(From Brush
Conflicts of the Post-Republic Period; Galatean Free Press)
The desertion of Carson's Carnivores from
the Kamenz Archonette had been a boon to the Lyrans on two fronts. First, and
most obviously, it removed a large portion of the Archonette's force from play.
The Carnivores' departure cost the Archonette an experienced, well-equipped battalion,
drastically reducing their overall capacity at very little cost to the Lyran
forces. While the Archonette still could boast several more units under their
command, none of them had the capability to match up to Magyari's command.
The second was the intelligence that Major
Carson provided as the ransom for his escape. Until this point, one of
Landgrave Karl Pelzer's greatest assets had been the security in which he had
been able to operate, with his headquarters unknown to Lyran intelligence and
the on-world forces. Intelligence provided by Carson indicated that Pelzer was
operating out of the ruins of fort Sokol in the largely deserted northern region
of the Saxony continent. Pelzer's forces had excavated and renovated portions
of the facility, allowing them to shelter their forces from detection.
With the Liberty City Royals effectively
shattered and the southern Saxony region secured by Lyran loyalists, Major
Magyari chose to strike at the heart of the rebel movement. Facing her were
elements of the Leipzig Light Guards, commanded by Helga Van Strakken, Pelzer's
second and most loyal supporter, as well as Pelzer's personal bodyguard unit,
the Lusatanian Highlanders. The Highlanders represented the sole remaining
BattleMech force available to the Archonette, and while composed mostly of
older designs, still represented a sizable threat.
In addition, Pelzer's forces had well prepared
for such an attack. They had dug in to the terrain, using the ruins to shelter
their forces, provide tank bunkers and cover for hidden forces. Furthermore, they
had set up a number of vintage weapons turrets to supplement their forces,
providing significant obstacles to any assault.
The Irregulars advanced
under the cover of artillery fire, with VTOLs leapfrogging their main force to
drop Battle Armoured troops behind enemy lines. This served to disrupt the
defenders and their forces, taking out a number of the turrets and flushing
vehicles from their shelters. A number of the Highlander BattleMechs tried to
stand their ground using the ruins as shelter, only to be subjected to massive
return fire from the Irregulars. The battle quickly swung against the
defenders, forcing them to retreat to the excavated tunnels underneath the
base.
With the surface
secured, the Irregulars followed the remaining defenders into the tunnels in
order to root them out. The Kamenez forces staged ambushes in order to slow the
Irregulars' advance, but largely to little effect. Instead, they often found
lone BattleMechs suffering massed counter-attacks and beign quickly dispatched
or falling back. The remaining Highlanders (as well as a few Guards tanks)
rallied in a central warehouse, led by Landgrave Pelzer in his Defiance in order to make a final stand
against the invaders.
Pelzer himself was
quickly taken down by Major Magyari and her forces, which had a shattering
effect on the morale of the remaining defenders. With their leader disabled, the
survivors quickly surrendered, effectively ending resistance on-world. Both
Pelzer and van Strakken were captured by the Lyrans, while the remaining rebel
forces were stood down. Save for a few stray BattleMechs that had fled the
battle, the fight for the world was over.
In the aftermath, the
next step was to set up a functional planetary government and to ensure the
planet's ongoing loyalty to the Lyran state. Baron Otto Szleig, a minor noble
who had none the less proven loyal through the crisis, was promoted to the rank
of Landgrave and leader of the reformed government. Conversely, the Pelzer
family were stripped of their titles and lands, and subjected to an extensive
investigation in order to determine the depth of their involvement with the
coup. Likewise, pro-Pelzer elements of the government were discretely removed.
The planetary defense
forces were restructured, with both the Leipzig Light Guard and the Lusitianian
Highlanders both disbanded (although the latter was more of a Pelzer family
private unit to begin with). In their place, the Kamenz government raised a new
unit, the Kamenz Guard, composed of both surviving units and mercenary salvage.
As a final irony, given the importance that mercenaries had played in both
sides of the civil war, the planetary government hired several Infantry Mercenary
commands to shore up its strength while it rebuilt.
No comments:
Post a Comment