Chapter 64

The fight for the Third Line of Fortifications began with a direct bombardment of the Third Line with smart munitions from our artillery. This, of course, was a lot more limiting than a saturation bombardment, but given the civilians in the vicinity, it was decided that doing it this way would limit the potential for civilian casualties. As our artillery exchanged fire with the various bunker complexes, I could already tell that it wouldn't be enough to reduce all but the first few Bunker Complexes.

Indeed, the enemy had another stretch of twenty-six bunkers and bunker complexes surrounding Amaris City Proper, a ring of iron to defend against any possible attacks, all of which were coordinated by the Schloss Von Strang, a massive bastion of reinforced concrete and endosteel jutting out from the City Center of Amaris City like some sort of Castle in a Medieval City. It made taking Amaris city a difficult process, even if we avoided the various cul-de-sacs that went nowhere and tank traps that funneled attackers into dead ends.

It was no wonder the Clans had a difficult time with such a place. I knew they had required the entire Jade Falcon Turkina Keshik to take this world, and that was an entire Cluster of the best troops the Clans had to offer, plus Aerospace Support. That I had gotten this far with three Regiments showed I was catching up to the Clans, though I wasn't there yet. It was likely that I would need the reinforcements to do what they did, and five regiments to equal the deeds of one cluster was not a good ratio, even if it was better than what the Inner Sphere was capable of.

Still, as the day passed and the bombardment continued, I watched on as the outlying bunker complexes crumbled under the weight of fire from my artillery. After thirty-six hours, Bunker Complexes A through E had been defanged enough that I could send in infantry to assault them, though I would need to cover them with Mech and Combat Vehicle Forces, just in case of counterattack by the Amaris Guards. I would hop in my Custom Highlander and lead my forces to cover the APCs filled with Varulv Power Armor Troopers and Mechanized Infantry, just in case.

It would turn out to be a good thing that I did. . .

XXXX

Stepan Von Strang was livid. That these invaders had dared to step a single toe on his world was bad enough, but to slay his father to do it? That was unconscionable! He had half a mind to lead the counterattack himself, only to have General Hildebrandt of the Guards try to dissuade him from doing so. General Hildebrandt had insisted that the potential of losing Stepan to enemy action would doom the defense of Amaris City. Instead, General Hildebrandt insisted that he could lead the counterattack himself. This hadn't fully convinced Stepan, mind you. His blood cried out for vengeance against those who had slain his father, after all.

"Hans, I do not see why I should not simply take the Guards and lead them to victory. Surely with their Baron at their head, they will be more than capable of throwing back these invading Scum?" Questioned Stepan.

"That may be so, My Liege, but if you were to be killed or captured, morale would collapse as surely as if Amaris City was wiped off the map." Intoned General Hildebrandt.

"I do not think that likely. After all, what have I to fear when the Guards are there to protect their Baron?" Queried Stepan.

"The Guards would try to defend you, but that is not proof against capture or death. Need I remind you that your father likely felt the same?" Asked General Hildebrandt.

"It is because of my Father that I insist! I must have vengeance for his death!" Pressed Stepan.

"Nevertheless, My Liege, the risk is too great." Reiterated General Hildebrandt.

"No, that is enough of you questioning me. I am your Baron, now. I will not be gainsaid." Intoned Stepan.

"Very well, My Liege. If that is your will, I am sworn to carry it out." Frowned General Hildebrandt.

"It is my will." Nodded Stepan.

"Might I humbly request that you stay close to me, My Liege? To mitigate the odds of your capture, I mean." Questioned General Hildebrandt.

"That would be the logical place to command from wouldn't it?" Queried Stepan.

"Just so, My Liege." Concurred General Hildebrandt.

"Very well, I shall attach myself to your command lance." Confirmed Stepan.

"Very good, My Liege. Anything else?" Asked General Hildebrandt.

"Not at the moment." Demurred Stepan.

"Then I shall go make the arrangements, My Liege." Sighed General Hildebrandt.

"Cheer up, Hans! After all, I will be heading out in Big Bertha. Surely that, plus your command lance, is all the protection I will need?" Smirked Stepan.

"As you will, My Liege." Bowed General Hildebrandt.

And like that, Stepan had gotten his way yet again, as was his due as Baron. For now, he headed to his private hangar in the Schloss Von Strang. He had a pre-launch sequence to run through so that Big Bertha could truly fight. It had been a remarkable thing that his father had found. A Cache full of SLDF Royal and Rim Worlds Army equipment on some desolate rock floating in the middle of a dead system in the Chainelane Isles. His Father had stripped the cache bare and taken a bit over three regiments' worth of equipment back to their World.

One of those regiments had been disassembled for spare parts, of course, since there were only limited supplies of spare parts in the cache proper, but it had proven an immense boon to the Von Strang Guards. His father had taken a Royal Hussar for his own, of course, but Stepan had always preferred something heavier. That was where Big Bertha Came in. An eighty-five-ton Assault Mech, Big Bertha was a Royal Battlemaster of SLDF Royal Vintage. Four Medium Lasers, Two ER PPCs, and a Large Pulse Laser were installed on an Endosteel Chassis, protected by Ferro-Fibrous Armor, and cooled by Double Heat Sinks.  

She was a thing of beauty, powerful and deadly. The pinnacle of what the Barony of Strang could bring to bear against its various enemies. Now Stepan would turn Big Bertha's power on the fools who would dare to invade their world. She would be his instrument of vengeance against the Poniatowski who had slain his father. Soon enough, the pre-launch checklist was finished, everything checked out green, and Stepan joined General Hildebrandt's Command Lance.

The time for vengeance was at hand, and Stepan refused to pass this opportunity by. . .

XXXX

As I led First, Second, and Third Guards out onto the field, guarding the infantry as they made their way toward the five bunker complexes that had been broken open by our Artillery Bombardment, I couldn't help but think that this would be the perfect time for the enemy to ambush us. We couldn't really maneuver, after all, not if we had to protect the infantry. Of course, no sooner had I thought that than I would be proven correct, though I dearly wished that I hadn't been.

It started small, with one of First Guards' Scorpion Two Tanks hitting a mine, the high explosive blowing the tracks off the Tank and setting it alight. Then, a concealed Thumper Position inside a nearby Freight Building opened up, blowing one of First Guards' Hipparch Two's to Hell and crippling one of Second Guards' Rifleman Twos by landing a high explosive shell on its left leg, blowing the leg off. No sooner had Colonel Lindqvist put a Gauss Rifle Slug into the Freight Building, collapsing the roof on the Thumper Position, than the enemy counterattack began in earnest as Mechs and Combat Vehicles sortied from hidden positions.

They came at us from left and right, with Rampages, Royal Griffins, Dragoons, and Royal Warhammers, supplemented by Hipparchs and Manticores. They must have left the Militia to garrison the various defenses because there was a complete lack of any of the Gun Trucks and Technicals that seemed to be the bread and butter of the Von Strang's World Militia. They were only throwing the best of the best at us here.

I sighted down on an Enemy Rampage, giving it everything I had, firing both my Ultra-Autocannon and My Gauss Rifle, in addition to the Medium Laser. The sheer weight of firepower I sent downrange destroyed the Rampage, but a Royal Warhammer took its place quickly, firing back at me with its short-range missiles. They were deadly accurate, but one of First Guards' Rampages, shouldered me out of the line of fire, taking the hits for me. The Rampage was blown to bits, but I had no time to grieve, as soon as I had steadied my Mech, I was already firing my Gauss Rifle at the Royal Warhammer. It took a Gauss slug and a burst of Armor-Piercing Ultra-Autocannon rounds to take the Royal Warhammer down and avenge the Mechwarrior from First Guards, who I would later learn had been a Lieutenant Anneliese Bergendorff.

Of course, that wasn't the only close shave I had either, as an Enemy Dragoon traded fire with me using its five medium lasers in a rippling salvo that boiled much of the armor off of my right side before I was able to get into cover. Popping out of cover, I took an ER PPC blast to the front from that Dragoon's Lancemate, stripping yet more armor off my Mech before I managed to down Both Dragoons with a pair of Gauss Rifle Slugs and a full salvo of Armor Piercing Rounds from my Ultra-Autocannon.

I switched my target to a trio of Manticore Heavy Tanks that had been exchanging fire with Second Guards, destroying a trio of Ignis Twos and downing a Refit Griffin and a Rifleman Two in the process, though a number of other Manticores and a pair of Royal Griffins were burning nearby, indicating they hadn't been alone. However, the trio of remaining enemy Manticores managed to down a Rifleman Two as I targeted them, leaving them with a direct shot at the Infantry APCs of Second Guards. I sprayed the trio of Manticores down with Armor-Piercing Rounds from my Ultra-Autocannon, punching through two of the tanks and causing the last one to hastily reverse course. That gave the escort for Second Guards' Infantry time to firm up as an Ignis Two let off a salvo of missiles that destroyed the last Manticore.

It was then that I spotted them. The Enemy's Command Lance had largely been hanging back, waiting for the right moment to engage. Three Rampages and a Royal Warhammer, alongside a Royal Battlemaster. It was the Royal Battlemaster that drew my attention, as it had the Coronet painted atop the Von Strang Guards Rondel. Stepan Von Strang had apparently decided to take the field. It was stupid of him to do so, as killing or capturing him would be the only way we could end the bloodbath this assault was quickly turning into on favorable terms.

"Anyone not engaged, on me! The Baron is on the field and I am heading for him!" I called out over our Force's Comms Frequency.

"My Lord, is that wise?" Questioned General Jorgensen.

"Do you have a better idea of how to end this slaughter favorably, General?" I queried.

"No, My Lord, but that tactic cuts both ways." Warned General Jorgensen.

"I'm aware, General. That being so, what can you send me for backup?" I asked.

"Colonel Kadlec and Third Guards have been mostly unengaged. It's been largely First and Second Guards taking the brunt of the enemy counterattack. Colonel Kadlec can send you a Lance from Alpha Battalion, Third Guards to back you up." Informed General Jorgensen.

"Copy that, General. I await their arrival." I nodded.

I wasn't waiting for very long. I had just used my Medium Laser to destroy an Enemy Hipparch that had been trading fire with a pair of Scorpion Twos when they arrived, just as the Second Enemy Hipparch turned to fire on me and was subsequently blasted by the Scorpion Twos. Four Rampage Four-GX Assault Mechs led by Lieutenant Kuba Petrowski arrived as my backup. Together, we moved to attack the enemy Command Lance.

The battle began with a salvo of Gauss Rifle Slugs, mine sheared the front armor off of one of the enemy Rampages, and my follow-on Ultra-Autocannon Burst punched into the cockpit, killing it. The Royal Battlemaster turned to fire its Large Pulse Laser at me, pulses of coherent light lashing out, but I was already ducking behind cover provided by fallen bunker rubble in a mad dash, aided by my Jump Jets. As the rest of the enemy Command Lance broke off to engage Lieutenant Petrowski's Lance, Stepan Von Strang followed after me in a duel.

As I popped back out of cover, I fired my Gauss Rifle at Stepan's Mech, cracking the front armor before leaping back into cover as he fired all four of his frontal medium lasers at me, a rippling salvo of energy that took out the remaining armor on my right side before I managed to duck back into cover. His Royal Battlemaster rounded the rubble I had been using cover, but that was where I wanted him. I fired a full salvo of everything I had at him as he rounded the rubble, stripping his Royal Battlemaster of its frontal armor even as I hit my jump jets, flying up and over the Bunker Rubble to land in cover on the other side.

Here, an enemy Royal Griffin fired its ER PPC into my rear, blasting off my Rear Armor, and forcing me to expend the last of my Ammo for my Gauss Rifle to kill it. As I did that, however, Stepan Von Strang rounded the corner of the Bunker Rubble I was using as cover, firing both ER PPCs. I just barely managed to hit my jump jets in time to fly up on top of the Rubble, but the Armor on my legs had been blasted off by Stepan's ER PPCs. Stepan turned to aim at me at the same time I leveled My Ultra-Autocannon, firing the last of my Ultra-Autocannon Rounds as he did so.

The Armor-Piercing Rounds punched into Stepan Von Strang's Front, most deflecting off the Endosteel bones of his Royal Battlemaster. One, however, punched through the Endosteel Chassis and into the reactor housing, forcing Stepan Von Strang to initiate an emergency reactor shutdown. However, I had one last card to play, my Medium Laser. I blasted the beam through the hole my Ultra-Autocannon had punched through the Endosteel Chassis, and the energy forced an immediate overload, as Stepan's Reactor cooked off despite his emergency shutdown. Meanwhile, I jumped off the Bunker Rubble and to the other side, hunkering down in cover as Stepan Von Strang's Royal Battlemaster exploded, taking the Baron of Strang with it.

That, it seemed, demoralized the Von Strang Guards, and soon they were in a full retreat. Our forces were able to hound them back to their hidden hangars, turning a retreat into a rout and cutting down even more of the enemy. I didn't lead that effort, however, leaving it to General Jorgensen. My Mech was not only out of ammunition but looked more like a bloody, battered, skeleton, than anything respectable. Much of the armor had been stripped from it in heavy combat, and some of the Myomer had been damaged, along with carbon scoring along bits of the Endosteel Skeleton. Honestly, it was a wonder that my Custom Highlander had held together well enough to make the trip back behind the lines.

I had taken enough damage today, after all. . .

XXXX

In the end, we wound up taking all Bunker Complexes that had been broken open, as well as Bunker Complexes F and G via assault through the Maintainance Tunnels by Varulv Power Armored Troopers. That secured us an entry into Amaris City, but we paid a heavy price to do so. First and Second Guards were down to sixty-seven and seventy percent combat effectiveness via casualties, while Third Guards was down to Seventy-one Percent Combat Effectiveness due to Casualties. The consensus was that we would have to wait for the arrival of Fourth and Fifth Guards to actually push into Amaris City against the Schloss Von Strang. Everyone expected us to need them for that.

What we hadn't expected was for Amaris City to break out into infighting three days before the reinforcements were scheduled to arrive. Apparently, the Militia under General Constantin Audea had found out about the lies that the Baron had been using as propaganda to not only get recruitment numbers up but also get the Militia to fight to the bitter end. General Audea had staged a coup in the Schloss von Strang by letting the Militia in on the fact that they had been lied to and directing them against the Battered and Much-Reduced Von Strang Guards.

I supposed General Audea had heard that Stepan Von Strang had been killed and that we had two more regiments on the way. He must have seen that, then seen that the Von Strang Guards were in no position to stop us, and decided to throw in with the winner once he found out which way the wind was blowing. It was pretty opportunistic, but what it meant was that the enemy had been weakened enough by infighting that we were able to sweep through Amaris City with relatively little opposition, taking the Schloss Von Strang in a more or less bloodless assault.

I wasn't going to wait for General Audea's coup to succeed, after all. If I had, he would present me with a faint accompli, and I couldn't countenance a man who was this opportunistic to work under me. After all, since he was in overall command of the Militia, it wasn't like General Audea was one of the lower officers who'd been lied to. He had to be in on things by necessity. A man like that, who could lie to his subordinates and was opportunistic enough to coup his former comrades when it seemed that there was a chance to seize power and become the new planetary ruler, even with an overlord, could not be trusted.

In the end, we didn't need to treat with him, just take advantage of his coup. By the time the reinforcements arrived, we had cemented our control of Amaris City. Von Strang's world was ours by the time the first of our reinforcements touched down. It had taken a lot of blood and sweat to do it, and I wasn't happy with our overall performance compared to the Clans, but we could improve on that. We had the time, after all, and our performance was at least better than the Inner Sphere's would have been.

Regardless, Operation: Gotterdamerung had been successfully completed. All that remained was rebuilding, appointing a civilian government, and generally solidifying our rule. My first decree was going to be the abolition of the Warden System and the serfdom that had sustained the Economy of the Barony of Strang, allowing the Von Strangs and their Wardens to live lives of luxury while their serfs were ground into the dust. That, I hoped, would do more to endear the people to me over their former masters than anything else.

Only time would tell. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we have the next chapter. Jozef managed to succeed in conquering Von Strang's World with three regiments, but only because Stepan Von Strang was an idiot and decided to take the field personally. If not for that, the assault would have bounced and Jozef would have been forced to wait for the reinforcements, but because Stepan took the field out of a sense of vengeance, that led to him being killable, which led to a chain reaction on his death that ultimately ended with the capture of Amaris City before the Reinforcements even touched down on-world.

Regardless, Jozef is not happy about that, since he was comparing his assault to that of the Clans and found that his forces still came off unfavorably. Right now, it's taken them three to five regiments to match the Clans Feats here, depending on how things played out. Three to five regiments to equal a Cluster, even one as badass as the Jade Falcon's Turkina Keshik, isn't exactly a favorable ratio. Granted First, Second, and Third Guards haven't trained up to be more than Regular/Fanatical on their new equipment so far, which skewed things somewhat in terms of skill. Unfortunately, the replacement troops they'll have to recruit means that they'll need even more training to get back to Elite Status than they otherwise would have. Fortunately, the next Succession War isn't likely to erupt for another seven or so years.

At any rate, the next chapter will be an interlude looking at what's going on with Frederick Steiner and his efforts to conquer parts of the Periphery. I'll also have a map update afterward.

Stay tuned. . .