The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Chapter 3004: The Battle for Westeros (II)

Due to the suddenness of the attack, the local garrison could do little but destroy some unimportant buildings, using rubble and large pieces of material mixed with quick-drying cement urgently provided and produced by the Adeptus Mechanicus to construct small, three-meter-high trapezoidal retaining walls. The entire defense line consisted of roughly three such walls, with bunkers and five-meter-high machine gun watchtowers inside, and all the automated turrets they could find were deployed. The widest point was about 17 kilometers, with a depth of over 15 kilometers. It was crowded with over six hundred thousand militia and one hundred and fifty thousand auxiliary troops, which was intentional, considering the Tyranids' primarily melee-focused combat style. In the rear, there were also one hundred thousand militia as reserves and logistics personnel.

But was it enough?

"Company Commander, look!"

Hearing his adjutant's voice, Tek'shar, who wasn't wearing a helmet, raised his binoculars.

On the already scorched earth, blurry outlines of figures began to appear. At the same time, a sound suddenly assailed them from the sky—the clicking of alien wings, accompanied by hissing roars.

The next moment, the once-calm earth was instantly filled with countless ugly creatures, and the sky was swarming with a horde of gargoyles like a flock of birds.

"Order the Basilisk anti-air vehicles to suppress the enemy air forces."

"Yes, sir!"

Just as the gargoyles lowered their altitude, preparing to strafe the humans hiding in the fortifications and trenches, rockets were launched into the sky.

Amid the blooming flowers of death, countless broken, burning bodies screamed as they fell from the sky.

The militiamen were stunned by the scene, but soon the officers were roaring and kicking their asses.

"Prepare for battle! Stay sharp!"

In the distance, a tide of hormagaunts and termagants swept forward like a tsunami, but when they stepped into the minefield, sudden roars and explosions sent countless dirt and carapace fragments into the sky.

Against the Tyranids, mines were naturally indispensable weapons. In fact, due to the hasty construction of the defense line, they used almost all of their stockpiled mines, scattering anti-personnel mines, petal mines, and anti-armor melta mines everywhere.

But the Tyranids were the most fearless enemies of death. They trudged through the minefield, advancing towards the city full of flesh and blood.

Soon, the tongues of heavy weapons emitted a white-hot glow between the hastily constructed fortifications. Lascannons, grenade launchers, and automated cannons formed the first line of interception, followed by mortars.

Small creatures perished like melting snow and ice under the humans' intercepting fire, so they quickly yielded their positions to the living tanks of the swarm. Carnifexes and a new type of war beast appeared at the forefront of the Tyranid ranks. Some of these giant beasts still bore the marks of melta mine damage. They advanced, enduring the fire of light weapons, and then used their massive heads or forelimbs to knock down the upright stakes, crushing them into pieces.

"New Tyranid unit detected. Deploy recon drones immediately."

Realizing that an unrecorded Tyranid unit had appeared, Tek'shar immediately issued a command to the Adeptus Mechanicus support detachment. Soon, two modified Vulture gunships took off, beginning to closely photograph the characteristics and behavior patterns of this new type of large Tyranid unit.

This beast was larger than a Carnifex, covered in extremely thick chitinous armor, with towering chimneys on its back. Structurally, it was supported by two strong hind legs and a pair of sharp forelimbs, like a Carnifex, but it lacked the bloated brood sac. Instead, it had a massive bio-cannon. This bio-cannon, comparable to the main gun of a human heavy tank, was connected to the monster's body and located on the right side of its head. At the same time, dense clusters of stinger launch pores grew between the thick chitinous armor.

After determining the creature's physical characteristics, the Adeptus Mechanicus quickly identified and classified it, and the Xenobiological Savant named it a Tyrannofex, promptly uploading the information to all combat units.

"Vulture anti-armor squadron, prioritize attacking enemy large units."

Receiving the order, Vulture gunships took to the air one after another. Each of these fighter-vehicles was equipped with four large melta armor-piercing missiles.

After quickly entering the firing position fifty meters above the ground, they launched missiles at the Carnifexes and Tyrannofexes. In a series of deep red explosions, the Tyranid living tanks let out deafening wails, and their hard carapaces were shattered under the bombardment of the melta missiles, the flesh beneath being largely vaporized, even exposing internal organs.

However, for a front line of more than ten kilometers, a single squadron of gunships was obviously of limited use. Just as the Vulture gunships returned to replenish ammunition, the Tyranid swarm had already advanced several kilometers deep.

At this time, although the gargoyle swarm in the sky had been blasted to pieces by airburst rockets, their numbers were large enough that they couldn't be completely eliminated. In the intervals between the airburst rockets, they swooped down, the fleshborer guns in their hands firing a rain of death, interspersed with even more deadly harpies. They dropped spore mines from their abdomens, which exploded upon landing, spraying caustic acid. Any militiaman who touched even a little of it would immediately have their outer clothing and skin burned through, penetrating deep into the bones. Even the deafening shrieks emitted by the harpies were enough to terrify them.

For a time, the positions were filled with wails and screams. The auxiliary troops were experienced and knew how to deal with ripper swarms, but the militiamen had never seen such things. The morale of some units collapsed almost instantly, and some soldiers jumped out of the trenches and fled to the rear.

Tek'shar noticed this situation, frowned, and said only one sentence.

"Where are the commissars?"

Soon, the sound of machine guns rang out, and the soldiers who had left the trenches and cover trembled and fell to the ground. At the same time, behind the defense line, auxiliary officers with gold strips wrapped around their arms and helmets picked up megaphones and shouted:

"The commander has ordered that those who retreat will die! Return to your positions immediately!"

In this situation, the militiamen could only turn around and run back, enduring the furious officers' punches and kicks, and even executions—sporadic gunfire continued for several minutes before stopping. Thousands of corpses were hung directly above the positions to deter others.

In fact, Tek'shar also knew that these irregular troops were useless, but there was really no other choice.

The only ones he could truly rely on were the Pushtiban and Vashtiban. These were true soldiers, an elite force that even other chapters were amazed by. Tek'shar was proud and honored that the Chapter Master could create such a force.

But he only had 12 divisions of such troops.

"Let the Vashtiban hold the center. They will become the breakwater to weaken the power of the tide. The Tyranids don't have many air units. After clearing the skies, Stormtalon squadrons and Land Speeders will rain death upon the swarm from above."