Wing Commander CIC

So I've finally survived the attack on the Hakaga only to be fired by Reismann and lose the game? Bah. How do I avoid taking horrific casualties in this battle for Sirius? I wasn't able to destroy the Hakaga but we did a lot of damage to it and destroyed many of its escorts and sure we got wiped out practically but I read Fleet Action and I'm pretty sure that's how it's supposed to happen heh.

So how can I limit casualties? I flew a Sabre in because I thought destroying the Hakaga was priority #1, am I supposed to take in a Rapier to protect all of our fighters and bombers?