Battle of Talon (3063)
Sarna News
| Battle of Talon | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of FedCom Civil War | |||||||
|
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| Factions | |||||||
| (Attacker) |
(Defender) Loyalists |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Major General Torri Hughes | Marshal Donna Iona | ||||||
| Forces involved | |||||||
| Seventh FedCom RCT | Twenty-second Avalon Hussars | ||||||
| Environment | |||||||
| Mountains | |||||||
Contents
Overview
The Battle of Talon was a conflict that took place during the FedCom Civil War on the moon of Talon, in the Wernke system. Once the initial flashpoints of the Civil War had cooled, leaders began to see that they were in for a longer struggle and sought to consolidate their holds over critical objectives, such as refineries, resource extraction sites, and, as on Talon, factory complexes. The Kallon Industries factories on the moon were considered of great value both to the Loyalists and to Duke George Hasek, who had sought to remain neutral. The resulting battle, as with many clashes in the Civil War, was drawn out, bloody, and resulted in severe losses.[1]
Prelude
During what was later dubbed Wave Two of the FedCom Civil War, Marshal of the Armies Jackson Davion decided that the real winner of the war would be the faction who managed to wrest control of the most factory worlds. He noted the bloodbaths of Kathil, Tikonov, and Coventry, all worlds famed for their industry and concluded that the Loyalists should seize as many factories as they could before the fighting for them got out of hand. The way he saw it, casualties would be minimized and he could continue to resupply his units on the frontlines with fresh arms and materiel. He thus ordered Marshal Donna Iona, the commanding officer of the Twenty-second Avalon Hussars, to take her unit and secure the Kallon Industries factory on Talon for their faction. Unfortunately, that factory was also where Duke George Hasek's Templar BattleMech was produced.[1]
Naturally proud of fostering the Federated Suns' first OmniMech line, and interested in maintaining a dedicated factory world for his Capellan March, Duke Hasek dispatched the Seventh FedCom RCT to Talon, completely unaware that Marshal Davion had sent the Twenty-second. The Hussars arrived on Talon first and were able to garrison the Kallon Industries manufactory complexes and the Kulmen, Restbech, and Horgrave Mountains where their mining facilities were located, locking down any way into or out of the facilities.[1]
Battle
Standoff
The Seventh FedCom arrived on Talon in October of 3063 and were alarmed to discover that the Hussars were already emplaced. Major General Hughes, seeing no safe landing zone that would not provoke a hostile response from the Iona and the Twenty-second, set her troops down in Talon's capital city of Portland and in Hograve, hundreds of kilometers away from the mountains and the Kallon facilities. Her back to the ocean and the valuable mountains to her front, Hughes immediately contacted Duke Hasek to inform him of the new developments. The Duke attempted to issue orders for Marshal Iona to stand down and cede the garrison of Talon to the Seventh FedCom, but, as she had received her own orders straight from the Marshal of the Armies, Iona was forced to refuse. Not wanting to spark another open conflict if it could be avoided, Iona clarified that her orders were simply to protect the factory from any assaults and ensure its continued operation.[1]
Hasek acknowledged this transmission and ordered the Seventh FedCom to hold their position, but to be prepared to take the factory complex should it come down to it. He then dispatched a WarShip, a task force of assault DropShips, a large detachment of marines, and an entire aerospace wing to reinforce the Seventh. These forces he ordered to remain in orbit and intercept any and all outbound Kallon shipments. The uneasy truce between the Seventh FedCom and the Twenty-second Avalon Hussars continued until February 3064, when the Loyalist forces discovered what Duke Hasek had been doing.[1]
First Blood
In the final weeks of March, the opening shots of the Battle of Talon were fired by aerospace elements of the Twenty-second Hussars as they caught Seventh FedCom aerospace and naval assets attempting to seize DropShips bearing precious BattleMechs. While ordinarily those DropShips would have been slated to travel to New Syrtis or Kathil, Archon Katherine Steiner-Davion had ordered them to be rerouted to New Avalon to aid in the conflict there. Duke Hasek had initially attempted to countermand the requisition using his emergency powers as the leader of the march, but these orders were ignored. Seeing no other option, Hasek authorized his forces to seize the DropShips. Two of the cargo ships were able to escape under the fighter coverage of the Hussars, one was successfully seized by Hasek's detachment of marines, and one was destroyed, though its cargo was later recovered by Hasek's forces.[2]
Realizing that the cat was now out of the bag, Duke Hasek authorized General Hughes to begin offensive operations. On 6 April, 3064, she launched her assault into the heavily-fortified Kulmen Mountains through the O'Herren Valley. The Seventh FedCom found the Hussars heavily dug in, and their constant advance cost them many casualties. The Twenty-second Hussars, for their part, merely displaced back to the next position in their defense in depth and repeated the process. Hughes attempted two airborne assaults, dropping 'Mechs and infantry behind the enemy's defensive line to attempt to punch through and link up with her main force, but both of these airborne elements were quickly spotted and hunted down by a mobile rearguard Iona had set in preparation for such an attack. In addition, due to the nature of the mountainous terrain, Hughes was forced to rely on her infantry forces, slowing her advance to a crawl as they spotted and cleared enemy positions. Thanks to the heavy casualties the Hussars had inflicted on her unit and their advantageous position, Hughes deemed it necessary to request reinforcements from New Syrtis.[2]
Uphill Struggle
The bloody battle up into the mountains raged on for months, with no word of reinforcements from New Syrtis forthcoming. Truthfully, Duke Hasek, perpetually worried for the safety and security of his ancestral homeworld, had tasked many of his available units with the planet's defense as he had worrying reports of Loyalist build up on Taygeta. Until he determined where they might be headed, he was not about to weaken his defensive posture on New Syrtis.
On 13 November, 3064, the Hussars counterattacked the Seventh FedCom, providing a costly distraction so that six more cargo DropShips could slip through the Allied aerospace perimeter. By the time Hughes' forces realized what was going on it was too late and the DropShips had already escaped, bound for New Avalon with holds full of precious BattleMechs. Once the outbound freight had run the blockade, the Hussars returned again to a defensive posture, continuing to extract a toll of blood and machinery for every inch the Seventh FedCom advanced. When word reached General Hughes of an attack on New Syrtis in November of 3065, she realized that she would not be receiving the necessary forces. After suffering another devastating counterattack, Hughes made the decision to fall back to Portland and regroup, forced to give up the ground she had taken or lose her command. Once again, the Seventh FedCom and the Twenty-second Avalon Hussars were set in an uneasy truce.