View source for Sixteenth Battle of Hesperus II

{{InfoBoxConflict
| conflict = Sixteenth Battle of Hesperus II - Coalition Assault
| partof = [[Jihad era]]
| image = 
| caption = 
| date = 
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| planet = [[Hesperus II]]
| faction1 = [[Word of Blake]]
| faction2 = [[Stone's Coalition]]
| commander1 = 
| commander2 = 
| forces1= Check Units in Forces section
| forces2= Check Units in Forces section
| forces3 = 
| result = Stone's Coalition victory
| environment = 
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}}

==History==
===Start===
In the first two weeks of November [[3074]] Coalition forces led by [[Devlin Stone]] launched an assault against the defending Word of Blake forces, determined to recapture the planet after the successful defense of [[Skye]] earlier in the year and the recovery of [[Galatea]]. The Coalition forces, which included elements from Skye, [[ComStar]] and [[Clan Wolf]], took on three Word of Blake Divisions.

The Coalition conducted a daring spaceborne assault to take on the three defending Blakist divisions with Coalition forces establishing a beachhead on South Whitman while Coalition aerospace forces cleared the sky above. The Coalition forces split in two:
* [[Precentor Martial]] [[Victor Steiner-Davion]] directed the assault against the defenses of the Myoo Mountain factories. He led the [[Com Guards|Com Guard]] [[1st Army (ComStar)|First Army]], Battle Corps Legion and a mixed assortment of smaller mercenary commands against the Second and Thirty-eighth Divisions
* [[Devlin Stone]] directed the assault against the heavily fortified city of Maria's Elegy. He led his own Stone's Lament and Clan Wolf's Delta Galaxy against the entrenched Fortieth Shadow Division.<ref name=JTPHIIp5/>

===November===
====Maria's Elegy====
The Shadow division waited patiently the Coalition forces and after some diversionary attacks along the Elegy's perimeter, it withdrew
deep into the city's interior and drew in Delta Galaxy with a series of deadly suicides and ambushes. Wolf forces were enraged by what they considered ''[[dezgra]]'' tactics and in a frenzy smashed several of the WoB checkpoints, but were not able to penetrate the city's interior. Stone used his Lament to try to destroy the heart of the Shadow Division line only to walk into a well-laid trap that he was able to escape thanks to the [[Wolfkin Keshik (Clan Wolf)|Wolfkin Keshik]]'s intervention. After this, his forces had to retreat and start a more conventional siege of the city.<ref name=JTPHIIp5/>

====Myoo Mountain====
The fight was not easy either at the Defiance Industries complexes. The Precentor Martial split his forces and sent the Battle Corps Legion and a mixed mercenary command against the Thirty eighth Division while the First Army faced the Word's Second Division, with both WoB divisions supported by Castle Brian-like fortifications. Just after one day, the assault stalled.

During the next seven days a brutal fighting converted an extended siege to a final push, where the [[Com Guard]] [[Seventy-ninth Division (ComStar)|Seventy-ninth Division]] was able to breach the defenses and gain access to the mountain complex. The Seventy-ninth's opened the can on the Word's hold on Defiance Industries, but it took another month before Com Guard [[battle armor]] were able to clear the facility of Blakist troops and saboteurs.<ref name=JTPHIIp5/>

===December===
The Fortieth Shadow Division was able to resist one more month, resisting all the Coalition threw at them, including artillery bombardments. By 20 December, the Coalition forces were able to shatter the last Blakist fortification around the city, and the First Skye Jaegers conducted a daring nighttime combat drop onto the Word's positions, which though succeeded in finally driving them off, cost the unit a severe beating and the loss of several of his officers at the hands of [[Manei Domini]] [[Laodices]].<ref>''Technical Readout: 3075'', p. 180</ref> The Fortieth Shadow Division was able to withdraw under fire to their hidden DropShips before abandoning the planet.<ref name=JTPHIIp5/>

===End===
With the withdrawal of the Fortieth, the battle for Hesperus II was over.<ref name=JTPHIIp5>''Jihad Turning Points: Hesperus II'', p. 5: "The Battle for Hesperus II"</ref><ref name="JHS3076p55">''Jihad Hot Spots: 3076'', p. 55: "Timeline of the Jihad"</ref><ref name="J:FRp53">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 53: "The Jihad in Review"</ref>

Badly mauled, these units withdrew from the planet, though it is speculated that survivors of the Fortieth Shadow may have gone to ground to conduct sabotage efforts against the planet's controls. What was confirmed was that the Word of Blake rendered many of their improvements to the factories unusable through sabotage before leaving.<ref>''Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents'', pp. 103–104: "40th Shadow Division unit profile"</ref><ref>''Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents'', p. 24: "Operation: Steel Hammer" - History of Hesperus occupation up to 3074</ref><ref name="J:FRp48">''Jihad: Final Reckoning'', p. 48: "The Jihad in Review"</ref>

==Forces==
===Word of Blake===
* [[2nd Division (Word of Blake)|Second Division]]<ref name=JTPHIIp5/>
* [[38th Division (Word of Blake)|Thirty-eighth Division]]<ref name=JTPHIIp5/>
* [[Fortieth Shadow Division]]<ref name=JTPHIIp5/>

===Stone's Coalition===
* [[Clan Wolf]]'s [[Delta Galaxy (Clan Wolf)|Delta Galaxy]]<ref name=JTPHIIp5/>
* [[1st Army (ComStar)|First ComStar Army]]<ref name=JTPHIIp5/>
* [[Battle Corps Legion]]<ref name=JTPHIIp5/>
* [[Brat Pack|Mixed Mercenary Auxiliary]]<ref name=JTPHIIp5/>
* [[Stone's Lament]]<ref name=JTPHIIp5/>
* [[First Skye Jaegers]]<ref name=JTPHIIp5/>

== References ==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Jihad: Final Reckoning]]''
* ''[[Jihad Hot Spots: 3076]]''
* ''[[Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents]]''
* ''[[Jihad Turning Points: Hesperus II]]''
* ''[[Technical Readout: 3075]]''


[[Category:Jihad Era Military Operations]]