Konev launches major offensive in north Hexis

Since the end of 018M42 general Konev had been under pressure to go onto the offensive on Hexis. The imperium still held many districts of the ruins of Praxis, but the forces were encircled by chaos and tau units. Konev therefore built up his strength, assigning an Omsk cavalry corps to General Randolph’s second army on the right flank, intending to target the supposed weaker alliance forces, now held by units under the tau commander Ghostsight. 

In order to break through to the imperial forces trapped in the centre of the city, Konev appealed for astartes aid. The Sky Lords hesitated, having already failed to deal with the tau in earlier engagements, but the Grey Knights responded, agreeing to make the vanguard assault against the tau lines at Kaeleth. Assuming this went well, the Omsk cavalry would then exploit the breakthrough to the south, driving the tau out of western Praxis. 

The Grey Knights achieved total surprise against their event, and the tau, having never before faced such an aggressive human foe, struggled to deal with the astartes. Despite having access to the latest tau technology, the alliance force were unable to prevent the Grey Knights from closing to point blank range and devastating their light forces. 

Having forced the tau to give ground, a 50km gap in the tau lines opened up, reconnecting the isolated imperial forces in the sprawling centre of Praxis. Now General Randolf put Konev’s second phase of the operation into action. His Omsk Cavalry, faster even than his imperial mechanised force, did not let the tau disengage, harrying them to the old industrial zone west of Charion gate. Here Ghostsight made his stand. For a while the sudden counter attack by the xenos forces took the imperial mounted corps by surprise, and the horsemen took heavy casualties. With the battle in the balance, Randolph ordered the cavalry to press the attack regardless of cost, knowing that Ghostsight could not afford an attritional battle. By 0601.019 the tau were once again withdrawing south, widening the gap in the tau lines before eventually the chaos held sector of Charion itself was reached. 

Now the imperial forces paused. With the central forces reconnected to the imperial main body once again and the chaos lines in the south reached, the imperial forces had moved the front forward by over 100km. Conscious of not overextending his supply lines, Randolf order a general halt to the offensive, which was approved by his superiors. The immediate situation in the west had been resolved, although the imperium had not landed a fatal blow to the alliance.