Warhammer 40k, but I’m really not an angelic father!

"Of course I'm relaxed, sir. War is a huge gamble. We are all sitting at this table and cannot leave. Every order we give is adding chips to the risky gamble."

Looking at the primarch wearing golden armor beside him, Lord Creed was finally able to relax and pour out his inner thoughts.

"These coins from the Emperor are too valuable. When I held them in my hands, I felt like they were going to break my back. But now, the person holding the chips has changed, and I will become part of the chips."

I understand Lord Creed's feelings very well.

The pressure on the commander is enormous. He must ensure that every order he issues has a return far greater than its cost, otherwise it would be a waste of the extremely precious manpower.

On this battlefield, there is no humanity or mercy, only absolute victory or total death.

He must give up his humanity and become a machine that relies on rational thinking to issue combat orders.

But people are still people after all. As long as the red blood of humanity is flowing in their blood, it is impossible to let go of the humanity in their hearts.

This is a fact that is engraved in the genes and souls of the human race.

For Creed, he also wanted to cry, he also wanted to shed tears, and he felt heartbroken when he watched those soldiers rushing to their deaths.

But as a commander, he couldn't do that.

He must not let the soldiers around him and the enemy see any sign of weakness in him. If he is weak, the defense line will be on the verge of breaking.

If the defense line cannot be held, the entire empire will be in danger.

"Let's stop here with the sentimental talk. What we are about to face is an even more brutal battle."

"Celestine, besides the Dark Angels' Fourth Company, are there any other troops?"

After briefly serving as an emotional outlet for Lord Creedburg, Sandales again asked the Living Saint Celestine about military strength.

If my memory is correct, there should still be armored forces from the Iron Wolf Dalian on the surface.

They had been heading towards Allison Plain from Clark Plain not long ago, and judging by the time, they should be there soon.

"The Black Templars' sword masters and the Crimson Fists who arrived earlier to provide support are waiting to be deployed at any time. They claim they have completed their repairs and are ready to continue fighting at any time."

"The Iron Wolf Company has arrived at the Allison Plains and is preparing to reinforce the eastern defense line held by the 185th Cadia Regiment."

"A small number of Imperial Fists have broken through the Black Fleet's blockade and are currently urgently preparing for battle at the drop zone in Krave Bastion. They are preparing to reinforce the Chaos Warmaster, who may descend directly here."

Celestine almost kept informing Sandales of all the information about the military forces. At the moment, only a clearer and more comprehensive summary of the troops would allow the Primarch in front of him to better deploy for the battle situation.

Sandales silently estimated the defensive forces needed on each front and discussed it with the other two Primarchs in his mind.

At the moment, it is not just Sandales who is responsible for deploying the defense. The war master Horus is relying on his rich combat experience to continuously plan the deployment that needs to be completed on the entire front.

During the Great Crusade, this kind of work would have been done jointly by Horus and Roboute Guilliman.

Especially Guilliman. As the Warmaster, Horus knew very well that the Ultramarines Legion was once called the Sons of War, and that legion was born for war from the beginning to the end.

Guilliman's ability to perfectly plan logistical supplies and formulate layered strategic deployments, which together form the perfect closed loop necessary to sustain an entire protracted war, almost interprets the Ultramarines' terrifying potential in this aspect of warfare.

Unfortunately, he has now gone on strike, and the Ultramarines have not come to support Cadia. Only the sub-regiment known as the Nova Marines has arrived here.

"Once the attack is launched, Abaddon will certainly mobilize the entire front's forces, but he himself will definitely not attack from the front."

Abaddon, who was about to launch an attack, had no idea that the person who knew him best had already thoroughly understood his fighting style.

He just had to lay out all his possible deployments on the table and think about them carefully.

"The pressure is greatest from the north and east. They need to face Abaddon's armored forces and the traitorous Titan Legion. From what you remember, the Crimson Fists are the descendants of Dorne, right?"

Horus, leaning back in his chair, was projecting the entire battle plan through the sea of Sandiles' soul. For him, now retired, commanding this war was like playing a grand game.

Sandales has already put all the troops he can use on the table, and he only needs to place these pieces one by one on each front.

"Horus, we must think seriously. The number of troops sent by Abaddon is somewhat beyond our expectations."

"Oh, this is not even one percent of the civil war back then. It's not much at all."

Sanguinius and Horus looked at the defense map, one seriously and the other jokingly. They had two different fighting styles, but Sanguinius did not intend to interfere in the command work.

He is better at fighting than war, so let Horus handle this matter.

"The Crimson Fists Chapter... when the Legions were split according to the Codex, they were indeed spun off from the Imperial Fists. However, judging by the Chapter's culture and combat style, they are now more like the descendants of Guilliman, a standard Codex Chapter, though their gene-seed is indeed that of the Imperial Fists."

"Tsk, that useless piece of paper is causing all the trouble again. If we had deployed a whole company here in Cadia back in the days of the Legion, there wouldn't be this crap about needing to deploy differently based on Chapter culture."

All Horus had to do now was tear up the codex written by Guilliman and burn it.

When he first heard the words "split the legion", the thought that this stupid brother had done something wrong immediately popped up in his mind.

Originally, the culture upheld by the entire legion was unified, which could minimize trouble during command and deployment.

But after Guilliman dismantled it like this, it was all over.

These primarch brothers may become strangers if they are separated for too long, not to mention the descendants of the legion.

Moreover, the differences and complexities in the cultures of different chapters mean contradictions and potential conflicts.

If the Crimson Fists were deployed on the defensive line against the Black Templars or the Imperial Fists, there would likely be some ideological and cultural friction between them.

It's really annoying.

"The Crimson Fists' style of warfare, using the Codex's death tactics, is quite reminiscent of Dorn. Deploy them and the Dark Angels' 4th Company to the northern defenses."

"After all, we are from Dorne, so we still have the ability to withstand the impact."

Horus reached out and placed the chess pieces representing these two groups of troops on the northern defense line, letting them stay with those devout and fanatical battle sisters.

"Also, where is the Fire Howling Company? Why are those wolves nowhere to be seen?"

Horus suddenly discovered that there seemed to be no Fire Howling Company among these soldiers.

As a Space Wolf who had followed Leman Russ and speared him out of that body, he was quite impressed by the fighting ability of these wolf cubs.

"I'm not sure. The Fire Howling Company has disappeared, but the Iron Wolf Company has already rushed to the eastern defense line of the Allison Plain."

"Also, I don't know if it's true or not, but there's news that werewolves appeared near the ruins of a fortress in the southwest. I think it's related to the Space Wolves."

In fact, the three people present all knew the origins of those werewolves, because the Blood Angels also hid some similar secrets, and whether they were the Warmaster or the Archangel, they actually knew it.

"Forget it, don't worry about them. Place the Imperial Fists troops that broke through in the south and have them defend this area with the Cadia 8th and 21st Regiments."

"Leave the remaining Black Templar sword masters with Creed. That idiot Abaddon won't give up on the decapitation operation. His best attack back then was to raid the enemy's command structure with the Gastarin Terminator."

Horus was well aware of Abaddon's combat style, so he planned to deploy the troops to defend against the Black Legion's attack and Abaddon's decapitation operation separately.

Although I don't know what those elite troops belonging to the Black Legion are called, Abaddon will definitely bring them with him.

"You must keep all the Blood Angels' forces with you. Abaddon will undoubtedly lead some deadly beings to deal with the Primarch. We must be prepared to counter this."

Sanguinius was silent for a long time, then asked Horus a crucial question.

"What about the Titan Legion? There's really no way to deal with them right now."

Regarding this question, Horus could only wave his hand helplessly. He couldn't expect him to chop the Titan with one sword, right?

That is something that only the emperor, an old father, can do.

"I can't do anything about it. It's a hardware gap. If we want to deal with them, we have to wait until the battle between the Phalanx and the Black Fleet is over."

"But looking at the current situation, it won't be over in a short time."

Facing the Titan Legion, they had no solution at all.

If it was just one Titan, it would be much easier to deal with. You could smash it with artillery shells. If that didn't work, you could just pay some necessary casualties and carry out a suicide attack.

But the problem is that a whole army of Titans is coming. Once such a behemoth reaches a certain scale, it will not be easy to deal with.

If the enemy commanded properly, even if the entire bastion was destroyed, it would not necessarily be possible to destroy the entire Titan Legion.

The words "destroy the heaven and earth" are not just words used to describe them.

"It's a pity that the Emperor-class Titan was left on Valentino."

"What? You still want to bring it here? Cawl's fleet can't even fit a whole Emperor-class Titan."

Looking at the current battle line deployment, the pressure in the west is slightly lighter, while the other three directions are becoming more and more difficult.

"This is the only way for now. There's no better plan. The rest depends on which side has the stronger will."

Sandiles quickly regained consciousness in his body. Thanks to the difference in the speed of time flow between the Sea of Souls and the real world, when he finished discussing with Horus and the others, only a few seconds had passed in the outside world.

It was probably just enough time for Lord Creed to take another puff of his cigar.

"Transfer the Crimson Fists and Dark Angels to the northern defense line. The Imperial Fists and my Blood Angels will remain on the southern defense line. As for the Black Templars' sword masters, they will be used to protect your safety."

"What about the East and West Fronts?"

"Leave the western defense to the Nova Warriors and other reorganized Cadian forces. Prioritize the remaining air power to the eastern defense."

Sandiles informed Lord Creed of the deployment arrangements and intended to issue them in the other party's name.

Lord Creedburg will still be the commander of the battle, because he will need to confront Abaddon face to face and will have no time to take care of the command.

"What are you going to do next? How can I help you?"

The living saint Celestine now asked Sandales about his next plan. She hoped that he could assign her some tasks so that she would not be idle here.

After all, she is a powerful being, even if she is deployed on a certain line of defense.

"Before the battle begins, I plan to meet with the two prisoners to see if there is any useful intelligence, so you have to stabilize the morale of the troops for me."

"And after the battle begins, I need you to lead the Blood Angels to stop the enemies who came with Abaddon. Don't let them interfere with my duel with Abaddon."

"What lies ahead is a difficult battle. I cannot let go of any useful intelligence."

Celestine nodded silently, then left the lookout tower with Lord Creed.

Sandales, who watched them leave, just looked at the war that was approaching in the distance.

"May this plan succeed, as long as there are still Sons of Horus loyal to you within the Black Legion..."

The deployment orders issued were quickly executed, and the Astartes of different chapters quickly began to move towards the assigned positions. The various air forces used for battlefield support also began to refuel and mount ammunition.

But all this has nothing to do with Belisarius Kaul, who is currently working underground.

The great sage is doing his best to explore how to activate the Blackstone Obelisk. He knows that the longer he wastes time on this, the greater the casualties will be on the battlefield of Cadia.

But these are alien creations after all. Just as Sandiles said, even though he, Kaul, had some research results, it would still be extremely difficult to truly understand the full purpose and usage of these creations.

Not to mention that time is limited now. Not only can I not repeat the experiment, but even the black stone material itself does not reveal any useful information.

"It failed and still won't start. No matter the words or symbols recorded on it, they are meaningless."

“The research conducted in a short period of time is simply not enough to support all the theoretical results, and the attempts made have not paid off.”

Kaul had tried almost every method he could think of, such as stimulating it with some substance that might have an effect, or reinstalling a new energy converter.

But no matter which method is used, human technology cannot establish contact with these alien creations. If there is not even the slightest connection, let alone activation.

"If I were you, I would find someone who really knows how to teach me."

A low, synthetic sound similar to a mechanical sound array came into Kaul's ears, and it was obviously abnormal to suddenly hear such a noise underground.

After quickly grabbing the power battle axe beside him, he slowly turned around and deployed all the weapons carried by his huge body.

This even includes a type of heat ray that can break down any matter it is exposed to into its atomic state.

"What are you? An alien?"

"It's a bit rude to address an ancient being like that, but considering you haven't been growing up for very long, I'll just bear with it."

In Kohl's sight, a skeleton wearing an unknown metal shell of a completely different style was approaching him.

Moreover, he dared to use all his life's knowledge to guarantee that even the other party's skeleton-like body was not made of bones, but some more mysterious metal material.

The other party was holding a peculiarly shaped scepter in his hand, but based on basic observation, he felt that the thing was more than just a scepter.

After all, if he could ignore the dangerous crystal that was emitting a bright green light, he might be able to barely believe that this thing was just a stick.

"Listen, young scholar, I have no ill will towards you. Don't you want to hear an old man briefly explain why he came here?"

"I have no intention of listening to your quibbles, Alien. Don't interfere with my work. In my eyes, you are nothing but an abomination."

Holding the power axe tightly in his hand, Cawl was ready to join the battle at any time.

The silver, hunched figure in front of him was definitely not as simple as he looked. His body was made of a mysterious substance and technology. I'm afraid that the manufacturing technology of that body alone was older than the entire Martian Mechanicus.

In the face of such an unknown existence, there is no room for relaxation or carelessness.

Faced with Kohl's vigilant look, the visitor did not show any extra emotional fluctuations. It seemed that in his eyes, it was normal for Kohl to show such a reaction.

"Your race, which is so young that it can't get any younger, has never seen anything before. You can only rely on your childlike eyes to explore the universe bit by bit."

"But when you first looked up at the universe, we were already sailing through it on ships."