3069 - March - Operations Rat II and III
Given the fact that Operation Rat II had been almost entirely successful in retaking the former Sarna March (with the only hold out by March being the Capellan forces on Sarna itself) the High Command merged Rat II and Rat III into a single active Operation during March 3069. Given the recent developments on Sian and beyond the High Command was more than aware that they were reaching the end of active operations for the time being. Plus given the issues arising within the Draconis Combine and the First Princes's commitments to their allies regarding Terra they were aware that the AFFS's attentions would soon be needed elsewhere. Which wasn't to say they didn't plan to finish strongly.
Sarna
Sang-shao Garry Weinrib had known that when the second wave of invaders had finished off the Sarna Cadre that his own forces in the city of Sarna itself would soon find their position going from bad to worse, but he had no idea just how right he was. With the 5th Syrtis Fusiliers, 1st Kestrel Grenadiers and the 1st FedSun's Dragoons pressing him on every single front he had effectively no reserve. Which was when the AFFS troops on planet hit him with a triple assault. All along the lines the troops of the first wave surged forward and slammed into his forces, pinning them in place, while the 1st Federated Sun's Armoured Cavalry which had reboarded their dropships conducted a combat drop from an insanely low level directly into his rear areas. If that wasn't enough the 2nd Lexington Combat Guards performed a sledgehammer style assault on his 2nd battalion en mass. As soon as the lines were broken they began rolling up the rest of his positions while the 1st Tikonov Cossack's surged through the gap to link up with the 1st FSAC.
Within 24 hours of the second wave having joined the fight against his forces Sang-shao Weinrib's defensive plans were in tatters. His lines were broken and battalion sized formations of enemy battlemech's were rampaging through his rear areas and cutting his troops into isolated pockets which were then being reduced one by one by the follow on AFFS's main forces. His faint hope of holding out had been shattered, and on the 18th of March he formally ordered the surrender of his remaining troops after his last major supply depot had been overrun by 2 companies of Cossack's.
With the surrender of the Sang-shao organised resistance to the AFFS collapsed, with few of his remaining troops or their Home Guard support prepared to continue on in a hopeless last stand. A handful of die hard's attempted to break out and go to ground, but with the huge numerical advantage of the AFFS invasion force the Davion lines were almost rock solid and the few attempts were met with overwhelming firepower. By the end of March Sarna was fully secure for the Federated Suns.
Capella
In orbit over Capella the additional marine formations joined the initial deployments and continued to battle to seize the shipyards, preferably intact. The seizure of the facilities main power plants by the 1st Federated Suns Marine Corp Battle Armour Battalion on the 19th of March spelt the end for continued resistance within the shipyards, although by the time the last holdouts were cleaned out the death toll amongst the FedSun's Marine units had been staggering and the yards themselves had suffered heavy damage.
On the planet itself the AFFS second wave launch their attack. Leading the way 7th Crucis Lancers make a combat drop directly on top of Ceres City. Syn's Hussars, by now reviled by their fellow CCAF units and demoralised by repeated retreats and having had their commanding officer executed for treason, put up a stiff resistance to the landing Lancers for the first 24 hours. However as the 15th and 26th Avalon Hussar's RCT's land around the city and begin launching attacks to link up with the 7th Crucis Lancers and with no support being dispatched from Memorial City except stern instructions to sell their lives dearly they begin to fall apart on the second day. The first surrenders are isolated units that have been cut off and isolated, but soon entire companies are powering down and requesting terms. Which is when the Maskirovka's "suicide charges" installed within their battlemech cockpits go off. During routine maintenance each Syn's Hussar's battlemech's cockpit ejection mechanism had been sabotaged that at a certain signal it would deploy - but only the seat itself. Not the blow out panels within the actual battlemech's head. Given the hurried nature of the sabotage not all of the ejection seats actually deploy, but fully 2/3rds of the remaining Syn's Hussars end up crushed to death within their own cockpits. The Davion troops fighting the Syn's Hussars when they discover this treachery by their enemies security services are disgusted and swiftly cut down any remaining resistance and secure Ceres City. At which point the 4th Deneb Light Cavalry is brought down from orbit and deploys to probe and harass the enemy forces in and around Memorial City while the 7th Lancers and 15th and 26th Hussars refit and repair their equipment.
The Davion Assault Guards and 2nd Davion Guards continue to squeeze the pocket around the War College. In a relentless battle of attrition the 2 much larger Davion formations use their size and experience to grind Warrior House Ijori and it's Home Guard supporting formations into the dust. A favoured tactic is for formations of Assault Guards to attack and cause heavy damage before retreating to refit their own damaged battlemechs and equipment, while the faster 2nd Davion Guards immedietly probe the same part of the line, often catching the Capellan formations still damaged and exhausted. It isn't a subtle tactic and is repeated so many times that the defenders know it is coming - but when outnumbered so heavily there is little they can actually do. Warrior House Ijori, reading the writing on the wall, eventually attempts to break out from the pocket on the 24th but their attack is stopped before it can even properly begin when a full 2 wings of 2nd Davion Guards aerospace fighters pounce on their jump off point and bomb them into the dark ages. With the destruction of the last company of Warrior House troops the remaining Home Guard formations soon begin to surrender or simply desert. By the end of March the War College is in Davion hands.
As March comes to a close the only remaining Capellan territory on Capella is Memorial City and it's defenders know that when the Davion formations mass to attack them they will be horrendously outnumbered by battle hardened enemy forces. Their growing dread is briefly dispelled when news comes of an unexpected jump signature at a nearby pirate point. Hopes are raised throughout the CCAF command bunker that reinforcement's have arrived from Sian... However these false and unrealistic hopes are crushed when it soon becomes evident that the arrivals are none other than the 1st Davion Guards RCT and the 1st Arcadian RCT - accompanying none other than First Prince Victor himself and Khan of the Sun Jaguars along with her Keshik and 1st Sun Jaguar Guards.
Preston
Fresh from the almost bloodless conquest of Cordiagr the 3rd FedSun's Dragoons RCT arrives in the Preston system. Given how close the world was to Sian it was perhaps unsurprising that the local Home Guard formations were mere paper tigers and with the news coming from Sian totally undermining any desire to fight on the Preston Home Guard followed Cordiagr's example and surrendered immedietly.
Ovan
Despite being at only 60% of full strength the elite 7th FedSun's Dragoons RCT headed for Ovan with a well founded optimism. Now considered not only to be one of the premier units within the FedSun's Dragoons but also within the wider AFFS the 7th Dragoons conduct a flawless combat drop in and around the main spaceport of the world of Ovan - only to find they have wasted their time as the planetary government is falling all over themselves to surrender. Preferably yesterday.
Glasgow
The 1st Chisholm Raiders RCT does face some opposition when they hit Glasgow, but this is purely from scattered and isolated Home Guard elements which refuse to acknowledge their own planetary governments surrender. As such the Raiders fall back on their dispersed combat command and begin rooting out the resisting Home Guard formations. With a fully refitted front line RCT at his disposal Leftenant General Ryan Rand-Davion shows once again that the High Command's faith in his command abilities was well justified and conducts a mopping up campaign that swiftly secures the planet for Davion rule. On the 30th March he is formally promoted to Marshal in recognition of his successes.
Harloc
The 1st Kathil Uhlan's arrive on Harloc with something to prove. Carrying a prestigious name and lauded as the successors of the famed "Morgan's Lions" the new unit is keen to impress in their first solo operation. Facing off against the by now elite 6th Harloc's Cavalry Raiders the Uhlan's have a number of advantages. Firstly they are at almost their full allotted strength of a reinforced RCT and are fully equipped with the finest equipment that the Federated Sun's can provide. Additionally while technically only rated as a veteran formation their command staff is again amongst the best the AFFS have. Combined with their large conventional formations they soon have the Raiders on the ropes. However finishing them off proves to be difficult.
Within a few days of the Uhlan's landing the command staff of the Raiders realise that they cannot go toe to toe with the heavier and larger formation. Worse their Home Guard support formations are no match for the Uhlan's conventional forces even if they hadn't already been smashed in the previous fighting and had their best remaining troops culled to help rebuild the Raiders themselves. Therefore they forgo a formal defence of the planet and begin fighting a guerrilla campaign of raid and counter raid against the invading Davion's.
While the Uhlan's could easily call upon other AFFS formations nearby to help run down the Raiders they insist on doing this alone. A sense of needing to prove itself permeates the whole command. Again and again they struggle to pin down the more mobile Raiders and finish the job. Yet slowly something is becoming evident to both sides - the people of Harloc itself are growing tired. The world has been the sight of numerous battles during this war and even the most pro-Liao citizen can see that they aren't winning this fight. Even if the 6th Harloc Cavalry Raiders can drive the Uhlan's from the world, all that means is that the world will face another invasion. Soon. Probably within a few weeks with how things are going. The Home Guard formations still fighting alongside the Raiders are the first to sense this shift in mood, and soldier by soldier begin to lose heart and drift away. None of the citizens are quite ready to turn on the Raiders yet, but they are no longer supporting them.
Under a different leader the Raiders might have responded differently to this development, but Sang-shao W Deng Tang considers himself an honourable warrior and will not condone reprisals against the civilians he's sworn to protect. He is also aware that it isn't just the people of Harloc that are tired. His own regiment is by now a miss match of original Raiders, survivors of the 6th Confederation Reserve Cavalry and bits and pieces of other formations and the local Home Guard forces. While they are still a formed military unit and prepared to continue fighting they are starting to show signs of mental and physical exhaustion while their equipment is almost falling apart after hard battles. On the 27th of March he decides it is best to seek terms while his formation is still a viable threat rather than wait till the people fully turn on them and his command falls apart or suffers a major reversal. A truce is called on the 28th and negotiations begin - they will be completed swiftly during April.
Hexare
The 4th Davion Guards RCT arrives above Hexare and to nobodies surprise at this stage of the campaign the local Home Guard formations refuse to commit suicide by fighting against the elite RCT in a hopeless cause. The world is swiftly brought into compliance with the FedSuns.
Imalda
In an almost twin situation to the 4th's arrival at Hexare the 5th Davion Guards RCT arrive in the Imalda system and immedietly take the surrender of the local garrison of Home Guard troops. The only resistance to the occupation is a near riot when some students attempt to resist the landing of the 5th Guards at the spaceport by occupying the landing pads. So instead the 5th land nearby in a park and send infantry to arrest the protesters with the active help of the local police forces who are desperate to avoid a massacre.
New Westin
The single battlemech battalion of mercenaries from Wilson's Hussars arrive in the New Westin supported by a full mixed conventional brigade of AFFS troops. While the High Command had thought this might be a risk, the collapse of the CCAF and civilian morale with the Confederation had convinced them that the likelihood of resistance would be slim. Just in case 2 companies worth of small mercenary formations (including former General Neece's Green Giants) were attached to the Hussars. Many of these would formally join Wilson's Hussars following this operation and bring the formation up to 5 companies worth of troops. The occupation goes as expected with almost no fighting.
Hustaing
The 6th Robinson Rangers - eager to return to the Draconis March in case the hated Kurita's attacked - hit the world of Hustaing hard and fast. Giving the local Home Guard formations no chance to consider fighting back the 6th's battlemech forces landed in combat drops directly on top of the planetary capital and dictated surrender terms to the captured local commanders and civilian leadership. While this operation was a success the risk of it drew some criticism from the High Command. However both Duke Hasek and Duke Sandoval both commended the 6th Ranger's for their "daring strike". Indeed they would be awarded the Limp Sword Flag by New Syrtis - the first Robinson Ranger's unit to ever receive this award.
Decus
The 8th Syrtis Fusilirs RCT arrived over Decus and unlike many of the other units in this wave found the local Home Guard prepared to fight to resist the invaders. Roughly a combined arms brigade of infantry and armour attempted to resist their landing and fought it out in the planetary capital. Outmatched and outgunned the only thing that the Home Guard achieved was to bring destruction down on most of the industrial areas of the city near the spaceport. While many of the locals blamed the 8th for this destruction many shared the blame with the "fools" of the Home Guard. A dislike of House Hasek and the Capellan March would pervade Decus for several decades after this battle. However when Duchess Cassandra immedietly sent word that the industrial destruction would be rebuilt by her own government in April Decus would soon become a fervent supporter of the League March and it's government on St Ives.
Carmen
The last official world invaded during this wave would be Carmen by the 1st Crucis Lancers RCT. With word coming of Sun-Tzu's death and the fall of his regime the planet was desperate to avoid the chaos and destruction of being drawn into a civil war and happily surrendered to the 1st Crucis Lancers. The only holdouts were the local Maskirovka's headquarters, but after a few volleys of LRM's and autocannon fire the resistance was soon overcome.
Claxton
Officially the world of Claxton was not a target for Operation Rat's Fifth Wave, but it found itself under attack from the Sirdar CMM near the end of March. Leftenant General Ito Russel, long considered a glory hound by his peers and superiors, relying on the faith his troops had in him launched an unsanctioned attack upon the world of Claxton. Despite the aversion many within the upper echelon's of command held for him few could question his skill or bravery. Despite leading a second line formation the General proved his skills as he outmanoeuvred the few Home Guard formations he found himself up against and swiftly forced them to surrender or face annihilation. In a single week he managed to conquer the planet for the Federated Suns. At the end of the day success has a thousand fathers and defeat none, and nobody was prepared to order him to return the planet to Confederation control! Again he and his command were awarded the Limp Sword Flag by a "grateful" Duke Hasek - and the General himself was invited to New Syrtis to receive it - and the private ass chewing that came with it for endangering his command in such an unsanctioned attack.
Summary
With 12 worlds falling to House Davion and Capella clearly not far behind the others the Fifth Wave was considered a resounding success. It was by now apparent that the CCAF was in total collapse and the only real issue with further attacks was the logistical issues and possible insurgencies. As well as reports from the Draconis Combine. A number of High Command officers continued to advocate for a strike on Sian or at least a strike to take the remaining 6 worlds of the Capellan Commonality, while others felt that it was time to halt.
