Third Battle of Noveria

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Second Battle of Noveria

Concurrent:

Tortuga Raid

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Battle of Veles

Third Battle of Noveria
Part of the Siege of Noveria

Date:

11 - 12 January 754 CE
(7 hours)

Location:

Ice Peaks of Hindenfargh / Noveria / Pax / Horse Head Nebula

Outcome:

Decisive Hierarchy victory

Territorial changes:

Noveria is recaptured by the Council

Belligerents
KroganInsignia.png
Tuchankan Empire
TurianHierarchy.png
Turian Hierarchy
Commanders

KroganInsignia.png Urdnot Seg

KroganInsignia.png Urdnot Jarrod

KroganInsignia.png Radrax Zreyas

TurianHierarchy.png
Caiso Octamus

TurianHierarchy.png
Garrus Bruction
Strength
Casualties
  • 72,610 troops killed
  • All vorcha killed
  • All tanks and armoured vehicles abandoned or destroyed
  • Urdnot Seg killed
  • 8 bombers shot down
  • 4,000 marines killed
  • 14,700 troops killed
  • 19 Blackwatch operators killed
  • Turian field commander killed
  • 10 GAAs shot down
  • Dozens of tanks and other armoured vehicles damaged or destroyed
 

The Third Battle of Noveria, also known as the Great Noverian Brawl and to the turians as the Battle of Hindenfargh, was a large-scale ground engagement fought on the krogan-occupied planet of Noveria during the Krogan Rebellions as the final conclusive battle of the Siege of Noveria. One of the most epic battles of the war according to turian sources, the Third Battle of Noveria was the bloodiest and most decisive of the three battles that divided up the Siege of Noveria, which had begun in early December 753 CE. The prior two battles had been inconclusive engagements, with neither side making major gains or possessing a strategic advantage. However, Furilea Lupilin had anticipated a slow siege, having her troops on the ground dig-in around Urdnot Seg's compound, waiting to draw the krogan army out so that it could be destroyed in the open. An attempt by Seg's naval detachment to relieve Seg's beleaguered troops, led by Graken Dhal, failed to break through Lupilin's blockade around the planet during the Second Battle of Noveria, and Lupilin had jammed outward communications, which left Seg unable to contact Imperial command to send reinforcements. The turian army also raided krogan supply convoys and foraging parties, stopping the krogan from adequately resupplying themselves, and diminishing what few supplies they had left. Seg was ultimately left with only one course of action: attempt a break out from their position through the turian siege lines, with the hope of punching a hole through their defenses and overrunning the turian positions before their air support could pick them off. Seg knew Lupilin was waiting for him to attack, so he planned accordingly.

Seg waited until an hour before midnight on January 11th before he launched his assault, believing that the majority of the turian garrison would be asleep at their camp. He assigned his son Urdnot Jarrod to cover the army's rear flank and coordinate their artillery screen, while Radrax Zreyas would command the armoured column. Protected by an advance force of Tomkahs, Seg and four divisions of his most veteran troops charged forward, covered by an opening barrage from their Nezekem rocket batteries and Calkutta howitzers. The barrage slammed the turian defenses around the entire siege line, with the Tomkahs acting as a ring of steel to protect Seg's troops from the responding enemy fire. In response, the turians sent forth their own Tyrant and Bireme tanks, which quickly engaged in an intense tank battle. With both side's armor engaged, Seg's army charged past them and smashed into the turian infantry, who raced to engage them. Seg himself cut a bloody swath through the first turians to engage him, using his colossal warhammer and shotgun to kill his enemies. Seg's surprise assault seemed like it was going to succeed, and for the first few hours, passing into the next morning, it appeared the 5th Warband was quickly overwhelming the turian forces, especially when Caiso Octamus, the field commander in charge of the turian siege, was killed over the course of the battle.

However, Seg had made the mistake of underestimating turian martial discipline, and the tactics that had worked in the past against the asari and salarians in order to smash his enemy into submission had failed to procure the same result. Krogan knowledge of the turians was still limited due to the latter's recent arrival on the galactic scene, so Seg had, in the absence of information to the contrary, assumed the turians would do the same once he applied enough pressure. Instead, the turians applied even more pressure in response, launching wave after wave of merciless counterattack. He had also failed to account for the fact that most of the turian army had been fully awake at the time of his assault, not mostly asleep as he had also incorrectly assumed. The turians quickly scrambled their local air support, and ground attack fighters and bombers made short work of the remaining Tomkahs, before bombarding Jarrod's artillery. Turian armor swept the krogan troops aside, and despite suffering enormous losses, the turians began to regain the initiative. Lost in a blood rage, Seg failed to account for the changing circumstances, and found himself surrounded by hostile troops. He continued to cut through every turian he came across, until he finally came across a turian Blackwatch unit. He killed several of them before they finally brought down the enormous krogan, and with Seg's death, the turians were only emboldened. The krogan were pushed further and further back, until it was they who were being overwhelmed. Jarrod, realizing the battle was lost, took what remaining troops were left and fled through a hole in the turian siege lines, managing to procure a transport and escape through Lupilin's blockade. The battle brought an end to the Siege of Noveria, and the devastating defeat, while largely shrugged off by the Tuchankan military juggernaut who still had tens of millions of troops at their disposal, proved a major strategic victory for the turians, and impressed the Council races significantly with their ability to bring down a powerful krogan general.

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