While the war for the Hecate Gap raged in the galactic East, the ongoing attritional conflict on Mordecai Secundus did not take a back seat. Both sides were somewhat exhausted and although the Imperium held a slight advantage in terms of supply, having bottled up the chaos fleet in their anchorage, Kutuzov's armies were unable to take full advantage, lacking a safe passage across the Cicatrix Maledictum, and with Army Group Perseus still competing with Army Group Hadron for the precious reinforcements of personnel and equipment.
By late 02.023M42 Kutuzov had received new regiments of Librian Guard, even though their homeworld was now part of the secessionist Federacy. He was assured by the Commissariat that their loyalty was not in question, though their fighting ability had not been tested for some time. With this in mind the general assigned the 51st Mechanised Regiment the task of retaking the Abrax mines, knowing that should they fail, the strategic situation on the Eastern Front wouldn't likely be too detrimental.
The Librian force rolled into the now chaos held western reaches of the mine complex without meeting much resistance, but were soon opposed by an elite force of Emperor's Children. The mechanised troops forced their way forward, supported by Leman Russ, and although the traitor astartes were able to move into close combat with the armoured formations, the Librians proved extremely stubborn. Casualties soon mounted on both sides, but the chaos forces found it difficult to take down the heavily armoured imperial tanks, and after several hours of hard inconclusive fighting, were forced to withdraw due to worsening supply issues.
The battle hadn't been a stunning victory for the newly arrived Librians, but the inconclusive engagement ended up favouring the Imperium, and the guard regiment was able to hold on to a small section of the mining complex. Satisfied with the performance of the Librian regiments, Kutuzov drew up plans for his next offensive.
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