Battle of Khan III
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The Battle of Khan III was a major engagement of the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Fought from 773.M41 to 775.M41, it resulted in the death of Magister Shebol Red-Hand and contributed to the Imperium's conquest of the Khan Group.[1c]
Background
After the death of Archon Nadzybar during the Battle of Balhaut, the Chaos forces opposing the Imperial Sabbat Worlds Crusade were initially in disarray, as Nadzybar's lieutenants fought each other to succeed him. Once Urlock Gaur had emerged dominant and took command of the Chaos forces in the Sabbat Worlds, he reorganised the war effort. In 772.M41, Urlock Gaur ordered an attack on the Imperial core flank, carried out by Anakwanar Sek, Enok Innokenti, and Shebol Red-Hand.[1b][3] Even though Shebol commanded the Charismites, one of the better-organised contingents within the Chaos forces,[1a] he was a vicious warlord more focused on destruction than proper military planning.[1c]
Battle
In 773.M41, Shebol's force clashed with the Imperial armies under Lord General Bulledin on Khan III; the Chaos Magister intended to use this battle to support Enok Innokenti's attack on Herodor.[1c]
Shebol massed his armies along the Taintive Valley Bassin and in the Elshore Uplands, intending to dislodge Bulledin from the twin hives of Khena und Khenor. Bulledin responded with a counter-offensive through a pass known as Bale's Field where Pardus Armoured and Narmenian Armoured brigades broke through enemy lines. He then sent the Roane Deepers and Samothrace 9th to dig in and await the Chaos response. Shebol threw his troops against the breach, but this effort failed. At Bale's Field and in the Elshore Uplands, for every Imperial Guard soldier killed, five Chaos militants fell.[1c]
Imperial tactician Antonid Biota claimed that the battle turned at this point, as Shebol displayed his lack of both organisation and discipline under fire, while Bulledin possessed both, in perhaps the greatest measure of all the Imperial commanders serving under Warmaster Macaroth. Shebol allegedly panicked and drew his forces inward, concentrating at a town called Forenss. Even as a massive tank battle erupted near Bale's Field, Bulledin pressed on and assaulted Forenss. The location was taken by the Roane Deepers with Titan support. According to Biota's telling of the events, Shebol then fled to the highlands.[1c]
However, Biota's account of Shebol only breaking due to Bulledin's meticulous planning is outright contradicted by Imperial veterans of the fighting. In actuality, Shebol only fled after a muderous stand-off at the Field of Last Imagining. There, the Belladon Eighty-First under Major Lucien Wilder broke the Red Phalanx, an elite Chaos unit, destroyed the Rugose Altar, and killed Pater Savant and Pater Pain. Though the Belladon Eighty-First suffered heavy losses, it was this clash that forced Shebol to retreat.[4a]
In the highlands, Shebol and his remaining forces were surrounded by units of the Narmenian Armoured regiments, commanded by Bulledin in person. Some legends say that Shebol was killed in single combat with Bulledin, while others dismiss this as fanciful.[1c] Imperial veteran accounts state that Shebol was slain in combat with the Silver Guard Space Marines at Partopol.[4a]
The death of Shebol marked the de facto defeat of the Chaos armes on Khan III, but combat on the planet would continue until 775.M41, as the dead Magister's followers fought on.[1c] The reborn Saint Sabbat and her retinue became involved in the later stages of the Battle of Khan III, spending a winter on the planet.[5]
Aftermath
Shebol's death and the eventual defeat of the Chaos forces on Khan III, alongside the failure of the other Chaos counter-attacks in the Khan Group at Herodor, Enothis, Lotun, and Tarnagua allowed the Imperials to regain the initiative on this flank. However, the Khan Group continued to be hotly contested, as the remaining local Chaos contingents dug in on several worlds and regrew in strength under Sek's leadership. The Imperial Fifth, Eight, and Ninth Crusade Armies needed years to fully capture the Khan Group.[2]
Imperial order of battle
Sources
- 1: The Sabbat Worlds Crusade (Background Book)
- 2: Traitor General (Novel), Epigraph before Prologue
- 3: Straight Silver (Novel), Epigraph before Prologue
- 4: His Last Command (Novel),
- 5: From There to Here (Short Story) — Sabbat War (Anthology)
