Fool Me Once...
In 3026, Hanse Davion maneuvered the bulk of his troops to his Liao and Draconian borders in a massive exercise known as 'Operation Galahad'. Liao, Kurita and Marik all stood to arms, expecting invasion from the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth. Nothing happened. When in 3028, Operation Galahad was repeated in conjunction with The Wedding, the three Houses did not prepare and the surprise strikes which followed began the Fourth Succession War.
Late in 3039, Lyran and Davion troops completed a series of transfers which grouped the forces for maximum efficiency. Most of the Federated Commonwealth forces were now reorganized along the onceunorthodox lines of the Davion Regimental Combat Teams. 'By coincidence', these maneuvers ended with the bulk of these forces along the Kurita borders.
There's an old Terran saying: Fool me once, shame on you! Fool me twice, shame on me!
Kanrei Theodore Kurita is opposed to bringing shame to his house. Whether as a result of House Kurita's improved relationship with ComStar or of its half-year advantage in studying the secrets of the Grey Death Legion's memory core, the fact is that House Kurita had twice the number of Mechs which the Federated Commonwealth intelligence had predicted. Many of those Mechs seemed to be Star League technology level, some shining as if new.
The Kanrei allowed the Federated Commonwealth its four thrusts into Draconis Combine territory. Then, when the Fedcoms and their supply lines were well spread out along those thrusts, he counterstruck...
The Fox Eats Crow The Failed Invasion of the Draconis Combine
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