Chapter 8

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The losses among the orks were great, but there were still too many of them. That was only part of the problem, though. They had aviation, and they could simply wipe us out with waves of their bombers. So, I planned an operation deep behind ork lines to deprive them of their air force.

Operations deep behind enemy lines were usually the domain of small raiding groups and saboteurs. But in this case, they would have been useless and only led to unnecessary losses. The defenses were too dense to slip through and destroy their aircraft. Even if someone got lucky, those strange orks with psychic abilities would quickly track them down and prevent any significant damage. And how could one individual eliminate most of the enemy's aviation? Even if the orks were left with just a third of their bombers, they would still annihilate us—it would just take a little longer.

So, with the intelligence gathered by the Eighth Legion, I devised a four-stage operation. The first stage involved using a quarter of my company and some Imperial Guard soldiers to carry out a diversionary attack. They were to strike hard enough to force the orks to redeploy their forces, weakening other areas of their defenses.

The second stage was a swift, assault strike and breakthrough. For this, I used three-quarters of my company, along with a couple of artillery batteries and a host of heavy and light mortars. We were lucky that the Tech-Priests managed to restore two *Predators* at the last moment, which gave us additional firepower. After breaking through, the third stage would begin.

All the heavy artillery was to return to its previous positions, leaving me with only the mortars. We would load up every available space with mortar shells and race toward the ork airfield as fast as possible. Then, we would bombard the entire airfield with maximum fire rate, aiming to destroy as many enemy aircraft as possible and damage the infrastructure, especially the runway.

The final, fourth stage was to use regular anti-personnel and anti-tank mines to buy as much time as possible and inflict maximum damage on the pursuers, and then return to our positions to finish off the most stubborn bastards.

A risky plan, where a lot could go wrong. But there was no better option. Otherwise, we'd just be lambs to the slaughter.

"Time. Begin," I gave the short order, and our guns opened fire on the enemy positions.

A wall of fire consumed the ork fortifications. Here and there, you could see chunks of orks flying through the air, and sometimes there were especially lucky hits on the forward ammo dumps, adding even more destruction.

The guns fired for another half-hour before I gave the order to attack. My Space Marines descended on the surviving orks like furies, leaving none alive.

"Diversionary forces, continue advancing! The rest, check your gear and replenish ammunition. We wait an hour, then move out. Don't forget to camouflage the vehicles," I ordered. Our forces split up, and we waited for the orks to react.

A little over an hour passed before confirmation came from Shor and Rork that the orks had begun to resist, and it was growing stronger with every kilometer and every minute.

"Everyone, to your vehicles! Move out!" I climbed onto the armor of one of the *Rhinos*, and moments later, the column was in motion.

Ahead of us rolled a pair of *Predators*, which would be our steel fist to punch through to the ork airfield. As we moved, I kept in touch with Rork and Shor, monitoring the ork distraction.

They did an excellent job, taking advantage of the orks' confusion and unpreparedness for a night assault. The orks panicked and tried to flee when a wall of fire hit them from the flank, followed by the Space Marines and regular infantry charging into close combat. Less than a dozen orks managed to escape that hell, and only because they were needed to carry word of the breakthrough to their warbosses.

Shor, with his legionnaires, became our eyes during this phase of the operation. He quickly found enemy reinforcement columns and helped destroy them using ambushes or simply by calling in artillery strikes. The roads leading toward them became highways of death—burning vehicles with ork corpses inside. The orks hated night battles, and seeing such an infernal scene, they hesitated and lost their will to advance. The *Nobs* didn't care about that, though, and after killing a few dozen mutineers, they pushed the rest forward. But the same scene repeated on the roads, now with their own forces. More and more orks began to rebel until they eventually killed some of the most stubborn *Nobs* and took up defensive positions, waiting for reinforcements.

For Rork, this was a stroke of luck. He used the extra time to fortify his positions. Soldiers moved through the captured ork trenches, carrying machine guns, ammo crates, and sandbags. Sappers prepared minefields and set up barbed wire. Officers assigned soldiers to defense sectors. The Space Marines, except for Rork's sergeant squad, which was coordinating all forces involved in the diversionary strike, helped Shor destroy orks and buy as much time as possible.

Meanwhile, we were racing toward the airfield at maximum speed. We needed to destroy the ork aviation while it was still grounded. Otherwise, they would inflict massive losses on Rork's forces and easily drive him from the captured positions. I didn't even want to think about what would happen if they spotted my forces. We'd be one giant target that even the most cross-eyed ork pilot wouldn't miss. A couple of bombs hitting the center or rear of the column would turn the operation into a massacre, with us playing the role of the sacrificial lambs.

I was incredibly lucky that Freyr hadn't wasted any time and managed to scout the most convenient and shortest route to the ork airfield. We could have shortened the distance further by going straight through, blasting everything with fire and lead, but there was a risk of getting bogged down in enemy defenses, and then our swan song would play to the tune of whistling bombs. The small ork forces we encountered weren't sentries but just groups of orks trying to join the fight elsewhere. So, soon enough, I could see the distant lights of the airfield.

"Mortars! Maximum fire rate! Officers, issue stimulants to the troops! *Predators*, take out enemy vehicles. Space Marines, close in on the enemy!"

We only had one shot, and to make sure we didn't waste it, I employed a few tricks. The first was to issue the troops stimulants, which would fill them with energy for a couple of days. This way, they could haul mortar shells and fire at a furious pace. The second was mounting some of the mortars onto trucks and *Rhino* roofs for mobility. The last trick was using mortar rounds directly by the Space Marines. The mortar rounds were slightly modified by attaching a contact grenade to them using duct tape and super glue. The mortar tubes were replaced by the power-armored Space Marines themselves. The enhanced muscles of their armor, combined with their powerful physiology, allowed them to hurl the heavy mortar rounds. Not as far as a regular mortar, but far enough to break through ork bunkers and trenches when we lacked heavy weapons. And this improvisation was especially useful given that the orks had many planes and supply depots spread across the entire airfield. The mortars could hit the furthest or best-protected targets, while the Space Marines took out everything else.

"The 30th Millennium. Humanity can build magnificent spacecraft and extend life using genetic manipulation. But when it comes to ground warfare, we're still relying on duct tape, glue, and common sense. It's like we're back in the second millennium, and nothing's changed," I sighed, watching as explosions erupted in many places and fire consumed the orks like a wild, vengeful spirit.

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