The first to launch an attack was not Tamurkhan and his Chaos army, but the defenders of Nuln.
Hundreds of mortars, heavy cannons, and dozens of Hellstorm rocket batteries fired simultaneously, filling the sky with a dense barrage of rockets and cannonballs. As the Chaos army advanced, Nuln's forces unleashed a relentless bombardment, sparing no ammunition. The Chaos forces suffered massive losses before they even reached the city. Many Chaos warriors and Beastmen were torn to shreds, with body parts flying through the air.
But Chaos would not be deterred by such losses. The city of Nuln, the home of the Savior Ludwig, was now within sight, and the Chaos throne was almost within reach. Despite the overwhelming bombardment from Nuln's side, the Kurgan warriors, Beastmen, and the giant beasts accompanying Tamurkhan pressed on. After two rounds of artillery fire, the Imperial soldiers began to see the terrifying forms of their enemies.
The towering Kurgan warriors, the mutated Chaos Spawn, the foul-smelling and savage Beastmen, and the pus-dripping Chaos warriors loomed before them. Although the soldiers of Nuln had experience fighting Beastmen and Greenskin tribes, they couldn't help but tremble at the sight of these horrific enemies. Some began to shake uncontrollably, while others were seized by the urge to retreat.
But the Imperial army did not collapse.
"Fight to the death!"
"Fight to the end!"
"For this city, for the Savior's homeland, for the Lady, for the Empire, for Charlemagne!"
An Imperial general, riding a fine warhorse from Averland, galloped through the ranks of the Imperial army. He was the city's oldest veteran, Nuln's Grand Marshal, Erstein.
The old soldier held his head high, his long beard and black cloak billowing as he moved through the ranks. Nuln's Grand Marshal shouted with pride: "Fight to the death! We have no retreat!"
It was like a spark igniting a dry forest. Seeing the Grand Marshal appear at the front lines, the Imperial soldiers felt a fire burning in their chests. The morale of the entire army began to rise, with countless soldiers shouting the holy names of Emperor Charlemagne and Savior Ludwig. War songs and battle cries echoed through the ranks.
The Empire had withstood enemies on all fronts for over two millennia, with countless human soldiers sacrificing themselves to protect their land, their people, and their homes. Today was no different. Nuln's soldiers swore amidst their fervent cries to show the Chaos scum the might of Nuln!
The Imperial phalanxes formed dense ranks of pikes, arrows flew like locusts, and the Nuln handgunners unleashed a terrifying barrage. To Tamurkhan's surprise, the Imperial army held firm against the first wave of the Chaos assault!
The first wave of the Chaos army's attack was halted after losing over three thousand men.
But Tamurkhan wasn't worried; he knew his first attack was only a probe.
The Imperial defensive line stretched long, extending from outside Nuln in a straight line. The Empire's forces occupied the high ground, using the Wissen and Ivy Rivers as natural defensive barriers to fully intercept the Chaos army.
While this arrangement allowed for a deep defense, Tamurkhan didn't believe the line was without weaknesses.
After the first attack, Nurgle's chosen champion quickly identified a weak spot in the Imperial defenses.
It was an Imperial camp backed by a dam on the Ivy River, guarded by a full regiment and an artillery battalion. Tamurkhan soon realized that the regiment, known as the Blood Dance Infantry, was a ragtag group of minor nobles' sons, Imperial militiamen, and outdated cannons. He immediately ordered his follower, the Unbeliever Sa'i, "Sa'i! Take your men and attack there!"
The horns sounded, and tens of thousands of Dauegan cavalry charged forward.
The thunderous roar of hooves heralded the first wave of the plague army. Seated atop his massive Dauegan Chaos Mammoth, Sa'i cackled madly as he raised his staff and pointed at the target: "Destroy it!"
Thousands of Kurgan marauders and tribal warriors charged at the camp in front of the dam, ignoring the musket and cannon fire. They hacked through the chevaux-de-frise and barbed wire, swinging their axes and swords like scythes, cutting down the spearmen and halberdiers in waves. This army of minor nobles' sons and militiamen was no match for the tens of thousands of Kurgan cavalry.
The front ranks of the infantry quickly crumbled, retreating in panic and abandoning the position to Sa'i and his Dauegan army. The deathly hurricane tore a small gap in the line, leading to the entire regiment's collapse. The militia soldiers fled in terror, and those few brave souls who rushed forward to face the Kurgan cavalry were quickly decapitated or dismembered.
Within minutes, the entire infantry regiment had collapsed. Seeing the situation was beyond salvage, the regiment's commander and the minor nobles decided to launch a desperate countercharge, forming a small wave of heavy knights to charge the Chaos army. But this was like trying to stop a tidal wave with a reed; within minutes, the shining armor of the knights was torn apart under the relentless assault of the Kurgan cavalry.
Sa'i raised his staff, unleashing lightning and vile curses upon everything before him from his throne. Behind him, eager Beastmen and Chaos Spawn prepared to escalate the massacre to its peak.
The Dauegan army successfully crossed the Asa Dam, completely annihilating the Imperial infantry regiment and leaving a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood in their wake. Now, a small breach had been opened in the seemingly impregnable Imperial line.
Nuln's Grand Marshal Erstein immediately noticed the shift in the battle. In the rapidly changing battlefield, he quickly realized what needed to be done.
"Graf! Take your men and hold back those cavalry!" The Grand Marshal issued his orders without delay. "Now!"
An Imperial general hurried over, shouting, "Understood! How long do I need to hold them?"
"As long as you can!" Erstein shouted back.
"Yes, sir!" General Graf immediately led Nuln's "Gray Cloaks" regiment to the front lines. The fresh troops stabilized the situation, and Sa'i, seeing this, snorted coldly and ordered his entire horde to continue the advance.
Ryan and his forces, consisting of knights from the Imperial Knightly Orders and Bretonnian knights, closely observed the battle. The war had just begun, and it was not yet time for the knights to charge. Sulia, fully armed, stood by Ryan's side. Seeing the fierce battle, she was eager to join in, but Ryan shook his head.
It wasn't time yet.
Meanwhile, the center of the Imperial line had turned into a hellish battlefield. Tamurkhan's Chaos army clashed fiercely with the Imperial forces along the entire front line. The Imperial soldiers held their ground, refusing to yield an inch. Handgunners and crossbowmen fired relentlessly, and the story of blood and slaughter unfolded just outside the towering walls of Nuln.
"Boom!" A massive explosion suddenly erupted from within the Chaos ranks, causing everyone on the battlefield to instinctively look up. A gigantic dark red fireball soared into the sky from the Chaos army's formation, its intense light like a second sun. The fireball's surface crackled with sparks, bathing the Imperial army in a fiery rain. As the fireball hurtled toward the ground, its impact unleashed a powerful explosion, shaking the entire battlefield.
The Chaos Dwarfs had arrived. Gray Prophet Drazhoath rode the blazing Bull of Zharr high above the battlefield, leaving a trail of black smoke in its wake. The vast horde of Chaos Dwarfs marched onto the field, followed by seven or eight demonic steam-powered Ironclad War Trains, loaded with Chaos Dwarf war machines.
"For Zharr-Naggrund! For Hashut!"
"For Hashut!" The Chaos Dwarfs roared in unison, praising their god, Hashut.
Tamurkhan and Sa'i looked on with disdain and disgust at the Chaos Dwarfs' actions, especially Tamurkhan. Nurgle's chosen champion knew why the Chaos Dwarfs had arrived late.
The Gray Prophet wanted to use them as cannon fodder! He waited until the Imperials were engaged in melee to minimize his losses!
But considering the Chaos Dwarfs' siege weapons, neither Sa'i nor Tamurkhan could afford to turn against them now. They could only grit their teeth and order Drazhoath to launch the attack as soon as possible.
Fortunately, the Chaos Dwarfs' war machines had a shorter range than Nuln's artillery. Although the explosions from the Hellcannons were loud enough to be heard clearly by the women in the Elector Palace, the massive fireballs fell short, landing dozens of meters away from the Imperial lines. Not only did they fail to hit the Imperial artillery, but they also incinerated several Kurgan warriors and Chaos champions.
The other cannons fared no better. The Chaos Dwarfs' first volley achieved nothing, instead killing over a hundred Kurgan marauders and several Chaos warriors.
"Damn it!" Gray Prophet Drazhoath cursed under his breath. The four Chaos Hellcannons were all damaged to varying degrees, and even after emergency repairs, their range, power, and accuracy were compromised.
"Counterattack! Artillerymen! Use your weapons and fire at the enemy!" Nuln's Grand Marshal immediately recognized the opportunity and loudly ordered the Imperial artillery and the engineers of Nuln's Gunnery School:
"Destroy those Chaos Dwarf war machines! For Charlemagne, for Ludwig, for the Empire!"
"For the Empire!" The Imperial artillerymen, initially terrified by the power of the Chaos Dwarfs' war machines, had turned to flee. But realizing the Chaos Dwarfs' range was insufficient, they saw this as a golden opportunity and quickly returned to their positions, reloading their cannons.
"Boom! Boom, boom, boom!"
The Nuln artillery unleashed a full barrage, with countless shells whistling through the sky, crashing down upon the Chaos army.
The Empire's cannons far outnumbered and outpaced those of the Chaos Dwarfs. The intense bombardment inflicted heavy losses on the Chaos Dwarf artillerymen, forcing them to keep their heads down. The Chaos Dwarf war machines, designed primarily for siege warfare, were at a disadvantage in terms of rate of fire and range. Many mortars and demonic cannons were destroyed by Nuln's artillery before they could even reach effective firing range.
However, the Chaos Dwarfs' war machines also had their advantages. Enhanced by malevolent alchemy and daemonic power, their cannons could annihilate an entire Imperial heavy cannon or mortar, along with the nearby artillerymen, with a single shot. In contrast, the Chaos Dwarf war machines were more durable, and it would take multiple hits to disable them.
After paying a heavy price, the Chaos Dwarfs finally began to turn the tide, engaging the Imperial artillery in a brutal artillery duel, with both sides suffering horrific losses.
The pressure on the Chaos army's advance eased as a result. Seeing that Nuln's cannons and mortars were preoccupied with the Chaos Dwarfs' war machines, Tamurkhan issued another order.
He commanded the Nurgle champion Kazk to lead the Rotten Knights and the Chaos Dragon Knight Orbach-Gutfel to launch an aerial assault. Simultaneously, he bellowed as the "Mountain Breaker," ordering the entire Plague Ogre tribe and Plague Trolls to attack the Imperial lines!
As the Chaos army prepared to launch a full-scale assault, a small wave of panic spread through the Imperial ranks. But Nuln's Grand Marshal continued to march through the lines, shouting out loud slogans and invoking the names of Emperor Charlemagne and Savior Ludwig. Under his inspiration, Nuln's Imperial army had become a group of fearless lunatics. Faced with the onslaught of the Chaos army, they fought relentlessly, throwing themselves at the Chaos warriors with reckless abandon.
The Iron Cross Skull battle standard of the Empire, the black-scaled Lion of Nuln banner, and the golden Gryphon banner of Savior Ludwig never faltered!
The minions of Chaos occasionally let out terrifying war cries, but the bravest soldiers responded with loud curses. Thousands of muskets fired in unison as the Chaos knights closed in, with the entire front rank of Chaos knights falling, and many in the second rank being shot down as they fell into the muddy, cratered ground. Plague Ogres and Chaos Trolls also fell in the face of such a concentrated hail of bullets.
However, the Chaos knights, led by the Corruptor Kazk, eventually reached the Imperial lines. The Imperial generals shouted orders, and the halberdiers and pikemen formed several solid ranks, intending to use their bodies to withstand the charge of the Chaos knights.
"Heh, weaklings!" Nurgle's champion, Corruptor Kazk, let out a mocking laugh as he swung his massive scythe, instantly reaping the lives of three Imperial halberdiers. Scalding blood and flying limbs served as the best offerings to the Chaos Gods.
As he said, the seemingly unbreakable Imperial line crumbled under the charge of the Chaos knights. The unfortunate infantrymen were crushed under the iron hooves, while the knights speared and tossed bodies into the air. The Chaos mounts snapped open their skeletal jaws, spraying venom as they chewed and devoured their fresh prey.
The Empire's first defensive line began to falter.
Tamurkhan immediately seized the opportunity, ordering Sa'i, who was still engaged with the dam's defenders, to commit all his forces to break the Empire's right flank and seize the entire dam!
At the same time, Ryan also began to act.
"Karad! Theodore!"
"Present!"
"Go support the center! Bring me that Nurgle champion's head!"
"Yes, sir!" Karad responded loudly, immediately leading a large contingent of knights to support the Imperial center.
"Leitbord!" Ryan's expression remained stoic as he continued issuing orders.
"Present!" Blackheart Rip, leading the Free Riders, responded to Ryan's command.
"Proceed with the plan we discussed earlier!"
"Yes, sir!" Blackheart Rip immediately obeyed, leading over a thousand Free Riders out of the formation.
"Sulia!" Ryan turned his attention to his wife.
"Present!" The knightess responded coldly, eager to join the battle.
"Now, let's head to the Crow Dam and meet the Kurgan cavalry of the Dauegan tribe!"
"Understood!" The large force of over three thousand knights and pistoliers began to roll toward the Crow Dam.
The battle was now entering its most intense phase.
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