Battle of Bhavnager
The Battle of Bhavnager was a battle fought during the Hagian theatre of the Sabbat Worlds Crusade.[1c]
Contents
Overview
The battle saw an Astra Militarum honour guard invade and capture the Chaos-held town of Bhavnager on Hagia. Bhavnager had been occupied by Infardi cultists, who had bunkered down after fleeing from the Imperial forces sent to retake the Holy Doctrinopolis (Hagia's capital city).[1c]
Background
The Sabbat Crusade's forces on Hagia suffered a major setback during the action to retake the Doctrinopolis from Pater Sin and his Infardi. Due to the impatience of Lord General Lugo, the Imperials triggered a psychic booby trap which acted as an astropathic beacon that drew a Chaos fleet towards Hagia. Faced with impending enemy reinforcements, Lugo had no choice but to order the Imperials to evacuate the planet. Part of this involved detailing an honour guard, commanded by Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt of the Tanith First and Only, to travel overland to the Shrinehold of Saint Sabbat and retrieve the saint's remains for transport offworld.[1a]
Opening Skirmish
Ranging ahead of the honour guard was a Recon Spear, made up of a number of Tanith scouts in Salamanders supported by Pardus armour (specifically two Leman Russ Conquerors - the Wrath of Pardua and the Lion of Pardua - along with the Destroyer Grey Venger). These forward scouts had already cleared the town of Limata, which had only a desultory Infardi presence, before moving further along the Tembarong Road to scout Bhavnager.[1b]
On reaching the town, the Tanith scouts found that Bhavnager also had Infardi occupiers, not only in greater numbers, but actively prepared to defend the town from the Imperials. The Tanith's ranking officer, Scout-Sergeant Oan Mkoll, decided that the Recon Spear should pull back and request orders rather than try to take the town themselves.[1b] At this point, however, the Infardi had noticed the Recon Spear and fired on them with anti-tank weaponry, destroying one Conqueror and damaging the other. Faced with serious resistance, the remains of the Recon Spear retreated to await the rest of the honour guard. The Infardi did not pursue.[1b][1c]
Battle Plan
When the rest of the honour guard arrived, Gaunt called a strategic meeting of the Tanith and Pardus senior commanders. He decided to take Bhavnager, as it was the last major settlement on the Tembarong Road, and so the last chance for the honour guard to refuel and take on supplies before they ascended into the Sacred Hills towards the Shrinehold. As the Guard were on a strict schedule and could not count on naval support reaching them in time, Gaunt moved for an assault on the town that very evening.[1c]
The plan was for a Pardus armoured division commanded by Major Kleopas aboard the Leman Russ Conqueror Heart of Destruction to move in from the south along the main road. The main thrust (consisting of 11 Conquerors, along with the Executioner Strife) would be supported by two infantry groups of Tanith, led by Sergeants Kolea and Baffels.[1c]
Meanwhile, a further six Pardus tanks would conduct a flanking manoeuvre from the east, led by the Pardus Captain Sirus commanding from the Conqueror Wrath of Pardua. This would be supported by another Tanith brigade, led by the regiment's acting second officer, Major Rawne.[1c]
Finally a Tanith rearguard supervised by Sergeant Varl would remain behind to defend the honour guard's supplies and noncombatants. The rearguard also contained the Pardus Hydra batteries.[1c]
Battle
The main push was preceded two hours before sunset by the honour guard's recon elements - Scout-Sergeant Mkoll and a platoon of his Tanith scouts, along with the Pardus' Destroyer Tank Hunters Grey Venger and Death Jester, clearing out the Infardi spotters and forward elements. Kleopas and Gaunt followed with their men and encountered significantly more enemy forces than they had expected; hundreds of Infardi supported by dozens of armoured vehicles and artillery pieces. Despite the odds, the Imperials pressed their attack, counting on both the superior capabilities of the Leman Russ tank compared to the Urdeshi-made, locally produced vehicles fielded by the Infardi and the raw prowess of the Tanith First and Eighth Pardus Armoured to carry the day. Sure enough, the Pardus armour acquitted themselves well in the initial push, leaving a graveyard of enemy vehicles in their wake. The attack group lost 4 tanks with another damaged but steadily pushed the enemy back.[1c]
At this point the order was given for Sirus and Rawne to begin their flank attack. Unfortunately, the attempted flanking manoeuvre was stymied by an undetected minefield. With half of the Tanith infantry bogged down and the flankers going nowhere fast, Gaunt ordered Sergeant Baffels to push on towards the Imperials' ultimate objective: the town's fuel depot. After hours of hard fighting, Baffels and his men successfully broke through to the depot, helped by some of the Pardus tanks punching through the deadlock in the centre of town. As they regrouped, however, the cultists revealed their secret weapon: a Baneblade Super Heavy Tank. Within minutes, the Tanith were forced to flee. Baffels himself was killed after trying to destroy the tank with a tread-fether.[1c]
Finally, however, the tanks conducting the flanking manoeuvre made it past the minefield. Captain Sirus engaged the Baneblade and managed to penetrate its armour using augur shells before the Wrath of Pardua was destroyed with all hands. Sirus's sacrifice allowed Captain Woll to take out the Baneblade in turn with his tank, Old Strontium.[1c]
Following the Baneblade's destruction, enemy resistance crumbled and the surviving Infardi were routed.[1c]
Aftermath
Out of the 2,000 Tanith infantry[1c], just under 200 were killed in the attack in addition to 224 wounded, 73 seriously. The Pardus lost about half a dozen tanks[1c] with a further two damaged but repairable.[1d]
During the fighting, a unit of Tanith led by Scout-Trooper Bonin managed to capture an Infardi commander, who had been knocked unconscious by a rocket blast.[1c][1d] An initial interrogation by Major Rawne revealed nothing, so Gaunt elected to take the prisoner with them.[1d]
Sergeant Kolea also suggested that some of the men could be left behind in Bhavnager while the honour guard moved on into the Sacred Hills. The hope was that the town would be defended until the honour guard made their return journey from the Shrinehold and that meanwhile the wounded could be stabilised without having to move them. Gaunt agreed, garrisoning the town with 100 infantry led by Kolea with Sergeant Varl as his second, along with the two Pardus tanks that were under repairs and two "fresh" tanks (the Xenophobe and the Death Jester). The rest of the honour guard then moved on.[1d]
Sources
Uncited
