Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 995, page 08.994: 'A Tough Thing'

"Damn it! How can this thing be so hard!" the senior sergeant cursed under his breath, cold sweat trickling down his taut forehead and into the lining of his helmet.

Through his high-powered digital telescope, he stared intently at the slowly approaching steel behemoth. In the lens, the Leman Rustank herd looked like a tireless group of rhinos, crushing everything on the ground.

The earth trembled, the sound of each turn of the tracks was teeth-grinding, and the roar of the engines merged into an overwhelming sound wave, mixed with pungent exhaust fumes and churning dust.

"No wonder those cuirassiers dare to charge around in tanks every day! Who can penetrate that frontal armor from a distance?!"

"Loading complete!" The assistant gunner's hoarse shout came from behind. He had just used all his strength to stuff a heavy anti-tank missile into the launch tube, making a dull "click" sound as it locked.

He patted the sergeant on the shoulder and reported, "Sir! We're almost within their effective firing range! If we don't stop them soon, their shells will be hitting us in the face!"

A sudden hiss of electricity crackled through the tactical communications channel, followed by Commander Valina's furious roar: "Rookies! Not a single one of your squads took down a single tank!"
In the next salvo, I demand to see at least one vehicle on fire! Use your brain when deciding when to fire!

"One more time!" The acting platoon leader, a sergeant, gritted his teeth and encouraged his men.

His eyes, sharp as a hawk's, swept over the seemingly impenetrable frontal armor.

This time, instead of aiming the crosshairs of his sight at the heavy turret or the upper front of the hull, he locked onto a part that was easily overlooked—the complex, exposed drive wheels and track system.

Whoosh! Whizzing!

Several anti-tank teams fired missiles, the rocket engines igniting and spewing out scorching flames that kicked up a cloud of dust behind the position.

However, the number of shots fired this time was much smaller than in the first round, with more launchers remaining silently dormant, waiting for the right moment.

Snapped! Bang bang!

The enemy tank group fired another round of smoke grenades, attempting to repeat their previous tactic.

Several small projectiles emitted muffled explosions, and smoke burst in front of them, quickly obscuring the massive vehicle.

The first wave of missiles futilely plunged into the smoke screen or crashed helplessly into the obscured ground, producing only a few suppressed explosions.

However, this time the hunters were more patient, as evidenced by the missile teams that remained stationary.

They knew that the tank's smoke launchers could not be used indefinitely.

After firing two rounds of smoke screens, these steel behemoths had to rely on accompanying infantry to manually reload their projectiles.

This means they either have to grit their teeth and drive out of the smoke's cover, or they have to stay put and wait for the smoke to dissipate in the wind.

After a moment of deathly silence, the outline of a Leman Russ was the first to emerge from the thinning smoke.

"Fire." The senior sergeant's voice was calm and devoid of any emotion.

He pulled the trigger, the launcher jolted violently, and a missile, trailing a thin guide wire, hurtled towards its target like a deadly venomous snake.

The crew of the Leman Rustank had clearly anticipated the attack; it slightly adjusted its hull, preparing to use its strongest frontal armor to meet the impact.

However, just before the missile was about to hit the vehicle, it suddenly changed course and, under the skillful control of the sergeant and the observer, plunged downwards at a tricky angle.

boom!
A piercing, metallic cracking sound rang out, far more crisp than any ordinary explosion.

The missile accurately struck the left track of the tank, destroying the massive drive wheel and several track sections.

The tank, having lost traction on one side, emitted a sickening metallic screech as its heavy hull slid violently to the side due to its immense forward inertia.

Like an out-of-control spinning top, it drew an ugly arc on the battlefield, completely exposing its relatively weak side armor.

Having lost power on one side, it could only spin in vain on one side of the track, and the more it struggled, the more it exposed its vulnerable flank and rear to the crossfire of the entire defensive line. The tank crew frantically called for smoke grenades from the infantry to provide cover, but it was too late.

The sergeant's eyes were fixed on the exposed fatal weakness, while the observer kept reporting corrective data to him.

boom!
The second missile followed closely, this time hitting the rear side of the Leman Rustank hull precisely where the engine compartment is located.

After a muffled and loud explosion, a ball of orange-red fire suddenly erupted from the rear of the tank, ripping the heavy armor plates into the air like pieces of paper.

It's unclear what kind of fuel the Severus rebels used to fill the engine, but the explosion was exceptionally brilliant, with thick black smoke mixed with burning oil shooting into the sky, forming a giant torch of death.

That once invincible war machine has now been reduced to a pile of burning scrap metal.

The destruction of the first tank forced the commander of Severo's rebel army to change tactics.

They realized that relying on armored vehicles to force their way through this defensive line, which was heavily armed with anti-tank weapons, would only result in the destruction of the vehicles and the infantry inside.

As a result, the trucks transporting infantry opened their rear hatches ahead of time, releasing groups of infantry units.

These soldiers now face a harsh reality: they must march fully armed across at least 3 kilometers of open ground to reach the edge of the airport complex with virtually no effective cover.

This area had long been designated as a death zone by the defending forces, with the muddy ground riddled with craters, barbed wire, and anti-personnel mines.

As the frontline Severus infantry unit stumbled into the range of the defenders' small arms, a massacre began.

Behind every window and bunker of the airport's militarized towers, terminal platforms, and barracks, dark gun barrels protrude.

Countless deadly red laser beams intertwined in the twilight sky, forming an impenetrable web of death, while the black silhouettes running on the ground and the beams of light shooting from the buildings created a dazzling interplay.

"Forward unit has encountered enemy infantry! Repeat, encountered enemy infantry!" The report from the observation post came through the communication channel, calm yet urgent.

Using the remaining Chimera armored vehicles as mobile cover, the Severus infantry, despite suffering heavy casualties, continued to surge toward the airport buildings like a tide.

A Chimera roared and crashed through the metal fence surrounding the airport, clearing a path for the infantry to follow. At the same time, its multi-barrel laser cannon on its roof began to fire wildly, trying to suppress the heavy explosive shell firing positions that were constantly spitting out tongues of fire.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
At the same time, rhythmic muffled thuds came from the roof of the barracks.

Those were automatic grenade launchers deployed by the defending troops on high ground.

They launched themselves in high-altitude trajectories, raining down fragmentation grenades like hail upon the charging crowd below.

Each grenade explosion unleashed a death storm of mud and metal fragments, easily tearing through infantry armor and sweeping them to the ground in droves.

Because these grenade launchers were located on the rooftop and used indirect fire, the Chimera armored vehicles were unable to pinpoint their exact location.

Even if they fire randomly at the rooftop, the flying rocks and laser beams pose no effective threat to the soldiers operating the weapons.

They simply concealed themselves behind heavy steel gun shields, focusing intently on loading and firing. From higher vantage points, lurking observers would radio-correct their trajectories, ensuring each volley of shells landed in the most valuable locations.

Even so, the Severans, under the centurion's roar and the intense, almost scalp-ripping fire, launched a desperate charge.

The battle quickly escalated from positional warfare into a bloody and brutal urban battle.

A squad of Severus soldiers used a battering ram to break down the door of the airport restaurant building. Their centurion quickly gestured for his men to remain quiet and not make too much noise.

On his tactical helmet display, a red dot marked their target—the automatic launcher on the building directly above them, constantly blasting fragmentation grenades.

The mission of this group of Severus infantry was to eliminate this deadly firing point.

(End of this chapter)