Editing Battle of Tukayyid (3052)

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	Khan Bjorn Jorgensson of Clan Ghost Bear had experience fighting the Free Rasalhague Republic. Due to this experience, he suspected the Com Guards would use ''[[dezgra]]'' tactics and instructed his Clan to ignore ''[[zellbrigen]]'' when it landed fifty kilometers west of its target cities, which were Spanac and Luk, on 1 May. The Com Guards interfered little with this landing.<ref>''BattleTech: Battle of Tukayyid'', p. 69</ref>		Khan Bjorn Jorgensson of Clan Ghost Bear had experience fighting the Free Rasalhague Republic. Due to this experience, he suspected the Com Guards would use ''[[dezgra]]'' tactics and instructed his Clan to ignore ''[[zellbrigen]]'' when it landed fifty kilometers west of its target cities, which were Spanac and Luk, on 1 May. The Com Guards interfered little with this landing.<ref>''BattleTech: Battle of Tukayyid'', p. 69</ref>
−	Having earned the right to land in the fifth hour of combat and trusting in the superior strength of their forces, both Ghost Bear Khans laid a simple plan to target both cities at once with the elite Alpha focused on the target city of Spanac while Beta and Delta made their way to Luk. Fearful that the inexperienced Fourth Army would break under combat with the Clans, [[Precentor]] [[Katherine Luarca]] ordered them to stay and defend Luk as she sent her First Army to harass the Bears, keeping her veteran [[103rd Division (ComStar)|103rd Division]] back to defend Spanac.	+	Having earned the right to land in the fifth hour of combat and trusting in the superior strength of their forces, both Ghost Bear Khans laid a simple plan to target both cities at once with the elite Alpha focused on the target city of Spanac while Beta and Gamma made their way to Luk. Fearful that the inexperienced Fourth Army would break under combat with the Clans, [[Precentor]] [[Katherine Luarca]] ordered them to stay and defend Luk as she sent her First Army to harass the Bears, keeping her veteran [[103rd Division (ComStar)|103rd Division]] back to defend Spanac.
	The battle around Spanac quickly turned against the Com Guards with the First Army's [[308th Division (ComStar)|308th Division]] having little effect in slowing Alpha Galaxy down, suffering heavy losses in the process. The fighting around Luk initially was little better with the Bears' Beta Galaxy utterly decimating the [[121st Division (ComStar)|121st Division]], until the [[91st Division (ComStar)|Ninety-first]] and [[12th Division (ComStar)|Twelfth Divisions]] emerged from hidden positions and succeeded in trapping and inflicting heavy losses on Delta Galaxy's [[20th Polar Bear Attack (Clan Ghost Bear)|Twentieth Polar Bear Attack]] [[Cluster]], turning the tide and forcing Beta and Delta to withdraw.		The battle around Spanac quickly turned against the Com Guards with the First Army's [[308th Division (ComStar)|308th Division]] having little effect in slowing Alpha Galaxy down, suffering heavy losses in the process. The fighting around Luk initially was little better with the Bears' Beta Galaxy utterly decimating the [[121st Division (ComStar)|121st Division]], until the [[91st Division (ComStar)|Ninety-first]] and [[12th Division (ComStar)|Twelfth Divisions]] emerged from hidden positions and succeeded in trapping and inflicting heavy losses on Delta Galaxy's [[20th Polar Bear Attack (Clan Ghost Bear)|Twentieth Polar Bear Attack]] [[Cluster]], turning the tide and forcing Beta and Delta to withdraw.

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{{Update Needed|[[BattleSpace]]|[[Blake's Own]]|[[Two Roads Diverged]]|[[The Burdens of Honor]]|[[Always Moving]]|[[The Lions of Prezno]]|[[The Icarus Lament]]|[[We Do the Impossible]]|[[Broken Promises]]|[[Spotlight On: Manyfold Paths]]}} {{otheruses|the 3052 battle itself|related BattleTech products|Battle of Tukayyid}} {{InfoBoxConflict | conflict = Battle of Tukayyid | partof = the [[Clan Invasion]] | image = | caption = | date = May [[3052]] | place = 14 cities and surrounding terrain | planet = [[Tukayyid]] | faction1 = [[Clan Smoke Jaguar]],<br>[[Clan Ghost Bear]],<br>[[Clan Wolf]],<br>[[Clan Jade Falcon]],<br>[[Clan Nova Cat]],<br>[[Clan Steel Viper]],<br>[[Clan Diamond Shark]] | faction2 = [[ComStar]]'s [[Com Guards]] | commander1 = [[ilKhan]] [[Ulric Kerensky]] | commander2 = [[Precentor Martial of ComStar|Precentor Martial]] [[Anastasius Focht]] | forces1= Bidding started with 25 [[Galaxy|Galaxies]] from seven Clans, but went lower after intense bidding | forces2= All Com Guard units save the 'Mech divisions on [[Terra]] itself | forces3 = | result = ComStar Victory | environment = | conditions = }} The '''Battle of Tukayyid''' was a significant turning point favoring Inner Sphere defenders during the [[Clan Invasion]] of the [[Inner Sphere]]. After the [[Com Guards]], which compose ComStar's military, defeated a combined force of the [[Clans]], the [[Truce of Tukayyid]] forbade the Clans from advancing toward Terra past the planet [[Tukayyid]] for the next fifteen years. The battle began on 1 May 3052 and ended 21 May that same year. ==Introduction== The world of Tukayyid was primarily an agricultural world in the [[Free Rasalhague Republic]] at the time of the Clan Invasion. The world was picked to be the site of a proxy battle fought for control of Terra between the Clans, led by [[ilKhan]] [[Ulric Kerensky]], and ComStar's Com Guards, led by [[Precentor Martial of ComStar|Precentor Martial]] [[Anastasius Focht]]. The actual battle was broken down into fourteen Com Guards–defended objectives that the Clans would try to conquer.<ref name="BoTp9">''BattleTech: Battle of Tukayyid'', p. 9</ref> If the majority of these objectives were conquered by the Clans, then Terra would be allowed to fall to whichever Clan could advance to it first, and [[ComStar]] would merge with the Clans by serving as Clan administrators on Clan worlds, ceasing HPG services to the Successor States and relinquishing Terra to the Clans. However, if the Com Guards successfully defended the majority of the objectives, then the Clans had to refrain from conquering worlds closer to Terra than Tukayyid for 15 years, allowing them to still conquer worlds farther away from Terra than Tukayyid.<ref>''ComStar'', p. 68</ref> ==Prelude== Before the Battle of Tukayyid, ComStar had operated under a policy of active cooperation with the invading Clans since Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht had met with Clan Wolf Khan Ulric Kerensky during the early stages of the Clan Invasion. ComStar's overall leader, Primus [[Myndo Waterly]], saw the Clans as a unique tool to crush the [[Successor States]], allowing their vision of a ComStar-dominated future for the Inner Sphere to be brought into being. To this end, the [[First Circuit]], a small group of chief [[HPG]] administrators,<ref>''ComStar'', p. 11</ref> worked to help provide [[Clan Wolf]] with a great wealth of strategic and tactical intelligence on planets they planned to attack. When those planets then fell to the Wolves, ComStar was engaged by the Clan to serve as administrators on their behalf, considerably smoothing occupation of the conquered worlds and allowing all elements of the Clan's armed forces, known as ''Toumans'', to quickly move on to fresh targets without needing to leave major concentrations of troops to secure their rear areas. This policy of cooperation and administration was highly successful for the Wolves during the Clan invasion's early stages. In 3050, while the pace of Clans [[Clan Ghost Bear|Ghost Bear]], [[Clan Jade Falcon|Jade Falcon]], and [[Clan Smoke Jaguar|Smoke Jaguar]] invasions toward Terra increasingly slowed as they became bogged down in drawn-out conquests of worlds, the Wolves surged quickly ahead toward Terra. Since the invasion was essentially a race to Terra, the Wolves quick surge provoked enough resentment from the slower Clans that ilKhan [[Leo Showers]] of Smoke Jaguar called for a war council of all Clan Khans, known as a [[IlKhan#Description|Grand Kurultai]],<ref name="CIP">''Clan Invasion Primer''</ref> in the [[Radstadt]] system aboard the flagship ''Dire Wolf'' with no other WarShips present. This Grand Kurultai's purpose was to slow the Wolves down. Within a few hours of the Grand Kurultai, the ''Dire Wolf'' came under attack from an elite aerospace unit of the Free Rasalhague Republic. [[Tyra Miraborg]], a Rasalhagian aerospace fighter, flew into the ''Dire Wolf''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s bridge killing ilKhan Leo Showers. In his place, Ulric Kerensky of Clan Wolf was elected ilKhan.<ref>''Invading Clans'', p. 58</ref> This proved a boon to ComStar because ilKhan Kerensky allowed ComStar's policy of providing information and administering worlds to become the policy of all the Clans, not just Clan Wolf, with the Precentor Martial himself serving as the personal envoy to the Clans from the First Circuit. ==ComStar Turns Hostile== Primus Myndo Waterly of ComStar arrived in Solsveda on [[Satalice]] to meet with ilKhan Kerensky for the first time on 7 January 3052. Primus Waterly's purpose was to offer the ilKhan a full military disposition of Tharkad, capital of the Lyran Commonwealth. To Primus Waterly's surprise, the ilKhan rejected her offer and told her of the Clans' true goal: to conquer Terra itself, which had been the home of ComStar for hundreds of years, the core of the entire Inner Sphere HPG network, and the birthplace of the [[Star League]].<ref>''ComStar'', p. 67</ref> Under such a direct threat, ComStar could no longer remain neutral or aid the Clans, but they in no way wanted to see Terra, humanity's birthplace, torn asunder by an enormous battle the likes of which the planet had not seen since [[2777]]. Confronting the Clans, Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht was sent to the ilKhan to issue a ''[[batchall]]'', which is a ritualized Clan battle challenge for some prize to be won in a Trial.<ref name="CIP" /> A Clan [[Trial of Possession]], which is a battle resolving the right to own something,<ref name="CIP" /> would be waged for control of Terra on a proxy world — the world of Tukayyid inside the rapidly diminishing Free Rasalhague Republic. All civilians would evacuate the planet well before the battle's start, and ComStar and the Clans would each cover half of the cost of damage to civilian infrastructure resulting from this Trial, set to begin in May of 3052. While possession of Terra and ComStar was a clear outcome for the Clans should they win, the bidding was fierce over what precisely ComStar would gain should they win. Focht's initial position of a permanent truce line drawn at Tukayyid was countered by an offer for a one-year truce, with both sides gradually reducing their positions until a fifteen-year truce was bargained and done. 25 Galaxies from seven Clans would face off against twelve entire [[Level V|Armies of the Com Guards]] (equivalent to 144 [[regiment]]s), with each Clan being assigned two objective cities to take. If ComStar won, they would buy the Inner Sphere invaluable time to fortify to the point of becoming an almost impossible target for the Clans to take on. If ComStar lost, however, they may well have doomed the Inner Sphere to conquest by the Clans at a stroke. ==The Clans Prepare for Battle== The ilKhan presented the terms of the bid for the Trial of Possession to the Clan Grand Council, all of whom eagerly endorsed and ratified the bid. Bids are a key element of the Trial system. Commanders must bid away forces to win with the smallest number of troops to lessen waste.<ref name="BoTp9" /> The Commander with the lowest bid wins the honor of participating in the Trial. The vast majority of the Clan warriors, when presented with the battle, saw an easy victory over the mystical ComStar warriors as a foregone conclusion, and the bidding in the Grand Council for the “best” place in the invasion was fierce. The Smoke Jaguars and Nova Cats, eager to regain the face they had lost in their failed invasion of [[Luthien]], bid dangerously low to gain the "honor" of being the first Clan on the planet; all the [[Crusader Clans]] conspired to ensure the Wolves would land last, with the least "glorious" targets to strike at long after the Trial was expected to have been decided, an insult the Wolves were rather suspiciously happy to accept. In the end, the battle objectives were divided by the Council as follows: :• The Smoke Jaguars would land first with the cities of Dinju Heights and Port Racice their targets, two of the largest cities on the planet. :• The Nova Cats would then attack the cities of Joje and Tost. :• Clan Ghost Bear was assigned to take the cities of Spanac and Luk. :• The [[Clan Steel Viper|Steel Vipers]] bid for the objectives of Kelly Springs and the Kozice Ranch Station. :• Urcunat and Kozice Prime were the targets of the Diamond Sharks. :• The Jade Falcons chose Humptulips and Olalla as their targets. :• And the Wolves were given the remaining targets of Brzo and Skupo, as well as the final 'drop slot' onto the planet — five days after the Smoke Jaguars would set foot on the soil of Tukayyid. Each Clan would fight its own battle and stand or fall on its own leadership; the ilKhan's offers of advice and warning would, henceforth, be ignored by all Clans save his own. ==The Com Guards Prepare== In 3052, the architect of the Com Guard strategy, Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht, had been preparing for the battle since returning from his first visit with the Clans in [[3050]].<ref name="BoTp9" /> This preparation took the form of running simulations and war games using ComStar's stores of advanced Star League–era 'Mechs, much to the annoyance of the Primus who, prior to learning the Clans' goal of taking Terra, anticipated no possible conflict between the Com Guards and Clans. Armed with both firsthand observations of the Clan leadership, strategy, and tactics, combined with countless examples of engagements across the Inner Sphere, Focht carefully constructed his plans. Scoffed at by most of the Clans as a "paper-General" leading a glorified honor guard for an organization of bureaucrats, the man who had once been Frederick Steiner, a decorated and highly capable commander in his own right, systematically laid the groundwork for his defense. This defense took advantage of the Clans' logistical weakness that left Clan OmniMechs configured for short, ammunition-intensive battles, precluding support services needed for a long-term campaign. Focht's strategy used Tukayyid's empty terrain to lead the Clans on a long battle of attrition they lacked the repair parts and ammunition to sustain. Meanwhile, Focht stockpiled enough repair parts and ammunition to keep the Com Guards supplied for over a month.<ref name="BoTp9" /><ref>''ComStar'', p. 69</ref> With only a few exceptions, the Clans initially ran roughshod over all Inner Sphere forces they had come up against during the invasion. Their superior technology mated with their strategic initiative let them pick and choose the battles and apply sufficient force to win on almost every occasion in very short, sharp battles pitting strength against strength, hence, playing to the Clans' strengths and preferences for direct, Trial-like encounters. With the exception of Clan Wolf, the invading Clans lacked the knowledge, logistics, training, equipment, and mindset needed to fight anything outside of direct force-on-force confrontations. As such, Focht built his battle plans around a classic long-term battle of maneuver. He would deny the Clans the short, sharp Trial-like battles they were suited to fighting. Instead, he would use terrain and mobility to erode them [[Cluster]] by Cluster with a series of rapid and never-ending hit-and-run attacks combined with massive air and artillery strikes, until he could crush what was left of each Clan on his own terms with overwhelming firepower. Tukayyid offered excellent defensive terrain that the Com Guards prepared to great effect; bridges were rigged with explosives, shielded bunkers constructed for units sized from Lances to Regiments that could appear without warning were scattered in strategic locations, and entire cities were razed and recreated as little more than giant traps. Focht's Star League–era command and control systems, located in the [[Tamo Bunker]], allowed him and his staff to seamlessly fight throughout the entire planet as a single theater, and the Com Guards were well briefed in their part. Other key factors included the following: :• Uniformly, the Com Guards were using Star League–era military technology that was a far closer match to that of the Clans than any of the Successor States, a match that became even closer with the use of terrain and mobility. :• The Com Guards would be facing the Clans collectively in a series of waves, meaning units not involved in the fighting could be shifted as needed, whereas the Clans were determined to fight their battles alone with only minimal thought to a cohesive, wider strategy. :• The Com Guards would be well prepared for the type of battle they had planned; the Clans, with the exception of the Wolves, were not. ==The Battles== The Battle of Tukayyid took place from the 1st to the 20th of May and can be broken down into seven theaters of battle, corresponding to each of the Clan attackers. ===Clan Smoke Jaguar=== Still reeling over their humiliating failure to capture Luthien and their defeat on Wolcott, the Smoke Jaguars won the right to land first, but only by bidding away an entire Galaxy, a full third of their force.<ref name="BoTp41">''BattleTech: Battle of Tukayyid'', p. 41</ref> Further dooming their chances, the Jaguars assumed that only one Galaxy each would be required to capture the target cities defended by the [[5th Army (ComStar)|Com Guard Fifth Army]], with the [[Khan]] [[Lincoln Osis]] led [[Alpha Galaxy (Clan Smoke Jaguar)|Alpha Galaxy]] establishing a landing zone in the mountains near Dinju Heights while [[saKhan]] [[Sarah Weaver]] led [[Beta Galaxy (Clan Smoke Jaguar)|Beta Galaxy]] in staging a combat drop into the marshes of the Racice River Delta in preparation for an assault on Port Racice. Loremaster Edmund Hoyt's command Star supported Khan Osis' Elemental point.<ref name="BoTp41" /> On 1 May, the assault on Dinju Heights started favorably for the Jaguars, with the [[6th Jaguar Dragoons (Clan Smoke Jaguar)|Sixth Jaguar Dragoons]] wiping out the green [[50th Division (ComStar)|Fiftieth Division]] to secure Alpha Galaxy's drop site.<ref name="BoTp41" /> As the Dragoons and [[Jaguar Grenadiers (Clan Smoke Jaguar)|Jaguar Grenadiers]] started their march for Dinju Heights, they did not realize the token resistance offered by the remains of the Fiftieth was but a cover for heavier elements of [[299th Division (ComStar)|299th]] and [[323rd Division (ComStar)|323rd Divisions]] hidden in the Dinju Pass. On 2 May, the Jaguar Grenadiers won the ''batchall'' to be the tip of the spear through the Dinju pass. Viewing the seemingly undefended pass as too good to be true, the un-Clanlike caution of Jaguar Grenadiers commander [[Star Colonel]] [[Brandon Howell]] led him to suspect it was an ambush, and he ordered a probing action to smoke out any hidden Com Guard troops while ordering the rest of his OmniMechs to run along the pass walls at flank speed. While this strategy led to the almost complete destruction of the probe force, the 299th and 323rd could only engage the bulk of the Grenadiers briefly before they raced past. The Com Guard divisions were able to inflict heavy losses but were unable to prevent a sizable portion of the Jaguar unit from making it through to reach the outskirts of their target city. However, on 3 May, by the time the Sixth Jaguar Dragoons attempted to make their own run, the 299th and 323rd had emerged from hiding and crowded the floor of the pass, creating a gauntlet of overwhelming firepower, with the Dragoons taking heavy casualties. Com Guard Acolyte Trevis Gray appeared to kill Khan Osis by shooting a laser into Loremaster Hoyt's cockpit, killing him and sending his 'Mech crashing to the ground on top of Khan Osis' Elemental armor.<ref name="BoTp41" /> Meanwhile, the Com Guard forces in the Racice River Delta used the advantages offered by the terrain and well-placed artillery fire to herd the Jaguars' Beta Galaxy into the marshes while it traveled to its objective, Port Racice. Hit-and-run attacks by the [[367th Division (ComStar)|367th]], [[401st Division (ComStar)|401st]], and [[207th Division (ComStar)|207th Divisions]] of the Fifth Army drove the Jaguars deeper into the delta, slowing Beta's pace by two thirds of what it should have been and giving the dug-in Com Guard units ample ambush opportunities while at the same time negating the Clans' advantages of weapons range and superior [[Double Heat Sink|heat sink technology]]. Com Guard hover vehicles, not inconvenienced by open water or boggy ground, led many of said attacks. Drawing the Jaguars further in, the 207th Division eventually succeeded in surrounding Beta Galaxy's Command Star, killing saKhan Weaver and her entire command Star on 3 May.<ref name="BoTp41" /> With the Precentor Martial now reinforcing the Fifth Army with divisions drawn from the [[2nd Army (ComStar)|Com Guard Second Army]], the loss of both Smoke Jaguar Khans forced ilKhan Kerensky to terminate the Jaguar campaign. While the demoralized Beta Galaxy dutifully obeyed the order, those in Alpha Galaxy were enraged by what they felt was a Wolf Clan snub to their sacrifices and vowed to fight to the death. Unable to fight their way back through the pass to save the Dragoons as the numerical superiority of the 299th and 323rd ground them to dust, the Grenadiers launched a desperate assault against the [[82nd Division (ComStar)|Eighty-second]] and [[322nd Division (ComStar)|322nd Divisions]] outside Dinju Heights, which pushed the Com Guard forces back and allowed the Grenadiers an opening to withdraw to their DropShips. In all 32%<ref name=T-109>''Tukayyid'', p. 109: "Battle for Tukayyid - Counting the Losses"</ref><ref name=CS-SJ>''ComStar'', p. 71: "Battle of Tukayyid"</ref><ref name=WC-52>''Wolf Clan'', p. 52: "Lessons of War"</ref> of the Smoke Jaguars' two Galaxies were killed, while matériel losses were so extreme only 22% of equipment made it off Tukayyid. The Jaguars had proven comprehensively unprepared for the tactics and warfare of the Com Guards. The Jaguars had kept up their savage level of combat believing that they faced only a handful of remaining foes, having never realized that the Second Army had been brought in to reinforce the Fifth. The Jaguars also remained unaware how close they came to potentially crippling the entire Com Guard command structure and turning the battle in favor of all the Clans. The [[122nd Strike (Clan Smoke Jaguar)|122nd Strike Cluster]] came within thirty kilometers of the Precentor Martial's hidden Tamo Bunker only to be obliterated with a well-placed ambush and aerial bombardment before they could announce their position. Like all Clans, the Jaguars' future was shaped by their performance on Tukayyid. The heavy losses suffered by its most elite Galaxies could not be easily replaced and unceasing raiding from both the [[Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery]] and Clan Nova Cat prevented them from fully regaining their pre-Tukayyid strength. While the rise of unconventional Brandon Howell to Khan of the Jaguars in the days after Tukayyid raised the possibilities of new thinking that would save his Clan, the discovery that Khan Osis had in fact survived the battle after being found by rescue crews shattered it. Howell ceded his title to Osis and further cemented the Jaguars on the path to their eventual destruction at the hands of the reborn [[Star League]]'s [[Operation BULLDOG]]. The Jaguars' fate was also sealed through the embittered Smoke Jaguar warrior [[Trent (Clan Smoke Jaguar)|Trent]], his loyalty to his Clan shattered by the trickery and betrayal by his superiors on Tukayyid. Trent aided his [[Bondsman|bondswoman]] and [[Blake's Wrath]] agent [[Judith Faber]] in acquiring the map of the Exodus Road that allowed the reborn [[SLDF]] to launch [[Task Force Serpent]] and complete the annihilation of the Jaguars.<ref name=T-SJ>''Tukayyid'', pp. 29–38: "Campaign: Clan Smoke Jaguar"</ref><ref name=CS-69-SB>''ComStar'', p. 69: "Battle of Tukayyid - Ace in the Hole"</ref><ref name=WC-SJ>''Wolf Clan'', p. 47: "Days of Armageddon - Smoke Jaguar"</ref><ref name=IC-SJ>''Invading Clans'', pp. 61–62: "Tukayyid: The Crucible"</ref> ===Clan Nova Cat=== Clan Nova Cat's [[Alpha Galaxy (Clan Nova Cat)|Alpha]], [[Beta Galaxy (Clan Nova Cat)|Beta]], and [[Gamma Galaxy (Clan Nova Cat)|Gamma Galaxies]] were assigned to take the cities of Joje and Tost, facing the veteran [[7th Army (ComStar)|Com Guard Seventh Army]] bolstered by reserve green divisions from the [[12th Army (ComStar)|Twelfth Army]]. The Nova Cats' Khan [[Severen Leroux]] chose to launch their campaigns on 1 May with the Nova Cats' daring [[Hover-Drop Maneuver]], with [[OmniMech]]s and [[Elemental]]s leaping from their hovering [[DropShip]]s in the atmosphere instead of requiring heat-dissipating [[Drop Pod]]s. However, Precentor Martial Focht, having studied the Clan's tactics, expected a hover-drop maneuver and sent the Com Guard [[417th Division (ComStar)|417th Division]] reinforced air assets to gain air superiority over the drop zones. Their purpose was to make the Nova Cats' landing very difficult or impossible in order to cut off Nova Cat supply lines from the start. When a skilled or lucky Com Guard pilot flew suicidally into the ''[[Cat's Maw]]'', which was the Nova Cats' [[Alpha Galaxy (Clan Nova Cat)|Alpha Galaxy]] command DropShip, it exploded without deploying even one 'Mech; the Com Guards achieved their purpose. Having been aboard the exploding ''Cat's Maw'', thirty MechWarriors and one hundred and fifty Elementals died, a loss almost as tragic as the ammunition and repair supplies also aboard.<ref name="BoTp100">''BattleTech: Battle of Tukayyid'', p. 100</ref> While saKhan [[Lucian Carns]] of Clan Nova Cat questioned if Alpha Galaxy's terrible losses had affected its ability to take Tost, Khan Leroux led his troops to the city as planned. The Cats' [[Gamma Galaxy (Clan Nova Cat)|Gamma Galaxy]] and the remains of Alpha pushed past the [[244th Division (ComStar)|244th Division]] to rush towards Joje only to be stopped by the 417th and [[9th Division (ComStar)|Ninth Divisions]] at the edge of the city. The Com Guard forces lured the Cats into well-defended [[Vibrabomb]] minefields. Meanwhile, air and armor harassed the advancing Clan forces, finally stopping them less than five kilometers from their target. Clan Nova Cat tried to relieve the pressure on their stalled advance to Joje by sending [[Beta Galaxy (Clan Nova Cat)|Beta Galaxy]]'s [[44th Nova Cat Cavaliers (Clan Nova Cat)|Forty-fourth Nova Cat Cavaliers]] east along the Losiije Lake Road toward Tost, while the rest of the Clan redoubled its efforts to take Joje. However, reserve units from [[13th Division (ComStar)|Thirteenth]] and [[431st Division (ComStar)|431st Divisions]] were already in position along the road, crushing the attempted breakout. By 3 May, Clan Nova Cat had made three separate attempts to seize both target cities, but each was beaten back as the Cats quickly ran out of ballistic ammunition and missile reloads. However, their repeated attacks had begun to weaken the defenders of Joje with the 417th and Ninth Divisions finally forced to pull back and regroup. With the [[467th Division (ComStar)|467th Division]] attempting to cut the Cats off from their landing zones, a desperate saKhan Carns tried to regain the offensive by ordering Gamma Galaxy and elements of Beta to stage a fighting withdrawal to draw attention to themselves. As the 244th and 467th Divisions headed toward the eastern shores of Lake Losiije to combine their forces and harass the retreating Gamma, the bulk of Beta Galaxy broke ''zellbrigen'' by emerging from the lake in a surprise attack, having secretly and slowly followed the Losiije River into the lake. Caught unawares, both divisions were shattered and the Nova Cats captured several ComStar supply depots in the process.<ref name="BoTp100" /> While having finally pushed Alpha into retreat from Joje, the Com Guards recognized that the resupplied Beta and Gamma Galaxies could likely take the city. However, the Thirteenth and [[431st Division (ComStar)|431st Divisions]] were still tied up battling Alpha, and the [[167th Division (ComStar)|167th]] and [[312th Division (ComStar)|312th Divisions]] were unable to reach the battlefield in time, and the Ninth, 417th, and 116th Divisions were ordered to leave Joje completely undefended to launch a furious counterattack. This tremendous gamble paid off because the Com Guard Divisions attacked while the Nova Cat techs were still uncrating their captured supplies. Charging into the fray with near-suicidal abandon, the Com Guards pushed the Cats back, recapturing or destroying the supply depots. Both Nova Cat Khans now recognized the battle had turned against them, ordering a general withdrawal to their DropShips. The Com Guards did not let up, continuing to harass the battered Clan Nova Cat forces all the way back to their drop zones. Only a single [[Trinary]] of Beta Galaxy OmniMechs made it offworld. Clan Nova Cat lifted off Tukayyid in defeat, having set foot in neither Tost nor Joje. While a mere three Nova Cat Stars survived intact, the Clan's forces inflicted greater losses on the Com Guards than they in turn suffered.<ref name=T-NC>''Tukayyid'', pp. 40, 43, 45: "Campaign: Clan Nova Cat"</ref><ref name=IC-NC>''Invading Clans'', p. 117: "Battle of Tukayyid"</ref> [[File:Com Guard vs CSV Alpha Galaxy BoT.jpg|Com Guards facing the Steel Vipers in Devil's Pass|thumb]] ===Clan Steel Viper=== Assigned the targets of Kozice Ranch Station and Kelly Springs, the Steel Viper Khans bid three Galaxies, the frontline [[Alpha Galaxy (Clan Steel Viper)|Alpha]] and [[Gamma Galaxy (Clan Steel Viper)|Gamma]] with the second-line [[Zeta Galaxy (Clan Steel Viper)|Zeta Galaxy]] as reserve.<ref name="BoTp83">''BattleTech: Battle of Tukayyid'', p. 83</ref> While earning them an earlier landing, replacing the frontline [[Beta Galaxy (Clan Steel Viper)|Beta]] with a second-line garrison Galaxy was also intended as an insult to the Com Guard forces. Due to a lack of troops, Precentor Martial Focht could not assign his desired two Armies to oppose the Vipers, opting instead to use the highly ranked [[6th Army (ComStar)|Sixth Army]] with just two extra Divisions for reinforcements, which were the Second and Fifth Armies.<ref name="BoTp83" /> However, the Com Guard defense was bolstered by Devil's Bath, a horrific combination of geysers, boiling mud, and narrow paths walled by massive granite columns, stretching for dozens of kilometers between the Vipers' intended drop zone and their target cities.<ref name="BoTp84">''BattleTech: Battle of Tukayyid'', p. 84</ref> Having learned from Clan Smoke Jaguar's mistake, the Vipers set down en masse a safe thirty kilometers from their targets on the open expanse of the Kozice Plains with Alpha and Gamma solely advancing upon the primary objective Kozice Ranch Station.<ref name="BoTp83" /> Harassing the Vipers with artillery and aerospace fighter barrages, the [[6th Division (ComStar)|Sixth Division]]'s ground forces held off their attack until the Clan forces entered Devil's Bath. As the Sixth lured the Vipers in, with the tight paths negating the Clan weapons' superior range and missteps losing entire Stars to the bottomless pools of boiling mud, Khan [[Natalie Breen]] realized too late her troops had stumbled into a massive trap. As the Vipers attempted to withdraw, Precentor [[Beeshor Yekel]] of Sixth Division used his ''Atlas''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[Satellite Uplink]] to personally issue a public challenge and goad them into continuing their attack. Now enraged by the insult, the Vipers redoubled their advance, pushing the Sixth and [[78th Division (ComStar)|Seventy-eighth Division]] through Devil's Bath. While inflicting heavy damage on the Com Guard forces, both Alpha and Gamma Galaxies used up their ammunition at a tremendous rate.<ref name="BoTp84" /> Any hope of resupply was dashed when the elite [[1st Division (ComStar)|First Division]] struck the Vipers supply lines,<ref name="BoTp84" /> Gamma's [[57th Striker (Clan Steel Viper)|Fifty-seventh Striker Cluster]] finally succeeded in pinning down and obliterating the hated Sixth at the cost of their remaining ammunition. Ordering Zeta Galaxy to support and escort the virtually unarmed Alpha and Gamma, the seventy-eighth finally crumbled as all three Steel Viper Galaxies succeeded in reaching the far side of the Bath. There they met the fresh and untouched [[321st Division (ComStar)|321st]] and [[401st Division (ComStar)|401st Divisions]] who stalled the Vipers' advance until the First and [[386th Division (ComStar)|386th Division]]s could enter the fray and finally drive the Clan forces back. With the defeat of several other Clans freeing up other Divisions from other fronts that could be redeployed against them, Khan Breen ordered her warriors to board their DropShips. With 25% losses and two wounded Khans, the Steel Vipers retreated, but on average, for every dead Viper, two Com Guards shared the same fate.<ref>''BattleTech: Battle of Tukayyid'', p. 85</ref> [[Clan Goliath Scorpion]] also participated in the battle, with Scorpion saKhan [[Ren Posavatz]] leading [[Crimson Seeker Star]], who were on a Seeker quest and had negotiated permission from the Steel Vipers to accompany them under condition that they not attempt to claim possession of any territory. The entire unit was separated from its allies in the Devil's Bath and went missing in the battle. Their fate remains unknown.<ref name="FMWCp107">''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', p. 107</ref><ref>''Spotlight On: Crimson Seeker Star'', p. 2</ref> The humiliation of the defeat led Natalie Breen to resign her position, but her decision ensured that her Clan suffered the fewest casualties of any Clan on Tukayyid, which would prove a boon when the Steel Vipers launched their invasion of the Clan Jade Falcon Occupation Zone as an outlet for their anger.<ref name=T-SV>''Tukayyid'', pp. 79–88: "Campaign: Clan Steel Viper"</ref><ref name=IC-SV>''Invading Clans'', p. 86: "Tukayyid"</ref><ref name=FMWC-SV>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', pp. 136, 143, 145–146</ref> After the battle, it was discovered that Viper Beta Striker Star, 250th Assault Cluster of Alpha Galaxy, had killed in the fighting a Precentor [[Bordon Hallis]], who was a genetic relative of the annihilated [[Clan Wolverine]]. IlKhan Ulric Kerensky granted the [[Bloodright]] to hunt down and kill these relations. ===Clan Diamond Shark=== Relatively untried in the invasion, ROM's intelligence rated the Diamond Sharks as the weakest Clan to take part on Tukayyid and Precentor Martial Focht selected the relatively inexperienced [[8th Army (ComStar)|Eighth Army]] and remaining green divisions of [[2nd Army (ComStar)|Second Army]] to face them. Overeager to try and win first landing rights, the mere five Clusters Diamond Shark Khan [[Ian Hawker]] bid, two each from the frontline [[Alpha Galaxy (Clan Diamond Shark)|Alpha]] and [[Gamma Galaxy (Clan Diamond Shark)|Gamma Galaxies]] bolstered by one from the second-line [[Omega Galaxy (Clan Diamond Shark)|Omega Galaxy]], were easily surpassed by the concessions offered by the other Clans, and the Sharks were to land second to last. Clan Diamond Shark's two target cities, Kozice Prime and Urcunat, were positioned twenty kilometers from each other with the Kozice Valley between them. The Com Guards did not attack when the Sharks landed on the evening and night of 1–2 May. Their landing zone was within the Kozice Valley on the plateau north of those cities because it was almost equidistant between them.<ref name="BoTp56">''BattleTech: Battle of Tukayyid'', p. 56</ref> After many delays to the Sharks' construction of field fortifications and ammo dump deployments near ready positions, Khan Hawker began the assaults of the two cities before daybreak on 3 May. The Com Guards used the delays to gather intelligence on the Sharks.<ref>''BattleTech: Battle of Tukayyid'', p. 57</ref> Alpha Galaxy's [[19th Heavy (Clan Diamond Shark)|Nineteenth Heavy Cluster]] and [[39th Strike (Clan Diamond Shark)|Thirty-ninth Striker Cluster]] set out for Kozice Prime with Gamma's [[222nd Assault (Clan Diamond Shark)|222nd Assault]] and [[369th Striker (Clan Diamond Shark)|369th Striker Clusters]] heading towards the secondary target of Urcunat. Hawker's hatred of freeborns led him to keep Omega Galaxy in reserve.<ref name="BoTp56" /> While the Thirty-ninth Striker were repulsed by the veteran [[31st Division (ComStar)|Thirty-first Division]], the Nineteenth Heavy Cluster inflicted losses of over 30% on the green [[85th Division (ComStar)|Eighty-fifth Division]] even as it bought the [[182nd Division (ComStar)|182nd Division]] enough time to outflank and hold the Clusters of Alpha Galaxy in a brutal slugging match. As the fighting between the 182nd and both Clusters of Alpha dissolved into stalemate, despite their losses, the Eighty-fifth joined the Thirty-first and [[56th Division (ComStar)|Fifty-sixth Divisions]] in attacking the Sharks' rear in an attempt to disrupt their supply lines. With Gamma Galaxy's advance on Urcunat also stalled, its Clusters turned to face this new threat, with the 222nd Assault winning the bid to destroy the flanking Com Guard divisions. The 222nd quickly encountered the Eighty-fifth Division, but neither side was able to gain an advantage over the other as the fighting became increasingly brutal. With the Eighty-fifth tying up the Sharks' supply lines for an entire day, [[Star Colonel]] [[Davis (Bloodname)|Seth Davis]]'s patience ran out, breaking ''[[batchall]]'' to order the rest of Gamma to obliterate the infuriating ComStar Division. The Eighty-fifth Division finally crumbled against the overwhelming power of Gamma Galaxy that was sent against it, though they were able to destroy the 222nd Assault Cluster. The Eighty-fifth's destruction was avenged by the Thirty-first and Fifty-sixth Divisions who in turn nearly destroyed Gamma Galaxy. Because the Sharks' leadership was so focused on destroying the Eighty-fifth Division, the Sharks were totally unprepared when Com Guard reinforcements that were freed up by the defeat of Clan Smoke Jaguar attacked. The fresh troops of the [[5th Army (ComStar)|Fifth Army]] performed a combat drop behind the Sharks' front lines, cutting off both Alpha and Gamma Galaxies from their landing zones and supply depots. As the [[82nd Division (ComStar)|Eighty-second]], [[301st Division (ComStar)|301st]], and 182nd Divisions advanced to assist their brothers in the valley, the shocked Shark Khans realized their forces were completely surrounded and dangerously low on ammunition. Regrouping their surviving Clusters for a desperate all-out frontal assault in the hopes of breaking through encircling Com Guard forces, saKhan Sennet called in the reserve freebirth [[3rd Shark Regulars (Clan Diamond Shark)|Third Shark Regulars]] from Omega Galaxy to attempt a rescue of the frontline troops of Alpha and Gamma. While the fresh 'Mechs of Third Regulars were able to fight their way past the [[323rd Division (ComStar)|323rd]] and [[299th Division (ComStar)|299th Divisions]], the glorious frontal assault launched by Khan Hawker to meet up with them was effortlessly shredded by the ComStar troops. The Third Regulars finally reached the battered remains of Alpha and Gamma and opened a hole for them to escape back to the landing zone, but the Com Guard forces refused to let up and harassed the Sharks as they withdrew. Despite the fact Khan Hawker so despised them, as the massed Com Guards prepared for the final killing blow the Third Shark Regulars silently advanced directly into the Com Guards' line of attack. Though ComStar's forces utterly destroyed them, their sacrifice allowed the surviving six warriors of Alpha and Gamma along with Khan Hawker to escape to their DropShips. Chastised, Khan Hawker rescinded his ban on Freeborns serving in the Sharks' frontline forces in recognition of their bravery. Clan Diamond Shark paid the price for their inexperience with the tactics of the Inner Sphere, with the Com Guards almost destroying their entire force. Their defeat on Tukayyid, compounded by the loss shortly afterward of their sole Inner Sphere possession of [[Nyserta]] to the Ghost Bears, resulted in the Sharks' Merchant Caste taking a much more prominent role in dealing with the Inner Sphere and the Clan as a whole.<ref name=T-DS>''Tukayyid'', pp. 69–77: "Campaign: Clan Diamond Shark"</ref><ref name=IC-DS>''Invading Clans'', p. 141: "Baptism of Fire"</ref><ref name=FMWC-DS>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', pp. 61–62: "Summer Storms: Invasion and Upheaval"</ref><ref name=ER3052-62>''Era Report: 3052'', pp. 62–63: "Factions - Clan Diamond Shark"</ref> [[File:Tukayyid 3 (Tukayyid, Scenario Pack.png|right|Clan Ghost Bear fighting through Holth Forest|thumb]] ===Clan Ghost Bear=== The Ghost Bears made an official bid of three frontline Galaxies: [[Alpha Galaxy (Clan Ghost Bear)|Alpha]], [[Beta Galaxy (Clan Ghost Bear)|Beta]] and [[Delta Galaxy (Clan Ghost Bear)|Delta]] with the Com Guard defenders consisting primarily of the veteran ranked [[1st Army (ComStar)|First Army]] supported by the green [[4th Army (ComStar)|Fourth Army]]. Khan Bjorn Jorgensson of Clan Ghost Bear had experience fighting the Free Rasalhague Republic. Due to this experience, he suspected the Com Guards would use ''[[dezgra]]'' tactics and instructed his Clan to ignore ''[[zellbrigen]]'' when it landed fifty kilometers west of its target cities, which were Spanac and Luk, on 1 May. The Com Guards interfered little with this landing.<ref>''BattleTech: Battle of Tukayyid'', p. 69</ref> Having earned the right to land in the fifth hour of combat and trusting in the superior strength of their forces, both Ghost Bear Khans laid a simple plan to target both cities at once with the elite Alpha focused on the target city of Spanac while Beta and Gamma made their way to Luk. Fearful that the inexperienced Fourth Army would break under combat with the Clans, [[Precentor]] [[Katherine Luarca]] ordered them to stay and defend Luk as she sent her First Army to harass the Bears, keeping her veteran [[103rd Division (ComStar)|103rd Division]] back to defend Spanac. The battle around Spanac quickly turned against the Com Guards with the First Army's [[308th Division (ComStar)|308th Division]] having little effect in slowing Alpha Galaxy down, suffering heavy losses in the process. The fighting around Luk initially was little better with the Bears' Beta Galaxy utterly decimating the [[121st Division (ComStar)|121st Division]], until the [[91st Division (ComStar)|Ninety-first]] and [[12th Division (ComStar)|Twelfth Divisions]] emerged from hidden positions and succeeded in trapping and inflicting heavy losses on Delta Galaxy's [[20th Polar Bear Attack (Clan Ghost Bear)|Twentieth Polar Bear Attack]] [[Cluster]], turning the tide and forcing Beta and Delta to withdraw. While saving Luk from immediate attack, this unfortunately left the Ninety-first dangerously out of position as it fell back to assist in the defense of Spanac, arriving on the city outskirts barely ahead of Alpha Galaxy's [[OmniMechs]]. Having made more headway in their assault on Spanac, the Bear Khans ordered Beta and Delta to move and reinforce Alpha's forces. While the Com Guard forces outside Spanac attempted to prevent Beta and Delta from linking up with Alpha, save for Twelfth Division's brilliant ambush and destruction of Beta's [[7th Bear Guards (Clan Ghost Bear)|Seventh Bear Guards]] in Holth Forest, the bulk made it through relatively intact. Unable to reach proper defensive positions while under fire from Alpha, the addition of Beta and Delta allowed the Bears to overrun the Ninety-first and capture most of its supply caches intact. Recognizing her grave mistake in only committing the First Army to fight the Bears, Precentor Luarca ordered her 103rd to keep fighting no matter the cost, until she was forcibly ordered out by Precentor Martial Focht himself, viewing the loss of Spanac a lesser evil over the loss of a full veteran division. The Ghost Bears had barely claimed the city when two [[division]]s from the Fourth Army launched massed artillery barrages on their positions, covering probing raids from the remains of the Ninety-first and Twelfth Divisions. In the face of this assault, the Bear Khans ordered Beta and Delta to hold Spanac while Alpha mustered for an attack on Luk. While the remaining divisions of the Fourth Army defending Luk boasted superior numbers, the elite Alpha Galaxy tore into the untried Fourth and the green Army came close to breaking. Just as the Bears' [[50th Striker (Clan Ghost Bear)|Fiftieth Striker Cluster]] entered Luk's suburbs, the Com Guard defenders of Luk got help from an unexpected source: Precentor Luarca. Hoping to redeem her loss of Spanac, Luarca led her 103rd Division along with the remains of the 308th Division in an attack against Alpha's main supply depot. Guarded only by [[Freeborn|freebirth]] warriors in second-line 'Mechs, the Bears were forced to decide which was more important: the now vital ammunition or continuing the offensive against Luk. The Bears pulled back to reinforce Spanac. By 10 May, ilKhan Kerensky and Precentor Martial Focht had negotiated a marginal victory for Clan Ghost Bear if it chose to accept the marginal victory and stop fighting. Now lacking the strength to take Luk and with the defeat of other Clans allowing the Precentor Martial to reassign other fresh divisions to bolster the Com Guard defense, the Bear Khans chose to safeguard what they had won and agreed to accept the marginal victory and withdraw their forces from Tukayyid.<ref>''BattleTech: Battle of Tukayyid'', p. 71</ref> The Precentor Martial also welcomed this withdrawal, for he could now assign the First and Fourth Armies to fight equally hard against the Jade Falcons. Thanks to their mindset and their partial victory, the Ghost Bears wasted little time in the petty recriminations of the other Clans with the Truce of Tukayyid, quickly moving to reinforce and build upon all they had captured in the Clan Invasion. These efforts would eventually evolve into the startling choice to move their Clan wholesale to the Inner Sphere and to create the [[Ghost Bear Dominion]].<ref name=T-GB>''Tukayyid'', pp. 48–56: "Campaign: Clan Ghost Bear"</ref><ref name=IC-GB>''Invading Clans'', p. 29: "Tukayyid: World of Fate"</ref><ref name=FMWC-GB>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', p. 82: "The Roaring Bear"</ref> [[File:Tukayyid 4 (Tukayyid, Scenario Pack).png|right|thumb]] ===Clan Jade Falcon=== Assigned the target cities of Olalla and Humptulips, the Jade Falcon Khans bid their [[Delta Galaxy (Clan Jade Falcon)|Delta]], [[Vau Galaxy (Clan Jade Falcon)|Vau]], and [[Gamma Galaxy (Clan Jade Falcon)|Gamma Galaxies]].<ref>''BattleTech: Battle of Tukayyid'', p. 114</ref> While not opting to take special measures with regards to its supplies and weapon configurations, their experience with "dishonorable" Inner Sphere tactics and eagerness to outdo Clan Wolf led the Falcon Khans [[Elias Crichell]] and [[Vandervahn Chistu]] to forbid their forces from ''[[batchall]]'' during the battle. In an effort to secure an earlier landing and mock the Com Guards, the ''[[dezgra]]'' [[Falcon Guards]], a unit tainted by its humiliating loss on [[Twycross]] and led by the highly unconventional [[Aidan Pryde]], were bid into the Falcon contingent. The Com Guards defending forces consisted of the largely green rated [[11th Army (ComStar)|Eleventh]] and [[3rd Army (ComStar)|Third Armies]] bolstered by the addition of the [[394th Division (ComStar)|394th]], [[77th Division (ComStar)|Seventy-seventh]], and [[309th Division (ComStar)|309th Divisions]] from the [[2nd Army (ComStar)|Second]], [[12th Army (ComStar)|Twelfth]], and [[1st Army (ComStar)|First Armies]]. Due to a lack of actual combat experience on the part of the Eleventh and Third's command staff, the campaign was almost entirely directed by Precentor Martial Focht. Allowing their DropShips to land unopposed fifty kilometers south of the Prezno River, the Precentor Martial exploited the Jade Falcons cautious and slow-moving advance by ordering 394th Division to pull its scouts back and "strike and hiss," to engage in hit-and-run attacks that were shown to be most effective against the Clans. The troops of the 394th proceeded to launch endless ambushes on the Falcon advance, unleashing a massive hail of fire and retreating before the Clan warriors could effectively engage them. Suffering only minimal losses in return, the 394th's attacks convinced the overly cautious Falcons that they were facing not one but multiple divisions from the Eleventh Army, successfully delaying their advance and buying the defenders of Plough Bridge and Robyn's Crossing vital time to prepare. Being the only two bridges across the violent Prezno River, these would prove natural bottlenecks for the advancing Clan forces and ensure more straight-up fighting that suited their warriors. Defending the approaches to Robyn's Crossing, the [[403rd Division (ComStar)|403rd Division]] was crushed by the [[1st Falcon Striker (Clan Jade Falcon)|First Falcon Striker]], the Clan Cluster inflicting greater than 70% casualties as they brushed aside the regular rated division. As the [[305th Assault (Clan Jade Falcon)|305th Assault]] and [[124th Striker (Clan Jade Falcon)|124th Striker Cluster]] advanced to Plough Bridge, the defending [[214th Division (ComStar)|214th Division]] broke under the massed fire of the 305th's assault-weight OmniMechs. Having dug in around Robyn's Crossing, the [[388th Division (ComStar)|388th Division]] held that bridge in the face of a heavy push by the [[12th Falcon Regulars (Clan Jade Falcon)|Twelfth Falcon Regulars]], but were forced back when the [[jump jet]]–equipped command [[Star]] of the Aidan Pryde's Falcon Guards reinforced the Regulars with an unorthodox flanking action.<ref name=T-61>''Tukayyid'', pp. 61–63: "Assault on Robyn's Crossing [18]"</ref> While suffering heavy losses, these divisions were successful in buying time for Com Guard sappers to rig demolition charges to collapse both bridges when the Falcons tried to cross, sending the Command Star and two Trinaries of the Twelfth Falcon Regulars, and a Trinary and two Binaries of the 305th to their deaths in the fast-moving Prezno River. Before the Falcons could regroup, the Third Army's [[111th Division (ComStar)|111th]] and [[201st Division (ComStar)|201st Divisions]] emerged from hiding on the other side of the river, pushing the Clan forces back with long-range weapons fire and artillery strikes. Pulling back to repair and resupply as the Clan's OmniFighters ceaselessly pounded the Com Guard troops at the bridgeheads, the Falcon Guards and Second Falcon Regulars, led by Aidan Pryde and [[Marthe Pryde]], eventually broke the stalemate on 7 May by moving downstream and establishing a makeshift breakwater in the middle of the river through the sacrifice of a Star of OmniMechs. The jump jet–equipped 'Mechs of the Falcon Guards and Second Regulars were now successfully able to cross. While a costly maneuver, losing three more 'Mechs and a Star of Elementals in the process, the 111th and 201st Divisions were totally unprepared for an attack on this side of the river and retreated to the target city of Olalla as the Falcon Clusters captured both Plough Bridge and Robyn's Crossing.<ref>''BattleTech: Battle of Tukayyid'', p. 116</ref> With both sides of the bridges in Falcon hands and the Clan's Techs setting about constructing pontoon bridges to allow the other Clusters to more easily cross, the Falcon Guard and Second Regulars then advanced toward Olalla and met no resistance. Highly suspicious at the seemingly undefended city, [[Kael Pershaw]], high above in a suborbital spotter plane, detected disparities between the Olalla before him and the pre-Invasion holo-images of the city and, consequently, guided Aidan Pryde to order only a single heavy Star to enter. As the Falcon 'Mechs entered the city center, the Seventy-seventh Division emerged from hidden bunkers buried beneath the city's streets. ComStar engineers had razed the city and rebuilt it with fake buildings to disguise underground BattleMech bunkers from which BattleMechs would rise to the surface and attack, a most ''dezgra'' trap indeed. Due to Pryde's concerns of such a ''dezgra'' tactic, the trap snapped shut only on a single Star. The Falcon Guards successfully escaped and eventually destroyed the 111th and 201st Divisions. With the arrival of the [[1st Falcon Velites (Clan Jade Falcon)|First Falcon Velites]], [[89th Striker (Clan Jade Falcon)|Eighty-ninth]], and [[94th Striker (Clan Jade Falcon)|Ninety-fourth Falcon Strikers]], the Falcon Guards and Second Regulars now ruthlessly hunted down and obliterated the Seventy-seventh Division and captured the city. But this triumph would be short-lived as Com Guard DropShips transporting the six fresh divisions assigned to the defense of Humptulips prepared to land and retake it. Elsewhere the battle also began to turn dangerously against the Falcons. With the withdrawal of Clan Ghost Bear from Tukayyid freeing up the remains of the First and Fourth Armies, the Precentor Martial assigned the Fourth to assist the 388th and 214th in a massive assault against the Falcons' repair and resupply depots at Plough Bridge and Robyn's Crossing. Meanwhile, the divisions of the First joined the bulk of the Eleventh Army to recapture Olalla. Though the Falcons Delta and Vau Galaxies held their ground against the counterattack, a Com Guard airstrike succeeded in destroying Gamma Galaxy's supply depot at Robyn's Crossing. Now facing four full Com Guard Armies and with all Falcon units, with the exception of the Falcon Guards, running low on ammunition and supplies to take both objectives, the destruction of the depot forced the Jade Falcon Khans to reluctantly order a general withdrawal. The withdrawal was, if anything, even bloodier than the advance. As the Falcons attempted to retreat from Olalla to the bridgeheads, the 309th Division attempted to cut off their escape as the Second Falcon Regulars raced to stop them. In some of the bloodiest combat on Tukayyid, the green 309th stood their ground to the last man, with the Second Regulars suffering nearly 70% losses before it utterly obliterated the Com Guard division. Now able to cross the bridge at Robyn's Crossing, the four withdrawing Clusters smashed through the [[90th Division (ComStar)|Ninetieth Division]] as they advanced towards the Jade Falcons' original LZ. Just as the Falcon troops drew close, two ''Overlord''-class DropShips carrying the [[104th Division (ComStar)|104th Division]] attempted to land behind Jade Falcon lines in an attempt to catch the Clan forces in a pincer movement. Unfortunately, a group of Falcon Elementals were able to attack the Com Guard DropShips moments after landing, successfully destroying one and tying up the other before they could deploy their 'Mechs. While the Com Guard forces fanatically threw themselves at the Falcons in a desperate attempt to stop them, the Falcon Guards beat back the attackers and allowed their fellows to board and escape. Remaining behind to allow the escape of wounded troops, Falcon Guards CO Star Colonel Aidan Pryde defeated over two 'Mech Level IIs before he finally fell. Overshadowed by Aidan Pryde's heroic sacrifice was another delaying action by a member of the [[Turkina Keshik]]. Piloting a ''[[Fire Falcon]]'' in the B configuration, a member of "The Turkina Strikers" (Trinary Charlie, Turkina Keshik), either [[Vels Uston]] or [[Burrdon]], held up the advance of a medium-weight Level II for some time before falling to Com Guard fire.<ref>'"Technical Readout: 3058'', p. 158</ref><ref>''Jade Falcon Sourcebook'', p. 52</ref> Since Clan Jade Falcon succeeded in briefly capturing Olalla and inflicted significantly higher losses on the Com Guards than they suffered in turn, the ilKhan and the Precentor Martial agreed that they had earned a draw. Almost all the Jade Falcons successes could be attributed to Aidan Pryde and his Falcon Guards. While both Pryde and his unit had been considered virtually ''dezgra'' before the battle, his unconventional outlook proved the perfect foil for the Com Guard tactics designed to combat traditional Clan opponents. The Crusader Falcons would go on to be the biggest opponents to the result of Tukayyid, trying to undermine and break the truce via the [[Red Corsair]] and extract revenge on the Wolves via the [[Refusal War]].<ref name=T-58>''Tukayyid'', pp. 58–59: "Campaign: Clan Jade Falcon"</ref><ref name=CS-70>''ComStar'', pp. 70–71: "Battle of Tukayyid"</ref><ref name=WC-50-1>''Wolf Clan'', p. 50: "Days of Armageddon - Jade Falcon"</ref><ref name=JFSB-30>''Jade Falcon Sourcebook'', pp. 30–32: "Battle of Tukayyid"</ref> ===Clan Wolf=== Unlike the other Clans that bid away vital forces to earn earlier landings, the Wolves landed later because they liberally bid Clusters of [[Alpha Galaxy (Clan Wolf-in-Exile)|Alpha]], [[Beta Galaxy (Clan Wolf)|Beta]], [[Gamma Galaxy (Clan Wolf)|Gamma]], [[Delta Galaxy (Clan Wolf)|Delta]], and [[Epsilon Galaxy (Clan Wolf)|Epsilon Galaxies]], which were content to use the other Clans as stalking horses. Thanks to the direct insight and experience of [[Khan]] [[Natasha Kerensky]] and bondsman-turned-Clansman [[Phelan Kell|Phelan]] with Inner Sphere tactics, the Wolves prepared for a long campaign against a foe intelligent enough to take advantage of their weaknesses on a battlefield of his making. The Wolves suspended all ''zellbrigen'', made plans to build up and protect their supply chain, and configured their OmniMechs with a heavy bias towards energy weapons. Recognizing that Clan Wolf would be his hardest opponent, Precentor Martial Focht devoted some of his best troops to the battle, transferring the elite [[278th Division (ComStar)|278th]] to assist the [[9th Army (ComStar)|Ninth]] and [[10th Army (ComStar)|Tenth Armies]]. The Tenth was assigned to defend the target cities of Skupo and Brzo, and the Ninth acted as a reserve. Further, with the Wolves landing last, Focht would also find that he could transfer troops slated to face other Clans after they withdrew in defeat, an ace in the hole he hoped would go unused. With the Clan Wolf DropShips grounding unopposed on the New Pannonian Plains forty kilometers southeast from both target cities,<ref>''BattleTech: Battle of Tukayyid'', p. 132</ref> the Wolves [[3rd Battle (Clan Wolf)|Third]] and [[7th Battle (Clan Wolf)|Seventh Battle Clusters]] and Alpha Galaxy's [[4th Wolf Guards (Clan Wolf-in-Exile)|Fourth Wolf Guards]] advanced shoulder to shoulder as if expecting to fight for every step towards the primary target city of Skupo. The Clan advance encountered the 278th and [[166th Division (ComStar)|166th Divisions]] outside of the small hamlet of Forest's End at the foothills of the Porozistu Mountains. While the [[66th Division (ComStar)|Sixty-sixth Division]] harried the Wolves' right flank and the inexperienced 283rd Division prevented the Fourth Wolf Guards from encircling the 166th and 278th positions, the Wolf [[Khan]]s focused all their efforts on the primary defensive line, slowly pushing the 166th and 278th Divisions back. But as the Com Guard divisions retreated towards Skupo under artillery cover, the Clan Wolf forces proved strangely hesitant to follow. As a precaution to this strangeness, the Ninth Army's CO [[Precentor]] [[Margo Koivu]] ordered recon patrols be increased. The ComStar forces finally discovered why when Khan Natasha Kerensky's [[13th Wolf Guards (Clan Wolf-in-Exile)|Thirteenth Wolf Guards]] launched a series of sweeping attacks to try and completely bypass the 166th Division's section of the retreat. Desperately ordering the held in reserve [[282nd Division (ComStar)|282nd Division]] to delay and push Kerensky's Wolf Spiders back to allow the rest of the retreating Com Guard forces to reach the target city, the elite, battered Wolf troops brutally tore the veteran division to shreds. While incredibly costly, the 282nd's sacrifice allowed the remaining divisions of the Tenth Army to fall back to their defensive positions outside Skupo. However, before the Tenth Army's divisions could dig in, the Wolf forces resumed their attack. But while initially successful in breaking through the ComStar lines, the Thirteenth Wolf Guards walked into an ambush as the entrenched [[138th Division (ComStar)|138th Division]] emerged from hidden positions on an apparently barren hilltop. While any other unit would have broken in the face of such a point-blank ambush, their sheer stubbornness allowed the Wolf Spiders to hold their ground until they succeeded in killing the 138th's CO Precentor Jernberg and forcing the devastated division back. With Precentor Martial Focht hurriedly ordering reinforcements from the Ninth Army's [[198th Division (ComStar)|198th]] and [[247th Division (ComStar)|247th Divisions]] to try and bolster the faltering Com Guard battle line as the Wolf Spiders began to tear into the 166th Division, the morale of the Com Guard defenders began to suffer as the Wolves unceasing assault ran roughshod over them. With the elite 278th Division now the sole ComStar unit left effectively combating the Clan Wolf forces, [[ilKhan]] [[Ulric Kerensky]] ordered [[Delta Galaxy (Clan Wolf)|Delta Galaxy's]] [[11th Wolf Guards (Clan Wolf)|Eleventh Wolf Guards]] to eliminate the troublesome unit. Despite a brilliantly coordinated counterattack against the Eleventh, the Com Guard division then found itself encircled by another Wolf Cluster. Unable to break the trap, the 278th went down fighting, inflicting heavy losses on their attackers. Now lacking the forces to hold Skupo after the loss of the 278th, Precentor Martial Focht ordered the withdrawal of the remaining Sixty-sixth and [[208th Division (ComStar)|208th Divisions]] defending it to try and save them from succumbing to the Clan forces. Clan Wolf cautiously advanced to avoid any further ComStar traps before taking Skupo unopposed. Leaving several Clusters from their Gamma Galaxy to protect Skupo before the bulk of their forces made way to Brzo, the Wolves Alpha Galaxy engaged the remaining divisions of the Tenth Army that guarded the approaches to the city while Beta Galaxy fended off reinforcements from the Ninth Army's [[366th Division (ComStar)|366th]] and [[379th Division (ComStar)|379th Divisions]]. As the Com Guard lines began to weaken, the withdrawal of Clan Jade Falcon allowed Precentor Martial Focht to transfer the Eleventh and Thirteenth Armies to the fight against the Wolves with the divisions of the Eleventh dropping in the fringes of Brzo to reinforce the defenses. Pulling back in the face of three full Armies, the Wolves focused on capturing Com Guard depots and securing their own supply lines before advancing, then the divisions of the Eleventh Army launched an all-out attack against Beta Galaxy in the Pozoristu Mountains. But under cover of a fierce storm, Natasha Kerensky's Wolf Spiders led the remaining Clusters of Alpha and Beta in quietly breaching the Com Guard lines in an attempt to bypass nine divisions. While the Precentor Martial spotted the Wolves advance and sent the [[39th Division (ComStar)|Thirty-ninth]] and [[222nd Division (ComStar)|222nd Divisions]] to separate and stall the Wolf Spiders until the divisions of the ad hoc Thirteenth Army could arrive, Phelan's Ax Star instead trapped the 222nd until their fellows arrived. In the midst of this bloody battle, senior Khan [[Garth Radick]] was killed with the Eleventh Army pushing the advantage and forcing the shocked Wolf warriors into retreat. However, the blow to the Wolves morale was short-lived, with Kerensky's Thirteenth Wolf Guards crushing the remains of the 222nd and capturing Brzo for Clan Wolf. While poor deployment by Com Guard forces allowed the Ghost Bears to earn a marginal victory and the savagery of the Jade Falcons allowed them to extract a draw, Clan Wolf comprehensively defeated ComStar at every turn, even when facing four full Armies. In many respects it would be Clan Wolf's greatest hour but would bring disastrous consequences. Mirroring the Clans as a whole, the divide between Wolves Warden and Crusader factions only increased in intensity after Tukayyid, eventually resulting in the Refusal War and the sundering of the Clan into separate Crusader and [[Clan Wolf-in-Exile|Warden halves]].<ref name=T-90>''Tukayyid'', p. 90: "Campaign: Clan Wolf"</ref><ref name=CS-71>''ComStar'', pp. 71–72: "Battle of Tukayyid"</ref><ref name=WC-50-2>''Wolf Clan'', pp. 50–51: "Days of Armageddon - Wolf"</ref> ==Results== After 21 days of fighting, the ilKhan of the Clans conceded victory to ComStar. Of the Clans, only the Wolves had successfully gained control of both target cities. The Ghost Bears earned a marginal victory for holding Spanac but failing to take Luk, and the Jade Falcons achieved a draw based on inflicting far greater losses than they sustained. However, both sides suffered staggering losses in the process. Though victorious, the relatively green Com Guards sustained over 40% fatalities with even more injured. Despite their much higher levels of experience and training, the Clans suffered almost as badly; Clan Wolf suffered the fewest fatalities at 20% while the Diamond Shark forces were virtually wiped out. Beyond pressuring the invaders to delay their advance in order to rebuild their forces, the resounding victory at Tukayyid stopped the Clan juggernaut in its tracks and bought the Inner Sphere a full fifteen years to prepare for a resumption of hostilities from Clans below the truce line. The victory also elevated Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht to nothing short of a legend within both the Inner Sphere and the Clans. Unfortunately, the actions of Focht and the Com Guards would nearly be overshadowed by Primus Waterly's treacherous [[Operation SCORPION]]. The battle also inflicted a heavy toll on the Clan leadership: two Khans were killed in combat ([[Garth Radick]] of the Wolves, and [[Sarah Weaver]] of the Jaguars), and a third resigned her post after ([[Natalie Breen]] of the Steel Vipers), and the Scorpion saKhan [[Ren Posavatz]] was MIA in the battle.<ref name="FMWCp107" /> These lost Khans represented almost a quarter of all Khans involved. Additionally, important ''ristars'' and probable future leaders died in the battle, such as [[Aidan Pryde]] of the Falcons. These losses changed the political balance of many of the invading Clans: the Steel Vipers turned almost exclusively into a Crusader Clan, and the Ghost Bears became more devoted to the Warden cause. The battle would be labeled by the Crusader Clans as "Tukayyid the Accursed," due to the near-annihilation of the Clan way of life and would rarely be spoken about among those in the warrior caste. Some Clans never recovered to their prebattle levels, most notably Clan Smoke Jaguar. That was not only due to the high level of casualties they endured but also for their official policy to blame their surviving warriors for the defeat, as they also did with survivors of the [[Battle of Luthien (3052)|Battle of Luthien]]. But it must be noted that the high-level leaders, such as [[Lincoln Osis]] or [[Brandon Howell]], were excluded from this rule as well as other warriors with political influence. Most of the remaining Smoke Jaguar warrior caste, such as [[Russou Howell]], who survived Luthien, and [[Trent (Clan Smoke Jaguar)|Trent]], saw their careers doomed. The survivors found themselves despised, their advice ignored, and their superiors needing but the flimsiest of excuses to brand them as ''[[solahma]]'', too old to serve in mainstream units. Not all Clans reacted as strongly, though. [[Vlad Ward]], a later Khan of the Wolves, said that Tukayyid was a crucible, and only the warriors who survived to it would be eligible for election to [[ilKhan]]. ==References== <references /> ==Bibliography== {{div col|colwidth=25em}} * ''[[BattleTech: Battle of Tukayyid]]'' * ''[[ComStar (sourcebook)|ComStar]]'' * ''[[Era Report: 3052]]'' * ''[[Exodus Road (novel)|Exodus Road]]'' * ''[[Field Manual: ComStar]]'' * ''[[Field Manual: Crusader Clans]]'' * ''[[Field Manual: Warden Clans]]'' * ''[[Invading Clans]]'' * ''[[Jade Falcon Sourcebook]]'' * ''[[Lost Destiny]]'' * ''[[Tukayyid (scenario pack)|Tukayyid]]'' * ''[[Wolf Clan Sourcebook]]'' {{div col end}} [[Category:Clan Invasion Era Military Operations|Tukayyid]]

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