Slim looked at the map in front of him and hummed.
"Prospective DCMS Landing Zones have been mined?" He asked.
"Sir. We've booby trapped them where we can't mine them. If they land there, we'll know." Said Michaels, a member of his staff that looked and sounded like he was confused about life and everything that came with it.
Fortunately he wasn't, he just looked like that.
Slim hid his own smile at his joke.
Ha, he was a comedian par exal-ohnce.
"Where are they projected to land?" von Randt asked from behind him.
Some might be irritated with having a superior officer in their command tent, the fact that he was a mercenary and the other man a Hauptmann-General in the LCAF was something that had to be examined.
In fact, the reason that he was a superior at all meant something had changed.
Slim had been deputised into the LCAF for the duration of the conflict, the Triple Vs brought into the defence of Tetersen under the same umbrella as the forces of the LCAF already on planet.
He was subordinate to Aurelius, there to carry out his orders… but he had command of all forces under Aurelius.
In other words, he was in charge of carrying out the directives of Aurelius to defend the planet, everything within that remit being under his authority.
He was in charge now.
Two Combat Commands, the Ducal Guard and a Militia Command were for him to control.
He was, then, overmatched for the Combine.
He had more firepower and mass of forces than they did. The problem was that half of his force was so green that he had seen some of them sleeping in their Battlemechs. Not because they were on the march and needed somewhere safe to sleep… but because they thought it would be cool.
He sighed.
Greener than grass.
In any case he would use them well, not wastefully, just… well. Like Commodore Berlin up above. It might have looked callous to send out the Ducal Guard ahead of the defenders and into the teeth of the White Fleet… but it also meant that they had the briefest of contact windows when the enemy was still organising themselves. The follow on 7 wings were flying into the teeth of those that were ready for them.
3/4s of them had died.
Not casualties, but dead. The sheer mathematics involved with that equation meant that even an AC/2 carried horrific force. any hit with a physical weapon was an instant death. If it had been the Ducal Guard in that position, they would have been wiped out.
For that, he would thank the Commodore and follow his example. Even if he would have liked more of the veterans alive to provide air support in the coming battle.
"They're projected to land at these locations. They're flat enough to allow a Combat Command to disembark and set up defensive positions. They will split into two separate Combat Commands to make it easier to forage for food in the surrounding area." Slim said, pointing at the 5 locations on the map that had been identified as most likely landing positions.
"Hmmmm. Logical. Unfortunately, the Combine work on different logic than ourselves Colonel. What do you have to deal with any unexpected surprises?"
"I've got an Armour Regiment in reserve inside Mount Utility. They'll be ready to sortie when we need it." He replied.
"When?"
"When it's needed, nothing ever goes to plan." Slim said with a grin.
Von Randt matched it.
"Good work Colonel. What is your plan after that?" He asked.
"After they land we're going to hit them with a welcoming gift. From there, patrols will make sure that none of them make a move without our knowing it. Wherever they move, we're going to attack them until they move on the Festungen we've created and form themselves into a coherent mass. The hammer will meet the anvil and things will only get better from there." The Colonel who had been looking foward to this for his entire life said.
"Like punching a ball of dough until it forms." von Randt murmured, the staff looking up in surprise at his words.
Did he just say that(?) was on their minds.
"What? Did you not think that I had hobbies of my own?" He said with a frown and a mutter.
None of them replied lest they say what was on their minds, 'you don't look like a homebody', which would, no doubt, not go down well at all.
"Well, okay then, you have my approval Colonel. This battle is now yours. My staff stand ready to assist." He said with a smile and a salute.
Slim saluted back and turned his mind back to the battle.
The waiting was the worst part of it.
Not because of the anticipation of the shooting.
Rather, it was the fact that until the shooting started, everything was up in the air. All of your preparations were matched against that of the enemy. All the balls were floating, and you did not know if your defences were in the right place, if your reserves were enough, if your training was correct. All of it was in a state of uncertainty and for a commanding officer, that was the most difficult part of the waiting.
He did not allow himself to sigh.
He had a reputation to uphold, or, perhaps, it would be better to say that he had an image of confidence to uphold and demonstrate to his people that he wasn't worrying.
Worry and fear were infectious emotions.
A commander that allowed himself to worry in front of his men was one that undermined the fundamental aspects of their morale.
"Breaching atmosphere!" Slim's head whipped up.
His hand very carefully did not grip the holotable with the force he wanted to.
"Dropships entering atmosphere! Projected trajectory to Mount Utility." Good… good… all according to plan so far.
"Separation! Separation!" Excellent!
"Sun Zhang IFFs headed… outside of Dropzone. Outside of Dropzone!" The other shoe had dropped.
"Dieron Regulars headed to projected landing point 3. Projected Landing Point 3! Between die Festung Yellow and die Festung Castle!"
Okay.
Half the plan had been correct, but the Sun Zhang academy cadre was off somewhere else.
Why?
"I need hypotheses. Why is the Sun Zhang Academy Cadre heading off into the outer perimeter?" He called out into the command centre.
"Maybe the Dieron Regulars want to keep all the glory to themselves? The ranking general is probably a regular." One offered.
"The Sun Zhang cadre might be too green to be trusted?"
"They might have machines that are too light for the forest?"
"They don't have the firepower to break through?"
Alexander heard all of these and thought on them, his mind still unable to figure out why the officer in charge had split his forces in half like that.
Worse, they had done it between the interior defences and the exterior defences, cutting themselves in two in such a dramatic way that he couldn't help but be pleased. It would be infinitely easier to destroy them piecemeal in this scenario.
Unless they had a plan that he didn't know about.
Dammit.
"Change of plan then, mobile interior forces are to engage the Dieron Regulars, aggressive patrolling by all echelons. Nothing gets out of that landing zone without my permission. Where are the Sun Zhang cadre landing?"
"South sir. Far south, estimate 70 kilometres south. They're in the valley road."
Alexander paused.
Ah. That made sense.
The… they had tried a hook on the operational level of combat.
On a fortress mountain.
A self-sufficient fortress mountain that was capped with the largest concentration of jumpship and dropship slipways in the Inner Sphere.
Seriously?
"They're trying to cut out line of communication to Mount Utility. They Sun Zhang cadre are acting as a blocking force to prevent anyone or anything from leaving. These sons of bitches think that we're going to run." He announced to the command centre.
The mood of the room fell by several hundreds degrees.
It was one thing to be attacked and have jumpships, some of the most priceless relics in existence used to block said attack.
It was one thing to have to send the greener than grass new recruits on a slightly less dangerous suicide mission because the veterans would be taking the more dangerous suicide mission.
It was one thing to sit on the ground and watch helpless as his people, his Clan mates, his Sibkin due to preserve the rest of the Clan without even being able to fire a shot in their own defence aboard the Jumpships.
It was one thing to stand here knowing that the White Fleet had cooperated with the DCMS to launch an attack on thir home using that attack as a cover.
It was another fucking thing for them to assume that they would run in panic and fear because of their mere presence.
The sheer fucking hubris of the Combine invaders.
"Get me a line to the Regimental Commanders." He said, gripping the table underneath him tightly.
"Sir."
"They're ready for you."
"Gentlemen, Ladies. The Combine have landed two separate forces. One at point Five. One on the road south through the valley. One is going to attack us, the other is going to block any reinforcements from trying to enter the cauldron. More importantly, the blocking force is there to block us from leaving. They think that we're going to run away." He said.
There was a general hiss from the officers. They were, of course, regimental commanders, they had the professionalism to not break out into a tirade, but he could see that it was a close run thing.
"We're going to prove them wrong. Commanders, I want a net closed around the Dieron Regulars at landing zone three. They don't get to leave without a visa and passport. Detain or destroy any who try. We're going to have to fight separately after all Militia." He said to them, those of the Triple V nodding at his words.
"Colonel Augustine, you will hold the Sun Zhang Academy Cadre in place and destroy them. The Ducal Guard will remain as defenders of each Festung. They're very green but will hold the line. If needed they can act as mobile reserve but I would rather that they were not called if possible, their untrained status means they will likely be more of a hindrance than an assistance on the field. Those are your orders. I want these DCMS troops destroyed." His voice was cold as the orders went out.
The sheer fucking hubris.
They would have had a better chance of surviving if they hadn't separated.
But now?
Now he would take them apart piece by piece.
"You will have resupply from the sky. We have enough Dropships and Small Craft manufactured by the Consortium that you will not run out of ammunition, armour, or food. Hold in place ladies and gentlemen. Hold and fight. You will receive resupply from the sky while our own Jumpships will prevent them from trying to leave. We've practiced this enough in training that there shouldn't be any mistakes in putting it into practice." The assembled officers nodded confidently.
"From this point forwards, you will have operational control. You know what our strategic goal is, the destruction of the Combine's armed forces on the Lyran Front. You know what our operational objective is, the systematic destruction of the Combine's forces. Our tactical objective here, today, is the destruction of the Dieron Regulars and the Sun Zhang Academy Cadre. Everything must be in pursuit of these goals. Do we have an accord my officers?" He asked them.
All of them grinned back at him and nodded.
"Excellent. Move your men, the landings will be taking place shortly. Die Festung Castle and Yellow will be taking the brunt of the assault. Hold. You will be relieved and the enemy shall be smashed upon the anvil that is your defences. If you need supplies, assistance, reinforcements, armour, send word to my staff immediately. We have the reserves! Out!"
"Sir!"
"We've got reserves to marshal if my fighting men are going to fight properly." He said turning to his staff as the holo shut off. Just because his leaders were now carrying out his vision, did not mean he could sit and do nothing while they fought.