Emperor's Bane

Chapter 605: Fake War

The Ullanor War was a very strange war for everyone who actually participated in it.

At least in Guilliman's opinion, this war is indeed very: intriguing.

The clues had been revealed long before he and his legion arrived at the battlefield: Guilliman clearly remembered that when he and his main fleet stayed at the orbital space station of Avalon for rest and supplies, Morgan, who was already at the front line, sent him a strategic star map drawn by the Night Lords, allowing him to plan the legion's battle plan in advance.

The Primarch did so, but the more detailed the planning, the more doubts he had in his heart. At first, such doubts could be ignored, but in the later period, they could not be suppressed at all: especially when Guilliman arrived at the battlefield and let his legion take over the main front of the Far East Star Field and launched a devastating offensive against the Ork Empire, the questions that had only echoed in his heart finally slipped out from his lips involuntarily.

"Why……"

"Why... no surprises?"

In the strategic command room on the highest floor of Macragge's Glory, the kings of the five hundred worlds were sending more troops to the front line. At the same time, they were muttering in the air: This is what bothered Guilliman, or rather, the bright prospects on the strategic star map.

Since the beginning of the war, every offensive of the Greenskin Empire, every victory, and even the cost behind every advancement, has been exactly the same as the first plan Guilliman made on his way here: there have been no surprises or setbacks, no plans that had to be rewritten temporarily, only the never-ending advancement of the front on the star map.

This went so smoothly.

The Primarch bent his fingers and pressed them against his tightly pursed lips. His eyes kept jumping across the star map, trying his best to find any omissions. At the same time, he gave different orders to the fourteen senior officers standing beside him one by one, listened to the chaotic reports, and took out a pen, and signed one death notice after another with a simple feeling of grief.

That’s a four-digit price tag.

It's sad, but not surprising.

Guilliman glanced at it. This was something he had anticipated before the war began, and it was also the reason why Ullanor made him so strange: everything developed as he expected, which made the Primarch feel uneasy.

Something is definitely wrong.

Frankly speaking, the strength of the Ullanor Orc Empire is not weak. After all, it spans the two star regions of Obscurus and Far East. The number of greenskin armies may be more than the total force that the mortal auxiliary forces in the entire galaxy can mobilize. Not only are there numerous strong men and fleets, but war machines such as Battle Moons or King Kongs are also commonly found on every battlefield.

Naturally, as its armies advanced across the greenskin lands, the price paid by the Empire was staggering, the Ultramarines' casualties had reached four figures, the Phoenix had lost several beloved captains, the White Scars and the Night Lords had each suffered damage, and even the Dawnbreakers had lost a main company, and the casualties of the mortal armies were countless: but these numbers were not enough to make people feel stressed.

Because, after the Eastern Front Legion suffered so many casualties, their results were exceptionally brilliant, far exceeding initial expectations: not only did they repel the overall offensive of the Ullanor Empire, they almost wiped out the invading greenskin fleet, they even counterattacked to the homeland of the Orc Empire, and the land of several star regions was re-covered by the flag of the double-headed eagle, and news of victory came on every front.

The casualties were great, but far from the number in Guilliman's mind: he had originally thought that an opponent like the Ullanor Empire must have countless back-ups, and countless dazzling unexpected situations would occur, allowing people to truly feel the terrifying power of "the strongest enemy of the Great Crusade" as described by the Imperial Propaganda Department.

But the reality is quite the opposite.

They did suffer heavy losses, but that was entirely because the size of the Ullanor Orc Empire dictated that if they wanted to capture it, they would have to pay so many casualties: even the death toll of more than 10,000 Astartes, if spread over a battlefield spanning several star zones, would not seem so extreme.

To put it bluntly: since we have won so many battles, it is normal for more people to die.

As for the crisis that Guilliman had originally anticipated, which would require several legions to join forces to hold out, the powerful opponent who would need to use the secret weapons within the Empire, and the tragic battle situation that would require the Primarchs to personally stand at the forefront and even lose half of the legion's members, it never happened.

The Ullanor War was like a large-scale grid game. Every victory was marked with a corresponding number of casualties, but the final victory was extremely far away from them. Many lives had to be sacrificed before reaching there.

It's very long.

But it's not difficult.

Or... not desperate?
Guilliman moved his lips, searching for the right adjective.

He became more and more certain that the doubts in his heart were real. After all, although the corresponding memories had been deleted long ago, Lord Macragge did partially participate in the war against the Randan Empire. Deep in his heart, there was still resistance and fear of that epic war. Guilliman knew that was the true battle for the fate of the empire.

Even if we leave out Randan, there are some memorable moments in Guilliman's Great Crusade career that lasted for more than a hundred years: the territories of some alien kingdoms and even human pocket empires may be far smaller than Ullanor, but the pressure they brought to the Primarch and the Legion was truly huge.

The kind of powerful enemy that requires all means to be exhausted, all determination to be gambled, at the cost of the evaporation of the entire company or even the entire chapter, and even the Primarch himself must be in danger in the end, or even requires two or three Emperor's children to join forces to fight: this is the standard of the strongest enemy in Guilliman's mind, and it is also what he imagined the Ullanor Empire to be like.

After all, that's what Ran Dan used to be like.

Moreover, it is not just Randan. In the smoke of the Great Crusade, there have always been many terrible opponents like this: every Primarch has encountered at least several or even dozens of life-and-death crises during the Great Crusade. Those powerful enemies that require several Primarchs to work together to cut off their heads may only occupy a star zone or even a galaxy-sized land, but their oppressive feeling is greater than that of Ullanor.

Compared with them, the Orc Empire is too bland, and even the race itself is too bland: the Human Empire has been fighting these warlike lunatics for more than a hundred years, and is well aware of the various methods of the greenskins. Even if there are some new things occasionally, there is no longer that elusive mystery.

They are bland.

No...it can't be said to be bland.

But something: Not quite right?
"hiss……"

Guilliman took a deep breath, and the second death notice arrived. The Primarch quickly signed his name, mourned for his dead sons for a few seconds, and asked himself questions in his mind.

"So, what's wrong?"

------

[It’s very simple. ]

【It’s a sense of contrast.】

[The title of the strongest enemy of the Great Crusade as preached by the Emperor and the world does not match the actual performance of the Ullanor Orc Empire, and there is even an extreme contradiction between them, which has created this extremely extreme sense of contrast.]

[When you subconsciously think that you are facing the strongest enemy in the Great Crusade, but the actual war process is so smooth: in contrast, anyone will feel that everything is wrong, not only you, but also Jaghatai and Fulgrim. ]

"……It's that simple?"

【if not? 】

Morgan turned her head, raised her snow-white chin and smiled at her brother: among all the Primarchs, Guilliman was not one of the tallest, so the top of Morgan's hair could brush against his jawbone, giving the Primarch an experience he had never had before.

It was an itchy feeling brought by the brushing of soft hair, coupled with the naturally kind smile of a blood relative, which was enough to eliminate the mental fatigue brought by the war: before Guilliman could react, his frown had actually relaxed.

The Lord of Macragge longed for brotherly affection more than he thought: for example, in his subconscious, Guilliman was actually very sorry that Konrad did not join the ranks of the Ullanor War. Now that he thought about it, the two of them had not seen each other for a long time.

However, it would be nice to be able to meet Sevasta.

After all, many internal and external affairs of the Night Lords were actually handled by the Prince of Crows: Guilliman had heard of Sevatar's strong position in the Council of Nightbats, and he had a good impression of this Astartes warrior with peculiar skills.

They had cooperated before, and Sevatar had communicated directly with Guilliman several times on the signing of agreements on the joint development of adamantium and other mineral resources, which was enough to impress the Macragge people with him: the other two who impressed him as deeply were Ahriman and Dantioch.

In Guilliman's mind, the existence of these "outsiders" is the best proof of the close unity of the three kingdoms in the Far East. They are an unbreakable alliance.

Thinking of this, Guilliman looked at Morgan with a much gentler gaze.

The two of them walked side by side in the corridors of the Aurora, which were full of humanistic atmosphere. This real space city actually fascinated Guilliman because it reminded him of Macragge: Guilliman always believed that although he and Morgan might have some conflicts on some minor issues, they were essentially the same kind of people.

Appearance can be concealed, words can be altered, and even personality can be manipulated, but what one has done and what kind of contribution a person has made to society can never be easily changed: no matter what the outside world thinks of the Spider Queen, just by seeing the inner world of the Aurora and the growing prosperity of the Far East frontier, Guilliman dared to boldly cooperate with Morgan in depth.

She won't let him down.

A person who creates a peaceful world cannot be a bad person at heart.

"And her words are naturally credible."

Guilliman muttered quietly.

The Primarch smiled and brought the topic back to the war at hand.

"So what you mean is: Ullanor is not the so-called strongest enemy at all?"

[Guilliman, you and your legion have been in this war for several months now. After experiencing the war with the so-called Ullanor Empire, didn’t you already have the answer in your heart?]

Morgan's smile seemed to Guilliman to be a bewitching power, and the bloody smell on her body further proved this point: the Spider Queen was rarely seen wearing armor, which was a work of war art with silver as the main color, black and gold as the patterns, and red as embellishments. It was not as bloated as the armor of other Primarchs, and it obviously sacrificed defense in exchange for agility.

(Just refer to the Battle Sister Armor)
But even so, the bloodstains that had no time to be wiped off also showed that Morgan had indeed led the charge in the Ullanor War, and the Dawnbreakers had indeed suffered certain losses: one main company had to retreat to rest, and another five companies could not attack again in a short period of time. Nearly three thousand troops were lost, accounting for one-sixth of the Dawnbreakers expeditionary force.

As for the 150,000 Ultramarines under Guilliman, although they have lost eight or nine thousand people so far, five times as many reinforcements are on the way, and another five times as many new soldiers are being recruited: Lord Macragge has already reached a conclusion in his heart that even if this 150,000-strong army under his command is completely wiped out on the battlefield of Ullanor, it will not be a devastating blow to his legion.

At most it's just some broken bones.

And now it seemed that he would lose at most half his forces before victory.

Well, it’s roughly equivalent to the total number of families and children in the entire Dawnbreaker Legion.

Seeing this, Guilliman glanced at Morgan with some uneasiness. Of course, he listened to his blood relative's words, but he instinctively resisted Morgan's answer: although he knew that this answer must be correct.

Because just as Morgan said, after several months of observation and personal experience, Guilliman actually understood what the so-called Ullanor War was all about, he just still didn't want to admit it.

after all……

"The Emperor told me himself that Ullanor is the strongest enemy of the Great Crusade..."

【look. 】

Morgan spread his hands.

【This is where the problem lies.】

[My dear Robert: Why do you believe in that old man so blindly? ]

"..."

It took Guilliman a full five seconds to realize who the "old man" Morgan was referring to.

What surprised him even more was that he found that he was not surprised at all by such a blasphemous name.

"But...Morgan..."

【Robert, my Robert.】

Morgan waved his hand, not giving Guilliman time to form his words.

[Sometimes I'm really curious, why don't you think from another perspective: Take the case of Ullanor as an example, if you didn't take the Emperor's words as truth, and didn't think from the bottom of your heart that Ullanor was the strongest enemy of the so-called Great Crusade, then wouldn't your current confusion be solved? ]

[The Emperor is deceiving us, telling us an insignificant lie. Ullanor is not the strongest enemy of the Great Crusade. It is just a somewhat difficult opponent, a giant monster that requires multiple legions to deal with. It is a trouble but not a nightmare: then isn't everything in front of us natural? ]

"..."

Guilliman had to admit that what Morgan said was indeed right.

He couldn't even refute it.

"But...why would the Emperor lie to us?"

The Primarch was puzzled.

"What good will it do him?"

【The answer to this question is of no use to you right now. 】

[You are not Horus.]

"...?"

Morgan blinked, she did not continue to attack Guilliman, because the Macragge people were already confused enough, so let him take a break today: and for the Spider Queen's purpose, shaking the Emperor's sanctity in Guilliman's heart was already a gratifying progress, she did not need to completely smash the golden statue of the Lord of Mankind.

Let Guilliman discover it himself, and it would be more effective than her words.

After all, the side quest that the Emperor had secretly put in the gift box, which Morgan regarded as something that could be easily completed, was to allow Guilliman to think more independently: so breaking the statue of the Emperor in his mind was naturally the first step in this plan.

Even the only step.

With Guilliman's character, when Morgan quietly removed the last bit of divinity in the heart of the Lord of Mankind, he could figure out many things on his own. Compared with these, Morgan was more worried about whether Guilliman and the commander-in-chief she invited could get along well with each other?

Ok……

This is really a worrying issue.

(End of this chapter)