3069 - October - Planning for 3070
As per usual the plans for the continued expansion and upgrading of the AFFS (which never really stopped) stepped up a gear in October. Already there were myriad voices calling for this or that unit to be prioritised over another. Still with the First Prince once more personally on New Avalon to oversee the discussions the debates were quickly resolved. In most cases any disagreements were decided by the trio of the First Prince, Marshal of Armies and Princes's Champion. All three by now seasoned and veteran officers.
The first thing that was agreed that priority would continue to be given to rebuilding commands that had been damaged in the recent activities. As per the standing guidelines laid down shortly after the First Princes's return from the Clan Homeworld's the flow of replacements into units which were under strength would be managed to avoid swamping the veterans with new recruits and so reducing the overall rating of the regiment. For instance the 1st Kestrel Grenadiers were hovering around 60% of their listed strength due to casualties in the heavy fighting they had received - they would be allocated enough replacements to bring them up to 70% strength this year and a similar increase each year until they were once again at full strength. This would allow them to continue to remain at elite levels of experience as the new recruits would be brought up to the regimental level in training and combat missions. In many cases the replacement troops for elite units such as the Grenadiers would be drawn from other less experienced units (rated at veteran or regular level) and their replacements would in fact by the cadets.
One area this was definitely in use was the planned rebuilding of the Federated Suns Armoured Cavalry Brigade. Consisting of the finest troops, officers and equipment the FedSun's could produce this showcase unit had traditionally been rebuilt as soon as possible when it had suffered damage in the past. The expansion of the unit from a single regiment to 3 regiments in no way reduced the commitment of the High Command to arranging this. The 1st Argyle Lancers, 3rd Crucis Lancers, Davion Assault Guards, Davion Heavy Guards, 1st New Avalon Cavaliers and 6th Syrtis Fusiliers would all be tasked with giving up a company or so of mechwarriors and comparable numbers of conventional support troops to help rebuild the 3rd FSAC, while the 1st Capellan Dragoons, 42nd Avalon Hussars and the 6th and 8th Crucis Lancers would all give up a similar force to help rebuild the 2nd FSAC. Given the wish to form a 4th Federated Suns Armoured Cavalry the 1st and 2nd Ceti Hussars, 8th, 10th and 12th Deneb Light Cavalry, 2nd New Ivaarsen Chasseurs and 2nd Robinson Rangers would all be tasked with providing a portion of the new unit - allowing the formation of a veteran unit of around 70%. Given the location of most of these units within the Draconis March it was suggested that the new 4th be formed on Robinson itself, where it could take advantage of the Combat Training Centre and garrisoning units to hone it's skills and come together as a unit. All of the above units would see replacement personal make up their "donations" to the Federated Suns Armoured Cavalry.
Along with the personal required to begin making up the losses of the various AFFS units these deployments would consume the vast majority of the graduating class of '69. However enough troops and officers would remain to allow some small expansions. Namely the graduates of the Lexington Military Academy LCT's would be rushed to help rebuild the Lexington Combat Guards but enough graduating cadets would be left to form the core of a new 4th Ceti Hussars RCT. The initial plans were that this new Hussars wouldn't be anywhere near full strength, but the solid core of a RCT could be formed and begin training. However after some discussions it was agreed that the graduating cadets from the Tancredi War College LCT would also be allocated to this unit. This would allow it to form up at almost full strength.
The Islamabad CrMM would also be entirely reformed from graduating cadets as it's current incarnation became the 1st and 2nd Messengers of Shiva LCT's. At the same time the 2nd and 3rd Avalon Hussar's RCT's would break off a portion of their strength to form a 6th and 7th Avalon Borderer's LCT. An 8th Borderer's would also be assembled from odds and ends - a full company coming from the 1st Mitchel Reinforced Training Battalion for instance.
The Borderer Brigade would also see the activation of the 1st Bell Borderer and 1st Brockton Borderer Cadres. These 2 regiments would now be at around half strength and as such would be considered active combat commands. The remaining 1st Bromhead Borderer Cadre would be joined by the 1st Claxton, 1st Hurik, 1st Jasmine and 1st Preston Borderer Cadres - although the troops assigned to it wouldn't be coming from the newly established Training Battalions but instead a handful of AFFS officers and troops who would be used to form the bare skeleton of the units.
The Duke of New Syrtis was also pushing heavily for his agreement with the First Prince to be kept regarding the formation of the 1st Syrtis Hussars LCT as the basis for a new brigade and this was agreed. A number of graduating cadets from the 1st Warrior's Hall Training Regiment would be allocated to the 2nd Syrtis Hussars LCT.
For the second year no new Dragonlords RCT or Avalon Hussar's RCT is intended to be formed. However given the large scale expansion of the Avalon Hussars and the massive expansions after their initial founding of the Dragonlords it was agreed that the pause could continue. Assurances were given however that as soon as practicable these storied brigades would see additional regiments added to their rolls. The First Prince also privately spoke with Marshal Venger of the FedSun's Dragoons Brigade that his units sterling service in the recent campaign would not go unnoticed or unrewarded. He intended to add additional Dragoon's units in the near future - at the very least returning them to the strength they had enjoyed in their previous incarnation the FedCom Corp.
However the planned expansions of the Regular Army were almost totally overshadowed in October with the commissioning of not 1 but 3 huge New Syrtis class carriers into the Federated Suns Navy. At Galax the FSS Ran Felsner slipped from the yards and immedietly began making it's way on a shakedown cruise to the Novaya Zemlya system. Her place was to be taken by the FSS Kai Allard-Liao which was to be named for the fallen hero of the St Ives Military Command - which had been absorbed into the AFFS and so Duke Allard-Liao was considered (along with his military service during the FedCom era) to fulfil the criteria of being a serving AFFS officer to have a carrier named for him.
The FSS Ran Felsner was to be joined at Novaya Zemlya by the FSS Aaron Sandoval fresh from Kathil's McKenna Shipyards and by the FSS Matilda Davion which had completed at Challenge System's Panpour yards. Both ships were named for heroic military leaders of the AFFS. Kathil immedietly laid down the FSS Peter Davion, named for the famed Marshal of Armies who had led the AFFS during the horrors of the First and Second Succession Wars, while Panpour laid down the FSS John Gordon named for the officer who had saved First Prince Alexander Davion in the Davion Civil War and had fought and died for his prince.
The 2nd, 3rd and 4th Carrier Battle Groups would begin working up and training their crews and aerospace fighter wings in the secure system of Novaya Zemlya. They were protected there not only by their own fighters but also the destroyers of the 1st Destroyer Squadron. Not only had the 1st Destroyer Squadron been chosen due to it's battle hardened crews and heavy guns, but also it was intended that the Carrier Battle Groups would each consist of not only a New Syrtis Carrier but also at least 2 Davion III destroyers to escort them so it was considered a good idea to have the carriers begin training with the destroyers.
Alongside the commissioning of these huge capital ships the 4 Fox I corvettes undergoing refits and upgrades to Fox II which had completed at the end of September returned to active service as the 2nd Division of the 2nd Corvette Flotilla. Their places were taken in the repair and refit yards by the 2nd Corvette Flotilla's 1st Division. When these completed in March of 3070 that would mean all 12 corvettes of the 2nd Flotilla would be upgraded to the new standard.
The First Prince also announced the construction on Marlette of the new Davion-Com industrial complex. Similar to the factory on Defiance this facility was to see it's production divided up between Comstar and the AFFS. With growing concern for their supply lines within the Draconis Combine Comstar was eager to put additional designs into production at safe locations. The flagship battlemech for this new facility was the Inner Sphere omnimech version of the Battle Cobra. Comstar also wished the facility to produce the Spartan class assault battlemech and the Shootist class heavy battlemech. A similar battle armour facility to Defiance was also planned to increase production of the Lorica. As well as these Comstar provided designs the FedSun's also included Griffin and Phoenix Hawk class medium battlemech designs to be put into production there. Construction would begin within the next few months. All of the designs except the Lorica BA are to be divided equally, with Comstar getting all of the BA.
At the same time Comstar also funded Andoran Industries to add an additional Hussar and Mercury line to their Shawnee based plant. Andoran was now one of the largest supplies of light battlemech's to the ComGuards from their 2 facilities on Shawnee and Broken Wheel.
Veridan Dynamics announced a New Avalon backed plan to open a new facility to produce not only Tiger second line tanks but also the much sought after Vali artillery tank within the League March. After a great deal of consideration they had opted to place the new facility on Sarna for a central location. Initial plans were for 2 Tiger lines and a single Vali line. The ComGuards and Lyran Alliance again both expressed an interest in the Vali with this announcement.
Within the shattered Free Worlds League the Atreus based Captain-General Corrine Marik begins plans for a major military operation to retake the lost worlds along the Lyran border. She begins to secretly move commands loyal to her government to the worlds of Zortman and Castor. With what few warships she can spare from ongoing deployments. She ignores the other League Captain-Generals for the time being, not even requesting the support of the Oriente troops near Tamarind that might fight alongside her forces to expel the LAAF. Her attempts to keep these movement's secret are helped by her unofficial alliance with the WOB Protectorate.
On Elgin the Tikonov Marshals are declared officially active - although unofficially they are barely at garrison level quality and consists mostly of various militia forces from across the province which have been drafted into the Marshals. Although officially at 3 full battalions and a command company they consist of only the command company, a 2 company strong 1st Battalion and a single company in each of the other 2 battalions. They are entirely lacking in aerospace assets, dropships and artillery although they do have roughly a regiment's worth of mixed infantry and armour of low quality to support them.
Within the Andurien Commonality Duke Baxter announces the formation of 3 new commands - the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Andurien Hussars, echoing back to the old Commonality troops of Andurien. These are officially drawn from native's of the various Andurien worlds and are destined to be the regular armed forces of his regime - complete with battlemech regiments. However currently they are little more than glorified motorised infantry and are almost entirely drawn from the few Capellan worlds he has managed to bring under his banner - indeed in the case of the 3rd they are largely conscripts from the prison's of Andarmax, Sax and Sigma Mare. He has however begun work on setting up a full battlemech production facility on Betelgeuse. This is intended to produce Firebee class light battlemechs and Vindicator medium battlemechs. Plans for more ambitious schemes are only paper exercises at this point.
At the same time the Victoria Commonality announces that they are reforming the 2nd Victoria Rangers - entirely from imported battlemechs provided to them by unknown third parties although many seem to have been built either in the League or Canopus. This announcement leads the still shattered 1st Capellan Chargers to go into open mutiny as they feel they are being ignored. Given their posting on Wright - which is at the border between the Sian Republic and Federated Suns and the Victoria Commonality the response from the Government-in-Exile on Gunthar is swift and savage. The 1st Victoria Rangers is dispatched from Latice with orders to destroy the rebelling unit. Alongside them comes 2 companies of Taurian exiles which are all that remain of the 1st MacLeod's Regiment. In a pitched battle the 1st Victoria Rangers and the Taurians overpower the more experienced Chargers with numbers and destroy the regiment - executing the few prisoners. In return for joining the Victoria Commonality full time MacLeod's Regiment is allowed to salvage roughly a company of the 1st Chargers equipment and their "leader" Protector Grover Shraplen given a place within the Government-in-Exile.
Archon Peter Steiner announces a new trade arrangement with Comstar and that the facilities on Arc Royal will now be expanded to produce a wide variety of battlemech's for the ComGuards. While the move is popular on Arc Royal more than a few of the Archon's detractors point out that he is again playing the part of a "poor man's Victor"...
Within the Draconis Combine the leadership of the Black Dragons agree to send an emissary to meet with the Coordinator on Luthien. Theodore Kurita has already met with his Nova Cat vassals and informed them that he requires them to dispatch 3 out of their 4 front line galaxies and at least 2 galaxies of second line troops to the Davion border. Along with the Vision Naval Star and Transcendent Naval Star. The Mystic Naval Star and the remaining ground forces are to hold themselves in reserve within the Clan's reservations within the Irece Prefecture. In return he does offer them the concession of 2 cluster's worth of second line battlemechs (1 of the 10 regiments he has been promised via his son from the WOB).
