Kanon Campaign
The Kanon Campaign was a major front of the ZOCU-PACT War involving the Japanese-led PACT invasion of Kanon and various orbital and planetary actions within the rest of the star system. The campaign took place between February 14 and December 10, 2186 and was referred to within PACT forces as Operation Burst Angel. Initially envisioned as a fast-paced operation with overwhelming forces to restore Japanese control over Kanon, the battle for orbital control over Kanon proved extremely costly for PACT with ZOCU light elements able to launch devastating strikes on some divisions while they were still in transit. Once ground operations began, Kanon's terrain, climate and unexpectedly stiff resistance quickly bogged the assault down within a month of its start. ZOCU was also able to run the prototypes and technical blueprints of the then new OMF-06 Hoplite off of Kanon, a success which was to have serious strategic consequences for both PACT and the EU in space. For months, determined resistance on the ground was able to keep PACT forces from delivering a decisive blow despite steady escalation whereas PACT was never able to achieve full orbital supremacy nor completely stem the trickle of reinforcement and resupply to defenders on the ground. ZOCU raiders also inflicted significant losses in the starways behind PACT's front lines, complicating the logistical difficulties already faced by General Takeda. By December, the ZOCU Combined Fleet was once again ready for action and this time dealt a decisive defeat to PACT space forces, leaving ZOCU with control of Kanonian space and over seventy thousand prisoners of war in captivity.
Background
Although relations between ZOCU and the Core had been souring from the start of the 2180's, one of the key indices of tension, the relationship between Japan and Kanon, remained relatively mild. Despite dissatisfaction with apparent insincerity on the Kanonian side of the table, Japan's long tradition of conflict aversion since the Second World War combined with domination of the Diet by a coalition of moderates to form what the Imperial Party later attacked as appeasement. By 2182, the Kanonian and Chosonese cuts of the PACT interstellar catapult network were operational, stimulating some trade and serving as another buffer to cooling relations. For a while, there appeared hope that a deal could be worked out whereby Kanon would promulgate its own self-determiend constitution but continue to recognise the Emperor of Japan. In 2185 however, the harder line Imperial Party secured control of the Diet and at this point, talks broke down, quickly reversing years of gains from their predecessors' careful diplomacy. When Japanese sovereignty over Kanon was publicly asserted throughout late 2185, Kanon responded with the Separation Proclamation declaring complete independence from Japan on New Years Day of 2186. This triggered a series of decisions in Japan and Korea wherein the two mustered their considerable political capital on Earth to pass UN Resolution 11079, green-lighting Japanese and Korean intervention in ZOCU space.
Initial Phase
Operation Burst Angel organised three field corps totalling approximately 168,000 PACT troops of which upwards of 40% were autonomous robotic soldiers. These reinforced the roughly 8,000 troops that were holding a number of prepared UN enclaves against intermittent probing and harassment. The vast bulk of ground forces were provided by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and Republic of Korea Army with other PACT nations providing only about 4,000 troops total, mostly in support roles. The JSDF had the larger force, but made much heavier use of autonomous robotic soldiers such that the Koreans actually outnumbered the Japanese in terms of humans. By contrast, the ground forces available to the Kanonian Terrestrial Militia consisted of around 20,000 troops, 16,000 reservists, about 16,000 additional emergency volunteers and a small contingent of 3,000 pan-ZOCU forces under the banner of the ZOCU Combined Militia. This 3:1 numerical disadvantage was exacerbated by the superior number of semi-autonomous and remote-control drones available to the PACT army.
Unsurprisingly, the normally divisive Kanonian military command agreed unanimously that the only reasonable course of action was to conduct a prolonged defense and wear the war down to a trickle until the logistical balance shifted in Kanon's favor or the Union managed to muster a major counterattack. Despite unexpected losses in space and an equally unexpectedly high rate of loss for its robotic troops, the PACT ground forces' early gains were rapid. By the middle of March however, the rain season had turned much of the lowlands and rainforests into treacherous morasses. Kanonian sappers destroyed vast lengths of road along the PACT's axis of advance with both explosives and landslides, further hindering fast movement. PACT forces did enjoy air superiority however, and would retain that advantage for most of the campaign.
Kanonian Terrestrial Militia
Commander: Great Duke Akira Sumeragi
Forces:
20,000 KTM troops
16,000 KTM reservists
3,000 ZCM
16,000 volunteers
Casualties:
3,500 KTM
4,000 volunteers
500 ZCM
Operation Burst Angel
Commander: General Ichiro Takeda
Forces:
8,000 UN troops
32,000 Japanese troops
60,000 Japanese robotic troops
60,000 Korean troops
12,000 Korean robots
4,000 pan-PACT troops
Casualtie:
28,000 lost in space
5,000 humans
21,000 robots
Continuation
Following the halt of offensive operations in mid-March, both sides had approximately six to eight weeks in order to regroup, resupply and reinforce - all activities heavily affected by PACT's lengthy and vulnerable logistical starway. The unexpected costs of the war coupled by ZOCU shipping raids into PACT space made raising reinforcements difficult, especially the human soldiers General Takeda felt he desperately needed. Kanonian experience fighting the robotic offspring of their home planet's posthuman remnants gave them an uncanny ability to expose and exploit numerous flaws of robotic soldiers and heavy losses mounted faster than replacement parts could be shipped in for repairs. Partisans equipped with everything from small arms to aquatic mobile suits also quickly made their presence felt and made a conscious effort to deny their foes the ability to retrieve disabled bots. Nevertheless, overall control of space remained with the PACT fleet and its reinforcements were initially sufficient to nearly maintain their ratio of numerical superiority despite Kanon's limited industrial base supplying and arming emergency volunteers as quickly as possible. From May onwards, General Takeda launched a second, much slower offensive that managed to secure more territory and bring his forces ever closer to the Kanonian capital of Seihou.
Offworld, liaisons and diplomats mounted pressure on Londenium to provide relief to the ground forces on Kanon and Choson and eventually overruled the misgivings of Lord Dorington and many other Londener naval officers. The result was Operation Cosmos Glide, a costly battle that likely delayed the Second Battle of Kanonian Sky, and therefore the liberation of Kanon, due to battle damage sustained. Nevertheless, ZOCU space forces managed to briefly break the blockades over both planets to land much-needed material and modest mobile suit-equipped reinforcements. From PACT's perspective, the daring and tactical success of the raid spooked both Japan and Korea, contributing to the decision to cede the initiative while heavily securing lines of communication and accelerating development of mobile weapons.