Warp storms and problems in organising assault equipment scuppered General Veers' planned invasion of Bastien in 04.010M42. However, rather than simply wait until all the required units were available, Veers decided to keep the chaos forces guessing and on the defensive. to do this a force of some 200,000 men, less than 5% of Veers total battleforce, was sent to Sentinell following alarming news of rituals and strange goings on on the surface of the planet. With just two Imperial cruisers in support the battlegroup was vulnerable, but no enemy fleet was present upon their arrival. A bridgehead was established and regiments of Porphyrian and Cerberex Guard disembarked from their transports.
Initially the landings went well. Caught by surprise the forces of the Claws of Lorek faired badly against the Cerberex regiments who were in the vanguard of the initial assaults. The fortified settlement of Al'Shahek fell swiftly but Imperial leaders realised after two days of impressive gains that the Claws were not about to abandon their hold on Sentinell.
The Cerberex regiments were withdrawn from Al'Shahek following its capture for rest and refit. Casualties had been comparatively light but the commander on the ground deemed it better to install fresh units of the Porphyrian Guard to the hard won settlement. Whether or not this was the right decision will be debated, as the Porphyrians were far less well equipped than the regiments of Cerberex, and four days later on 2204.010M42 the Claws of Lorek counter-attacked. A savage battle for the settlement erupted but the Porphyrians were outlclassed. As quickly as it had been won by the Imperium Al'Shahek fell, retaken once more by the forces of chaos and forcing the Imperial army on Sentinell back to their landing zone. With enemies on all sides the excursion to Sentinell now looked rather ill-concieved, and only time would tell whether or not they would have to re-embark.
No comments:
Post a Comment