Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes

The war never stops, the war continues.

To paraphrase the most famous lie in the Warhammer world, in the next week, the Empire and Chaos staged desperate battles between offense and defense with the 100-square-kilometer battlefield in the capital of Ophelia as the core.

The attacking side of the war comes from the Alpha Legion.

In the early stages of the war, this traitor from the Chaos warband unexpectedly wiped out the Empire's fleet in the system, and then firmly occupied the dominance of the war and absolute firepower superiority;

But they failed to take full advantage of this advantage.

It doesn't matter if you have confidence in yourself, or if you throw yourself into a trap.

After the Alpha Legion gained control of the universe, they were unable to completely destroy the Holy City's anti-aircraft firepower in a short period of time.

They just rely on the advantage of troop dispatch in orbit and are constantly pulling at the ground defense, trying to find loopholes.

This is very much in line with the characteristics of the Alpha Legion. The advantage of placing too much emphasis on intelligence theft and infiltration operations is that they are invincible in small-scale battles;

The disadvantage is just like this. When encountering the enemy's heavily defended fortress, no commander dares to bear the losses of forced advancement.

On the other hand, the Imperial Army on the defensive side is completely different. As a recognized master of defense, the Imperial Fists' concepts and inheritance of defensive operations have not been lost in the Chapter era.

Hornthorne bet that the other party would not dare to burn the holy city to the ground and let the holy relics be completely lost.

Therefore, he relied on the fire barrier above the Holy City, and while maintaining the defensive deployment of shrinking troops, he used two Astartes companies as mobile troops to resist the Alphas' ground penetration with difficulty while moving around.

This is undoubtedly a good deal for the empire, because what the Ophelia defenders lack most now is time.

Every extra second of delay in the context of losing air supremacy is a hope for a comeback for victory in the war.

But this kind of delay is a completely unacceptable result for Alphas.

In such a favorable battlefield situation, after a week of pulling and pulling, only a few mortal lives could be harvested.

What a shame!

A heated debate broke out among the fleets in space, and the Chaos offensive completely changed in the days that followed, as the Alpha Front commander was executed for incompetence.

Hohenthorne was unaware of the changes in power that had occurred in the enemy's camp, let alone the series of consequences that would result;

But just from the fact that they felt the increasingly fierce offensive from the Alpha Legion, regardless of damage, Hornthorne knew that the most difficult moment was coming.

After changing its commander, the Alpha Legion changed its past style. It no longer tried to find loopholes in mobile warfare, nor did it try to use infiltration operations as an unchanging standard.

Relying on twice the number of Astartes on the Empire's side, they began to advance towards the Holy City's defensive positions under the tactical strikes above the orbit and the constant bombing by civil war aircraft in the atmosphere.

The bloody battle started in the hilly area 30 kilometers due north of the City of Divine Grace:

A group of fighter jets from above the orbit used a saturation bombing of the 22nd Infantry Regiment position of the Defense Forces and a surprise attack by an entire Astartes company carrying 30 Death Claws as the first step in announcing the start of this battle. One shot.

This was undoubtedly a powerful blow, especially in terms of the preparedness of the firepower and the strength of the forces projected by the enemy commander;

Not to mention that the target he chose was just an ordinary defense force motorized infantry regiment.

But the fog of war is so charming, and information isolation always inadvertently brings surprises to both sides of the war:

There was no problem with the enemy's choice, but on the eve of the war, the city defense headquarters relocated the 22nd Infantry Regiment originally stationed here due to logistical problems;

Taking their place in this defense area was the 31st Motorized Infantry Regiment of the National Defense Force.

Infantry regiment, motorized infantry regiment. It stands to reason that even if the regiment-level units in the two defense armies are of different types, they cannot be compared with the regular Astra Militarum in terms of strength;

For company-level Astartes, there is no difference.

But this motorized infantry regiment is an exception. Because his predecessor happened to be the Astra Militarum.

The reason why the city defense headquarters transferred it here is because together with the 32nd and 33rd Motorized Infantry Regiments stationed behind it, and the 91st and 92nd Motorized Armored Regiments at the rear supporting the position in this direction, it is exactly the place they came from the Star Boundary. The complete organization before the army retreated to the second line - the Imperial Armored Regiment.

Regardless of how this active heavy-duty regiment was classified as a second-line group in the Empire's state religion world, there were many miraculous operations by the military command department that was bribed by the state religion;

Speaking of this battle alone, they indeed gave the Alphas a huge surprise...

At 0:00, the first group of aircraft in orbit left the fleet and broke through the atmosphere 15 minutes later and appeared on time at the head of the 31st Motorized Infantry Regiment.

The fleet in orbit began to lower its altitude, using the angle of the planet itself to avoid the concentrated fire of anti-ship weapons, and clear out the air defense arrays here one by one.

Groups of space fighters carried hundreds of aerial bombs and released them against ground troops thousands of meters above ground.

The detection array on the ground immediately discovered the anomaly here and launched reinforcements here in time.

The only remaining aviation units in the Holy City were also dispatched, but despite the desperate interception regardless of casualties, they still could not stop the space fighters with an absolute numerical advantage from swooping and strafing the ground.

Smoke and flames filled the 3-kilometer-deep position of the 31st Motorized Infantry Regiment. After observing the aftereffects, the enemy above the track believed that the ground troops had lost their ability to resist, and launched the first wave of airborne strikes.

However, they miscalculated. When this group of renegade Astartes companies appeared in the sky above the 31st Motorized Infantry Regiment in a drop pod, the regiment's armored anti-aircraft troops on the ground suddenly launched a counterattack.

The Alphas, who were facing ground anti-aircraft firepower, had no choice but to adjust the landing point of the airdrop pod to the periphery of the Motorized Infantry Regiment's position.

Even though the bombing from orbit came soon after, the regiment's anti-aircraft company was instantly wiped out in the ensuing artillery fire. But it is undeniable that these Astartes who fell from the sky have lost the best opportunity to make a tactical breakthrough.

The enemy who failed to achieve their tactical goals immediately changed their tactics. They no longer tried to directly break through the 31st Motorized Infantry Regiment's position. Instead, with the help of the previously lurking troops, they began to build defenses on the spot to provide transportation from the ground to the sky. Creating opportunities through the field.

This is undoubtedly a test for the 31st Motorized Infantry Regiment:

The Chimera personnel carrier can also be used as a fixed firepower point when protected by fortifications;

But if they take the initiative, the weak armor of the personnel carrier cannot withstand the heavy weapons of the Astartes.

But they had no choice, because if they waited any longer, the enemy's firepower would only get stronger.

In the next 20 minutes, the 31st Motorized Infantry Regiment, under the personal organization of the regiment commander, launched at least three waves of attacks on the enemy's positions.

However, these attacks failed due to the precise strikes of the Astartes.

The war continued to drag on, and the weak Empire could only watch the enemy's transport ships descend from orbit.

Even if the Imperial Fists and Ultramarines finally reach the frontal battlefield, under the resistance of the Alpha Legion, which is supported by heavy armor, they can only sit back and watch the enemy's landing site be completed.

A large number of mortal rebels began to airborne under the cover of orbital artillery fire. Although the soldiers of the empire continued to advance, they could not stop the enemy.

The frontal battle began to intensify, and behind the enemy's position, armored troops could already be seen gathering.

At this point in the war, the battle between the enemy and ourselves has entered a situation that Hornthorne least wants to see.

He could not sit back and watch the precious troops being consumed here. He could only use a counter-charge tactical move to gain an opportunity for the main force to retreat with the support of the armored regiment arriving from behind, and while the enemy's armored forces failed to arrive. To bring this battle to an end...