Warhammer 40k: Melee Warriors

"So you've lost your ambition again by now?" Mi Yang sighed.

The new garrison was a temporary military camp near the Shangchao residential area. The camp was converted from a house, and the residents had been conscripted to the front lines in previous recruitment drives, leaving only an empty room.

Reporting to his new superior, Miyan handed over the military order signed by the defense commander and saluted the gaunt man with the rank of major on his shoulder.

This position was already quite high for Mi Yang. You have to understand that she was just a non-commissioned officer, or more formally, a sergeant. In the regular army, she would only be a squad leader or a tank commander.

Komi, who was verbally promoted to adjutant by Miyan, had an even lower rank. In reality, he was still just an ordinary guard, and his rank was only to distinguish him from other soldiers who were not worth commemorating.

The organization of the Imperial Army follows a complete set of rules, but it can vary considerably due to the different situations in various regions.

While important positions such as Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard, Sun Lord, Star Commander, and Marshal can be promoted through standard procedures, the ranks of lower-ranking generals, colonels, majors, captains, lieutenants, sergeants, corporals, and privates are arranged in a variety of ways.

The reason why Miyan and the deceased probationary political commissar were able to command the 88th Mobilization Corps, which numbered over a thousand, was simply because the garrison of Red Mining World lacked suitable commanders. Therefore, they scattered the experienced veterans and made them lead clueless new recruits to take on the important responsibility of protecting the empire.

This overt difference in status becomes extremely apparent when joining troops with more complete personnel and better equipment.

At least that's how it seems to Koji. In the eyes of the conscripts like Ishi, Miyan, who is inviolable, is no different from a slightly larger ant in this army stationed at Shangchao.

“Sergeant Miyan?” the man asked instinctively, not intending for Miyan to explain further. “I am Major Faraday, who is specifically here to recruit you defeated soldiers. You guys who were lucky enough to escape with your lives from the political commissar’s gun and the orcs’ howls are now my soldiers. I don’t care how high your status was before. Once you’re in my reorganized battalion, you must obey my orders completely, understand?”

"Yes, Major Faraday."

"Very good." Major Faraday quickly scribbled on the paper and handed it to Miyan. "This is your dormitory. I hope you won't do anything stupid on your first day in the reorganization battalion, understand? I won't just give you a few lashes and let you off the hook. I'll hang you without mercy."

Major Faraday pointed with his pen to the execution platform in the distance where deserters and those who had violated military discipline had been hanged, hoping to intimidate the three men.

Having witnessed countless deaths and even more gruesome scenes, the three remained unmoved, even feeling a bit sleepy and wanting to yawn.

The new dormitory was nothing more than an empty room cleared of civilian belongings. The room, originally designed for two people to live in, was now crammed with 12 beds made of iron plates. The demoralized soldiers spent their time in the dormitory, their faces showing fear of war and worry about their own fate.

"Where do you think they'll send us? I don't want to fight anymore..."

"Where are we going? Where else can we go? We're definitely going to be sent to the most dangerous battlefield to die. Getting into the reorganized battalion is like having one foot in a suicide squad. Either you cut off an orc's head to make a name for yourself, or you die on the way to the charge."

"Then why not send us to the newly formed army? I shouldn't be here; I just lost contact with the 1314th Conscription Regiment."

"The 1314th Mobilization Corps has been decimated long ago. Forget about rebuilding, it can't even supply personnel!"

"why?"

"What else could it be? The conscription law has been abolished. The higher-ups think that the current military strength is enough to completely wipe out the orcs, so why bother building a new army?"

The door creaked open.

Komi and the others stood at the door. The conversation inside the room had stopped. The soldiers looked over with wary and curious eyes, feeling that the murderous aura emanating from the three of them made their eyes uncomfortable and dry, as if a group of burly orcs had stood at the door.

Based on this feeling alone, the soldiers in the dormitory knew not to provoke the three people in front of them.

Komi walked to an empty bed, which was covered with a dusty blanket.

Komi didn't mind and lay down on it, closing her eyes to rest.

The inexplicable buzzing sound from the central tunnel pipes brought him comfort and peace, finally giving his long-tense nerves a chance to relax.

Sleepiness tugged at Komi's eyelids, making him unwilling to open them again. In this state of exhaustion, Komi fell into a deep sleep.

Life suddenly became peaceful, which made the three people, who had experienced various crises, feel somewhat uneasy.

Most of the time, Komi lay on the iron plate, staring blankly at the gray ceiling, repeatedly recalling the Warhammer books he had read.

After all, there was no other entertainment in this place, and he was too lazy to ask Gu Jian, who was like a loudmouth who couldn't keep secrets, to recount in detail all the things he did in the lower nests and the bottom nests.

Chapter 49: Commissar Tran's Mobilization

Miyan simply went about his work quietly, thinking of his hometown of Kadia, wiping the laser pistol in his hand, and offering the emperor his most sincere blessings.

Stone also fell silent. He often stood by the window, gazing at the deathly silent Upper Nest complex, tears streaming down his face as he thought of his dead comrades and the utterly destroyed Lower Nest.

Almost every one or two days, new defeated soldiers would arrive at the reorganization battalion to report for duty. Sometimes it was one or two people, sometimes it was hundreds. They were all received by Major Faraday and placed in increasingly crowded temporary dormitories.

These past few days, Gu Jian, lying to one side, has been listening to the idle chatter of the other soldiers. Most of it is about how terrifying the orcs are and how many of them they killed in a single attack.

Or perhaps the army's supplies were so scarce that most of them starved to death before they even saw the orcs, and some classes even went so far as to cut off human flesh and roast it to eat.

Komi sorted through his memories and found that the most important information he had heard was only these few.

First, there was the abolition of the Conscription Law, which seems to have happened when the 88 Conscription Legion disguised themselves as Orcs.

After the decree was issued, all the formation of mobilization corps would be suspended. Existing mobilization corps would receive supplies but not replacements. They would be deployed to the battle in a depleted state and then form strange organizations like the 145-8882 Joint Mobilization Corps with other mobilization corps that were also understaffed.

The originally large mobilization force gradually shrank after this decree was promulgated until it disappeared completely.

Now, the main task of fighting the orcs has fallen to the planetary defense forces that originally existed in the Red Mining World. Komi remembers that they performed quite well in the early stages of the battle against the orcs, but their numbers were far fewer than the orcs', so much so that they could not fill the front lines completely.

Mi Yang told Gu Jian this knowledge before she was dispersed into the mobilization corps and commanded a ten-man squad, four of whom were his fellow villagers.

Another issue that Komi found important was that the soldiers talked about the epidemic, which was one of the reasons why Uesugi was so dilapidated.

After the orcs launched a fierce attack on the fortress, more and more wounded soldiers went untreated and were hastily left on the plaza, groaning as they waited for medical supplies.

The delivery of these life-saving medicines was delayed again and again, and the soldiers couldn't explain why. They could only guess that an immoral nobleman had embezzled the medicines, or that a treacherous insect had sabotaged the shipment, or that an orc special forces soldier had destroyed all the medicine supplies with a brilliant surprise attack.

Before the orcs split, the number of wounded in the stronghold was already suffocating. The most inhuman general in the army could have suggested executing the wounded to end their suffering, but he also needed to consider how much morale damage it would cause to the army if his own men executed their own men.

They were neither the Kadians who guarded the portal to the Eye of Fear, nor the Kriegs born in the world of the dead; they were just a group of ordinary conscripts loyal to the throne.

Mutiny, executions, and more deaths and injuries.

Then the disease broke out in the pile of corpses and then swept through the entire Upper Nest.

When talking about the worst days of the disease, the soldiers who gathered together to chat also showed lingering fear on their faces.

In those days, the sky above Shangchao was filled with smoke from burning corpses. Every second, hundreds of people were taken from their homes by the ruthless army, hastily executed, and then doused with promethium and burned to ashes.

Gu Jian found it increasingly bizarre, thinking that this disease couldn't possibly be related to Nagu.

He tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, his eyes filled with images of plague-infected zombies staggering toward him.

Koji sighed and gripped the axe at his side. "I hope the higher-ups can nip this in the bud instead of having a meltdown. I've already taken down the orc warlords, I can't possibly have to kill a bunch of Nurgle cultists too, can I?"

The dejected and gloomy atmosphere of the entire reorganized battalion changed after the arrival of a political commissar, Tran, who had helped Komi before.

He looks even more frightening now; no coward would dare come within three meters of him.

Commissar Tran had a chainsaw sword with replaced serrations hanging from his waist. His black and red military overcoat tightly wrapped his beast-like, strong physique. Just by standing there, this man exuded the important message that he was not someone to be trifled with.

Commissar Tran stood on the dried-up fountain platform, while Major Faraday stood below, checking each member of the team before him to see if there were any shortages.

The square was filled with soldiers from the reorganized battalion. Sensing the imposing presence of Commissar Tran, they straightened their backs, fearing that he might grab them and whip them for their poor discipline.

Commissar Tran's gaze swept over the soldiers of varying heights and builds like a heavy laser cannon firing, then he cleared his throat and roared at them in his modified voice.

"You are the Second Reorganized Battalion. It is a great honor to see so many soldiers with all their arms and legs returning from the battlefield. It means that you still have the opportunity to continue to serve the Emperor with your loyalty."

"But!" Commissar Tran's tone changed, becoming as dangerous as a knife slicing open a person's throat, "There must be cowards among you who ran away in fear! They were lucky to evade the commissar's supervision, lucky to evade the orcs' sense of smell, and finally made it to the Upper Nest behind the wall alive!"

Of course, where there are cowards, there are also warriors. I believe that not all of you are deserters; there must be stragglers who fought to the death and lost contact with the main force.

Commissar Tran paused, his prosthetic eye, glowing red, contracted and expanded, scanning the faces of each soldier and analyzing their psychological state.

"The Second Reorganized Battalion is a new beginning. I will not dwell on your past. I will only look at your future performance. If you display any behavior that would bring shame to the throne, I will not hesitate to send you to your deaths!"

The chainsaw sword rang out at just the right moment, its buzzing sound and the smell of fuel exhaust making Commissar Tran's expression murderous.

Those soldiers who were truly skilled liked Commissar Tran's style and subconsciously raised their heads, staring intently at him.

Those soldiers who fled to save their lives had twitching eyelids and their palms sweating with guilt.

"You have to give a carrot as well as a stick," Commissar Tran, a veteran commissar, knew this principle well.

He then reached into his robes and pulled out a piece of parchment with gold-stamped edges and a certificate from the Ministry of Military Affairs.

Amid the soldiers' puzzled gazes, Commissar Tran proclaimed an exciting fact.

"The reorganized battalion currently has only two officers: one is me, the political commissar you should all respect! The other is Major Faraday. The remaining positions of captain, lieutenant, sergeant, corporal, etc., are all vacant. I will give you the opportunity to prove your abilities. The one who stands at the end will become a high-ranking officer."

I don't need to explain what being a high-ranking officer means, do I? Better equipment! Better treatment! Higher status! And greater loyalty to the Emperor!

Chapter 50: An Extremely Hasty Promotion

After Commissar Tran finished his rant, the square fell into a long silence, and the soldiers reacted differently to his words.

Some strong, veteran soldiers with gleaming eyes were eager to fight, looking like they were the only ones who could do it.

Some thin, war-terrified soldiers also harbored hopes and wanted to gamble on their luck.

Komi then said to Sergeant Miyan standing beside him, "This is a formal appointment, which is much more valuable than your verbal promises."

Mi Yang rolled his eyes at Gu Jian, looking somewhat embarrassed. "If our organization hadn't completely collapsed, I could definitely have applied for a corporal position for you." At this point, Mi Yang couldn't help but sigh. "If only our merits among the orcs could be recorded, you would become a hero."

"Hero my ass! Someone who slaughtered the Hunter like a chicken is a hero? I'd probably be shot in the back and kill myself the next day."

"How could that be! The military would never allow nobles to harm a hero, and the state religion would treat you like a saint, engraving your deeds on a monument for the world to admire."

"Maybe."

Koji shrugged, indicating that he didn't care much about honors. Although the treatment had indeed improved significantly, seeing Commissar Tran's anxious look, becoming a high-ranking officer only meant that they would be thrown into more dangerous battlefields.

They might not even have had a chance to warm up their new military rank before they died on the battlefield, before their standard officer rations were fully digested.

Koji thought this to himself, and his face showed that he didn't care. But if it really came down to a martial arts competition to determine military rank, he would definitely go up and give it a shot.

She could even help Mi Yang; she's far more professional than Komi in handling military reports and documents.

Koken felt that he was only good at commanding orcs, since those orcs and bastards were always being given rough commands.

If Komi were to actually lead a force of a hundred or a thousand men, he felt that his half-baked skills wouldn't be up to the task.

It would be better to be a veteran who specializes in boosting morale and killing enemy generals, simply hacking the enemy to death with a few blows.

If you have any ideas, just tell Mi Yang directly. As a Cardiac, she will systematically carry out Komi's ideas.

After sighing, Mi Yang frowned. She knew a lot about the things that happened in the military, and she felt something was wrong when she saw Commissar Tran promoting officers so hastily with orders from the command headquarters.

There must have been a power struggle at the top. Even the establishment of this reorganized battalion was probably the result of the military squeezing it out of the nobles.

With a formidable enemy at hand, these people still have the mind to play their own power games! This would never happen in Cardia! They'd all be loaded into torpedoes and launched towards the Eye of Terror!

Mi Yang grew angrier the more he thought about it, and all his resentment towards the higher-ups finally turned into a helpless sigh.

Just as Koken often told her, this was the Red Mining World, a desolate place on the edge of the Emperor's Light. She could only helplessly accept it all and pray that capable and loyal people would uphold their loyalty to the Emperor and set things right in time.

After Commissar Tran produced the certificate of appointment, the soldiers in the square became increasingly restless.