Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 997, page 08.996: "Tanks!"

"Second Combat Company, Platoon A and Platoon B, are advancing toward the target along the left flank maintenance passage. Estimated contact time: 3 minutes."

"The Third Dragoon Company, comprising three infantry platoons, has escorted the combat nuns to complete the capture of Hangar 3 and its associated buildings, and is currently constructing defensive positions."

"Threat Update: Five enemy Leman Russ main battle tanks detected, located in the southwest quadrant of the tower, coordinates 77-Delta-9. Providing target data to mobile units."

"Coordinates of enemy heavy units received. Flanking maneuver in progress."

Information and orders were being transmitted smoothly through the Second Battalion's communication channels.

Combat vehicles roared out and surged into the night-shrouded airport.

They quickly accessed a panoramic battlefield map generated in real time by the Hellfire Squadron at the top of the control tower using reconnaissance radar. Clear friend-or-foe identification symbols and optimal assault routes lit up on the tactical screens of each vehicle.

The operational order was concise yet deadly: infantry fighting vehicles carrying infantry dragoons were dispatched, like a pack of steel hounds, to the front lines to reinforce the friendly forces already embroiled in fierce fighting.

The mobile armored vehicle units dispersed into smaller units and launched mobile guerrilla warfare, thwarting the enemy's forces during their infiltration.

The rebel offensive encountered unprecedented and fierce resistance in front of the control tower.

The enemy's armored forces, which should have been advancing with unstoppable momentum, were now struggling to make progress. Loyalist soldiers, armed with shoulder-fired recoilless rifles, appeared like ghosts behind the windows of high-rise buildings, slamming deadly armor-piercing rounds into the relatively weak tops and engine armor of the tanks.

As the Leman Russ main battle tank slowly turned its turret, attempting to wipe out the threat with its heavy battle cannon, the infantry squad that had ambushed it had already vanished through the window, leaving only an empty room.

Bang! A burst of fire shot out of the cannon barrel.

The combat cannons turned the entire room into a chaotic wasteland. The condition of the people inside is unknown, as everything inside would have been destroyed under such bombardment.

The advance at Riemann Rustank was forced to be temporarily halted.

The commander of Severus's Guards was furious and ordered the infantrymen who were fighting alongside him to enter the building and wipe out these annoying "fleas".

However, this was exactly what the Imperial Army wanted.

His soldiers either kicked open doors only to be met with a deadly web of crossfire and booby traps, or, after paying a heavy price to clear a building floor by floor, they were dismayed to find that the enemies in white and blue armor had already retreated to adjacent buildings through pre-planned passages. The anticipated casualties of continuing the pursuit were heartbreaking, while abandoning the pursuit would render all previous losses futile.

"They're like cockroaches!" roared a blood-soaked centurion Severus over the radio. "They're everywhere! You never know which hole they'll crawl out of!"

The control tower and the surrounding buildings have become a three-dimensional maze, a tiring war of attrition.

Finally, the main force and reserves of Severus's guards arrived below the control tower.

Under the cover of tanks, hordes of infantry poured into the building through every broken door and window, and every breach in the blown-open wall.

The control tower was instantly engulfed by intense gunfire.

Laser beams crisscrossed the narrow corridor, and the roar of the bomb guns caused dust to fall from the walls.

The intensity of the firefight far exceeded everyone's expectations.

The rebel commander sat in his command vehicle, listening to the intense gunfire coming through the communicator, a cruel smile creeping onto his lips.

He deployed twice the number of troops needed for the initial intelligence, determined to succeed.

In his view, as long as the tower wasn't guarded by the Emperor's death angels—the Astartes Space Marines—then victory was only a matter of time, no matter how you looked at it.

However, twenty minutes passed. Twenty minutes was enough for an elite company to storm the top of the tower and plant the enemy's head on the flagpole.

But his communicator was completely silent except for casualty reports and ammunition requests.

No decisive good news came. That initial confidence was being slowly eroded by an acid called "unease".

Just as he frowned, beginning to worry about whether the battle situation had taken an unpredictable turn, his dedicated pager suddenly rang, the piercing call jolting him awake.

He immediately grabbed the microphone, his furrowed brow unfurrowing, and asked in a confident tone, "Romus-3, is that you? You've taken control of the tower? I can't wait to hear your good news!"

"Is that all you've got? Aren't you underestimating us?"

His response was a bold female voice, filled with mockery and provocation.

For some reason, the sound reminded the commander of a ferocious beast lurking in the jungle.

There were no female combatants in Severus's army, and this voice certainly did not belong to his men.

The commander's smile froze instantly, replaced by astonishment and wariness.

"Who are you?!"

Inside the control tower, Valina stood with one foot on the corpse of a rebel officer.

The officer was pierced from the chest to the back by a high-energy laser beam, and the charred wound was still emitting smoke.

She gripped the handle of the Hellfire Gun in one hand, while casually holding up the communicator she had taken from the corpse in the other.

“We’re going to kill your people.” She laughed contemptuously, her voice coming through the pager to the commander’s ears, cold and clear: “Everyone you sent in, we killed them all. To be honest, their fighting ability wasn’t even enough to fill our teeth.”

So I decided to come find you myself. Wash your neck clean and wait, my jungle blade thirsts for the blood of more traitors.

With a click, the communication was unilaterally cut off. The commander of the Severus Guard Battalion felt a chill run down his spine from the top of his head to the soles of his feet, and his back was soaked with cold sweat.

He remained frozen in his seat, his mind a complete mess.

No...this is not right! The intelligence from the Supreme Command clearly indicates that the Astartes Chapter, which is involved in this battle, is being held back by a massive Greenskin fleet. This planet is unlikely to receive support from the Death Angels, and the Death Angels don't have any women!
What...what exactly is inside that control tower?!

Valina casually tossed the intercom through the broken window of the tower, letting it tumble and fall through the air.

The enemy will definitely change the communication channel immediately, but it doesn't matter anymore.

The deterrent effect had been achieved. She looked down from her vantage point, like a hawk surveying the chaotic battlefield below, a cold smile playing on her lips.

Her gaze passed over the rebels' chaotic lines and into the darkness further away.

There, a real hunt is about to begin.

Wheeled assault vehicles sped through the darkness like ghosts.

They strictly adhered to blackout regulations, without turning on any external light sources, relying entirely on vehicle-mounted thermal imaging equipment and real-time enemy situation and route reports from Hellsoldier soldiers via data link to navigate through the buildings surrounding the airport.

The sound of rubber tires rolling over the hard airport runway was much quieter than the friction of tracks, and the noise of the engine was even less, almost completely masked by the continuous explosions and gunfire on the battlefield.

For the missions they are about to undertake, speed and stealth are life.

The Arion eight-wheeled chariot could travel at 100 kilometers per hour on roads and 60 kilometers per hour off-road.

The Chimera tank had a road speed of about 80 kilometers per hour and an off-road speed of 55 kilometers per hour.

Although tracks are better suited for sandy terrain than wheels, the current battlefield is a hardened airfield, not a desert.

The Leman Russ is notoriously slow. It has a road speed limit of only 30 km/h and an off-road speed limit of 18 km/h.

If it weren't for their extremely slow mobility, the Sintira Cuirassier Regiment probably wouldn't have retained true cuirassiers as a means of enhancing mobility.

The battle took place on a flat airport, not on soft sand, where the speed and quietness of wheeled vehicles were maximized.

call!call!
Amidst the deafening symphony of the battlefield, these tanks moved like a gust of wind through the night, their deep engine sounds easily overlooked, as a deadly net slowly unfurled in the darkness.

Bang bang bang! Bang bang bang!
The golden arrows of the Sacred Rose whistled as they shot towards the ever-rushing Severus soldiers.

Inside the buildings, the Holy Rose Sisters, who arrived as the second wave of landing troops, joined the frontal conflict with the Arion chariots to reinforce the battle lines.

炯！
A laser beam grazed past Sister Arabella, but fortunately, her visor protected her and prevented any damage to her facial skin.

She located the shooter attacking the building and prepared to deliver a detonating arrow to save him from his fate.

"Enemy tanks!" Suddenly, another angel beside her, who was fighting the rebels house by house, shouted and immediately retreated.

Arabella turned her head away.

With a loud crash, a Leman Rustank smashed through windows and walls and rolled into the building.

"By the Emperor!!" She leaped backward, dodging the tracks and falling to the ground, then scrambled to her feet and ran backward.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Heavy explosives from the front of the tank were fired at her. One of them pierced through her black sleeve, hit the wall, and exploded. Shrapnel struck her silver breastplate, creating a dazzling flash.

The Severus Guards had clearly had enough of this endless carnage. Their Lemanlustank savagely smashed through a wall, squeezing half of the vehicle into the building, and unleashed a frenzied barrage of fire with its coaxial weapon.

This move, spearheaded by Leman Rustank, is tearing apart the loyalists' defenses, forcing several ODT dragoon squads to retreat or even urgently transfer to vehicles.

boom!
Leman Rustank, who rushed into the building where Arabella was, opened fire on the wall where someone might be hiding.

A shell exploded inside the house, shattering the windows and sending up plumes of smoke and dust.

The nun lowered her head to avoid the impact of the blast wave, and her black robe was instantly covered in dust.

She hid behind another wall, turning her head slightly to look at the ground beneath the blown-through wall, where a pool of blood remained.

That shell just now vaporized the recoilless rifle team behind the wall.

She pondered the scriptures, prayed for the dead, then took out a fusible gun from the backpack slot behind her and nodded to the fighting sisters who were running downstairs and gathering in front of her.

They were prepared to fight Leman Rustank and the rebel infantry who would rush in through the breach with their bare hands.

At the corner at the end of the road, a vehicle equipped with a long-barreled laser cannon burst out of a building.

“I see it, it’s Leman Rustank.”

Poniatovsky turned to look at the observation mirror on the left and shouted to the other crew members.

The vehicle then came to an emergency stop, and the gun barrel turned to the left.

"Aim at the tail, fire!"

(End of this chapter)