Editing Battle of Axton (3063)

{{InfoBoxConflict
| conflict = Battle of Axton
| partof = [[Fed Com Civil War]]
| image = 
| caption = 
| date = August [[3063]]<ref name=FCCWp75>''FedCom Civil War (sourcebook)'', p. 75</ref>
| place = 
| planet = [[Axton]]
| faction1 = (Attacker)<br/>[[Federated Commonwealth]]
| faction2 = (Defender)<br/>[[Federated Commonwealth]]
| commander1 = [[James White]]<ref name=FCCWp75/><br/>[[Annette Leyland]]<ref name=FCCWp75/>
| commander2 = [[Milko Pochtarev]]<ref name=FCCWp75/>[[Robert Koenig]]<ref name=FCCWp75/>
| forces1= [[Fifth FedCom RCT]]<ref name=FCCWp75/>
| forces2= [[First Bell Training Battalion]]<ref name=FCCWp75/><br/>[[Fifth Syrtis Fusiliers]]
| forces3 = 
| result = 
| environment = 
| conditions = 
}}


==Overview==
The Fifth FedCom's next campaign would start on a very unlucky note when the RCT was deployed to [[Axton]] in August [[3063]] to convince the [[First Bell Training Battalion]] to join the Civil War on Katherine Steiner-Davion's side, or disarm the unit. After arriving in system the RCT’s bad luck was once again apparent when two DropShips collided and crashed with all personnel lost during entry to the planet's atmosphere.  The remaining DropShips were scattered as well. After a few days various units of the RCT began to rally up under the command of [[Leftenant General]] [[Klaus von Ludendorf]] of the armour brigade. After a few days the First Bell Training Battalion, backed by two militia regiments were deployed to “lend assistance” to the Fifth FedCom, but shots were fired and fighting began between the Fifth FedCom and the Bell Training Battalion. After three weeks both sides called for reinforcements, with the Fifth FedCom's Executive Officer [[Annette Leyland]] the first to respond.  Taking command of the Fifth FedCom from Leftenant General Klaus von Ludendor, Leftenant General Annette Leyland pushed the First Bell Training Battalion back to the planets rainforest filled subcontinent.  At this point reinforcements arrived for the First Bell Training Battalion in the form of the [[Fifth Syrtis Fusiliers]] under the command of [[Major General]] [[Robert Koenig]] which made landing in October. Now the Fifth FedComs were the ones on the defensive. For the next few months the various units would play a game of cat and mouse in the planet's rainforests until February, 3064 when the Fifth FedCom broke contact during the Monsoon season and escaped over the Keliant Mountains onto the Kei-Den Plateau.<ref name=FCCWp75>''FedCom Civil War (sourcebook)'', p. 75</ref>

By June of 3064, Leftenant General Annette Leyland had given up on reinforcements from New Avalon and her command had taken heavy damage from the pursuing Fifth Syrtis Fusiliers. The only aid the Fifth FedCom would receive was the location of a hidden supply depot.  When the Fifth FedCom raided the supply depot they discovered plenty of conventional munitions, as well as fifty atomic weapons, plus their delivery systems. Leyland took the weapons with her and decided to keep them “as a last resort”. On the 17th of June after the Fifth Syrtis Fusiliers and First Bell Training Battalion  had cut off a large number of her troops, Annette Leyland authorized two of the nuclear weapons to be used. The First Bell Training Battalion was completely destroyed, as were a battalion of armor and a sizable number of the Fifth Syrtis Fusiliers infantry caught in the open. At this point the Fifth Syrtis Fusiliers backed off, but soon attacked again, intent on destroying the Fifth FedCom completely. Leftenant General Annette Leyland would use twelve more of the nuclear weapons over the next two weeks attempting to save her command from annihilation.

==Units involved==
===Federated Commonwealth===
* [[Fifth FedCom RCT]]

===Federated Commonwealth===
* [[First Bell Training Battalion]]
* [[Fifth Syrtis Fusiliers]]

==Reference==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
* ''[[FedCom Civil War (sourcebook)|FedCom Civil War]]'' (sourcebook)

[[Category:Civil War Era Military Operations|Battle of Axton]]