Battle of Jackal Creek

The Battle of Jackal Creek was a large scale battle in the Shah Province during the Alpha Clan's Shah Campaign between two companies of the Alpha Clan and rebels in Shah.

Prelude
Local insurgents in the Shah Province led by Deacon Hope successfully raided and destroyed a major Alpha supply depot. In response, Moth Company (led by Hauptmann Jessen) and Stripe Company (led by Hauptmann Pereth) were tasked in tracking down the insurgents and eliminating them.

The companies spent multiple days hunting down the insurgent group to no avail. On the fourth night, they set up camp along Jackal Creek. They hadn’t seen a single trace of the rebels all day, which caused many of them to let their guard down: Some took their armor off, some decided to drink a bit, etc.

That night, a massive group of insurgents surrounded the camp. The exact number is unknown. Some Alpha survivors claim it was at least 300, while others claimed more than 500.

The Battle
At roughly midnight, an insurgent leader set off a loud horn. The horn was intended on rallying the rebels and intimidating the Dragoons in the camp. Although the rebels were rallied by the sound, surviving Dragoons stated that the horn actually alerted them and gave them some extra time to brace for impact. One survivor of Stripe Company claimed they would have been completely wiped out if the rebels had not sounded the horn.

About 30 seconds after the horn, the rebel forces attacked. Machine gunners positioned in trees rained down fire, and they were accompanied by multiple rockets fired into the camp. Some Dragoons were caught off guard and gunned down rather quickly, especially by the rockets. Others took that 30 seconds to gear up and get ready.

After the volley of rockets, a massive wave of infantry and melee troops charged the camp from all sides. What ensued was an incredibly violent and bloody event. The machine gunners in the trees continued to rip through the camp, even hitting their fellow rebels. On the ground, close quarters gunfire and melee fights filled the camp. Some rebels even sacrificed themselves by suicide bombing Dragoon tents. One of these suicide bombers managed to take out the communications tent, making the task of calling for reinforcements difficult for the Dragoons.

The initial attack was extremely costly for the two Dragoon companies. However, once they found their footing and begin fighting back, the tide of the battle swung back in their favor. Although the rebels attacked with an overwhelming amount of infantry, the close quarters battle was overwhelmingly in the Dragoons’ favor. About 45 minutes after the initial attack, the Dragoons managed to secure most of their camp.

The rebels continued attacking with machine guns, snipers, and long range rockets throughout the night. They attempted a total of three more banzai charges, but they were all ineffective. The Dragoons battled through the night, slowly picking off snipers and machine gunners in the trees.

Aftermath
By the time the morning light started to filter through the trees, the insurgents had already fled the area. Dragoon reinforcements showed up at daylight, but the battle was already over.

Rebel bodies, bloodied and torn apart, littered the inside and outside of the camp. The Dragoons took heavy losses. The average loss per squad of five was about three. Casualties also included Hauptmann Jessen of Moth Company. Damascus Squad (Moth Company) was the only squad from both companies that made it through the night without a single casualty. Additionally, Sergeant Ruiz made it through the night without her armor.

All the survivors were taken back to the closest secure Alpha base for debriefing.

Upon hearing about the incident, Field Marshall McQuade visited the survivors and took personal accounts of what happened. He praised the survivors for their hard fought victory. After assessing the accounts of the battle, he sat with his Warlords and dealt with the issue of personnel distribution…
 * Survivors who had served in the Shah Province for a prolonged period of time (such as Colts Bryant and Liao) were reassigned to lower risk posts around the continent.


 * Surviving Dragoons who were reported as being extremely efficient before and during the battle (such as Colt Kirkland and Sergeant Ruiz) were shipped back to Founder’s Mesa and reassigned to the newly formed Recon Division.


 * The remaining survivors (the majority) were redistributed to fill in the remaining squads, some being promoted to replace fallen or reassigned squad leaders. When it was all said and done, the two companies were consolidated into one fragmented company.

Significant Casualties
Alpha Clan:
 * Hauptmann Jessen

Effects
Although the Dragoons were technically victorious in the battle, it served as one of the most costly for the Alpha Clan. The Alpha Clan lost lots of resources and more than a company's worth of Dragoons.

On the rebel side, it forced insurgent leaders to reevaluate how they engaged the Dragoons. The rebel leader, Deacon Hope, later commented how he was confident they could overwhelm the Dragoons with the first wave and be done within the hour. He admitted his stubbornness caused the conflict to last through the night, and it cost more lives than it should have.

The battle was said to have been one of a few that caused many Alpha Clan leaders to view the campaign in an unfavorable light.