Chapter 340 Another exploration and report
Kalamanda heard that the soldiers of the Krieg Death Corps were taciturn and died in silence.
And this Hanxing Captain Li is obviously an exception.
He talks a lot and even talks a lot.
The nobles in the hive capital are obviously suspicious of the two cavalry units that came to support them - in this space age, there are still people playing cavalry? Are you two just here to make fun of me?
Tariha from Attila is obviously a poor man of words, and his strong body odor and low Gothic accent are also very incompatible with the nobles of the hive world.
So Captain Hanxing from Krieg, a hateful-looking but young and talkative officer of the Death Corps, began to talk to these nobles about his cavalry philosophy.
"This is a primitive Terran warhorse that has been heavily genetically modified and is now very different from its ancestors. They were designed to withstand harsher battlefield conditions and are much stronger than ordinary horses. Their hind legs can Cross the trenches and advance through thick mud or rubble.”
The young cavalry officer talked eloquently:
"Many additional biologically modified organs enable them to survive in the most polluted or toxic environments. Under the design of the biological sages of the Mechanicus, these war horses are also equipped with sharp hoofs, permeable lungs, Subcutaneous organic armor and a fully integrated drug injection system consisting of analgesics, potent stimulants and other demulcent agents.”
First, we must reverse the nobles' stereotypes about war horses and tell them that they are biochemical products of the Mechanicus, with high technological content, and are not weak and primitive ancient horses.
Upon hearing this, Tariha hurriedly added:
"The same goes for ours."
The war horses of Krieg's death cavalry are biochemical riding beasts that look like horses, while the war horses of Attila's barbarian cavalry are derived from the continuous improvement and selection of primitive horses over thousands of years.
There is still a certain gap, but it is actually not the same.
"With all due respect, Captain Lee."
A male noble asked:
"The functions you mentioned can be accomplished by Sentinel mechas and various tanks. I still don't understand, what is the significance of retaining cavalry in the Death Corps?"
"Well."
Li Hanxing hesitated and said:
"In fact, the Krieg Death Troopers are not equipped with Sentinel mechas. The Death Troopers are our Sentinel mechas. If you have actually participated in the war, you will understand that logistics support is a complex, serious and difficult subject. The cavalry unit is In the right environment, the requirements for logistical support will be far lower than what you call Sentinel mechas and various tanks, and we are not without power when facing armored vehicles."
Both tanks and sentinel mechas must burn promethium, while biochemical warhorses only need to eat meat and grass. In some environments, the requirements for logistical support are indeed smaller.
Tariha then added:
"We have fought tanks, many tanks."
Kalamanda did not interrupt. He stood nearby and listened quietly to the discussion between the hive nobles and the two guard commanders. As a pragmatist, Kalamanda felt that it was extremely stupid to still discuss the use of cavalry in the space war era at this time. Now that the Ministry of Military Affairs has sent two cavalry troops, it has become an established fact, so the only thing that needs to be considered is how to use them.
Fight whatever soldiers you have.
How does discussing the significance of cavalry help in war?
"Ahem."
Kalamanda coughed lightly, interrupting the endless questioning of Li Hanxing by several nobles. These guys who had no actual combat experience but liked to talk on paper had already made Captain Nightbat very tired. He looked at Li Hanxing and asked:
"Captain Li, what is the specific strength of what you call 'a full company'?"
Kalamanda only cared about this.
"My company consists of sixty-five men, including a five-man command team and six ten-man squadrons, Captain Kalamanda."
Li Hanxing replied.
"Where are you, Tariha... Colonel?"
Kalamanda looked down at the commander who was wearing leather gloves, boots and leather robes, and felt that calling him "Colonel" might be more appropriate than calling him "Chief".
"The 264th Attila Barbarian Cavalry Regiment has a total of three thousand barbarian cavalry and a corresponding number of horses, your Excellency, company commander."
Tariha replied in a sullen voice.
"How did you get here?"
Kalamanda continued to ask.
Wanted to see if there was more naval power.
"Aboard two Imperial transport ships."
The conclusion is no.
"Um……"
Kalamanda was thinking about how to arrange it.
At this time, a blind and skinny old man walked quickly into the banquet hall. He was the Astropath of this hive. The old man walked to the planetary governor and whispered a few words.
The planetary governor's eyes lit up after hearing this.
Then he turned to face everyone and announced loudly:
"Good news, good news, everyone."
"The Chapter Master of the Iron Buddha Chapter, Qingshan Khan, personally came to support us in an Emperor-class battleship. We are saved, and the planet of Kelnak III is saved!"
The nobles present cheered and celebrated.
Khan is here?
Kalamanda was stunned for a moment, then looked at the Astropath.
The Astropath nodded and said to Kalamanda:
"Lord Kalamanda, please follow me."
…………
Pancallis sub-sector, Karnak system.
The Suzheng arrived in this galaxy faster than expected because of the blessing of the relic technology "Subspace Sextant" and another reason——
Navigator Tracy broke through and became a gamma-level psyker, and this was one of the reasons why the Navigator Ambassador authorized the Gray family to bring her back to Terra.
With Tracy's age and her psychic level, it is not an exaggeration to say that she is a genius. During the Great Expedition, she would even be qualified to be the navigator of the Glory Queen-class battleship. Unfortunately, there are not many Glory Queen-class battleships left. .
The battleship sailed at sub-light speed towards the target planet.
Fu Qinghai stood on the bridge and looked at the huge white ice ring outside the armored porthole. He first had a preliminary understanding of the complex space orbital environment of this hive world.
This is a planet with ice rings.
The white ice ring with a diameter of more than 300,000 kilometers and an average thickness of four to five hundred meters is mostly composed of bright white ice crystals and is also mixed with gray meteorites of different sizes. It surrounds the entire planet and looks like a huge ice ring. crown.
Outside the white ice ring, there is also a slightly sparse asteroid belt, slowly rotating around the planet, and irregular collisions and squeezes are still occurring between them.
The battleship Suzheng first reunited with the cruiser Zhanma, which was forced to evacuate low-Earth orbit, at the outer edge of the asteroid belt.
"What's going on now?"
Fu Qinghai looked at another Space Marine in the holographic projection and asked. They were responsible for staying behind the War Horse to attack the cruiser. They were not far from the Suzheng at the moment.
"Khan, that Chaos warband who believes in Khorne, has a Hades-class heavy cruiser with shields and firepower superior to ours. It's called the Warbringer."
"The orc fleet from the Xie Ri Clan has two Basha-class light cruisers, five Assault-class assault ships, and an unknown number of orc boulders."
"In addition, there is an alien battleship with the size of a battleship, parked on the other side of the planet. The Rogue Traders in the hive said that it is a Kroot ship, called..."
"It's called a war ball ship, I know."
Fu Qinghai said.
The Kroot, a kind of space bird-man with the ability to devour and assimilate alien beings, are one of the most famous Tau Alliance armies under the Greater Good. At this time, the Tau Empire did not exist yet, but the Kroot are well-known as a cosmic force. Mercenaries have been around for a long time, much longer than the Tau Empire.
The War Ball Ship is a strange spaceship. No one knows how the Kroot people, who are not very technologically advanced, created this kind of spaceship. Some say it is related to the fallen Orc spaceship, and some say it is a gift from an unknown race. .
Except it looks like an egg.
This spacecraft also has the following features:
Large, with a diameter of nine to twelve kilometers, comparable to the length of a human empire battleship, and even larger in size.
It moves very slowly, but is said to turn quickly, perhaps because of its spherical shape.
Capable of warp jumping, they use a warp engine unknown to the Adeptus Mechanicus.
The ability to land on planets - this is the black technology that Fu Qinghai cannot understand the most. Can such a huge spacecraft actually land on the surface of a planet?
It is said that the Kroot drove war ball ships to smash into the ground and then used them as colonial outposts.
In Fu Qinghai's view, the war ball ship is a space city village built with massive armor plates and capable of interstellar navigation. It contains a complete tribe of Kroot people - space mercenaries who collectively go out to work. It has strong defense and powerful firepower, but apart from being able to land on planets, it doesn't have much technical content.
Space naval battles compete for planetary air supremacy.
It goes without saying how important air superiority is in war.
Fu Qinghai did not rush to order the landing, but stood on the bridge and seriously thought about how to fight this space naval battle.
"I guess the three of them didn't fight before I arrived, right?"
Fu Qinghai asked.
"Yes, Khan. The warship is hovering above the planet's low-Earth orbit. The Orcs and Chaos warships are hiding in the asteroid belt and maintaining a state of confrontation. According to our reconnaissance, the Orcs are still working hard to build more Orc boulders. .”
The space marine who served as captain replied.
The Ork Monolith is essentially a hollowed-out asteroid equipped with various weapons, propulsion systems, and targeting arrays. The Ork Monolith cannot conduct subspace navigation and can only fly from one planet to another within the galaxy.
Why is Fu Qinghai so sure that the three families will not go to war?
The reason is very simple. The strength of the three fleets is quite different: the Orc fleet has the largest number but is not of high quality. The Kroot warships have the highest quality but slow movement speed. The warships of the Chaos warband are at an embarrassing level in terms of firepower and tonnage. Awkward location. In short, no matter which two families start the war first, there is a possibility that the third family will reap the benefits.
And the key is that the special and complex environment above the planet's orbit provides cover and concealment, and brings more uncertainty, making it difficult for the three parties to let go.
The addition of the Emperor-class battleship heralds the arrival of the fourth force. An Emperor-class battleship plus a conventional cruiser is not a force that can be underestimated - even if there is not one Emperor-class battleship Carrier-based aircraft.
"The Kroot are a group of cosmic mercenaries. They have no position. Maybe they are waiting for a price at this moment. The Evil Sun Clan is not the Blood Ax Clan. There is no possibility of negotiation. Besides, there is nothing good between us and the aliens and Chaos. Talk about it, these two are 100% our enemies."
Fu Qinghai analyzed.
"Do you want to fight then, Khan?"
Joestar asked.
"No."
Fu Qinghai shook his head:
"Fight the ground war first."
Even if the Kroot remain neutral, the Orcs and Chaos are both enemies of the war group. If you choose to attack either side, you may be attacked by both parties - the Orcs and Chaos are not stupid.
What's more, Fu Qinghai doesn't want the Suzheng to go deep into the asteroid belt to engage in hand-to-hand combat. The orc warships are crudely made and can be exploded one by one from a distance.
There is nothing to gain from getting closer to the Dancing Gang. The void shield cannot protect against the collision of battleships. How about using the precious battle group flagship to be hit by the kamikaze of the orcs' broken ship?
That's not okay.
"The Su Zheng and Lie Ma maintain tentative attacks and don't let the orcs and traitors get too comfortable."
Fu Qinghai ordered:
"All Space Marines of the First Company, get on the jet motorcycle and follow me to the surface!"
"Yes, Khan!"
…
The Astropathic Choir in the Hive City.
Through the astropath's message, Kalamanda was communicating with Xia Long on the Su Zheng.
The old star whisperer recounted Xia Long's words:
"Captain Kalamanda, Qingshan Khan orders you and Captain Satfaran to lead the two companies to alternate defenses, use the teleportation deck to return to the battleship Suzheng, and then each Space Marine drives a jet motorcycle to land on the surface of the planet again."
"We have jet bikes!?"
Kalamanda was surprised at first, and then immediately responded:
"Tell them I received it."
…
When the Su Zheng finally reached the planet's orbit, Kalamanda and the battle barge no longer needed to communicate through astrological transmissions and established direct communications.
The Space Marines of the fifth and sixth companies were teleported back to the teleportation deck one after another, and then set off again on jet motorcycles, returning to the hive world.
The hangar of the Su Zheng was open, and the jet motorcycles were like a dense group of invisible sesame black spots. They emerged from the hangar, bypassed the beautiful and vast bright ice ring, lowered their speed and entered the planet's atmosphere, disappearing one by one. not see.
…
Hive city, spire area.
Fu Qinghai held a sword on his waist and held his helmet in one hand. He strode through the ornately decorated passage, followed by Joestar, Kalamanda and Satfalan. The hard and heavy iron boots of the Space Marines stepped on the smooth and smooth floor. On the bluestone floor, neat and sonorous footsteps echoed throughout the passage.
Pushing open the conference room door.
Fu Qinghai glanced around at the people inside.
The commander of the local Planetary Defense Force, two Imperial Guard commanders from different regiments, and the Planetary Governor himself, all stood behind the conference table.
"Everyone, according to the latest transfer order from the Ministry of Military Affairs, from now on, I will serve as the supreme military commander of the Kelnak III planetary theater. Do you have any questions?"
Fu Qinghai asked calmly.
"No problem, sir!"
Li Hanxing and Ta Riha stood at attention and saluted together.
The commander of the Planetary Defense Force, who was obviously of noble origin, was stunned for a moment by Fu Qinghai's aura or something, and then remembered to salute with him, saying "No problem, no problem" in his mouth.
This is a relationship account.
The four Space Marines reached a consensus immediately: his opinions would not be considered in any subsequent tactical deployment.
"I heard that there is also a tactical team of Space Wolves coming to support. Where are they now?"
"Sir, according to the star language message, they are aboard a Scimitar-class frigate. They have just arrived at Mandeville Point on the outer edge of the galaxy and are coming at full speed."
Li Hanxing answered quickly.
"OK."
Fu Qinghai nodded and said:
"Tell me about the current situation."
Satflan behind him took a step forward, stretched out his hand and clicked on the table a few times. A holographic projection of a planet rose up. The Crow Guard warrior waved his palm, rotated and enlarged the holographic projection, pointed at the continent where the hive city was located, and said to Fu Qinghai. :
"Khan, please look."
"Currently we are in the interior plains of the planet's northern hemisphere, the largest hive city on planet Karnak III. This is the area where the orcs move, and this is where the traitors landed. The current known situation is …”
With the introduction of Satflan.
The situation on the planet gradually became clearer.
The planet has only one continent, and near the equator is a rotten tropical rainforest filled with miasma, swamps, and dense jungles. The orcs of the Xie Ri clan are numerous and have a large range of activities. There are sighting reports in the vast plains and hilly areas around the nest. The Chaos War Gang occupies a small satellite city and has been huddled there without moving.
Fu Qinghai held his chin and lowered his head in thought.
What's the point of a Chaos warband that believes in Khorne hiding in a stronghold instead of going out to hunt and sacrifice heads?
The Evil Sun clan needs to be solved as soon as possible. The more rags there are, the stronger the orcs will be. The more battles, the stronger the orcs will be. There can be no delay... But it is best to find their war boss directly. The beheading tactic is always tried and true for the orcs.
According to previous intelligence, someone else saw the emblem and flag of the Snakebite clan. Where are they?
"not enough."
Fu Qinghai shook his head and said:
"The information is completely insufficient."
Existing intelligence was insufficient to support any tactical decisions.
Fu Qinghai raised his head and looked at Li Hanxing and Tariha:
"The good news is, we have cavalry now."
Fu Qinghai ordered:
"Attila Barbarian Cavalry Regiment, Krieg Death Cavalry, left the nest to investigate. I want to know the distribution range, activity area, number of personnel, and firepower of the Orc convoy... By the way, I want to observe the latest trends of the Chaos War Gang. .”
"Roger that, sir!"
They both responded in unison.
Fu Qinghai looked at Satflan:
"I'll give you a tactical team all equipped with jet motorcycles. You go and find the war boss."
"Understood, Khan!"
…………