The Siege of Vraks | Parts 1 - 6 (animated Warhammer 40K Lore)

hmm it is the year 804 of the 41st millennium on the shrine world of san or taurus cardinal astral borja the highest ecclesiastical authority within the scara sector whose frail body had been artificially sustained for well over 400 years finally passed away into the emperor's peace [Music] upon his death the role was passed on to borja's protege cardinal zafen but before resting easy in his new seat of power he would set out on a pilgrimage across the skara sector to see all the holy places for himself his entourage consisted of thousands of preachers and servants and he was accompanied by a contingent of the adapter soloritas the sisters of battle that would serve as zafen's personal bodyguard for five years he would travel across the sector to preach the imperial creed every world he visited his entourage would grow with many pilgrims and preachers joining what was now beginning to be called a crusade of faith with so many zealous followers sworn to the cardinal it was an old practicality beginning to form a small army on thrachin primaris the main capital of the sector a particular ecclesiastical deacon with the name of mammon joined the cardinal side as his trusted advisor with such a large and loyal following the cardinal was starting to realize he could be so much more than just a token figurehead of the ecclesiarchy surely now he could take real action to purge the sector of non-believers upon mammon's advice he set out for the secluded system of vraks vraks was not only just the site of saint leonardo's basilica but also an imperial armory world for the ambitious cardinal vrax would be the perfect base of operations where he could prepare his further plans for the sector [Music] in a great procession the cardinal and his entourage were welcomed into the citadel of vraks while vrak's main purpose served as an armory world it was home to the holy basilica of saint leonis the blind a missionary of the ecclesiarchy who was killed spreading the words of faith throughout the scara sector during the 38th millennium [Music] due to cardinal zaphon's exalted position within the ecclesiarchy it was all too logical that he should visit such a place and it was naturally his right to take residency in the adjacent palace for as long as he pleased the adept of sodoritas being the cardinals arnold bodyguard would take up their own residence in the argent shroud's priory next to the basilica the cardinal sent out his preachers amongst the inhabitants to spread his gospel but designed to further the cardinals agenda they told the inhabitants that vraks would soon be invaded by the imperium's enemies to bring war on a scale never seen before yet not all hope was lost for zafen would lead them to victory in this holiest of wars with such promises the cardinals soon became the venerated figure of their salvation his already fanatical following evolved into outright religious zealotry one could have gotten the impression the people on varack started to worship cardinal zafen even more than the god emperor himself [Music] however not all were so easy to persuade the adeptus arbeits disciplined and committed to upholding the current order were very difficult to sway to his cause unsurprisingly the inquisition wasn't all too pleased with the cardinal clearly overstepping his ecclesiastical boundaries after all the ecclesia was prohibited from commanding armies as instruded by the decree passive they had seen it all too many times before hubris self-deceiving and arrogant figureheads sidestepping the emperor's will and thus in secret the older hereticus had dispatched an agent of the officio assassinorum to vraks a vindicare assassin disguised as a pilgrim sneaked into the citadel with his exodus sniper rifle he took position on the highest spire of the basilica after four days of patiently waiting his shot finally rang out accurately onto the cardinal but in his paranoid suspicions zafen had already prepared himself by wearing a rosarious mounted refractor shield it created a flash of light as the bullet impacted with the shield his bodyguards ran out into the line of fire to protect the cardinal and two of them died as more shots from the assassin layout in the ensuing upheaval the cardinal was quickly brought to safety with the mission failed at the vindicator assassins set out to escape and a frantic rush the cardinals followers fanatically pursued the assassin throughout the citadel when he was eventually cornered in the catacombs of the basilica zafen and marmon not wanting to waste such a splendid opportunity ordered that the dead body of the assassin be put onto public display and news of the event quickly sparked turmoil all over rocks to the population the event had seemingly confirmed the warning of upcoming war with an assassination attempt on their very protectorate zaphon it seemed as if the enemy was already on their very doorstep in the hopes of defending themselves the population of workers set out to loot the huge amount of stockpiles of weapons on wrecks amongst heblocks and starport fierce fighting ensued as the local arbites intervened to stop the looting and it seemed as if civil war had broken out on fracks as it happened the sisters of battle were ordered to stand down without support the rioting workers were simply too many and could not be stopped by the arbites alone everything was happening according to the cardinals plan the commander of the adeptosaururitas demanded an audience with the cardinal asking to intervene and restore order but she was immediately captured and thrown into vrax's dungeon now it was time for the disciples of zafun his personal militia to strike they assaulted the remaining sisters in the priory they fought back but being completely outnumbered and taking fire from the surrounding guard towers they were decidedly defeated a few wounded sisters were captured and imprisoned alongside their commander under orders of deacon mamon the disciples finally assaulted the keep in a censorium tower the astropathica was sending a distress call to the imperium but it was ultimately too late the astropaths were butchered and a message cut off part way through its transmission with no one left to challenge the forces of the cardinal zephan was now left as the sole ruler of vraks and such were the events that pushed vraks and its population into its irredeemable corruption it meant the loss of an armory world a serious logistical inconvenience and an impediment to the already dire defense of mankind close to the eye of terror all in all this was a defilement against the emperor that could not just be ignored months passed as the adeptus administrator montera processed the state of affairs many powerful organizations within the imperium had their own stake in the future of rocks as well and try to force their own self-serving interests upon the bureaucratic decision-making that would decide the fate of the planet this obviously led to a lot of disagreement political bickering lobbying but despite any differences of opinion there was one thing all parties could agree to exterminatus was out of the question vrax was simply too valuable to just give up on the departmento munitorum had their significant stake in vraks as a functional armory world so close to the eye of terror but as it is their organization that would likely be the ones tasked with supplying the necessary war material to retake it the benefits of reclaiming it was logically to be measured against the losses just as well vrak's being a shrine world the ecclesiaki lobbied hard to retake it at all costs if necessary as it shouldn't be tolerated that the holy shrine of saint leonis the blind was now in heretical hands several parties within the inquisition interfered as well most notably the ordo hereticus in their attempt to avoid responsibility for their failure to assassinate the cardinal and trying to shift the blame for the loss of the planet to another party but the imperium was well aware that vrux's defenses would be very formidable despite the planet being in the hands of pitiful half-trained militia its defenses were not to be trifled with according to the latest imperial intelligence on the surface the defenses consisted of three layers of strong defensive lines stretching many hundreds of miles surrounding the citadel on all sides miles upon miles of trenches bunkers machine gunists minefields and artillery its anti-air network was formidable and vrx had plenty of weapons capable of fighting invaders in low orbit to make a decision the data was fed into the strategic computers cogitators ran their calculations to form an estimation of what would be required to recapture the planet calculations for manpower weather tactics casualties ammunition weapons armored vehicles transportation rations everything would be taken into account bombing the citadel into submission was not an option it would inevitably damage the holy shrine of saint leona's basilica clearly a plan the ecclesiarchy would strongly object to but most of the citadel's practical facilities would remain undamaged anyway as many of them were buried in bunkers deep underground a blockade to starve out the planet would take too many naval resources over way too long a time span something the department of munitorum could ill afford to deploy for a single planet a precision strike force would be a suicidal mission as the strong anti-air defenses would shoot any and all approaching aircraft and dropods above the citadel out of the skies not to mention the network of devastating defense lasers capable of seriously damaging any fleet in low orbit if not completely destroying it outright this was something no space marine chapter would willingly sign up for and thus a consensus was reached vrax would have to be retaken by siege this was not ideal as vraks was built to withstand such sieges but arguably this was the least problematic choice compared to the other options they would start their deployment on the far side of the planet outside the reach of the vraxian defense laser network retaking vraks would not be a matter of if but when the calculating cogitator submitted their results vrax would behold 12 years of siege warfare before it would be long to the imperium once more and when it comes to such a battle of attrition truly there is to be only one army capable of wrenching every inch of ground from these vraxion's tracerous grasp the death core of krieg for this purpose the 88th siege army of creek would be established it was a newly mustered force with many fresh combatants straight out of training this also was a chance for many to gain experience and prove their combat prowess and willingness to die in the name of the emperor here is the composition for the 88th imperial guard krieg siege army the first line corps made up of the 3rd 5th 15th and 19th greek siege regiments the 12th line core made up of the 143rd 149th 150th and the 158th creek siege regiments the 30th line core made up of the 261st 262nd 263rd and 269th greek siege regiments the 34th line core made above the 291st 308th 309th and the 310th greek siege regiments the eighth assault corps made above the 7th 11th and the 179th krieg tank regiments as well as the 231st siege artillery regiment the 11th assault corps made up of the 61st 66th and the 101st creek tank regiments as well as the 479th siege artillery regiment the 19th bombardment corps made up of the 3rd 4th and 8th siege artillery regiments the 21st bombardment corps made above the 19th 22nd and 23rd seed artillery regiments and last but not least are the independent artillery companies made above the 4th 6th 8th 27th 31st 33rd 224th 226th 227th as well as the 230th artillery companies as well as the 61st 70th and 71st heavy mortar companies this new army would consist of four line cores two mechanized assault cores two bombardment cores and a long list of independent artillery companies to supplement the already existing firepower with such a substantial force retaking rocks was more or less a mathematical certainty the number of predicted casualties and required replacements was already accounted and provisioned for now the only thing left to do was assign the siege army to a steadfast patient commander inclined to perform standard siege procedure and for this command was given to lord commander zhulka a man who was known for being a temperate perhaps some would say ponderous commander thoroughly adherent to standard academic siege doctrine voyaging such a substantial force from krieg all the weight of rocks is quite a daunting undertaking as one might imagine fortunately not all forces were required to be deployed at the same time so when the pioneering forces of the 88th were loaded the first part of the fleet disembarked from krieg's low orbit the first convoy of 21 imperial navy transports set out for the scaris sector [Music] nearing the scaris sector the vanguard was escorted by a large fleet that had attached itself to the convoy at the forge world of cyprum mundi this would ensure a safe passage protected against forces of chaos as the convoy sailed through space so close to the eye of terror once the fleet reached the sector lord commander zhulka and his entourage detached from the flotilla and set up a headquarters on thracian primaris the capital of the scaris sector his physical presence wouldn't be required on vraks itself as he could simply oversee the campaign from a comfortable distance busying himself mostly with the logistical diplomatic and bureaucratic necessities of his role as high command the flotilla continued their advance on the karak subsector and the vrak system here command of the fleet was transferred to admiral raziak and his flagship the lord belerophon approaching vrak's prime from the far side far away from the range of its planetary defense lasers cardinal zafen onvrax simply had no ships to challenge the inbound armada in space and thus the fleet could access orbit uncontested the landing of men weapons and material would begin the 143rd regiment was the first to land on vlraks tasked with securing a landing zone and to secure a bridgehead they set about digging in immediately with the help of atlas excavators equipped with specialized digging tools they rapidly set up kilometers of trenches around the landing site then immediately afterwards they added minefields and razor wires to its defenses meanwhile the 143rd regiment's death rider companies patrolled the surrounding wastelands for enemy activities but for all their extensive scouting all reports were clear that not a single enemy was spotted in the whole wider area to their surprise zafen's forces had apparently made no efforts to prevent or even contest the landing and had allowed them to build up their imperial forces on vlraks completely unhindered as the months passed the landing zone had developed into a logistical center and defensive stronghold more troops and more guns were constantly transported to the surface from orbit above as the rest of the 88th siege army safely arrived in the system everything needed for a 12 year long siege was meticulously shipped and stored on vlraks and it would take 11 months before the army was considered sufficiently supplied and ready to begin the siege in earnest in the meantime a large labor force of over half a million men supplied by the departmento munitorum had started building a transportation network to deliver the troops vehicles and equipment of the 88 siege army directly to the front lines they built a rail network stretching thousands of kilometers over the wastelands from their initial landing zone all the way up to the enemy's outer defensive line this rail network would continue to be used throughout the siege to bring in the necessary men and supplies to the front lines and to continue the war effort when the track was finished the third creek siege regiment was the first to board the train carriages pulled by huge locomotives they were transported across the vast wastelands of the seratama plains [Music] so [Music] they were brought as close to the enemy front lines as was safely possible less than 100 kilometers from the enemy front lines and yet less than a few dozen kilometers outside the range of the enemy artillery after setting up their forward depot the locomotives returned to the landing zone to pick up more troops and the labor corps continued to extend the rail network more defensive zones with trenches minefields and razor wire were once again created and once again this went uncontested by the vraxian defenders as more and more troops and material were transported towards the forward positions the command of the 88th siege army decided it was time for the assault to begin the defenders knew the imperium would come very few planets had rebelled against the imperium without facing the consequences but very little actual reconnaissance had occurred on the part of the defenders so where and when any invading force would actually strike and most importantly with what amount of force remained completely uncertain for cardinal zafen however his defending forces weren't an altogether certainty either far different from the uniform well-trained imperial armies of krieg his forces consisted of a rather inconsistent mix of combatants first off there were the disciples of zafen many of these had been loyal followers of the cardinal since the start of his crusade throughout the scaris sector in the uprising on vraks they had proven their trustworthiness and dedication when they had delivered the planet right into zafun's hands all of them had sworn oaths of service to the cardinal himself and in return had been granted the first pick of weapons and equipment among the stockpiles of vraks the leading elements among the disciples were chosen for their previous military experience and thus these would make an elite fighting force supplied with the best weapons and training but men of such caliber and unconditional loyalty were in limited supply of course and thus the bulk of the vraxian army was made up of different types of troops the second force of the defender's side were the garrison auxilia the local planetary defense troops due to its strategic location and valuable stockpiles in the scara sector vraks had always had a considerable garrison whilst they did not have the rigorous training and equipment of standard imperial guard troops these could make an effective fighting force nonetheless during the uprising their loyalty was secured by removing any troublesome commanding officers and replacing those with handpicked men who were easier to persuade into following the cardinals plan the ample equipment looted from the stores of rocks such as lehman rosses and chimeras would well increase the auxilia's capable firepower surely these troops could hold a bunker or a trench line well enough but how well they would be able to operate such equipment in more advanced mobile warfare was uncertain the next form of manpower was the labor corps these had been indentured workers working for the department of munitorum on voraks this made up an extremely large portion of the army most of them had been wretched souls slaving away repairing roads constructing bunkers transporting goods and digging underground tunnels and warehouses as a result many had welcomed zafen as a liberator freeing them from the hard labor inflicted upon them by the departmento's demands they had been easy to spur into rebellion against the oppressive imperium but once the planet had been taken over by zafen they soon found themselves being put back to work once more for these laborers a way out was to join the militia at this point one in four either volunteered or was conscripted into this militia instead of working on logistical purposes they would now be given basic military training and fill up the trenches of the defensive lines lacking experience and of dubious loyalty these militia would generally not have access to heavy weapons but they would still make up the bulk of the forces and with some additional training we'd be able to effectively hold static defensive positions additionally the labour corps was made up of a sizable mount of ogrens these simple brutes while unable to operate anything more than the most basic weaponry would still make frightening combatants if they were able to utilize their brute strength attached to the right squads and under the right command they would potentially become valuable assets in the front lines the most curious source of manpower in the cardinals army would be the large number of pilgrims that had followed zafun's crusade to fracks having no idea who or even what they were fighting they had been easily convinced the invading force were heretical renegades coming to desecrate and destroy the holy shrine of saint leonis the blind so despite having no military experience whatsoever these zealous men and women were willing to take up arms for the cardinal and protect the shrine world of rocks against any invader despite their unwavering loyalty to the cardinal these pilgrims were considered low-rate troops and thus were joined in with a militia a trump card within zafen's arsenal would be to release the men and women imprisoned deep in the underground dungeons of the citadel as some may know the imperium frequently locks up people with psychic abilities awaiting for the notorious blackships of the inquisition to arrive and transport them to terror thus in the dungeons several hundreds of dangerously unprotected psyches are being kept perhaps the cardinal wasn't aware of the dangers releasing such unstable people from the dungeons could entail or perhaps he simply did not care but surely one of his considerations was that amongst these convicts and pariahs some potentially valuable military assets could still be conscripted to fight in the front lines the final branch of zafen's army would be the enforcers religious men and agents of the ecclesiarchy who had followed zephan all the way from his departure from san artaurus or were hand-picked for their temperament and conviction that would perfectly suit this role taking on the role of a commissar they had the authority to intermingle with the ranks to preach the cardinals gospel and enforce discipline and loyalty in an army of such varying quality this group of enforcers was absolutely indispensable in keeping the army together if anyone dared to ask an uncomfortable question or emperor forbid make any objections to the cause they would be met with swift disciplinary judgment the troops would be united under a single unifying purpose defending vrx and the cardinal against any and all invaders at all cost the terrain in the south and east of the citadel is crisscrossed with deep canyons creating an impossible barrier for any advancing ground army this was not just mere coincidence during its construction many hundreds of years ago the building site for the citadel was carefully chosen as a strategic location with this formidable natural barrier to the south east surely any attack had to take place on the western front and thus this is where the most defense lines had been developed over the many years three lines of defense roughly 50 kilometers apart had been constructed to hold back any enemy force all eyes were now focused on the van merzland wastes where the first contact with the invading force was most anticipated already a year had passed since the 88th creek siege army had first set foot on vraks but the defenders on vrax were still waiting for the imperium to strike it had taken the invaders a long time before they moved over the saratoga plains and approached the outer defensive line but finally just on the edge of its effective range blips of activity started appearing on the varaxian radar after many months of anticipation the enemy had indeed arrived on the western front when the signals visible on the radar rapidly increased the defenders knew the battle was about to begin the death core of krieg's campaign plan was relatively simple it involved repeated offenses on multiple fronts rather than massing the entire army for a single point of attack they would attempt to encircle rocks and apply pressure along the line of defense in an attempt to stretch the defender's thin from their starting position the first and thirtieth line cores had moved north with the intent of the first line corps to circumvent the western outer defensive line entirely the latest imperial intelligence from before the uprising on rocks had suggested that part of the northern line had never been fully completed leaving a gap on its far side that may yet be exploited if that was indeed still the case they could circumvent the outer defensive line completely and advance directly into the rear of the enemy's outer positions from there all parts of the army would be ordered to push through an advance on the second defensive line this would drastically shorten the front lines making the 88th siege army less vulnerable to counter-offensives from the varaxian defenders thus it was important that the outer defensive lines were overrun quickly and at all costs having encircled the second defensive line the regimental command would then take a more cautious approach and take their time digging in from here on out they would methodically use the artillery to pound the enemy into submission and probe for any weakness in the enemy's lines where an easy breakthrough could be accomplished once the second line was cracked this procedure would be repeated once more this time however for the first time the citadel would come under range of long-range artillery fire once in this position the 88th siege army could afford to sit and simply wait now there would be nowhere left to run from the merciless artillery guns of the death corps of krieg surely at this point the enemy would recognize defeat but before this inevitable victory was ensured the army would still have to go through the motions to facilitate this plan coordination and communications was vital to these operations to ensure no part of the army became too far advanced and vulnerable to enemy counter-attacks and thus while the first line core made its way around the outer defensive lines the other parts of the army opened up the artillery barrage to keep the enemy busy shells from heavy artillery like the earthshaker and medusa siege guns started raining down upon the traitor's front lines at last the great defenses on vraks would be tested on a scale never witnessed before large craters were blasted into the surface of rocks huge amounts of rocks and dirt were blown into the air from the explosions trenches and bunkers were steadily being pulverized but the 88th siege army had a large task ahead of them for there were many defenses to be destroyed meanwhile the defenders didn't just quietly take the punishment behind the forward positions their gunners were racing to respond with counter-battery fire basilisk artillery tanks moved forward into well-protected firing pits having observed the attacker's artillery barrage they could now effectively pinpoint the location of the attacker's guns the vraxians opened fire and they would rapidly score several direct hits against their enemy destroying the deathcore artillery equipment the artillery jewel was now well underway and it became clear that this would not just be a one-sided affair during these opening stages of the battle the infantry of the 88th siege army had prepared themselves to advance under the deafening thunder of the artillery barrage and shells flying overhead from both sides the infantry regiments of creek started their steady march towards the enemy front lines orders were limited to a steady advance they wouldn't attack just yet the artillery would need more time to soften up the enemy positions instead they were instructed to dig in as close to their trenches as was possible nearing the end of the first day the infantry stopped a few hundred yards in front of the enemy covered by the artillery bombardment they took out their shovels and started digging in a short time the first foxholes would be dug two men to a single foxhole they'd reached six feet deep into the ground then they would dig out to the sides of the hole until it extended to the foxhole next to it soon the entire line was connected into a single basic trench that would make the foundation for the permanent front line position the weather on rocks had always been volatile the atmosphere's high sulfuric density results in regular thunderstorms with extremely heavy rainfall these primitive trenches were easily flooded and in these muddy swamps the infantry of the 88th siege army would become extremely dirty being covered in mud from head to toe despite these conditions they continued their work fortunately the pumas-like rock surface of rocks broke down easily and the trench line grew rapidly soon the trench became more advanced with irrigation systems and dugouts providing the troops with shelter from the extreme elements communication trenches were dug back and extra lines were added soon the death cord of krieg had a fully fledged trench network close to the enemy lines capable of holding the many men in equipment required for the assault the 12th line corps was the first to receive orders to prepare for the attack artillery in the sector provided a deafening noise as the intensity of the barrage increased drastically in the last few minutes before the charge finally the battle would begin in earnest when the 149th regiment went over the top ready to draw first blood in the enemy's trenches on their flanks were the 143rd and the 150th regiments who would provide a strong supporting attack to pin down enemy units behind them the tanks of the 11th assault corps were brought up ready to exploit any gap created by the infantry's advance while the first waves made their way over the no man's land the defenders rushed out of their underground protection and manned the defenses machine guns opened fire into the ranks of the attackers they were cut down in swathes but the steadfast soldiers of the death corps kept advancing then the vraxian artillery adjusted their aim and opened up a rain of fire upon the first wave clouds of smoke and dust thickened the air as explosions tore through the ranks the second wave made their way up the ladders amongst them were many armored grenadier troops with heavy weapons however many would be cut down the moment they raised their bodies above the parapet of their trenches but with the dedication that only the death corps can muster the attack continued relentlessly and eventually some troops made it into the enemy trenches with bayonets at the ready they hurled themselves at the defenders fierce close-quarter combat ensued unfortunately the effects were minimal even the third wave did not bring the desired breakthrough the traitors had held the line encouraged by the heavy losses of their enemy and convinced that this was the time for a counter-attack the vrxians now hurdled themselves out of their own trenches onto no man's land to assault the imperial lines the krieg lines were still equipped with a variety of heavy weapons and inflicted heavy losses upon the advancing traders but surprised by the enemy's daring ferocity the krieg first trench lines now found themselves overrun with the incredibly large mass of ruxian infantry a fierce melee combat broke out when the remaining death corps forces prepared to fight to the last man the vraxians now emboldened by their early success prepared themselves to continue their advance on the next trench lines however their plans were cut short when finally the artillery of the death corps opened up again and now pounded the trench they had previously held themselves smashing the enemy's foothold in the greek lines yet it turned out the vraxians were more capable defenders than anticipated not only that they had successfully coordinated a counter-attack that was only repelled because the death corps was willing to bombard its own trench lines into dust if the enemy made any ground at all it was clear that neither side would be easily dislodged from their defensive position with the hopes for early rapid gains now completely lost both the vraxians and the 88th siege army were digging in even more and preparing themselves for a long drawn-out war of attrition [Music] so far the imperium had clearly underestimated the ruxian defender's strength despite repeated attempts to break through zafen's forces had viciously resisted and successfully withstood the death corps assaults across the entire out of defensive line the rapid early gains that the 88th siege army's high command anticipated had simply not materialized but not only that the enemy had proven themselves capable of organizing dangerously effective counter-attacks showing the death core that this siege would not just be a one-sided affair as was previously assumed for over six months now the front lines have been facing a grinding stalemate and the traitor's outer defensive lines still showed no real signs of cracking the one advantage the imperium had was that more men and material could continually be supplied from the wider imperium to bolster the already existing deathcore forces the imperium maintained their strong control of the sector in space around vlraks meaning no traitor replacements could be smuggled onto the planet this meant the vraxians would be reliant on their existing stockpiles which would of course eventually run out the continuous artillery barrages continued to take its toll on both sides but considering the large amount of reserves and materials still safely stored underneath the citadel at this rate of attrition the siege of vraks would likely continue for almost another century as such it seemed that the imperium's initial plan of an 11-year long siege had turned out to be severely optimistic in hindsight but high command of the 88th siege army was not going to disband their carefully laid out plans and strategies so easily they were still looking for a way to break the stalemate and so new waves of probing attacks to find weak points in the enemy lines would continue at all costs one such probing attack was to be carried out by the 261st regiment's ninth company against a defensive position called fort a453 fort a453 is a stronghold of interlinked bunkers and pillboxes it had already been damaged during previous bombardments and some of its stationary guns had even been knocked out entirely but the badger defenses still consist of interlocking fields of heavy bolt fire and thick layers of barbed wire which stretched out in front of the fort but perhaps most importantly it is surrounded by an anti-tank ditch and minefields that would make any motorized assault against the sector virtually impossible but that's not all underneath the bunkers is an elaborate network of underground shelters and tunnels one large underground entrance tunnel connected many miles behind the front lines this simply allowed the ruxian defenders to safely enter the fortress protected from any enemy bombardments on the surface above whenever the fortress had come under attack before the defenders had sent in fresh reinforcements through this tunnel and successfully held onto the fort with relative ease the risky attack on these formidable defenses was tasked to captain tyborg and his troops of the ninth company at first light he would lead the attack himself while a large battery of thud guns would assist their approach over no man's land there was not much special going on about this assault in fact it was considered just a regular probing attack one of many that were scheduled across the entirety of the outer defensive lines for high command attacks such as these were mere data points and the larger campaign plans they weren't expected to take the fort nor even to necessarily reach it it was estimated that half of ninth company would perish in the charge over no man's land before the attack on fort a453 would even be called off but captain tyborg and his men all being loyal soldiers of the death corps of krieg would perform their suicidal orders just the same on the fateful morning of the attack the troops of the ninth company gathered in the front line trenches offensive saps had already been dug to reduce the distance over no man's land so they could reach the fort as quickly as possible with that the whistle sounded the cannons opened up and captain tyborg himself was amongst those forced up the ladders followed by his men he rushed out of the trenches and led the assault across no man's land from the front fortunately for them the favorable wind had blown the smoke from the thud gun bombardment their way this thick cloud of dust covered their approach towards the enemy fortress before the enemy had even become aware of the infantry advance the first deathcore troops had reached the barbed wire already with their bolt cutters in hand they had already started creating paths through the wire as the smoke cleared the defenders became aware of what was going on and in short order the heavy bolters of the varaxians had opened up within minutes the relentless heavy fire had already mowed down a large number of death corps soldiers who had by now mostly hid themselves into shell holes and behind whatever obstacles they could find in order to create any form of cover to protect them from the onslaught but the captain and his troops in the vanguard had already cut themselves a path through the barbed wire and plunged themselves deep down into the anti-tank ditch here they were relatively safe from the worst of the enemy's baltifire and could start to return fire in an organized fashion despite heavy casualties the rest of the ninth company now managed to cut more paths through the barbed wire defenses the anti-tank ditch serving as a makeshift trench soon filled with imperial soldiers as the death corps were now swarming in their captain's wake once enough troops had gathered they prepared themselves to directly charge against the enemy bunkers and then the orders came in to affix their bayonets at the captain's command they scrambled up and out of the anti-tank ditch and rushed across the last remaining strip of land that stood between them and the enemy defenders unbeknownst to them they first had to cross over the dangerous minefields many deathcore soldiers blew up in devastating explosions as they stepped on the mines yet again the ninth company took heavy casualties but following their captain who was leading from the front they simply kept coming almost entirely clearing the minefield in the process the soldier next to captain taipork evaporated in a blast of smoke blood and body parts was scattered everywhere tyborg himself was wounded by a shard of bone from the exploding soldier that struck him in the leg however limping forward he continued to lead the assault on the bunkers with the death corps already inside of the wire and over the minefields some of the renegade troops raced towards their enemy in an attempt to meet them in hand-to-hand combat meanwhile other lesser troops mostly those of the militia believed their position would be lost and began to abandon their defenses in a panic soon the whole fort was in total chaos and confusion as the bloody close combat ensued with many of the varaxians now on the run they had a potential breakthrough on their hands but the battle wasn't over just yet as now more disciplined ruxian defenders came out of their underground defenses to repel the invaders if captain tyborg wished to maximally exploit the breakthrough he would need reinforcements fast he would need to inform high command of his situation but in the confusion of the melee his box operator assistant had been killed and the equipment lost instead he chose to summon a runner that would rush back towards the deathcore frontlines and deliver the following message ninth company within wire enemy numbers growing in strength will hold if reinforced the runner would have to run back over the now nearly empty minefield through the wire and back over no man's land to inform higher command of the situation meanwhile tyborg and his men continued their battle throughout the fortress complex pushing the defenders back in several places but the bruxians had already learned a lesson or two from the imperium their artillery suddenly opened up as they began shelling their own lines in a desperate attempt to stop the enemy advance on the blood-soaked surface the ground erupted as their artillery started raining down upon anyone caught out in the open captain tybrock was wounded for the second time by a piece of shrapnel but in a desperate struggle he and 40 of his closest troops had managed to fight his way inside the underground defenses and this was not a moment too soon within seconds the artillery barrage intensified and everyone was caught on the outside including the remaining soldiers of the ninth company and the ruxian defenders alike they were all blasted to absolute bits by the ruthless explosions as the barrage quieted down taibot and his small company were the only imperial troops who had escaped the deadly bombardment meanwhile those fleeing vrxians who had earlier escaped the battle had by now been intercepted by zaphones and forces after swift disciplinary action the defenders turned around and made their way back towards the front lines the vrxians were now quickly bringing up large amounts of reinforcements with the main access tunnel to recapture fort a453 but as fate would have it tyborg and his remaining troops found themselves in the hallway where this main tunnel entered the fortress this was of course the perfect place to block any reinforcements from entering as they heard the vraxion's coming they quickly prepared their defenses and set up an ambush to hold the choke point the first vraxians who re-entered the complex were surprised to find themselves welcomed by the warmth of the death corps last guns tyborg and his men opened fire with devastating bodies of lesbian shots that decimated the closely packed vraxian reinforcements in their panic the upcoming troops fled back inside of the tunnel but yet again safeans and forces were not going to let them run away from the battle a second time to set an example and to return some form of discipline in their cowardly ranks some of the militia were shot dead on the spot caught between the well-defended choke point held by the death corps or facing the guns of their own enforcers the militiamen reluctantly followed orders and prepared for the attack urged on at gunpoint the vrxians now charged back into the hallway but without the element of surprise this time tybok and his troops would have a much more difficult fight ahead of them meanwhile the runner that had dispatched earlier had miraculously survived and successfully made it through no man's land finally he arrived and delivered the message to the local commander general durgen this was the news high command had all this time been waiting for after months of stalemate unexpectedly here at fort a453 there was finally a potential crack in the enemy lines sturgeon quickly spread the news across the front and the whole army set into motion to exploit the situation durgen immediately sent his own veteran grenadier units to reinforce captain tybok and the local artillery would be rolled forward they were tasked with producing a curtain of supportive artillery fire that would cut off fort a453 from further enemy reinforcements as much as was possible this would do nothing to stop the braxton troops from coming up in the tunnel below but at the very least it would stop the enemy from reinforcing the fortress from above ground and bringing up further tank brigades meanwhile the deathcore would bring up tanks of their own to secure the fortress the 88th siege army command was well aware that this opportunity was too good to be allowed to simply go to waste and all along the front lines diversion attacks were launched to take away pressure from the breakthrough at fort a453 but all of this would take time precious time that tybok and his few remaining men who were fighting off this simply unending wave of reinforcements coming up the tunnel could ill afford in this checkpoint they were able to fight off a much larger ruxian force but they were running out of ammunition already several troops had emptied all their rifles last packs and resorted to using pistols or even hand-to-hand weapons in between the enemy assaults the death corps soldiers took to looting the ruxian corpses for any ranged weapons they could find they would pick up grenades stubborns last guns pistols flame throwers anything from the dead and then rush back to the defensive positions to fight off the next wave this way they valiantly defended the entrance but their dwindling numbers meant they could not hold on forever even captain tyborg had been wounded again for the third time now a glancing gunshot to the side of his head had knocked off his helmet and left him profusely bleeding despite his severe wounds he still managed to command his troops as they desperately held onto their positions for the remainder of the day they were now down to just 16 men where are those damned reinforcements unbeknownst to taebok and his men the ruxians had now fully committed to the recapture of fort a453 if they couldn't take back the fortress from the entrance tunnel underground they would try above ground the ruxians had sent their infantry over the plains through the imperial bombardment with the plan to re-enter the fortress and flank the ninth company from behind fortunately for captain tybok the grenadiers that had been sent to reinforce him arrived as well and intercepted the ruxian movements fierce fighting in the ruins of fort a453 now commenced the braxian command frustrated by their inability to secure the fortress sent in even more troops but the fresh elite grenadier troops were able to stop the varaxians from entering the fortress meanwhile three companies of the 61st tank regiment including a bain-blade heavy tank were thrown into battle around the fortress they were accompanied by a squad of atlas excavators each equipped with a dozer blade to fill in the anti-tank ditch many atlases were destroyed in the process but they successfully managed to fill the ditch as you may remember the minefield had already been cleared out earlier by the men of the ninth company with these obstacles out of the way lehman russes and the bane blade itself now rolled forward joining the grenadiers and smashing everything in their path more troops of the 30th line corps followed in their wake and soon the vraxians were pushed back west over the plains back towards the second defensive line all the way being relentlessly pursued by the 61st tank regiment the grenadiers made their way underground where they found the remaining men the few remaining men of the ninth company of the original assault on fort a453 that had started three days prior all that was left were nine wounded men including the heroic captain tyborg with severe wounds in both legs his right arm his abdomen and the glancing hit to his head but he was alive and the fort had now been captured the breakthrough had come and the entirety of the eighth assault corps had now made their way through the breach and started rolling up on the enemy's front line to either side of it attacked from the front and flanks the vraxians realized their positions were no longer tenable and started to abandon their defenses on mass they knew there was simply a second defensive line to fall back to and so they quickly did the once so heavily defended outer front lines were quickly falling apart as the entire 88th siege army moved forward over largely undefended terrain here and there they were being held up by small pockets of rear guard resistance but these were nothing like the killing fields that the death corps had faced before after two whole years of bitter attritional warfare the outer defensive line had finally collapsed in its entirety and soon the 88th siege army would now encircle the second defensive line new offenses would be launched from there with this hopeful news of victory some figureheads in high command already announced that perhaps the siege of rocks could be finished within the estimated time frame of 12 years after all if only they knew [Music] due to the tenacious vraxian resistance the siege plans of the 88th siege army were now way behind schedule what had initially been expected to be a relatively easy campaign against unorganized rebels turned out to be a long war of attrition against a well-defended and a very well organized foe but finally after more than two years into the siege of vraks the death corps of krieg had at last achieved their very first breakthrough at fort a453 to make up for the delays imperial high command now spared no expense in order to exploit this breakthrough finally the heavy armor divisions could be put to good use on the plains of the funmeersland wastes armored columns streamed through the gap and relentlessly rolled up on the flanks of the vraxion's outer defensive lines the vraxian defenders were unable to hold their positions against this overpowering tide of enemy armor rushing through the break in their lines vrxen command was now afraid that the bulk of their army would be completely outflanked and overrun in order to prevent this catastrophe they ordered the complete abandonment of the outer defensive lines with surprising competence they swiftly managed to orchestrate a general retreat back to their second defensive lines where they would prepare for the next stage of the siege all in all the vraxian army retreated in good order taking with them as much weapons and material as they could but despite the necessary retreat now vraxian command remained confident against all odds they had heroically stood against the fierce imperial war machine for more than two years already although costly one unlucky breakthrough would not shatter their morale now as soon as the general retreat had been completed they would teach the imperium about the unwavering vraxian tenacity once more the entire 88th siege army now moved over largely undefended terrain with the intent of encircling the second defensive line with the vraxian army in retreat perhaps a hasty assault could catch the defenders off guard and overrun the second defensive lines while they were still relatively unorganized in their new defenses and so the deathcore troops left behind their own well-defended trenchlines and transported most of their equipment over the funmeersland wastes in order to catch up with the retreating vrxians and continue their attack as soon as possible but although the overall length of the front lines would now drastically shrink the first line core in the northern sector would now have to stretch their troops over quite a significant distance to cover the entirety of the northern part of the second defensive line in order to completely encircle the enemy fortunately during these two years of siege the first line corps had mostly waited for a breakthrough to happen in the west before committing their forces to breaking the northern defensive line and so in comparison to the other line cores they had suffered very little losses and all in all the regiments of the first line corps were in great shape they had enough troops ready to cover the length of their new front as such the 5th 15th 3rd and 19th regiments moved forward to finally do their proper part in the siege it was up to the 19th regiment to cover the most eastern part of the line and so the regiment moved towards habzone one they approached the new terrain carefully a counter-attack was always a possibility especially over open terrain like this but they didn't expect much resistance as most death rider reconnaissance and intelligence had indicated that the ruxian retreat had mostly headed straight for the safety of the second defensive line unbeknownst to the 88th siege army however the vraxians had already organized a plan to counter-attack the deathcore advance and catch them off guard outside the safety of their trenches during the retreat they had actually diverted a large mass of tanks and artillery that were now hidden in the urban environment of habzone one they had also brought up a large portion of infantry and armor from the now largely useless eastern defensive lines this substantial force was lying in wait for the flanks of the imperial forces to come closer this would be their first large-scale offensive and vraxian command was confident it could even turn the tide of the war once the flank of the imperial forces approached close to the habzone they would strike with full force and use their mass amounts of mechanized troops to roll up the rear of the advancing enemies just like the imperium had done to them at the breakthrough of fort a453 with the 88th siege army transporting over the plains in pursuit of the voraxians they would be able to catch them off guard and drive them back over the phanmeersland wastes and perhaps even recapture the outer defensive lines all vraxian troops in habzone 1 were ready for the assault but to their surprise the death corps 19th regiment halted before springing the trap that was set up for them instead of directly bypassing the hab zone and moving straight onto the second defensive line the first line core had chosen to exercise caution and they started to dig in at the end of the first day's advance setting up a light defensive trench network and only choosing to continue their advance the next day when more reconnaissance could be done they had not been as reckless as the vrx in command had anticipated the vraxians started to doubt the strategic soundness of their own offensive perhaps the death corps weren't planning to completely encircle the second defensive line after all and if the vraxians allowed them time to dig in here and now that would greatly diminish the potential success of this crucial counter-offensive this of course couldn't be allowed to happen and they considered launching their attacks sooner rather than later to prevent the death corps from digging in even further and gaining a new foothold being unwilling to let their plan go to waste they signaled the attack to begin their artillery opened up on the fresh trench lines of the 19th regiment and the overwhelming amounts of roxy and armor rolled forward from their concealed positions in the hab zone and raced over the planes towards their enemy they hit the front of the deathcore 19th regiment hard with their guns blazing squadrons of lehman rosses and chimeras rolled into the newly dug trench lines where they disembarked their infantry chaotic melee broke out while the tanks destroyed the unready defenses peaceful whole deathcore squads were buried alive in their collapsing trenches and large parts of the regiment vanished in the sudden maelstrom of explosions and shrapnel when the attack began large parts of the ninth regiment had still been transporting their weaponry over the planes transport columns of artillery were now caught out in the open and at risk of being destroyed or even worse captured colonel edel commander of the ninth company quickly gave out orders for a hasty withdrawal and all over the battlefield centaur carriers rushed back with their artillery pieces any guns that had to be abandoned were ordered to be sabotaged by exploding a few crack grenades into their barrels thus successfully scuttling the weapon so they wouldn't fall into vraxion hands but the armored advance of the vraxians was fast and relentless they hunted down the surprised enemy all over the plains and whenever they managed to capture any imperial artillery they directly turned them around to fire them into the retreating death corps forces the 19th regiment's reserves were quickly brought up to stem the tide and tank duels took place all over the battlefield there was no longer a single coherent front line and the local command center was at risk of being overrun colonel adel tried to contact high command to ask for reinforcements but the communication lines had already been severed by the intense artillery fire so he opted to send out runners and prepared to hunker down in their last defensive position to buy time for the rest of the first line corps to respond to this onslaught until at last vraxian hellhounds reached the command post and blasted the position with their superheated promethium incinerating colonel edel and all of his command staff with their command completely wiped out the position of the 19th regiment would not be able to recover the regiment was soon all but wiped out and the few straggling survivors tried to retreat all the way back to the safety of their first defensive lines meanwhile the runners arrived and the 15th and third regiment received the news of the enemy offensive they quickly prepared themselves to face the onslaught with the 19th regiment out of the way the vraxian spearhead was coming straight for them if they wished to hold out they would have to dig in swiftly in order to give the infantry and artillery time to prepare the defenses they would need they sent in the limited number of tank brigades they had left in hopes of delaying the vraxian advance unfortunately the imperial tanks were too heavily outnumbered in their desperation was decided the tanks would be assisted by squadrons of death riders on their large noble mounts they rode out alongside the tanks facing the heavy enemy fire and they attacked the ruxian armor with their explosive lances with varying degrees of success their losses were extremely severe and many death rider squadrons were completely wiped out but they had also managed to inflict losses on the productions themselves even a battle tank couldn't stand up to several direct hits of explosive lances against its hull their sacrifice had not been enough to hold the enemy's advance completely but at the very least the armored thrust had been blunted the reckless bravery of the death riders had delivered the first line cord the breathing space it had needed to survive for now this went on for several days with retreats and counter-attacks but with the infantry now fully dug in the artillery in place and the heavy tanks of the eighth assault corps coming up from behind the enemy advance was finally completely halted and the front lines firmly secured once more the vraxians had tried hard to break their enemies but through a swift response and sacrifice the total collapse of the first line corps had been narrowly avoided and a complete disaster for the 88th siege army had been prevented but the shock of the vraxian surprise attack had still disrupted the entire deathcore campaign plan all along the lines the advance had been halted in anticipation of the outcome of the battle up north with the front lines stabilized now the assault could continue once more but any hopes of catching the vraxians unprepared and unorganized in their new defensive lines were dashed away these few days of delay had given the defenders time to effectively distribute their retreating forces and properly establish their defenses and so high command of the 88th siege army gave up on their hopes for a swift pursuit and prepared their new trench network in front of the second defensive line everyone was well aware that this meant the merciless grinding stalemate would continue once again in the north the first line core was slowly being reinforced with new recruits from krieg and over time the decimated 19th regiment was renewed to its original full size once more they pushed forward again now passing along the many rusting hulks and remains of tanks and artillery that were lost during the big vraxian offensive and scattered about the battlefield the enemy continued to skirmish but without the protection of their deep bunker network of the defensive lines they could simply not stand up to the replenish death corps forces slowly the ground lost to the counter-attack was being reclaimed the area of hab zone 1 was eventually completely pulverized by artillery fire and wiped off the map for good measure after more than a year the vraxian defenders were finally completely pushed back and the first line core was in position to encircle the second defensive line the second stage of the siege was about to begin by now the campaign was already seven years ongoing with only five more years to complete it within the original 12-year time frame the siege continued to be severely behind schedule and the end was nowhere in sight this delay incentivized the desperate high command to come up with new ideas to complement the current campaign strategy although a significant amount of orbital defense lasers and anti-air defenses were already in imperial hands too many were still in territory held by the varxians if more of them could be captured or outright destroyed then perhaps the limited aerial bombardments could be carried out and potentially speed up the campaign and thus it was now that alongside the standard siege doctrine small-scale raiding tactics were introduced to a much greater extent than before with the intent of identifying the location of air defenses and attempting to take them out all along the front lines elite grenadier units were instructed to conduct small nightly raids to gain information and sabotage the enemy's defenses wherever possible on one such raid a few grenadiers had managed to cross no man's land and sneak into an underground bunker complex here they had located one of the major laser defense silos but the small raiding squad estimated that they had too few troops to overtake and destroy the facility on their own so in the cover of darkness they signaled back to the front lines requesting immediate reinforcements to help take it out the importance of destroying one of the main laser defense silos would not be overlooked by command soon several gorgon heavy transports had been filled up to the broom with heavily armored grenadiers and attempted to cross no man's land in the cover of darkness when the transports approached close to the enemy front lines they were eventually spotted and fired upon but the thick steel armor of the gorgons was more than capable of brushing off the enemy's weapon fire and before artillery could be called on their location they had already reached the enemy's lines when they got close enough to the bunker complex the ramps lowered and the grenadiers rushed towards the laser silo soon they would overtake the defenses and blow up the facility before quickly rushing back to the safety of their own lines well protected by their flak armor and with their heavy weapons the overwhelming force of elite grenadiers easily took out the unprepared defenders but as they made their way inside they were suddenly flanked by bolterfire to their surprise space marines in blue tinted armor blocked their way into the facility while they had been more than capable of taking out the vraxian militia defenders before these astartes were a different matter entirely before long many of the infiltrating grenadiers had been killed with the raiding mission now completely hopeless they decided to call off the attack and withdraw back to their own lines but when they withdrew they found that their gorgon heavy transport had already been destroyed they had walked right into a trap laid by the space marines and found themselves being almost completely surrounded the space marines moved in and slaughtered the grenadiers one by one through incredible luck a few of them managed to free themselves from the ambush and escaped into the darkness of no man's land back to their own lines where they informed their local commander of what had happened during the raid the drastic news was then relayed back to lord commander jolker's command center back on threshing primaris if the reports were to be believed this new development of the front was very disturbing indeed space marines had apparently reinforced the sight of the vraxian defenders but how was this possible vrx had been completely cut off by the imperial fleet blockading the planet in space no one should be able to get in or out without the permission zhulke contacted the lord commander militiant of the segmentum obscurus to ask if the mysterious space marine chapter could be identified all the austerity's chapters in the segmentum that wore blue were contacted but they were all able to account for the whereabouts of their companies no missing troops or rogue elements had been reported back it was thus assumed that the space marines that had been spotted on vraks were likely to the traitor legionaries but zhulka still had no answers to the mystery as to how they had bypassed the blockade and managed to arrive on the planet at all in the meantime however zhulke also requested the reinforcement of a whole new line core from krieg to join the fighting on vraks as these new troops would surely help break the stalemate so they could smash through the second defensive line of course the arrival of traitor space marines had been severely concerning but under jolker's command surely such a lousy mistake in security would not be allowed to happen a second time he would simply plead with a munitorum for extra ships to guard the planet then he would sternly order admiral raziak to tighten his blockade of space around the planet and make sure that it was absolutely impossible for other traitorous troops to make planetfall the vraxians would not be reinforced again but there was good news as well due to jolker's influential relationships within the imperium his request for reinforcements from krieg had swiftly been approved this time the 34th line core with three regiments had been mustered and would soon depart for vraks so far the siege had been long hard and incredibly bloody but surely with so many extra deathcore soldiers on their way victory was at this point assured right now it was only a matter of time

Channel: Janovich

Views: 568,596

Keywords: warhammer, 40k, Janovich, Korps, Krieg, Harvest, DeathKorps of Krieg, Iron Harvest, 40000, Astra Militarum, Siege of Vraks, Warhammer Plus, Exodite, Astartes, Animation, Warhammer Lore, Imperium

Id: 3tM9SoJ-MpU

Length: 75min 3sec (4503 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 20 2022