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{{InfoBoxBattle
| conflict   = Operation STEEL HAMMER
| partof     = [[Jihad]]
| image      = 
| startdate  = Early years of the [[Jihad]]
| enddate    = 
| planet     = 
| place      = 
| result     = WoB forces occupy [[Hesperus II]], [[Donegal]], and [[Coventry]]; though they would end up losing them at the end of the Jihad
| territory  = 
| faction1   = [[Word of Blake]]
| commander1 = 
| command1   = 
| faction2   = [[Lyran Alliance]]
| commander2 = 
| command2   = 
| faction3   = 
| commander3 = 
| command3   = 
}}
'''Operation: STEEL HAMMER''' was a military operation conducted by the [[Word of Blake]] during the early years of the [[Jihad]] against the [[Lyran Alliance]]. The operation disrupted the Alliance's economic and industrial resources. 

==Operation Brief==

The operation was planned to strike three major Lyran worlds: [[Hesperus II]], [[Donegal]], and [[Coventry]].  

===Hesperus II===
The Hesperus II operation was conducted in phases.  In the first phase, the [[16th Division (Word of Blake)|Sixteenth]] and [[22nd Division (Word of Blake)|Twenty-second Divisions]] conducted extensive raiding against the planet's defenders which began in [[3068]].  Over the course of approximately two years, elements of the [[Light of Mankind]] were inserted on the planet, using the raids as a cover.

The raid on 14 March 3068, led by the Sixteenth Division shattered the [[Hesperus Militia]] defending it, significantly damaged a large portion of the [[Doering Electronics]] factory and ended with a reduction of the production by eighty percent.<ref name=jtph2p10>''Jihad Turning Points: Hesperus II'', p. 10 "Hard Rain"</ref>

Six months later, the Twentieth Division conducted another raid against Hesperan defenses, this time targeting facilities protecting Defiance Industries. The Twentieth heavily damaged the Twentieth Division hammered the local [[Defiance Self-Protection Force]] and a few static defenses.<ref name=jtph2p11>''Jihad Turning Points: Hesperus II'', p. 11 "Self Protection"</ref>

In [[3070]], a Blakist invasion force arrived in the form of the [[38th Division (Word of Blake)|Thirty-eighth Division]] and the [[Fortieth Shadow Division]].  This force was escorted by the ''[[Lola III]]'' Class Destroyer, [[End of Wisdom|WoBS ''End of Wisdom'']], and a reinforced [[Level II]] of [[Pocket WarShip|Pocket WarShips]]. The invasion's escort fleet overwhelmed and destroyed the Lyran ''[[Fox (WarShip class)|Fox]]''-class corvette [[Melissa Steiner (Individual Fox-class WarShip)|LAS ''Melissa Steiner'']], effectively blockading the planet.  The two divisions landed on the planet, where the Fortieth led a lightning strike against the factory's defenders and quickly overwhelmed them. The Blakists brought in Terran technicians to begin updating and running the factory for their forces.  This resulted in improving the factory's output.  Various Blakist military units used the factory to refit and resupply themselves during this time period.  [[Devlin Stone|Devlin Stone's]] Coalition struck Hesperus II in November, [[3074]] against the Thirty-eighth Division and the Fortieth Shadow Divisions for control of the planet.  Badly mauled, these units withdrew from the planet.  It is speculated that survivors of the Fortieth Shadow may have gone to ground to conduct sabotage efforts against the planet's controls.<ref>''Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents'', pp. 103-104 - "40th Shadow Division unit profile".</ref>

===Donegal===

The Blakists used similar methods for the invasion of Donegal as those used on Hesperus.  In 3068 the [[2nd Division (Word of Blake)|Second Division]] conducted raids against the planet three times.  The Second's raids helped smuggle a [[Level II]] of troops, some [[ROM]] agents, and tactical nuclear weapons onto Donegal.

The Second led the invasion force in 3070 where they conducted a full-fledged invasion of the planet and its orbital complexes.   While the orbital complexes fell to Blakist forces easily, the ground invasion took weeks of heavy attacks on civilian centers and industrial complexes of the planet to seize control over the world.  The planet's remaining resources were put online to supply the Word with needed resources to resupply its fighting units. In the same year, a small Lyran relief force attempted to break the blockade. Led by the ''Fox''-class [[Ian McQuiston (Individual Fox-class WarShip)|LAS ''Ian McQuiston'']], the relief force was forced to withdraw by the ''[[Vincent]]''-class corvette [[Blake's Redemption|WoBS ''Blake's Redemption'']].  The Second Division was relieved of its garrison duties and replaced by the [[18th Division (Word of Blake)|Eighteenth]] and [[31st Division (Word of Blake)|Thirty-first Divisions]], and the [[Fiftieth Shadow Division]].
 
In February [[3072]] [[ComStar]] [[Precentor Martial of ComStar|Precentor Martial]] [[Victor Davion]] led an allied force consisting of [[Clan Wolf-in-Exile]], [[ComStar]] and Lyran forces to liberate Donegal.  The Blakist elite forces concentrated their firepower on the ComStar and Clan forces, while mistakenly ignoring the Lyran units. While causing heavy damage to the allied forces, the Blakists were forced to quit the planet. They set off two nuclear devices at key industrial complexes after withdrawing.<ref>''Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents'', p. 24 - "Operation: Steel Hammer" - Donegal</ref>

===Coventry===
In 3068, the Word of Blake's [[30th Division (Word of Blake)|30th Division]], backed up by the [[Aegis|''Aegis'' Class]] WarShip, [[Immortal Spirit|WoBS ''Immortal Spirit'']], attacked the system in an effective invasion of the planet. Coventry fell to the invaders in a matter of days, despite the 30th reportedly using only two [[Level-III]] formations to secure the planet. The planet's [[HPG]] was knocked out during the battle. All resistance was broken by [[3071]], with Blakist forces using a minimum staff to run the intact [[Coventry Metal Works]]. They used the factory during their occupation to refit several military commands.  It was not until [[3074]] when two raiding forces from [[Devlin Stone|Devlin Stone's]] coalition forces consisting of the [[LAAF]] and [[Clan Jade Falcon]] liberated the planet.  In the process, the two allied forces' commanders argued over who had the honors of certain parts of their mission.  The Falcon's Aegis Heavy Cruiser, [[Red Talon|CJF ''Red Talon'']] fought a heavy battle with the ''Immortal Spirit''.  The allied forces managed to disable and capture the Blakist WarShip.  On the surface, allied forces fought against three of the 30th's Level IIIs in and around Coventry's capital.  The fight ended four days later with the Coalition being victorious.  In the system, the allies managed to capture an unusual prize, the ''[[Newgrange]]'' Class Yardship, [[Blake's Mercy|WoBS ''Blake's Mercy'']] which was servicing the ''Spirit'' at the time.<ref>''Jihad Secrets: The Blakist Documents'', pp. 24-25 - "Coventry"</ref>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
*''[[Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents]]''

[[Category: Jihad Era Military Operations|Steel Hammer, Operation]]