Battle of Van-Shindur

Battle of Van-Shindur was the first engagement of the Terra-Sphere War between the Terran Navy and the Federal Star Fleet. The Battle was a colossal battle of about 7 million men, ending in a decisive and surprising Terran victory. The battle was preceded by a multitude of tedious events for the Federal Star Fleets, culminating in a devastating defeat at Van-Shindur. For the Terra Republic, the victory was outstanding.

Federal mishaps
The Federal Star Fleet planned for an offensive against the Uzhara Starzone immediately from the start of the Terra-Sphere War. However, due to poor leadership, the offensive never came, until the young admiral Oluwafemi Taiwo was promoted to command the 5th Fleet. Then the combined massive force of nearly 4 million men began their push into the Terran territory. Meanwhile the Terran Navy withdrew from Uzhara to the safety of the Mehrangahr Fortress, awaiting for the Federal fleet to arrive. The Federal fleet however suffered from a severe disease outbreak within the 3rd Fleet, effectively killing most of the men onboard, forcing the Federal Fleet to retreat back to Van-Shindur Starzone.

Terran Push
The Terrans, after reinforcing their two fleets at Mehrangahr with the IV. Fleet of Admiral John Telkin, began their push into Federal holdings. The Terrans returned to Uzhara and started to move against Van-Shindur. The Federals then reinforced Van-Shindur further with the 2nd Fleet of Lance Heida, giving them 3/4 advantage. Nevertheless, the Terrans didn't falter and continued their offensive. In 4th June 123, Admiral Omar Mountbatten, the previous commander of the destroyed 3rd Fleet, once again contracted a serious disease forcing him to rest for the duration of the battle, leaving the rather unimpressive Yuri Ivastova to replace him as commander of the 7th Fleet. In 5th June, the battle began.

Federals
The Federals held a serious advantage, as they not only outnumbered their enemy, but they had placed mines and were the defenders in the battle. The commander of the battle was Fleet Admiral Pedro Cogominho of the 1st Fleet.


 * Centre — 1st Fleet: Fleet Admira Pedro Cogominho
 * Centre — 2nd Fleet: Vice-Admiral Lance Heida
 * Left Flank — 5th Fleet: Commodore Oluwafemi Taiwo
 * Right Flank — 7th Fleet: Captain Yuri Ivastova



Terrans
The Terrans took a great risk engaging the enemy in very disadvantageous terms, but Fleet Admiral Raven Halifax was sure of victory. Admirals John Telkin and Frederick Rechter were also uneasy about being under the command of the rather unpleasant Admiral Halifax, who didn't treat his subjects fairly. This lowered the effectiveness of Telkin and Rechter.


 * Centre — III. Fleet: Fleet Admiral Raven Halifax
 * Left Flank — IV. Fleet: Vice-Admiral John Telkin
 * Right Flank — VI. Fleet: Vice-Admiral Frederick Rechter

The Ram
By 13:00, the III. Fleet of Admiral Halifax began to slowly advance towards the stone wall defence of the Federal fleet. At the same time, Admiral Rechter cautiously advance against the 5th Fleet of Admiral Taiwo. Both sides were careful and moved forward slowly for the first three hours. Everything changed when, after Taiwo had maneuvered his fleet through the minefield, Rechter aggressively attacked with one of his cruiser squadrons, provoking the nearby battleship squadron of admiral Heida. Heida then lunged his personal flagship squadron to attack Rechter's sudden attack, however, Heida's own attack was interrupted by the incredible charge of one of Halifax's cruiser squadrons that rammed Heida's battleships. Heida was pinned and suffered heavy damage. But then, Rechter seeing an opportunity to kill off the battleships of Heida, sent one of his destroyer squadrons to navigate through an asteroid field and attack Heida's battleships. This attack, carried out by Captain Anthony Wayne was successful, and soon Heida and his battleships were utterly destroyed, spooking the rest of Heida's fleet that began to rout away from the battlefield.

Federal attempt at recovery
The Federals, especially Admiral Cogominho, were shocked by this stroke of misfortune for them, and began to doubt their chances at victory. Meanwhile the Terrans calmly advanced and began to unwrap the Federal formation. Taiwo then attacked Rechter's cruiser with his own squadrons, destroying Rechter's cruisers. Then one of Taiwo's subordinates, commodore Ashley Broom, performed a rather dubious charge at Rechter's flagship. This attack failed and Commodore Broom and his squadron were easily killed off by Rechter. Rear Admiral Ivastova however managed to score a small victory for the Federals against the fleet of admiral John Telkin, as the Federal starfighter squadrons destroyed one of Telkin's. Then Ivastova's fighters attacked one of Telkin's destroyer squadron causing heavy damage upon the unit. But even with these victories, Cogominho thought the situation fruitless. He was constantly switching back and forth about continuing the battle and just withdrawing, giving more time for the Terrans to keep picking off Federal ships. Eventually Cogominho ordered a general retreat and began moving away from the battlefield.

A blind jump was ordered upon the ships of Ivastova, however two squadrons, one of which was a carrier squadron, were lost in the jump. And at the very end of the battle, the Terrans attempted to strike the flagship of Omar Mountbatten and Yuri Ivastova, but failed to kill their target.

Aftermath
The battle was a resounding victory for the Terrans, and would become their version of Austerlitz. The Terrans would use "Charge (Ram) the Federals like at Van-Shindur!" as their battle cry for victory. Admirals Halifax, Rechter, and Telkin rose to prominence within the Republic and all earned awards and promotions. Commodore Anthony Wayne, the man behind the ramming attack upon the flagship of Admiral Lance Heida, earned a promotion and many awards himself. The Severloh Cruiser squadron became one of the most legendary formations of the Terran Navy.

For the Federals, the battle was an absolute disaster. The already smaller Federal Star Fleet was even more diminished compared to the Terran Navy. At the same time the Federation was suffering from financial crisis as they lacked funds to form another fleet. The fleets that survived the battle, withdrew to Ueppa Starzone, awaiting their next orders.