Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!

Chapter 333 05.0332: ‘Countdown to Charge’

When the first rays of sunlight in the morning shone on the battlefield mixed with white snow and scorched earth, the vast land was black and white, and the dots of dark red blood added a third color to it.

Along the long front line, there were broken barbed wire and collapsed and bent ceramic breast walls. From the sky, it was a scene of decline.

Almost every inch of the rebels' positions were scattered with fragments of shells and human remains of varying sizes. The air was filled with the smell of pungent gunpowder and scorched soil.

The trenches, like spider webs, cut deeply into the earth, and a few veins were interrupted by round charred pits, leaving ugly scars on the surface of the planet.

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The biting cold wind blew up the snowflakes dancing in the craters, blowing over the land plowed by artillery fire, blowing over the countless cracked gullies, and finally weighed heavily on the hearts of the survivors who were gasping for breath in every corner.

The battlefield was silent, and in the distant orchard, occasionally a few unknown birds chirped from afar accompanied by the morning light.

In the trenches of the British First Brigade, the British Star Army soldiers in scarlet uniforms were in high spirits, standing neatly in two rows on both sides, leaving a passage in the middle.

These people were very young, generally around 20 or 30 years old, and were considered the youngest and strongest high-quality manpower on the British planet, while the sergeants were nearly 40 years old, with a sharp temperament tempered by war and death.

The white-robed Anglican chaplain holding high the cross-eagle emblem was the first to step onto the path. The prayers he chanted loudly were accompanied by the soldiers' murmured prayers. Then, the gray-robed acolytes who sprinkled holy water walked through the crowd.

After the chaplain walked by, the sergeants of each row stood in the middle of the road.

The British officer, wearing a carapace, a shako high-top military cap, and a red officer's ribbon around his waist, held a parchment military order with the mark of purity in one hand and a pocket watch in the other, silently counting the ticking of seconds until the pointer of the pocket watch pointed to the time on the military order.

"Bayonet ready!" the officer shouted, and the sergeants verbally relayed the order, and the shouts and shouts passed the order to the entire platoon of company-level size.

Swish! Snap!

The soldiers uniformly drew out the sharp bayonets from the scabbards at their waists and inserted them into the multi-functional holder at the muzzle.

The same scene happened in dozens of trenches dug in the battle line against the enemy.

In the past night's mobile dispatch, the British First Brigade dispatched several companies from three battalions to participate in the first wave of offensive.

The entire battle width stretched for several kilometers.

The line infantry of the 88th Infantry Regiment and the 79th Armored Reconnaissance Regiment took advantage of the night to jump off the truck two kilometers behind the battle line and ran to the reserve location in an orderly manner along the trench walkway.

In the end, they stood shoulder to shoulder in the same trench, and only the different regimental color edges on the collars and cuffs could distinguish them.

The British infantry squad consisted of 20 people, led by a corporal.

A platoon had 9 infantry squads and a platoon headquarters, with a second lieutenant or a lieutenant as the platoon leader. The number of combat infantry was about 200, and the battle width planned was about 300~350 meters.

A company consists of 5 platoons and a company headquarters, led by a captain, and one of the platoons is a heavy platoon responsible for fire support. The total number of the entire company is about 900, responsible for a combat width of 1 to 1.4 kilometers.

On the Blue Planet, a platoon of the British Army in World War I had about 72 people, a company had three platoons, and the total number of combat personnel in the infantry company was only nearly 250.

The officers in the trenches looked at the stopwatch that had been uniformly calibrated in advance, and silently counted down in their hearts.

30 minutes before the Star Army attacked.

"Artillery boys, play your symphony."

With the loud shouts of the artillery officers.

More than ten kilometers behind the front line, there was a strong rumbling sound of artillery.

The soldiers in the trenches looked up at the sky. In their shining pupils, countless shells with black smoke trails cut through the sky, screaming death, and slammed into the enemy positions a few kilometers ahead.

The artillery units of the three battalions set up multiple artillery positions in different locations according to the caliber and tactical effective range of the ground-shaking guns they were equipped with.

Trucks loaded with ammunition supplies were heading towards the positions from the front-line combat supply base. Wooden boxes were moved to trailers, delivered to the gun positions, and then pried open one by one.

Bare-chested strong men held thick, clear yellow shells and kept feeding them into the gun barrels.

After a whole night of artillery battles, the empty brass shell casings were piled up into a small mountain on each position.

The artillerymen took off their decent uniforms on weekdays and loaded, aimed, and fired with their sweaty arms bare.

The British artillerymen wore distinctive blue uniforms, which were clearly different from armored cavalry and line infantry.

This marked an extra honor.

The ranks of their artillery and engineering officers were like those of the Imperial Navy. They could not be purchased through the "donation" channel, but were appointed through the selection of the Ministry of the Interior's Ordnance Department.

Only those highly educated people who graduated from professional engineering and artillery academies could master the command of such troops with very high technical thresholds.

Dense shells fell on the rebel positions, dispersing the snowflakes blown by the wind, lifting the dark frozen soil, shaking the earth, and destroying the trenches.

Wailing and screaming came from time to time across the empty no-man's land.

The rebels did not react much. After the unscheduled bombardment for a whole night, many people had become numb.

At first, they thought that the Astra Militarum was going to attack after each bombardment. After the bombardment, they hurried out of the bunker and waited for the shrapnel and air wave of the delayed fuse shells.

But every preparation failed.

Many of the rebels had served in the Astra Militarum or the planetary defense force. They knew that the doctrine of superior firepower was popular in the Astra Militarum. Perhaps this continuous bombardment would last for two or three days.

They could not observe the situation of the Astra Militarum trenches.

The British trenches were dug out by large trenchers, and with drainage channels, the total depth was 3.5 meters.

It was just that from a slightly higher point, the view could not see the situation inside clearly.

With the whistling of the shells, there was little time left for preparation before the attack.

Like the front-line soldiers, the officers and staff advisers in the brigade headquarters on the top of the mountain were holding their breath.

Through the telescope, Horatio saw the reverse slope, and Leman Russ from the 2nd Cavalry Squadron of the 1st Royal Armored Regiment started the engine.

This tall tank, which looks like the British Mark IV tank of World War I, with a rotating turret, is the mainstay of the Imperial Astra Militarum armored force.

7.08 meters long and 4.86 meters high, the Space Marines look dwarfed and delicate in front of them.

The style is very similar to the vehicles driven by the enemies in a game called "Metal Slug" that he played in his previous life.

It has a simple and durable structure, and the front armor can be called thick and tough. The front of the vehicle body has an oblique 150 mm armor plate, and the gun shield armor reaches an astonishing 200 mm.

According to rumors that it is equipped with the magical HL230 V12 multi-fuel engine, peeing in it can make this huge vehicle run for a while.

It is extremely durable and easy to produce. The chassis itself can be used for various modifications to meet different tactical needs.

But the price is that its mobility is too slow. The road speed is only about 30 kilometers per hour, and the cross-country speed is only a pitiful 18 kilometers per hour, which is almost the same as the speed of the larger and heavier Macharius heavy tank.

This also causes the Leman Russ tank to often be out of touch with other mechanized forces, and its speed can only be used as an "infantry tank".

Considering its own huge shortcomings, armored commanders must carefully arrange its offensive and defensive positions.

Because once an accident occurs, the mobility of the Leman Russ tank is simply not enough to put out the fire on the battlefield. It can only watch the position being broken through, and then shrink the defense in vain.

What's more fatal is that because each Astra Militarum Legion is deliberately divided into a single-function combat unit, coupled with the slow mobility of the Leman Russ and the scarcity of the strategic level.

The Leman Russ crews and squads of the Astra Militarum soldiers in each battle may be different.

This means that almost every time the infantry and tanks cooperate in combat, both sides have to re-run.

Especially for mechanized infantry fighting vehicle units, the infantry are more accustomed to the situation without the support of Leman Russ.

In the woods and camouflage nets half a kilometer behind the Leman Russ tanks, the Arion from the mechanized company of the 79th Armored Reconnaissance Regiment and the Chimaira infantry fighting vehicles from the heavy dragoon company of the 1st Royal Armored Regiment were also ready.

The former is similar to the large eight-wheeled version of the Chimaira, with a road speed of about 100 kilometers per hour and an off-road speed of 60 kilometers per hour.

The mobility of the Chimaira is also excellent enough, with a maximum road speed of 70 kilometers per hour and an off-road speed of 55 kilometers per hour.

Because it adopts a tracked structure, the off-road speed of the Chimaira is not much different from that of the wheeled Arion, and it even runs faster than the wheeled one on some harsh terrains.

It's a pity that the overly outstanding high mobility is often exchanged for the decoupling from heavy armored forces such as the Poison Blade, Macharius, and Leman Russ.

However, as a good helper for infantry, the Chimera Infantry Fighting Vehicle is often the real "armored force" of infantry.

-In addition to light infantry, regular infantry companies usually have Chimera fixed organization, so there is special coordinated combat training for Chimera Infantry Fighting Vehicle, and its 100 mm thick front armor is sufficient in most cases.

Although it is also scarce in strategy, only a few lucky infantry units can get it.

But the Chimera Infantry Fighting Vehicle with excellent mobility can often arrive at the battlefield in time when the infantry needs firepower support the most, and quickly deploy a 10-man elite infantry squad and a two-man heavy weapons team while bringing heavy firepower.

Because of this situation of "not being able to eat pork but at least being able to see pigs running", for the big heads, seeing Chimera is the most realistic happiness.

Because the Leman Russ tank is an unattainable combat readiness.

Even though the armor and firepower are not as good as the Leman Russ tank, the Astra Militarum infantry still gave the title of "reliable old friend" to the Chimera infantry fighting vehicle.

Sir Wellesley stood on the top of the mountain with his arms folded, tapping his index finger rhythmically.

He looked at the battlefield filled with smoke in the distance, and suddenly stopped at a certain second, showing a decent smile to his officer advisors and accompanying female companions, and said:

"The show begins. First, let's watch the opening show brought to you by Mr. Horatio."

(British artillery and engineers)

(Leman Russ tank)

(Chimera armored vehicle)

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