Briefing: Operation ARCHER
In the event the Workers’ Revolution refuses to stand down, the 5th Striker Battalion will raid New Canaan with the following objectives:
1: Ascertain location and strength of CWR military forces
2: Engage and destroy Revolutionary Guards
3: Capture Chairman Richard Featherston and any Draconis personnel that may be present.
Colonel Armstrong has given us these orders with the understanding that his desire is to break the ability of the CWR to meddle or oppose our restoring Colchester to civil, peaceful conduct. He has no desire to see each and every soldier bearing arms for the CWR slain nor the Church destroyed; any attempt to do so would likely ignite rebellion against us across the entire planet. We are to break the CWR's back by destroying the Red Guards and taking Chairman Featherston
alive so that he doesn't become a martyr. So long as both of these strategic goals are met, the bulk of the CWR's supporters should give up their loyalties without further conflict.
All company commanders should familiarize themselves with the following map:
General information about the continent:
The island is dominated by a dormant supermassive volcano; Lake Galilee fills most of its caldera. The northern, especially northeastern, slopes of the continent are the most heavily populated. The southwestern portion once housed a SLDF fortification but is now a radioactive hotzone, courtesy Kurita raiders during the 1st Succession War.
Masada: Population 190,000
City is the home both to the Church of Humanity Unchained and the Colchester Workers’ Revolution. It is constructed on,
and in the tallest peak of the dormant volcano. The terrain outside the citadel is extremely rugged and has no suitable ground for drop-ports. It is connected to the rest of the continent via rail lines, often across mountain bridges of great height above canyon floors below.
Leviticus: Pop. 2,700,00
Largest population concentration on New Canaan and the second largest city on Colchester after Fairfax City; Leviticus is locus for agricultural and forestry activity in the fertile Northeastern portion of the continent. The Leviticus Mercantile Exchange is an agricultural commodities market and was a keystone of the planetary economy prior to its closure by the Workers' Revolution. It has excellent drop-port facilities that linked it with the other major cities of Colchester prior to our blockade of New Canaan. Under CWR rule, Leviticus has become a major producer of ethanol fuels and explosives.
Copper Falls: Population 680,000
New Canaan’s only major industrial center. Mainly builds tractors, but ComStar reports that the factories there have been retooled to produce crude tanks and APCs. Its manufacturing output is serviced only by the continental rail system and regional drop-ports.
Hagerty City: Population 60,000
Center for ranching, and destination for many of the tractors and industrialmechs produced in Copper City. Possesses only crude drop-port facilities and is linked to the rest of the planet mainly through rail service to Masada.
New Canterbury: Population 550,000
The only seaport on New Canaan; city in economic depression due to quarantine of continent. The seaport has a parallel drop-port, but has not been in use since CWR's control of Colchester.
Mount Carmel: Population 80,000
Former Ducal mountain estate on the shores of Lake Galilee named Versailles. As a former Ducal retreat it has excellent drop-port facilities. The supporting village has been renamed and undergone much construction and expansion since CWR’s ascension. Unknown purpose.
Colonel Armstrong will place the regiment's entire flotilla of dropships at our disposal for insertion onto New Canaan. However, after insertion only the Union-class
Passchendale will remain under our control for intra-continental spacelift. The Leapard-CV class
Baltic Sea will remain in geosynchronous orbit over New Canaan and a squadron-strength force of Aerospace fighters will continue to enforce quarantine of the continent and provide additional air-to-ground support.
My command lance will secure our planethead and I will use the
Passchendale as my field command HQ. As each of you are newly promoted and this will be your first combat as Captains, traditional orders of precedence will be suspended for the duration of this operation. I require each company commander to develop a battle plan for the prosecution of our orders for Operation ARCHER, and I will designate a senior company commander solely on the basis of the merits of those submissions. You have one week from today to file your proposals on my desk.
Good luck, Captains.
Major Charles Winston
CO: 5th Striker Battalion (Winston's Wyverns), 21st Striker Regiment (The Moonrakers)