After the forward troops were destroyed, the remaining tanks and armored personnel carriers of the Cult Army were forced to retreat and spread further towards the flanks before continuing their advance.
This time, the servants of the Black Legion appeared in a larger arc, their vehicles arranged in a wide crescent shape, almost surrounding the entire southern region.
Heavy bolters and heavy timber guns also joined the fight, strafing enemy armored personnel carriers with armor-piercing shells. The enemy responded with artillery shells and machine cannons, filling the air with explosions and flames.
The Astartes were not idle either. Their shooting was very efficient, targeting weak points in the armor and destroying six tanks in just a few minutes.
The armored personnel carriers fared no better under heavy bolter fire, with the armor-piercing rounds finding weak spots in their hulls and slamming in, wreaking bloody havoc on the troops inside.
Several armored vehicles shuddered to a halt when a tracer round struck their fuel cells and caused an explosion. The ragged cultists were forced to leave their transports and rush across the deadly clearing, only to be smitten by hidden heavy explosive bombs and
Machine gun fire killed them one after another.
Twenty minutes after the attack began, the advance of the cultists' army began to falter and began to retreat.
They left behind 20 blown-up vehicles and more than 3,000 dead slaves. On the defender's side, three machine gun positions were destroyed by artillery fire, more than 500 people were killed, and an Astartes recruit was slightly injured.
In this way, the 10th Company won the first defensive battle, but the battle had just begun.
Because the Chaos Space Marines haven't shown up yet.
Over the next three hours, the defenders of Fortress 6 repelled five more attacks.
Each time, the Black Legion would improve their tactics and conduct more intense probing attacks on the flanks.
Although the cultists suffered heavy losses every time, the number of casualties of the defenders was also increasing, and the loss of equipment was gradually increasing. The few remaining laser cannons or heavy logging guns were also mobilized back and forth.
For Armin, he felt as if he was being slowly tightened by an invisible noose.
During the seventh attack, the enemy fired mortars at positions targeting buildings they knew contained heavy weapons.
By the eighth attack, the enemy's armored personnel carriers became more and more bold. Before being repulsed, they had approached within ten meters of the high wall of the front.
An hour before the start of the ninth attack, the Astartes had time to redistribute ammunition, and when the first rounds of mortar shells began to fall and the enemy's improvised tanks and armored personnel carriers began to advance, the defenders used their few remaining
Fire heavy weapons and prepare for close combat.
This time, heretical junk tanks and armored personnel carriers approached the defenders from three sides. The defenders' firepower was not enough to stop the tide, and the enemy vehicles broke through the first line of defense in dozens of places.
Armin ordered a fierce artillery advance, forcing the cultists hiding behind the vehicles to rush out of the bunker. In just a few minutes, dozens of class-level melees broke out between the two sides on a front line of several hundred meters.
An extremely brutal hand-to-hand battle began.
At this moment, perhaps the commander of the Black Legion felt that the decisive moment had come and the general attack began.
"There are armors coming from the north! It's the Predator and the Rhino!"
Armin quickly switched to the command channel and shouted towards the highest observation tower.
"How many rhinos and predators are we going to face?"
"Sir, I saw four Predators and eight Rhinos!"
A sentry answered immediately.
"There are already defenders starting to fight them."
The mortal troops in charge of the area held their position under the enemy's charge. Their four automatic cannons began to spray armor-piercing shells at the oncoming transport vehicles. Two lightly armored armored personnel carriers were hit and stopped on the ground. Thick smoke came from
Destroyed generators poured out, and a third caught fire and exploded, scattering burning debris in a wide arc.
But such firepower was powerless against the heavily armored Astartes vehicles. The Predator's main cannon fired continuously, destroying one automatic cannon after another.
After arriving at the edge of the trench, the hatches of the eight Rhinos were opened with a bang, and giants in black armor strode out.
They are terrifying ghosts of war, clad in battle-scarred armor bearing the traces of centuries of carnage, plundered from every corner of the empire and stained with blood.
The Chaos Space Marines appeared, and they caused a massacre among the mortal troops like a god of death - their plasma guns sprayed out streams of charged particles, which penetrated into fortifications and bunkers, and then exploded one after another.
Unloading its infantry, the Rhino continued forward, firing shells from its twin bolters, until it crashed into the slope of the parapet.
"Kill all the Imperials!"
The black heretics roared, impaling the exhausted soldiers with roaring chainswords and glowing power weapons.
The forces defending the area were on the verge of collapse when reserves arrived.
The three teams started their operations in an orderly manner, Armin always looking at the other side of the battlefield, those terrifying warriors wearing black armor.
He only has three recruit squads, but the enemy has at least six full tactical squads. This will be a very painful battle, and the recruits will pay very, very huge casualties - this is what he least wants to see.
These young warriors were not ready for such a brutal battle.
As the recruit company commander, Soshyan gave Armin the authority to call for emergency support before departure. Although he did not specify what it was, Soshyan expressed the hope that Armin could give the recruits the training they deserve.
Looking at the smoke-filled battlefield, Armin frowned——
"For the Emperor!"
Haumo saw a Chaos Space Marine cut down two screaming soldiers, then turned towards him, and charged straight at him, channeling all his rage into a single blow.
But the experienced warrior dodged the blow with astonishing speed and slashed at Haoma's wrist with his backhand.
If it were a sharp sword, this sword would cut off Haoma's hand.
Fortunately, Hao Mo also reacted in time and immediately withdrew his arm. The teeth of the chain sword lightly scratched his armor gauntlet, leaving deep dents on the ceramic plate.
Then he punched the opponent hard with his backhand, pretending to hit the enemy in the head, and then punched the opponent down hard on the knee.
But the Chaos veteran once again nimbly dodged the blow, then whipped out his pistol and shot Hauma in the head.
"Damn it!"
Caught off guard, Hao Mo's head flashed in front of him, but the bullet still grazed his helmet, and then the opponent kicked him directly and fell to the ground.
When Hao Mo hit the ground, he noticed another impact on his shoulder and felt blood flowing down the bridge of his nose.
Although the bullet failed to penetrate his helmet, the impact cracked it and damaged the delicate circuitry beneath the ceramic plate.