The Protectorate United Navies - part 7: Tactics, Strategy and Military Culture
The Tale of our Captain:
Ineptly rash our captain, sailed forth from Slawkenberg;
He was not afraid to die, so foolish was our captain!
He was not at all afraid to lose his ship and crew;
And maybe his life would be lost too!
Hasty, reckless, dumb;
Stupid was our captain!
To charge forward into certain death;
He never thought of more than that!
No clever feint, just full ahead;
Never seen a captain more mad, so bad!
Foolish into the grave;
Our captain!
He was not the least bit scared to be krumped by Orks!
Or to be boarded in the warp;
To have Daemons invade the ship;
And have his soul then taken!
Not afraid of Drukari enslaving him;
And be tortured for eternity!
And his limbs all hacked, and his skin all flayed;
Stupid was our captain!
At the mercy of Inquisitors;
Blown apart by T'au with their rail guns;
And his crew devoured by Genestealers and the Navigator lost to warp perils, and his ship adrift, and his innards made into a gift-
Captain: RETREAT!
So wise our captain called retreat;
With cunning escaped certain defeat!
When danger reared its ugly head;
He wisely turned the ship and fled!
How smart, our captain swung about;
And made the choice to chicken out!
So swiftly ordering the fleet;
He made a very quick retreat!
Shrewdest of the shrewd, our captain!
To skirmish is the way to fight;
The instructors have it all outlined!
At arm's length thou shalt always keep;
The enemy, as up close we bleed!
So keep the distance;
Show the foe thine ass!
Break them up with Cain-Wing;
Lances, Macros, torpedoes massed!
With these stratagems victory is assured;
The tactics of our captain!
And don't forget to keep your range;
You have all the tools to see fates changed!
For the wisest captain takes after Cain;
No PUN sailor shall ever die in vain!
So blast bugs, bots and elves away;
Into their gun range never stray!
The best captain is just as they say;
The cautious one, OUR CAPTAIN!
The Treaty for the Creation of a Collective Naval Defense Force:
To understand how the PUN fights, one must first understand its purpose. The Treaty for the Creation of a Collective Naval Defense Force(also called the PUN Treaty) lays out the Navies' eight primary obligations, which are as follows: The Protectorate United Navies exists as the first line of defense against all enemies that violate the Protectorate's borders in direct military conflict, such is its part in safeguarding the Liberation. The PUN is beholden to the commands of the Liberator and the supreme legislative body of the Protectorate, so that the mandate of the navy be kept true to its intent and is never turned against the people of the Protectorate. The highest authority of the PUN lies with the First Lord Protector of the Void, second only to the previously mentioned authorities. Should the need arise that a new 1st LPV has to be chosen, a candidate will be recommended by the Board of Admirals to the Liberator and if approved the new 1st LPV will be sworn in then. The Board of Admirals is headed by the 1st LPV and is responsible for all matters concerning the PUN's operations. From its ranks all senior positions within the force are filled, both in frontline service, logistical positions and other support operations. While its mission is primarily defensive, there are circumstances in which the PUN may be required to send expeditionary forces beyond the Protectorate's borders. The strength of these forces may never consist of more than a fifth of the PUN's total fighting strength. Only a majority vote of the supreme legislative body with the approval of the Liberator may override this restriction under extraordinary circumstances. In order to pose a credible deterrent as well as to prevent greater calamities facing the Protectorate or to protect other Human populations within reach, it is the duty of the Board of Admirals to constantly evaluate the position of the Protectorate within the Damocles Gulf and the wider Galaxy as a whole. The Board of Admirals is required to cooperate with all other relevant organizations of the Protectorate to uncover and better understand the challenges faced by the PUN and to then create plans in concert with the aforementioned organizations as to how these challenges are to be tackled. The PUN is required to leverage all reasonable means available to the organization in order to preserve its own fighting strength and the lives of its personnel while also holding itself to an exemplary standard of the ideals of the Liberation.
The Treaty does elaborate on many other matters, but these are secondary to the formal founding of the Protectorate United Navies. It is also one of the most important treaties that any new member state of the Cainite Protectorate has to ratify.
Excerpts from Solomon Slybeef's Sixty Six Psalms for the Supremely Skilled Sailor:
"The price of blood is better paid with iron and sweat."
"A plan that requires the cooperation of your foe has already failed."
"To die for the Liberation is easier than to live for it. The Liberator needs you to live."
"Pray to the Powers, the Liberator and the Silent Service's ghosts if you wish, but don't rely on them to tighten loose screws and replace worn out cogitators."
"The most important part of pursuing strength is the knowledge of your limits. Know how far you can push beyond them. Know when to conserve your strength so that you may spend it wisely."
=][= Inquisitorial Addendum =][=
Inquisitorial Report #9465-8751-2132
Interrogation of [REDACTED], former captain of the Imperial Navy [REDACTED] class cruiser [REDACTED]. Detained on [REDACTED] during [REDACTED] after the Imperial Navy's defeat at [REDACTED]. Interrogation conducted by [REDACTED]. Report compiled by [REDACTED] for Lord Inquisitor [REDACTED].
Interrogator: "Now then, [REDACTED]. How did the Cainite heretics manage to defeat the Imperial Fleet before they could fulfill their holy task of pushing back the foul traitors and bring the [REDACTED] system back into His realm?"
Captain: "They just ran away, my lord."
Interrogator: "... that is it? That is all you wish to put forth in your defense?"
Captain: "I have little else to offer, my lord. The Cainites met our forces at the edge of the system. They knew exactly where the fleet would make the transition back to real-space and they met us there, we had not even a minute before we were under attack. They crippled or even destroyed every single nova cannon in the fleet and with it they gained the range advantage."
Interrogator: "So they managed to land the first blow. Foul sorceries and favors from their despicable patrons are surely to blame. But this should not have doomed the fleet, the report submitted indicated that the heretic forces were outnumbered several times."
Captain: "They were, but that did not matter, they managed to surround us by splitting into many smaller formations. If we turned in one direction to try and catch one of their groups they would retreat, meanwhile the forces behind us would launch their attacks. Their ships were much faster and with constant harassing fire from their cannons, lances, torpedoes, strike craft and such they whittled our numbers down.
First they stripped away our escorts, who were fast enough to catch up to their heavier ships. They then systematically picked out the vessels with launch bays to give their own strike craft even more of an advantage than they already had. My crew and I had the luck of being at the center of the fleet formation. The cruiser squadron under commodore [REDACTED] that we were a part of got away relatively unscathed, as you are certainly aware."
Interrogator: "Who ordered the retreat?"
Captain: "It was Lord Admiral [REDACTED] last order before his flagship suffered a critical hit to the main reactor. It was his decision to preserve what little strength that could be saved from this endeavor."
Interrogator: "Very well then. The guards will bring you back to your cell. The Lord Inquisitor will arrive shortly and judge whether your soul is worthy of redemption."
=][= Information obtained was verified by the interrogations of [REDACTED] and [REDACTED]. [REDACTED] will be demoted to [REDACTED] and given another chance to serve His Holiness. Thought of the day: Attribute not to incompetence what can be sufficiently explained by treason. =][=
Next part: The Industrious class Borg Mobile Platform and The Furious and Investigator class Light Cruisers