Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 972 (08.971): 'Both Enemy and Friend'

After changing into a brand-new, crisp naval uniform, Horatio, accompanied by several guards and his chief accountant, Eunice, boarded the magnificent battleship "Paris City".

This is a solid and reliable Retribution-class battleship, the kind of core main force that any fleet would absolutely rely on—its plasma macro gun array and sturdy adamantine armor endow it with outstanding firepower and reliable defense, making every appearance of it a death knell for the Empire's enemies.

The interiors of the ships in the Calicus fleet were not much different from the style of the Gothic fleet that Horatio was familiar with.

Aside from the crew's distinctive Low Gothic dialect, everything, from the strict discipline to the departmental organization, strictly adhered to the Imperial Navy's standard operating procedures.

This may be because, regardless of the star system, the essence of the navy is to manipulate war creations composed of billions of parts and built according to the ancient STC standardized template.

Although the internal details may vary due to refurbishments and adjustments made during the casting world and service history, its core remains the massive plasma engine, the magnificent weapon array, the complex astronomical array, the imposing command bridge, and the iconic armored bow carrying devastating weapons.

The meeting place chosen by Admiral Latouche-Trewell was his own study—one of the most private places on the magnificent battleship.

Led by the admiral's attendant, Horatio quickly arrived at his destination aboard the ship's dedicated magnetic railcar.

From the ship's structure, the admiral's residence is located directly above the captain's residence. It is a mezzanine structure occupying two decks, and its luxury is comparable to the ancient palace of Terra.

The towering dome is painted with murals depicting the famous naval battles of the Calissis Sector, and the walls are paved with precious redwood from a world that has been extinct. The air is filled with the scents of old books, amasec, and a faint aroma of incense.

It must be emphasized that the term "Admiral's Quarters" refers to the living quarters of all naval officers.

Whether it's a Rear-Admiral, a Vice-Admiral (commander of the vanguard fleet), or an Admiral (commander of the main fleet), they can all use it.

Essentially, all three levels of generals are "Admiral," which can be understood as generals.

Therefore, even a rear admiral, aboard the flagship of the rearguard fleet under his command, also lived in the "admiral's residence".

When Horatio arrived before the old general, he was sitting upright at an elegant old mahogany desk, using a quill pen to sign various fleet orders and command arrangements on rolls of parchment sent by the staff officers.

Horatio's unusually tall and imposing stature immediately caught the old general's attention as soon as he entered.

“I’ve read your proposal,” the old general said without looking up, his voice like two pieces of granite rubbing together. “I have to say, that old bastard Anson has some skills. I’ve been competing with him for half my life, but I never thought that I would be outmaneuvered by him as I approach retirement.”

He handed a signed piece of parchment to the staff officer beside him, and an order was immediately taken away and relayed through the ship's communication system.

[Open and covert struggles?] Cold sweat trickled down Horatio's temples.

"So, how do you expect the Calithis fleet to cooperate with you?" In this purely military setting, the old man spoke frankly and without any preamble.

He seemed to sense Horatio's concerns and continued, "Don't worry, although George Anson and I are rivals, anyone who can become my lifelong rival must be an outstanding figure whom I acknowledge. My struggle with him stems from differing positions and viewpoints on the development of the fleet, not from a desire for fame or profit. So you can rest assured, I will only use my achievements to convince him fairly and squarely, and I will not harm others by causing him trouble."

"Since you are so frank, I will not hide anything either. Please help us overcome the political obstacles and provide support in terms of funding and stance." Horatio stated the core purpose of his trip in a straightforward manner.

“Political resistance may be difficult, but…” The old admiral paused, raised his head, and scrutinized Horatio with his green tactical prosthetic eye, “As for funding, we can meet your actual needs. After all, the achievements of the Gothic Fleet are basically equivalent to those of our Calicus Fleet.”

In this world, the easiest way to get something done is to spend money, while the hardest way is to spend money and also use your brain. The leader of the Calesis fleet chose the former without hesitation.

[It's better to reap the rewards than to toil and struggle. No wonder he's a veteran who's stood firm for decades in the turbulent political struggles.] Horatio thought to himself.

"No problem. As long as your fleet can afford it, we will definitely deliver results."
-
The atmosphere in the fleet commander's library reception room was solemn and dignified.

The towering mahogany cabinets on all four sides, filled with countless data boards and precious physical books, make it hard to call this an ordinary cabin.

A thick burgundy carpet stretched from the top of the steps all the way to the floor of this magnificent drawing room, covering every corner like a solidified wave.

A large, long table was set on a velvet carpet. Horatio and his accountant sat on the left side of the table, while the representatives of the Sintira military reform faction sat on the right, directly opposite them. The person in charge of this meeting, General Latouche-Tréville, sat solemnly at the head of the table.

"The Imperial Navy wants to establish its own ground forces? Hmph." General Nansuti, commander of the Third Cavalry Corps, spoke with a hint of mockery.

He took the thick stack of documents from Horatio and began to skim through them.

However, when his gaze fell on the center of the plan, his cloudy old eyes suddenly widened.

Immediately afterwards, his brows furrowed tightly, and there was no longer any hint of disdain on his face.

"As detailed in the document, we intend to establish a vanguard force for orbital landings."

They will be deployed aboard the ship, serving as the vanguard in both planetary reconquest and defense. As the commander of the Third Cavalry Corps, I believe you will find their combat style relatable.

"Swift as the wind, silent as the forest, fierce as fire, immovable as a mountain." General Nansuti slowly read out his evaluation of the document's contents, his eyes revealing admiration. "That's right, that's right, this is exactly the form I envision a high-quality army should take. Young man, did you write all these detailed and targeted plans?"

"I have merely incorporated some of my own shallow ideas into the wisdom of the ancient sages." Horatio smiled, humbly quoting the wisdom from Sun Tzu's *The Art of War*, Chapter 1, "Military Maneuvers": "We hope this force can compensate for the current sluggishness in tactical coordination between the Imperial Navy and the Astragalus Force, and fill the predicament of the Navy occupying orbits in the Void Wars, yet the troop transports carrying the Astragalus Force have been delayed in arriving. This will give us a strategic first-mover advantage."

"Our requirement for this force is that it may not be large in number, but it must be elite. The ratio of soldiers to crew members is about 1:5, so a Retribution-class battleship can carry an orbital landing force of about 50,000 to 60,000 people."

However, he deliberately avoided revealing a fact that outsiders should not know: if the original 50,000 naval armed security troops (armed sailors and boarding troops) on the Retribution-class battleships are added, the total number of usable ground troops on such a naval warship will exceed 100,000.

"Isn't this total too much?" General Nansutti asked seriously, his voice tinged with wariness. "We all know that the Imperial Navy and the Imperial Guard were completely separated because of the painful lessons of the Great Rebellion. If a Void Giant Ship, fully loaded with such a massive armed force, were to launch a rebellion, the consequences would be unimaginable."

“No need to worry, General.” Horatio was prepared. “First of all, in our plan, the naval armed security forces will specialize in boarding and counter-boarding operations on warships, and will not receive systematic field training like the orbital landing forces.”

With light weapons as their mainstay and lacking medium and heavy firepower and vehicles, they would be no match for organized Astral Army forces on the ground.

While the orbital landing force is large in number, a rare Retribution-class battleship can only carry 50,000 to 60,000 men. A typical cruiser can only carry about 30,000 men.

Based on the typical size of a vanguard fleet battle group in the 41st millennium,

Horatio presented the formation diagrams of the vanguard fleets of the Gothic and Calicus fleets, stating, "Our vanguard fleet can only deploy a maximum of about 300,000 orbital landing troops."

He went on to say:
"These 300,000 lightly armed troops are like a mantis trying to stop a chariot in the face of the millions of Astronauts, and cannot pose a significant strategic threat at all."

In particular, you will notice that, in order to avoid functional conflicts with the Astronautical Army, our orbital landing forces are not equipped with any active main battle tanks or any heavy siege artillery.

This makes them even less able to compete with the Astragalus, a force focused on ground combat, in terms of armored forces, and also makes them unable to breach the strong hive city defense system.

However, this number of personnel is essential for planetary defense warfare, orbital assaults, and seizing landing sites.

Otherwise, too few troops would make the success rate of the entire operation almost zero—even with 300,000 men, after deploying troops to defend the core areas of several hive cities or simultaneously capturing landing points in several key areas of a planet, the remaining forces would be stretched thin, making it impossible to hold the footholds. In that case, everything would be in vain after suffering heavy casualties.

[If you include the void forces inside the ship, the total number is approximately 60.] Horatio calculated the actual armed forces in his mind. But now that things had come to this, he would not take the initiative to explain.

After listening, General Nansuti remained silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.

He said nothing more and turned his gaze to his adjutant and tactician, a professional Marine officer.

"Brigadier General Rana, what are your thoughts on this?"

(End of this chapter)