Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 982, page 08.981: 'On the Eve of the Operation'

"You... want the power of the Imperial Knights?" she asked cautiously.

"Yes." Horatio made no attempt to hide his intentions. He even casually put his feet up on the table, his posture relaxed, but his words were sharp as knives. "When the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Navy were separated, it was not said that the Imperial Navy could not operate with knight mechs."

As you know, the number of ODT troops is destined to be small.

If we don't strive to improve the quality of individual soldier combat and acquire powerful individual combat units, then an orbital landing force lacking tanks, heavy artillery, and manpower will be utterly ineffective on the brutal ground battlefield, and will most likely meet a gruesome end.

He paused, his eyes gleaming with recollection: "Moreover, unlike the Titan Legion's outrageously cumbersome deployment process, the Imperial Knights have dedicated transport ships and airdropped Knight Castles that can be brought down from the sky."

I have personally witnessed the magnificent sight of that mobile fortress, nearly fifty meters high, descending from the sky like a deity.

“You’re quite the ambitious one,” she remarked sharply, though without a hint of sarcasm. “But most people in this world only have ambition, without the ability or plan to realize it. You, however, have shown me your execution skills, and they align with my goals.”

He smiled, a smile carrying a profound meaning that others could not comprehend: "If you ever see what humanity is about to face, you will understand and firmly support what I am doing today."

“I agree to cooperate with you,” her tone became firm, “but can you recruit enough reservists and train them into qualified soldiers in such a short time?”

"Yes," Horatio replied decisively. "I've made the necessary preparations."
-
The promise of full Imperial citizenship in exchange for service, coupled with salaries and logistical benefits far exceeding the average level of the Star Forces, sparked an astonishing enthusiasm for enlistment among the starving Polaberians in refugee camps.

They signed up so enthusiastically that the reserve force of the 13th Dragoon Brigade quickly exceeded the initial planned size.

Selection of the best candidates became urgent. Thus began a hellish training regimen.

Jiong! Jiong! Jiong!
"Even laser guns can't hit these moving targets! If you were really fighting the Dukali Xenomorphs, those sadistic lunatics would have already ripped your eyes and tongues out of your heads!"

*Swoosh! Swoosh!* (The sound of an entrenching tool digging into the sand)
"The foxholes are being dug so slowly! Stop in five minutes! Tonight, you'll all sleep in the foxholes you've dug in five minutes! Anyone who digs too shallow will be buried alive by the sandstorm tomorrow morning!"

On the obstacle course training field, the roars were deafening.

"Hurry up! You rookies! Speed ​​things up! In Katachon, you're already hanging up by poisonous vines, being crushed into nutrients for plants! Speed ​​things up! If I catch you, you're dead! I'll kick your asses raw with my terracotta boots!"

Rapidly airdropping onto the training tower.

"Coward! Get off my Valkyrie!!" (A perfectly timed kick of military boots—)
"what!!!!"

"Remember! You are the Emperor's sharp blade, not cowards who avoid battle!"

Following Horatio's meticulously prepared training plan, an efficient yet brutal soldier-building program began.

The training regiment from Krieg is responsible for teaching new recruits the most standard military tactics and techniques of the Astrakhan, as well as their specialty in fortified defense training.

From assembling and maintaining firearms to precision shooting and bayonet fighting; from digging trenches and foxholes to the engineers' construction and demolition skills; and finally to the mass assault. Every step was executed to the almost self-torturous standards of the Kriegs.

Meanwhile, Master Sergeant Valina and the stormtrooper sergeants of the fleet security forces were responsible for overseeing and verifying the final results of the training.

Using the most stringent and inhumane standards, through layers of elimination and screening mechanisms and even training mortality rates, they trained these newly selected ODT soldiers into more elite and deadly warriors than ordinary Astronaut soldiers, in order to meet Horatio's high standards for this orbital landing force.

Everything is proceeding in full swing.

Although the training standards are outrageously rigorous, the soldiers enjoy a comprehensive and luxurious logistical network, warm and comfortable barracks, and an unbelievably abundant supply of materials. In their fixed camps, they toil in the windswept sands during the day, and enjoy ample rest and recreation in the warm, windproof barracks during the cold nights.

Their rations were provided directly by the Calithis fleet, and many of them consisted of precious alien ingredients stored in the warships' cold storage, rather than the kind of military biscuits made from pressed corpse starch that tasted like chalk and salt.

The ingredients were transported from orbit to the Swift Eagle by the Averus landing craft on the same day, thawed, and cooked.

In the well-equipped galleries of the warship, the food, cooked into fragrant morsels, was then transported steaming hot to the surface by landing craft.

For these former third-class citizens, such camp life was like a legendary paradise.

But as an elite force, they wouldn't stay in the comforts of their barracks for long.

When the military operation began, they were issued fireless heating food and communal meals prepared by the Horatio cooks on board the ship, modeled after the standard rations of the triumphant army of the ancient Terran Sinian Dynasty.

Flameless heating food packs are essentially self-heating individual food packages, designed as integrated packs containing three meals a day. They are similar in nature to MRE (Military Responsibility Equipment) ration packs from the 3K era, easily carried by both infantry and cavalry using military backpacks.

The communal rations were much heavier and larger, containing all the field supplies needed by six soldiers for 24 hours—or, in other words, the amount of food a soldier would need for six whole days.

While these bulky ration bags are inconvenient for individual soldiers to carry, this is not a problem for ODT.

The Navy's newly acquired "Arion" eight-wheeled armored vehicle has a large enough interior space to allow soldiers to cram supplies, baggage, ammunition, and various heavy and special weapons into the vehicle's compartment.

As a modern mechanized infantry unit, their squad vehicles are mobile barracks.

In battle, soldiers will fight around their vehicles; and in defense, tanks also serve as their most reliable supply points and mobile depots.

Of course, Horatio didn't expect these recruits to finish training so quickly and become soldiers who met his requirements on the spot. Sending them behind enemy lines to launch an air assault would be tantamount to suicide.

The main force of this raid will consist of the original First and Second Battalions of the New Earth Dragon Cavalry Regiment, the remaining veteran Hell Elite Troopers, and veterans he has handpicked from the Imperial Navy Armed Forces.

Meanwhile, in the void orbit, a tactical plan targeting the enemy is being rapidly formulated.

Since the Sintira flintlock regiments likely had enemy informants, Horatio did not intend to involve them in any of his operational planning, nor did he intend to tell them any operational plans.

On the side of the military reform faction, only Brigadier General Jean Lannes communicated and coordinated with him directly.

As a precaution, Brigadier General Rana used a one-person-one-order model when issuing orders, so none of the battalion commanders who received the orders knew the full picture of the plan.

They only knew their own combat mission and tasks, and launched an attack independently or in coordination with friendly forces in the surrounding area when the battle began.

This is the biggest advantage of the Sintila military reform, which changed "regiment" to "brigade" and "brigade" to "battalion" – each battalion commander only needs to focus on the task at hand, resulting in a flat command hierarchy and extremely flexible response.

The tactical plan was finalized after working around the clock for several days.

Operation codename: Who else but me?

On the other hand, Farida and They, who were in charge of secretly investigating Cintira's informants, also made a breakthrough.

(End of this chapter)