Focht nodded to himself. Ulric allowed them to keep him out of the first day's battle. He'll be coming after Brzo and Skupo, but only after he sees how my troops react. He's using the others as stalking horses, and he hopes I'll have committed my reserves before he comes down.
"Mr. Hettig, have all reserve units stand by. I want each one to trim back a battalion to form a Sixth Reserve Army."
"Noted, sir."
"Good."
Focht knew his strategy would carry the day, provided his people executed the plans they had been given. Organizationally, the Com Guards were broken down into twelve armies. On Tukayyid, one Clan landing area had been assigned to each of seven armies. The smallest and least experienced armies were being held back in reserve to reinforce their fellows when and if needed. Aside from the 66th Division, which had been transferred from a reserve unit to the Fiftieth Army to welcome the Wolves, the armies maintained the operational integrity they had known in their previous postings.
Each of the armies was broken down into its six component divisions. Unlike the forces of the rest of the Inner Sphere, the Com Guards were organized as integrated, combined-arms units. Through training, Focht had managed to erase the normal jealousies between the branches and to bind the Guards into terrifyingly efficient fighting units.
If the Inner Sphere had ever dreamed of our capabilities, they would have tried to destroy us long ago.Armor elements would attack the Clans at first, then air and artillery cover would allow them to scatter and regroup to nibble away at the Clan's flanks. The Com Guard 'Mech units would hit, then fade, keeping the Clans constantly on the move. Because each division functioned as its own unit and worked in tandem with another division, they would be able to grind the Clans down little bit by little bit.
"If everything goes as planned."
"Excuse me, Precentor Martial?" Hettig looked at his commander with a quizzical stare.
Focht shook his head. "Nothing, just thinking out loud. What are the hottest zones right now?"
"No one is shooting yet, but Dinju and Spanac look close to—." Hettig clapped a hand to the earpiece in his left ear. "Priority 1-Alpha message coming through for you from the Primus."
Irritation burbled like acid up from his stomach. "I will take it here at Przeno." He turned as Hettig's image expanded then splashed itself across a distant thunderhead. Myndo Waterly's face replaced that of Focht's aide. "Primus, the assault has begun."
The white-haired woman nodded serenely, then her head came up abruptly. "But you are not in a 'Mech."
"Nor will I be unless things go very wrong." He tried to keep his voice even, but annoyance tinged his words.
"But it was maintaining an immobile headquarters that caused trouble for the Combine's forces on Teniente." Her stare rebuked Focht for his foolishness. "Have you learned nothing from that situation?"
"Indeed I have, Primus. From this bunker, all communications are routed to the planet's communication network. Through optical cables, they reach broadcast substations. The messages are, of course, scrambled and either broadcast directly from the substations, or sent up to satellite facilities and bounced down to our forces. It costs us perhaps a second or two of transmission time, but ultimately forces the Clans to devote forces to trying to ferret out our location."
He let the computer paint a scowl on his face. "This communication from you is tying up valuable resources."
"Then I shall not keep you over-long." Myndo let what he saw as an insincere smile twitch across her lips. "I just wanted to impress upon you how vital your success in this matter is for ComStar."
"I am well aware of how crucial is our victory, Primus."
"Good, but I want you to see you have a stake in this also." Her eyes glittered, and it was like a cold wind up Focht's spine. "If you win here, I will give you what you have always wanted."
"You need not reward me for performing my duty, Primus."
"But I shall, my friend."
Those words, coming from her, sounded more like a threat than a promise. "I am honored," Focht said.
"You shall be more than that," Myndo told him. "You shall be exalted. If you defeat the Clans, I shall return to you your birthright." The Primus of ComStar held her head up high. "I will restore you to your former glory and I will make you, Frederick Steiner, Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth."
32
Teniente
Smoke Jaguar Occupation Zone
4 May 3052 (Day 4 of Operation Scorpion)
Victor Davion looked directly into the viewscreen. He purposely set his face in the grimly satisfied smile he would have expected from Morgan Hasek-Davion addressing the troops. Clad in a cooling vest, he let Kai's pendant rest against the vest's outer kevlar surface. Punching a button with a gloved finger, he opened a line to each communications monitor in the three-ship armada racing toward the planet.
"In two days you will begin final preparations for our invasion of Teniente. We are only forty-four hours out from atmospheric entry and everything is proceeding according to plan." With those words, his grin expanded, but he trimmed it back before continuing. "This mission is a go and nothing is going to change that."
His gray eyes flicked down, then back up. "The last time a force from the Federated Commonwealth tried something like this, we were the Federated Suns and many of us could only have played at being MechWarriors. At that time, my cousin, Morgan Hasek-Davion, told his men that history would wonder at how they had accomplished so much with so little. He showed complete confidence in their ability.
"Well, I know how they managed to succeed in the face of incredible odds. I learned the solution over the last year working with all of you. We survived Alyina because of your guts and your determination to make the Clans pay for any centimeter of ground they got. We worked hard and came together as a unit because of your resiliency. We have mastered new tactics and strategies and machines because of your heart and your desire to carry the battle back to the Clans."
Victor's eyes glinted hard and cold. "This is our chance to prove to the Clans and everyone else that the Inner Sphere will not roll over and die. Our best case, our greatest victory is one in which no one fires a shot. We get in, we get our target and we get out, simple as that. If we have to fight, well, I have no doubt you'll give far better than you get. But we're not here to retake Teniente. We're on a rescue mission. We can collect scalps another time.
"This is the Revenants' first battle. It will not be our last. Take the time while we are inbound to get to your machines and strap in. Double- and triple-check everything. When we go in, we go in hot. Kid gloves are off. When we go, we go to start a legend that will haunt the Clans forever."
Victor flicked a button, closing the commlink, and looked up at Shin. "Well?"
The yakuza nodded solemnly. "Your assurances of confidence will make them do everything they can to justify that confidence. I do not envy any forces we face on the ground."
Galen gave Victor a thumb's-up. "After this, if you suggested staging a raid on Sian, they'd go for it."
Behind Galen a red light flickered atop a communications monitor. Victor and Shin both pulled out of line-of-sight of the screen. Galen slipped the cowl up on his robe, then touched a button to open communications. "This is ComStar DropShip Serene Foresight."