This document is visible to all enlisted officers of the Marine Royale Gauloise, hereby I, Christian Sauvageot state, that I have conducted service in the ranks of the MRG on the 27th of janvier 740 A.G.S. Honneur et Patrie, Valeur et Discipline. Pour le Roi.
Déclaration de soldat: Christian Sauvageot
Rang: Sous-Lieutenant.
Topic: Examination of Southampton
Description de la/des situation/-s
Situation:
Bonjour Amiraux
Today I was tasked with surveying and charting the mess that is the Southampton debris field in the New London system and I believe I have come up with three possible plans for when our assault happens as well as a detailed account of what we may expect in terms of resistance.
As can be seen, this plan involves passing Battleship Castres before exiting the debris field from the south and swinging around to attack the shipyard's southern flank. This plan has the added advantage of being in a position to cut of or delay any reinforcing BAF assets that may come from New London.
The second plan is very much like the first only it allows our fleet to exit the debris field far quicker, and thus prepare our order of battle more quickly. The disadvantage of this plan of course is the long travel time it would take to assault the shipyard's northern flank, thus we may very well loose the element of surprise.
The third and final plan is the most complex, involving a pincer movement that would (in theory) strike both flanks at the same time. There are several risks to this plan however, firstly it does involve splitting the fleet, something that no one here would do lightly, if the Bretonians found out they would be able to destroy one section entirely. Secondly, the distance to travel is long, and without the debris, the closer we get the more likely it is they will detect us, again surprise may be lost.
I am aware some of you may now be asking why we do not simply just storm the gates of hell and take our chances, to answer that I would ask you direct your attention to the final figure.
This figure shows the location of an irritating little base that is quite hostile to the MRG, it's weapons will open fire and while they will miss our nimble fighter ships, the heavy capital classes will be hit, with minimal damage I grant you. Then there is the issue of a rather large radiation zone that covers the larger portion of the field. Finally, Southampton's defences are designed for a head-on assault, not flanking attacks. I would ask you to examine the images below.
One can see that a flanking maneuver would be better to bypass their defences. However, this concludes my report on the matter, and I will leave these documents in your capable hands.