Gordon Hartstone

Gordon Hartstone
Character Profile
Affiliation Federated Suns
Rank General

General Gordon Hartstone was the commanding force of the Fifth Syrtis Fusiliers in 3029.

History[edit]

During the Fourth Succession War, Michael Hasek-Davion was murdered on Sian. After his death the unit's loyalty to the Federated Suns came under question. It was secretly decided to make an example of the unit, as a warning to others loyal to Michael Hasek-Davion.[1]

Both regiments of the Crater Cobras were assigned to take Sarna by the Capellan Operations Command (COC), the senior military headquarters in the Capellan March; the lead formation in the attack on Sarna was the Fifth Syrtis Fusiliers RCT, supported by both of the Crater Cobras regiments, the Second Screaming Eagles and fifteen conventional regiments. The capture of Sarna was intended to serve several purposes: the COC were keen to impress First Prince Hanse Davion with their initiative, due to their perception of the Prince being largely unimpressed by the COC up to that point in the war; and Sarna was also believed to be ideally located to act as a logistics center and jumping-off point for future invasion waves.[2]

Unfortunately for the Federated Suns forces, their information on the military defenses on Sarna was six months out of date. Sarna was a tricky target to begin with; although Operation RAT was proving to be a great success, Sarna was still three jumps from the front lines, and would require the invasion forces to stop and recharge twice in barren systems. Sarna also held little military value beyond being the administrative capital of the Sarna Commonality, and the COC didn't count on the rash actions of the Fifth Syrtis Fusiliers, who were angry over being left out of the earlier stages of Operation RAT and who were increasingly obsessed with exacting vengeance on the Capellan Confederation for the execution of Duke Michael Hasek-Davion by Chancellor Maximilian Liao earlier in the war.[2]

Sarna had diminished in importance during the Succession Wars as its industry and population dwindled, and at the time of the invasion, the population numbered a mere two billion, compared to the nine billion residents at the height of the Star League era. The Cobras and the other elements of the invasion forces based their initial drop zones on the information available, which indicated that only two of the five continents on Sarna - Jacarlos and Canoshal - were of any military importance, due largely to the bulk of Sarna's remaining industries being located on those two continents. At the time of the invasion the weather on both continents was hot and humid, and the mashes on Jacarlos had become pits occupied by predatory reptiles and hungry insects. The Cobras were assigned two drop zones, codenamed "Nova" and "Supernova"; Nova was a drop zone on Canoshal, near Nito City and a major communications area, while Supernova was close to the eastern coastal mountains on Jacarlos close to Canoshal. The Supernova drop zone was intended to place the Cobras south of the city of Catalonia and near Svoboda, an industrial center. The Screaming Eagles were assigned a drop zone named "Blackhole" near the city of Backtal, north of Nova on Canoshal, while the Fifth Syrtis Fusiliers were assigned their requested target - Drop Zone "Pulsar," close to Sarna, the planetary capital city.[2]

The attack on Sarna began inauspiciously when the Invader-class JumpShip FSS Nigel suffered a jump drive failure in the second barren system the invasion force were navigating en route to Sarna. The DropShips transported by the Nigel had to be reassigned to other JumpShips, and engineers from other vessels transferred to the Nigel to help with repairs. The invasion force pressed on towards Sarna, leaving the Nigel behind to catch up later, and didn't learn until months later that the Nigel was lost in an explosion that killed all those still aboard her.[2]

After arriving in the Sarna system, the aggressive behavior of General Hartstone, combined with a lack of military intelligence about the garrison on the planet cost the invading Federated Suns forces dearly. Hartstone had his DropShips accelerate towards Sarna at high speed, faster than the DropShips transporting the other forces, intent on arriving two days early and thereby giving his Fusiliers the chance to make their mark in the invasion. What the invasion forces were unaware of was that all four regiments of McCarron's Armored Cavalry were on Sarna, and the Fusiliers dropped in their midst. The initial landing zone was intended to be just north of the Gray River, but the proposed landing site proved untenable due to heavy mud and floodwater left over from local flooding, forcing the Fusiliers' DropShips to ground on higher ground to the northwest. Hearthstone would compound his blunder by sending messages back to the JumpShip fleet that all was proceeding according to plan, which would end up costing his task force big. As the Fusiliers deployed, the empty DropShips in orbit detected more than a hundred aerospace fighters converging on the Fusiliers' position, forcing the vessels in orbit to land on Sarna after destroying the AFFS fighter escorts. The Capellan fighters then began an intense strafing and bombing campaign, savaging the Fusiliers attached aerospace wing and ground forces. The Second and Third Battalions of the Fusiliers were subjected to intense fighter attack with heavy casualties, while the First Battalion was harassed by fast-moving Savannah Master hovercraft. Even with supporting fire from the grounded DropShips, the Fusiliers losses were catastrophic. After shattering the three 'Mech battalions with aerospace forces and ambushes and leaving just a company of Fusilier 'Mechs fleeing into deep forest under the cover of forest fires behind them, the Big Mac used their aerospace fighters to destroy the bulk of the Fusiliers ten supporting regiments, with just two regiments surviving. Ten of the twenty DropShips that transported the conventional forces to Sarna were destroyed; the crews of six of the destroyed DropShips, the FSS Calona, FSS Deborah, FSS Hasek, FSS Haversham, FSS Minos, and FSS Parker, could have survived if they had abandoned the Fusiliers, but instead chose to fight until destroyed.[2][3][4]

References[edit]

  1. Warrior: Coupé, pp. 133–134: "Hanse Davion announced to his general staff that chose to destroy the Fifth as example to others who would turn their loyalties against him and the FedSuns."
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 2, pp. 44–51
  3. Warrior: Coupé, pp. 115, 121
  4. Field Manual: Federated Suns, p. 105

Bibliography[edit]