KnightofTempest
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Chapter 39
🕑 Added 2024-08-13 07:38:36 +0000 UTCDadaocheng City was on fire. If not literally, then it was definitely on fire physically as a pair of factions contested the city. Between stragglers from defeated units, fortress troops, and the Ninth Pesht Regulars, Alexander Kurita had pulled together a number of Provisional Combined Arms Battlgroups to contest Dadaocheng City against the First Oberon Guards and First Ferris Guards. These battlegroups were often ad-hoc formations of combat vehicles and men put together for a specific assignment. It gave Alexander Kurita a strategic flexibility that Hendrik Grimm didn't have, and he'd already seized the Shangtung Commercial District and Fángzi Residential Districts using it.
Unfortunately for the Combine, the First Oberon Guards had pulled out all the stops to equip their forces with equipment from the Rim World's Republic and SLDF that they had found cached. I'd gotten rumors of a Black and Green Painted Royal Black Knight being piloted by none other than Hendrik Grimm himself, along with a mixed force of Rampages, SLDF Vintage Warhammers, Dragoons, and SLDF Vintage Griffins as part of the First Oberon Guards' Mech Force.
Already the battles were raging in the outer districts of the Liandao Residential District and Kaifeng Industrial District. However, thanks to my deal with Precentor Hope, we had a way into the city that would bypass such things. The Neighborhood of Diànqìchéng was originally a separate suburb of Dadaocheng City that manufactured various computing components. It was the reason that when Oberon Six gained its HPG during the late Star League Era, Diànqìchéng had been chosen as the location of the HPG Compound. In the time since, Dadaocheng City had grown to meet Diànqìchéng and the smaller city that had been built up around computer manufacturing and the HPG Compound was just another of Dadaocheng City's outlying neighborhoods and districts.
It also had barely seen any action, thanks to the vigorous patrolling of the ComGuards in the area and enforcing the Neutrality of Comstar with combat vehicles on the streets and boots on the corners. Neither Hendrik Grimm nor Alexander Kurita had so far been inclined to test ComStar's neutrality, even while the rest of the outlying districts played host to half a dozen running battles at a time. Mind you, Precentor Hope didn't believe that would hold up if either faction knew that the ComGuards only had a single battalion at most in Diànqìchéng.
That was where my forces came in, and my part of fulfilling the deal I'd made with Precentor Hope to gain access to the intelligence about the ambush on Titania. The fact that it also gave me an entrance into Dadaocheng City without having to fight for it was likely another part of the sales pitch that Precentor Hope had laid out for me about cooperation over hostilities. I couldn't fail to spot it and he likely knew that. Just like he likely knew that I couldn't fail to take advantage of it either.
Already, battles at Lancardin and Ciji had whittled down my forces from eight regiments at full fighting strength to eight understrength regiments with the strongest at no more than eighty-three percent strength even after time to repair and receive replacements. What's more, Colonels Helgren and Devlin had proven themselves utterly incapable of leading in a true combat scenario after their hesitation and blundering at Lancardin and had been relegated to rear echelon and reserve duties, meaning that in reality, I had six understrength regiments to attack Dadaocheng City with.
Given I was up against four regiments in total, one of which was equipped with gear comparable to my own and two of which were comprised of Combine Regular Forces, that was a pretty tall order. Thankfully, I was able to move into the City via Diànqìchéng. As I stationed Colonel Bartek's regiment in Diànqìchéng to help bolster the ComGuards, I received a message from Precentor Hope over comms.
"Excellent, I see you're a man of your word." Came the Voice of the Rogue Precentor.
"When you're in my position, you can't afford to be known as a liar." I returned.
"Quite. In the interests of further cooperation, I have an update for you. The Situation in the Haiphong Utility District closer to the City Center is about to worsen. Alexander Kurita has marshaled significant forces to attempt to seize the district, which is defended by elements of the First Ferris Guards. Should he seize control of the district, he can cut off not only power and water to most of Dadaocheng City but also the food supply. Lysander Biosolutions has a major Hydroponics solution that supplies food to Dadaocheng City along with half of Oberon Six location there. As you can imagine, the marshlands that make up the majority of the planet aren't exactly conducive to major agriculture." Explained Precentor Hope.
"What sort of forces am I looking at on both sides?" I questioned.
"Drake Battlegroup on Alexander Kurita's side. That's his personal battlegroup comprised of one Mech Battalion and a Mixed Battalion of Mechanized Infantry and Combat Vehicles. Roughly forty Battlemechs and Combat Vehicles supported by five hundred mechanized infantry. On the Ferris side, we're looking at a force of Combat Vehicles and dismounted Infantry, roughly twenty combat vehicles and two-hundred-fifty infantry. They also have some artillery support, but it's not enough to avoid being pushed out of the district or wiped out. I don't have to tell you what will happen if Alexander Kurita can literally starve the defenders of power, water, and food, do I?" Queried Precentor Hope.
"You don't. At the same time, thought, it's to my benefit to let the Ferris forces be wiped out before moving in. The fewer forces Hendrik Grimm has at his disposal, the better off I'll be." I pointed out.
"True, though I wouldn't wait too long. Alexander Kurita has two other battlegroups keeping the First Oberon Guards pinned down in the Chēliàng Industrial District. Samurai Battlegroup under Tai-Sho Ninyu Kerai has another twenty-four Battlemechs and forty combat vehicles along with two-hundred-fifty mechanized infantry and two-hundred-fifty leg infantry while Battlegroup Ashigaru under Provisional Tai-Sa Mori Kaede has a further twelve Battlemechs thirty-six Combat Vehicles, and five-hundred leg infantry." Cautioned Precentor Hope.
"That seems to be more mechs and Combat vehicles than we thought they'd have. Also, given how Hendrik Grimm seems to have pulled out his hidden cache of SLDF and Rim World's Republic Army Equipment, that shouldn't be a problem for him to break out of Chēliàng." I frowned.
"You paused operations to repair and replace what forces you could. Did you think the Combine wasn't doing the same? They may have more limits on what they can put back into service than you do and lost a lot more of their forces as well, but they started with a lot more forces than you did too. As to Hendrik Grimm, while the full force of the First Oberon Guards with their upgraded equipment would be able to handle that, the full force isn't present anywhere on the battlefield. As you can imagine, between Hendrik Grimm's Coup and Alexander Kurita's Counter Coup, unit cohesion has broken down and everyone is fighting with whatever forces they can link up with. It's something the Battlegroup system Alexander Kurita put in place works better with than the unit structure that Hendrik Grimm is using." Informed Precentor Hope.
"Right. I suppose that I should send forces to each combat zone, then? Where's Hendrik Grimm?" I asked.
"Where do you think? He's with the reserves in the City Center. A nice fortified position to direct the defense from." Scoffed Precentor Hope.
"I take it you don't think much of that." I grinned.
"Both you and Alexander Kurita are leading from the front. It's a bit of a cowardly move for him not to do likewise." Shrugged Precentor Hope.
"He can sit on his laurels and do that. The Grimms have ruled the Oberon Confederation for a long time. I've only had my position for a handful of years, while Alexander Kurita can't afford to dishonor his Uncle, the Coordinator, by sitting back and letting his counter-coup go forth without him. Not without having some way to make sure Hendrik Grimm gets what's coming to him. I'm pretty sure we'd both love to be hanging back and directing forces from the rear if we could." I retorted.
"Perhaps. What will you do now?" Demanded Precentor Hope.
"I'll send Colonels El-Fadil, Zelenski, and Dimitrou with their regiments to Chēliàng to sweep up there with General Jorgensen in command. Colonel Kelly and I will handle Alexander Kurita in Haiphong." I responded.
"I see. I assume that you will head to the city center afterward to deal with Hendrik Grimm? If so, I wish you luck. He's put in another of those fortifications of his that seem to be so good at defending areas. It's big, but unfinished. They're calling it the Grimmfort." Intoned Precentor Hope.
"How unfinished is unfinished?" I questioned.
"He was planning to make it four times as large as the fortress of Ciji, but he's only managed to get a fourth of the planned size done. It's also sparsely defended. There wasn't enough time to put the actual weapons in all the weapons emplacements before the Coup kicked off." Answered Precentor Hope.
"I see. In that case, I'll probably have to bombard the city center. We'll see how it goes. Poniatowski out." I remarked before cutting the feed.
Shortly afterward, I began cutting orders to the various regiments and Colonels. They all hastened to get their troops in gear for their respective attacks, while Colonel Kelly and Fourth Guards formed up alongside me. If Colonel Bartek was pissed that we were leaving him behind in Diànqìchéng to help guard Precentor Hope and the HPG Compound, he didn't show it. That man had ice water in his veins sometimes. Once everything was squared away, we moved out.
We had a city to capture, and with it, a war to win. . .
XXXX
Major Henri Saint-Nazaire of the First Ferris Guards Regiment was not having a good time. He'd been ordered to hold the Haiphong Utility District by King Hendrik, and he wasn't inclined to just give up the vital position without a fight. After all, Haiphong was vital not only to the defense of Dadaocheng City but to the food security of all of Oberon Six. Unfortunately, the enemy seemed to be insistent on claiming the district for themselves now that they'd secured the border between it and the Shangtung Commercial District.
They'd certainly sent enough forces to take it. Major Saint-Nazaire had to admit that the Battlegroup System the Combine had instituted was damnably effective in confused situations like this. If he'd had support from the Mech Battalion, things might have been going differently, but alas, such things were the subject of fantasies. You couldn't dwell on such things and had to live in the world that was if you wanted to get anywhere.
Unfortunately, as his defense played out and his Manticore Tank, affectionately nicknamed Josephine, maneuvered rapidly between various buildings, it soon became clear that this was a battle that he was not going to win. As an enemy Sabaku Kaze went down from a PPC Blast from Lieutenant Duchamps and his Manticore, and the hidden SRM and Sniper Artillery Weapons opened up from inside Pump Stations Eleven and Four, bracketing a Lance of Combine Dragons that was charging ahead at their defenses, Major Saint-Nazaire couldn't help but growl at the men he'd already lost in the hour and a half they'd been engaged so far.
Three of the Combine Dragons were utterly destroyed by the hidden artillery and the other stumbled after being hit by a glancing strike from one of the hidden SRM Launchers. Major Saint-Nazaire suddenly saw his opportunity to take at least some vengeance on the Dogs of Luthien. The SRM fire had blown open the Mech's right side, shattering armor and revealing the Myomer and other Workings underneath. One good shot would finish it and Major Saint-Nazaire was determined to be the shooter.
"Right fifty degrees!" He snarled to Sergeant Anton Lemark, the gunner of his Manticore.
"Right fifty!" Confirmed Sergeant Lemark as he rotated the turret.
"PPC Charged!" Called out Lieutenant Vincennes, the technical officer aboard his Manticore.
"Fire when ready, let's finish this Cochon de Luthien!" Commanded Major Saint-Nazaire.
"Firing!" Called out Sergeant Lemark.
At once, the PPC on their Manticore fired, sending a coherent beam of charged particles at the vulnerable Dragon. The charged particles washed over the Myomer cables and internal workings of the Dragon, hitting something vulnerable and tearing the Dragon apart in a massive explosion. A brief cheer went up for the crew as Josephine claimed an actual Battlemech kill. Then the return fire came in and the mood turned from celebratory to frantic.
"Reverse, reverse! Full speed, get us out of here!" Ordered Major Saint-Nazaire.
"Come on, Josephine, Old Girl, not is no time to be resting." Muttered Sergeant Duvallier, their Driver.
As Josephine frantically reversed back into an alleyway, they just barely avoided the return fire from the enemy as a second Lance appeared to reinforce the destroyed first, LRM Fire from an enemy Dragon destroying the second floor of a nearby Trash Incineration Facility and sending the third floor collapsing into the first, throwing up concrete dust and other particulates into the air as Josephine frantically backed away from the engagement. It would seem that Sanitation Services in Dadaocheng City would be slow to operate for the foreseeable future no matter who won this battle.
They just barely made it away. Lieutenant Duchamps and his Manticore weren't so lucky, nor were the hidden artillery in Pump Stations Eleven and Four as one of the Enemy Dragons cut Lieutenant Duchamps and his Manticore Tank, Nicknamed Charlotte, to ribbons with its medium lasers while the other three Dragons engaged a brief, but victorious gunnery duel against the artillery emplacements.
"We're making them bleed but it isn't enough. Not nearly enough." Grumbled Major Saint-Nazaire.
"Major, Captain Lafayette is reporting he's had to pull back from his position on our flanks, he lost fifty infantry and his hidden sniper position, along with four other Manticores to an assault from a single lance of Enemy Mechs. Apparently, there was some sort of Custom Dragon leading them a High-Mobility, High-Armor, Brawler Type. It dodged and shrugged off everything that Captain Lafayette threw at it and decimated his company." Informed Lieutenant Vincennes.
"Damn it all, that means our right flank is gone. How many of our own do we have left? I want a head count!" Ordered Major Saint-Nazaire.
He got one. Out of twenty Combat Vehicles, two-hundred-fifty infantry, and sixteen artillery positions, they'd lost roughly forty percent to the enemy. The center could not hold, and while some might have attacked in this position, Major Saint-Nazaire knew when he was beaten.
"I'm ordering a withdrawal back to the city center. Our position has become untenable." Admitted Major Saint-Nazaire.
"What about the wounded in the Field Hospital we've set up near the Electric Station?" Queried Sergeant Lemark.
"Sometimes sacrifices have to be made if the rest of us want to live." Intoned Major Saint-Nazaire, solemnly.
"We could surrender?" Hedged Sergeant Duvallier.
"To the Combine? Are you mad? King Hendrik launching his coup put the death mark on all of us. We're rebels now in the Combine's eyes, and rebels don't get treated the same way as prisoners of war do by the Combine, they get executed." Refuted Lieutenant Vincennes.
Fortunately, as the Crew of Josephine were debating the subject, their salvation would come from a third party. . .
XXXX
I pushed my Custom Highlander forward, firing my Gauss Rifle at an enemy Atlas. The Ferronickel Slug barked out and punched into the Ammunition Storage for the Atlas' LRM-Twenty, causing a massive explosion, even as I fired my Ultra-Autocannon at a Jenner that was bearing down on a rapidly withdrawing Manticore Tank with its quartet of medium lasers. The Armor Piercing Shells of mu Ultra-Autocannon punched into the Jenner and sent it up in a ball of fire as the reactor overloaded.
Next to me on the left, Colonel Hannah Kelly in her Rampage suppressed an advancing line of Combine Combat Vehicles with her own Gauss Rifle and a spray of autocannon slugs that destroyed a Sabaku Kaze and two Saladins before sending the other three tanks scurrying behind a building. To my right, Colonel Lindqvist laid down Gauss Rifle Fire that tore through a Phoenix Hawk attempting to gain height and destroy a Sniper Artillery Cannon on the second floor of a Car Park that was busily being abandoned by its crew. The Phoenix Hawk fell to the ground, jump jets cutting out as its pilot was forced to shut down the reactor to avoid a meltdown.
As I sighted down on an enemy Locust, firing my Gauss Rifle and demolishing the Light Mech, I got reports from all over the Haiphong District of similar things happening. Our Mechs and Combat Vehicles seemed to be engaging the Combine while the Combine was hitting retreating Ferris Guards forces. It looks like we got here just in the nick of time to have someone on the side of the Ferris Guards still able to surrender to us.
As I threw myself behind the concrete bulk of a pump station to avoid two Autocannon Shells from a pair of enemy Atlases, I realized that Precentor Hope's intelligence was correct again. This appeared to be the current main thrust of the Combine in the City, just judging based on the weight of metal present alone.
I popped out and fired a full salvo of Ultra-Autocannon and Gauss Rifle at one of the two Atlases that had sent me scurrying for cover, tearing its left arm off and stripping the armor guarding the cockpit off it before the last Armor Piercing Ultra0Autocannon Round punched into the Cockpit, killing the Mechwarrior inside. The other Atlas let off a burst of SRM Fire that took out one of Colonel Kelly's Rampages as that happened, all six missiles striking right on target and causing the Rampage to go up in a ball of flame as the reactor cooked off. Our first casualty of the Battle for Dadaocheng City.
It wouldn't be the last casualty by a long shot, either. I avenged the dead Mechwarrior moments later with a pair of Gauss Rifle Slugs that punched into the offending Atlas, one hitting the ammo bunker for the LRM Launcher and ripping the Atlas in half with a secondary explosion. As I did that, reports came in of a fast, heavily armored, brawler type of a Custom Dragon heading our way. It seemingly tore through a lance of Colonel Kelly's Dragoons on the way here. That had to be Alexander Kurita.
Sure enough, as Colonel Kelly claimed a pair of locusts and Colonel Lindqvist took out another Dragon, an oddly bulky-looking Dragon, bearing a shark teeth paint scheme, and leading a trio of Atlases smashed into our flank, pumping SRM Fire into a Rampage from Alpha Battalion, Second Guards, which had just taken out an enemy Jenner. That Rampage was hit by all six missiles and totally destroyed before the Mechwarrior inside could even think to eject. Two of the Atlases accompanying them hit a pair of Second Guards Griffins with LRM Fire that tore one apart in a secondary explosion as its reactor cooked off while the second lost both legs. The third Atlas sent its LRM Fire into the rear of Second Guards Combat Vehicles that were chasing off the retreating Combine Combat Vehicles, demolishing two of them entirely while a third caught fire from a glancing hit, with the crew bailing out. This allowed the remaining Combine Combat Vehicles to counterattack, drawing Second Guards Combat Vehicles into a brawl.
Colonel Lindqvist fired his Rampage's Autocannon at the Bulky-Looking Dragon, only for his armor-piercing shells to fail to penetrate completely. In response, his own Rampage was hit with fire from the larger Autocannon-ten mounted on the Custom Dragon, cracking several armor plates on his torso, even as he was forced to take cover behind the concrete bulk of a Car Park to avoid the salvo of SRM Fire that followed the Autocannon Shots.
"Alexander Kurita, I presume?" I sent over to the Custom Dragon via an open comms channel.
"Indeed. That would make you the Red Devil, Jozef Poniatowski?" Came an accented voice back.
"It would. I don't suppose you would be willing to settle this with a duel?" I asked.
"My Fang against your Red Devil?" Questioned Alexander Kurita.
"Loser surrenders to the winner? You could turn this around in one fell swoop by capturing me. Tell me the thought hasn't crossed your mind." I insisted.
"Hmm. That would allow my Uncle to save face. If I won. If I lose, however, well I would be disgraced, and the Coordinator would not stand for his nephew to languish in a Periphery Prison Camp. In doing so, he would send a second force to attack you, one you could not hope to withstand. Unless there was a way out for him with honor." Intoned Alexander Kurita.
"What are you suggesting?" I queried.
"If you win our duel, I will pull all my forces back from the Oberon Confederation. However, you must provide all captured personnel and material to me to do so along with relinquishing the worlds of Porthos and Santander. You may also be forced to pay tribute to the Coordinator in reparations, but that will be up to my Uncle to decide." Informed Alexander Kurita.
"I see, and if you win, I will surrender, capitulating to the Dragon. Either way, the war will end here. Will the Coordinator accept such a deal?" I asked.
"It is the only way to move forward without total destruction of one side or the other, as even in defeat, the Dragon will gain worlds and tribute, and thus save face. We could always continue to fight conventionally if you'd prefer?" Retorted Alexander Kurita.
"No, no I think I'd rather take the duel." I frowned.
"Then duel we shall. There is only one other condition. If you win, you will capture Hendrik Grimm and send him to Luthien where he will taste the Coordinator's Justice in person." Demanded Alexander Kurita.
"I can arrange that." I agreed.
And with that, the bargain was struck and a temporary cease-fire called as the boundaries of the duel were established. I got the feeling that the only reason that the Coordinator would be able to be talked into this was thanks to the absolute pasting the DCMS had taken recently, first in the Third Succession War, and then here in the Periphery. The Combine might technically get worlds out of this and the Coordinator would have several captured family members returned, saving face, but even that settlement likely wouldn't have been possible if not for the utter trouncing the DCMS had gone through.
The Dragon already needed time to rebuild his shattered forces, after all. Sending more against me when his regiments were already so bled by fighting would only put him further behind his rivals on New Avalon and Tharkad. He'd take the deal if I won and bide his time before attacking again in the future once he'd rebuilt the DCMS to a sufficient level, of that I had no doubts.
For now, though, I had a duel to win and a prisoner and captured material exchange to organize afterward. . .
XXXX
Alexander Kurita started our duel by seizing the initiative, advancing under the cover of SRM Fire, and moving forward at astonishing speed for such a Bulky Mech. If I took cover, I would be pinned down behind a building and allow his brawler mech to close to its preferred range, so instead, I hit my jump jets, flying up and over the SRM salvo and landing behind Alexander by a good thirty meters. I sighted down on him with my Gaus Rifle and fired, only for him to juke to the side, ducking between a Pumping Station and the concrete block of a Sewage Treatment Plant. My Ferronickel slug smashed into the building, tearing a hole into the concrete of the sewage treatment plant, but missing Alexander Kurita.
I was already moving as I missed him, my advanced sensor suite registering his movement thanks to being able to track his reactor output. As he burst out from behind the Sewage Treatment Plant, firing his Autocannon-Ten, shells just barely missing me as I dodged, though the last in the burst smashed into the armor plates on my right shoulder, cracking them. I fired my own Ultra-Autocannon, only for the rounds to fail to punch all the way through the heavier armor.
I was forced into cover behind a concrete Water Tank as Alexander Kurita returned fire with his Autocannon. The Shells punched into the water tank, sending a tidal wave of liquid water flooding toward me. It would have off-balanced me if I hadn't hit my Jump Jets, flying up and emerging through the torrential spray like some demon emerging from the depths of the sea.
That happened just in the nick of time, as well, because Alexander Kurita had used the torrent as cover to dart around the water tank toward me. He fired his twin medium lasers as he came around, turning the spray to steam and striking a glancing blow on my leg as I flew up in a dodge. In response, I let rip with my Gauss Rifle which finally punched through his armor enough to damage the Myomer underneath. His return burst from his Ultra-Autocannon cracked a number of armor plates on my back as I landed, but he was moving more slowly than he had been previously.
I fired my Ultra-Autocannon, attempting to widen the hole my Gauss Rifle had made, but Alexander Kurita was smart and more experienced, he ducked back around to the side of the water tank, using the remaining cover wisely. The armor-piercing rounds from my Ultra Autocannon chewed through the remaining cover but didn't touch Alexander Kurita.
The duel went on like that for some time, with glancing blows and narrow dodges into cover. It turned this section of the Haiphong Industrial District into a blasted-out urban hellscape. Eventually, however, I managed to get him with a crippling shot just with the last of my Ultra-Autocannon Rounds.
It was as I was dodging away from another Salvo of SRM Fire. I took cover behind the square, concrete, building of a power substation. The Short Ranged Missiles exploded against my cover, demolishing much of it and letting Alexander Kurita close with me once again. The HUD of my Neurohelmet warned me that I was critically low on Ultra-Autocannon Shells and that I didn't have much in the way of Gauss Rifle ammo left either. If this duel dragged on much longer, I was going to be down to just the Medium Laser in short order.
I knew I wouldn't be able to win with that, so I did something foolhardy that would definitely bite me if it didn't work. I fired a long burst of my Ultra-Autocannon through my remaining cover. The rounds chewed through the rest of it in short order, leaving the last four armor-piercing shells to punch into the left leg of Alexander Kurita's Custom Dragon. Two shells punched into the armor plate, breaking it off, while the third tore into Myomoer, and the last one hit the newly exposed servos that made the leg function.
As my HUD flashed red, telling me that my Ultra-Autocannon was now empty, I didn't care though, because Alexander Kurita's Custom Dragon stumbled to the pavement and I leveled my Gauss Rifle right at his cockpit as I advanced through my destroyed cover. I had him dead to rights and he knew it!
"It seems you have bested me." Commed over Alexander Kurita.
"Seems that way." I agreed.
"Very well, I am transmitting the orders to stand down now. Remember our deal." Intoned Alexander Kurita.
"I will." I returned.
And just like that, the Combine Forces were no longer a factor. Alexander Kurita and his Battlegroup turned themselves into my men, surrendering with the expectation that they would be released back to the Combine in short order along with all captured personnel and equipment. Not twenty minutes later, I also received the surrender of a Major Saint-Nazaire of the First Ferris Guards Regiment, who had previously been getting wrecked by Alexander Kurita's Drake Battlegroup. Ten minutes after that, I received news from Colonels Dimitrou, El-Fadil, and Zelenski. Battlegroup Samurai and Tai-Sho Ninyu Kerai had agreed to abide by the deal, they surrendered as well.
Battlegroup Ashigaru, on the other hand, was refusing to obey the stand-down orders. Apparently, they believed the orders to be some sort of trick, as they didn't think there was any way that a member of the family of the Coordinator would willingly issue them. Instead, they were now fighting both our forces and those of the First Oberon Guards and First Ferris Guards.
It looked like the Chēliàng Industrial District was turning into a massive, three-way brawl as we received reports that reinforcements from the Grimmfort had arrived. I needed to repair and rearm my Custom Highlander, which meant that Colonels Kelly and Lindqvist would be taking Fourth and Second Guards to back up our forces there on their own. I pulled back to Diànqìchéng to repair and rearm.
I would be there for the next six hours. . .
XXXX
General Arne Jorgensen couldn't believe how stubborn some of the Combine Forces were being! They had to have a way to authenticate the standdown orders, the leader of Battlegroup Samurai clearly had, after all. No, however, Battlegroup Ashigaru had claimed trickery, and now one of two of Dadaocheng City's major manufacturing centers was being turned into an urban wasteland from the massive, three-way brawl that was ongoing!
General Jorgensen fired his Rampage's Gauss Rifle, punching through the armor of a Rampage painted in the colors of the Oberon Guards even as Colonel Zelenski sawed a locust of Battlegroup Ashigaru in half with his Ultra-Autocannon and Colonel El-Fadil fired his Gauss Rifle into an Enemy Dragoon, scoring a lucky hit on the cockpit and killing his opponent. General Jorgensen's target, unfortunately, wasn't down for the count thanks to its Rim Worlds Republic Army Makeup, instead having to be helped by Colonel Dimitrou, whose full salvo of Gauss Rifle and Autocannon Rounds shredded the Myomer and actuators beneath the armor that General Jorgensen's Gauss Rifle destroyed, immobilizing the arm that was about to fire its own Autocannon at him and forcing the pilot to shut down his reactor thanks to feedback threatening to cause a meltdown,
Another Combine Mech, this one an Atlas, went down to LRM fire from a pair of Griffins, even as Colonel Zelenski swatted a Combine Locust with his Gauss Rifle. As three Dragoons engaged three of their opposite number among the Oberon Guards, General Jorgensen spotted the second of the major Causes of this crisis taking the field.
Hendrik Grimm's Royal Black Knight was painted Black and Green and his opening gambit on taking the field was to wipe out three Combine Jenners at once with pulses of laser fire from two large pulse lasers and a beam of charged particles from an Extended Range PPC. Return Fire from a pair of Combine Atlases forced him to dodge behind a car park. LRM Fire demolished the concrete structure but left Hendrik Grimm intact as he popped back up to fire a full salvo of Large and Medium Lasers along with his PPC. Both Atlases were destroyed, and only four Combine Battlemechs remained on the field now, three of them light mechs, with only one being a Dragon, which contained the Battlegroup Commander, judging from the amount of Comms Traffic coming from it.
Colonel Zelinski took out two of the Combine Light Mechs, while Colonel Dimitrou handled a third, leaving the Dragon to be taken down by General Jorgensen, who scored a hit with his Gauss Rifle that punched into the reactor from the side. The Mechwarrior ejected, leaving the Dragon to explode behind her and temporarily blind Colonel El-Fadil, whose Rampage was advancing on her position from the front.
Fortunately, she was subdued by an infantry squad dismounting their Hover APC to do so, while several combat vehicles kept the Combine's own Combat Vehicles and Infantry from making a breakout with their commander. Soon, the remaining Combine Forces were captured or killed regardless of their desires to the contrary. That just left the Oberon Forces.
Unfortunately, a number of Colonel El-Fadil and Colonel Zelenski's Forces had been savaged by the Oberon Reinforcements, as several Mechs, Combat Vehicles, and APCs with Infantry inside had been destroyed, killed, wounded, and damaged. Hendrik Grimm had managed to turn their flank with his sudden counterattack. General Jorgensen realized that if nothing happened soon, he was going to have to call a retreat.
Fortunately, something did happen. Colonel Lindqvist and Colonel Kelly arrived with Second and Fourth Guards, leading the charge while firing their Rampage's Gauss Rifles and Autocannons. The sudden counterattack seemed to catch Hendrik Grimm off-guard and destroyed or crippled two Griffins, a Warhammer, and a Dragoon as the sudden appearance of Second and Fourth Guards turned Hendrik Grimm's own flank. His counterattack suffering a counterattack of his own, Hendrik Grimm was forced to call a retreat, leaving a mixed battalion of combat vehicles, Battlemechs, and Mechanized Infantry behind as he did so.
As a parting shot, however, he destroyed two more Battlemechs, a Griffin and a Rampage with fire from his ER PPC and Large Pulse Lasers. The Mixed Batallion he left behind as he withdrew, on the other hand, only fought on for another fifteen minutes. They were hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned, but their leader, Colonel Hilaire of the First Ferris Guards, refused to surrender without trying to break out. He lost two Marauders, a Rifleman, and three Manticore Tanks trying for the loss of only a handful of combat vehicles and a single Dragoon.
XXXX
By the time I received word that the Chēliàng Industrial District was ours, it was one in the afternoon on the first day of fighting that their forces had been a part of. Every Regiment that had fought in the Chēliàng Industrial District was down to two-thirds strength with the exception of Fourth and Second Guards, who were at seventy-one and seventy-four percent strength respectively. The fighting in the Chēliàng Industrial District had been short but brutal and it was unlikely that any Regiments that had participated outside Second and Fourth Guards would be able to move on the Grimmfort.
In the time it took for things to finish up in Chēliàng, I was busily arranging things for the deal I'd struck with Alexander Kurita with the fleet. By the time I'd finished that, it was three in the afternoon. My Mech was still being repaired, so I busied myself with sending orders and planning my next moves.
I sent orders to seize all the remaining outlying districts, leaving only the City Center and the Grimmfort. It was a methodical process, owing to the need to avoid any further casualties. I pulled Colonel Helgren up from the reserves to replace Colonel Bartek in garrisoning Diànqìchéng so that I would have a reasonably fresh Regiment for tomorrow. In the meantime, I focused on consolidation, repair, and replacement of casualties. Second and Fourth Guards received priority for repair and resupply, of course. By eleven at night, we finally had most of the city under our control, only having to deal with a few militia and infantry holdouts in the Heilong Refinery Complex. We were forced to dig them out the hard way over the course of a few hours but thankfully, Colonel Davies was at least up to the task of doing that, so long as he only had to support infantry officers who were actually capable.
By two in the morning, only the Grimmfort and the city center remained. In the morning, I would begin a major bombardment aimed at reducing the fortifications. Once that was over, I would hit the City Center with the force of Three Regiments.
One way or another, this war would be decided tomorrow. . .
XXXX
AN: All right, here's the first part of the Battle of Dadaocheng City. The Combine may be fanatically loyal to the Coordinator, but there comes a point where people who actually are in charge can see that even if they win, they lose, just based on how much their forces are wrecked. Between the Third Succession War, and now this Periphery War, Alexander Kurita is looking at the situation and realizing that the DCMS is at that point. It was either agree to the duel and make a bargain or force his Uncle to send even more of their already depleted forces into the periphery to avenge the insult.
He chose the duel and the bargain because he's actually a pretty savvy guy. Besides, if he won, well, then he'd achieve everything his Uncle wanted out of this. If he loses, he still gets a deal for his Uncle that lets him save face. Two planets, the return of all prisoners and captured materiel, including the very valuable captured Monoliths, and an amount of money and goods as reparations that will go a long way toward rebuilding the shattered hulk of the DCMS.
Of course, the Dragon will be scheming to attack again down the line, once his forces have rebuilt, but honestly? He's likely to get sidetracked by something else first. After all, the Combine still holds several Rasalhague Worlds that the newly independent Second Principality is likely to want to seize. . .whenever they get around to sorting out their new government, anyway. Besides, this way Jozef Gets his own, Malory's World-esque, Dramatic Duel. I couldn't pass that up.
At any rate, the next chapter will be the second part of the Battle of Dadaocheng City. Then we'll get a chapter of mop-up and an interlude with the Kuritas before the War finally ends.
Stay tuned. . .
Comments
Ha dug
Nice duel, did the bargain include publicly renouncing his claim to the Oberon confederation worlds since he married the dukes daughter? Would think that even if everyone knows that wouldn’t stop them from re invading in the future it would be a good optics for his new territory’s people to know he fully kicked out all foreign claims and auch
