imported>Madness Divine: added enddate attribute to infobox

2023-01-05T04:48:10Z

added enddate attribute to infobox

New page

{{InfoBoxConflict
| conflict = Operation PELAYO
| partof = [[Dark Age]]
| image =
| caption = Operation PELAYO
| date = April [[3141]]
| enddate = January [[3144]]
| place =
| planet =
| territory =
| faction1 = [[Federated Suns]] ([[Draconis March]])
| faction2 = [[Draconis Combine]]
| commander1 = [[Duke of Robinson]] [[Corwin Sandoval]]
| commander2 =
| forces1=[[AFFS]]
| forces2= [[DCMS]] and [[Wolf's Dragoons]]
| result = Draconis March forces fail to reclaim [[Draconis Reach]] and are driven back to the prewar border.
| environment =
| conditions =
}}

'''Operation PELAYO''' was a failed invasion of the [[rimward]] [[Draconis Combine]] by the [[Federated Suns]] that lasted from April [[3141]] to December [[3143]]. Under Duke [[Corwin Sandoval]] [[Draconis March]] units attempted to reclaim the [[Draconis Reach]] region and drive deeper into the Combine, but were stalemated and eventually forced to abandon all of their gains.

==Background==
After five decades of low-level warfare between the Federated Suns and Draconis Combine, the Draconis Reach was finally and definitively secured for the latter by [[Wolf's Dragoons]] in [[3139]]. This victory was only the first step in ''[[Draconis_Combine_Mustered_Soldiery#Gunji-no-Kanrei|Gunji-no-Kanrei]]'' [[Matsuhari Toranaga|Matsuhari Toranaga's]] plan for an all-out invasion of the Federated Suns. However, the operation, expected to commence in [[3141]], would be unexpectedly delayed both by a counterattack from the [[Draconis March]] and by [[Draconis Combine Civil War|a rebellion]] within the Combine itself.<ref>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 19</ref> <ref>''Era Report: 3145'', p. 22</ref>

Determined to prevent the Combine from solidifying its hold on the Reach, [[Duke of Robinson|Duke]] [[Corwin Sandoval]] assembled every soldier he could from the Draconis March's own forces as well as hiring those [[Mercenary|mercenaries]] he could afford. Denied more support from the [[AFFS]], due to [[First Prince of the Federated Suns|First Prince]] [[Caleb Davion|Caleb Davion's]] obsession with his own planned invasion of the [[Capellan Confederation]], Duke Sandoval pressed on with the operation.<ref>''Era Report: 3145'', p. 29</ref> <ref name=FM3145p20>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 20</ref>

Prior to the main assaults, many ''[[Prey Seeker|Prey Seekers]]'' were seeded on objective worlds. Operating independently or in pairs these advance scouts were able to provide the main body with timely intelligence updates when they landed.<ref>''Technical Readout: 3145 Federated Suns'', p. 30</ref>

==Operation PELAYO==
Dubbed Operation PELAYO, the initial attacks mounted in April 3141 proved successful, with Sandoval's troops advancing rapidly on a front stretching from [[Barlow's Folly]] to [[Cassias]]. Taken utterly by surprise, the Combine defenders yielded ground at first and the invaders were able to claim planets formerly belonging to the Draconis Reach. But the DCMS, in the midst of preparing for its own invasion of the Draconis March, had assembled the intended participants in the very region Sandoval's units were attacking. As a result, by July the AFFS invaders were stalled on planets such as [[Irurzun]], [[Huan]] and [[New Aberdeen]] and had barely fought their way past the former Reach. At its farthest extent the invasion reached [[Matsuida]] and [[Annapolis]]; on the latter Sandoval's troops tried and failed to take the planetary capital six times during three weeks of desperate fighting before the AFFS invaders were ordered to reinforce their comrades on Irurzun.<ref>''Era Report: 3145'', p. 29-31</ref> <ref name=FM3145p20/>

At this point, with the DCMS focused upon repelling the AFFS invasion, [[Clan Nova Cat]] began its long-planned for rebellion. Thanks to the stalwart defensive efforts of Wolf's Dragoons and the [[Ryuken]], Sandoval's troops were unable to exploit this opportunity and break the stalemate. Instead, the fighting bogged down on Irurzen and four of the former Reach worlds. Between the tenacious defense of these planets, distracting raids across the Draconis March border, and an angered First Prince Caleb refusing any support for Duke Sandoval, Operation PELAYO devolved into a quagmire reminiscent of the warfare that had plagued the Draconis Reach for the previous half-century.<ref name=FM3145p20/>

With the Nova Cat rebels finally destroyed in January [[3143]], ''Kanrei'' Toranaga was free to turn his full attention to expelling Sandoval's forces. As the DCMS rebuilt and replenished its battered units, Duke Sandoval's advisors convinced him to begin ending the futile conflict. [[Elidere IV]] was the first planet to be abandoned in August, followed by [[Thestria]] a month later. On Christmas Day the withdrawal order was given for the AFFS units on Irurzun, New Aberdeen and Huan, with all three worlds ceded to the Combine by late January [[3144]].<ref name=FM3145p20/> <ref>''Era Report: 3145'', p. 32-33</ref>

==Aftermath==
Operation PELAYO not only failed to result in any territorial gains for the Federated Suns, but it also left the battered AFFS units along the border in a poor position to repel the Combine invasion that soon followed. By year's end, despite fierce resistance from the Federated Suns defenders, both [[Robinson]] and Duke Sandoval had fallen to the Dragon.<ref>''Era Report: 3145'', p. 34</ref> <ref name=FM3145p20/>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Era Report: 3145]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: 3145]]''

[[Category:Late Dark Age Era Military Operations|PELAYO, Operation]]

Operation PELAYO - Revision history

imported>Madness Divine: added enddate attribute to infobox