Sergeant Major Huo Leixiao heard gunshots in the distance; several patrol teams had engaged Evil Cultists.
The channel received screams from Soldiers requesting support, but they had no extra personnel to send.
Soon, the distress signal disappeared.
The Imperial Soldiers and Hive City Law Enforcement in the patrol teams were brutally murdered in the streets; the cannon fodder vanguards, armed with clubs, stripped their armor, seized their firearms, and savagely dismembered and devoured their bodies.
Behind them, the Blood Pact Army, uniformly clad in crimson bulletproof armor and armed with various smuggled military firearms, advanced at a run.
These guys usually hid in the Lower Hive and bottom Hive, evading the Imperial Army's pursuit, and although the Hellspawns had destroyed dozens of their hidden arms caches, causing significant losses and completely thwarting their 'Global Conflagration Operation'.
However, they had accumulated all their strength beneath Vegas, and now they surged out of the sewers like cockroaches during a flood, vowing to ignite a corner of this planet.
Vast hordes of crimson figures were surging forward; Sergeant Major Huo Leixiao couldn't estimate their numbers, but there were certainly over ten thousand by sight, and whether it reached a hundred thousand was uncertain, as the blood tide continued to pour out from every nook and cranny, as if endless.
This was their trump card, the culmination of hundreds of years of effort, thrown all in to make the Sanguinius bleed.
This kind of reckless frenzy was a symbol of Khorne; the defenders felt as if the very ground was trembling.
[+ Everyone, the Evil Cultists are approaching, maintain battle readiness! +]
The Imperial Guard Soldiers sitting behind the heavy lumber guns pulled the bolts, chambering thick 12.7mm rounds.
The veteran's sharp gaze scrutinized the approaching enemy and considered good firing positions nearby. The new recruits, who had come as replacements, held their guns with trembling hands; the veteran next to them grunted and kicked them in the backside.
Battle Sisterss and Blood Angels raised their Boltguns, and Hellspawns unlocked the safeties on their Hellguns and Hot-Shot Volley Guns.
The civilians noticed the unusual behavior of the Imperial Soldiers around them, but most chose to ignore it and quietly recited prayers.
"All civilians, move faster!" Sergeant Major Huo Leixiao watched the slowly advancing long queue with burning anxiety.
Under the urging of the surrounding Soldiers, although the procession moved a little faster, progress was still slow. Many people deliberately slowed their pace to finish their prayers to Sanguinius before entering the Church.
But they couldn't use bayonets to intimidate civilians into speeding up, because that would shake their faith, create fear of force, and become a desire to satisfy Khorne.
[Enemy Encountered!]
The Hellspawns Sergeant Major Huo Leixiao had deployed in the square as light infantry engaged Khorne's minions. The Hellspawns adopted a skirmisher formation, kneeling or prone firing to impede the advance, and once the enemy approached, they quickly retreated with slides, performing mobile delaying defenses.
Immediately after, the red lasers of the Imperial Guard Soldiers and lumber guns began firing. For a time, beams and bullets flew, and both sides constantly had people hit and fall.
With the engagement within visual range and stray bullets flying, a disturbance arose among the Imperial Citizens participating in the ritual procession.
But the vast majority firmly believed that Sanguinius would save them, so they continued to lower their heads, silently recite prayers, and slowly advance.
A truck, modified to look like a bulldozer at the front, charged over. The heavy lumber gun failed to stop it, and it headed straight for the crowd.
Just before it crashed, the Blood Angels opened fire with a fierce burst of Boltguns, instantly turning the inside of the cab into a bloody mess.
The vehicle began to lose control, tipping sideways towards the crowd.
The children who had just asked Sergeant Major Huo Leixiao a question were standing directly in the vehicle's path.
The children hastily ran, but in their panic, several fell to the ground from pushing.
Just as the vehicle was about to run over the crowd, it tipped and stopped.
People saw a cloud of steaming hot air. An Imperial young military officer wearing a void blue beret supported the overturned modified truck with just one iron hand.
"Thank you! Thank you!" Several couples frantically pulled their children back.
"Get into the Church quickly!" Sergeant Major Huo Leixiao shouted.
Facing the immediate threat, the crowd no longer dared to advance slowly. Many rushed in a panic towards the Church of the Celestial Woman, but many others, the fanatics and penitents, still chanted scriptures and slowly ambled forward.
Thump thump thump!
Heavy running sounds approached. Roman Roland, Louise, and Archie rushed over together, helping him support the vehicle with their hands, and the four of them pushed the modified truck back together.
"We must hold the line!" He gasped for breath, looking around: [+ Fight with all your might to stop them! +]
At 8:08 AM terra time, everything happened too quickly. The entire planet was engaged in firefights, whether it was the Church of the Celestial Woman, monasteries, or other religious sites in the distance.
The attacks in the Upper, Middle, and Lower Hives near the Vegas District were as expected, the most severe, with even explosions occurring near the adjacent Wangzu District.
Explosions, gunshots, screams, and wails desecrated what should have been a sacred and peaceful festival.
The insane Evil Cultists charged into the praying crowds and slaughtered them mercilessly, but they were quickly shot down by the guards.
Yet, wave after wave came. These bloodshot-eyed cannibals possessed an almost abnormal morale and combat will. Sergeant Major Huo Leixiao's assessment was correct; the Church of the Celestial Woman he was defending would be the primary site for Khorne's profane blood sacrifice today.
A silver Rhino troop transport belonging to the Nun Order drove out from the courtyard of the Church of the Celestial Woman, and people scattered.
A Battle Sisters operated the top-mounted Fury Bolter, its two barrels unleashing punishment upon the Evil Cultists, shattering the desecrators of the holy day into dust.
Farida swept the nearby snipers and other high-threat targets from above, and some Labor Gang members also opened fire from nearby buildings.
Sergeant Major Huo Leixiao took over a lumber gun whose entire crew had been killed and began sweeping the Evil Cultists.
Though numerous, these mortal bodies were still vulnerable when facing large-caliber machine guns.
Bullets tore through the flesh of traitors and Evil Cultists; some madmen even succumbed to the temptation of flesh, beginning to devour their fellow cultists, utterly blasphemous.
The Soulfire readings were constantly jumping and rising.
Finally, a golden light appeared.
'Activating: Hand of Command... 1%'
Under Sergeant Major Huo Leixiao's cover, Sister Arabella rushed forward to rescue injured civilians, dragging the wounded onto the troop transport.
Three Blood Angels charged into the enemy ranks, commencing a bloody slaughter. Imperial Army personnel forcefully compelled the crowd to retreat to the Church.
The square had already become a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. As far as the eye could see, there were at least a thousand bodies of fallen Imperial Army personnel, Evil Cultists, Blood Pact, and Imperial civilians, and this was only within 15 minutes of the attack.
The heavy lumber gun spat fire, suppressing a group of rioters.
Suddenly, a Chimera covered in blasphemous symbols slowly drove out.
"Oh, damn it!" The machine gunner straightened up and cursed.
Bang!
A machine gun position was blown to pieces, leaving only severed limbs, and the sacred white wall behind it was stained black and bloody.
Whoosh! —
A Valkyrie Fighter approached from afar, and 12 Childer of Loyalty Marines rappelled down ropes from the back, joining Sergeant Major Huo Leixiao's command sequence.
The Fighter turned its nose and fired rockets at the enemy vehicle, destroying it.
Whoosh! — Suddenly, a surface-to-air rocket shot from a building diagonally to the side. It was so close that the pilot didn't even have time to see the proximity warning and perform an evasive maneuver.
The rocket struck the Valkyrie Fighter's rear side, breaking off its tail fin. The airborne Sanguinius lost control, uselessly spewing hot flares like fireworks, struggling as it plummeted to the ground. The leaking promethium fuel exploded, instantly turning the Fighter into a fireball.
[+ We must contract our defenses! Fall back to the Church of the Celestial Woman +] The situation was dire; a focused defense was necessary. Sergeant Major Huo Leixiao shouted into the command communication channel.
The officers of other units agreed with Sergeant Major Huo Leixiao's strategy and began to consolidate their forces to defend the Church.
' + Activating: Hand of Command + '
Sergeant Major Huo Leixiao felt as if he had entered the operational perspective of a real-time strategy game.
Below him were 5 'unit cards' of sorts, specifically the Hellspawns squad and the supporting Childer of Loyalty Marine squad.
[+ Sergeant Major Huo Leixiao, the Blood Angels are willing to accept your command. Deploy us where we are most needed +] said Roman Roland.
[+ Thank you very much! Sire +]
Sergeant Major Huo Leixiao noticed that a Blood Angels squad card instantly appeared among his unit cards, with the number 3 above it.
This seemed to be unit cards generated in his mind based on his actual command authority.
It seemed capable of commanding not only squads but also individual Soldiers.
[Let me see the effect.]