As long as you die, you are invincible, but in 40K

"Also, in my discussion with Sister Blaise, I found a task that matches your current situation."

Chapter 162: Beating the Children

After listening to Calga's arrangement of the tasks, Zhang Ge fell silent.

He thought it was a big job, but it turned out to be a task for him to take his own troops and the people of Akaolan to cause trouble for several lower nest gangs in order to make room for the refugees from Akaolan.

According to intelligence, the total number of armed gang members is no more than 60,000 to 70,000, and the total number is at most one million.

Although the original places where the gangs lived could not accommodate so many refugees while ensuring normal life, if they could squeeze them in like stuffing food into a can and then have supplies from the outside world supplied regularly, then there wouldn't be much of a problem.

Is this mission necessary? It is indeed necessary. It may seem insignificant, but it actually concerns the survival of hundreds of millions of people. But why is it a mission so-called "suitable for Zhang Ge"? Wouldn't it be just as easy to just pick a few military nobles to take on the task?

Zhang Ge was a little confused about what Calgar and the others were thinking.

Although he had no interest in beating up gang kids, military orders were military orders after all, and there was nothing to say, so Zhang Ge had to agree.

In this way, after Calga and others evacuated, Zhang Ge and others had time to report their safety to the people who stayed behind, and by the way, conveyed the relevant information that Calga had returned and given them a task.

I boarded the Valkyrie and informed the pilot through communication to return to the landing point, and then I felt the weightlessness of takeoff.

After flying for a while, Zhang Ge soon returned to the cloudy landing site.

When he left the cabin, he found that a temporary defense had been built outside. From time to time, he could see several laser beams flying around. It was obvious that many mutants did not care much about the scale of the targets they attacked.

"Captain."

Since the landing was of course carried out under the guidance of friendly forces, there was already a large group of people waiting outside when Zhang Ge got out of the cabin. Standing in the front was the deputy commander of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Regiment.

He was obviously not surprised that Zhang Ge had returned safely. After greeting him, he continued:

"They are all waiting for you."

Zhang Ge looked around and saw that most of them were senior officials from Akaolan. This was not surprising, but what was a little surprising was that the generals and several senior officers of the Star Army were also there.

It's not that these people don't have information channels, but on the one hand, the time is too short to make it work. On the other hand, after all, it was a meeting that Calgar personally participated in, and it was during wartime. If they were not eyewitnesses, it would be a bit too much to take the initiative to spy on the content.

Zhang Ge naturally knew what they wanted to hear and went straight to the point:

"First, I passed the review. Second, Chapter Master Calgar has assigned me a combat mission. The specific content of the mission cannot be disclosed at this time."

These two sentences seem simple, but they actually contain a lot of information.

Passing the review in the presence of both the Ultramarines Chapter Master and a Senior Sister basically means the existence of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Regiment.

It is not impossible for the Military Affairs Department to conduct a thorough investigation. However, during the preliminary screening, as long as Zhang Ge has the record of this review in the file, he will basically not be included in the list of people who need to be sent to investigate, so as to avoid "wasting time".

As for the unfamiliar organizational name, it is not a problem at all. The Military Affairs Department often encounters such situations where an unfamiliar name suddenly appears. After all, the number of people in the Star Army is so large that they themselves don’t know exactly how many people there are.

How many are recruited each year, how many die in battle, how many new legions are established, and whether each new legion still exists after being fished out a few years later. Even if Guilliman comes along, he won't be able to figure out all these things. All we can do is list the suspicious legions based on the problems and then investigate.

What's more, if the ship used to transport the archives gets lost in the subspace, tens of thousands of files will be lost. This situation has accumulated so many bad accounts over the past ten thousand years that the Ministry of Military Affairs is too lazy to send people to investigate. Suddenly, an unfamiliar file appears and it poses no threat, so they just add it to yours and that's it.

Even if one really encounters a serious official, it would take at least dozens or even hundreds of years to check the thick archives later. It is still unclear whether many interstellar military corps can hold on until then.

Secondly, regardless of the content of the combat mission, the fact that Calgar assigned this mission to Zhang Ge alone actually revealed a very strong political signal:

He was likely considered by Calgar to be a representative of Akauran.

With Calga's political wisdom, it is impossible for him not to consider this point, which also means that Calga thinks it is reasonable for Zhang Ge to serve as the representative.

Calgar's power on this planet is greater than any power holder ever born on this planet. No matter how dictatorial and authoritarian those people are, they have to be checked and balanced by the forces of this planet.

But as the Primarch's deputy and Chapter Master of the Founding Order of Space Marines, Calgar doesn't care at all if you play house with him. If you don't go along with him and he thinks you're affecting the defense plan, then he doesn't mind eradicating you completely.

What's more embarrassing is that he is wise enough and what he does is right in most cases, so that in the end there is no reason to oppose him.

As long as Calga appointed someone, not only the local nobles of Akaolan, but even the planetary governor had to accept it with a pinch of his nose. He was even more proficient in the means of tripping them up than the nobles. Even if they accepted it on the surface, he would not be able to play tricks and refuse to cooperate behind the scenes.

This means the complete failure of the Akaolan checks and balances faction's plan...even though it seems like it never started, and even the person being targeted doesn't know about it.

In the scene, some people showed inexplicable smiles, while others had gloomy expressions.

However, Zhang Ge himself, as always, didn't care about their thoughts. After thinking for a while, he continued:

"According to orders, this combat mission requires the cooperation of the Akaolan PDF. Please select several representatives who are qualified to mobilize the PDFs of all parties. I will notify them later to hold a simple combat meeting."

I have to find a way to put myself at the front. It's not good to abuse power when there are too many people, as it will be easy to be discovered.

As he walked through the crowd that dispersed automatically, Zhang Ge, who looked serious, thought to himself:

However, this is not the case in the eyes of others.

Amidst the thick, rolling, gloomy clouds, the darkness that made it impossible to see faces, and the low temperatures caused by the long-term lack of sunlight, a man wearing blood-stained armor and a coat walked towards them, with the smell of blood penetrating his nostrils.

Everyone who faced it consciously stepped aside to make way. When it passed by, the scraps on the edge of its carapace scraped against the nobles' bright clothes, and the occasional light sound of it rubbing against hard objects mixed with the rhythmic sound of its footsteps and echoed together.

Anyone who wanted to refute was silenced.

Chapter 163: One Ring After Another

Apart from the senior executives gathered at the hatch, the next people to see Zhang Ge were the mechanical priests.

It’s not that they are not in a hurry, but after getting into the state, the time Zhang Ge takes from getting off the boat to returning is like nothing to them.

At first, Zhang Ge thought that the Mechanicus was busy with something else, until he almost bumped into a priest who was squatting in the corner and studying something when he returned to the armed carrier.

The other party raised his head when he heard the footsteps approaching. The two looked at each other. When Zhang Ge was about to say something, the other party took the initiative to speak:

"Hold on."

This wait lasted for more than ten minutes. Priests kept coming in from all over. The smell of oil, incense, fuel and the like mixed together. If it weren't for the air purification system that was turned on at some point, it would be hard to imagine what it would look like.

The reason why the priests wanted to see Zhang Ge was not because of any political interests, but a very practical factor:

They found that without Zhang Ge, not to mention the land ship, even non-destructive research on Titan would be out of the question.

Not to mention going inside to research, just talking about climbing onto the surface of Titan... the last priest who wanted to do that had his lower half of his body crushed into a pancake, and had to temporarily dismantle several servitors to gather emergency parts to repair it.

Even the priests who had originally participated in the project of adding flying packs to Titans were treated no differently.

Faced with this situation, the priests exchanged information with each other. While continuing to try new methods, they also came up with a conjecture based on previous information:

The reason why you could sometimes touch Titan before was probably because there was a priority judgment.

That is, the pilot and the machine spirit believed that ensuring Zhang Ge's safety was more important than the Titan's own likes and dislikes.

In the event that Zhang Ge's life might be threatened, Titan didn't mind the priests installing functional accessories or performing repairs on themselves, because these things would help to better support Zhang Ge and ensure his safety.

The two times that Titan took the initiative to attack were when Zhang Ge was threatened, and before setting off or during the journey, he also allowed the priests to conduct a simple inspection of his outer layer.

Since Zhang Ge was not threatened, the Titan naturally put his own safety and likes and dislikes first and pushed the priests away again.

Although it is a bit hard to accept and seems not rigorous, but judging from the current stage, the fact shows that this Titan does not care much about the Mechanicus and is a free Titan independent of the Mechanicus.

Of course, it also indirectly confirms the previous speculation about the "Titan Factory" to a certain extent. After all, if it is not a brand new Titan, it is hard to imagine that it has nothing to do with the Mechanicus.

Around the corner.

Time passed by, and with the arrival of one priest after another, in order to ensure Zhang Ge's safety, some officers also notified the nearby soldiers of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Regiment, causing the number of people gathered in the corner to double and become more crowded.

Finally, before every open space was about to be filled, a tall high-ranking priest squeezed out from the red and green crowd.

He was over two meters and five feet tall, and his body below the chest had been completely transformed into a mechanical structure, with a large number of pipes and gears intertwined and connected with each other. From time to time, some energy liquid of unknown function could be seen being transported back and forth between the pipes.

After the two sides looked at each other for a few seconds, he took the initiative to speak:

"Submit: A draft agreement on the joint development of Titans and land-based carriers."

After hearing this opening, Zhang Ge refused without even listening to the content:

"Titan and I are just friends, not superiors. If she rejects you, I can't force her."

It would be fine if they could really figure something out, but the problem is that it seems like they can't solve the problem with technical means, so they came to talk to me.

Allowing them to try to conduct their own research was already the maximum test Zhang Ge could offer. If the Mechanicus could find out the connection between the Titan and the sword at his waist, and then kill people and steal the treasure directly, then of course everyone would be happy.

But the problem is that they haven't even guessed the most basic thing yet. What else can Zhang Ge do? Should he just say that he stabbed this thing out with his sword, or allow them to turn out the Titan parts, scan them, and then put them back together?

If he died from that, it would be no different from him shooting himself in the head with a bolt gun.

Seeing Zhang Ge's refusal without hesitation, the high-ranking priest opposite him didn't seem annoyed... Of course, it could also be that he simply didn't have much human emotion left:

"Revision: Draft protocol for observing Titans and landships. Only the relevant video information from Titans and landships needs to be recorded using specialized equipment."

As if it was already anticipated that Zhang Ge would reject the previous treaty, when the high-ranking priest said this, several mechanical arms behind him turned out several pieces of parchment with densely written small characters.

Zhang Ge took a quick glance.

Apart from some additional terms such as logistics, the majority of the above is equipment and throne coins given by the Mechanicus, and the demands seem to be far less sharp than before, and can even be called lenient.

But in fact, let alone the video, some photos alone are enough to reveal a lot of information. The Mechanicus must have guessed that Zhang Ge did not have such a deep understanding of technology, so they were so sure that he would accept it.

However, Zhang Ge was obviously not an ordinary person.

"Well... I have to refuse again. The Corps cannot take up any more military resources."

On paper, these were quite a lot, but most of them were just routine equipment. The First Mechanized Infantry Regiment already had more than enough of things like laser guns and bulletproof armor.

These things are not goods that are refreshed infinitely in the store. If you use some more, it means that a unit somewhere has taken less. If there are surpluses, there is no need to continue piling them up in the warehouse waiting to rust.

The reason is very strange, but it makes sense from the perspective of an imperial officer.

Upon seeing this, the high-ranking priest showed a trace of regret on his face, which was barely covered with skin, and then waved his hand to signal others to leave.

As the priests dispersed, he turned and left as well... But just as he was about to turn the corner, he suddenly thought of something trivial and said casually:

"Additional information: The First Mechanized Infantry Regiment has increased in numbers, and we need to send more chaplains."

Zhang Ge, who was about to move on, thought about it briefly and felt that it was indeed insignificant, so he casually agreed:

"That's no problem, but you can ask someone to discuss the specific details with my logistics officer."

After hearing this answer, when Zhang Ge turned and left, the high-ranking priest also turned back and looked in front of him.

His mouth curved into a satisfied smile.

In front of me were the group of priests who pretended to leave but were crowded behind the corner.

Chapter 164: The Battle Strength is 800,000 to 80,000

Not long after returning to his office and arranging the troop assembly, representatives from all parties gathered in the venue.

What surprised Zhang Ge was that not only representatives from the Acoran PDF came, but also generals of the Astra Militarum and officers of the Skitarii.

After talking with them before the meeting, Zhang Ge finally understood what was going on.

Simply put, both of them probably guessed that Calgar would not assign any high-intensity tasks to a troop that had just arrived here after a long journey without any interruption. Most of them would be some simple chores. Considering that even a survey of the chaos erosion situation had not been conducted, it was estimated that the opponent was not even a cultist.

So they planned to sneak in and realize some interests.

The Astra Militarum is here to take advantage of the situation. If there is a combat mission, they can gain military merit and seize spoils of war to facilitate future replenishment. Anything they don't need can be resold on the black market, and then the money can be used to buy some heavy equipment.

The Crusaders wanted to take this opportunity to demonstrate the level of armed force of the Mechanicus of Acoran. If they showed too much weakness, even though they were colleagues, the other priests would not mind eviscerating the priests of Acoran first.

Zhang Ge thought about it for a moment. He didn't expect a group of thugs to pose a threat to him in the first place, so he might as well add some more people. It would be better to finish the fight sooner so that he could have more time to rest.

After understanding the unexpected situation, Zhang Ge also formally began to explain the content and specific plan of the task.

Since it was only targeting a few small gangs, the meeting ended quickly. In addition to Zhang Geqi's fully staffed 1st Mechanized Infantry Regiment, the Acoran side also had 110,000 other Astra Militarum troops, 20,000 Skitarii troops, and callable support as compensation for Calgar's inability to use Titans: three Space Marine Arbitrator squads of 15 people, and about 600,000 PDFs.

The mobilized PDF was only a small part of the elite remaining PDF in Akaolan. Even after the war, the total number of PDFs was three to four million, and they had not had time to be fully mobilized.

The total number of people is about 800,000. Considering that the enemy may have hidden some of its troops, the troop ratio between the two sides is about ten to one. This number of people is moderate, and there is no need to make a big fuss.

To be honest, if it weren't for the sake of a quick victory and safety, just sending the 1,000-man Titan Guard and the 1,000-man Battle Sisters attached to the 1st Mechanized Infantry Regiment would be considered bullying these hive elements.

After the discussion and the final summary of their respective divisions of labor, Zhang Ge said:

"End of the meeting."

The attack was scheduled to begin at dawn tomorrow on this planet. Twenty-four Terra hours before the general offensive began, personnel would be dispatched to communicate with surrounding departments to evacuate civilians. Artillery fire would begin three Terra hours before the general offensive began, and all troops would be fully in place by the first thirty Terra hours.