Siege of Vraks - To Hangman's Hill: Blissfully unaware of the turmoil and sudden demise of Cardinal Xaphan, or the emergence of Zhutor as the new warlord of Vraks, Inquisitor Lord Rex kept a stem vigil over the offensives of the 1st and 46th line korps. At first the big push towards the curtain wall had been much slower than he had anticipated but now the enemy had cracked and the daily gams were growing. Enemy prisoner numbers had soared. The Quartermaster’s reports showed that the gams included massive amounts of abandoned vehicles and captured equipment. In some sectors it seemed that the enemy’s will to fight had broken.The 1st line korps’ 3rd siege regiment was now within striking distance of the curtain wall, and Lord Rex gave orders for the regiment to capture the main gate in sector 579-459 or to force a breach elsewhere and hold it. Either way, the korps’ offensive would only end when they had forced a passage through the curtain wall. Titans would be deployed to aid them.In the 46th line korps’ sector progress had also been ponderous. The construction of the temporary road had actually held back the entire assault, with companies clinging to the hillside awaiting tank support that could not reach them. Hundreds of engineers had perished under enemy shell fire, and the tanks had made little headway.Still, even without the tanks, one-by-one the defence laser silos were overrun in pitched battles. From here the guardsmen could see up ahead of them that the enemy had taken captive Krieg guardsmen and erected a gory trophy atop point 202. Makeshift gibbets had been erected and prisoners were hung from them, their ragged bodies silhouetted against the skyline as a warning to the Emperor’s soldiers. With their typically macabre sensibilities the Krieg guardsmen named it Hangman's Hill and continued the attacks.At 628827 M41, the 468th regiment's 15th company was finally within striking distance of the summit. Proceeded by the crash of mortar rounds which tumbled stones down the slopes in great sprays of fire and dust, an arcing signal flare gave the order to attack. The battered platoons scrambled upwards, most were no more than 20 men strong after hard fighting. Skidding on the scree but still shooting, the guardsmen dashed for the summit. Grenades twirled down from the hilltop to bounce amongst the rocks and detonate in clouds of grey smoke. Laser Bass whistled past the attacking squads. A sniper bullet drilled the company commander through the head, his helmet punctured he lay dying for several hours. On top of the summit a brawl of bayonets, knives and swords had begun. The enemy fought the first Krieg squads back, but more followed.Three times 15th company stormed up and three times they were repelled by hand-to-hand fighting. They tried again under cover of darkness, and after a confused night battle finally seized Hangman's Hill. A single junior officer was all the company could muster to take command of the defence before reinforcements could arrive. The expected enemy counter-attack never came, another sign of their growing weakness. The hanging bodies were cut down and the regiment’s banner was brought forward to plant on the summit. The Krieg guardsmen had the objective and below them was the curtain wall. Beyond it, now visible in the distance, was the Citadel itself.