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The Clan Wolf
DropShips landed 40 kilometers southeast of their objectives, the cities of
Skupo and Brzo, five days after the rest of the Clans landed. Once down and
secure, the Clan Wolf Galaxies lined up as if they expected to fight from the
first step instead of forming the loose traveling columns they favored.
Arrayed against
Clan Wolf was the Tenth Army, composed of some of the best divisions and
regiments the ComGuards had to offer. Having pinpointed the exact position of
the Clan landing, Precentor V Margo Koivu deployed her forces along the trees
covering the foothills of the Porozistu Mountains.
Contact came as
Clan Wolf passed the little hamlet of Forest's End. The ComStar forces engaged
the Third Battle Cluster of Beta Galaxy and the Seventh Battle Cluster of Gamma
Galaxy, holding the 283rd Division to fend off the Fourth Wolf Guards of Alpha
Galaxy. The 283rd, though inexperienced, fought better than expected, and
prevented Clan Wolf closing a loop that would have trapped the divisions
involved in the primary engagement.
While the 283rd
held off the Fourth Wolf Guards, elements of the Clan's right flank were harried
by members of the elite Sixty-sixth Division. The Wolf Khans, seeing no easy way
around the attackers, hit them in the center of their offensive line. The
concerted pressure weakened the ComGuards' formation and forced the 278th from
their hilltop position.
Hard-pressed, the
ComGuards started to fall back under cover of artillery support. Aerospace
elements on either side were of little help to those on the ground, as they were
fighting a running battle of their own. The retreat was accomplished in good
order, and the Tenth Army regrouped 20 kilometers from Brzo and Skupo,
establishing a new defensive line.
Precentor Koivu
was concerned when her forces withdrew from Forest's End without pursuit. She
had expected to be relentlessly harried, especially since Clan Wolf had blooded
several divisions. Yet, as she positioned her forces outside Skupo and Brzo, the
enemy was not in sight.
The Precentor's
concern was validated when the Clan attempted to skirt the Tenth in an attempt
to take the enemy's rear or bypass them entirely in a drive for Skupo. The
ComGuards deployed scouts and fighters to find the Wolves, but the recon
fighters were harassed by Clan Wolf fighters, and so Koivu's scouts found
nothing but trees and hills.
As the ComGuards
started to fall back, Alpha Galaxy's Thirteenth Wolf Guards slipped behind the
166th Division. The Precentor immediately ordered her reserve divisions forward,
sending the veteran 282nd Division to take on the Thirteenth Wolf Guards and
force them away from the 166th and Skupo.
The next two
hours would be crucial. The ComGuards began to pull back from their position,
only to be attacked by the rest of Clan Wolf. They could not halt their
withdrawal without stretching their forces dangerously thin in order to prevent
Clan Wolf from slipping through their lines. The Precentor ordered her reserve
forces to stand firm in the face of the Wolf juggernaut to cover the retreat.
The 282nd
Division made contact with the Thirteenth Wolf Guards, and the ensuing fight,
though far more costly for the 282nd, forced the Wolf Spiders to abandon their
drive. By the time the Wolf Spiders pulled back, most of the Tenth Army stood on
the crest of a series of steep hills overlooking the two cities and the road
that connected them, less than five kilometers away.
Before the
ComGuard forces could dig in, Clan Wolf launched another offensive. Again they
engaged the ComGuards up and down the line. When the defenders weakened, they
hit the center of the line with a vengeance, straining the defensive perimeter
to the breaking point. Having successfully broken through, the warriors of Clan
Wolf stood on the road between the two cities.
It was beginning
to look as if Clan Wolf would encircle Brzo, trapping most of the Tenth Army.
The Wolf Spiders were in for a shock, however. As they closed on what appeared
to be an open hilltop, 'Mechs, tanks, and squads of infantry rose out of a
system of trenches to fire on the stunned Wolf warriors. The fighting in the
trenches was fierce and unforgiving. Only sheer stubbornness and an
unwillingness to retreat saved the Wolf Spiders.
After an hour of
short-range firefights, the ComGuard division pulled back, with the Wolf Spiders
on their heels. They reached the road, ready to continue the push northward and
threatening to encircle Skupo. Elements of the Ninth Army appeared from the
northwest, supported by aerospace fighters and artillery. The fresh troops
barreled into the bulge that Clan Wolf had created between the two cities.
Elements of the Ninth were also diverted to reinforce the reeling 138th.
By midnight the
battleline resembled the letter "M." Clan Wolf had suffered a major
disappointment in being prevented from closing a loop around either Skupo or
Brzo. The ComGuards had achieved a great, but costly, victory because the Tenth
Army had held long enough for the Ninth to arrive.
The Precentor and
her staff made an important discovery during the fighting. Not only was Clan
Wolf being conservative with their ammunition (unlike the other Clans), but they
had configured their OmniMechs with a heavy bias toward energy weapons. In
addition, most of the Elementals fought without their usual SRM pack, and supply
trains were following closely behind the second line. This frugality made one
thing certain: the ComGuards could not count on Clan Wolf running out of
ammunition.
The fight for
Skupo and Brzo continued with only short respites. It was centered on the Wolf
Spiders, who renewed their efforts against the 138th Division. Under heavy fire
from the Clan, the demoralized and inexperienced warriors broke and ran. Despite
the reassignment of reserves from the Ninth Army as reinforcements for the
138th, the Wolf Spiders destroyed their prey completely. As Khan Kerensky
hunted, the Eleventh Wolf Guards of Delta Galaxy engaged the 278th Division, and
the 166th fought a hit-and-run battle with the remnants of the Thirteenth Wolf
Guards.
The ComGuard
forces were finally overwhelmed. Skupo fell to Clan Wolf. The ComGuards could
not slow the progress of the Thirteenth Wolf Guards as they continued to push
north to connect with the rest of their force. The resulting encirclement would
trap whole ComGuard divisions in Skupo. Rather than risk the loss of so many
warriors, the ComGuards withdrew and conceded Skupo to Clan Wolf.
Even retreat
would prove difficult, because Clan Wolf launched a major push at virtually the
same time. This caused considerable confusion among the retreating forces.
ComGuard division commanders are to be praised for preventing the confusion from
becoming a panic. As it was, the Wolf Guards captured almost two hundred
warriors in their encirclement of Skupo.
The Fourth Wolf
Guards and the Third Battle Cluster reappeared in the bulge. Both had been
conspicuous by their absence during the past two days, and their arrival was
dreaded, with good reason. Their main axis of attack was aimed directly at Brzo.
The force of so many Clan heavy and assault OmniMechs attempting to breach the
defenses around the city was daunting, and it was understandable when the Tenth
Army bent. It is to their credit that they did not immediately break.
The divisions of
the Ninth Army did not wait for an order to launch their own offensive in
support of the Tenth, hoping to slow the Wolf offensive. The two Clan Wolf
assault clusters shifted their axis. The Ninth's assault, instead of helping to
hold the Clan forces, allowed Clan Wolf to breach the defensive ring where the
two armies should have met. This split the ComGuard forces into two groups, a
dangerous situation.
In response to
these new attacks, the Eleventh Army was dispatched to reinforce the faltering
defense of Brzo. Clan Wolf was expected to attack the Ninth Army, but advance
scouts reported the Clan devoting considerable effort to raiding ComGuard supply
depots and creating and concealing depots of their own.
Though it was
obvious that Clan Wolf was willing to use its mobility to work around
advantageous ComStar positions, they remained in the Porozistu Mountains. The
Eleventh ComGuards had been assigned to that area to take part in a direct
engagement with ilKhan Ulric Kerensky's forces.
Clan Wolf
gradually broke off individual battles to regroup for the final engagement in
the mountains. The fighting began amid a raging thunderstorm. Clan Wolf moved
forward slowly, feinting and thrusting to maintain their advantage. The links to
their supply bases held, and ComStar's few attempts to disrupt these lines were
quickly smashed. Even with this advantage, what little ground was taken was won
at a heavy price. Khan Garth Radick was slain commanding Beta Galaxy.
Clan Wolf
inflicted heavy enough damage on the ComStar forces that the Thirteenth Army was
committed to the mountains. Before the new ComStar force could join the
engagement, however, the battle for Tukayyid ended.
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