Chapter 983, The Siege of Terra (Part 2)
The city wall under Zhao Zian's feet was shaking. It was the dull sound made by the Khorne believers slamming their engineering hammers into the alloy gates. Every impact seemed to strike at his tense heartstrings.
As the captain of the Third City Gate Regiment in the outer 'Anvil' defense zone of the Terra Imperial Palace, he had never seen such a crazy crowd - no, it was no longer a crowd, but a crimson storm wrapped in steel and flesh!
The enemy, outnumbering them twenty to one, included numerous traitors clad in the blood-stained uniforms of the Solar Legion, which should have been golden. They surged towards this narrow defensive node like a tide.
"Artillery group! Cover the front line! Shotgun! Shoot those climbing demon cubs!"
His voice was hoarse from shouting over the helmet's built-in communicator.
He was answered by a volley of orange fire rising from behind the city walls. Heavy mortar shells whistled sharply as they slammed into the charging tide, shredding bodies and sending them flying along with a cloud of crimson dust. Twin storm bolter machine guns mounted behind the battlements unleashed a deadly cascade of metal, mowing down the berserkers attempting to scale the crude, makeshift siege ladders. Broken limbs and scorching metal shards rained down on the base of the walls. The hum of the charging plasma cannon arrays was unmistakable in the chaos, and the next second, several blinding blue-white beams plowed through the ground, leaving behind scorched furrows and vaporized bodies.
The defensive firepower from the defenders on the city walls was sufficient.
Especially when compared to the strength of his ordinary guard regiment, which consists of only 3,000 people, it can exert such powerful firepower. This is closely related to the extremely sufficient defensive firepower points on the walls of the Terra Palace.
This was merely the outermost wall of the Terra Imperial Palace. Over ten thousand kilometers long, it formed a cluster of fortresses, large and small. The area they were guarding was a rather inconspicuous spot within this lengthy outer defense line.
The terrain here was inherently easy to defend but difficult to attack, with only a small doorway, made to look like an alloy gate. The terrain outside was rugged, not a main road, but just a small path between the mountains.
But in such a place, a large number of enemies launched a fierce attack.
Originally, there was only a company under Zhao Zian's command stationed here - it was not permanent, but just the company's key patrol area.
After receiving information that the enemy had launched a fierce attack, Zhao Zian brought his troops to reinforce here.
At first, there were only two companies, but as the enemy grew in number, Zhao Zian had no choice but to continue to send more troops. Until now, he has pulled all the troops at hand over.
Although this place is not an important area from the perspective of the outer defense line of Holy Terra, the enemy's military strength is too large and sufficient, allowing them to squander manpower as much as possible and invest so many troops in a fierce attack on an unimportant place.
But our side is not much behind.
Even in such an unimportant place, the palace's walls and alloy gates are still very thick and tall; every few sections of the wall, there is a turret equipped with powerful firepower; behind the wall, there is a special arsenal with sufficient weapons and ammunition.
In addition, the terrain is easy to defend but difficult to attack, so the enemy has an advantage in manpower, but it is difficult to deploy on the narrow mountain roads; if too many troops are deployed, they will easily be covered by fire and wiped out.
In general, the defenders have an overall advantage in all combat conditions.
Taking advantage of the terrain and the powerful firepower of the city defense, Zhao Zian's company madly slaughtered the attacking enemies.
Limbs and fragments were scattered everywhere, making the battlefield look like a one-sided massacre - at least that was the case at the beginning of the battle.
But as time went on, the situation began to change.
The torrent of Khorne believers never stops. No matter how many fall, there are more and more crazy ones to fill the gap.
Their red eyes flashed an inhuman light in the smoke, and they roared meaningless war cries or blasphemous praises to the Blood God, completely ignoring the fatal casualties.
The deafening sound of grenade fire, the whine of energy weapons, the roar of exploding shells, the screams of the dying and the blasphemous war cries of the enemies mixed into a continuous wave of shock that could rip the eardrums.
Zhao Zian felt his teeth were sore from the high-intensity vibration.
A Chaos Warrior, under suppressed fire, bravely made his way to a position not far from the city wall. Although he was quickly discovered and blasted to pieces by heavy fire, before dying, he hurled an anti-armor grenade with corrosive spikes above the city wall, where it exploded in mid-air.
Powerful shock waves and highly poisonous grenade fragments swept across.
Zhao Zian saw with his own eyes that grenade fragments hit several soldiers stationed there like hail, and the feedback power armor was clanging and even torn through, and the scarlet blood mist was visible to the naked eye.
This is a microcosm of the situation he faces.
The enemy was not a lamb to be slaughtered. Even though they were being eliminated at a fairly fast speed, their violent fighting style continued to put pressure on the defenders.
Regardless, this was a war, and there were always soldiers on our side who died due to various unexpected circumstances. The enemy's overhead firepower at the foot of the mountain was a significant disadvantage in the attack and defense, but its sheer numbers, along with the constant replenishment of new firepower after each strike, ensured that the firepower density was maintained, and that one or two rounds would always hit the target.
Hitting the city walls would be fine, as the walls of the Terra Palace were certainly able to withstand the test. However, if the shells hit the parapets, the soldiers' shelters wouldn't necessarily be able to protect them.
Not to mention, some fixed firepower points will be knocked down.
The only good news is that the equipment and ammunition in the arsenal seem to be inexhaustible - even if they are used up, supplies from the rear will be easy to obtain.
The defenders of the Terra Palace siege were currently short of men. They had ample weapons and equipment, but no one was delivering them. If they needed them, they had to send back the logistics company and the motorcade to get them.
But these cannot make up for the losses of fixed firepower points.
If those installed turrets were destroyed, it would not be easy to repair them in war.
And every time such a fixed firepower point was lost and every time several soldiers were killed in battle, Zhao Zian's heart would become heavier.
That means he has a few fewer cards in his hand.
And today, it seems like we are at the end of our rope.
The enemy seemed to have discovered this as well, and they launched an unprecedentedly fierce attack on the city walls and gates.
Zhao Zian’s communication channel was filled with urgent calls from various troops.
Bad news of casualties and lost positions came one after another.
"Captain! The C7 gun position was destroyed by the Chaos Space Marines climbing up! We had no choice but to detonate the explosives of the gun guards, and those Chaos traitors were buried inside, but our 9th Company, 3rd Platoon are all inside..."
"The wall in section D4 is cracking! They're ramming it with the demon engine!"
"The alloy gate is in danger! The siege demons are coming! What are the artillery doing?!"
There are troubles everywhere, and more people are needed everywhere.
But unfortunately, Zhao Zian had no one on his side.
Beneath the city walls, heavy timber rifles set up by the Solar Legion traitors began to fire at the guards behind the battlements. The dense stream of armor-piercing rounds sent sparks flying through the alloy walls. The guards could only huddle behind cover, unable to emerge. Meanwhile, the artillery battalion in the rear, operating the defensive firepower of the city walls and the regiment's heavy firepower, was busy supporting other areas and had no time to pay attention.
Zhao Zian took a deep breath and could only go forward on his own. He raised his grenade launcher, aimed at a small rebel leader who was setting up a rapid-fire cannon below him, and fired repeatedly. The grenade punched several holes in the man's tattered armor.
After finally eliminating them, we saw that some enemies had already climbed up the city wall under cover!
"Lord, save me!" A young guard soldier shouted as he swung his chainsword, severing the axe-wielding arm of a Khorne berserker who had climbed up the parapet under a hail of bullets. But the next second, an enemy leaped up from the other direction, pressed a bolter against his helmet, and pulled the trigger. White skull fragments and red and white objects instantly splattered on the charred alloy wall.
Zhao Zian turned around and fired a shot, blowing his head off.
Then he continued firing downwards until he had emptied his ammunition.
He hid back in the bunker, took a deep breath, and opened the communication to the headquarters again.
After finally getting through, he screamed with almost all his strength, "Anvil is in distress! Repeat, the Third Gate Regiment's defense zone, the core of the Anvil's defense line, is under attack from an enemy force twenty times its size, backed by Space Marines! More than half of our artillery positions have been destroyed! Casualties have reached 50%! Reinforcements are needed! Repeat, we urgently need reinforcements! Otherwise, the defense line will collapse!"
After a brief crackle of electricity, a tired but calm voice came from the command liaison officer: "Captain Zhao, I get it. Many core nodes of the Imperial Palace are under fierce attack. The 'Adamantine Barrier', the 'Corridor of Sighs', and the outer ring of the 'Emperor's Crown' are also in a tough fight. Nurgle Plague Engines have been found infiltrating in many places. The division headquarters cannot mobilize a full reserve. The division commander orders: Hold on at all costs! Buy time for reinforcements to arrive! Your sacrifice will be remembered by the Emperor!"
A cold despair mixed with boiling anger surged into Zhao Zian's throat.
There are no reinforcements, only "holding on" and "sacrifice".
"Emperor's protection!" He growled, cutting off the useless communications and connecting to the internal channel of the entire group.
His eyes swept over the wreckage that continued to pile up under the city wall and was constantly covered by new crazy bodies. His voice became unusually calm, but with a heavy power.
"Command has made it clear that no reinforcements will arrive. The city gate beneath us is the first and strongest barrier to the inner ring. The enemy wants to pass through here and show off their blasphemous deeds to the Imperial Guards!"
"They are mistaken!" He suddenly raised his voice, almost vibrating the noise reduction system inside the feedback power armor helmet. "They are facing the walls of the Emperor's palace! They are facing the guards of the Terran Palace! With their blood, we will tell these fools that anyone who covets the palace must die! Even if we all die fighting here, we must make these scum of Khorne know that every life taken from us will be replaced by ten times, a hundred times their lives! We will shed our last drop of blood for the Emperor, right now! Anvil! Indestructible!"
The remaining guards roared in despair, their despair turning into a desperate force: "Indestructible! For the Emperor!"
Although they were almost in a desperate situation, their morale remained high.
The Palace Guards, as a mortal force directly under the command of the Imperial Guards, have received almost the best training and the highest-quality equipment. The popularity of feedback power armor is particularly high, and all kinds of weapons are also quite sufficient. They are absolutely a first-class force in the Star Army.
Moreover, they have the courage to face death in desperate situations.
The heavy weapons outside were precisely targeted and eliminated by the guarding artillerymen, but the guards still held on to the city wall despite suffering huge casualties.
Even if the enemy has already rushed up.
A team of the strongest Khorne berserkers, clad in heavy armor stained with flesh and blood, climbed to the top of the city wall despite the storm of bullets pouring down from the wall.
The close combat began.
Chainswords roared, power axes slashed, and bolters roared and fired at extremely close range, each collision of weapons splashing dazzling sparks and fragments.
The blood plasma splashed on the cold alloy ground and was trampled into dirty mud by countless military boots.
The guards were determined to die. Even if an arm or a leg was cut off, they would use their teeth and the grenade in their other hand to rush forward, hug the enemy and roll down the city wall together.
Their will was so strong, but it was an indisputable fact that a gap was opened in the city wall defense.
More enemies came up.
Those Chaos enemies, having spent so many lives and finally seeing the dawn of victory, naturally would not give up easily.
But Zhao Zian is not here.
He is on a more important battlefield.
Zhao Zian personally led his guard team down the city wall and came to the inner alloy gate that was creaking from being hit.
Every impact of the battering ram driven by the demon engine caused the huge bolt to emit a harsh metallic groan. The thick door was already covered with terrifying dents, and a trace of burning breath was seeping in from the gaps.
The alloy gate that had been melted through repeatedly collapsed inward with a loud sound of metal tearing in the last terrifying impact. As the heavy structure raised a cloud of dust, Zhao Zian and the guards rushed forward without hesitation like a block of iron thrown into a furnace.
The sound of explosive shells firing at close range was as dense as a rainstorm, and the chainsaw swords clashed with heavier axes twisted with blasphemous runes, and every collision produced a dazzling flash and metal fragments.
Zhao Zian's fighting skills were superb. He killed three Chaos Cultists of Khorne in succession, but his feedback power armor was covered with shocking dents and gouges, and a corner of his shoulder armor was chopped off by a passing axe.
He saw a young soldier being hit hard by Khorne believers, his chest split open by a chainsaw axe, his internal organs instantly crushed and splattered; he saw another veteran detonate all the hot melt bombs hanging on his body, turning into a dazzling small sun in the area where the enemy was most concentrated, instantly clearing a large area in front, but it was immediately filled with more crazy enemies in the back.
The remaining guards gathered around the leader, forming a desperate but determined circle.
Every second, someone falls. Every swing of the sword could be the end.
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The last chapter was posted by mistake...I asked the editor to block it.
I'll write another chapter in the evening and replace the content of that chapter.
(End of this chapter)
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