Chapter 425 Retreat?
The five Astartes Chapters returned to the forge world of Atal Meridian for replenishment. In the final battle with the Intellectual Legion, the Space Marines suffered heavy losses.
But the Iron Buddha Chapter barely had a moment to rest, and the fleet had already left the system and embarked on the journey again.
Because the losses in the last battle were not harmful to the battle group, and could even be ignored.
During the voyage.
The Chapter Master and his monkeys spent all day long in the arsenal of the Suzheng, studying the dark and heretical technological artifacts left by the black machine oil man Proteus, trying to decipher the secrets, and then arrange for the Phaeton Forge World to be copied and mass-produced .
Xiao Fei couldn't help with this kind of thing.
There are specialties in the art industry, and he is an expert on Titans.
"Green Mountain."
That day Sid Nora suddenly came to the weapons depot.
The Grand Inquisitor looked at the Space Marines and Space Apes. The two figures, one large and one small, had their backs to him. They were immersed in carefully dismantling the Umbrella Sight, carefully considering the purpose of each component, and then discussing in a low voice, paying no attention to himself. I couldn't help feeling a little anxious, and said loudly and urgently:
"The battle situation has undergone major changes!"
"What changes?"
Fu Qinghai put down the parts in his hand and asked.
"The Titan legions in each forged world have suffered varying degrees of frustration. The enemy seems to have understood all our tactical arrangements and military distribution, and began to counterattack in a targeted manner. I don't know which link went wrong, but I am very sure. There must be a traitor among us!"
Sid Nora said in a deep voice.
Fu Qinghai turned his head and said strangely:
"Didn't you expect this?"
"No, this is not consistent with my estimate."
Sid Nora explained.
From the very beginning, the Grand Inquisitor, who knew this area of the Iron Ring, had concluded that except for the Atal Meridian forge world, which could ensure loyalty, all other forge worlds had undercurrents or individuals within them. The forces have ulterior motives and are not trustworthy. Some Mechanicum sects that are outwardly obedient and loyal secretly have ambiguous attitudes.
Through the battle on the Zelas space station, Fu Qinghai also felt that the definitions of heresy and orthodoxy were very vague, and the boundaries between rebellion and loyalty were so blurred that it was not either/or, black or white. In this case, isn't it natural for a traitor to appear? What's surprising?
"According to my years of experience, this leak is of a very high level, has a large scope, and has a profound impact, involving the deployment of multiple Titan legions."
Sid Nora said in a serious tone:
"It is definitely not a core secret that the local forces in the Iron Belt can access. Besides, we have been on guard for a long time. It is impossible for them to get access to any core secrets."
"You just said... Titan Legion?"
Fu Qinghai captured a key point:
"So are there leaks from other forces as well? The Imperial Guard? The Imperial Navy? The Astartes Chapter?"
"At present, no leaks have been found in other imperial troops, but you have to consider that the Titan Legion is the main force in this war. Even if there are leaks in other troops, they will not be able to influence the situation of the war."
Sid Nora said.
"Then could it be..."
Fu Qinghai made a conjecture after considering it.
"I know what you want to say. I also suspect that there is something wrong with Hieronymus Gant, the governing sage. I once sent an astrological message to the governing sage to test his attitude. Faced with leaks, Sage Gant is also very angry about the incident and is conducting a large-scale investigation of the entire Titan Order to find out the reason."
Sid Nora said.
"His anger doesn't mean anything."
Fu Qinghai said calmly:
"There must be a mole in the Titan Order."
Sid Nora nodded in agreement.
So who could it be?
Sid Nora whispered:
"Hieronymus Gant, who serves as the ruling sage of the Iron Ring War Zone, has a high status in the Mars Forging Council. He is also a close associate of the forging commander Zagreos Kane. It is not easy for me to investigate him. , at least not directly investigate.”
The status of the ruling sage is too high, and the implication is that even if you want to investigate, you can only do it secretly and indirectly.
"With all due respect, even if you can investigate directly, you don't have the ability to investigate a governing sage."
Fu Qinghai pointed out unceremoniously.
Generally speaking, the competition within the Mechanicum to find out the evildoers and capture spies is all about hacking skills and electronic information warfare capabilities. You are a demon judge, why are you investigating the dignified ruling sage? Not to mention the mental firewall, just saying that the vast amount of data and information in his mind, open to you without defense, can burst your brain.
In short, the professionalism is not very relevant.
Fu Qinghai didn’t know Hieronymus Gant, the ruling sage, and he didn’t know what kind of character he was. However, he still tended to believe that there was a rebellion within the Titan Order, rather than suspecting the ruling sage himself. There is a problem.
It's not that he believes in the character of the oil guy, but because if the ruling sage is a traitor, then there is no need to fight the Steel Ring. The entire Titan Order is in his hands, and all the loyal Titan legions are under his command. , the Dark Mechanicus directly won. As a ruling sage, if he wanted to cause harm, there was no need to use such low-level means as leaking secrets. So according to this logical inference, there is a high probability that it is not him.
"No matter what, let's finish the task at hand first and then think about these issues."
Fu Qinghai said calmly.
Sid Nora was a little worried.
Although Fu Qinghai and Sid Nora agreed that there were some problems with Generalissimo Hershrow's strategy, he would still faithfully implement the combat orders and arrangements issued by the highest command of the theater until conclusive evidence was found. , this is the most basic professional quality as a soldier.
Many Hollywood war movies like to use the protagonist's disobedient behavior to create a unique image and exaggerate personal heroism. Many domestic military-themed film and television works also follow this trend, especially those starring popular celebrities. But in fact, no matter which country's army it is, if it wants to form combat effectiveness, it must first obey orders. This is the most basic prerequisite for an army to have combat capability.
The mission received by the Iron Buddha Chapter is to go to the Ni Delina sub-sector to assist the Dawnstar Titan Legion (Star Traveler Legion) in the forge world of Greia and the Unruly Lord Titan Legion (Star Traveler Legion) in the forge world of Uldish ( Tamer Legion), against the Kurisatai Titan Legion (Gatekeeper Legion) that once belonged to the forge world of Kalibax.
The Nidelina sub-sector is composed of seven stars and their corresponding galaxies. It has a lot of resources and habitable planets. There are a total of thirteen industrial worlds, two fleet anchorages and one hive world. Although there is no forge world here, it is the raw material production place for many forge worlds in the Iron Ring, so the strategic location is very important.
At the end of the Great Crusade and before the Great Rebellion, the forge worlds of the Iron Ring met once a year to discuss how to allocate the resources of the Nidelina sub-sector. The powerful forge worlds were always able to occupy more shares, resulting in some forges The world was dissatisfied and one of the triggers of the Iron Belt Civil War.
The Iron Buddha Chapter followed the order and came to support.
However, plans never keep up with changes.
The fleet had just left the Sea of Chaos and passed through the Mandeville Point. It was immediately attracted by the flames of war flying in the void. The imagined scene of the Loyal Titan Legion uniting with the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Navy to divide and surround the rebels step by step did not appear. On the contrary, The Iron Buddha Chapter saw that two frigates identified as the Imperial Navy's Storm Sector Baka Fleet were being chased by three cruisers with unknown markings.
"Khan, the Imperial Navy has sent a distress signal!"
Bridge, Eugene shouted.
"Attack the three unknown cruisers."
Fu Qinghai ordered.
Without waiting for the void shield to rise, the chapter fleet opened fire immediately, blasting a Tyrant-class conventional cruiser with concentrated fire in an instant. The remaining two Indomitable-class light cruisers immediately turned around and fled. The Iron Buddha fleet had just passed through the subspace. The foothold was not yet stable, and the shield system had not yet been raised, so there was no pursuit and the two light cruisers were allowed to disappear into the depths of the galaxy.
"Ask what's going on with the Imperial Navy fleet."
Fu Qinghai just issued an order.
Astrologer Director Xialu Flosping came in a hurry. The beautiful blind girl stepped onto the bridge steps and whispered:
"Khan, the high command of the war zone sent an urgent message. The two loyal Titan legions in the Ni-Delina sub-sector suffered a disastrous defeat. All industrial worlds and fleet anchorages have fallen, and the imperial army is now huddled in the hive world. "
Never played two against one?
Fu Qinghai looked a little solemn.
Although he did not know the military strength comparison between the three Titan Legions, the Loyal Titan Legion was also supported by the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Navy. In any case, it should not have suffered such a disastrous defeat - the entire industrial world had fallen. It seems that the consequences of the leak are far more serious than imagined.
"What are the instructions from Grand Marshal Hershrow?"
Fu Qinghai said calmly.
"The original words of the high command are..."
Xia Long whispered:
"Qingshan Khan makes his own decision."
Make your own decision?
Grand Marshal Heshro gave Fu Qinghai a great deal of autonomy, but it makes sense when you think about it. The highest command of the theater is far away in the forging world of Atal Meridian, and the Ni Delina sub-sector has just fallen. They don't know the specific situation here. What is the distribution of rebel forces? How much of the Imperial Army's organic reserves are left? Should we fight back or retreat?
The Iron Buddha Chapter is the closest Astartes Chapter to here. Instead of learning from Duke Chang Kaishen who has to remotely control micro-control from a long distance away, it is better to actively delegate command authority and let the officers on the front line decide how to fight.
Fu Qinghai is the Chapter Master of the Space Marines.
He has the ability and qualifications to command a campaign.
"very good."
Fu Qinghai said confidently:
"Contact the two naval frigates immediately, invite their captains to the Suzheng, and ask what the current situation is in the entire Ni Delina sub-sector."
Soon, two naval officers each took a shuttle and arrived at the bridge of the Suzheng.
"Sir."
The two of them saluted:
"Thank you for your timely rescue."
"What's going on now, in the entire secondary star region?"
Fu Qinghai sat on the captain's chair, his black gauntlets slowly tapping the armrest of the seat, and asked.
"The Tamer Titan has rebelled!"
The captain made a shocking revelation when he came up.
"We were covering the Tamer Titans and Star Traveler Titans to encircle and suppress the rebels of the Gatekeeper Legion. They suddenly switched sides and attacked. The Dawn Stars suffered heavy losses and retreated to the hive world. This was a long-planned action, because there was still an army of Chaos. The fleet suddenly arrived in the Ni Delina sub-sector..."
The two of them complemented each other with each other's words, and soon gave a general explanation of the causes of the war.
"How many troops are left in the Imperial Army?"
"There are also three Warlord-class Titans and five Warhound-class Titans in the Dawn Stars. The naval fleet also has one Lord-class battlecruiser and three Endurance-class light cruisers. The Imperial Guard Corps still has one regiment of Uresh Grenadiers. .”
"How many troops are there on the rebel side?"
"The Chaos Fleet is a regular cruiser fleet consisting of three Destruction-class cruisers, three Carnage-class cruisers, and three Butcher-class cruisers. As for the ground forces of the Chaos Traitors, I'm sorry, sir, we don't know. We are just listening. It is said that the losses of the Traitor Titan Legion are not very great.”
The two captains were very familiar with the enemy's naval power and seemed to have had some battles with each other, but they were completely ignorant of the enemy's land power.
"Destructive level? Massacre level? Butcher level?"
Sid Nora asked in confusion:
"What type of cruiser is this, and what forge world is it from? How come I've never heard of it?"
"These are Chaos warship models."
A navy captain explained:
"Their codenames are all newly formulated by the Imperial Navy, so it's normal that you don't know, sir."
Chaos battleship model appeared so soon?
Fu Qinghai thought this was not good news.
Fu Qinghai originally thought that the Chaos forces were still using the imperial warships they had snatched back then, but he did not expect that the Forge World under the Chaos forces had already produced its own models.
Fu Qinghai had played "Gothic War" in his previous life. Generally speaking, due to the lack of resources in the Eye of Terror, the Chaos warships were inferior to the Imperial warships in terms of materials, and the comprehensive indicators of defense, endurance, firepower and other aspects were inferior to the Imperial warships. But it’s hard to say in terms of technology, because before the traitors hid in the Eye of Terror, they plundered many STCs. The Dark Mechanicum also mastered many unique technologies by studying Chaos and Ether, so some Chaos warships are still quite capable. Highlights.
Or extremely fast.
Or the play style is particularly weird.
At the same time, there is a special existence in the Chaos Navy camp - the enchanted warship. A ship whose entire machine soul and all crew members are possessed by demonic corruption is an enchanted warship, also called a "demon ship". The Imperial Navy has many legends about these enchanted warships. Some people say that they can repair hull damage on their own and will never be sunk. Others say that they can freely enter and exit the subspace, appear and disappear, and will not be affected by subspace jumps and attacks. De Vere Point Limitations.
As long as there are no demon ships, facing the chaos fleet composed of nine regular-class cruisers, the chapter fleet should still have a good chance of winning - because we are very powerful in joining gangs!
Fu Qinghai thought to himself.
The two frigate captains were still lamenting that the sudden arrival of the Chaos warships caught them off guard, causing the imperial army to lose control of the sea... Fu Qinghai was already thinking about how to take these nine warships as his own.
Fu Qinghai scratched his chin and started thinking.
"Green Mountain."
Seeing Qingshan Khan's high-spirited expression, Sid Nora reminded him in a low voice:
"What Grand Marshal Hershrow calls 'make your own decision' means that retreat is also an option."
Originally, Sid Nora thought that after figuring out the enemy's military deployment, the Iron Buddha Chapter should go back to resume operations. There was a Titan Legion on the opposite side. At the moment, he should first clarify the situation with the high command of the theater, and then wait for follow-up arrangements.
Fu Qinghai turned his head and said strangely:
"Retreat? Why should we retreat?"
you still need to ask?
Sid Nora said word for word:
"The enemy has two Titan legions."
Fu Qinghai licked his lips and smiled:
"What about the two Titan legions?"
His evil smile.
It has quite a bit of a picture-perfect taste.
…………