Taros Campaign - 114th Relief Column: The completion of the Raptors' attack was the signal for the 114th Cadian regiment to begin its part of the operation. The regiment's mission was to relieve the Elysian Drop Troops who were already fighting to secure the hydro-plant. The Chimera-borne mechanised regiment was to dash to link up with them. They had two days to cover 150 kilometres of hostile desert.The Space Marines and Warhounds had cleared the way, now the Imperial Guard, under the direction of Colonel Stranski raced forwards. Leading the way were reconnaissance troops, squadrons of Salamander scout vehicles. Behind them came the bulk of the regiment, infantry platoons advancing in formation in their own Chimera armoured carriers. Lastly was the regiment's artillery support, Griffon mortar carriers replacing the far slower Basilisks. Colonel Stranski had already decided that the Basilisks should not take part in the operation. The artillery pieces could not keep up with the pace of the advance, indirect firepower would have to be provided by the mortars and the Imperial Navy, whose aircraft were again overhead protecting the Chimera columns. The Elysians could not afford for the Cadians to be delayed by anything. This mission was a race against time.The grinding tracks and rumbling engines of the Chimeras raised tall dust columns as the armoured infantry formations sped northwards - tall dust columns that the Tau could easily spot and track. The Tau had suffered their heaviest losses yet fighting the breakthrough, and had already started to load Hunter Cadres into Mantas to move against the Elysian drop zone. The Chimera columns now driving deep into their territory could not be stopped. The Tau faced a difficult tactical problem: where to commit their available troops? Should it be into stopping the column or overwhelming the Drop Troops? If the column was attacked, then the Elysians might hold out. If the Elysians were destroyed, then the Chimera columns would arrive to find nothing to relieve. So the Tau let the Cadians advance. They would not seek to halt or destroy the 114th's armoured columns, only to delay it long enough for the battle at the hydro-plant to be won. For delaying actions they would use light forces of Pathfinders supported by Piranhas and Devilfish-mounted Fire Warriors. These would harass the column with ambushes and sniping, but were not to engage in open battle. As the flying column of Chimeras roared across the desert flats, Pathfinder squads on Tetra speeders raced into the area ahead of the advance to observe the troop movement and prepare the ground with Orca-dropped Remote Sensor Towers. Meanwhile, the main Hunter Cadres moved their full force against Hydro-Processing Plant 23-30, with instructions to overwhelm the defenders in a maximum of two days.Aiding in the cupola of his command Chimera, Colonel 'Snake' Stranski could watch his regiments advance, arrayed company behind company, with a reconnaissance screen in front. It was a majestic sight, Chimera after Chimera gunning its engines and pounding headlong across the sands. Overhead the contrails of Imperial Navy Thunderbolts criss-crossed the sky. His advance had started well. For the first day, his men saw little of the enemy. On the second day, that changed. His scouts and vanguard platoons came under surprise attack from well-hidden Tau forces. For the first time, ImperialGuardsmen encountered distinctive tall and thin observation towers, which seemed to contain sensor equipment. Following the sightings, several Chimeras were destroyed by Seeker Missile strikes, seemingly launched out of nowhere. Each time the Tau attacked, it caused the threatened units to halt, disembark troops and begin to hunt down the foe. It caused delays, and the Colonel ordered only units that came under direct attack to engage the enemy. Following units should bypass them and move forwards. The regiment would become strung out but it would keep the advance going. On that second morning alone, there were six separate ambushes, each one causing losses and a delay. What had been a glorious headlong charge yesterday was now a stop-start running battle, and the 114th was being stalled. For Colonel Stranski it was a frustrating day. The delays caused the 114th regiment to fall behind schedule; by nightfall they were still thirty kilometres short of their destination. News from the hydro-plant was not encouraging. That evening, communications with Colonel Balach and his beleaguered defenders had been lost. The 4621st Army Command no longer had any idea what was happening on the ground at Hydro-Processing Plant 23-30.That night, in desperation, Stranski organised a long-range patrol to strike out ahead of his main units. Under cover of darkness they must reach Hydro-Processing Plant 23-30, regardless of the cost. Using only his fastest vehicles, the Salamanders, he would personally lead the mission. The eight Salamander patrols reached the hydro-plant before dawn, speeding across the desert on their overpowered engines. In the end, the lead units of the 114th were only four hours late, but it was four hours too late. As first light broke, Colonel Stranski and his Cadian reconnaissance crews were the first to witness the battlefield. The hydro-plant was a smouldering, blackened ruin of pipes and storage tanks. Thick smoke and dust hung in the air over the shattered detritus of battle. Crunching through the rubble they found burnt-out Sentinels, Valkyrie crash sites, destroyed heavy weapons, wrecked Tau Devilfish and Battlesuits, and the dead of both sides. Fires still burnt, but it was eerily quiet.The main body of the 114th began arriving a few hours after dawn, and the Cadian Guardsmen searched the ruins for survivors. None were found. The Tau had already done the job thoroughly. By mid-afternoon Colonel Stranski ordered his regiment to mount-up and withdraw back to the Tallarn lines. There was no point in holding the shattered ruins; no water could be supplied from here. His men had fought over 150 kilometres for nothing. The mission had failed.