Warhammer: Empire Reboot

Chapter 120 One Million Nodes, A New Enhancement Path

The exercise was based on the following assumptions:

On the day of the ship capture, Lawson would infiltrate a large number of non-combat suicide soldiers into the Tyrant-class cruisers and four Sword-class frigates docked at Blood Anchor Starport under the guise of porters, repairmen, and boarding slaves.

These non-combat suicide soldiers had two key tasks: to establish a teleportation anchor point inside the ship; and to simultaneously destroy the enemy ship's internal communication nodes and the locking mechanisms of key gates at the moment of the surprise attack.

Once the anchor point is established, Lawson uses the instant teleportation function of the armory space to deploy the pre-organized ship-seizure battle group to the designated location inside the warship.

Four Sword-class frigates, each carrying 2000 platoon-level suicide soldiers and 600 company-level suicide soldiers.

The Sword-class frigate is 1.6 kilometers long and has a standard crew of 1200-1500. With 2600 suicide soldiers against 1500 enemy crew members, the enemy is overwhelmingly superior in both numbers and quality. Using a swarm mentality approach, it's estimated that from the first wave of suicide soldiers boarding the ship to gaining complete control, it would take no more than fifteen minutes.

Frigates are not a problem.

The problem is the Tyrant-class cruisers.

5.5 kilometers long. 9 crew members. 36 large cannons. Countless internal compartments, corridors, shafts, and maintenance access routes. Moreover, according to intelligence gathered by infiltrators, at least one Chaos Space Marine company is stationed on this Tyrant-class cruiser, suspected to be members of the Iron Warriors traitorous legion, the number of which is unknown.

If it's a veteran-level Chaos Astartes, it might take six to eight company commander-level assassins to kill it.

If the champion is Chaos, then the White Tiger Power Armor will need to be deployed.

This is why the plan to seize the Tyrant-class cruisers involved all forty-six White Tiger Armored cruisers, eight thousand platoon-level and one thousand company-level officers, totaling more than nine thousand elite combat personnel.

"Phase 1: Anchor point activation and communication paralysis."

Swarm intelligence was used to simulate the internal communication network of the Tyrant-class cruiser in the training exercise.

In real-world scenarios, non-combat agents lurking inside the ship would act in unison upon receiving orders, such as disconnecting the physical cables of communication nodes, smashing speakers at corridor intersections, and using pre-hidden acid to corrode the hydraulic lines of key gates.

This set of movements has been optimized to a second-level precision in the past sixteen exercises.

"Phase Two: Main Force Teleports to Shipboard."

In the training field, the figures of eight thousand platoon-level soldiers appeared at both ends of the main deck passageway constructed of high-strength steel frame.

Their boarding positions were precisely calculated using swarm intelligence. The teleportation anchors were set around four key nodes: the communications center, the engine control room, the ammunition depot, and the bridge entrance. The first batch of suicide bombers would advance in four directions from these four points, cutting the warship into unconnected blocks.

"go ahead."

Thirty-two White Tiger Armored Machines stepped forward simultaneously.

Their target is the bridge.

In the Tyrant-class cruisers, the bridge is located at the core of the ship's superstructure and is surrounded by layers of armor and explosion-proof compartments.

The straight-line distance from the nearest teleportation anchor point to the bridge entrance is about 400 meters, but the actual corridors and compartments that need to be traversed add up to more than one kilometer.

This one-kilometer-long corridor was the bloodiest battlefield in the entire battle to seize the ship.

Because the Chaos Space Marines are most likely stationed around the bridge.

The White Tiger Formation advanced in a wedge-shaped formation.

The four White Tiger Armored Ships at the forefront raised a specially made metal shield wall. This equipment was designed by Lawson specifically for ship-seizing battles. The curved shield, two meters wide and three meters high, just blocked the width of the main corridor of the Tyrant-class cruiser.

Behind the shield wall, the remaining White Tiger Armors were divided into two columns, each holding a shield in their left hand and a bomb gun in their right.

"touch."

The swarm intelligence projected virtual enemy units in front of the corridor.

Twenty Chaos Space Marines, equipped with bomb guns and chainsaw swords and wearing MK IV power armor, occupied defensive positions at a corridor intersection.

There are firing bunkers on both sides of the intersection.

Heavy firing platforms are welded onto the corridor ceiling.

Anti-personnel minefields were laid on the ground.

Standard internal defense deployment for warships.

Valentine has more than four hundred real boarding and counter-boarding experiences in his memory.

These experiences, extracted and cross-referenced by swarm intelligence, formed an extremely detailed knowledge base of internal combat operations within warships. The most crucial summary among them is:

The battle in the warship corridor is essentially a fight where two people are poking each other in a pipe.

The width of the corridor limited the deployment of troops.

Whether you have 10,000 or 100,000 people, in a corridor only three meters wide, only three or four people can engage the enemy at the same time.

This means that numerical superiority is severely reduced within warships, while the weight of individual soldier quality and firepower density increases dramatically.

The Chaos Space Marine, clad in power armor, was a mobile bunker even in a three-meter-wide corridor.

A regular bullet from a bomb gun hitting the frontal armor of a power armor is equivalent to hitting a tank with a stone.

Therefore, the White Tiger Armor is essential.

The shield wall of four White Tiger Armors advanced seamlessly through the corridor.

The virtual enemy's bomb gun fired, and the swarm intelligence simulated the trajectory and fragmentation distribution of the MK IV bomb gun.

Metal bullets pounded against the metal shield wall, producing a dense, dull thud.

"Fifty meters away, switch to melee mode."

The White Tiger Armor in the front row put away its bomb gun and drew its Master-level Power Sword.

"Thirty meters away. Platoon leader-level suicide squad, prepare to infiltrate."

Behind the shield wall of white tiger armor, sixty platoon-level assassins crawled forward along the walls on both sides of the corridor.

Their mission was to flank the enemy from the side via the maintenance tunnel while the White Tiger Armored Warriors clashed head-on with the Chaos Space Marines.

The corridors of the Tyrant-class cruisers are lined with maintenance passages and pipe shafts. These passages are too narrow for a White Tiger Armored soldier to squeeze through, but a Platoon Leader-class suicide soldier can pass through just enough after removing his plate armor.

Swarm Intelligence extracted a large amount of layout data for the maintenance passages of the Tyrant-class cruisers from Valentine's memories. Valentine had boarded no fewer than thirty Tyrant-class cruisers during his ten-thousand-year pirate career. Although the specific modifications of each ship were different, the main structure and passageway layout followed the standard Martian design drawings.

"Confront the enemy."

The shield wall of the White Tiger Armor in the front row collided with the virtual Chaos Space Marines.

The training ground echoed with the deafening roar of clashing metal. Although the enemy was virtual, the combat drills between the White Tiger Armors were real.

The swarm intelligence assigned eight White Tiger Armors to play the role of Chaos Space Marines, engaging in real combat with the attacking White Tiger Armors.

The roar of chainsaw swords echoed through the sealed ammunition depot.

The joints of the power armor emitted a metallic scream as they twisted under extreme loads.

Two "enemy" White Tiger Armor units were suppressed from the front by the attacker's shield wall, while three White Tiger Armor units circled around from both flanks and used their Master-level Power Swords to slash at the side armor seams of the "enemy".

Meanwhile, sixty platoon-level suicide soldiers had already slipped through the maintenance tunnel and moved behind the enemy's positions.

They didn't bring heavy shields or explosive guns, so these large weapons were simply not usable in the maintenance tunnel.

Each of them carried only two things: a dagger and four melting bombs.

Melt bomb, the Imperial standard anti-armor infantry weapon.

While the high-temperature jet of a single melting bomb is unlikely to penetrate the frontal armor of a power armor, if you can get behind it and aim at the heat vents of the power armor backpack or the joint seals, you can fire at point-blank range...

From the moment the shield wall made contact to the complete annihilation of twenty virtual Chaos Space Marines, the time taken was 4 minutes and 12 seconds.

The attacking side "lost": 1 White Tiger Armor, 7 platoon leader-level suicide soldiers.

The attacking side suffered "serious casualties": 3 White Tiger Armor units and 14 platoon-level suicide soldiers.

“Not good enough,” Lawson’s voice came from the observation platform.

"Four minutes and twelve seconds is too long. In a real battlefield, four minutes is enough for the enemy ship's bridge to issue three ship-wide alarms, activate emergency compartment sealing, and mobilize reserve support. Moreover, the loss of White Tiger Armor is significant. If one White Tiger Armor is lost every time a corridor intersection is cleared, and there are at least seven intersections and three armored gates to pass from the teleportation anchor point to the bridge, how many armors will I have left when I get to the bridge?"

Swarm intelligence has completed a new round of deductions.

"Recommended modification: Abandon the frontal advance tactic and instead advance simultaneously through multiple points of penetration. Utilize maintenance passages and pipe shafts to approach the bridge from six directions simultaneously. White Tiger Armor will only be responsible for opening the armored gates and frontal containment, while platoon-level suicide soldiers will be responsible for flanking maneuvers and backstabbing."

"The platoon leader-level assassins in the maintenance corridor are not protected by power armor. If they encounter Chaos Space Marines, they're just easy prey."

"Recommendation: The repair tunnel infiltration team should be led by a company commander-level suicide soldier. A company commander-level soldier has the physical strength of a Proto-Forged Space Marine and is capable of close-quarters combat with Chaos Astartes in confined spaces."

"Adjust the organization. The maintenance channel infiltration team will be changed to: ten platoon leaders and two company commanders per group, with the company commanders at the head. Rehearse."

"The 18th full-process exercise is about to begin."

The suicide soldiers in the ammunition depot returned to their starting positions. The dents and scratches on the steel frame from the previous exercise hadn't been repaired yet, but new ones would be manufactured for the next round anyway.

The optical lenses of all thirty-two White Tiger Armor units flashed simultaneously in the darkness.

Again.

The continuous exercises lasted for six days.

At the end of the 41st full-process exercise, Swarm Intelligence finally provided data that barely satisfied Lawson.

清理舰桥前最后一道防线，假设20名混沌星际战士加200名恐虐血钢军团精锐防守，平均耗时从最初的4分12秒压缩到了1分47秒。

The average loss of White Tiger Armor units decreased from 1 to 0.3, meaning that only one White Tiger Armor unit would be considered destroyed in every three exercises. The average number of deaths among platoon leader-level suicide soldiers decreased from 7 to 3.

Key tactical improvements include:

First, the combined tactic of shield wall assault and pincer movement through maintenance channels was established as the standard operational procedure. The White Tiger armor shield wall advanced from the front, drawing enemy fire and attention; at the same time, company commander-level suicide squads led platoon leader-level teams to simultaneously infiltrate through four to six maintenance channels, launching attacks from the flanks and rear of the enemy positions.

Secondly, the method of using melting bombs has been optimized. Infiltration teams no longer pursue close-range shooting, as this action has too high a risk factor. Instead, melting bombs are pre-planted at the exit of the maintenance passage. When the White Tiger Armor shield wall suppresses the enemy to the preset position, the melting bomb is detonated remotely, creating a high-temperature fire wall to cut off the enemy's retreat and reinforcement channels.

Third, in response to the melee weapons that Chaos Space Marines might use, the White Tiger Armor's combat program has added a set of entanglement tactics: two White Tiger Armors engage the enemy simultaneously, one is responsible for entanglement with the target using a shield wall and its body, while the other uses its power sword to precisely cut the target's joint seals from the side.

One-on-one duels are the domain of Chaos Space Marines; group brawls are the domain of Death Squads.

Swarm intelligence generated a comprehensive evaluation report after the forty-first exercise:

Success rate of seizing the ship: 91.7%.

Key risk variables: Unknown modifications made to the warship's interior by the Dark Mechanicus, potentially including daemon engine traps, warp energy mines, and non-standard layouts of automated defense machine gun turrets. These variables cannot be eliminated through simulations and must be addressed in real-time by swarm intelligence in actual combat.

After reading the report, Lawson turned off the holographic interface.

The success rate wasn't high enough; he hoped it could reach over 95%.

However, he also knew that with the existence of uncontrollable variables, 91.7% was already the limit of the theoretical projection.

The remaining 8.3% can only be filled by his real-time adaptability through swarm intelligence and his own on-the-spot judgment.

"Keep practicing."

Lawson explained, "We conduct at least three full-process drills every day. The focus is on emergency plans for unknown variables, simulating encounters with the demon engine, sudden sealing of the corridor, and the enemy cutting off the gravity system."