The Bizarre Adventures of the Oil Man, but Starting with Warhammer 32K

"No more than after the Great Rebellion, anyway."

Kubik was completely disappointed with these people. He realized that they were no longer reliable and that the only forces he had left were the exhausted Skitarii after the bloody battle with the demons.

He won't sit still and wait for death.

"I am Kubik, the King of Mars. This little enemy is nothing!"

Even with a lack of supplies, the Skitarii's combat effectiveness is still several times that of ordinary Astra Militarum.

There were only about 500,000 Astra Militarum troops initially landing on Mars. As long as he could take advantage of their unstable foothold, Kubik felt that the balance of victory would still tip towards him.

Kubik began to consolidate the forces at hand, and he even adjusted the urgency of fighting the Astra Militarum to that of fighting the demons. However, his previous move to encircle and suppress Leon had caused those troops that were instinctively withdrawn to become mired in the quagmire.

The troops piled at the entrance of the hive were still fighting with the demons and Leon's troops. Even if he wanted to withdraw these troops at this moment, his enemies would not let him go easily.

But unexpectedly, as the Forge General was thinking, he discovered that the offensive launched by the ghouls began to weaken. The Crusaders, originally caught between the Fist of the Exemplary and the ghouls, gained a chance to breathe.

What exactly does Vashtol want to do?

The Casting General didn't know the answer, but he knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Feeling that it was pointless to continue fighting with Leon in the suburbs of the city, he withdrew all the religious troops there.

The demons' offensive on the front battlefield also slowed down slightly, allowing him to take into account the three Warlord-class Titans of the Titan Legion that were being prepared.

As for the front battlefield of the hive city, Kubik will use the lowest-level Skitarii and priests to hold back the hive city to ensure that the encirclement of the Skitarii can proceed smoothly.

This might be a conspiracy of the demons, but in order to keep his position, he no longer cares.

From the transporter to the hive city to the landing of the Astra Militarum, the problems he faced were bigger and bigger. He no longer cared whether the hive city fell or not, the most urgent task was to deal with the Astra Militarum.

About half a million Skitarii were drawn out, and they would set out first to delay the Astra Militarum near their landing site.

The subsequent artillery units responsible for fire support and three General-class Titans will arrive later and use their unparalleled power to wipe out all those flesh and blood bodies.

Although both had half a million men, the Skitarii were far more effective than the Astra Militarum. Kubik believed his army could achieve the desired results before the Astra Militarum gained a firm foothold.

The Skitarii attacked immediately under his command, determined to cut off the Astra Militarum on the surface of Mars.

They moved faster than ordinary people and soon arrived at the designated battle site. As they expected, the Astra Militarum was still struggling with the transportation of supplies and technical equipment and was not ready for battle.

A defense against the Skitarii was hastily organized, but as mortals they were no match for these semi-mechanized soldiers.

For the Astra Militarum, these mechanized Crusaders are also an alternative torrent of steel.

"Hold your ground! Don't retreat!"

The Astra Militarum commander's demands pale in comparison to the Skitarii's attack.

The Crusader Army's steel torrent swept in like a rusty red storm, carrying with it the dust of Mars.

The Astra Militarum soldiers who had not yet built a line of defense opened fire hastily, but their laser beams only produced sporadic sparks on the servo-prostheses of the Crusaders. Apart from occasional shots that hit vital parts, they could hardly cause any effective casualties.

But the Skitarii's attacks were deadly to the Astra Militarum, as the ions and lasers could instantly turn their flesh and blood into charred fragments.

Unafraid of losses, the Skitarii didn't even need to seek cover. To quickly expand their victory, they attacked in formations, like the arrayed infantry of the arquebus era, blanketing the entire battle line with lasers and galvanic lightning.

The Astra Militarum were defeated, leaving only blood spilled on the Martian soil.

Flesh and blood bodies seem so fragile in front of mechanized enemies.

At this rate, the Skitarii will soon be able to tear through the Astra Militarum's defenses, making it impossible for them to organize a systematic resistance.

The arrival of the Warlord-class Titan will put the final nail in the coffin, cutting off the possibility of the Astra Militarum landing here.

But Kubik had a vague feeling that things would not go so smoothly.

"Something's wrong..."

Through the live footage transmitted back by the servoskull, he discovered that these Astra Militarum soldiers showed no fear on their faces. They suffered casualties that would have caused the mortal army to retreat, yet they continued to try to resist.

Even the thought of being battle-hardened couldn't explain their high morale. Kubik felt uneasy at the thought that the other side might still have some hidden cards.

He urged the Skitarii to speed up their progress, but under the desperate resistance of the Astra Militarum, they could not break into the core area of ​​the landing site with only the Skitarii that lacked heavy firepower.

Unable to prevent the new round of airborne landings, the Skitarii could only watch as heavy transport boats, unlike the Avirus barges, arrived at the scene under the protection of the Valkyrie fighters.

These belong to the Imperial Navy, and occasionally a few will be assigned to the Astra Militarum. The Valkyries, which are regarded as treasures by them, can only be used as meat shields to accompany and attract firepower, which is enough to illustrate the importance of the things in the landing craft.

When its hatch opened, Hayes was the first to come out.

"Soldiers, I am with you!"

His voice was broadcast to all Astra Militarum soldiers via the audio system. The Supreme Commander's presence in person caused a small cheer from all the soldiers.

Hayes' next words made all of them burst into the most enthusiastic screams.

"But it's not just me here, our siege tanks are here too!"

Siege tanks equipped with piercing concussion cannons rumbled out of transports. They only needed a firing coordinate and a simple setup to unleash the heaviest artillery fire.

They had already begun to deploy at the edge of the landing site, and the muzzles of their guns, adjusted according to the firing parameters sent back from the front line, were raised high and aimed at the charging Crusader Army.

"Fire!"

Hayes gave the order himself, and the siege tank's concussion cannon unleashed a deafening roar. The shells streaked across the sky like thunder, crashing down upon the Skitarii lines with devastating force.

When the first round of bombardment fell like lightning, the Crusaders, who had never seen its power, were somewhat at a loss.

The charging group at the front seemed to be hit hard by an invisible giant hand. Their mechanized bodies were torn apart by the shock wave, and metal fragments flew everywhere.

After the bombardment, the surviving Skitarii looked around and saw that few were left standing. Alpha, the Skitarii captain, tried to regroup, but a second round of bombardment had already begun.

The survivors of the first round of bombardment were not spared this time. Their mechanical bodies were twisted and deformed in the explosion, and the high temperature of the explosion brought them complete destruction.

Even the Skitarii, deprived of their power of fear, were horrified by the astonishing efficiency of the slaughter.

A priest tried to comfort his colleagues: "They have already fired two rounds of rapid fire in a short period of time. We will definitely have some breathing space next..."

Before he could finish his words, the third round of artillery fire had already given the best response.

"Why is it so fast? Don't they need to wait for the barrel to cool down?!"

Their confusion and panic were exactly what the Astra Militarum soldiers, who had witnessed the power of siege tanks on Maxim, were expecting.

Not a trump card.

This is pure force!

At first, the Skitarii could barely advance under such fire, but as more and more siege tanks arrived on the surface, no force could withstand the increasingly intense firepower.

"Piercing shockwave cannon!"

Kubik gritted his teeth.

Before, he had only heard that Leon had such a unique skill, but now he saw with his own eyes the firepower that a cluster of siege tanks could unleash.

He roughly estimated from the density of the artillery fire that the number of the enemy's siege tanks did not exceed one thousand, but the enemy had already achieved a firepower density that could only be achieved by an elite artillery regiment under the Astra Militarum Corps.

These siege tanks fired high-explosive shells aimed at lightly armored targets, but the Crusaders lacked heavy vehicles that could withstand such firepower.

"If the Empire hadn't deprived the Forge World of its right to possess so many fleets and heavy armor, how could this battle have turned out like this!"

Kubik cursed the Empire's restrictions on Mars, but the thought that came to his mind was Leon.

When they first arrived on Mars, Li Ang had promised to hand over this technology. He had looked down on the technical content of this technology at the time, but he had never imagined that it would have such a great practical application.

If he hadn't listened to Augustus's slander and hadn't fallen out with Leon, would he have been able to obtain this technology? Would the current situation be completely different?

Chapter 192: The Wrath of Thundergod.

At this moment, Kubik was convinced that an emotion called "regret" had emerged at the core of his logic.

But he couldn't and wouldn't admit it.

"Where are our artillery units?"

He questioned the Skitarii leader below, "Why didn't you launch a counterattack with artillery fire?"

“We’re trying, but…!”

Although the Leman Russ's hull is bulky after being equipped with the impact-piercing cannon, it can still be considered a self-propelled artillery.

Each attempt by Mars to counterattack could only temporarily stop the siege tanks' fire. Once they completed their transfer, the deadly artillery fire would sound again.

The penetrating shock cannon does not require cooling or barrel cleaning, and even the speed of the cannonball is faster than the artillery on Mars.

Mars' live-fire weapons were completely defeated by the penetrating shockwave cannon, and the energy cannon was constrained by the energy supply that had been messed up by the plague waste code and could not be restored so far.

At a time when energy must be prioritized for orbital defense and the hive city void shield, what counter-attack capabilities do they have?

Mars' attempts at countermeasures achieved little success, and instead they themselves were counterattacked by siege tanks, suffering heavy losses.

The gap between them could no longer be filled by the Mechanicus priests by using faster calculations of shooting elements and other favorable conditions.

The Skitarii suffered heavy losses in this short period of time. Although they managed to keep the losses within an acceptable range by consciously seeking cover, it was impossible to limit the Astra Militarum through attack.

They even have to endure the counterattack of the Astra Militarum!

The Astra Militarum, which held the strategic initiative, had dispersed its forces, and more troops continued to land from orbit and were deployed to other places by Hayes.

However, at this moment, the Titan Legion in the rear finally sent back a message that they were about to complete their preparations. The three divine machines were expected to arrive at the battlefield within two hours.

Such news lifted Kubik's spirits a little.

A Warlord-class Titan is powerful enough to reverse the outcome of a battle, but such an effect requires the coordinated efforts of all parties involved.

If you think about it carefully, you will know that it is impossible for a Warlord-class Titan to use its volcanic cannons and incinerator cannons to target the infantry one by one. Using such killing weapons to wipe out the Star Army is a crime against the God of All Machines.

However, the knight families that usually accompanied the Titan Legion and were responsible for clearing out these secondary units had been defeated by him earlier, and the Crusader Army had also been suppressed.

Kubik could no longer count on the arrival of these unaccompanied Warlord-class Titans to reverse the Astra Militarum's advantage.

He had to accept the fact that the Astra Militarum had successfully landed.

But considering the situation later, he still had to make some attempts to save the situation.

"Concentrate the Skitarii's strength and have them cooperate with the Warlord-class Titans to break through the Astra Militarum's defenses head-on."

As long as they could break the Astra Militarum's formation once, allowing the Titans to hunt down the Leman Russ siege troops and destroy them, the Astra Militarum's power would not be too formidable on Mars.

No matter what, he would never allow the Astra Militarum to act recklessly on Mars, which was still his territory for the time being.

Soon, three War General-class Titans arrived at the battlefield.

Their advancing steps caused the surface of Mars to tremble, and the heavy weight carried heavy weapons that were emitting arcs of destructive light.

The remnants of the Skitarii regrouped under the shadow of three Warlord-class Titans and launched another assault on the Astra Militarum positions.

"The incineration array is fully charged!"

The Titan captain's cold mechanical voice rang out over the communication channel.

The next second, a torrent of crimson energy gushed out from the muzzle of the Warlord-class Titan, melting the hastily constructed bunkers and Chimera troop carriers of the Astra Militarum into boiling molten iron.

The soldiers stationed there were vaporized in the intense heat before they could even scream. The Skitarii followed closely behind and rushed forward, pinning the retreating Astra Militarum troops to death on the scorched earth.

The mortals looked at the three gods of destruction in awe, but they did not give up the fight.

The siege tanks tried to concentrate their firepower, launching a volley at the Titan.

They fired high-explosive shells that could not be intercepted by void shields. These low-speed shells only exploded into useless sparks on the Titan's adamantium armor plating.

No matter how the tanks fired, they could not stop the Titans' advance. Instead, their shooting gave the Titans a chance to locate their coordinates.

Realizing that the weapon was indeed as weak against heavily armored units as he had expected, Kubik felt he had seized his opportunity.

"Go ahead and show them what a true divine machine is!"

The Astra Militarum could not possibly produce units that could match them. The Titan Legion longed for a bigger battle, but also did not mind showing off its might against those who did not know how to revere the Om Messiah.

The Leman Russ siege troops, unable to retreat in time, were overtaken by the Titans. Taking advantage of the lack of the Emperor's poison blades in this Astra Militarum, they unscrupulously turned the tanks into burning scrap metal.

The Astra Militarum had no choice but to organize a retreat and transfer, but the Titan Captain, influenced by the violent and angry machine spirit of the Warlord-class Titan, had no intention of letting them go.

"In the name of Om Messiah, crush them!"

They roared from the mechanical throne of the God Machine and continued to pour out the firepower at hand.

Even though the siege tanks had retreated, they were still mopping up the remaining Astra Militarum troops, seemingly intent on destroying the landing site directly.

Hayes, prepared to sacrifice some tanks, had no intention of fighting to the death on this battlefield. But seeing the enemy's dominant position, he knew now was not the time to flee.

"We must counterattack, or at least dampen their spirits."

He contacted Matt Horner and asked if he had enough energy to fire a spear of light at the ground, but the answer was no.