Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 363 Reinforcements Arrive (Seventh Update)
Just as Chen Yu had predicted, the Devourer's attack method was simple and brutal.

Countless airdrop pods, like burning meteorites, ignored any orbital tactical advantages and crashed straight into the surface of the dead planet, blasting open desecrated landing zones in the wasteland surrounding the base.

Before the hatch was fully opened, ferocious roars and the roar of explosive guns tore through the air. These madmen, implanted with Butcher's Nails, charged at the defensive line like hungry beasts, wielding chain axes and power claws with no strategy.

Chen Yu calmly observed the battlefield situation, and the evaluation of this tactic in the computing core was only two words: inefficient.

The escort ships in orbit have withdrawn, and the entire world of death is now completely undefended.

The World Eater's fleet could recklessly lower its altitude and enter near-Earth orbit, using light spears and macro cannons for precise and devastating orbital bombardment, completely erasing the ancient ruins and his painstakingly constructed canyon experimental field from the planet's surface.

Even if they wanted to seize the technology or samples in his hands, the optimal solution would be to weaken and suppress him through continuous orbital strikes until his defenses collapsed to an acceptable level, and then send out small teams for precise cleanup.

However, this group of lunatics chose the most direct and also the most foolish method—a ground assault.

“Logic is missing, and tactical thinking is completely overwhelmed by the desire to kill.” Chen Yu’s synthesized voice calmly stated the conclusion in the command center, “Their behavior pattern is exactly the same as the choices made by their original genetic material on Istvan 5.”

He recalled that historical record, in which Angron also abandoned orbital superiority and insisted on deploying ground troops to engage in bloody hand-to-hand combat with the loyalists.

Today, his descendants have perfectly inherited this "tradition".

Perhaps, in their brains, constantly scorched by the butcher's nails and left with only anger and pain, the concepts of "tactical advantage" and "efficiency" simply do not exist.

Close-quarters combat, the tactile sensation of flesh flying everywhere, and the feedback of skulls shattering under the chainsaw—these were the only things they craved.

Chen Yu quickly adjusted his defensive strategy.

Faced with such a reckless charge, fortified positions, interlocking fire networks, and precise long-range strikes will become the most effective tools for reaping the rewards.

He ordered the Christian Guard to tighten their defenses and create multi-layered fire traps using fortifications. Intelligent machine guns were deployed at key points to compensate for their numerical inferiority with their tireless and precise firing.

The Knight Mechs serve as a mobile counter-attack force, ready to crush any cluster that breaks through the firepower network.

Since the other side is determined to fight a bloody ground war, he will use the calmest and most efficient method to turn this wasteland into a slaughterhouse for the world devourers.

They crave close combat? Then let them bleed to their last drop on their way to the front lines.
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Just as Chen Yu was calmly reaping the raging tide of the World Eaters while relying on the defensive line, Sigismund and his Black Templar fleet were also rushing towards the World of Death at the maximum speed they could reach.

However, the turmoil in the warp did not subside; deadly energy storms continued to rage, hindering normal deep-sea navigation.

In this situation, the conventional approach is to look for gaps in the storm or detour, but this means unpredictable delays.

Sigismund doesn't have the time.

He issued an unconventional order: "Abandon deep diving. Adopt shallow-jump mode and keep the fleet navigating the gap between the edge of the real universe and the subspace."

This is an ancient and inefficient method of navigation, usually used only by Imperial colony fleets or small patrol fleets that lack powerful navigators or high-performance subspace engines.

Like skipping stones on a turbulent sea, the ship briefly cuts into the subspace surface, using its thrust to complete a short-distance faster-than-light jump, and then quickly detaches, returning to the physical universe to reposition itself.

Each "glide" can only cover a distance of several to tens of light-years before it must surface to avoid the enormous risks and navigational deviations caused by prolonged exposure to the edge of subspace.

Its efficiency is far lower than that of long-duration, high-speed travel in the depths of the subspace. But at this moment, the advantage of this method becomes apparent—it is almost unaffected by the terrifying storms in the depths of the subspace.

The fleet can be like a stubborn rock going against the current, moving forward towards its goal with difficulty but perseverance and determination.

The "Eternal Expedition" and its escort ships transformed into a series of silent catapults, stubbornly shortening the distance to the world of death with each short leap.

Each scan conducted during brief exits from the warp failed to detect any other intercepting fleets, which seemed to confirm Sigismund's judgment that the main obstacles were concentrated in the Deathworld itself and the Death Guards he had encountered before.

The journey was greatly extended, and time was passing by second by second.

Sigismund stood on the bridge, as solid as a rock, gazing out the portholes at the bizarre and ever-changing subspace surface.

He could imagine how intense the battles were in the world of death, and what kind of pressure Chen Yu was facing alone.

All he can do now is to get there as quickly as possible, at all costs.

Even if it's like crawling like a tortoise, it's still better than stagnation.
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Just as Sigismund's fleet was struggling to move forward in a clumsy but determined "skipping stones" manner, reinforcements from the Nexus Forgeworld were traversing this disturbed warp in a completely different way, showcasing the technological prowess of the Mechanicus.

Despite the ongoing subspace storms affecting the galaxy, which seemed like an invisible giant hand trying to strangle all routes to the world of death, the expeditionary fleet composed of the Apostolic Guardians and Titans was not fundamentally hindered in its voyage.

Ships of the Mechanicus, especially those capital ships belonging to important casting worlds, are often equipped with ancient engines and sophisticated navigation equipment that far exceed the standard models of the Imperial Navy.

They do not rely entirely on the navigator's psychic vision, but rather combine an inertial navigation system based on the ancient STC template, powerful calculations from a star map database, and mathematical model predictions of subspace tidal patterns.

In some extreme cases, they can even activate a powerful Geller force field stabilization array, like an icebreaker, to forcibly carve out a short but stable passage through the raging subspace energy over a relatively short voyage.

At this moment, deep within the core of this colossal ship that forms the core of the world fleet—a massive mechanical ark—countless Tech Priests, in collaboration with a powerful array of Thinkers, are continuously calibrating the course in the form of binary prayers.

The enhanced Geller force field projected from the bow acts like a wedge, forcibly pushing back the surging subspace energy. Although this requires a huge amount of energy and puts enormous pressure on the ship's structure, it is indeed effective.

The fleet maintained a disciplined formation, like a giant metal whale steadily sailing through raging waves. Although its speed was slowed by resisting the storm, its course remained clear and unwavering as it headed toward Mandeville, the point of the dead world.

Finally, in the void of the physical universe, the faint outline of the planet of the Death World gradually magnified in the field of vision.

The fleet successfully broke through the storm blockade, escaped the subspace, and anchored steadily in the planet's orbit.

Almost simultaneously, on the surface of the Death World, Chen Yu's sensor array received the identification signal from the orbit.

That unique, encrypted mechanical binary greeting announced the arrival of reinforcements.

The massive transport ship began releasing a swarm of landing craft and transport planes, each carrying two full complements of Hongzhi's Pacifist soldiers and war machines.

Even more striking were the specially designed, enormous transport ships adjusting their positions, their temple-like cargo holds slowly opening, preparing to release the sleeping war god within—the Titans belonging to the Steelhound Legion.

The mastermind behind this might be able to mobilize the Greenskins, activate the Deathguards, and even stir up the Warp to some extent, but its power is clearly insufficient to simultaneously and effectively block reinforcements from the Black Templars and a fully mobilized Forgeworld.

The scales are beginning to tip.

(End of this chapter)