View source for Operation BATU

{{InfoBoxConflict
| conflict = 
| partof = [[Combine-Ghost Bear War]]
| image = 
| caption = 
| date = [[3062]]
| enddate = 
| place =
| planet = [[Alshain]]
| result = Clan Ghost Bear destroy the Combine invaders and launch counterstrikes.
| territory =
| faction1 = (Attacker)<br/>[[Draconis Combine]]
| faction2 = (Defender)<br/>[[Clan Ghost Bear]]
| faction3 = 
| commander1 = 
| commander2 = 
| commander3 = 
| forces1 = 
| forces2 = 
| forces3 = 
| environment = 
| conditions = 
}}
==Overview==
'''Operation BATU''' was an unauthorized invasion of the planet [[Alshain]], which was held by [[Clan Ghost Bear]] in [[3062]]. The strike was mostly planned by the ''[[Kokuryu-kai]]'', also known as the [[Black Dragon Society]], but the mastermind behind the operation was [[Duke]] [[Hassid Ricol]].<ref>''Path of Glory'', Chapter 29</ref> Three of the four [[Alshain Avengers]] regiments attempted to retake the world for the [[Draconis Combine]], and were obliterated by the Ghost Bears,<ref name="POGp245">''Path of Glory'', p. 245</ref> while one regiment never made it to Alshain to begin with.<ref name="POGp245"/>

In fact, the operation was doomed from the outset, and was little more than a suicide mission for the Avengers.

{{quote|''I applaud the Avengers' audacity, but the battle was over before it had begun.''| [[Vlad Ward]], [[Khan]] of [[Clan Wolf]], commenting on the aftermath of Operation BATU.<ref>''Test of Vengeance'' p. 30</ref>}}

== Preparations ==
Three of the four regiments of Avengers managed to leave their duty stations and travel to Alshain without attracting suspicion, but not the fourth; the [[Eleventh Alshain Avengers]] were prevented from joining the assault by [[Clan Nova Cat]] forces, who were acting on a vision from [[Zane Nova Cat]]. The Eleventh sustained heavy losses and were unable to depart from their duty station.<ref name="POGp245"/>

== Attack ==
The absence of the Eleventh Alshain Avengers reduced the rogue [[DCMS]] forces to three-quarters of their planned strength, but a decisive factor in the failure of the attack on Alshain was that the Avengers either ignored the availabile intelligence on the Ghost Bears or were unaware that the clan had abandoned all of its holdings in the [[Clan Homeworlds]] and relocated to the Inner Sphere en masse, with Alshain as their new capital world. The Black Dragons had sufficient influence to obtain the ''[[Tatsumaki]]''-class destroyer [[Dragon's Last Tear|DCS ''Dragon's Last Tear]] as part of the Avengers task force, but the destroyer was completely outclassed by the ''[[Nightlord]]''-class battleship [[Ursa Major|CGB ''Ursa Major'']] and easily destroyed,<ref name="POGGen"/> and somewhere between half<ref name=FMUp13/><ref name=FMUp60/> and an entire regiment of Avengers were destroyed in space soon afterwards.<ref name="POGGen">''Path of Glory''</ref>

Additionally, the clan garrison on planet was much larger than expected. The Avengers that survived the opening salvoes in space managed to make landfall, albeit with a number of [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarriors]] arriving via combat drops. The Avengers who made it to the ground were overwhelmed by the Ghost Bear forces.<ref name="POGGen"/><ref name=FMUp13/><ref name=FMUp60/> Tai-i [[Shiro Kanazawa]], an [[Atlas (BattleMech)|Atlas]] pilot and Alshain native was defeated and killed in single combat by a lone [[Elemental]], a Ghost Bear ''[[ristar]]'' named [[Jake Kabrinski]].<ref name=ACtA04>''Test of Vengeance'' p. 14-21</ref>. A small number of Avengers survived long enough to flee into the wilderness and launch a guerilla campaign.<ref name=FMUp13>''Field Manual: Updates'', p. 13</ref><ref name=FMUp60>''Field Manual: Updates'', p. 60</ref> 

== Aftermath ==
[[Theodore Kurita]] denounced the attempted invasion of Alshain and labeled the participating Combine units as traitors<ref>''Path of Glory'', p. 256</ref>, but this failed to appease the Ghost Bears, who launched assaults along the [[Ghost Bear Dominion]] border with the Combine, initiating what would later be known as the [[First Combine-Dominion War]].<ref>''Path of Glory'''', p. 261</ref> The survivors of the Eleventh Alshain Avengers were also hunted and destroyed by the Ghost Bears, despite never having made it to Alshain.<ref>''Path of Glory'''', p. 261</ref>

== Units Involved==
=== Draconis Combine ===
* [[Alshain Avengers]]
** [[Eighth Alshain Avengers]]
** [[Eleventh Alshain Avengers]]
** [[Fourteenth Alshain Avengers]]
** [[Fifteenth Alshain Avengers]]
* ''[[Tatsumaki]]''-class [[WarShip]] [[Dragon's Last Tear|DCS ''Dragon's Last Tear]]''

===Clan Ghost Bear===
* ''[[Nightlord]]''-class WarShip [[Ursa Major|CGB ''Ursa Major'']]

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Field Manual: Updates]]''
* ''[[Path of Glory]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Test of Vengeance]]'' (novel)

[[Category:Civil War Era Military Operations|Operation BATU (3062)]]