Warhammer 40: Saviors Emerging from the Bottom

Both sides are making every effort to prepare for the impending war.

After assembling 5,000 noble private soldiers, Corra also conscripted more than 20,000 auxiliary troops guarding the satellite port, forming an army of nearly 30,000 that set off towards Zhongchao.

Within this clearly elite army, a group of nobles who looked like they were on a spring outing were squeezed in. Dressed in splendid attire, they leisurely followed behind the procession.

Their appearance led ordinary residents, unaware of the impending war, to believe that such a large-scale event was merely a whim of the governor to observe the people's conditions.

As for Xia Chao, after integrating his troops, Xiao Yi's first task was to recruit soldiers in the residential areas to fill all the vacant positions.

Any male aged 15 to 45 without physical disabilities can sign up. The compensation is simple: three meals a day, plus two extra corpse starch sticks every week.

Such conditions were already quite good for the residents of Xiachao who were struggling to survive. They could ensure that they would not starve to death and could also save up extra food for their families.

Human life is the cheapest thing in the Bakda Nest. Whether it's the lowest-ranking slave or the highest-ranking noble, you never know when you might suddenly die.

Therefore, most people value immediate benefits more. They eat first and worry about the future, regardless of whether they will die on the battlefield tomorrow.

There's no need to worry about weaponry or equipment. As the largest and most populous area in the entire Nest City, almost all basic production equipment requiring labor has been located here.

Basic weapons like laser guns and carbines are readily available in large quantities.

The availability of cheap civilian soldiers is one of Xiao Yi's few advantages in this war. Even after the baptism of the Nagle Plague, Xia Chao still has hundreds of millions of people.

Give everyone a weapon and you can easily raise an army of millions. But that's not how you fight a war. Conscripts with low morale are nothing more than two-legged targets in front of elite troops.

Ultimately, the outcome of a war depends on well-trained soldiers, and Xiao Yifang's most serious problem right now is the lack of such soldiers.

Of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers, only twenty to thirty thousand were truly capable fighters, and even these soldiers were unable to unleash their full potential due to issues with their weapons and equipment.

There's no chance of winning in a head-on confrontation; we can only pin our hopes on the tactical arrangements to come.

"I never imagined being a commander was so tiring. No wonder Lancelot always has those big bags under his eyes and looks like he has kidney deficiency."

Xiao Yi's eyes stung as he looked at the reports that almost filled the entire table.

He has not rested since taking over as the new supreme commander.

It took him half a day just to figure out the troop strength and weapon configuration of each of his regiments.

The regimental combat units in Bakda's hive are very disorganized; theoretically, each regiment should only have six thousand men.

However, due to various reasons, the number of people under each regimental commander varies, ranging from around 10,000 to only a few hundred.

Therefore, it is somewhat troublesome to understand their weapon and troop deployment in one go.

They could only rummage through a jumble of files to find and organize the unreliable data, and then combine it with the reports from various regimental commanders to arrive at a more reasonable conclusion.

Time was too tight, and Xiao Yi simply didn't have time to conduct a detailed investigation.

Fortunately, Matthias and others were there to help him, otherwise this alone would have given him a headache for a long time.

Matthias, who was organizing new files nearby, listened to Xiao Yi's complaints and said, "The lives of hundreds of thousands of people are in your hands. One wrong move and they could all be lost. You must be careful."

Xiao Yi got up and stretched his body, which was a little stiff from maintaining one posture for a long time.

"That's true, but who wouldn't want things to be easier? These wealthy nobles don't even bother to equip their armies with a few data tablets. All that paper material takes up a lot of time just to transport."

"Hmph, the noble lords won't invest too many resources in a bunch of common soldiers. If it weren't for the plague outbreak that required us to risk our lives, they wouldn't even be willing to pay their wages."

Robert pushed open the door and walked towards Xiao Yi's desk, where he held an important intelligence document.

That was the enemy information that Karan and his two companions had gathered, including troop deployment, marching conditions, and possible upcoming battle plans.

The reason they were sent was that, in the entire army, only three Astartes from the Blackfire Legion were capable of secretly approaching the elite scouts that the nobles had spent a fortune on without being detected.

This conclusion was reached after dozens of reconnaissance soldiers sacrificed their lives.

Seeing the somewhat resentful expression on Robert's face, Xiao Yi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The situation shouldn't be too bad, otherwise he wouldn't be in the mood to be angry.

After receiving the report, which was filled with dense text with almost no gaps, Xiao Yi's expression gradually became serious after scanning it. The situation was indeed not as bad as he had imagined, but it was not much better either.

Despite having overwhelming superior weaponry, the enemy forces outnumbered our forces by a third.

Relying on the prestige accumulated over generations by the governor and nobles, it would only take a few days to recruit tens of thousands more auxiliary troops.

We must find an opportunity, take the initiative, and win a victory that will put everyone at ease; only in this way can the war continue.

The only good news is that it's unlikely there will be any traitors surrendering on our side; the noble alliance's treatment of those who surrender can no longer be described as cruel.

That was utterly inhuman. The Slaanesh followers following behind the ranks were like a bunch of lunatics, killing indiscriminately. Anyone they felt was connected to the rebels would be mercilessly executed.

Facts don't matter, I only care about what I feel.

There has been a clear notice stating that anyone who has contact with the rebels, whether voluntarily or not, will be severely punished, even if they have spoken to them before.

Xiao Yi strongly suspected that this was just an excuse for Slaanesh believers to legalize their killings.

"Notify the commander in charge of guarding the passage between the middle and lower nests, and instruct them to be extra vigilant..."

Xiao Yi had only given half of his order when he suddenly stopped. In his psionic perception, a "steel chariot" was approaching his office at a terrifying speed of one hundred kilometers per hour.

If he continues to stand there, he is likely to be knocked away by the other party. He himself is fine, but Robert, an ordinary person, cannot withstand such a shock.

Xiao Yi grabbed Robert by the collar and pulled him aside. Before Robert could even ask what had happened, a large hole in the wall where the door was located was smashed open.

An enraged Friedrich slammed on the brakes about half a meter from Xiao Yi's desk and came to a stop. Without relying on any vehicle, he ran with the momentum of a warhorse charging forward on his own two legs.