Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 910, page 08.909: 'Special Ground Military Operations'

Outside the main viewport of the bridge, the starry sea was silent, with only the dying embers of a distant warp storm, like an unhealed scar, stretching across the black velvet curtain.

Inside the ship, the low rumble of plasma engines emanated from the deck, like the beating of a weary steel heart. The air was thick with the smell of ozone and the faint acrid odor of overloaded computers.

"Commander Cochrane, we must immediately clarify the priority of our operational objectives."

After a brief silence, Major General Bruyès' voice rang out again on the communications channel.

This time, his previous roars were replaced by a steely calmness, a composure born from a highly concentrated, unwavering will to withstand immense pressure.

His holographic image flickered slightly in front of Horatio, the signal flickering intermittently due to various interferences in the war zone.

"We face both ground missions and void battles simultaneously. My fleet crew has not received any ground combat training; their battlefield is in the stars, not on planetary surfaces. Therefore, the ground missions will have to be handled by your personnel. We will hold off the enemy fleet and buy you time."

The major general's image tilted forward, as if trying to pierce through the communication barrier and look directly into Horatio's eyes.

"Please note that due to the alien blockade, you can only lead a small, fast-strike fleet and must maintain 'silent navigation' throughout the entire process, infiltrating silently."

The route was filled with roaming orc raiding fleets and scattered soldiers.

Once they spot you, these scum will swarm you like piranhas smelling blood, tearing you to shreds.

“No problem.” Horatio’s voice was as calm as ever, without the slightest hint of emotion. “I plan to assign two light cruisers, one Cobra-Widowmaker-class reconnaissance destroyer, and the Scimitar-class escort ship Akali’s Sword to carry out this mission.”

The Sword of Akali was the only warship that underwent repairs between port of call. This was because, statistically, most of the merchant ronin's ships were escort vessels, so the port of call had relatively complete replacement parts that could be directly installed. The entire loading and unloading time was only enough to repair one escort vessel.

“But the safety of these charter fleets…” Horatio’s voice was tinged with worry.

"You dispatch the remaining escort ships from your fleet, and I will send another cruiser to escort the Charter convoy out of the war zone as quickly as possible. Time is of the essence, this is the only way. I have forwarded the Star Force's communication channel identification code to you; establish contact with ground forces immediately."

"clear."

Communications were cut off, and the Rear Admiral's image vanished into thin air. After a brief consultation and the transmission of orders, Horatio's flagship, the Swift Eagle, and the Provocation-class light cruiser Rising Feather, quickly separated from the massive main fleet.

Their engine lights dimmed, and the ship's lights went out one by one, as if merging into the darkness of deep space.

Following closely behind was a ghostly 'Cobra-Widowmaker' class reconnaissance destroyer, whose distinctive hull profile made it almost impossible to detect with optical search.

The Sword of Akali guarded the Swift Eagle, vigilant against dangers from the lower planes.

The four warships, like a few small fish venturing out to hunt for food at night, quietly headed towards the Death Starfield southwest of the Spiral Guard Line.

On the silent bridge of the Swift Skyhawk, Horatio connected to the theater's highest command and communications network using the identification code he had just received.

A holographic image, exhausted and on the verge of being completely crushed by the pressure, coalesced and took shape before him.

The image flickered with an ominous green light, interspersed with snow-like interference, as if the signal itself was wailing.

"Greetings, Your Excellency. I am... Lieutenant General Armand-Louis de Gunto Billon, Commander of the Spinning Guard Sector, here under orders from General Pailus, Commander-in-Chief of the Astronautical Forces in the Calicis Sector."

The man's voice was filled with barely concealed hesitation and anxiety.

He was dressed in what should have been an impeccable Sintira General's uniform, but the gold sash and scarf appeared crooked, and he looked haggard with sunken eyes.

Clearly, the continued deterioration of the war situation had severely eroded his physical health and appearance.

His adjutant, standing nearby, stiffly sent a tactical star map to Horatio, who was far away on the warship.

Horatio immediately grasped the gravity of the situation from the sight displayed on the main tactical projection screen on the bridge.

This war zone is like a hellish scroll torn apart by violence and betrayal.

That damned warp storm, and the massive green-skinned Waaaaagh that surged forth like a plague of steel and flesh, swiftly shattered the Imperial army's entire front. As a result, the main Imperial force, which was steadily advancing in the southwest to suppress the rebellion in the Principality of Severus, was abruptly cut in two by this sudden double calamity, leaving it unable to defend both ends.

"The incident occurred on Minerva," the lieutenant general said, his voice tinged with anxiety and exhaustion. "That was our frontline command post and storage world for suppressing the rebellion in the Principality of Severus. Those audacious traitors, those scoundrels who swore allegiance to the Emperor but then broke their oath, actively invaded our logistics base, attempting to seize the military equipment for themselves."

Our garrison reacted swiftly and thwarted the enemy's plot. But then... with a deafening roar in the sky, the green-skinned scum appeared. Their numbers were immense, like locusts swarming across the land, and our frontline troops were instantly caught in a desperate situation, attacked from both sides.

In the midst of the chaos, the alien beings from the Shadowlands—the Dark Eldar—like nightmares seeping from rifts in the Warp, silently launched that horrific decapitation strike.

He paused for a moment, as if forcing himself to say what he was about to say.

"Based on the fragmented intelligence we have obtained so far, the frontline commander, Major General Leclerc... is already standing beside the Golden Throne."

"What do you intend to do now, Lieutenant General?" Horatio became even calmer, because he knew that at this moment, there were many people panicking, and calmness was the most valuable asset in a chaotic battle. "Our fleet has just arrived in the war zone and the specific situation is still unclear."

Moreover, my military forces available for ground operations are extremely limited; I can only provide you with transport support via the 'Averus' landing craft and the 'Valkyrie' space transport aircraft.

"That's right, that's right! I need the Imperial Navy's fast-moving vehicles to complete emergency tactical deployments!"

The lieutenant general seemed to have grasped at the last straw, his image trembling violently with excitement. "Colonel, now that you have available mobile forces, the two most urgent military operations in our theater will require your troops to handle them at your disposal!"

Coincidentally, this Astral Army lieutenant general simply washed his hands of the task, leaving the mobile reinforcement work to the Imperial Navy, which should have been in charge of the void. If it had been another fleet that arrived, the lieutenant general would have been told that he could only provide orbital bombardment and could not help with ground operations.

The holographic image in front of Horatio was rapidly magnified from the star map of Minerva, eventually locking onto a piece of land completely shrouded in war and smoke.

"Major General Leclerc is an excellent soldier who is in charge of intelligence work for the entire theater of operations, including both our own and the enemy's."

He possessed a data core of the Thinker Array containing all the intelligence. Thanks to the desperate cover of his loyal agents, this data core was successfully moved to an abandoned data center not far from the suburbs when command was attacked.

But the core positioning beacon hasn't moved for a long time, and we suspect the agents who transported it have probably been killed.

The lieutenant general took a deep breath. "I hope that even if we can't take it back, we must destroy it completely. That's the top priority."

"Secondly, the area where the frontline command post is located is now situated within an ancient monastery."

This monastery has sturdy walls that can serve as an effective barrier, making it the only defensive stronghold we can use as a fortress in this area.

At this moment, the place was under simultaneous attack from three sides: the Severus rebels, the Dark Eldar, and the Greenskin Orcs, all drawn by the stored supplies and weapons. It was in grave danger.

"I have dispatched my best subordinate, Brigadier General Jean Lannes, a brigade commander, with his grenadier regiment to attempt to take over the leaderless 2nd Army."

However, the infiltrated Eldar are attempting to sever the monastery's central energy hub.

Once the energy hub loses its power supply, all fixed-point defensive artillery on the surrounding battlefields and railcars transporting ammunition to the front lines will be completely paralyzed.

The fall of the monastery was only a matter of time.

Brigadier General Rana's brigade, primarily composed of the 18th Grenadier Regiment (line infantry), lacked mobility and was unable to stop the aliens before the Dark Eldar destroyed our energy hubs.

Horatio was silent for a moment, with only the faint hissing of the life support systems on the bridge.

He spoke slowly, each word carrying undeniable weight: "...The mission is arduous. My men are not Astartes Space Marines, and every mission means enormous casualties and depletion of combat power."

"Colonel." The vice admiral, unfamiliar with the Imperial Navy system, addressed Horatio by the wrong rank.

The lieutenant general's voice suddenly rose, carrying a hint of the arrogant tone characteristic of Sintira nobles. He seemed to be issuing an unquestionable order to his subordinates, even though Horatio was not under his command in the chain of command. "The front lines are in grave danger. We rarely request the Imperial Navy to intervene in ground military operations, but now, apart from you, we have... really no other way to prevent this war from completely collapsing."

Your primary task is to hold the monastery as a stronghold; if it falls, our entire front, stretching over a hundred kilometers, will crumble.

(End of this chapter)