Reunification War

The Reunification War (2577-2597) was the first interstellar war backed by the entire Star League. The war was fought in tandem by the forces of the Star League Defense Force and the armies of the Draconis Combine, the Federated Suns, the Free Worlds League, and the Lyran Commonwealth. Each of the four major Periphery realms was conquered by the end of the conflict.

Causes

The Reunification War really resulted from a combination of two underlying factors. The origins of Periphery states meant that the denizens of the Periphery tended to fiercely desire their independence. Comforts like better education, higher standards of living, improved technologies and increase in wealth (among the higher classes of society) were meaningless to a people who left the Inner Sphere (and these amenities) in favor of freedom.

Conversely, the Inner Sphere had a vested interest in controlling the Periphery. The common Spheroid desired protection, not necessarily from the Periphery states themselves, but from the unknown which the Periphery represented. The high standards of living and wealth meant that the people of the Inner Sphere feared loss, and desired the security provided by the knowledge nothing sinister was occurring outside their gaze. For the most part, the Periphery had far more to fear from the undivided attentions of the Inner Sphere. Spheroids simply did not see it that way.

The Inner Sphere also desired the Reunification War for a far more sinister rationale. After the close of the Age of War, the militaries of the Inner Sphere were idle for the first time in over a century. Inner Sphere militaries feared the outcome of not using their forces - fearing a lack of experience or discipline, and the possibility of rebellion.

The combination of these factors led to several incidents before the official start of the war.

2571

  • Star League member states begin circulating propaganda against the Periphery. Propaganda either calls for a crusade (to bring back the wayward kin) or defames Periphery denizens

2572

2573

2574

2575

The Participants

Each of the Periphery nations were attacked during the course of the War, but not all campaigns were the same.

Attitudes within the Inner Sphere were also divided.

  • The Federated Suns favored invasion of the Taurian Concordat - House Davion desired to be finally rid of the Taurian distraction
  • The Draconis Combine, embarrassed by the atrocities committed by their forces, wanted revenge
  • The Free Worlds League feared war - trade disruptions caused by the war could exacerbate internal social and economic problems
  • The Capellan Confederation had maintained a detente for some time with the Taurian Concordat. Further, Chancellor Ursula Liao was still consolidating her throne at home. Therefore, the Confederation did not actively support the Reunification War
  • The Lyran Commonwealth relished the opportunity for war - to distract the public from internal problems.

War Against the Taurian Concordat

At the outset of the Reunification War, the SLDF was divided between the four major Periphery realms. With assistance provided by the AFFS, SLDF Corps I, III, IV and VI were tasked with the pacification of the Hyades Cluster. The day after receiving the Pollux Proclamation, Protector Mitchell Calderon ordered TDF on high alert, and all Taurian defense industry to increase production. With hostile forces massing on the Taurian border, the Concordat Defense Board devised the defensive strategy Case Amber, in 2576.

Case Amber

In 2577, the TDF implemented Case Amber. On the eve of battle, the AFFS fleet and invasion force was massing in the As Samik and Naka Pabni systems. Taurian ships garrisoning nearby systems started to depart, and radio communications traffic suggested these departures were intended to bolster a reserve fleet. Convinced that no such fleet existed, Admiral Sarah Vincent splits the fleet, and engages a small Taurian fleet in the Tentativa system. In her absence, a massive Taurian fleet jumped into the Panpour system, destroying the AFFS rear armada. When word reached Admiral Vincent of the sneak attack, Vincent orders the fleet to withdraw. On route to the Jump point, a second, large Taurian fleet emerged from hiding in system and ravaged the Federated Suns assault group. By the conclusion of Case Amber, the AFFS had lost more than 24 warships/jumpships, while the TDF had lost only 3. Though the ground forces of the AFFS remained unscathed, they were effectively grounded due to lack of transportation.

Taurian Tactics

Faced with overwhelming odds against, the Taurian Concordat fought foreign invasion through a combination of regular and irregular tactics. Irregular tactics on planet surfaces included (but were not limited to) scorched earth defenses; insurgency bombings; mass poisonings; assassinations; passive resistance demonstrations; and herding placing BattleMechs and combat vehicles through strategic placement of unarmed civilians, in preparation for saturation artillery shelling.

In space combat, guerrilla tactics were even more extreme. Within Flannagan's Nebula, the large debris field was laced with laser batteries; each laser battery required clearance by infantry in zero gravity - BattleMechs, Aerospace Fighters, and naval assets were useless within the debris fields of Flannagan's Nebula. Soldiers clad in environmental suits from abandoned ships would float in the void to nearby hostile ships, and, in tandem with kamikaze attacks, would penetrate the hull and commandeer the ship. The Taurian navy also used "fire ships", ships packed with explosives, to deliver devastating kamikaze attacks.

Sources

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