Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 717 07.716: "Interview from the Central Committee"

The lieutenant general's adjutant was properly settling the accompanying team outside the Knight's Castle. From all the signs, it was obvious that Lieutenant General Malan did not intend to dine here.

The Krieg generals also politely declined the invitation to the banquet in a somewhat unconventional way, but everyone knew that if they were just discussing some simple official business, they should have been invited as well.

Horatio followed closely behind Lieutenant General Malan.

"Sir, please come this way. Since we are here to discuss business, my long table banquet hall is more suitable."

Baron Bayar led the way and said respectfully.

"You make the arrangements, Knight. I need to speak to Colonel Cochrane alone."

[Would you like to talk alone...] Cold sweat quietly slid down Horatio's temples.

Even if he were to communicate privately with the general of his unit, he would not be under such tremendous pressure.

But the problem is that the Vice Admiral Malan in front of him does not belong to the Gothic Fleet of this unit, nor is he from the star zone fleet. Instead, he is a quasi-central official who is about to be promoted from the star field headquarters fleet to the permanent establishment of Holy Terra.

This makes the nature of [one-on-one chat] completely different.

Every word he says from now on will, in a sense, be equivalent to the report of the Gothic Fleet to the Holy Terra Empire Fleet.

To make an inappropriate analogy, this situation is like the central inspection team interviewing local officials.

"Of course, sir." Horatio had also been through the gates of hell several times, so he did not show any stage fright and still had a decent smile on his face.

"Very good, Colonel."

"Hello, Baron." Horatio gracefully saluted Baron Bayar who stopped at the door, and then followed Lieutenant General Malan into the Baron's meeting room.

In the center of the meeting room stands an extremely elegant and finely carved long table, with its corners carefully outlined with gold and gems, exuding an air of luxury.

The ground was covered with a soft velvet red carpet, which felt like walking on clouds. However, the soft touch reminded Horatio of the unpleasant experience of crossing the no-man's land, where the mud filled with rotting corpses had a similar soft feel.

He quickly adjusted his thoughts and walked steadily towards the lieutenant general.

Lieutenant General Ma Lan did not seem to be obsessed with the complicated etiquette and seating arrangements. He just pulled out a chair and sat down calmly.

Then, he opened the calfskin-locked notebook with a void blue color, and took out a fountain pen with a navy rudder emblem from his pocket, looking like he was ready to ask questions.

“This is my last voyage in the Storm Star Region, and this is also the last stop of this voyage.

Our air strike support will last for half a month, and I will report to Holy Terra after half a month.

Colonel, are you and the Krieg ready to march to the gates of the Central Hive Group within half a month?"

"Yes, sir." Horatio folded his hands and placed them gently on the table in front of him, staring at the medal on Lieutenant General Malan's collar, and answered calmly.

It was a Terra Star Medal, almost the highest honor a mortal in the Empire could receive in his lifetime. Only by completing incredible feats could one receive this highest award.

At this moment, it was hanging in front of Lieutenant General Ma Lan's neck, swaying slightly as he wrote.

"You helped the Baca Fleet eliminate a vicious traitor during the Second Damocles Gulf Expedition, right?" Lieutenant General Malan turned to the front page of the notebook, read the records on it, and confirmed with Horatio.

"Yes, I commanded the Epic long-range attack ship and personally led the 'Hunt for Red October' operation."

"The solitary ship penetrated deep into the enemy's territory, destroyed the enemy's ambush and commerce-suppression fleet, and successfully brought back the prisoner 'Red October'. This is truly an amazing feat." While praising, Horatio noticed that Lieutenant General Malan's brow was still furrowed, and Horatio did not dare to take it lightly.

Sure enough, he changed the subject and looked at Horatio sharply: "Can you tell me about your tactical details for the 'Hunt for Red October' operation?"

Horatio glanced sideways, his brain working rapidly, trying his best to recall.

“At that time, I was in command of the newly upgraded Epic, which was ambushed by the enemy due to the leak of the ‘Red October’ information.

I then urgently escaped from the warp. Fortunately, with the protection of the God-Emperor, I did not get lost in the turbulent waves of the warp.

When I came out of Mandeville Point, I encountered a group of Carcharodon warships fighting aliens.

This is a loyalist warband that has long roamed the edge of the Empire, and there are volumes of records in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I assisted the Carcharodon in destroying this Tau fleet, and the Astartes decided to use their battle flagship to assist us in our operations in gratitude for my help.

In this way, we obtained the support of a battleship-class warship, and their flagship "Nicol" performed extremely well in silent sailing.

After comprehensively analyzing our strengths and weaknesses, we worked together to formulate a mission to intercept and kill the Red October when it was contacting the enemy. The specific tactical details are..."

Long before saying goodbye to the Cinder Claws, Horatio had spoken with Tiberius and Neff to cover up the matter of the Cinder Claws and gene-seeds, and now he was just endorsing it.

Horatio clearly and word by word expressed the carefully crafted and seemingly flawless tactical plan, just like a senior strategist deducing a combat plan with a success rate of up to 98%.

"How did you know the rendezvous point between 'Red October' and the enemy at that time?" Lieutenant General Ma Lan asked about the remaining 2% of uncertainty.

"Intelligence, reconnaissance, and reasoning about the route."

Lieutenant General Malan listened and wrote down Horatio's words, and asked, "So what are you doing in Carpathia now?"

"His Excellency George Anson, the retired admiral of the Gothic Fleet, has a plan for the construction of a landing combat force for the Imperial Navy."

Horatio pulled out a military order from his bosom, and called up the electronic version of the construction plan from the portable data pad at hand, and respectfully pushed it to Lieutenant General Malan.

"The Human Empire now has Space Marines. These powerful warriors are more than capable of completing all the tasks you mentioned." The lieutenant general glanced at the data board, his face still serious and his tone cold.

"Yes, my Lord. But as we all know, there are not enough Space Marines to provide a detachment for every capital ship in the Navy.

The Imperial Guard (Astra Militarum) is the cornerstone of defending the Divine Emperor's territory, while the Imperial Navy is the vanguard of defending the Divine Emperor's universe.

You must be aware that in many cases, our Imperial Navy's fleets are often the first troops to arrive at the enemy's invasion battlefield.

However, after gaining air superiority, we could only watch as the enemies who had already landed on the ground slaughtered the people of the empire.

Moreover, after a long administrative approval process, when the reinforcements of the Star Army allocated by the Military Affairs Department arrived, the ground had already become a feast of demonic carnival and turned into a decadent and heavily defended bunker.

Then, the Astra Militarum would have to start from the beginning, landing on the beach, attacking the city, and retaking the entire planet bit by bit.

Aside from orbital bombardment and limited air support, there is nothing we can do unless we intend to enforce extermination orders.

But the corruption suffered by the planet is irreversible. Even if many threats are eradicated on the surface, we will never know when the heretics and traitors hiding in the dark underground will accumulate enough strength again to set off greater riots.

Therefore, Admiral George Anson hopes to form a reaction force for the Imperial Navy that is limited in size and equipment, with combat effectiveness far exceeding that of the planetary defense force, and can hold out until the Space Marines or Astra Militarum arrive, and can be deployed quickly, without violating the principles of the Guilliman Codex.

The force is established based on the capital ship classification. Warships of different sizes and scales are required to form naval landing combat forces of different scales.

The lowest level is a light cruiser, and each light cruiser should have at least a battalion-level landing combat force.

A cruiser should carry at least a battalion of landing combat troops.

The largest organization, such as a battleship, is no less than a landing combat force of the size of a combined brigade.

But please rest assured that the total number of landing combat forces carried by a single strike group fleet will never exceed the size of a "legion" of the Astra Militarum.

It will not be equipped with precious heavy equipment such as Leman Russ, Macharius, and Emperor's Bane Blade. Instead, it will use a large number of airborne light infantry, airborne light tanks, close-range aviation combat wings, and air-to-ground special operations forces.

Using mass and rapid mobility to make up for the lack of heavy equipment, and focusing on positional defense and surprise attacks on key locations as combat expertise. "

Lieutenant General Malan said nothing, but just listened quietly and recorded Horatio's words.

Horatio frowned slightly. He knew that a superior who never revealed any attitude and was extremely cunning was the most difficult to convince.

He had some understanding of this legendary commander as recorded in the official history, such as that he was a staunch believer in the state religion, had an unwavering faith in the God-Emperor, and his flagship was like a real flying cathedral.

All signs indicate that he is a stubborn dogmatist, and in his eyes, any change is probably difficult to accept.

"What is the legal basis for your military construction plan?" Lieutenant General Ma Lan suddenly stopped writing and raised this crucial question.

(End of this chapter)