Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 1002, 08.1001: 'Executing Plan D'

"Defense! Establish defensive positions!!!"

A few hours later, the remnants of Severus's Guards scrambled back to the command bunker.

They lost more than half of their men, and many of those who returned alive were wounded. Due to the extremely unfavorable situation, they even abandoned almost all the seriously wounded who were unable to continue fighting.

Before they could even catch their breath, they shouted incoherently at the elite Imperial Guards stationed at the camp: "Lord Gao's lackeys...too many! They've also brought...lots of wheeled chariots! The wheels on the sand—cough cough—they won't go fast, but they should arrive by dawn! Quick! Set up defenses—"

Upon hearing that the main force of the Imperial Army was rushing straight at them from the flank, the Severus Imperial Guard troops stationed at the command post immediately sprang into action.

The alarm blared, and the deep red Leman Rustank started its engine, emitting a muffled roar.

The engineers dug bunkers at the pre-arranged positions for the tanks, while others laid anti-tank mines and razor wire along the only path leading to the bunkers.

A false sense of security enveloped their soldiers as they carried box after box of mines and roll after roll of razor wire from the bunker, preparing to lay death traps in the cold sand.

According to intelligence from the routed troops, the enemy was still far away, and they had enough time to set up defenses. By daybreak, when the enemy arrived, the entire bunker would have become an impregnable fortress.

However, just as a sapper had finished digging a mine pit and was about to place the mine, a deadly beam of light shot out without warning from where the sand dunes met the horizon in the distance.

The laser beam pierced the engineer's chest, turning him and the ammunition box beside him into a ball of flames.

Immediately afterwards, more beams of light appeared from behind different dunes, accompanied by the distinctive roar of the heavy-explosive arrows, like the clanging of chainsaws, and the piercing shriek of laser cannons tearing through the night sky when they fired.

A dense barrage of fire swept in from all directions, cutting down swathes of Severus's infantry on the open ground.

The energy beams precisely attacked the tanks that were starting up from their weak sides and rear, burning red-hot holes in their armor.

"Didn't you say they were trapped in the sand?!" A guard officer grabbed the collar of the fleeing centurion and roared at him with bloodshot eyes.

“Yes…it’s true that we’re trapped! But…how is this possible…” The centurion, whose collar was being grabbed, was also completely baffled, his face filled with fear and confusion.

However, he soon learned the truth.

A cavalry unit, like a whirlwind from hell, led by a woman in magnificent military uniform carrying a military flag, burst out of the shadows of the sand dunes and charged toward the bunker.

A Lemanrus guarding the steel gate desperately turned its turret to the side, but before it could even aim at the back of the turret at the charging cavalry, it was pierced by three crisscrossing laser beams and exploded violently.

Taking advantage of the unparalleled mobility of horses, the cavalry artillery company had already deployed multiple intersecting anti-armor firing points in the complex terrain surrounding the enemy's underground command post.

Their tactics were simple yet deadly: no matter which direction the traitor's tanks faced with their frontal armor, there were at least two cannons that could strike from their most vulnerable side or rear.

Even if they are discovered, it doesn't matter. The artillerymen can quickly hang the laser cannons back on the gun mounts behind their warhorses, then mount their horses and disappear on the other side of the dunes before the enemy can react.

"Charge!" Yadviga shouted a resounding battle cry, and she and her dragoons cut through the enemy ranks like a red-hot blade.

Soldiers pulled molten grenades from their saddlebags and, during their high-speed charge, precisely hurled them at the top of the tank's armor. The Leman Rustank's wide hull made it easy for them to throw deadly explosives at the engine radiators or the top of the turret armor—either a hit would be fatal.

Faced with the whirlwind of dragoons, Severus's infantry and engineers dropped their tools and weapons and fled in panic toward the bunker gate.

They were like rabbits hunted by hawks; well-trained cavalrymen could easily leave a deep, bone-revealing gash on their backs with their sabers or cavalry swords as they crouched down from their horses.

One after another, the Severans screamed as they fell onto the soft sand. The sudden attack and the misjudgment of the enemy situation led to an almost one-sided massacre of these elite guards who should have been able to fight.

After quickly clearing out the surrounding forces, the dragoons dismounted and took their carbines from their saddlebags or backs.

They quickly formed a tight battle formation in front of the bunker gate.

Several soldiers unloaded the special equipment issued to them by the Imperial Navy—boarding shields and combat shotguns—from their warhorses.

This heavy weapon, originally issued only to boarding party members, is now also an option for ODT (Operational Ground Task Force) units. Utilizing the high transport capacity of robust warhorses, the heavy boarding shield can become an integral part of the assault weaponry for ground mobile forces.

[The number of outer guards is not large...] This strangeness made Yadwiga's heart skip a beat.

Colonel Yadwig himself picked up a boarding shield and a heavy shotgun, placed the barrel over the firing port of the shield, and stood ready outside the door.

boom!
The gate was forcibly blasted open with a hot melt bomb, leaving a huge gap.

The dragoons kicked open the broken and twisted gate with their bulletproof boots covered in terracotta, and poured in like a steel torrent, following the CQB combat formation taught by the Storm Master Chiefs.

The Severus guarding the bunker immediately launched a fierce counterattack, firing heavy blasts and laser guns at the "Highlord's lackeys" pouring in through the doorway.

Bombs pelted the boarding shield like hailstones, but the sturdy defense couldn't be destroyed by such firepower in a short time.

At the same time, shotgun No. 10 unleashed a torrent of bullets into the bunker.

Deadly storms of metal swept inward, severing limbs and causing profuse bleeding wherever they went.

The agonizing screams of pain from the lacerations echoed through the empty bunker corridors.

[There are no Severus shock troops either...] Yadviga frowned, a premonition already forming in her mind.

After quickly achieving a breakthrough, the 12-man squad of dragoons swiftly split into two "half-squads," forming six-man groups. They rapidly took control of the winding passageways within the bunker, cutting off any possible escape routes for Commander Severus with the speed and force of mercury.

"This is Marseille-03. We have captured some civilian personnel, but we have not seen any trace of Commander Severus."

"This is Strasbourg-06. We have taken control of the energy center and can now control the opening and closing of all the gates."

“This is Fontainebleau,” Jadviga said, her voice as cold as iron, “We’ve captured the command post.”

She stared intently at the tribunal of Severus, who was trembling and had his hands raised in surrender. A sharp saber was pressed against his neck, leaving a shallow bloodstain.

"Where is your commander?" she coldly pressed.

"I...I am the commander..." the young man stammered, his teeth chattering and his legs trembling.

Swish!
"what!!!"

The colonel's precise and swift knife work left a deep scar on the young man's face.

The young man felt a cool sensation on his face, followed by a tearing, stinging pain that spread throughout his mind.

"A coward like you dares to call himself a 'commander'?" Yadviga's eyes flashed with malice. "I'll give you one last chance. Where is the rebel commander? The next strike will be on your eyes."

“He’s…he’s…” the tribunal sobbed, gasping for breath, his voice mingled with blood and tears, “He…he said he was going to report the battle situation to His Majesty Severus, and then…I don’t know where he is! He’s…run…run away!”

Upon hearing the word "ran away," Yadvig's pupils instantly contracted to a dangerous pinpoint.

Stupid!
With a flash of cold light, the tribunal's head, bearing a look of terror, flew high into the air. Blood gushed from the severed neck like a fountain, splashing onto the bunker's ceiling and staining the cold lampposts red.

With a thud, the headless corpse slumped to the ground.

"This is 'Fontainebleau'."

Yadwiga picked up the pager on the back of the communications soldier and reported into the distant orbital void, her voice regaining the composure of a professional soldier: "The rebel commander Pompey has fled."

Commander, execute Plan D.

(End of this chapter)