Battle of Leziquk

"When the Seps came in, they rained down hard and beat us back. We ran back to our comfortable fort and watched the mechanical monsters come upon us. Then we had to get out there to escape. That may have been the worst my legion was through. But still more disturbing, maybe it wasn't."

- Commander CT-42/13-8038

The Battle of Leziquk was a very violent battle in the Clone Wars. Even with the help of the 233rd Line Battalion and the 52nd Republic Fighter Wing, Republic defenses were quickly overrun. Only about 1/9 of the Republic forces retreated. It also saw some of the most diverse usage of vehicles and droids in the War.

Pre-battle and Arrival
The planet Leziquk was home to a large stockpile of resources and a Republic research base, in which a counter-agent for Trihexalophine1138 was in developement. The Grand Army discreetly sent a small division (4608 soldiers) of the 15th Defense Corps there to defend their project. No orbital shield or orbital naval support was erected, but the CIS soon learned of the world's value and prepared to attack.

The Confederate fleet came out of hyperspace just before reinforcements from the Republic Navy arrived. Before engaging with most of the Star Destroyers, the CIS managed to get most of their transports to the atmosphere.

The tactically best landing zone was decided to be an area several kilometers offshore from the continent containing the Republic base. Leziquk was approximately 76% ocean, but the media's images and description accidentally misled many into believing the planet only had about as much land as Kamino or Manaan.

Battle
When the Republic saw the ships stream down, they pressed their aquatic ships farther out. Anti-air fire posed a hazard to the droids, but the bulk of the attack force soon managed to get below the flak and missiles' line of fire and touched down into the water.

A relief force of ARC-170s and Eta-2s broke through the clouds, but were soon overwhelmed by the droid starfighter escorts. Albatross droids made use of their manueverability and explosive weapons to cut through the slower Republic frigates. Manta droids were also used extremely well. Meanwhile, the Republic Navy managed to get a full legion's worth of reinforcements to the beachfront before the droids came ashore.

Preperation
The Confederate attackers hurried to the land. Their land vehicles could only operate in shallow water, so a small, maneuverable amphibious force was used to destroy the beach's turrets. Then tanks were released from their aquatic transports or airdropped into the shallow area.

Meanwhile, the orbiting Star Destroyers were also being overrun. A detachment of the 52nd Wing led an attack on the command ship, but most were killed by swarms of droid starfighters. The Jedi commanders in space soon retreated to the air in their starfighters.

On the shore, part of the 233rd was sent foward, primarily their 56 heavy vehicles. A smaller group of infantry set small mines, loaded Plex rocket launchers, and took cover behind rocks. The droid onslaught came quickly.

Formation
The attackers formed into a rectancular strip formation, deep enough to be formidible and prevent penetration, yet wide enough to make flanking impractical. They came in patterns, with a group of infantry in front of slow, tough vehicles. When in the right position, fast vehicles like tank droids and speeders advanced through gaps in the front line. They were sent in first. The tanks penetrated the advancing Republic formation, evaded turret fire and pierced the clone ranks to weaken the defensive structure.

The aforementioned frontal infantry could provide quick, flexible fire, and were supported by the heavy vehicles. Behind the line of armor was another line of infantry. They took cover behind the vehicles, especially bulky Trade Federation tanks, and came out for additional flexible fire. There was a total of 64 rows. Behind each four rows of these pattern advanced the medium artillery, and behind each 16 rows lumbered the heavy artillery. All this was covered by air support consisting of both fighters and gunships.

To Land
Several minutes after the rapid tank droid division rolled onto dry ground, the forces met in 1-meter deep water in one of the most violent parts of the battle. At first, infantry on both sides took heavy losses, but they soon retreated behind their armored vehicles. Each time a heavy walker went down, water splashed up for many meters around it. It was in that part that the Seperatists took the most casaulties, but they outnumbered and outmanuevered the Republic. Air support in the form of LAATs and ARC-170s was quickly brought down in flames.

Soon the CIS had lost about 1/3 of their advancing force, and, at the same time, the Republic had lost 3/4 of theirs. The clones made a desperate attempt to retreat, but the walkers moved slowly. Mechanized Assault Flyers swept in to make small clearings in the retreating mass, and unloaded several battle droids, including virus octuptarra droids, droidekas, and B-1s wielding missile launchers. These droids were destroyed quickly but did even more damage from behind the lines.

Only about 1/6 of the Republic counterattackers got within range of their defensive turrets, only 3 of them were AT-TEs, AT-ATs, Juggernauts, and other heavy vehicles. When the droids came upon the Republic base, B-1 sniper droids and octuptarra droids quickly picked off anyone hiding but unshielded. The clone troopers' defensive positions were smashed by incoming tanks.

Advance
Once the beach was secured, even more infantry was unloaded from MTT tanks. The attack force converged, regrouped, and reorganized, but a detachment of STAPs, droidekas, and octuptarra droids was sent to prevent the base from being evacuated.

In the corridors of the research station, soldiers, scientists, and support personnel were blasted in their tracks. Some remaining Republic forces managed to get to find shelter in the heavily armored garrison, where they were safe until the rest of the army arrived.

Partial Retreat
The army moved in and captured the research center, while artillery began to pound the garrison. Just in time, the 52nd Wing decended, escorting some LAATs, bomber gunships, and Jadthu-class landers. The Jadthu ships used their chaff guns to prevent detection before breaking through the clouds. The gunships used wide-range EMP missiles to disable most of the droids near the garrison base, but some droids were only stopped for a moment.

Seven hundred and ninety-one clones came out of the garrison, only 326 made it to the transports. As many as possible were packed into the 9 faster LAAT/is, while the rest jumped into the Jadthu-class ships, which were almost serving as decoys. All 4 of the "flying bunkers" sacrificed themselves in the storm of missiles when the droids reactivated. The Eta-2s, V-wings, and 170s of the 52 Wing held off several Vulture droids and took the Assault Transports back to the Venator-class Star Destroyer Adegan.

The Adegan attemped to sent a barrage of cannon fire to the captured facility from orbit, but came under attack and retreated to hyperspace. When the defense force was reinforced, it had 13,834 soldiers, only 153 made it back. No walkers were saved.

Aftermath
The Battle of Leziquk was one more on the lists of disasters that had occured in the second year of the Clone Wars. Other shocking scenarios included the battles of Jabiim, Duro, and Gentes. The 153 survivors were commended and honored as heroes who ran through a field of droids to serve the Republic again.

It was eventually discovered that General Grievous, while not actually their, had concocted the battle plan. However, an B-1 droid commander actually led on the field, which Grievous may have disapproved of.