Sabbat Worlds Crusade - Operation Redrake (755-756.M41): Slaydo believed that in order to launch a successful Imperial Crusade into the Sabbat Worlds his massive mobilisation of Imperial forces would have to take the fight to several fronts from the outset of hostilities in order for the crusade to prosper.The best solution for initial advancement required a mobile fleet to accomplish fourfold objectives: first, to secure a foothold in the Sabbat Worlds that could be developed; second, to catch the Archenemy unaware; thirdly, to diffuse any enemy response away from a concentrated counterattack on his fleet; fourthly, to provide a quick and, in his words, "showy" victory to maintain allied morale.Already, his enemies had shown signs of preparation on their part. Operation Redrake, named for the Redrake snake, a multi-headed predator that could attack several targets at once with deadly effect, would involve simultaneous invasions of the Newfound Trailing Group, Onscard and Long Halent, and a fourth Imperial fleet division striking all the way to the core of the system at Indrid.These multiple assaults, the Warmaster hoped, would partition the Chaos forces and confuse their response and any immediate attempt on their part to develop and implement a counter-strategy. Slaydo selected the Lords Militant Hummel and Delayni to lead the attack on Onscard, Generals Dravere and Akkensor for Long Halent, Lord Militant Cybon for Indrid and Slaydo himself would lead the assault on Formal Prime.Despite the massive size of his Imperial expeditionary fleet, the attacks were conducted as lightning strikes as they engaged directly from retranslation from Warpspace.Long Halent fell immediately, due to the modest numbers of hostile force which the Imperials easily overwhelmed. Less than three solar weeks later, Onscard was also taken. There were some bitter pockets of resistance in the outlying cities, but these were extinguished by the start of 756.M41.The assault on Formal Prime, however, proved to be the first substantive opposition for the new Warmaster and provided the Imperial forces their first taste of how bloody the crusade would become. The complexity of the terrain and the fanaticism of the opposition would prove to be a hindrance in the Warmaster's stated objective of securing the planet within six solar weeks.The initial assault went well, but then progress began to founder as the zealous followers of Chaos made the Imperials pay dearly for their overconfidence, as the attrition rate for the Imperial Guardsman climbed to untenable levels. Nearly 200 soldiers died for every metre of ground taken.With casualties mounting and the assault grinding down into its eleventh week, Slaydo knew his reputation was at stake, as was the overall morale of the crusade. The impasse was finally broken by the deployment of a force of White Scars Space Marines whose highly mobile assault tactics purged the Hive World of the remaining Heretics.Lord Militant Cybon also faced staunch opposition as rapid reinforcements were brought in from Melsar and Taliscant. Fighting a war on two fronts, Cybon executed a brilliant feint withdrawal that drew in the forces of the Archenemy onto his ranged batteries at Colquis, utilising orbital bombardment at the expense of ground troops.But despite these setbacks, Operation Redrake had succeeded in achieving its goals. Now the way was open for the next phase of the crusade; Slaydo dubbed these follow-up assaults as "Operation Newfound."