Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 237 The Discontented Crusade
Chen Xi's tactical adjustment was understandable and acceptable at the command level, but for ordinary soldiers on the front line, this decision seemed difficult to understand.

The soldiers on the front line witnessed the Titan Legion's overwhelming offensive and could not understand why the offensive had to be slowed down at this critical juncture.

In their view, the current war situation is clearly advantageous, and it is the best time to make a concerted effort and expand the results of the war.

However, the orders issued by the headquarters were completely contrary to their expectations - requiring the troops to proceed steadily and strictly prohibiting any reckless behavior.

This unexpected order was like a basin of icy water, instantly extinguishing the high fighting enthusiasm of the soldiers on the front line.

Many soldiers felt a strong sense of dissatisfaction in their hearts. They talked privately and questioned why the command was so timid in the face of the alien enemy.

Everywhere in the trenches, soldiers could be heard mumbling, "Are those big guys up there scared of the aliens?"

This situation was particularly evident in the Jihad Army, where the morale of the troops showed a significant decline.

The previous order prohibiting them from charging had already caused resentment in many people. Now that the expeditionary force clearly had the advantage on the battlefield, they were still not allowed to attack with all their strength. This made many Crusade soldiers and grassroots clergy of the state religion feel indignant.

They began to doubt the loyalty of the Command, whispering to one another, "Could the Emperor's warriors fear these xenos?"

In their view, it was unreasonable to hesitate not to take advantage of such an obvious opportunity and not to immediately annihilate the alien enemy.

To the devout, this cautious attitude of the Command is almost tantamount to blasphemy against the Emperor's will.

However, in the face of questioning voices from the grassroots, Chen Xi seemed unconcerned.

He was well aware of the problems that often arose when commanding the Imperial Army. After all, the entire Empire was built on a fanatical belief in the Emperor.

Although the Emperor himself detested religious beliefs and repeatedly stressed that he was not a god, since the rise of the state religion in M32, the Empire had inevitably transformed from a country that worshipped technology and imperial truth into a religious theocracy.

Fanatical devotion to the Emperor has become the most fundamental characteristic of the Imperium today.

In this context, any hesitation, retreat, or caution on the battlefield could be seen as disloyalty to the God-Emperor, and would likely result in punishment from the political commissar or even execution on the spot.

This unique cultural atmosphere often forced imperial commanders to adopt radical tactical styles.

They are like a man with a hammer, and everything looks like a nail - if one hammer doesn't solve the problem, then keep hammering until the enemy is crushed or the hammer itself breaks.

And thanks to the empire's huge size and resource advantages, this simple and crude tactic often wins in the end.

Over time, this fighting style was deeply ingrained into the very DNA of the Imperial Army, even giving rise to extreme units like the Krieg Death Korps – so fanatical that they required political commissars to hold the reins and prevent them from rushing to their deaths prematurely.

In fact, even the current top leaders of the expeditionary force, although they can understand Chen Xi's strategic considerations of issuing the order to proceed steadily with their rich combat experience, still find it difficult to fully accept this decision emotionally.

For the Astra Militarum, shrinking back and hesitating is a more intolerable shame than the heavy casualties caused by missing opportunities or underestimating the enemy.

Throughout the Empire's long history of war, the Astra Militarum has long been accustomed to paving the road to victory with blood.

For them, the number of casualties was simply the inevitable price of war—even if the parchment recording the numbers of the fallen troops had to be measured by the meter, it was not unacceptable. This was the case with the Astra Militarum, let alone the Crusaders driven by religious fanaticism.

According to battlefield reports from various units, there were even cases where organized jihadist forces on the front line openly defied orders and launched charges without authorization.

These fanatical warriors shouted the name of the Emperor, disregarded tactical deployments, and charged headfirst into the carefully constructed defensive positions of the Necrons. In the end, the entire force was completely engulfed by the enemy's firepower network.

Such a senseless sacrifice made Chen Xi furious, but he could not vent his anger directly on the Anglican priest and the commander of the Crusade Army.

These fanatics were already dissatisfied with his conservative tactics. If he were to hold them accountable further, it would likely intensify the conflict, lead to larger-scale disobedience, and even shake the overall morale of the expeditionary force.

However, leaving it alone wasn't a solution either. After weighing the pros and cons, Chen Xi decided to take a compromise.

Instead of letting these fanatical soldiers become dissatisfied due to having nothing to do, it is better to assign them some more "valuable" tasks, which can not only consume their excess fighting spirit but also prevent them from continuing to create chaos on the front battlefield.
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As the fifth captain of the Celestial Lions, Anatoly has been troubled by the affairs of the Inquisition recently.

The Tianshi Legion had offended the Inquisition. This was not something that everyone knew, but it was not a secret either.

Therefore, when Anatoly first arrived at the Rostov sub-sector and responded to the expedition call and Chen Xi pointed out that the Sky Lion Regiment was being targeted by the Inquisition, he did not actually have much emotional fluctuation.

After all, I have already prepared myself mentally, so why should I be angry?

But what Chen Xi revealed made Anatoly feel extremely uncomfortable. What did the Inquisition mean by making an example of the Tianshi Regiment? What did it mean by the Inquisition that the Tianshi Regiment would be excommunicated if they didn't admit their mistakes?
These words made Anatoly suspect for a moment that all this was a lie made up by Chen Xi in an attempt to subjugate the Tianshi Corps.

But after calming down, Anatoly had to admit that the Celestial Lions had indeed offended the Inquisition, and it was very likely that the Inquisition wanted to destroy the Celestial Lions.

He reported this information to the top brass of the chapter, who were extremely angry and even had great disagreements about it.

Some of the higher-ups in the chapter believed that the Celestial Lions should take advantage of the situation to back down, so as to avoid being excommunicated by the Inquisition and causing the situation to get out of control.

However, another group of high-ranking members of the chapter believed that the honor of the Celestial Lions could not be tarnished, and they would never compromise with the Inquisition even at the cost of their lives.

This also made it extremely difficult for Anatoly, the company commander who was caught between the regiment and the Inquisition.

If the expeditionary force had not been attacking all this time and the Tianshi Regiment had not undertaken a large number of combat missions, Anatoly would probably still be struggling with how to make a decision on this matter.

However, when Chen Xi ordered the offensive to slow down, these troubles came back to Anatoly, and he couldn't help but send a star message to the regiment to urge and question it, hoping that the regiment had made a decision.

However, just when he was worried about this, the Celestial Lions received a new combat mission, cooperating with the Mechanicus to further clean up the Undead Tombs in the occupied area on Donetsk III.

Anatoly did not dare to delay and set off with the soldiers of his company.

It is always better to have something to do than to let your mind wander, Anatoly thought, and even hoped that he could find some precious alien technology, so that he could use the Mechanicus to solve the current predicament of the Celestial Lions.

(End of this chapter)