Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes.

Chapter 206 Krieg's reinforcements, and the storm beyond
War is an eternal topic, and it is also a topic that every imperial citizen in the post-emperor era cannot escape from birth to death.

It is like a clock that is constantly ringing, according to the distance, giving different people in the same star area and galaxies a completely different feeling.

The same goes for Orpheus, without exception.

To the people who live on the world Amara, the capital world at the center of sectoral domination:

War is the tension from the far shore; it is the occasional price fluctuations in the trading market; Later talk.

But for this lucky group of people, war does not mean bloodshed and death alone.

The same people do not have the same fate, and the citizens of the empire living on the border of the star area do not have such luck.

For them, the war is another kind of feeling:
It is the panic of precariousness; the bad news of the collapse of the city where relatives and friends live far away; the embarrassment that neither food nor fresh water can be guaranteed;

Katyn, the northern theater of the Orpheus sector, and the capital world of the star sector's Northern Fleet's line of defense against Chaos, was shrouded in such an atmosphere.

The Northern Fleet headed by Admiral Ernest Joseph, the high-ranking general of the Orpheus Fleet of the Imperial Navy, is relying on the defense system of this galaxy, struggling to maintain a balance with the Chaos Fleet.

In 754.M39 of the Imperial Calendar, decades have passed since the tragic Battle of the Corridor by the Imperial Fleet.

Today's Northern Fleet and the defenses of the Katyn system they stationed are not what they used to be.

After receiving limited support from the empire, the size of the fleet has barely reached the minimum defense standard.

Although he still doesn't have the ability to actively seek combat, it has improved a lot compared to the first days when it was difficult to maintain the defense of the galaxy three times a day.

On the orbit of the capital world of Katyn, in the dome hall of the battleship Holy Word, the flagship of the Orpheus Northern Fleet.

Lieutenant General Ernest Joseph was holding his admiral's scepter, standing under the star map in front of him for a long time, and fell into the long test of this long chess game.

This is a normal state of his life in the past ten years, and it is also a microcosm of the life of the soldiers in the northern theater represented by him.

The war has been going on here for decades, and there is no hope of ending it.

Against the backdrop of the short life expectancy of ordinary citizens of the Empire, this resistance to chaos and aliens will surely occupy the memory of generations.

Since taking over the defense here, the noble-born, 150-year-old general has not had a complete sleep.

The initial flames of war ignited from the edge of the Hassan star area, and spread to the entire star area in a very short time.

The orc's offensive came so violently and suddenly that the Orpheus fleet could not even complete its assembly, and watched helplessly as its neighbor, who was also Orpheus's actual ally, completely fell.

As the central star area of ​​the five major star areas established at the same time, after losing the Hassan star area as a strategic depth, the next war will inevitably burn towards Orpheus itself.

But the star area has no power to stop the attack of the orcs.

Because Orpheus, which has never had a war crisis, has provided additional supplies for three thousand years in a row to support other wars in the Storm Star Field.

The high-level generals of the star area defense force have mentioned more than once about the maintenance and maintenance of the fleet and the rectification of the surrounding defense.

But under huge economic pressure, the Orpheus family, which dominates the power of the star area, finally chose to give up.

The bitter fruit of this inaction was finally tasted by their descendants after hundreds of years of delay.

When the war boss of the Hassan sector led the overwhelming orc fleet, it rushed towards the star sector with an unstoppable offensive.

The current governor of the star region can only look at his own fleet, which is less than half of the establishment, helpless.

Yes, in the Imperial Navy's setting for a large sector defense fleet, a full crew of more than 20 medium and large ships, including a minimum of five battleships, is the size that Orpheus should have.

But at that time, Orpheus had only 12 warships that met the standard, and only three of them were battleships.

Just like this, one-third of the hulks that have lost their maneuverability and can only be used as forts on orbits must be removed...

Needless to say about the subsequent battles, the Orpheus Fleet, which fought and retreated, has used its limited force to the extreme for decades.

Relying on the defense system of the border galaxy and the unity of the local military and civilians, they barely resisted the endless number of orcs and the exponentially rising invasion intensity.

But at this moment, in the ruins of the Leyak sector, which is completely opposite to the direction of the Hassan sector, news of the appearance of the Chaos fleet unexpectedly came.

Although the Storm Starfield at that time did not pay much attention to the threat here, there were many farsighted people in the military command and navy.

With their efforts, the Storm Star Region authorities symbolically dispatched three large cruisers from the Star Region Grand Fleet to support them.

However, the situation of two-sided attack still made the star area unsustainable.

The main force of the star fleet can only repeatedly run in vain between two completely opposite theaters.

Coupled with the premeditated corruption and penetration of Chaos, it eventually led to the famous "Corridor Sea Battle" tragedy.

It was against such a precarious background that Ernest Joseph was promoted from the major general officer of a battleship to the vice admiral.

If he had a choice, he would rather not have this position that symbolizes glory and power, in exchange for a relatively stable ending in the second half of his life.

But fate is so cruel, and he, who has been in the army for generations, cannot back down at the critical moment of the empire's survival.

The military situation was on fire, from the promotion ceremony to lieutenant general to being ordered to take over the full power of government affairs in the northern theater, there were only a few short minutes required for the ceremony;
The battle was like a furnace. From the embarrassment of the fleet with only three warships when he accepted the Northern Fleet, to the fact that the fleet has more than doubled in size and is able to resist the invasion of Chaos, it took him the longest 15 years in his life.

Today's Lieutenant General Joseph is much older than his actual age, and the life extension surgery originally scheduled for 50 years may have to be carried out in advance.

But the price is worth it. The stability of the defense situation in the northern theater has given the entire star region a rare respite.

Under his leadership, the Northern Fleet, relying on the fortress defense system of the Katyn galaxy, achieved brilliant results.

With less than half the number of enemy ships, they have already repelled several waves of attacks from the Chaos Fleet, winning nearly half a year of peace for the entire northern theater.

During this period of time, more labor and engineering materials were continuously gathered from the rear, and then a new defense system was built behind Katyn.

Behind the Katyn galaxy, there was no danger to defend, and the strategic blankness of the map was flat. In the Northern Fleet's defense regardless of the cost, there was finally a room for fault tolerance.

But the enemy will not do nothing. The recent frontal situation is too calm, and the calm makes Joseph instinctively feel the strangeness in it.

In his eyes, this is not so much the enemy's long-lasting respite, but Joseph prefers to believe that a bigger offensive is being brewed.

The intelligence of the trial court also confirmed part of his conjecture:

On the lost Forge World of Nazlem, new and unknown models of huge warships are being built.

The specific information of that kind of warship has not yet been obtained, but Joseph can imagine its brutality just from the main gun that is almost as long as the keel lying in the berth in the picture!

What is this?
A battleship with a giant cannon?
Or a cannon with a battleship engine?
But no matter what, when this warship is built and carries that destructive cannon to the front line of Katyn defense, the mode of war will be permanently rewritten!

A heavy warship designed purely to hit permanent defenses!
Under the threat of this newborn sword, Katyn and the newborn defense behind it are meaningless.

Must be proactive!

The admiral's scepter made of pure gold hit the table heavily, which frightened the staff working beside him, and at the same time made the eyes of the whole hall focus on him.

It must be destroyed before it reaches the battlefield!

This was the final conclusion that Joseph came to, and it was also the biggest reason for the desire to die in his eyes.

"Any price!"

The corners of his mouth took these two words as a conclusion, and finally spit them out in words, causing the young staff officer around him to shudder violently.

He didn't dare to ask the commander in front of him where the words came from, but he could already smell the endless blood in them just by these two words.

The Katyn Fortress under the starry sky is still open, but Joseph knows that the pace of war has come.

Different from the gradually tense atmosphere here, in the warp space from Krieger to Orpheus, there is a greater force advancing in the flight section passing Kilos.

A huge mixed fleet composed of seven strike cruisers built by the Krieger Industrial System and the interstellar fortress King of the Raptors owned by the Fire Eagle Chapter is rushing towards Orpheus in a silent but oppressive posture.

The Hammer of Order, the Shield of Order, the Spear of Order, and the Sword of Order, the four first-generation products of Krieger Shipyard in the name of Order;
In addition, the three second-generation cruisers of Daybreak Light, Dawn Fire, and Blood Rebirth;

A total of seven large cruisers surrounded the King of Raptors in the posture of many stars arching the moon, carrying 3500 Astartes fighters among them, coming from afar in a standard marching array.

The warp space fluctuations brought about by such a huge fleet can almost be compared with half a large star sector fleet.

What makes those in the know even more terrified is the Astartes Chapter logos on these warships without exception.

This is formed by the gathering of four battle groups, at least one complete battle group and ten companies are marching with arms.

Dozens of planets and hundreds of astropaths in the Kylos sector were all overwhelmed by the majesty of the fleet.

They fell into an indescribable silence, and they couldn't calm down until the fleet's tail flame had disappeared for a long time.

The implications of such neat action are self-evident.

Such a situation also immediately aroused the high vigilance of the authorities of the entire Storm Star Field, including the Tribunal.

The Astartes warrior is not only the sharpest sword of the empire, but also the deepest nightmare of the empire.

The only reason the Empire is so ambivalent about them is that the Empire has never really achieved complete control over these superhuman warriors.

Without control and obedience, how can we talk about trust and support.

The significance of Guilliman's setting of "Astarte Codex" also lies in this:
A self-restraint that you know and I know; a shackle of self-imprisonment under the tacit understanding of both parties.

That's it.

He clearly knew that a group based purely on force would not be able to sustain itself for a long time, and would fall into the end of self-destruction sooner or later.

Therefore, an imperial government purely composed of Astartes is a completely unfeasible path.

The reverse is also the same, obviously there is the Legion Astartes, but it can neither be trusted nor put to good use.

A government completely out of control of the Astartes is likewise a dead end.

The Imperium and the Astartes must attempt to re-establish mutual trust, especially in the precarious millennium following the end of the Heresy.

No matter which side they are on, they can no longer bear more losses.

But today, this fragile balance has been flagrantly broken.

The Empire can paralyze itself, accepting that individual start-up warbands reject the "Scripture" for various reasons, because it proves that they at least have the desire to explain and the need to be trusted.

But the empire cannot accept the blatant alliance of a group of second or even third generation Astartes battle groups, because that means that the sequence of the highest military power of the empire is getting out of their control.

This is even more terrifying than the complete fall of Orpheus itself.

The journey of the Astartes fleet from Krieg continued.

But before they really achieved their goal, the influence of their existence has spread far away like ripples.

The Starfield of the Storm is the same as the Terra Council that was notified further away, and countless people are destined to be unable to sleep tonight because of their existence.

It was an extraordinary night, for countless pairs of eyes swam between Terra and them.

Everyone is waiting for the final outcome of the High Lords Council after dawn.

Because that means the empire's view of them, and some more essential logic hidden behind it.

Compromise or confrontation.

These are two diametrically opposed options that the High Lords Council is about to make.

The former means the end of the era of mortal rule, and the old force group will continue Horus' last wish and completely lead the empire to an out-of-control chariot composed of military rule;
The latter means the tragic end of the fleet, and the High Lords Council must use the most severe means to deal with them in order to declare the firm stand of the mortals represented by the High Lords.

Only in this way can the people who come later be deterred, thus maintaining the legal rationality of the unification of the empire.

A huge political storm is about to be generated.

And as the initiator of this storm, and the possible direct victims.

The warriors in the distant fleet were still kept in the dark, and had no way of knowing what happened to Terra.

　The first update, there should be a second update, please vote.

　　Another: I won the lottery.

　　The book picked up what I said last time that the neighbor next door was taken away. I received a call from the local prevention and control department at noon today, and I have been officially included in the stimulus close contact list.

　　I'm at home right now, waiting for the community to come and put a seal on my door.

　　Fortunately, I am isolated at home, and my update will not be affected for the time being.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)