Jornath: The Fall of Wilset 542

.23 Months since the Fall of Usamilplatz.

With the Maniples of Prima Jama's Skitarii embarked upon increasingly heavy fighting across the breadth of the offensive area around Usamilplatz and with the alien's attempted breakthrough on the extreme right of the Imperial line only barely rebuffed with extreme casualties. MQC 87-C* in control of the PDF and Astra Militarum elements within the surrounding areas looked to stymie any potential flow of new Ork warbands into the region. With most of 1AG's regiments already embarking on a campaign of retaking major automotive roadways and mag-lev lines through the Eastern ranges of the Usamiljen Mountains, assets were already in a position to be moved quickly to act as blocking forces.  

The 334th Idrian "Ghosts" Irregulars, were just one of 3 Regiments moved to act in this capacity. Understrength after sustaining casualties clearing out villages in the vicinity of the Ork Exclusion Zone east of Kula Hive, the 334th was acting in a support role to the 1st Usamiljan Fusilier Cohorts' "Operation Vengeful Deliverance", this being their recapture of the city of Saltzkost, along a major highway running southbound into the lowland regions of northern Kula Province.

The Regiment was moved into a 60 Km mountain pass, blocking a tertiary highway which runs into the southeastern edge of Korsnokrat. While the Orks in the Saltzkhost operational area's eastern reaches were expected to deploy only noncommital probing assaults until the city was retaken (the aliens holding the city represented a rival warband to those positioned in the foothills east of the city.) the counter-offensive launched haltingly in the wake of the Emerald Screen incident would spur the orks into a frenzy and all three units occupying the Saltzkhost operations area were battered with waves of light infantry and vehicles for several weeks. 

About a month after the Emerald Scream, greenskin forces within the Usamilplatz region gained a great deal of tactical coordination, at odds with trends extrapolated by IntRec for those xenos formations. The ensuing attacks within Usamilplatz and Korsnokrat which resulted in the death of multiple Skitarii Magos and the routing of PDF and Mechanicus forces has already been recorded. But in Saltzkhost, Ork Motorized forces advanced into the understrength 334th,  no doubt under orders from their unknown warlord to link with their comrades expected to break through the Imperial defenders of Korsnokrat. 

The Regimental headquarters of the 334th was Bastion W542,  this position would come under no less than 21 successive waves of greenskin's before the end.  At the height of the attack, when 8 of the regiments 12 companies had already been destroyed, the regiment was reinforced by members of the Sons of Medusa's Warclan Megara reserve assets. They would join the remnants of the regiments command bastion garrison in their final charge, to buy time for the remaining companies to withdraw and link with units in southern Korsnokrat.

The Fall of bastion W542 would be the final resistance preventing the Ork reserves in Saltzkhost from sweeping north into the southern flank of the already depleted Imperial forces in Korsnokrat. While all members of the 334th conducted themselves with honor in the field, it changed little in the bearing that the Mechanicus line in Usamilplatz was in dire straits of being rolled up from the south by Ork motorized units.  Only steadfast resolve and a great deal of ammunition would save the Imperium's soldiers and allow them to continue to hold the line.

Thanks for reading!  This post was a part of an ongoing narrative campaign, in the "living setting" of Jornath. For more information about Jornath as a setting, including units, missions, and posts from other Jornath bloggers be sure to click on the Jornath [40k] tab at the top of this page for an up to date list of all posts.

-Your Favorite Madman-