[This was the day of your spoiling attack on the forward base near the crash site].

Unloaded from the downed merchant ship:
200 mortars
10,000 mortar rounds
26 Tracked APCs
5,000 Self-propelled gun rounds
1,000 suits LTA

Overnight, Bennie Parker and 7 troopers in HMA were ferried forward to Arushage, and advanced across country to make contact with the New Farringdon Colony main axis of advance and report back.

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Bennie's recon reported that the New Farringdon armoured spearhead had emerged from the woodlands and was fanning out into farmland 150km west of Arushage, the western AMC8 transport hub which is becoming the focal point for the struggle at the moment (and which you have fortified and moved your rapid deployment troops to). New Farringdon were building a forward fuel supply dump around the point at which they were emerging from the forest, and transport flyers were bringing in supplies. The mechanised column still stretched back several tens of km along forest trails.

Frank ordered the SP guns to be moved forward to take up positions east of Arushage, so that they could be supplied with ammunition as soon as it became available.

He also ordered an airstrike on the fuel dump using the two somewhat battered training aircraft equipped with low-tech unguided bombs that AMC8 maintained as an 'air force' prior to your arrival, coupled with sending your shiny new air superiority AIR to seek and destroy enemy transport fliers.
The bombing mission was a success - the fuel dump was hit and considerable damage done. Enemy SAM fire proved ineffective. The fighters found two transport fliers but they were over the line of march (and within enemy SAM cover) - one of your fighters was damaged by SAMs while trying to engage and forced to abort, but the other managed to down an enemy flyer.

At the crash site, 5,000 suits of LTA were unloaded.

In the early evening, there was a large enemy air strike on the crash site, using eight strike aircraft plus top cover. The first wave dropped anti-personal weapons around the ship, but the HMA troopers emerged unscathed, and the LTA-equipped troopers managed to hide it out in their bunkers. One enemy aircraft was damaged by one of your manpack SAM launchers.
The second wave went for the ship itself, and basically blew it to pieces. The cranes were destroyed, and the ship is mainly mangled wreckage. It is likely that stuff can still be salvaged, but it is going to take longer. Frank used this as a cue to pull out all of the troops at the crash site, since he felt they had got all of the priority items off, and the troops could be better employed in the defence of the AMC8 colony.

The No Worries Here colonists are likely to continue the salvage operation regardless.

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Bennie reported that the New Farringdon attack was forming up into columns and beginning to head eastwards towards Arushage. Various options were discussed for slowing them down, stopping them, etc. The political will of the enemy was examined. They certainly aren't fanatics, and this is very much a 'make or break' attack for New Farringdon. Their aim seems to have msotly been to overawe Advanced Mining Colony 8 into submission (and the AMC8 administration is being quite windy and has required constant reassurance from Frank and Tony Silverado that things are going fine). If New Farringdon don't gain something worth trading in negotations, it could well be the end of their government, which has had to deal with high levels of unemployment and poverty (this is a sort of Argentina - Falklands kind of situation, with NFC currently being run by a military junta, in effect).

The final decision was to try a spoiling attack against one of the NFC columns using a force of veteran HMA troopers (all IFU or employees), cause as much damage as possible, and hopefully make them rethink their strategy, and possibly reinforce a perception that what they hope to gain is likely to be too costly for them.

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An aerial recon showed that the NFC forces had split into three main columns. The central component had two mechanised brigades plus artillery support, and seemed to be the force tasked with taking Arushage itself. There were also two flanking battlegroups with an armoured battalion and a mechanised battalion each. The decision was taken to hit the central mechanised force. Some 50 HMA troopers, commanded directly by Frank, were deployed by shuttle to an ambush position at a river crossing about 30km west of Arushage. The armed flyers from Arushage were sent along as backup.

The battle happened around early afternoon. The lead elements of the mechanised column had been tipped off to something up ahead by their satellite cover and began deploying. The HMA troopers attacked, in conjunction with the two gunship fliers led by Jezebel Pink, which suppressed enemy artillery. The main fight was one enemy mechanised battalion against the HMA company, and went well for IFU. The enemy took 60 infantry casualties and lost a SAM APC and an artillery piece, and retreated back onto the second battalion, which by now had deployed and dug in on a ridgeline. There were no losses to IFU. The HMA force had essentially pinned an entire mechanised brigade in position for as long as it cared to stay around. However, the HMA force could not attack prepared enemy positions without being guaranteed to take casualties that IFU can ill-afford, and the other enemy mechanised brigade meanwhile moved off to the side to an alternative crossing point
another 10-15km south.

The consensus was that this action would certainly force a re-evaulation of the enemy's strategy, and possibly a halt to regroup and bring the armoured elements back into the main effort. You have probably gained at least a couple of days, which will certainly be enough to get your SP artillery supplied with ammo.

Meanwhile, the regular infantry force that had been withdrawn from the crash site (two companies in LTA) were dropped forward into the forest to try and make hit and run attacks to disrupt the enemy's extended supply line.