Editing Operation SOLAR FLARE

{{InfoBoxConflict
| conflict = Operation SOLAR FLARE
| partof = The [[IlClan Era]]
| image = 							
| caption = 
| date = From April to June [[3152]]
| place = 
| planet = 
| territory = [[Dragon's Tongue]]
| faction1 = (Attacker)<br />[[Federated Suns]]
| faction2 = (Defender)<br />[[Draconis Combine]]
| commander1 = [[Erik Sandoval-Groell]]
| commander2 = [[Yori Kurita]]
| forces1= 
| forces2= 
| result = Federated Suns victory
| environment = 
| conditions = Normal
}}
'''Operation Solar Flare''' is an early [[IlClan Era]] military operation that was undertaken by the [[Federated Suns]] against the occupying [[Draconis Combine]] forces in April to June [[3152]].

==Operation Brief==
The military operation took place within the ''[[Dragon's Tongue]]'' area of the Federated Suns, occuped by the Combine forces.

==Operation History== 
===Units Involved in the Conflict===
====Federated Suns====
*[[Dawn Guards]]
*[[Davion Assault Guards]]
*[[Eighth Crucis Lancers]]
*[[Fifth Robinson Strikers]]
*[[Fifth Avalon Hussars]]
*[[Kestrel Grenadiers]]
*[[Knights Defensor]]
*[[Favored Few]] (mercenary)
*[[Illician Lancers]] (mercenary)
*[[White Witches]] (mercenary)

=====[[Draconis Combine]]=====
*[[Black Sword]]
*[[Seventh Ghost Regiment]]
*[[Eleventh Ghost]]
*[[45th New Samarkand Regulars]]
*[[McFadden's Sky Storm]] (mercenary)
*[[Ryuken-san]]
*[[Ravannion's Redemption]] (mercenary)

===Origin of Conflict===
The end of the [[Dark Age Era]] was probably the worst time of the Federated Suns' history. The occupation of the Suns' capital world of [[New Avalon]], and the regional capitals [[Robinson]] ([[Draconis March]]) and [[New Syrtis]] ([[Capellan March]]), threatened the state's existence. However, over a decade the Suns retook those worlds, ultimately reclaiming New Avalon itself in [[Operation DAWN]].  While the Suns' success there came at significant cost, the Kurita forces lost not only a great part of their best troops, but also their leader, ''Kanrei'' [[Matsuhari Toranaga]], who was captured and soon killed. In addition to freeing New Avalon, DAWN also reclaimed the nearby world of [[Coloma]]. However, that still left the rest of the ''Dragon's Tongue'' in Combine hands, and so a second campaign became necessary to free those worlds before the Kuritans could send reinforcements. As the [[First Prince]] [[Julian Davion]] had to rebuild the capital's administrative structures, he announced that he would step down from leading military operations for a time, and the continuation would be led by his [[Prince's Champion]], Erik Sandoval-Groel. The liberation of New Avalon had taken a heavy toll, but using most of the remaining forces of ''Task Force Dawn'' left four combat-worthy AFFS commands to lead the task, backed by two [[mercenary]] regiments, most of which were paid not in money, but in promised landholds. [[Clan Sea Fox]]'s [[Fox Khanate]] became the bonding agent of a great deal of them. Erik also drew more forces from the [[Crucis March]] and [[Capellan March]] forces under his command.<ref>''Dominions Divided'', pp. 52–53</ref>

----

===Launch of the Operation===
The critical need for troops led Julian Davion to make a deal with [[Leo XXI]], the new pontiff of the [[New Avalon Catholic Church]]. Their Knights Defensor had been launching unsanctioned raids against the Tongue to free Christian colonies, but Leo reluctantly agreed to cease them and put the Knights under Eric's command.<ref>''Dominions Divided'', p. 53</ref>

Sandoval soon began his campaign, testing the defenses of the Tongue worlds. Early operations on [[Willowick]] and [[Leamington]] easily succeeded in freeing those planets, but soon the Kuritans began counterattacking. [[Plymouth]] became the first major operation, as elements of the Fifth Avalon Hussars met a battalion of the ''Black Sword''. Both units had faced each other on New Avalon, so the fight between them was fierce.<ref>''Dominions Divided'', p. 54</ref>

On [[Luthien]], the Kuritan capital, news of Operation Dawn arrived long after New Avalon had fell. Yori Kurita, the Combine's Coordinator, ordered the [[Voice of the Dragon]] to remind people than the invasion was the work of Toranaga, and that he had the responsibility to defend the worlds it conquered, distancing herself from him and his loyalists. Though she increased the recruitment of troops and defensive measures, she refused to send help or reinforcements to the Tongue worlds.<ref>''Dominions Divided'', pp. 54–57</ref>

===First Wave===
The first major hurdle of the operation was on Plymouth. The ''Black Sword'' had been created by ''sho-sa'' [[Masashi Miura]], combining the [[Genyosha]] and [[Ryuken]] survivors which had escaped from New Avalon. The Suns' Fifth Avalon Hussars were thirsty for revenge, so they launched many reckless charges. The Kuritans took advantage of the Davions' rage, refusing to give them a stand-up fight. Eventually, they became corralled into the Caraxes Defile, a box canyon, where the Hussars charged in wave after wave. Though the Hussars won eventually, their losses were so high than Erik reassigned the Fifth to mop-up duties and activated the First Conroe Training Battalion.

The campaign continued on [[Euclid]]. There, the mercenary unit [[Ravannion's Redemption]] had stationed its 1st battalion, which faced the Davion Assault Guards, led by Erik Sandoval-Groell. The mobile Redemption units slashed the Davion flanks with lightning strikes before fading away, downing the assault 'Mechs one after another. Only by using artillery to bombard the area with minefields were the mercenaries corralled, and even then they refused to surrender.  After opening a breach through the Davion lines, the mercenaries escaped with most of their unit, leaving the planet on Davion hands.<ref name=DDp68-69>''Dominions Divided'' pp. 68–69</ref>

On [[Meinrad]], the Dawn Guards met the second battalion of Ravannion's Redemption, and using their more maneuverable elements drove the mercenaries off the planet within a week. Learning from his mistakes on Plymouth, Erik sent the Kestrel Grenadiers to dislodge the Black Sword's 3rd battalion from [[Mansfield]]. Both groups had mercenaries with them, and when the Kuritans ordered the ''Favored Few'' to stand their ground until death, the mercenaries turned against their employer. The Sword had to evacuate, and the mercenaries were disarmed by the Grenadiers, awaiting a Sea Fox mediator to evaluate if their conduct was a contract breach.<ref name=DDp68-69/>

Despite having heavier losses than expected, the campaign's early stage was a rousing success. The AFFS seized all their targets, except for [[Gambier]], which the Ryuken-''san'' had turned into a quagmire, and New Avalon no longer under threat. The Combine condensed their forces, forming a barricade from [[Monroe]] and [[Mauckport]] up to [[Greeley]]. The Seventh Ghost raided [[Nagel]] in force, savaging the cadets of the [[Point Barrow Academy Training Battalion]]. In early [[3152]], the 45th New Samarkand Regulars struck the frontier world of [[Brundage]], driving off the ''Illician Lancers'' Twenty-First Rangers, claiming the planet for the Combine. In April, the Eighth Sword of Light seized [[Sakhara V]] from the mercenary ''White Whitches'', which in reprisal raided the Ruken-''san'' base on [[Hoff]], seizing several storehouses of supplies before retreating to [[Dahar IV]]. Erik, who was focused on reclaiming the Tongue worlds, ordered the units on the [[Draconis March]] to hold, at least for the moment.<ref>''Dominions Divided'', p. 69</ref>

Gambier soon became the most frustrating battlefield of the campaign for the Federated Suns: The Ryuken-''san'' had fortified both jump points with a fleet of assault [[DropShip]]s. General [[Richard Daimler]] of the Davion Assault Guards commanded barely a battalion of aerospace assets, which he had to preserve for ground support, so had to limit himself to the ground assault and interdicting the Combine space forces on the jump points. DMCS mercenaries used Gambier as fallback point, rendezvousing with the Ryuken to receive orders. For their successes in dealing with the Assault Guards on Euclid, ''Tai-sa'' Deguchi ordered Ravannion's Redemption to remain on Gambier and aid in the defense. Knowing Gambier was an entertainment world, Julian Davion authorized mercenaries who signed on to the campaign to hold whatever land they liberated in form of lucrative landholds. The Combine exploited this to aid in the defense, entrenching themselves in the hotels and amusement parks, which slowed the campaign as the mercenaries attempted to liberate as intact as possible. The campaign lasted until Erik Sandoval detached the First Conroe Training Battalion and two more battalions of mercenaries. The reinforcements tipped the balance in the attackers' favor. The Brigade of Shiva drove Ravannion's Redemption from their defending position. Amidst the confusion, the Ryuken and its support elements were able to escape, leaving the planet in Davion hands. 
However, it was a limited success: several mercenary units argued about who owned the new landholds, creating a problem for the Federated Suns, as the Sea Foxes refused to be involved. Still worse, the majority of mercenaries stayed on Gambier, which dangerously weakened the AFFS forces.<ref>''Dominions Divided'', pp. 70–72</ref>

===Second Wave===
Wave two of Solar Flare began with the Eighth Crucis Lancers dropping onto [[Sullivan]] with a BattleMech battalion and two conventional regiments. The Combine garrison, the Eleventh Ghost, choose to preserve their strength and retreated. Meanwhile, the Seventh Ghost continued its personal counter-offensive, destroying the militias on [[Benedict]] and [[Mirage]] and looting both worlds before abandoning them. Both Ghost regiments gathered on Greeley, which became a bulwark for other DCMS units to fall back to. Erik Sandoval distributed [[JumpShip]]s amongst the Tongue, facilitating the AFFS movements. Thanks to that, the Eighth Crucis intercepted a JumpShip from the Eleventh Ghost en route to Greeley in the [[Adrian]] system. As they attempted to board it, an attempted Combine jump tore the ship apart.

Other worlds offered fierce resistance. [[Mauckport]] seemed undefended when the Kestrel Grenadiers landed on it, securing it and leaving the garrisoning to the Fifth Avalon Hussars. While the Grenadiers faced the Second New Samarkand Regulars on [[Tsamma]], the Hussars made the mistake of lowering their guard, and a hidden contingent of the Second Regulars overran their base. Though two companies of the Hussars escaped, they were soon hunted down and destroyed. After taking the Hussars' DropShips, the Second captured their JumpShips and returned to Tsamma, where they crushed the Kestrel Grenadiers and departed to Combine space.<ref>''Dominions Divided'', pp. 72–73</ref>

[[Palmyra]] represented the most symbolic victory of the second wave. McFadden's Sky Storm defended the world, destroying a third of the Assault Guards DropShips before retreating. After landing, they were welcomed by survivors of the [[Palmyra Disaster]], who rose up and crushed the DCMS militia, before joining the campaign. Small victories on [[Mokane]], [[St. Robert]], and [[Linneus]] invigorated the AFFS, which prepared to end the campaign.<ref>''Dominions Divided'', p. 73</ref>

===The Last Battles===
{{see|Battle of Greeley (3152)}}

In late June 3152, Greeley became the last battlefield in the campaign, a glorious last stand for the samurai loyal to the dead ''kanrei'' Toranaga and abandoned by their Coordinator. The Seventh Ghost quietly disappeared, but the survivors of the Ryuken-''san'' and the Eleventh Ghost rallied to ''Sho-sa'' Miura and his last Black Sword soldiers, making a final stand. Taking no chances, Erik brought the fresh Fifth Robinson Strikers to support the Assault Guards and Dawn Guards. The battle outside the tundra, around Fort Greeley, lasted only two hours, with the Strikers bearing the brunt of the Combine attacks. By sunset, all Black Sword members lay dead, and the few survivors from the Ryuken and Eleventh Ghost requested ''seppuku'' to their lords.<ref name=DDp73-74>''Dominions Divided'', pp. 73–74</ref>

===Conflict Conclusion===
The Battle of Greeley put an end to the campaign; soon after, Erik negotiated with the Combine, allowing the retreat of all remaining Kuritan forces to their space. Exhaustion drove the conflict to a halt. Some AFFS officers wanted to launch a third wave, to reclaim lost worlds as far as [[Tancredi IV]], but Erik denied it. While the Suns had retaken numerous worlds, the fighting had weakened the Suns' military more than the Combine; battalions had been reduced to mere companies, and full regiments destroyed. While the DCMS worked to rebuild their forces, all fighting in the frontier quickly halted.<ref name=DDp73-74/>

==Notes==
Ironically, the greatest ally of the Federated Suns was their enemy's nominal leader: Combine Coordinator [[Yori Kurita]]. Even before Operation Dawn, she realized it was untenable to hold New Avalon, and so she denied reinforcements to Toranaga, and later to his forces. She didn't even give orders to Toranaga's forces, except to retreat. She used the Davions to decimate Toranaga loyalists, and shifted all the blame for the defeat to him.<ref>''Dominions Divided'', p. 96</ref>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Dominions Divided]]''

[[Category: IlClan Era Military Operations|Operation Solar Flare]]
@@ Line 87: / Line 87: @@
 ==Notes==
 Ironically, the greatest ally of the Federated Suns was their enemy's nominal leader: Combine Coordinator [[Yori Kurita]]. Even before Operation Dawn, she realized it was untenable to hold New Avalon, and so she denied reinforcements to Toranaga, and later to his forces. She didn't even give orders to Toranaga's forces, except to retreat. She used the Davions to decimate Toranaga loyalists, and shifted all the blame for the defeat to him.<ref>''Dominions Divided'', p. 96</ref>
-==Gallery==
-<gallery>
-SolFlarebattle.jpg|''Davion Assault Guards'' during the last part of the Battle of Greeley
-</gallery>
 ==References==