Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 215: Training the Holy War Army

After gaining command, the next step for Chen Xi was naturally to integrate the military forces at hand.

After all, the army under his command was huge, and millions of troops were extremely rare in the 3K era.

The commanders who were able to mobilize such a large-scale military force to carry out effective operations are all famous generals in historical records.

Chen Xi knew very well that how to use this army reasonably and properly would be a great test of his ability.

Therefore, integrating the military forces at hand to facilitate command and issuance of orders has become Chen Xi's current top priority.

The core of the integration of military forces lies in the organization of combat groups.

Chen Xi borrowed the approach of the future Primarchs when they launched the Indomitus Crusade and decided to group various different troops together to form a comprehensive strike group, rather than using different types of troops separately.

Although the fighting style of using different arms separately seems simple on the surface, it is actually not conducive to unified command or coordinated operations of multiple arms.

This decentralized command method will only increase the complexity of the command system without bringing any substantial benefits.

Chen Xi was well aware of this, so he decided to adopt a more flexible team formation method.

However, Chen Xi had limited military strength, and he could not form a large strike group like the Primarch.

He could only consider organizing the troops at hand into about three to five strike groups based on the existing strength, and then flexibly deploy them according to specific combat needs.

Chen Xi planned to organize a strike group consisting of about one hundred Astartes warriors, 50,000 to 100,000 Astra Militarum troops, and 300,000 to 500,000 Crusader troops.

In addition, each strike group will be equipped with a fleet of approximately three to five cruisers, as well as other auxiliary ships to ensure mobility and fire support on the battlefield.

Although this organization scale cannot be compared with the huge strike group organized by the Primarch, and hundreds of thousands of troops are not outstanding in a truly large-scale and fierce battlefield, this organization method is sufficient to deal with the current war situation.

More importantly, such a division will make Chen Xi's troops easier to command.

He only needs to give mission objectives and combat instructions to these strike groups, and the commanders within the strike groups will execute the orders on their own without Chen Xi having to go into every detail to give commands.

The advantage of this command method is that it greatly simplifies Chen Xi's command chain and reduces his decision-making burden on the battlefield.

He can focus more on the overall strategic layout without being bothered by trivial tactical details.

At the same time, the coordinated combat capabilities within the strike group have also been improved, and the cooperation between different arms will be closer, thus forming stronger combat effectiveness on the battlefield.

Of course, this grouping method is not without its challenges.

How to ensure that the commanders within each strike group can accurately understand and implement Chen Xi's strategic intentions, and how to maintain coordination between the various strike groups in a complex battlefield environment are all problems that Chen Xi needs to face.

But anyway, it's a good start.

The expeditionary force's headquarters didn't object to Chen Xi's decision. Although they felt it was somewhat inconsistent with the Empire's long-standing practices, it didn't violate any rules. Furthermore, the leaders of the major factions within the headquarters were all knowledgeable about military affairs and naturally understood the benefits of doing so.

So Chen Xi's order was carried out, and the huge expeditionary force was divided into three groups.

However, the first order they received was not to attack, but to deploy the Crusade Army on Rostov II and then conduct training.

"I know this order is a bit outrageous, but everyone knows the level of the Crusade Army. Sending them to the battlefield without training them is a waste of the Emperor's currency." At the military meeting, Chen Xi announced his order and explained to the confused crowd: "Don't tell me that they have a fervent belief in the God-Emperor and can use courage and faith to terrify the enemy.

Our enemies are a group of bloodless and tearless machines, and their alien minds only have cold killing in their minds.

If our soldiers do not have sufficient tactical skills, they will only die if they run into them head-on!

During the Crusade's training, my men will teach you exactly how to fight the Necrons. Their weapons are extremely dangerous, and I hope all soldiers will realize this."

"The state religion is willing to accept training." The cardinal sent by the state religion very much agreed with this.

He also knew that the Jihad Army was actually just a group of believers who were full of enthusiasm but not even cannon fodder.

Without training, these people will have to be sent to the battlefield and acquire survival and combat skills through actual combat that they could have learned outside the battlefield.

This practice was also common practice of the jihadist army in past jihads. They learned how to fight through actual combat on the battlefield, and only the elite and veterans survived.

There is nothing wrong with doing this when facing ordinary rebels, pagans, or even ordinary aliens.

Apart from the higher casualties, the effect is actually quite good.

But this won't work against the Necrons. After all, even if the Astra Militarum directly collides with the Necrons, it will suffer heavy casualties. There is no possibility for a ragtag army like the Crusades, which has almost no military training, to fight against them.

The Necrons are not Chaos, you can still resist them with faith. Even the Astartes cannot withstand the Gauss rays. If you are really stubborn, you will only turn into a pool of ashes.

And another very important point is that because the jihad organization was very hasty this time, the jihad army’s weapons, equipment and logistical supplies are still being prepared.

Although the first million-strong jihadist army basically had weapons in hand, the quality of the weapons was...

After all, the state religion is not allowed to possess armed forces, so it is naturally impossible to stockpile large quantities of weapons and equipment. Many things are collected temporarily, and the quality is inevitably uneven.

Therefore, training is not only a necessary means to improve combat effectiveness, but also a way to buy time for the Jihad Army to better prepare and replenish equipment.

Only through systematic training and preparation can the seemingly large number of million-strong jihadist army have a certain combat effectiveness and play their due role in future battles.

Especially since the national religion will recruit tens of millions of jihadists in the future, Chen Xi doesn't want to just throw these people onto the battlefield and grind them into pieces.

Although these people are not very good in combat or other aspects, their devout faith is very useful!
Don't forget that the Great Rift will open in more than 20 years. By that time, devout faith will be an important guarantee against the pollution of the Great Rift.

(End of this chapter)