Mordecai: Frontal assault on Sathugar mines

Following the success at Kuneus, General Kutuzov made immediate plans to exploit the breakthrough and start advancing on the strategically vital Sathugar mines. By late 04.020M42 the chaos supply lines were in better shape than those of the Imperium, so Kutuzov resolved to keep up the pressure by continuing the offensive in the south.

 

To make the charge on the east of the mining complex, a Valdorograd Guard Motor Rifle regiment, equipped with large numbers of Chimeras raced west from the city of Kuneus, at first meeting little resistance. Howeverm soon the lead scouting elements found that ahead of them the Death Guard had completed their rituals and summoned a large army of daemonic plaguebearers to bar the imperial advance.

 

Fortunately for the Imperium and Kutuzov's plans, plaguebearers are not known for their speed. The daemonic horde shambled forward to engage the Imperial attackers, giving the guard regiment enough time to soften up the approaching masses. A daemon prince did cause some alarm as it utilised the warp to close the distance more rapidly, but unsupported the daemon thing was banished back to the warp by massed imperial firepower.

 

As the plaguebearer host came on, the Valdograd general enacted a flanking attack, deploying his fast chimera forces to the right flank and disembarking the highly trained guardsmen, using flamers and lasguns to unleash a storm of fire on the enemy mass. This seemed to be going well, until the skeins of reality themselves began to buckle in the centre of the daemonic mass, engorging the numbers of endlessly droning one eyed plague monsters.

 

Fear gripped the imperial general briefly, then resignation to the fact this battle would now be decided in a bloody and unpleasant melee between his army and the daemonic host. The battle became a hell for those involved, and most of the infantry, thankfully, died in the fighting, as any who had survived would likely have been "liquidated" in any case. They did however reduce the numbers of the plaguebearers, and once the confusion cleared, the back line of imperial artillery and tank support reigned a devastating barrage on the remaining daemons in the host, and by 2404.020M42 it was clear that the Death Guard gamble had failed, and the daemons began to flicker out of existance entirely.

 

Despite high casualties, the Valdograd regiment had secured the outer facilities of the Sathugar mining complex, denying their use to the enemy and slowly swinging the strategic advantage in favour of the Imperium. The hard slog however would continue, and casualties would continue to rise.