Siege of Vraks - The Plans of the 88th Siege Army: The 88th Siege army's plan for the assault upon the Cardinal's Stronghold had been in existence almost since the start of the Vraksian war. Even 18 years ago the 88th army headquarters knew full welt what they would be facing when the time came to re-capture the Citadel. They had complete access to all the plans and schematics they could wish for every modification, improvement and strengthening of the Citadel had been done by the Admmistratum, and their records were long and thorough. Originally Lord Commander Zuehlke had planned the assault in detail and in turn Marshall Kagort had reviewed those plans and modified them to suit his ideas. Now Inquisitor Lord Rex was the third Imperial commander to view the data slates and holo-maps of the Citadel and run through the logistical requirements and unit briefings to refine the plan. Before any orders for the assault were issued to the regiments, Inquisitor Rex convened his most trusted fellow Inquisitors for a mayor review of the plan of assault.The entire operation was huge and highly complex It involved a million guardsmen attacking at phased operations to wear down the defenders step-by-step, then take and hold key points. The greatest drawback of the entire operation was the nature of the terrain. No armoured units could be used in the final assaults – the ground was too steep for infantry and this would channel the attackers into the enemy’s prepared killing grounds. Whichever way the planners looked a it, the final push to break into the Citadel was going to be the bloodiest part of the bloody war. For most of the million guardsmen who would be thrown to rock and the Citadel high above, would be their last battle for the Emperor.A high priority tor the attack was to knock-out the Citadel's void shield generators. These massive shields, powered by geo-thermic heat-walls sunk under the Citadel rock, were the key to its invulnerability. Using the same arcane technology that protected Titans, the entire Citadel was surrounded by a protective forcefield. Each section of wall, tower or buttress had its own projectors. Whilst the forcefield remained, there was little chance of seriously damaging the structure of the Citadel itself. Inquisitor Rex had no doubt in his mind, he would pour enough firepower that not a single stone would be left standing upon another by the time he had finished. The Administratum would complain and the Ecclesiarchy would protest bitterly about the destruction of the Basilica of St Leonis, but it would be a necessary sacrifice to purge of a far greater evil now festering and spreading its corruption from the hilltop.The void shields could be overloaded but only when the energy of enough hits forced the generators to cut out or explode themselves. Overloading each void shield, and keeping it down would be the job of the siege artillery. The Earthshakers, Medusas and Bombards of the 21st bombardment korps could hammer the Citadel day and night with volleys of fire that would hopefully be too much for the void shield generators to cope with. They could only do this if enough ammunition was available, and so top priority was given for artillery ammunition to the bombardment korps. Each regiment's own artillery would suffer as a result, and that would mean a lack of shells for preliminary bombardment, smoke screens, counter-battery fire, rolling barrages and reactive fire, all exposing the infantry to greater threat from enemy fire and counter-attacks, but whilst that void shield remained up, all the infantry assaults in the world would not force passage through the wall. Each regiment would have to rely more heavily on its lighter field artillery and the guns of its Leman Russ could add to the barrages, given that they would have no role to play in the assault once the infantry started up the slopes.Capture of the three main gates was the next objective. With the void shields down and the artillery battering the fortress' interior into ruins, the infantry must sweep up the hill and capture the gates These would then become the stepping stones for the next wave, breaking into the fortress interior. And here would be the most arduous and thankless task, advancing across fire- swept open ground into the teeth of the enemy's heaviest defences and guns. All knew that the platoons and companies would be quickly chewed up in the meat grinder on the hillsides, with the enemy dug-in deep and behind massively thick walls, impervious to anything but direct hits from all but the biggest shells. It would be murder, but the planners could see no other way, somebody must climb that hill and die. Others would have to follow, and climb over the mounds of the first waves to be cut down in turn. And on the cycle would go, as they crawled closer to the gates, body by mangled body. Inquisitor Lord Rex had to decide who would be given this mission.The regiment chosen to be the first wave up the slopes was the 261st siege regiment, under the command of veteran Colonel Tyborc. Throughout the war Tyborc had risen through the ranks to lead the 261st On Vraks his name had become something of a legend. He had led the attack that was credited with breaking the first defence line, now some 14 years ago. His heroic efforts had seen him cut off and fighting for three days without aid. He had been wounded five times in that battle alone In the ensuing years he had risen to command of the regiment, his predecessor being killed at the frontline when an enemy mortar shell had trepanned the top of his head off - the fractured part-skull now resided in a reliquary on the regimental banner Colonel Tyborc continued to lead from the front, and had been wounded in action another four times, each time surviving - although an enemy chainsword had taken his left arm during the Kagori offensive. Still, he now had a bionic replacement and had returned to lead his regiment during the push through the curtain wall and across the battlefields that had led to the Citadel rock. Now his regiment would be committed en-masse in the first bid to capture the three main gates of the Citadel. Tyborc was summoned to the Inquisitor's command post and given his orders. He must have known what it meant instantly - the probable destruction of his regiment, but he never flinched, accepting the mission with a simple salute. Death in the cause of the Emperor was all he had ever expected, now he would get his wish.