Chapter 352 Attack and Defense 2 The Arrival of Hope

As time went on, the offensive and defensive battles on the ground of Ophelia 7 were still going on in full swing.

After receiving the direct fire support from heavy armored units and a large number of rebels as vassal troops, the rebellious Astartes advanced head-on towards the defenders of the City of Grace with the help of orbital bombardment.

The defense line was forced to shrink under heavy pressure, and a large number of small and medium-sized fortifications were destroyed by heavy artillery direct fire.

The war once extended to the edge of the City of Grace, and the soldiers of the Empire had no way to retreat.

It was not until the Imperial Fist team threatened the enemy's rear from the flank that the defense army pushed the enemy's offensive out of the city again in a desperate battle.

In this battle of several hours, the defenders relied on the permanent fortifications around the holy city, and used these fortifications and the dense underground passages and corridors to make the enemy pay a tragic price.

At least five regimental units were seriously injured, and three complete Astralis legions were completely destroyed and lost the value of reconstruction;

At least 40 Leman Russ tanks and three times as many Chimera tanks were destroyed during the advance.

Even the Alphas, the core of the battle, paid the price of half a company's casualties and at least one relic-level Flying Blade heavy tank was completely destroyed.

But Hornthorn did not feel relieved. Because shortly after the end of this battle, the enemy, who felt the delay in the war, opened up a new battlefield on the other side of the Holy City under the pressure of time.

There was no choice. In the context of the Imperial Fists and the Ultramarines, the two Astartes companies being tied down, in order to withstand the powerful combat power of the enemy Astartes, the battle sisters resolutely stepped onto the front line of the war.

But they are different from Astartes after all.

The one-word difference between paramilitary organizations and military organizations represents the comprehensive gap in daily training subjects, tactical literacy, assembly tendencies, and goals from the beginning of construction.

This difference makes the light equipment and squad combat mode of these battle sisters who are accustomed to battlefield environments such as special operations and law enforcement pursuit pale in comparison with the Astartes of the Empire.

Not to mention the Alphas who have not been "baptized by the Holy Codex" and have completely retained the legion combat mode since the Great Crusade.

In a sense, these ghosts left over from the Great Crusade Legion have a more complete war organization than the Imperial Astartes when they can unite.

This is destined to be an unfair battle, but war itself has never been fair.

It was in this close battle with a powerful enemy that the proud battle sisters discovered their unprecedented desire for heavy equipment.

It was also in this battle that they belatedly discovered their more fatal flaws:

That is, these Emperor's daughters who usually claim to be tough, their simple company-level tactical reserves are so pale and clumsy in front of the truly professional Alphas.

This difference was not obvious in previous wars, because most of their missions were squad-level special operations;

Even if they occasionally had the opportunity to participate in large-scale battles, the enemies they faced and the tasks they were assigned were mostly the impact of mortal rebels and fixed garrison tasks.

And when they were really put on the battlefield and danced with these war machines built by the Emperor himself;

Their shallow tactical qualities and poor tactical reserves were completely seen through by the Alphas in the first few rounds of tentative attacks.

This is not to say that the battle sisters are too weak.

But in front of these Astartes with millisecond nerve reactions, their tactical construction foundation is not at the same level at all;

The degraded feedback power armor, when facing the original Mark series power armor, showed a huge gap in both strength and agility.

The Alphas tacitly began to cut the battle sisters' positions. Under their rough insertions and precise point shooting, the battle sisters could not keep up with the enemy's rhythm.

In the eyes of the battle sisters, these Alphas can always advance safely under the cover of their comrades' firepower, and when the battle sisters pointed their weapons at the Alphas who were responsible for covering, the enemies who had originally advanced began to shoot recklessly.

This is not counting the difference in heavy weapons.

When the battle sisters pointed the most powerful individual thermal melt weapons in their hands at the enemy, the enemy's Terminators and Contemptors were all blocked by the stand shield;

After watching the plasma weapons concentrate fire, a high-level nun and her rose rosary were evaporated together.

These battle sisters from the bloody rose finally decided to change the status quo of the battlefield.

"This can't go on!" The commanders realized the gap between each other and decisively started a suicidal defense.

They no longer tried to rely on barriers to avoid damage, but set up positions in layers, leaving no room for themselves to retreat.

When the enemy reached the position they were responsible for, they chose to use all means to delay their steps, and then create opportunities for the sisters in the rear to cover the firepower strike.

"In the name of the Emperor, fire at me!" This sentence is no longer a slogan, but a real thing in this tragic battle.

When the sisters on the front line shouted the name of the Emperor and rushed towards the enemy with their bodies;

The battle sisters in the rear felt their will and fired bullets with hatred and anger at the enemy.

"The Emperor's daughters never shed tears! You will never see our weakness!"

"The Emperor's daughters only bleed! Saint Mina and Aspira witnessed our sacrifice!"

The scorching flames on the battlefield witnessed their purity and inviolability;

The enemy's retreat after paying a heavy price once again forged their will and loyalty.

The battle reached a white-hot stage from the beginning and lasted for a full three hours. Finally, the Alphas were unwilling to continue to lose and took the initiative to withdraw from the battlefield.

As the victorious side of the battle, the three companies of the Bloody Rose Order were buried in the enemy's retaliatory orbital bombardment before they even had time to celebrate.

The sisters of the Heart of Courage immediately took over the defense zone here and filled the gap in the position exposed by the withering of the Bloody Rose. And in the next few hours, they fought again with the regrouped Alphas...

It has been twelve days since Ophelia World No. 7 sent out a distress signal. Support forces from the entire Storm Star Region and even the southern territories of the Empire began to rush here.

They were annoyed by the long-standing siege of the strong city, and they were under great pressure because of the loss of strategic surprise.

But the orders of the Warmaster could not be disobeyed. After trying various methods, they could only fall into a brief internal chaos in anxiety and rage.

It was also when the enemy was arguing internally whether to bombard the main city with the heavy artillery of the fleet. Deep in the increasingly active waves of the subspace, the fleet from the Empire and more forces in the shadows were quietly approaching.

Update