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Chapter 10[]
State of the Union - Book 3[]
Dropship Belle Isla, Pasig system
Coventry Province, Federated Commonwealth
August 2nd, 3067
The Excalibur-Class dropship Belle Isla was far from the best armed or most armored vessel available for the Twentieth Avalon Hussars, but it served well as the command vessel for the Regimental Combat Team. In addition to carrying Sabine Steiner’s command company, it had room for her staff and hundreds of other support staff - as well as two battalions of heavy tanks.
A compartment had been converted decades - or perhaps centuries - ago to serve as a command center. It was cramped enough that she was glad that they were currently under zero gravity, letting her float over or around banks of equipment and the technicians managing the data. Under combat conditions, the room would be crowded with even more personnel - their body heat and that of the computers enough that the room actually needed ‘Mech-style coolant systems to keep it habitable. Right now it was mostly under merely administrative loads except for the gathering of officers around the main display.
Sabine looked at the 2-D screen (there simply wasn’t space for an effective holo-display here) and saw it was portraying the latest updates about the ongoing fighting on Blue Hole. Jade Falcons warships had arrived over the system as the leading edge of their second wave of attacks, covering a landing that had deployed two entire galaxies of ground forces. For now the Fourth Lyran Regulars and Fifth Donegal Guards were holding out but it was only a matter of time. That was what their task force had been intended to change: a powerful force made up of her own RCT and two further brigades built around additional ‘Mech regiments, escorted by a squadron of warships.
“Clear the screen.” she informed her staff. “We have a new mission.”
“General?” Juan Villanova-Petain was her senior brigade commander, heading up the three tank regiments and artillery battalion that made up a large part of the Twentieth Hussars’ firepower. “Has something changed on Blue Hole?”
Sabine shook her head, glad she’d pinned her long hair in place or it would have been adrift around her head in the zero-gravity. “No, Juan. So far as I am aware the defenders are still holding out.” She passed a data disk to one of the techs. “Load this up.”
Louizio Martine-Holm looked concerned. “Are we abandoning our comrades?” The two units on Blue Hole might be traditionally Lyran commands and favored Kathrina Steiner, but the infantry commander had embraced the reunion of the Federated Commonwealth.
“The Strikers and the Royal Guards are continuing to Blue Hole.” Sabine assured the other woman. It stung a little - command of a task force would have been a feather in her cap and now that was being taken away from her. “However, there is new information about the Clan’s deployments and the Field Marshal has ordered Operation Whiplash to capitalize upon what’s been learned.”
The screen lit up with the seal of the AFFC, then the usual security warnings that anyone with more than a few years in service barely noticed unless they had some specific reason to. Finally they came to the meat of the matter: a map of the entire Clan front, more than a dozen worlds lit up as active combat zones while a handful of others were marked as fallen. There hadn’t been operations on this scale since 3052 - the more recent clashes had been more localized and seen fewer extended contests for control of any one world.
Sabine took a pointer. “There have been a number of reports that the Jade Falcons are deploying younger warriors in older equipment.” she reminded those who should have seen at least some of that. “The leading theory was that the Falcon Khan, Marthe Pryde, was blooding her less experienced soldiers, in much the same way that she did on Coventry nine years ago. However, the numbers of units we’re seeing don’t add up… or rather, they’re adding up too well.” She ran the pointer down the map from one end of the frontline to the other. “We’ve seen essentially every Cluster we know the Falcons have in their Occupation Zone, including garrison units. Some of the latter are wearing the paint of other units, but we have enough captives and data intercepts to be sure of it.”
“But they must have other units guarding their occupation zone.” Shemp Harrangue looked worried. “Have they brought more troops from the homeworlds?”
“If so, why not use them to fight us?” asked Martine-Holm. “They would want the experience of fighting against the AFFC - and the ‘glory’.” She gestured quotation marks around the last word.
Villanova-Petain nodded in agreement. “Could this mean Pryde is rotating units between combat zones? Sending them home after they see action? Shemp is right: they can’t have left their conquests unguarded.”
Sabine smiled thinly. “Good questions. And we don’t know the answers - not for sure. But the initial reports from Operation North Star suggests that Clan Wolf may well have reduced their own defenses to a minimum. While the Ceti Hussars haven’t made planetfall, thus far they’ve only encountered older aerospace fighters and dropships providing coverage of jump points and recharge stations - equipment that may have been taken with Kerensky’s Exodus or captured from our comrades during the original invasion.”
She advanced the operational planning data, focusing the display on just four systems. “Operation Whiplash is a reconnaissance in force to find out if the same is true of the Jade Falcons.”
“Alyina, Baker 3, Devin and Goat Path.” read off Villanova-Petain. “Are we to be scattered in penny ante combat commands across sixty light years?”
“No.” Sabine moved her pointer to the nearest world, Goat Path. “This is a reconnaissance in force. Each world will be struck by a full RCT. If the defenses are too much for us, then we’ll pull back; but if not then we’re authorized to push the advance and secure these worlds - in particular the HPGs since all four targets are within HPG range of Twycross. Taking even one HPG intact will let us re-establish timely communication with General Davion there.”
“Couldn’t this be done with smaller units - even company-sized raids?” The tank commander looked at Blue Hole’s icon, still visible on the edge of the display. “The Third Royal Guards and the Second Coventry Strikers will barely bring the defenders up to equal numbers on the ground… they might even still be outnumbered by the Falcons. We have four battalions of ‘Mechs and far more conventional forces than either of them.”
“Theater Command is moving the Blue Star Irregulars in to further reinforce the situation on Blue Hole, but they are some weeks away.” Sabine offered in reassurance. “And if Goat Path - our target - isn’t viable then we shall plan on falling back to Blue Hole and joining the battle there as well. However, by striking at the Jade Falcon Occupation Zone, they’ll be forced to consider whether they can afford to continue their offensive. Both Goat Path and Alyina would be ideal bases to launch follow up attacks on worlds that open a direct supply route to Twycross. Devin and Baker 3 together would sever their Occupation Zone, forcing them to use uninhabited systems or rely on Clan Wolf to maintain their own supply lines.”
She paused. “That’s the best case scenario, of course. We shouldn’t assume that all will go well. The plans have been reviewed by not only Field Marshal Steiner, but also Field Marshal Steiner-Davion, General of Armies Steiner and the Archon-Prince. In particular, diverting the Blue Star Irregulars to reinforce Blue Hole means that they will be unavailable to assist Adam Steiner on Coventry, which seems to underscore his commitment to taking the offensive against the Clans.”
Her distant cousin had also declined a recommendation to move his headquarters to another world until Coventry was re-secured. Most of the administrative responsibilities had been delegated to Melissa and Main Street as the theatre command worlds, but the Field Marshal was reportedly exercising strategic command from a convoy of command vans and his own ‘Mech rather than expose a fixed headquarters building that the Jade Falcons might manage to target with a lucky headhunter attack.
That argument settled Villanova-Petain down and Sabine moved onto the maps of Goat Path. “We have only a few days to plan our operations - the time it’ll take our jumpships to finish recharging and for our dropships to reach the planet. We have the maps from before the world fell to the Clans, and updates from more recent raids and data-gathering missions…” Which amounted to quite a large amount of data. “So while we won’t know exactly what will be defending the world, we can reach certain conclusions already.”
The topographical map was a nightmare of steep slopes even just as an overview. Sabine could see the color draining from Villanova-Petain’s face as he geared himself to explain something she’d already realized.
“Obviously our armored brigade will be severely constrained.” she said before he could speak up. “I’ll be counting on you to keep our dropships and landing zones secured, Juan, but the main striking force for this operation will depend on close co-operation between infantry, aerospace and BattleMechs.”
Martine-Holm peered at the map. “Is the HPG station in the capital? If so, can we afford to focus on taking that city and worry about the rest of the world later?”
“I think it is.” Colonel McGoneghy of the ‘Mech regiment hadn’t spoken until now, but he was reviewing data now on a secondary display. “But that probably means it’s the best garrisoned city on the planet.”
Sabine let them pore over the maps. It was Villanova-Petain who hit on what she’d spotted earlier. “This plateau.” he observed, indicating a section of level ground not far from the city. “It’s agricultural, and access down to the city is poor, but it should be close enough for our artillery to command the industrial and commercial zones. The original military base was constructed on the far side of the city, probably for that exact reason, but the Clans’ new construction has all expanded towards the plateau. If we land my artillery battalion there, the Falcons will either have to push up the roads to get to me or abandon their entire enclave.”
“It would at least keep them focused on that side of the city.” agreed Martine-Holm. “But if we let them think that we’re focused there as well, we could make a secondary landing here.” She pointed at another valley. “Close enough for the artillery to give fire support and screened against aerospace fighters except along some very predictable low level routes. From there we can interdict the main roads westwards…”
Sabine sat back and let her officers exchange ideas freely. They knew the Hussars abilities far more personally that she did, and for every point she’d considered already they came up with another that she’d not yet considered. The Twentieth Avalon Hussars were known for their defensive skill, but Jack Roberts had told her before he handed over command that they were almost as able on the offensive. The ease with which her officers were pulling a plan together was evidence to confirm that.
Cousin Peter has given me a superlative sword to wield, she thought. Now I just have to prove myself fit to lead them.