After occupying three highlands, Hayes and the others had only been busy for thirty minutes when whizzing shells began to fall on their positions. This blinded everyone, just like the heretical defenders who had been blinded by them before. Same.
How could the enemy's counterattack be so fast! ?
The soldiers were confused, but Arni quickly discovered the reason through the efforts of the scouts.
About thirty kilometers in front of their position, there was a fortress built by the enemy in the mountain! The enemy's fortress artillery can hit their positions directly!
What's worse is that a large number of enemy troops have poured out of the fortress. The number is unknown, but there should be five or six thousand.
This intelligence error was a fatal blow to Abu Bakari's 310th Infantry Regiment. Although Alni immediately reported the situation to his superiors and applied for an orbital strike, the result would not come until at least an hour later. After all, the battleship was So point, and the battlefield that needs support
then more.
At this time, they must rely on their own strength to hold on.
"Soldiers, stand your ground! For the Emperor, stand your ground!"
It was now noon, the sun was already high in the sky, and artillery shells continued to fall on three highlands. The soldiers had to huddle in the trenches that had not yet been dug. Hayes felt that his ears were going deaf at this time. He felt tired as never before. Like the people around him, his face and clothes were stained with mud mixed with blood. His fingers holding the gun were painful due to excessive force, and his shoulders were very sore.
More importantly, he was now thirsty and hungry.
After an unknown amount of time, the shelling stopped, and Hayes felt someone tugging on his collar.
He turned around and saw a broad face with a pair of huge ears. The man was staring at him nervously, sweating profusely.
"Hmph, Brother Hayes, get up quickly, the heretical bastards are here!"
This man's name is Peak, but the company generally calls him Big-Eared Monster. This man is a recent batch of recruits. It is said that he is also from the bottom nest. According to him, he was abandoned by his parents when he was born and was adopted by a group of scavengers. There is nothing wrong with his body, but his face is ugly, his lips are split in the middle, his cheeks are swollen and big, his ears are three or four times the size of ordinary people, and they hang down on both sides of his head like some kind of animal - probably these are also his parents The reason for abandoning him.
However, the family that adopted him was very kind to him. At least they were not abusive and they got along harmoniously. Therefore, his personality was unexpectedly gentle. However, life in the bottom nest was indeed difficult. Peak's adoptive mother had a chronic disease that required expensive medicine to alleviate. , precisely in exchange for some medicine, he chose to join the army secretly without telling his family.
After he came to the army, he called everyone brother. In fact, he was two or three years older than Hayes. In addition, he had a good relationship with Fitz, who also had some mutations, and often helped each other move things.
"Wait, I'll take it slow."
"Hmph, okay, Brother Hayes, hum, I'm going to Brother Fitz's."
Hayes did not stand up, but half-crouched against the edge of the trench. He hurriedly picked up the kettle, unscrewed the cap with trembling hands and took two sips to make his throat less dry before popping his head.
At this time, the position had long been bombed into a mess, and many broken corpses were mixed with the rubble of the fortifications. Their squad was lucky enough that no shells fell in their trenches. The trenches dug by these heretics were also relatively deep. It can only be said that Thanks to the other party for not being lazy.
Hayes looked into the distance, and the heretic queue had been revealed. The red and black battle flags symbolizing the red pirates were flying in the air. They were all wearing red carapace armor. Except for the different painting, the equipment was the same as that of the regular star realm. There is no distinction between the army and even the accompanying armored vehicles and rudimentary light tanks.
Obviously, although these heretics have good equipment, their strategies have not changed at all.
They plan to directly attack the high ground and take it back.
"beat!"
While the enemy began to run in small steps, the imperial artillery also began to fire. The shells passed over the heads of everyone, creating tragic explosions in the enemy's queue. At the same time, the defenders on the three highlands also fired their guns and artillery, releasing a Intense firepower.
Since both sides had similar fighting styles, the battle quickly turned into a war of attrition, but no matter how many times the heretics charged, Abubakari's 310th Infantry Regiment held on to the front—albeit at a certain cost.
Hayes saw many comrades he had not yet gotten to know die. One of the recruits was about the same age as him. This was his first time fighting. He was thrown into the sky by a cannonball. When he landed, his stomach had been cut open and his intestines were like a roll. It was broken into two parts like a tangled rope, and died in the stench of feces and blood.
Although the political commissars had been trying to encourage everyone, in Hayes' view, such a death was unfortunate, unattractive, and without honor.
But he didn't have much energy to think. As a member of the machine gun squad, his biggest task was to carry ammunition.
And he had already moved five boxes, and he almost fainted from exhaustion.
Despite paying such a price, Hayes still felt that the company was lucky. They held the defense line of Hill 378, and other troops also held the line of defense, which meant that they were at least still in a condescending position.
After all, once the front is breached, the consequences will be catastrophic: the trickle of casualties is likely to tumble out.
If the situation continues like this, eventually the enemy will collapse in a desperate attack.
But the situation is always unsatisfactory.
An unusual explosion came from Highland 411. Hayes keenly caught it and turned his head. He saw a huge rust-red fighter plane parked on the high ground. In the open hatch, something terrible was falling.
They were the scariest monsters Hayes had ever seen, even scarier than the beasts in his dreams.
They were some terrifying giants, twice as tall as any humans around them. Their mottled scarlet armor was covered with a large amount of human skin, human bones or growths. Their helmets either had horns or tentacles growing out, and they held huge weapons in their hands. A chainsaw or chainsword, and a bolter.
"what is that--"
Hayes was stunned. This kind of enemy was never introduced in the manual issued by the Ministry of Military Affairs. Could it be the legendary demon?
"Damn it! It's Chaos Space Marines!!!"
Hashet also saw those giants appearing on Highland 411, and immediately howled uncontrollably, as if he had been awakened by a nightmare.
"Chaos Space Marine?"
Hayes was even more confused. Chaos was evil, he knew this because the priest often preached it.
But Space Marine.
Aren't they the Emperor's will? Shouldn't it be an angel? How could it be possible to be associated with such evil?
But those Twisted Giants seemed to be ironclad proof, making Hayes' past concepts seem like a joke.
To make matters worse, they started massacring as soon as they landed. Although there were only five of them, the surrounding defenders were unable to resist at all, and their morale quickly collapsed.
The most deadly thing is that their leader is at Highland 411!
"The leader is dead! The leader is dead!"
Five Chaos Space Marines completely defeated the defenders on 411 in less than three minutes. Many people began to abandon their positions and weapons and run to the high ground, and some ran to high ground 378.
Prayers and shouts of victory were replaced by sounds of panic. Just a few minutes ago the heretics were beaten and scurrying. Now the Imperial soldiers were blindly running away from the enemy. All illusions of order and discipline were gone. The army was lost. Despite all the cohesiveness, the chaos in the regiment continued to worsen despite the efforts of the officers and commissars to shout orders, try to restore discipline, and even shoot deserters.
An almost palpable sense of panic surged through the ranks. For these soldiers, only the most basic issues of survival remained.
People ran away, not caring about tripping over the bodies of their dead and wounded comrades. The entire army turned into frightened beasts desperately trying to avoid their pursuers. Even the officers and a few political commissars were wrapped up and driven down from the high ground, completely It just looked like a complete failure.
(End of chapter)
