Frax, outside the death-town of Bastogne, "Cannon Fodder Regiment", 13th Column Command Post...
"We're putting you at the very front, this is a sign of our trust... I've checked the southern ferry crossing, the terrain is good, much higher than the north side. Our troops' entire deployment will be under its scrutiny; whoever stands there will have the advantage..."
At this moment, the Column Commander was soaking his feet in the command post while giving a mission briefing. On a nearby table, there were dishes made with canned meat and black bread, and a Cadian officer was drinking wine and eating.
"I originally planned to transfer two companies from the Second Battalion to reinforce. But now, the blocking area has expanded, and I really can't spare the manpower. Do you understand what I mean? Hey! Speak up!"
The Commander wiped his feet with a towel as he asked. But the other man was still eating with gusto... He picked up the bit of Amasec in the cup beside him and downed it in one gulp... "It's so damn good!" The officer then stood up and walked to the brazier, sitting opposite the Column Commander. The two of them picked up their boots and started to roast them, as almost everyone had gotten wet to some extent after crossing the river.
"Hey, look! Only women get calluses there from walking. Why don't you fix your splayed feet?"
"Seriously, if you have any requests, make them quickly. Anything I can personally resolve, I'll try my best to satisfy you."
Hearing this, the officer scratched his head.
"I don't have any decent firepower at hand right now. You need to equip me with a logging heavy machine gun."
"I'll equip you with two heavy bolters, plus 300,000 rounds of ammunition."
The Column Commander expressionlessly tidied his shoes.
"We captured an infantry cannon, but I'm reluctant to abandon it... artillery shells are hard to find..."
"Let the Adeptus Mechanicus help you find them. Whatever they find is yours."
"My men are good at ground attacks. Explosives, detonators, and such—you need to let us take as much as we can."
"As you wish, as long as you can carry it."
Hearing that the Commander agreed, the officer hesitated slightly and said:
"I'm short on men. Give me 30 reinforcements."
The Commander looked up, then refused: "No, not men."
"20 men... 10! Can it be 5? Is that not too much?"
"Everyone I can spare is already down there. I don't have a single extra head."
At this moment, a Soldier walked in from outside, placing several packs of "Macragge" brand cigarettes on the table, and explained with a troubled expression to the officer:
"Old Gu, there really are no more men. The Column Commander's bodyguards have all fallen, and he hasn't even looked for replacements, making me handle both bodyguard and bugler duties."
The officer picked up the cigarettes on the table and opened a pack: "Usually you're so stingy, what's with the generosity today?"
The Column Commander rubbed his hands over the brazier: "How many of our comrades from that batch of officer training groups are left?"
"You and I... that's it."
The Column Commander nodded and sighed: "The fortifications, the Adeptus Mechanicus have already finished them for you... Take care of yourself."
The officer turned around and looked at the bugler: "Your old bugle clanking behind your ass, it's not leaking, is it?"
The bugler stood up and checked his military bugle: "No, it's fine."
"Then when the time comes, you'd better play it with all your might for me. My ears are already perked up."
The Column Commander sat up: "Repeat the order to me again."
The officer immediately stood up from his seat and repeated the order word for word: "Before 12 PM tomorrow, hold the line at the Frax River south bank ferry crossing at all costs. Regardless of the time, everything is subject to the assembly call, be ready to retreat at any moment."
"If you don't hear the bugle, even if only one person is left, you must keep fighting."
---
Bastogne death-town, abandoned factory command post basement
Bishop Savan paced anxiously. The vibrations from the ground indicated that the Imperial Army's bombardment had not yet ended. The "terrifying bombardment of the Imperium" had lasted for 5 hours.
Savan knew that he was completely "checkmated." All of his main forces had been tricked and were running in circles. Before dedicating himself to Chaos, he was familiar with the Astra Militarum's tactics. But he never knew that they could gather a group of routed Soldiers and surround him in this small town.
He had actually planned to escape by opening a Warp portal through a ritual, but for some reason, as the Imperial Army gradually surrounded the town he was in, he could no longer feel any Warp presence.
(Four Chaos Gods: "The user you dialed is out of service area...")
"Bishop! The planes are here!"
Hearing this news, Savan smiled. It seemed fate was still on his side. "You can continue attacking this town; I'm going back to my palace."
Thinking this, Bishop Savan strode towards the stairwell and gradually reached the surface. This place was originally filled with Chaos ritual symbols, totem beacons made of human bodies... but under the bombardment, it had become a ruin; nothing remained now.
The last remaining defensive forces of this town were only two Chaos Space Marines Space Marine Chapters:
The "Berserkers" of World Eaters regent "Oathbreaker" Ksorax
A subordinate Space Marine Chapter, the "Dark Brotherhood," composed of parts of Chaos Champion Ereias' "Black Legion"
They were just about to break out of the town to crush the mortals when they were repelled by a group of smurfs and Apothecaries descending from the sky. The most outrageous thing was that they found the opposing side actually had an entire Space Marine Chapter of Apothecaries! What kind of Space Marine Chapter was this? The "Hospitaler Knights"?
Finally, there were Savan's remaining personal guards, who were Bishop Savan's direct subordinates.
The "Frax "Dirlewanger" Chaos Grenadier Brigade"—their Brigade Commander Dirlewanger himself stood beside Savan. This unit was entirely composed of criminals from Frax, essentially the scum of the earth; there was nothing they wouldn't dare to do.
(Given what Dirlewanger did, I suspect he's a Chaos Cultist who traveled through time from 40K.)
As for the other forces of the Chaos faction, they were powerless at this moment.
The "Faithless Space Marine Chapter" of the Alpha Legion had disappeared since the beginning of the war. And Khorne Champion Egason's "Skulltakers Space Marine Chapter" and Chaos Lord Necrosius' "Plague Apostles Space Marine Chapter" were all at High Ground 30, engaged in a meat grinder battle with the Dark Angels, The Lamenters, and Mantis Warriors.
At this moment, Dirlewanger was wearing a uniform made of human skin, with one eye blood-red and the other blue-violet, and strange protrusions growing near his brow bones.
On the distant horizon, several transport planes adorned with blasphemous markings were flying towards them. Savan smiled upon seeing them. He was ready, once he returned to his palace, to grab tens of thousands of prisoners from the dungeons, perform the ritual again, and summon more demons to Frax to fight the Imperial Army for him... However, just as Savan watched the formation of planes getting closer and closer, a white smoke trail in the distance was speeding towards the planes sent to pick him up...
Li Feng had spent these past few hours using STC and the Adeptus Mechanicus' mobile workshops to manufacture a large number of parts. Since it was impossible to build large-scale equipment all at once, manufacturing the parts for large-scale equipment and then assembling them was not a problem.
And that white smoke... was an anti-aircraft missile, the result of Li Feng and the Adeptus Mechanicus' work during this time. They had made a pile of parts, and then, through the tireless efforts of the Adeptus Mechanicus personnel, assembled one:
The "Armor-S1 Missile-Gun Integrated Anti-Aircraft System"
It used a phased-array radar for target acquisition and tracking, and that white smoke was precisely the 57E6 anti-aircraft missile flying at Mach 2.3, with an operational range of 20 kilometers and a missile flight altitude of 15,000 meters. Within its maximum effective range of 20 kilometers, there was no dead angle in defense.
Li Feng had long anticipated that Savan might try to escape. If Savan escaped through the Warp, Li Feng couldn't stop him, as he didn't possess psychic abilities.
But what if! What if that grandson Savan tried to escape by plane, Li Feng would have a good chance to get revenge for his own plane crash. And Li Feng's gamble paid off; they had just finished assembling and testing their Armor system less than an hour ago when several transport planes arrived to pick up Savan.
At this moment, the Adeptus Mechanicus members operating the anti-aircraft system inside the Armor were kneeling, operating it. They had never seen such a powerful weapon, such a powerful force of the Russian Federation!
"Truly worthy of being the divine machine bestowed by the omnissiah!"
Savan watched the "fireworks show" in the sky. The planes sent to pick him up were all shot down by those incredibly accurate "torpedoes."
Savan's heart died... Since he had pledged himself to Chaos, he had never felt such despair. The joy and illusions that Chaos had brought him began to dissipate as the encirclement tightened. Now, he even felt a hint of regret: why had he betrayed the Imperium and the great Emperor?
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