The Cauldron
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The Cauldron was a region on Terra where a key part of the ilClan Trial was fought.
History[edit]
The ilClan Trial was fought in Canada's wilderness, a forestry region almost unpopulated, and the few residents have been evacuated before the fight. The First day of the Trial went well to the Wolves, which managed to contain the Falcon's attacks and destroy most of his ammo depots and part of their repair facilities.[1]
However, the Falcons' Khan, Malvina Hazen, as leader of the Mongol Doctrine was even more dangerous when she was enraged... and she prepared a deathtrap both to punish the Wolves for their audacity and to weaken them. She ordered a massive frontal assault, using suicidal and disposable troops. When these were crushed, her forces retreated, and three Wolf Galaxies pursued them, ignoring their previous orders. These were to avoid crossing "Phase Line Charlie", a line midway between the Clans force. It was to prevent them to falling into a Falcon's trap... but they did right that.[2]
The Three Wolf pursuing Galaxies, Theta Galaxy, Iota Galaxy and Upsilon Galaxy, didn't hear the orders of General Chance Vickers to retreat, because the Falcons were using ECM interference to jam their comms. The reason for that became obvious when, about 1245 hours, the forest caught fire between them and both the Falcon lines... and the Wolves and their line of retreat. They were trapped.[3]
Malvina had ordered solahma troops to put barrels of nitroglycerine in strategic places during the night, and firebombed the whole battlefield with incendiaries, using their aerospace fighters. Soon, the Cauldron was ignited, and all three Galaxies were trapped on it. The fire became a death sentence for any Wolf tanks and conventional forces. Only Elementals have a survival chance, and MechWarriors, but barely. Most BattleMechs shut down or blown when their ammo cook off. Soon, all the unburnt area was burning too, so the Wolves had to cross the fire one way or another, or perish. The Wolf Khan Alaric Ward called Canadian firefighters to assist, but the falcons attacked anyone which tried to fight the fire, so the Wolves had to protect them. The firefighters were unable to extinguish a so much big fire, so they cannot do more than attempt to contain its advance and clear a wide-enough path to allow the Wolf survivors to escape.[3]
Inside the oval-like Cauldron, the Wolf survivors were in a hell, almost literally: besides the death fire, they were suffering a relentless attack from Falcon's artillery units, and the outside Wolves aerospace units were unable to reach it. But the Falcons, which were killing any Wolf which escaped the fire, had underestimated the Wolves: Star Captain Noran Kerensky, of Theta Galaxy, formed an ad hoc team of 'Mechs and Elementals and lead them towards Falcon lines. They emerged from the Cauldron at 1415 hours in from of the Falcons Forward Fire Battery Alpha. It was lightly defended, and they managed to destroy all the launchers before retreating into the fire. Then they advanced protected by the fire and attacked and destroyed the other battery, Beta, before returning to their lines. They were the last Wolf survivors to retreat, and their actions became the only Wolf victory that day, as they'd left the Falcons without any artillery support.[4]
Consequences[edit]
The Cauldron's fire extinguished alone along the night, and the place became a battlefield again, the next day, but the trap became an almost total success for the Falcons: the three Wolf Galaxies suffered approximately seventy-two percent losses, being effectively destroyed, and the Wolves' morale plummeted. That gave the Falcons a numerical superiority, and the third day of the Trial they almost achieved success... but when Alaric committed his secret and last reserves, achieved the final victory.[5]
Notes[edit]
- Noran Kerensky gave the Cauldron its name.[6]
- The Wolf's defeat at the Cauldron could have been much worse if it wasn't by one of his warriors: the former Falcon Noritomo Helmer. As he didn't follow the Mongol Doctrine, he deeply hated Malvina Hazen and what she had made with his Clan. After being taken bondsman by the Wolves, he advised them during the ilClan Trial. He warned his new Clan about a large-scale trap from Malvina. That prevented more Galaxies to be catch by the Cauldron, preventing a much catastrophic defeat.[7]