Retreat From the Center

Retreat

   The retreat from the central sectors had become a strategic rout. At least seventy-five percent of 464th Infantry Command’s combat strength, including the 23rd Infantry Army Group, as well as orbital jump, armor, artillery, engineer, and signal units had been expended. The planned attack to retake Maun Thok never materialized because 464th Infantry Command no longer possessed the means to attempt it. The Kopitak 510th, 337th, and 34th Fleets began to move toward the Qusec core. The only force facing them was the 122nd Qusec Naval Command, which was tasked with defending the stellar trade lanes in the heart of the empire. However, by late April, 3417, the three Kopitak fleets would make it into the Aya and Breeshong starsystems.

   In March, 3416 the 464th Infantry Command was ordered to proceed to Rao Pyet starsystem for rest and refit. Kopitak forces made a surprise landing there, and two of the command's army groups had to fight their way through to their landing zones for pick-up. In late April, what was left of the infantry command was extracted. Two corps commanders, after being ordered to evacuate, refused to go, preferring suicide rather than retreat. That army group's third corps, the 47th, ran into an ambush at the Qi Det spaceport, losing about half of its troops. When it later regrouped at Wahvea starsystem, the unit numbered only slightly over 20,000 men, its commander chose suicide over surrender, ordering her aide de camp to shoot her.

Aya–Breeshong Campaign

   The situation for the Qusec in the Northern Command zone had regained some stability after the defeat of a three-pronged Kopitak push during late 3416. By early the following year, Northern Command fielded three infantry army groups (the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd), the elite orbital jump and marine armies, four orbital landing Groups and the 1st Armored Army. The northern provinces were under the command of one of Qusec 's finest generals, Phuet Sauma. Until mid-March, 3417 the Kopitak had limited their offensive operations to attempts to cut the main north-south lines of communication, between Aya and Breeshong starsystems and between Breeshong and Dia Mei starsystems. To confront the Qusec, Kopitak Clan Admiral Mivas Ven amassed a force of five fleet groups and nine independent armies, three sapper commands, three armored corps, twelve anti-starship torpedo brigades and eight artillery ship (Bombard) divisions.

Kopitak Offensive in the Northern Tactical Zone

   At a meeting in Gassong City in early 3417, President Liseut was briefed on the military situation by Sauma and the new 3rd Infantry Command leader, Lieutenant General Phyat Voana. Liseut then laid out his plan for consolidation. As Sauma understood it, he was free to redeploy his forces to hold the Breeshong area. Sauma was shocked to discover, however, that the orbital jump forces were to be removed to 3rd Infantry Command (unknown to Sauma at the time, the fleet marine armies were also slated for redeployment with both units then forming a new imperial reserve).

   General Sauma was recalled to Gassong City in late March, 3417,  to brief Liseut on his withdrawal plan. The general had developed two contingency plans: The first was predicated on government control of the Hilan shipping lanes, which would be utilized for two simultaneous withdrawals from Aya and Dia Mei to Breeshong; The second course presupposed Kopitak interdiction of the shipping lanes and called for a withdrawal into three enclaves: Aya, Breeshong, and Mia Dia Mei. This was an interim measure, however, since the forces that withdrew to Aya and Dia Mei would then be transported to Breeshong by the navy. The president then stunned the general by announcing that he had misinterpreted his previous orders: The old imperial capital of Aya was not to be abandoned. Making matters worse, Sauma discovered that his force was to be reduced by the removal of the fleet marine armies.

   By the time of the second meeting, it was apparent that the second plan was the only possible choice since any phased withdrawal along shipping lanes had become impossible. This was due to increasing Kopitak pressure and the enormous and uncontrolled flow of refugees out of the region. Sauma then requested permission for a withdrawal of his forces into the three enclaves as planned and for the retention of the marines. Liseut ordered him to hold onto any territory you can with whatever you have, including the marine contingent.

   Sauma returned to his Breeshong headquarters the same day and was greeted by bad news. The Kopitak had begun an all-out offensive and breached Sauma's southern defense line at the Vedi Starstream. President Liseut made an empire-wide broadcast that day proclaiming that Aya would be held at all costs. That evening Sauma ordered a retreat to a new defensive line at the Na Diap Cut, thereby ceding all of Raeph Province to the Kopitak. He was confident that his forces could hold Aya, but he was then astounded by a late afternoon message from the president that because of the inability to simultaneously defend all three enclaves, Sauma was free...to redeploy his forces for the defense of Breeshong only. Heedless of the president's claims, the people of Raeph Province and Aya began to leave by any transport available, joining an ever-growing exodus toward Breeshong starsystem.

   Meanwhile, the Kopitak offensive was rolling over Qusec opposition north and south of Breeshong. Clan Admiral Tuggla's plan called for attacks on the area from the west, north, and south that would drive Qusec forces into Breeshong, where they could be destroyed in detail. The shipping lanes between the Aya and Breeshong were cut at Qi Muth starsystem after severe fighting. South of Breeshong, the 52nd Qusec Fleet barely managed to contain a Kopitak drive toward the Venja Plain. On the morning of 24 March, 3417, however, the Kopitak 711th Corps, backed by armored elements, seized Qi Muth, driving the survivors north toward Breeshong. Kopitak forces then cut shipping lanes between Raeph Province and Dai Mei, a move to which the 52nd Qusec Fleet was too battered to respond. With Command approval, Qusec troops from Raeph Province fought their way northward, but only a few managed to reach Dai Mei.

Withdrawal

   With the withdrawal to the three enclaves now complete, Sauma issued the following orders: The 1st Army Group and other units in the Aya area were to withdraw toward Breeshong while the Fleet Marine elements were to be retrieved by ship from Aya. The 52nd Fleet, its dependents, and the remains of the Raeph Province sector forces were to be withdrawn to the Soa Drift to the west of Dai Mei.

   During late March, 3417, command and control collapsed, and discipline in the 52nd Fleet eroded after its commander told his men that "We've been betrayed. It is now every man for himself. See you in Breeshong." The retreat, pummelled by Kopitak raiders the entire way, degenerated into chaos as it moved toward Breeshong. No sooner had the remains of the force reached the starsystem than ship's crews began to melt away, searching for their families. 

   From the north, two Kopitak fleets enveloped the outer orbits of Breeshong. To the south, two more fleet groups closed in and brought Gassong city into ship bombard range. Breeshong then collapsed into anarchy and chaos. Looting was widespread. The civilians stranded in Gaszha City were estimated at approximately three and one-half million. With a coherent defense of the starsystem becoming impossible, Sauma requested permission to evacuate, but Liseut refused. When his communications with Gassong City were sundered, and on his own initiative, Sauma ordered a naval withdrawal.

   Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians rushed for the starports, where many were crushed trying to reach the ships. Thousands more died under the continuous Kopitak artillery barrages. Of the government's four infantry commands, four orbital jump groups, an armored corps, air division, and millions of Territorial, support, and staff personnel, only around 16,000 were pulled out as the Kopitak transports began landing. Of the almost twenty billion civilians that packed Breeshong before the invasion, a little more than 40,000 were evacuated. Left behind were 70 million Qusec troops and sailors who were taken prisoner by Kopitak forces. During the fall of Breeshong, no pitched battles had been fought, and few of the Qusec troops had even raised their pulse rifles in its defense. In quick succession, the few remaining centers of resistance along the Na Diap Cut fell.

Next...The Qusec Endgame

END TRANSMISSION

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