics. Beyond its immediate consequences, it allowed the Federation to occupy the Ur-Han homeworld for over two decades. It also allowed the Federation, which was on its last legs by the end of the war, to come out of it not as a desperate state, but as a victor and to be remembered as the conqueror of Ur-Sumtka. The battle cemented the general perception of utter Terran military dominance in the war, when in reality in parallel it was unable to push and in some places was even being pushed back on both the Tesrat and Demkha theaters of the war.