Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes.

Chapter 240 - Chapter [-]: First Battle - Hicks
Imperial Calendar 0221.755.M39.

The advance force headed by the Grand Fleet of the Imperial Navy's Orpheus sector, led by Calvin, the high lord of the Supreme Tribunal of the Empire, launched the first strike against the orcs who invaded the Hassan sector.

The naval battle reached its climax at the beginning of the contact between the two sides.

The Imperial Admiral High Lord Juan led the main force of the large star fleet, and launched a fierce offensive against the orcs guarding the Hicks galaxy with a battle formation composed of four battleships and 15 large cruisers.

The Imperial Navy gained a favorable position at the beginning of the battle, and the lack of tactics of the Orc Fleet was deliberately magnified against the backdrop of the abundant strength of the Imperial Fleet;
And the shortcoming of the orc fleet not being good at the long-range artillery battle of the large fleet was also keenly captured by the imperial admiral Juan.

The Grand Fleet adopted a divide-and-strike strategy in a targeted manner, using a small-scale fleet to pull the orc fleet out of the complex gravitational field in the center of the planet at the beginning of the battle;

When the orcs entered the parallel array, the main fleet joined the battlefield on the edge of the Hicks galaxy with the best firepower array.

The main armor of the Orc Fleet was at the bow of the ship, and at this critical moment, it was deliberately targeted by the heavy rain-like artillery fire of the Grand Fleet;

The parallel fighting situation lasted less than a few hours, and the opponent's fleet formation was declared broken.

The stage of the large-scale naval battle on the battlefield has come to an end. Under the unequal situation between the enemy and the enemy, the battle has turned to the stage of targeted pursuit and suppression.

At the same time, Orpheus's second wave of strikes against the Hicks galaxy began within the galaxy as planned under the leadership of the Astartes strike cruiser fleet led by Calvin himself.

On the planetary orbit of Hicks 1, a fleet of three Space Marine strike cruisers is conducting a saturation orbital bombardment of the surface.

From a distant perspective, the main force of the navy's large fleet is still cleaning up the scattered orc fleets on the outskirts of the galaxy.

Behind the orbital strike group are four strike cruisers that came to Hicks 4 after completing missions from other planets.

The level of life field and warp power on the planet's surface has been assessed by the psionic choir of the Inquisition.

A Hicks One without a massive Waaaaah energy build-up isn't worth committing to a core combat force;
Also based on these battlefield information, the Supreme Command has very clear goals for the campaign here:

Except for the world of Hicks [-], the core planet, which must be retained as a springboard for the fleet, the rest of the planetary worlds are not in the plan for the ground battle.

The main force of the large navy fleet, after completing the attack on the orc fleet and destroying the targets in the first wave of naval battles;

The follow-up Astartes Chapters will strike the cruisers, and the second wave of fleets will enter the field on time.

The empire didn't have time to entangle with the orcs on the surface here, so dozens of large virus bombs prepared in advance were released to the affiliated planets in the galaxy by these strike cruisers carrying the Astartes battle group.

After completing the "preliminary cleanup" of these planets, accompanied by the confirmation of the destruction of anti-aircraft weapons on the surface of Hicks [-];
Thousands of Astartes warriors led by Moloch, Master of the Minotaur Chapter of the Astartes Chapter, have been released from space by warships in orbit in drop pods.

On Continent [-] on the surface of Hicks [-], the only remaining ground anti-aircraft firepower of the orcs has just been baptized by macro cannons and light spears.

Before the remaining orcs had time to breathe and fear, they watched the dense rain of death fall from the clouds.

"Waaaaaahh!"

A huge roar roared from the mouths of these orcs, and it was hard to tell whether it was anger or fear.

A large number of crude individual weapons and a few surviving anti-aircraft guns roared to the sky in a dying struggle, and fired a dense but useless barrage of bullets against the empty pods of various colors;
Except for a very few unlucky ones who were hit by Ork missiles and caused them to deviate from the landing point, most of the space marines successfully completed the airborne landing on the intended target.

Groups of Astartes from different battle groups appeared on the same battlefield in a rare form and on a large scale;

Deafening battle cries of different origins charged towards the orcs whose establishment had been destroyed under the roar of differently painted power armor and storm bolt guns.

Under the assisted aiming of the power armor, the heavy bomber is fired from the muzzle embedded with the imperial double-headed eagle with a precise and ruthless burst rhythm;

Against the backdrop of the oncoming orcs being knocked down piece by piece, the sacred movement of death and revenge was played.

"Waaaaah!!!"

The orc warlord led the remnants of his subordinates. After beheading the Astartes that he met along the way, he gathered up the scattered orc troops and headed out of the landing field with the artillery fire on their heads. The Astartes defenses counterattacked.

"For the Emperor!"

The different battle cries finally merged into one, returning to the original mission of the Astartes.

Facing the tide of the orcs' dying counterattack, Moloch waved the halberd and eagle shield in his hand, leading the Astartes of unknown battle groups against the current...

The follow-up transport barges on the track are already in place, and with the shutdown of the artificial atmosphere function, the decks used for large-scale airdrops on the transport ships that are as dense as fish schools are opened one after another.

With the landing field on the surface cleared, the landing window belonging to the Astra Militarum and the Knight Titans was notified to open.

Fish-like small airships and transport ships were deployed towards the landing field in the center of the fire denial circle, under the protection of the still roaring macro guns and light spears of the strike cruiser.

The Astartes fighters still only had Dreadnought as their heavy firepower, relying on the terrain to resist the impact of the orc armor force inserted in the gap in the bombing circle;

And behind their life-threatening battle, a heavy artillery and armored unit belonging to the Astral Army has descended from the sky, and has begun to complete an orderly assembly on the ground;
The knights and titans who came out of the large anti-gravity transport cabin reacted the fastest. These mainstays of the imperial military nobles are worthy of the blood flowing on them; In the first second, he turned his gaze to the green tide several kilometers away.

The missiles on the shoulders are still in the process of locking large targets, but they will not delay these imperial knights driving the sacred machine souls to take heavy steps forward;

The laser pulse cannons and rapid-fire cannons that have already been fully charged have already begun to use long-distance leaping shots in advance to provide strong support for the Astartes in front.

The armored regiments of the Astral Army caught up with them afterward, and the torrent of steel vigorously rotated the engine amidst the artillery fire and gunpowder smoke all over the sky, rushing towards the enemies in front of the emperor's angels...

The artillery fire of the Fleet Strike Group on orbit has already begun to shoot outwards.

Under the guidance of the Cursers and other Astartes infiltration forces, the orc troops that had just been assembled were blown into dust by beams of light and macro guns falling from the sky before they could see the enemy;

The wave of orcs on the outside of the battlefield has reached this point, and there is no power left to support them.

And on other continental plates, there are also more and more airborne sites, which have been successfully opened up by the Astartes who descended from the sky.

72 hours is the final time limit left by the High Command for the battle for this planet;
In 48 hours, thousands of Astartes warriors headed by Moloch, with the support of millions of soldiers from the Tindalos Legion and several knight families from Reza, gave a powerful answer to the command!

When the figures of the large legions launched encirclement and suppression marches towards the hive cities on their respective continents, and were observed by the warships in orbit, the eyes of the command headed by Calvin finally became more relaxed.

Once the battle for the landing field is successfully launched, the next battle will have nothing to do with victory or defeat, it will only be limited by time.

The strike cruisers in orbit have completed the tasks of space control and artillery support, and the continued suppression of air control will be handed over to the follow-up troops.

The naval battle on the edge of the galaxy was over, and the strike cruisers belonging to the Astartes restarted their engines before they could even recover their troops, and continued to follow the pace of the large navy fleet to the next battlefield.

The fourth wave fleet belonging to the Mechanicus has arrived, continuing to provide fire support and intelligence support to the ground forces is their first phase of the task.

The Titan exclusive transport ship like a dark cloud began to lower its height in order to join the battlefield on the ground at any time;

But more engineering ships have already rushed towards the dilapidated star port and defense fortress in orbit.

That is the exclusive battlefield that belongs to the peak of the industrial power of these empires.

Repairing them and making the operation and defense system of the starport here work again is the minimum goal assigned by the High Command to Father Constantine;
And with the support of massive resources, turning this place into a bridgehead for the imperial army to attack the Hassan sector, and using stable supplies to support the army's next offensive is the highest expectation of the high command for this place!
A large number of technicians brought the materials on their respective ships and started repairing the buildings above the Hicks orbit;
It can be expected that this state will continue in the next few months until the operational and defense capabilities here meet the minimum standards of the High Command.

After the battle on the ground lasted 16 hours, the orcs had lost all control of the plains and communication hubs;

After the large-scale mobile warfare ended, the encirclement, suppression and clean-up of the Hive City had also been put on the ground's front-point combat objectives.

A large number of transport ships recovered the light Astartes companies on the ground one after another, and then rushed towards the fleet ahead;
The heavily armed Terminator and Dreadnoughts were lowered by the subsequent battle barges and entered the final stage of the ground clearance campaign.

Calvin and his Legion of Gray Knights have yet to join the battle here, but the clanging steel boots still resound day and night in the corridors of the Wraith Redeemer.

All the Gray Knights are ready to intervene in the battle on the ground at any time.

Their team of nearly 600 people in total was assigned the role of scalpel in the battle, dedicated to precise strikes against orc leaders.

Once the Grand Fleet completes the attack and expulsion of the orc fleet, and the spiritual energy feedback on the ground reaches the level of the warning line, then the Gray Knight Legion headed by Calvin will carry out targeted destruction of these high-energy gathering points of Waaaaah energy.

This is the attack plan proposed by Calvin himself, and it is also the result of his consideration of the gray knight's tactical positioning in this battle after careful consideration.

The battle against the orcs may not belong to the traditional strike zone of the Gray Knights in the eyes of other allies;
But the existence of the Waaaaah force field of the orcs has been proven in the orc wars thousands of years ago.

And Calvin knew that in the absence of the Sisters of Silence, it was already the best way to deal with the gray knights who had been integrated with the will of the legion to confront the group will of the orcs head-on.

Moreover, in the materials recorded by the Alien Tribunal, the place where the energy of Waaaaah gathers is itself the location of the powerful commander of the orcs;

Calvin, as the actual No. 1 personal force in this battle, originally had the obligation to kill the enemy chieftain.

At this time, he was fully clothed, standing quietly on the bridge atrium of the Wraith Redeemer.

Once the war begins, the specific command authority has been delegated to the former enemy;

In addition to the real-time statistics and sorting out of the information from the front fleet, the current command headquarters and occasional tactical guidance given by the high-ranking generals on duty;
There is only the function of supervising and deploying the progress of the march of the logistics and follow-up troops and various supporting tasks.

The success of the battle for Hicks made the empire's battle to recover the Hassan sector pass the initial threshold.

But neither the main force of the orc fleet nor their commander has yet appeared;

He couldn't help but not worry about these greatest threats still hiding outside the fog of war.

Flames appeared again on the naval battlefield in the distance, and Calvin knew that it was a frigate using torpedoes for the final execution of the orc battleship whose engine had been destroyed.

The large fleet still maintains a vigilant array, and under the small-scale contact of the rear transport fleet, it is carrying out temporary supplies on the battlefield in fixed batches.

At this time, the second wave fleet has completed the connection with the transport ship that came from behind, and recovered the space fighters that were sent down before;

After the main battlefield was fully taken over by the Star Border Army and Knight Titans, they were also cruising outside the large navy fleet in battle formation at this time.

The fleet composed of strike cruisers has now entered a standard naval battle state.

The loaded macro cannons and fully charged light spear arrays looked like hedgehogs with blown fur, aiming densely towards the outside of the fleet's trajectory to prevent possible surprise attacks by reinforcements from the orc fleet.

Fortunately, until the supplies were over, no new enemies appeared outside the battlefield after all.

When the engines of the Grand Fleet flashed bright tail flames again, Calvin gave an order to the fleet behind him after heaving a sigh of relief, and followed the fleet ahead to the next battlefield - Palmer.

The mechanical ark fleet of Reza Forge World in the rear also slowly followed the pace of the fleet in front;

The Titan legions who failed to exercise the power of the Om Messiah on the battlefield were still sleeping quietly in the huge transport ship;
The cumulonimbus-like black curtain composed of them is tightly wrapped in the center of the fleet by the escort ships of the Mechanical Ark;

And the transport fleet of the Star Legion directly following up across the Hicks battlefield in the distance, also under Calvin's watchful eye, formed the last piece of the puzzle to the next battlefield.

The war has just begun, and the war will continue...

　No more chapters, two in one, update and ask for tickets.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)