Battletech #26 - Bred for War by Michael A. Stackpole

Author:Michael A. Stackpole [Stackpole, Michael A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Fiction, General, Fantasy fiction, Robots, Space warfare, Science warfare
ISBN: 9780451453792
Publisher: ROC, c1995.
Published: 1995-01-18T06:00:00+00:00

25

The steady operations of war against a regular and disciplined army can only be successfully conducted by a force of the same kind.

-Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist, 1787, XXV

Sian

Sian Commonalty, Capellan Confederation

26 September 3057

Seated behind the desk at which Justin Allard had once plotted the betrayal of the Capellan Confederation, Capellan Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao permitted himself a smile. "Thirty years ago this was the cradle of destruction. Now it has whelped our revenge." He nearly laughed aloud, almost wishing the ghosts that inhabited the room were yet alive to see his triumph. Almost but not quite, for he knew, better than anyone else, that did Justin Allard and Hanse Davion still live, they would very likely have anticipated and blunted his action.

Victor's big mistake, Sun-Tzu concluded, had been in viewing the Clans as his greatest enemy. It made sense, of course, because Victor had fought against the Clans, had almost lost his life against them. Then he'd been too distracted by political unrest within the Lyran districts of the Federated Commonwealth—culminating in his sister's repudiation of him and the creation of the Lyran Alliance. Distracted enough that Victor had not been ready for the Free Worlds/Capellan invasion against him.

As battle reports scrolled up the screen of the antique terminal on his desk, Sun-Tzu shifted his shoulders uncomfortably, but not in reaction to the data he was reading. It was universally wonderful. His commanders had used regiments to confront lone Davion battalions and trios of regiments to oppose single regiments of Federated Commonwealth troops. It was the same three-to-one advantage the Capellan forces had learned to hate when Hanse Davion had used it against them decades before. Victor's focus on protecting the Clan front, and then his need to pull troops for use in quelling the rebellion in his Lyran districts had left the Sarna March woefully undermanned.

The use of overwhelming force had been successful beyond Sun-Tzu's conservative dreams, he had launched nine planetary assaults in his invasion zone, all of which had resulted in Capellan victories. On eight other worlds he had stepped up his revolutionary activity to the point where his forces were engaging Davion garrison troops in hit-and-run attacks that did no real damage, but did seriously fatigue the Davion soldiers. After his regiments had secured their initial targets, then began the second wave of attacks, the weary Davion defenders were easier prey than before.

Up in the Zurich Theater, things had gone equally well. Thomas had supplied mercenaries to support local rebellions. The only Liao units being used up there were the Warrior House battalions that dropped as a single unit onto the planet Liao to liberate it from the Davions. The planetary militia had revolted and deposed the Davion governor. The Liao dynasty's home world again belonged to the Capellan Confederation.

But for all this, Sun-Tzu's spirit did not rest easy. He'd not been surprised by how well the invasion was going but by the competence and drive Thomas had shown in organizing the assaults. In the time it

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.