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Author Topic: Operation SUDETEN Unit Record; August 3050 - October 3050  (Read 2262 times)

Darrian Wolffe

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Operation SUDETEN Unit Record; August 3050 - October 3050
« on: July 14, 2019, 04:44:29 PM »

Seeking to rest and refit after their encounter against the Jade Falcons and Nikolai Malthus on Somerset, the Numenorean Rangers fell back to the planet of Sudeten.  Garrisoned by the famous Gray Death Legion, Sudeten offered significant advantages for the Rangers.  Chief among these was the Olivetti Weaponry BattleMech factory, which would allow Ranger lance leaders to bring their newly-acquired machines up to the technical specs desired.  Making planetfall on 9 August, 3050, the Rangers presented themselves formally to the Gray Death command and set up their cantonment outside the capital of Hamarr.

Work proceeded apace and as planned until September 15th, when an urgent message was dispatched to the Rangers priority comms channel.  It is reposted here in its entirety:

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Attn: Numenorean Rangers Command Group
Timestamp: 1000 hours
Re: INVASION

Less than an hour ago, Jade Falcon forces entered the Sudeten System in significant force via a pirate jump point that puts them approximately two hours from landing, at 2Gs.  They are accompanied by a heavy Aerospace Fighter group and a pair of combat JumpShips.  The Jade Falcon commanders, one Khan Chistu and one Star Colonel Abraham Chi-Li, made immediate contact with my command post to negotiate terms for the Falcon Invasion of this planet.

The units we will face include the, "Jade Falcon Keshik", and the "124th Striker Cluster" of a formation called "Vau Galaxy".  I made an effort to abide by the strictures of their peculiar negotiation system, and as a result I am reasonably certain that we will not face bombardment from the combat JumpShips, nor will we face significant air attack from the combined air groups of the Keshik and 124th Cluster.  In addition, we have arranged for an initial meeting engagement outside a town called Braunfield, at approximately 1300 hours local, today.  The Orders of Battle for the units we may face in this campaign are appended below.

As I am commander-in-chief of the Sudeten Planetary Defense, as per our contract with the Federated Commonwealth, I have the authority to requisition any and all combat forces on-world to defend FedCom interests against an "existential threat".  While the Clans certainly qualify as such, and I have included your forces as being under my command - along with the Sudeten Planetary Militia - in the defense dossiers which I sent to Star Colonel Chi-Li, I am not exercising that authority.  It is my belief that simply dragooning unwilling participants into a battle such as this will do far more harm than good.  However, I am asking that you join with the Gray Death Legion in the defense of Sudeten.  

To be clear, I do not have the authorization to offer you a bonded contract on the behalf of the Federated Commonwealth.  However, there are two extremely important points that, if your sense of honor and altruism are insufficient to convince you, need to be taken into account.  First, as you would be fighting outside the bounds of any contractual obligation, as far as I am concerned, whatever salvage you recover, and which can be clearly traced to Ranger fire, is entirely yours.  Second, and perhaps more importantly, the agreement the Jade Falcons made in regards to, "not using combat JumpShips against targets on-planet or in orbit," technically extends only to the defenders of Sudeten under my command.  While I do not know if the Jade Falcons would register such a differential, they may, and I'd personally prefer to have your men and women at my side rather than drifting through space in the form of tiny specs of dust in an otherwise indifferent universe.

I am currently in the process of scrambling and moving a reinforced combined-arms company to the location of the agreed-upon meeting engagement, while loading the rest of the Legion on board our DropShips.  The Falcons are making an unopposed landing nearby, and have communicated their intent to tailor their forces to the strength we are able to move to that location upon short notice.  Once my forces have deployed, my DropShips will move to an isolated wilderness location well away from the spaceport.  If you plan to assist us, please take similar steps; coordinates for the final DropShip destination will be transmitted to your captains once we have made rendezvous outside Braunfield.  Likewise, battle plans will be transmitted once we have confirmation of your intentions.

To that end, please respond with your intentions ASAP.

Sincerely,

Grayson Death Carlyle

Colonel, Gray Death Legion, Commanding
15093050-0958



---------------------------------------------------

Colonel Atayde pulled his subordinates together for a spirited debate behind closed doors, with the central question: do we stay, or do we go?  Roughly 30 minutes later, a response was returned to Colonel Carlyle:

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Attn: Colonel Grayson Death Carlyle, Commander, Gray Death Legion
Timestamp: 1036 hours
Re: INVASION

Colonel,

The Numenorean Rangers stand with you.  We faced Clan Jade Falcon’s 94th Striker Cluster commanded by Star Colonel Nicolai Malthus.  Our previous CO, Colonel Aaron Saltier, was gunned down by one of the armored infantry after being blown out of his mech.  We took losses, but made sure they paid for them.  We still owe them a debt though.

We appreciate the order of battle that you’ve sent and would be interested to get any intelligence you can provide.  We’re happy to share what we know including observed weapon capabilities, designs and armaments, tactics, etc.  I estimate their firepower equivalent to a Star League Royal Brigade, even though their numbers are closer to two regiments.

We’ll move our dropships to protect the population centers and will leave as soon as we have your coordinates.

Sincerely,

Kato Yamamori Atadye
Colonel, Numenorean Rangers, Commanding
15093050-1034

---------------------------------------------------

The Rangers were committed.

In a completely apocryphal incident, it is rumored that, about this time, the origins of the mysterious Turkina Clan OmniMech, which the Rangers famously deployed, were theorized to begin.  According to legend, it is said that about this time, Skaraborg Lance's LT Kronwall revealed to the unit that they had actually killed the OmniMech via headshot on Somerset.  During the period of hegira won by the actions of LT Hartmann in her duel with Nicolai Malthus, Skaraborg Lance's technicians secretly moved back onto the battlefield - evading Falcon patrols - loaded the Mech onto a recovery vehicle, and then brought it back to Ranger DropShips.  There, after bribing the cargo bay personnel with several kegs from the lance's personal stash, they quickly crated the Mech up in a bay behind Kronwall's Awesome, shielding it from view.  Over the next several weeks, they installed a new cockpit, restored it to full functionality, and were in the process of painting it in Ranger blues when the Falcon invasion had arrived.  No record exists as to Colonel Atadye's reaction to the surprise revealing of a fully-functional Clan OmniMech under his command, but it must have been impressive and full of commendation for the initiative shown by LT Kronwall, and the skill and expertise of his technicians in restoring its systems.
« Last Edit: July 14, 2019, 05:43:22 PM by Darrian Wolffe »
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Darrian Wolffe

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Re: Operation SUDETEN Unit Record; August 3050 - October 3050
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2019, 05:19:11 PM »

15 September, 3050

Outside the bounds of a legal contract, but well inside the bounds of simple self-preservation, the Rangers hastily joined Grayson Carlyle's strategy session to deal with the incoming Jade Falcon forces.  



The larger plan of action is for the GDL to absorb the main enemy attack.  Grayson will not and won't ask the Rangers - not under contract - to take that sort of duty.  His plan of action is to put his command company (GDL 1) along the highway as the Falcons cross the bridge.  He will be supported by his second company (GDL 2) firing from the high ground to the east.  His special forces infantry units and their carriers (GDL 3) will occupy a covered position to the west.  If and when GDL 1 must fall back from the highway into the industrial farms to the south, GDL 3 will hit the Falcons in a close action from the flank, while the forces of GDL 2 will drive down from the hill to the Falcon left rear.  Hopefully, being hit on all three sides will break the attackers.

However, there is a fairly major issue with this.  The rivers are narrow, but deep and fast-flowing, and the only reasonable path of retreat for the Gray Death Legion is to the southeast, towards Braunfield (erroneously labeled "Bakersfield" on the map).  Grayson is fully expecting a flanking action through the warren of hills and small forests to the northeast.  This route is heavily shielded by terrain, and with the main Legion forces engaged, it would be very difficult to tell if a Falcon force was attempting to move south and cut the Legion off from safety by seizing the Braunfield Bridge.  Therefore, a blocking force is required to hold this position and stop any Falcon advance through this area.  That's where the Rangers come in.

Colonel Atadye committed Midnight, Crusher, Dancer, and Freya Lances to the action...  

...and nearly lost them all.  

Fully expecting a fight according to the rules of engagement shown by previously-encountered Falcon forces, the Rangers were rudely surprised by the members of the 124th Striker Cluster combining fire and overrunning their position.  As posterity showed, Star Colonel Abraham Chi-Li, the 124th's CO, had lost his childhood friend Adler Malthus to the "treachery" of Kai Allard-Liao in the Great Gash Incident on Twycross, and thusly ordered his troops to disregard Clan honor and to show total ruthlessness to any Inner Sphere warriors they came across.  The Rangers and Legion had the ill fortune to be the first targets of their ire.  On the back foot from the get-go, Dancer and Crusher Lances took immediate casualties.  Incredibly, from the Ranger air support arm, a Corsair is shot down and crashes directly into Freya Lance's Grasshopper piloted by Sylvie Callahan, who was unable to eject herself from the conflagration.  With the 124th's Trinary heading towards the bridge over which the Gray Death had to retreat across (indeed, just as their vanguard was entering the battle area from their own disastrous engagement), LT Hartmann alone countercharged the Clan spearpoint.  Taking fire from 4 heavy Clan Mechs, while skylining her Mech on a ridgeline, she kicked the head off of a Star Commander's Summoner, and broke the Clan advance.  The survivors fell back, allowing her to recover, jump behind a Hellbringer, and kick its head off as well.  This action gave the Rangers the time and space required to fall back, and kept the Falcon forces from advancing all the way to the bridge and cut off the Legion's line of retreat.  However, while the Rangers and Legion fell back in good order - albeit having taken roughly 30% casualties - the battle was a clear loss for the defending forces.

15-17 September, 3050

Your memories of the rest of the day following the Battle of Braunfield are hazy, filled with running, shouting, explosions, and sharp short engagements as the Rangers and the surviving elements of the Gray Death Legion's 1st Battalion fell back to the regimental rally point near Holstan.  Behind you, immediate contact was broken as the Falcons turned and secured the major road interchanges of Braunfield and Pattersen.  As morning dawned on September 16th, it was clear that while the pursuit wasn't immediate, it would soon be forthcoming.  Carlyle reacted decisively by sending out nearly all his surviving infantry as scouts to give advance warning, and hoping to find useful supplies nearby.  Luckily, as the Mechs of the Legion and Rangers were frantically worked upon by their tech teams, the scouts reported back by noon that day that they had found an AgroMech repair facility.  Those frames were quickly "liberated" and brought back to the Legion cantonment, rigged with booby-traps, and taken north and west between the lines to act as delays and warning signals that the pursuit was restarted.

As it happened, the Techs barely got two days to work before scouts reported explosions to the north, and the cantonment was thrown into a flurry of activity as the chase was on.

18 September, 3050
Killiring Crossing, Sudeten

The Legion and Rangers withdrew mere hours ahead of the 124th Striker Cluster's vanguard.  For nearly 200 kilometers, Legion units would detach themselves and set up quick ambushes or traps to slow down or divert the pursuing Clanners.  Units would move out with two or three Mechs, and would come back alone, or not at all.  The Legion started the march with 19 operational Mechs, and by the evening of September 18th, were down to just ten.  Colonel Carlyle knew that the climactic engagement was going to happen as the column crossed the Killiring River; the friendly bank of the river would be back in range of friendly artillery, which would scrape the Falcons off the Legion's back.  He also knew that the Legion's 2nd Battalion was engaged elsewhere, ensuring that no widely-flanking force could endanger the FedCom supply stores the Legion would need if there was a future battle, and that the Pandora Militia was stationed securing the Ranger and Legion DropShips.  That left the remainder of the Numenorean Rangers as the sole unengaged force capable of helping the survivors of the Battle of Braunfield escape to friendly lines.

Using his authority as commander of Sudeten defense forces, Carlyle ordered the commandeering of a civilian-owned Mule-class DropShip.  He is requesting that two lances of fresh Ranger Forces be deployed via airdrop at the Killring River crossing to form a rearguard so that the combined Ranger and Legion forces can withdrawal across the river under the cover of FedCom artillery fire.  Clan forces attacked in a large pincer movement to both flanks, while sending a spoiling force well upriver and which doubled back along the river to attack from the extreme left.

The Rangers were hugely fortunate in that Skaraborg Lance decided to airdrop in a position near the river crossing to hold that fort while everyone else fell back. What this meant is that the trio of flanking Clan Light Mechs (and their elementals) who would have *otherwise* had a clear path to hit the flatbeds and coolant trucks, instead ran  into a pair of Awesomes and several retreating Mechs. If Skaraborg had been more aggressive in deployment, there would have been nothing there to stop the Clans from running rampant through the technical crews. Aside from this, the action went largely according the plan.  The technical crews and conventional units were evacuated across the river successfully.  The main thrust of the Falcon forces was down each flank, and both actions required a countercharge.  The first was by Dunedain Lance.  The second was by Grayson Carlyle himself, and it resulted in his being shot out of his Marauder.  Luckily, LT Hartmann was able to recover him, and under concentrated fire from three heavy Mechs, she and Grayson took shelter in a nearby body of water for some time, while other friendly units drove back the Clan forces from the Ranger left.  There are those who speculate that a major tiff between Grayson and Lori Kalamar-Carlyle (which would not end until after Grayson's rescue of Lori on Pandora over a year later) dates from this incident.

On the right flank, the countercharge of Dunedain Lance all but annihilated that unit. The Lance began the game with a total of 4 Mechs available to it, and ended the game with roughly half of a Crusader.  However, this sacrifice kept the Clan pincer from completing, and meant that the Mechs coming in from the center-north later in the game vacillated between hitting Dunedain and moving to reinforce the partial breakthrough on the Ranger left flank, which meant that they instead supported neither side effectively before the Falcon withdrawal order was given.  Basically, Dunedain died hard and allowed the Rangers to concentrate fire on one flank while tying up many Falcon guns. This means that several Clan units which were mostly untouched by the time the withdrawal was complete weren't able to make it into close contact with Allied forces. This loss of effective firepower *absolutely* would have turned this into a bloodbath, though the vehicles would have still successfully evacuated.

While the mission was accomplished, casualties were high.  Half of the Gray Death Mechs were and all of thier infantry were killed.  Half of Dunedain Lance's Mechs were lost, and the other half were crippled.  Skaraborg Lance deployed three assault Mechs and lost one, while Dancer and Midnight Lance each lost one Mech of four.  However, there were no casualties at all among the technical teams and support vehicles.  The Falcon force took 70% casualties overall, and failed to accomplish their mission, so overall this was a success, albeit a costly one, for the allies.  Amazingly, the Gray Death Legion recovered an entire intact point of Elemental Battle Armor during this engagement.  A Legion Griffin, under a swarm attack by the battlesuits, fell back across the river into friendly territory, and the Elementals remained so focused on crippling the Mech that they failed to notice their change in circumstances.  The MechWarrior kept a level head, and by the time his Mech fell over, the Elementals looked up to find a dozen Battlemechs and several militia artillery tubes pointed directly at them, and surrendered grudgingly but without incident.  The Elementals would eventually find themselves turned over to Federated Commonwealth authorities, but the intact battle suits would form the foundation of the famous Gray Death Battle Armor program in the years to come.
« Last Edit: July 14, 2019, 11:37:58 PM by Darrian Wolffe »
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Darrian Wolffe

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Re: Operation SUDETEN Unit Record; August 3050 - October 3050
« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2019, 05:36:06 PM »

3 October, 3050
Hamarr

On October 2nd, following several days of inconclusive skirmishing (mostly Clan forces advancing while being countered by militia artillery), Grayson Carlyle received notification from the Federated Commonwealth that he was to abandon Sudeten.  As he had removed the DropShips from the immediate vicinity of Hamarr in the opening days of the invasion in order to ensure they would not be caught on the ground in the capital by a Falcon coup de main, this meant that the Rangers and the Legion would have to move their forces some 70 kilometers to the west and board quickly, before the Falcons caught up with them.

They failed.

In a desperate rearguard action, a company of the Gray Death Legion and Skaraborg, Crusher, and Dragon Lance held off an assault from a Star of 124th Cluster fast heavy Mechs, and the terrifying charge of a binary of assault Mechs from the Falcon's Golden Keshik itself.  Taking shelter in and around the DropShip support buildings, the allies traded their lives for time against a Clan meatgrinder.

Midway through the battle, in a desperate action, the remnants of the Sudeten militia charged hopelessly into the flank of the Clan attack.  They were led by the Gray Death Legion's Delmar Clay, who personally and miraculously challenged, dueled, and defeated a Warhawk of the Golden Keshik in single combat.  This action isolated Clay behind Clan lines, but slowed the Clan advance and bought valuable time for Skaraborg Lance's Mechs to frantically board the Ranger Dictator DropShip.

In the end, the surviving elements of the Numenorean Rangers and the Gray Death Legion successfully escaped the planet Sudeten.

Casualties were heavy. Skaraborg Lance had its Zeus destroyed and pilot KIA. Crusher Lance was reduced to only its commanding lieutenant and LAM pilot. One member was killed and the other is missing and presumed lost. Dragon Lance lost its CO, LT Herbert Esser, when his Atlas tried to hold the line against a full Star of Clan assault Mechs, and two of its enlisted pilots.  Overall, the Rangers suffered slightly over 50% casualties in this final engagement.

The Gray Death Legion was hit equally hard. Of the company of Mechs deployed into the final battle, seven were destroyed and their pilots either killed or captured. Fortunately all Gray Death officers: Davis McCall, Tracy Kent, de Villar, and Charles Bear, were able to successfully board an escape craft. The Sudeten militia was wiped out. The only Mech still functional as the DropShips lifted off was the wreck of Delmar Clay's Wolverine, who was holding the attention of a Falcon Dire Wolf, night gyr, and stormcrow. The last anyone ever saw of Clay was his Mech's forlorn and pitiful salute towards the escaping DropShips as the Falcons closed in.

The running of the Falcon blockade was no less harrowing. In short order the clan interceptors had taken 3 fighters lost and two seriously damaged, in exchange for the destruction of three gray death fighters, severe damage to two Ranger fighters, and the destruction of the gray death mule dropship. Additionally, the leopard dropship talk and severe armor damage and escaped going completely out of control to be intercepted by the Falcon warship by a single hex on the board. However the ranger dropships were effectively screened by their fighters and escaped without significant damage.

The next question is, where to next? No one knew.  And so the saga of the Numenorean Rangers continues.
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Timberwolfd

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Re: Operation SUDETEN Unit Record; August 3050 - October 3050
« Reply #3 on: July 20, 2019, 11:46:10 PM »

The bittersweet moment of parting has come for the survivors of Dunedain Lance. Colonel Aaron Saltier fell in battle on Somerset on the 9th of May, 3050 with LTJG Rebecca Ramierez holding the lance together in the immediate aftermath as the unit relocated to lick its wounds on Sudeten.  There was no rest for the weary on Sudeten, and while LTJG did her best to maintain the traditions of Dunedain, the lance's heart was broken and the survivors decided to pursue their own fortunes. Half would remain with the unit, joining other lances, replacing their losses while staying within the family.

The others would travel to Ziliang to join Anastasia Saltier piggybacking with the unit on their way back to Ziliang. Doc Koivu brushed up on his pediatrics and joined the Saltier household. Katia Castro stayed with the house guard for a short period before becoming enamored of a dashing young man in the 1st Federated Suns Armored Cavalry, with whom she enlisted shortly thereafter, joining the regiment's medical staff. During the long trip to Ziliang, Jean MacKissack and Siegfried Sell decided to formalize their relationship with a shipboard wedding (officiated by the colonel, time and willingness permitting). They spend their days taking care of their babies (mech and crawler commando).  Michael Lemoine spent a year training the household guard in clan tactics and consulting with the Armored Cavalry. When the clan invasion resumed, he joined the reinforcements sent to the front as a lieutenant. By the end of the initial invasion, brevet Major Lemoine was assigned company command in the 10th Skye Rangers. Unfortunately, his experiences in the invasion have embittered him against both the Lyran realm and the GDL.
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