The Battle of the Harian Mesa: Securing the Imperial Corridor

As the Mordecai campaign entered 025M42, General Kutuzov sought to eliminate a persistent Chaos salient that threatened the cohesion of Imperial positions between Menoria Hive and Westosa Hive. The Death Guard, entrenched within the harsh and treacherous Harian Mesa, had been using the region as a staging ground for raids and counterattacks, disrupting Imperial supply lines and preventing a secure link between the two key hive cities. Kutuzov's objective was clear; drive the traitors from the mesa and establish an unbroken Imperial stronghold.

The offensive was launched with multiple regiments of Astra Militarum, primarily composed of mechanised infantry and heavy armour units. However, the nature of the Harian Mesa—a rugged expanse of crumbling ridges, rocky canyons, and deep dust traps, made large-scale mechanised movement slow and arduous. The Death Guard, well-adapted to prolonged attritional warfare, took full advantage of the environment, using ambush tactics, entrenched fortifications, and chemical bombardments to grind down the advancing Imperial forces.

The fighting was brutal. The Death Guards' resilience, combined with the Mesa’s difficult terrain, led to massive equipment losses on both sides. Tanks, transports, and artillery pieces were destroyed in droves, reduced to smouldering wrecks by precision fire, airborne plagues, or simply breaking down in the harsh landscape. The Imperial Guard, however, maintained their greatest advantage; sheer numbers. Where the Death Guard relied on heavily armed and armoured formations, the Imperium could replace its losses far more effectively, with wave after wave of infantry pushing forward despite horrific casualties.

While the Death Guard defenders inflicted staggering losses, the Imperial war machine proved inexhaustible. The sheer volume of infantry assaults, combined with constant artillery bombardments, eventually overwhelmed the Chaos forces, forcing them into a disorderly retreat. With their vehicles destroyed and their fortified positions overrun, the Plague Marines were unable to hold their ground, and Imperial forces systematically cleared the mesa, securing vital high ground and pushing Chaos remnants into the surrounding wastes.

By the end of the battle, the Harian Mesa had been fully taken, eliminating the Chaos salient that had so long threatened the Imperial corridor. At last, Menoria Hive and Westosa Hive were securely joined, forming a continuous and defensible Imperial sector in the heart of Mordecai Primaris.

With the Harian Mesa pacified, General Kutuzov and Imperial High Command were left with a difficult strategic choice. While their sector was now secure, it was surrounded on all sides by the hostile wastelands of Mordecai, with any further advance requiring long and vulnerable supply lines. The remaining Chaos strongholds - particularly the remaining hive cities of the planet - stood deep in the deserts, meaning any future offensive would be costly and logistically complex.

For now, the Imperium had secured a key victory, but the war on Mordecai was far from over. The next decision could determine the fate of the entire campaign.