Editing 5th Syrtis Fusiliers

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The attack on Sarna began inauspiciously when the ''[[Invader]]''-class [[JumpShip]] [[Nigel (Individual 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 [[DropShip]]s 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.<ref name="NAIS4SW2p44"/>
 
The attack on Sarna began inauspiciously when the ''[[Invader]]''-class [[JumpShip]] [[Nigel (Individual 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 [[DropShip]]s 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.<ref name="NAIS4SW2p44"/>
  
After arriving in the Sarna system, the aggressive behavior of General [[Gordon Hartstone]], the combat commander of the Fifth Syrtis Fusiliers, 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. As the Fusiliers deployed, the empty DropShips in orbit detected more than a hundred [[aerospace fighter]]s converging on the Fusiliers position, forcing the DropShips in orbit to land on Sarna after destroying the defending AFFS aerospace fighters. 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 [[Calona|FSS ''Calona'']], [[Deborah (Individual DropShip)|FSS ''Deborah'']], [[Hasek (Individual DropShip)|FSS ''Hasek'']], [[Haversham (Individual DropShip)|FSS ''Haversham'']], [[Minos|FSS ''Minos'']], and [[Parker (Individual DropShip)|FSS ''Parker'']], could have survived if they had abandoned the Fusiliers, but instead chose to fight until destroyed.<ref name="NAIS4SW2p44"/><ref>''Warrior: Coupé'', pp. 115, 121: "1st Battalion gets ambushed in swamps by the Cavalry's [[Savannah Master|Savannah Masters]]"</ref><ref name=FMFS105/>
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After arriving in the Sarna system, the aggressive behavior of General [[Gordon Hartstone]], the combat commander of the Fifth Syrtis Fusiliers, 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. As the Fusiliers deployed, the empty DropShips in orbit detected more than a hundred [[aerospace fighter]]s converging on the Fusiliers position, forcing the DropShips in orbit to land on Sarna after destroying the defending AFFS aerospace fighters. 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 [[Calona|FSS ''Calona'']], [[Deborah|FSS ''Deborah'']], [[Hasek (Individual DropShip)|FSS ''Hasek'']], [[Haversham (Individual DropShip)|FSS ''Haversham'']], [[Minos|FSS ''Minos'']], and [[Parker (Individual DropShip)|FSS ''Parker'']], could have survived if they had abandoned the Fusiliers, but instead chose to fight until destroyed.<ref name="NAIS4SW2p44"/><ref>''Warrior: Coupé'', pp. 115, 121: "1st Battalion gets ambushed in swamps by the Cavalry's [[Savannah Master|Savannah Masters]]"</ref><ref name=FMFS105/>
  
 
In [[3042]], the Fifth raided the [[Suzano]] system, held by the [[Free Worlds League]]. The Fusiliers fought the [[First Free Worlds Legionnaires]], who had only been operational for six months. Despite the Fusiliers outnumbering the Legionnaires, they never controlled the conflict and the Legionnaires drove them from the world.<ref>''Field Manual: Free Worlds League'', p. 36</ref>
 
In [[3042]], the Fifth raided the [[Suzano]] system, held by the [[Free Worlds League]]. The Fusiliers fought the [[First Free Worlds Legionnaires]], who had only been operational for six months. Despite the Fusiliers outnumbering the Legionnaires, they never controlled the conflict and the Legionnaires drove them from the world.<ref>''Field Manual: Free Worlds League'', p. 36</ref>

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