Siege of Vraks - A Green Inferno: Only a faint glow of sunlight glimmered through the grey clouds hanging low over the 30th line korps positions. Soon one of Vraks' regular rainstorms would break and turn the battlefield into another sodden quagmire, but the Krieg guardsmen had become well adapted to the conditions. This time their offensive would not be attacking any fixed enemy positions, there was no constant enemy defence line to break, instead ahead lay a battlefield littered with the remains of previous fighting. The old rusting hulks of tanks and guns lay half buried in the mud or abandoned in shell craters alongside the smashed remains of old trenches and fortifications and seemingly random sprouting of rusted razorwire, which had once protected something, but now were abandoned to the elements. It was ground that had been fought over, to and fro, for years. Worst of all, under the surface might lie long forgotten mines and unexploded shells that could detonate with massive force without warning after years lying dormant in the mud.It was 273.827.M41 when the guns opened fire, a rolling barrage of shells from the guns of 30th Line Korps, mixed with smoke shells to obscure the 263rd regiment's first lunge forwards. With terrific force the barrage slammed down, battering the already tortured landscape as the leading infantry companies clambered up the ladders and out of their trenches. The tanks were close behind, tank companies combining with the infantry to form armoured battle groups. In the wake of the artillery, the steady, well-ordered advance began.At first progress was good, but then the enemy counter-barrage began to land. Wherever a rolling barrage was falling, then an attack would not be far behind. First mortar shells were impacting, soon followed by heavier artillery rounds. They were exploding all around, but mingling with the grey smoke plumes was a green-tinged fog - chemical shells releasing their lethal payload of TP-III. The acidic gas clouds were soon billowing across the 263rd regiment’s front. Casualties were high, throwing the attack into confusion. Units became lost in the thick smoke and chemical smog. Squads that blundered into a concentration of gas were quickly wiped out; nothing remained, they simply vanished as the acid ate away their flesh and bones.Through it all the tanks rumbled on. Within their sealed hulls the crews were safe from the gas, and they now formed the point of the attack. It had become a hellish battlefield. Visibility was reduced to just a few metres by the acid clouds, tanks were becoming bogged down as they blundered into large shell craters or long forgotten tank traps. Several Leman Russ hit mines. Then, through the green haze, the enemy counter¬attacked. The resulting battle was a series of messy skirmishes fought inside the gas clouds. Enemy armoured vehicles fired blindly, or closed in to point blank range. Unable to co-ordinate tanks, infantry and artillery, the enemy scored quick victories, blasting tank squadrons into burning hulks before withdrawing again. But, despite their successes, the enemy lacked the numbers to halt the advance. The local counter-attacks might stall the offensive for a while and cost men and machines, but by its sheer weight the offensive was still pushing forward. Where the gas cleared the Krieg guardsmen pushed ever onwards against sporadic enemy resistance. By the end of the first day they had made ten kilometres of ground. Tomorrow would see the 263rd lunge forwards again. To the south the 262nd regiment would also join the battle.For the first few days the offensive continued with the enemy throwing their forces in piecemeal to hold up the attack wherever they could and with the Krieg armoured battle groups thrusting forwards. On the fourth day enemy resistance stiffened. They had now had time to organise a more effective defence. The warbands of the Plague Marines had moved into place, with their own armoured vehicles m support. Worst still, all manner of hideous mutants and slimy, plague-ridden creatures were now unleashed upon the battlefield. Amongst the chemical smog these beasts howled and wailed in pain and fury. Ogryns, now barely recognisable as such Chaos spawn in all shapes and sizes. Unnamed, tormented creatures that oozed acidic slime. All were thrown into the fighting.As it joined the battle, the 269th regiment reported encounters with plague zombies. These were hordes of creatures of ragged flesh and bone which shambled through the mud and smoke, armed only with teeth and nails, but hungry for the taste of warm flesh and blood. They were the remains of the long dead, risen from their graves to fight again by some blasphemous art unknown to the soldiers of Krieg. The dead of both sides now fought for the enemy, mindless and unarmed they were cut down by the Krieg guardsmen in their hundreds but still they came on heedless of losses. Some died once, only to rise again, and were cut down time and again until nothing was left of their once human forms. Inquisitor Thor Malkm came to the 269th regiment's aid. Here was some blasphemous witchcraft that must be punished but if the dead fought for the enemy, then their manpower was all but inexhaustible - you could not fight a war of attrition against an enemy that would not stay dead. Soon the 262nd regiment, then the 263rd regiment were also reporting encounters with plague zombies. The hole battlefield had come back to life below their very feet.After eight days of fighting, the 34th line korps offensive had become embroiled in a green hell. Progress had now stalled. The initial gams were being held but the 263rd regiment's long attack had only reached midway towards its objective. The number of enemies facing them was now almost a match for the Krieg forces. The offensive was at deadlock. To break the stalemate the Inquisitors loading the battle authorised the counter use of chemical weapons, adding to the poisonous landscape with chemical shells and in the process coating sectors 59-45 and 60-45 in a toxic soup that would make them uninhabitable for hundreds of years.The regiments of the 11th assault korps that had assisted the drive could now be withdrawn for refit and redeployment. 11th assault korps would now be moved to support the 1st line korps offensive, whilst the 8th assault korps was already in place to assist the 46th line korps operation to capture point 202. Both attacks would begin at 400827.M41, and again both attacks would be led by Lord Rex’s fellows inquisitors.The need to completely refit the 7th and 11th tank regiments caused the 1st korps to delay the offensive but at 400827.M41 the 46th line korps began their assault alone. Along a fifteen kilometre front, the korps three regimets went into action. The 468th regiment faced the greatest difficulty. Their sector saw them climbing the northern slopes at a range of low hills. At the southern most tip of this range, once a string at volcanoes, stood the Citadel. The regment’s first objective was seizing the highpoint 187, the next was to tackle a series of three defence laser silos, all hardened facilities, well protected from artillery bombardment. Then would come the short climb over to claim point 202. From this position they would be overlooking the curtain wall.On the night of the offensive the 470th regiment had a longer distance to advance, although over easier terrain, but two lines of enemy trenches blocked the way and would have to be stormed before they reached the curtain wall. With 8th assault korps in support, approximately 350 tanks were ready to pin the advance, along with 30 heavy tanks. Should they be needed, the Titans of Legio Astorum were also on standby to join the push.In preparation for the attack the engineers in each regiment's sector had been hard at work undermining the enemy. The first day of the battle would see engineer companies detonate their pre-positioned mines and use their sap trenches to break out behind identified enemy strongpoints.As teeming rain fell from the lead grey skies, the lead companies of the 468th regiment began to climb. After a few hours of combat, all along the line the advance had been checked by the enemy holding hidden strongpoints dug deep into the rising ground, each with commanding views of the advance. Bullets and shells fell upon the advancing guardsmen like gusts of lethal hail. Many of the following companies had been chopped to pieces by artillery fire from guns hidden safely below the curtain wall.To aid the movement of the tanks to support the attack, the 109th company’s engines had been ordered to construct a temporary roadway. Moving up behind the initial assault waves, the engineer had worked all day under shellfire, blast away rocks and clear a path over which a temporary surface could be lac for the waiting armour. Their construction work's progress was painfully slow, and without the tanks to suppress the enemy gun pits the infantry could do little but die. The 468st regiment's advance to point 202 would be another long and bitter slog.On the left flank of the korps attack, the 470th regiment preceded their own advance with a valiant charge of sever Death Rider companies. Hoping to catch the enemy unprepared with a swift cavalry charge, the Death Rider squadrons gathered behind the forwrd trenches before moving up to their departure line. With parade ground efficiency the 450 men and mounts set off at a canter, striking directly along the service road. There was no preliminary bombardment to soften up the enemy as it was felt that the artillery would do little to move the enemy and only warm them of an impending attack. The charge was all about surprise. It had some success, breaking through along the service road, some squadrons advanced as far as sector 582-458, but most were cut down by enemy fire. At the end of the first day only some 60 riders were alive to answer roll-call.The 46th line korps' offensive was progressing slowly, with the usual costly butcher's bill in men and lost equipment. The delay in the 1st korps attack was proving expensive. The enemy was able to free men from that front to aid the defences here, and that meant that the attrition required to wear down the forces facing them would take so much longer. The 46th line korps' commanders pleaded with Inquisitor Lord Rex to get 1st korps moving and help relieve the pressure, but orders remained that the 1st korps was not to be moved until it was ready and all the tanks were back in place again. For over a week, the 46th line korps regiments bled away their combat strength in their lone offensive.On 431.827.M41 the 1st Line Korps went over to the offensive. Three regiments struck out southwestward on a fifteen kilometre advance to the curtain wall. Like the 46th korps, they had massed tank and heavy tank companies with them, and soon the armoured spearheads were smashing into the enemy lines. Here they encountered the survivors of 30th line korps’ earlier offensive, now forced back into the pocket. The Nurgle worshippers fought fanatically, unleashing more chemical and biological weapons. Traitor Space Marines of the Purge were blamed for the indiscriminate use of such weapons of mass destruction but they were not alone. Impenal Navy air support was flying daily, bombing and strafing. The enemy's own aircraft, dwindling in numbers now, were occasionally seen, but it seemed 88th siege army had now gained almost total air superiority. The Marauder bombers dumped payload after payload onto the curtain walls in Sector 58-45, carpet bombing the enemy's rear areas. The weight of the combined attacks was remorselessly crushing the defenders.