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Battle of Nonan II
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The Battle of Nonan II is an ongoing battle around and on the Nonan Monarchy's only planet, Nonan II, between the Bazanian Empire and the Nonan Monarchy, backed by Manaki. It started on August 18, 2012, at 21:46, when the Bazanians made the first move of the Imperials in the war and sent their first and second fleets from Derta and Trinia VII to conquer the planet. After the Nonan-Manaki space defense was obliterated, a ground forces was landed on the planet, outnumbering their enemy. Allied reinforcements arrived for Nonan, and although they were able to land forces that evened out the battle on the surface, their accompanying space force was routed.
Background[]
The Bazanian Empire and Nonan Monarchy had had elevated hostile relations for over a year, sparking from the Nonan-Bazanian Derta dispute, wherein the Bazanians colonized a planet, Derta closer to Nonan II than any other colony. The tensions lead to the Derta-Trinia Crisis, wherein a planet colonized by the Nonans in retaliation was conquered by the Bazanians, backed by a Capita Council peacekeeping force. The Nonan Monarchy and its allies planned to declare war since the end of this crisis.
The attacking Bazanian force made preparations as soon as war was declared, on August 16. The 186-strong space force was ready for deployment within 6 hours. They were sent on their way to conquer Nonan II, with no resistance expected until they arrived. Although, a small Manaki fleet had managed to jump from a nearby colony before the Bazanians could arrive in order to reinforce the Nonans. This put the space battle at a planned 186 Bazanian ships versus 111 Nonan and Manaki ships.
Course[]
Prelude[]
As planned for, no interdiction was encountered until the force approached the Nonan system. As soon as they dropped out of hyperspace, at 21:46, they broadcasted an ultimatum and charged at the planet. The Nonans had known the Bazanians were approaching for around a day, and thus had time to prepare their own forces, retrofit some orbital stations for combat, and, most importantly, raise the planetary shield.
Space battle[]
A long range space battle ensued, the Bazanians attempting to draw the Nonans and Manaki away from their defensive field. Superior technology and outnumbering gave the Bazanians a substantial advantage. By the third hour of combat, in the very early hours of August 19, the battle came down to 157 versus 58 ships (only 2 of which were Manaki). The Nonans began a general retreat soon after and pulled their forces back so that any effective combat with the Bazanians would require both forces to be within range of some part of the defensive field. The Bazanians, now outnumbering the Nonans more confidently than when the battle started, followed the Nonans in. The Bazanians used point-blank tactics in an attempt to minimize the threat of the defensive stations, which the Bazanian military considers to have the firepower of 20 Nonan frigates, and possibly even cause some friendly fire. They reminded the Nonans that no blockade was up – the reason being it takes too long to prepare on such short notice – and that they, therefore, had the opportunity to retreat to Manaki territory. The communications were ignored, and the Bazanian forces proceeded to completely obliterate the Nonan and Manaki space forces, leaving several defensive stations intact, not considering them a threat due to their immobility.
The space battle ended at 5:42, with 125 ships remaining. The space forces were reorganized there and then by the commander, so that it appeared that the 5th and 6th fleets were destroyed and the 4th fleet's 8th group had 10 of its 15 ships destroyed. Bombardment of the planetary shields began, giving ground forces at home time to prepare. Not all craft were deployed due to restricted supplies and a tired crew. Supplies began shipping in by 14:00, and a few hours later all craft and ships were bombarding the shields. Bombardment using full firepower was expected to create holes in the planetary shield by around 22:00, meaning defensive fire from the surface would be able to get through to the orbiting ships. Ground forces were not even scheduled to leave by that time, so bombardment was slowed.
Planetary invasion[]
The first shipment of ground forces left Derta, the assembly point, on August 20, at 7:42. A travel time of 15 hours and 42 minutes meant that they arrived at Nonan II by 23:24. With the planetary shield sufficiently bombarded to create holes in it, ground forces proceeded land on the planet, and a beachhead on the main continent was soon established within 3 hours. After a few more hours of combat, the Bazanians expected to have the planet conquered by no earlier than September.
Liberal counterattack[]
In response to a Nonan broadcast sent out as soon as the Bazanians arrived, the ONP organized an allied fleet and ground force. They were sent under the assumption that Nonan space forces had been destroyed by the time they were to arrive – at 18:49 on August 22 – and thus collectively planned to come out of hyperspace at the same time.
Atalant summoned its 3rd and 4th fleets, who hailed from their only planet, Atalanti IV; Manaki summoned its 11th fleet from Plaguis, on its southern border; and Zubada contributed 50 ships from its only planet, Carta. The battle forecast was therefore 125 imperial versus 147 liberal ships. Ground forces included 1 million troops and their complement from Atalant, and 2.5 million from Manaki. Zubada could not prepare ground forces in time. If successfully deployed, the battle on the surface was expected be near-equal in terms of numbers, whereas previously the Bazanians had the advantage. A supply line to the planet was organized, but no ships were deployed due to the fact that the Nonans were expected to provide for forces there.
The space force arrived as expected. The Manaki admiral, put in charge de facto by the fact that they contributed the largest force, hailed the Bazanian fleet and demanded they withdraw their fleet and their ground force, while simultaneously heading towards the planet with weapons charged. Their reinforcements arrived momentarily, and headed for areas of the planet with orbital defenses overhead, so that the Bazanians could not hinder their landing. The Bazanians felt they were technologically superior to both Manaki and Atalant, but had no combat experience with the Zubadans, which made up over a third of the force. They therefore tried to avoid point-blank, and even medium-range combat, in order to minimize casualties until Fzanti reinforcements arrived in just over 24 hours. They also ordered ground forces to slow their advancements and prepare to be bombarded, by raising shields around large concentrations. By the end of the first hour of combat, a mere 10 Bazanian and 11 allied ships were destroyed, though Bazanian ground forces had began to be bombarded. Hence, combat tactics were changed: Some forces would attempt to reel the enemy away from the planet, to avoid casualties, whereas others would engage them closer, to stop bombardment but at the cost of quicker casualties. Also by the end of the first hour, allied ground forces had successfully began landing procedures.
During the next hour of combat, another 17 Bazanian ships were destroyed, however Bazanian craft from the surface were now assisting their space fleet. This resulted in far higher casualties on the allied side, 34 ships. Atalant also pulled its forces out, with 8 of its 22-ship contribution destroyed. The order came through the Head Minister, who was worried of losing too many ships from their 52-strong fleet. After this, the battle became 98 relatively technologically advanced Bazanian ships versus 88 allied ships.
After another two hours of combat, at around 23:00, the Zubadan forces retreated, seeing that half of their contribution had been destroyed. This, and casualties prior to this, left the battle at 80 Bazanian ships versus 37 Manaki ships. Minutes later, the Manaki forces also retreated. The second space battle ended at 23:17, making it 4 hours and 28 minutes.
Bazanian space forces were again reorganized by the commander so that the first fleet would be completely destroyed, minus 4 ships which would be merged with the second fleet. The 8th group, which is in the 4th fleet, appeared to be destroyed.
Continued planetary combat[]
Bombardment of the planetary shields was never completed, though a hole was kept open for Bazanian forces to retreat out of if need be. With the space battle providing a distraction, the planetary shield was able to re-envelope the planet completely, meaning the landed reinforcements for the Nonans were impervious to orbital bombardment. Additionally, stationary orbital defense stations were still left undestroyed by the Bazanians, making an attempt to bombard forces on the surface even more risky. An interrupted supply line meant that the remaining 80 Bazanian ships.
Battles initiated on the ground as Bazanian forces advanced towards cities. By the time the Fzanti reinforcements would arrive the following day, on August 23 at 19:26, 1.6% of land was conquered, though this mainly included uninhabited lands.
As the Bazanians were able to retake orbital control, the battle turned in to steady progress for the Bazanians. It also became a significant testing ground for Bazanian automated combat infantry, who were able to take orders and fire on enemy targets.
Second liberal counterattack[]
Over the next few months, the Bazanians managed to consolidate control of 36% of the planet.