Chapter 2008 Highland War (Part 2)
After occupying three highlands, Hayes and the others had only been busy for thirty minutes when whizzing shells began to fall on their positions, hitting everyone at once. They were deceived, just like the heretical defenders who were deceived by them before.
How could the enemy's counterattack be so fast! ?
The soldiers were confused, but Arni quickly discovered the reason through the efforts of the scouts.
About thirty kilometers in front of their position, there was a fortress built by the enemy into the mountain! The enemy's fortress artillery can hit their positions directly!
What's worse is that a large number of enemy troops have poured out of the fortress. The number is unknown, but there should be five or six thousand.
This intelligence error was a fatal blow to Abu Bakari’s 310th Infantry Regiment. Although Alni immediately reported the situation to his superiors and applied for an orbital strike, it would not happen until at least an hour later. There are results. After all, there are only so many battleships, but there are more battlefields
that need support.
At this time, they must rely on their own strength to hold on.
"Soldiers, hold your ground! For the sake of the Emperor, hold your ground!"
It was now noon, the sun was already high in the sky, and artillery shells continued to fall on three highlands. The soldiers had to huddle in the trenches that had not yet been dug. Hayes felt that his ears were going deaf at this time. He felt tired as never before. Like the people around him, his face and clothes were stained with mud mixed with blood. His fingers holding the gun were painful due to excessive force, and his shoulders were very sore.
More importantly, he is now thirsty and hungry.
I don’t know how long later, the bombardment stopped, and Hayes felt someone grabbing his collar.
He turned around and saw a big, broad face and a pair of huge ears. The man was staring at him nervously, sweating profusely.
“Hmph, Brother Hais, get up quickly, the heretical bastards are coming!”
This man's name is Peak, but the company generally calls him Big-Eared Monster. This man is a recent batch of recruits. It is said that he is also from the bottom nest. According to him, he was abandoned by his parents when he was born and was adopted by a group of scavengers. There is nothing wrong with his body, but his face is ugly, his lips are split in the middle, his cheeks are swollen and big, his ears are three or four times the size of ordinary people, and they hang down on both sides of his head like some kind of animal - probably these are his parents too The reason for abandoning him.
However, the family that adopted him was very good to him. At least there was no abuse and they got along harmoniously. Therefore, his personality was unexpectedly gentle. However, life in the bottom nest was indeed difficult. Peak’s adoptive mother had a chronic disease and needed Very expensive medicine can relieve his pain. In exchange for some medicine, he chose to secretly join the army without telling his family.
After he came to the army, he called everyone brother. In fact, he was two or three years older than Hayes. In addition, he had a good relationship with Fitz, who also had some mutations, and often helped each other move things.
“Wait, I’ll take my time.”
“Hmph, okay, Brother Hayes, hum, I’m going to Brother Fitz’s.”
Hayes did not stand up, but half-crouched against the edge of the trench. He hurriedly picked up the kettle, unscrewed the cap with trembling hands and took two sips to make his throat less dry before popping his head.
At this time, the position had long been bombed into a mess, and many broken corpses were mixed with the rubble of the fortifications. Their squad was lucky, no shells fell in their trenches, and the trenches dug by these heretics were also It's relatively deep. I can only say that it's thanks to the other party not being lazy.
Hayes looked into the distance, and the formation of heretics had been revealed. The red and black battle flag symbolizing the red pirates was flying in the air. They were all wearing red carapace armor, except for the different paints. The external equipment is no different from that of the regular Astra Militarum, and there are even accompanying armored vehicles and simple light tanks.
Obviously, although these heretics have good equipment, their strategies have not changed at all.
They plan to attack the high ground directly and take it back.
"Fight!"
While the enemy began to run in small steps, the empire's artillery also began to fire. The shells passed over everyone's heads, creating tragic explosions in the enemy's queue. The defenders also fired their guns and artillery, releasing fierce firepower.
Since both sides had similar fighting styles, the battle quickly turned into a war of attrition. However, no matter how many times the heretics charged, Abubakari’s 310th Infantry Regiment held the battle line - despite a certain amount of effort. price.
Hayes saw many of his comrades die before he got to know him. One of the recruits was about the same age as him. This was his first time fighting, and he was thrown into the sky by a cannonball. When he landed, his stomach had been cut open. , the intestines were broken into two parts like a tangled rope, and died in the stench of feces and blood.
Although the political commissars have been trying to encourage everyone, in Hayes' view, such a death is unfortunate, unattractive, and without honor. But he didn't have much energy to think. As a member of the machine gun squad, his biggest task was to carry ammunition.
And he had already moved five boxes, and he almost fainted from exhaustion.
Despite paying such a price, Hayes still felt that the company was lucky. They held the defense line of Hill 378, and other troops also held the line of defense, which meant that they were at least still in a condescending position.
After all, once the front is broken, the consequences will be catastrophic: the trickle of casualties is likely to flow out.
If the situation continues like this, the enemy will eventually collapse in a desperate attack.
But the situation is always unsatisfactory.
An unusual explosion came from Highland 411. Hayes keenly caught it and turned his head. He saw a huge rust-red fighter plane parked on the high ground. In the open hatch, some Something terrible is falling.
They were the scariest monsters Hayes had ever seen, even scarier than the beasts in his dreams.
They were some terrifying giants, twice as tall as any humans around them. Their mottled scarlet armor was covered with a large amount of human skin, human bones or growths, and their helmets either had horns or tentacles. , holding a huge chain ax or chain sword, and a bolt gun in both hands.
“What is that——”
Hayes was stunned. This kind of enemy was never introduced in the manual issued by the Ministry of Military Affairs. Could it be the legendary demon?
"Damn! It's the Chaos Space Marines!!!"
Hashet also saw those giants appearing on Highland 411, and immediately howled uncontrollably, as if he had been awakened by a nightmare. .
"Chaos. Space Marine?"
Hayes was even more confused. Chaos was evil. He knew this because the priest often promoted it.
But the Space Marines.
Aren't they the will of the Emperor? Shouldn't it be an angel? How could it be possible to be associated with such evil?
But those Twisted Giants seemed to be ironclad evidence, making Hayes' past concepts seem like a joke.
What's worse is that they started massacring as soon as they landed. Although there were only five of them, the surrounding defenders were unable to resist at all, and their morale quickly collapsed.
The most deadly thing is that their leader is at Highland 411!
"The leader is dead! The leader is dead!"
5 Chaos Space Marines, in less than three minutes, completely defeated the defenders on 411, and many people began to throw down their positions and weapons and go underground. Run, and some are running towards Highland 378.
The prayers and shouts of victory were replaced by the sounds of panic. A few minutes ago, the heretics were beaten to death, and now the Imperial soldiers were blindly running away from the enemy. All illusions of order and discipline were gone. Disappeared, the army lost all cohesion, and although officers and political commissars worked hard to shout orders, try to restore military discipline, and even shoot deserters, the chaos in the entire regiment continued to worsen.
An almost palpable panic surged through the ranks. For these soldiers, only the most basic issues of survival remained.
People ran away, not caring about being tripped by the bodies of their dead and wounded comrades. The entire army turned into a frightened beast desperately trying to avoid the pursuers. Even the officers and a few political commissars were wrapped up and driven from the high ground. When he got down, he looked completely defeated.
(End of this chapter)