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

He thought about the possible fate he might face if he returned, and then thought about the nearly one hundred brothers he had left, and the more than five million cultists outside.

He felt that it was better to pretend not to know some things - after all, considering where those people were going, their target should be the camp itself. To be more realistic, if those people achieved their goals, it was not certain that anyone would be alive to hold him accountable.

So, while he ordered the troops to continue to strengthen the defense line and guard against the "non-existent enemy", he also added some artistic elements to the military information he reported to the rear, which roughly said:

The enemy's scale is completely different from what was previously reported. It is a cluster of more than five million Astra Militarum troops. Due to the lack of intelligence, the troops suffered huge losses in the initial contact. At present, our unit has switched to a defensive posture and is doing its utmost to resist the attack of its main force.

Among the large amount of description, there is only one inconspicuous paragraph that reads:

Because we were caught off guard in the early stages, some defensive loopholes were accidentally created in the process of reorganizing the troops and conducting defense, which allowed a small group of enemy troops to penetrate the defense line. Judging from the direction of their advance, their destination should be the Dead Forest Festival area.

Chapter 194: Your door seems to be a little wide open

While everyone was having a thrilling experience...well, it wasn't that thrilling actually.

No, where is the pursuit team?

At this time, Zhang Ge was hanging at the back of the team with several Titans and some armored forces, so as to be ready to deal with the enemy's pursuit troops at any time. However, from night to day, not to mention the pursuit troops, there was not even a symbolic air strike.

This remained the same until noon when the team began to take a short break, except that they had to wear helmets due to the temperature and flying sand.

It even caused Zhang Ge's reputation among friendly forces to be ruined.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the group under his command is rich, they still have the real people to help when something happens.

After realizing this and being basically certain that no one would catch up with him, Zhang Ge immediately threw this hot potato to someone else and ran back to the team to drive.

Later it turned out that this was what he thought was a rare correct decision. The enemy he imagined would chase him relentlessly until he was out of the dangerous range as planned, but it did not happen.

In fact...if there is a ranking of "who most wants the leader of a certain camp to die suddenly", the commander of the line of defense they had previously crossed might be at the top of the list.

Chaos Space Marines, no, not just Space Marines, it should be said that the bottom line of the vast majority of Chaos believers is that they have no bottom line at all. Even if they look like normal people, they may be your closest relatives in the last second, and stab you in the back in the next second.

This is a destruction and distortion of cognition and soul.

This kind of destruction is more thorough than chemical substances like drugs, and can make people more brutal and unscrupulous than addicts who are addicted. At least addicts have shelters to try to help them quit drugs, but the only way to stop Chaos believers from their blasphemous behavior is to put an end to it physically.

Even Space Marines are like this.

It's not that after falling into Chaos, they simply changed their stance or style. These once noble warriors have been completely distorted at their core, and their only code of conduct is the preferences and decrees of the evil god.

Although the Iron Warriors do not believe in any evil god, but tend to be undivided chaos, and even reject the physical distortion caused by the blessings of the evil gods, they cannot change this.

After making mental preparations and weighing the pros and cons, the commander smoothly betrayed the leader of the camp to which he had originally been loyal, without even having to think about the betrayal itself for half a second.

So, let alone sending people to pursue, if he could do it, he might just ask people to temporarily join Zhang Ge's army. After all, if the leader of the camp didn't die, he would most likely be the one to die... Of course, after the first defeat, even if he didn't betray, he would most likely die, which is why he chose to betray.

What's more, with over five million cultists and a hundred Space Marines, there's more than enough to form a new warband. As long as the leader of the main camp is dead, won't the sky be high and free for birds to fly? Now firing a few shots into the air would be worthy of the old boss's resources, but there would be no more.

On the other side, the commander's message reached the camp leader earlier than Zhang Ge's team.

The leader of the camp has been in charge of his subordinates for so many years, so he naturally knows the conditions of his subordinates, and those cruel punishments are just for this reason... To be honest, after reading the whole article, although he did not doubt the overall situation, he still suspected that the officers he sent out had falsified the details.

For example, if there were five million Astra Militarum troops, and they had a Titan with them, how long could a mere six million cultists hold them off? Following this intelligence, there would surely be an urgent call for assistance.

If the actual number was accurate, he'd estimate it to be around one million. Considering the previous loser hadn't completely wiped out the besieged enemy, there should be twenty or thirty surviving Space Marines among that million. By that calculation, it made sense that he could hold off the enemy with the force he was given.

As for the enemy troops that were missed in the intelligence, the leader of the camp naturally noticed it, but did not pay too much attention to it. Let it be a leak. With such a big error in the intelligence, it is normal to be stunned and reveal some flaws. He really can't be blamed for this.

Even if a small group of enemies came from the rear, they would not pose a threat. A few thousand? Or ten thousand? He estimated that ten thousand was already a lot. Even with the current strength of the rear defense line, this number of people could completely solve the problem on their own.

However, out of caution, he still drew out an additional 100,000 troops from the existing force, which seemed a little tight after the transfer of 6 million people, to strengthen the rear line.

Originally, there were still a lot of spare troops, but not long ago, the defenders of the Dead Forest Zone seemed to have received a large number of reinforcements, which temporarily stabilized the originally shaky defense line of the Imperial Fists and even enabled them to launch counterattacks in some key areas, forcing him to also send more troops to the front line, resulting in the current embarrassing situation where even 100,000 people is considered a large number.

Thinking of this, he felt even more disgusted with his destined enemy.

Putting his thoughts aside, at this time, Zhang Ge and his team had already started marching again.

As they advanced quietly and rapidly, officers at all levels increasingly pulled out maps and attempted to locate landmarks in the desert. Even the regimental commanders had repeatedly confirmed their positions with the Imperial Fist Champion.

Did you take the wrong path?

Because it was too quiet, not to mention the pursuit team, even the interception team could not be seen. How come nearly 200,000 people plus six Titans were not in the eyes of the Iron Warriors, or did they just happen to fall into a gap in the defense?

Compared with the above two situations, leading the wrong way and going in the wrong direction is more credible.

However, these questions all received a firm response from the Imperial Fist Champion:

Yes, this is the direction.

Although he was also very confused about the current situation, how could he possibly make a mistake in choosing the direction?

Helplessly, the troops could only continue to advance amidst a mixture of tension and anxiety.

This situation continued until one day, the reconnaissance team sent out came back and finally reported the discovery of the enemy.

Judging from a few photos, if it is not caused by the distortion of the subspace, then the defenses that can be seen... cannot be said to be strict, but at least can be said to be thin and extremely lax - this thinness is compared to the power they currently possess.

It was as if they had no idea they were coming.

But how is this possible? It can't be that the people on the previous line of defense are all blind.

However, now that they had arrived here and the Space Marine champion was convinced that his judgment was correct, the various legions gradually prepared for battle.

Chapter 195 I Call It Efficiency

When deploying the troops, Zhang Ge asked the Space Marines to conduct several rounds of reconnaissance outside the enemy's surveillance range - considering the Space Marines' extraordinary skills and advanced equipment, the chances of mortals discovering them are actually pitifully small, and even the Imperial Fists do not mean that they are not good at hiding themselves.

Sure enough, the intelligence obtained this time was much closer and more accurate. Since the Iron Warriors were very sparsely distributed on the opponent's defense line, some of the photos could even be seen to have been taken across the defense line.

In addition to some simple deployment information, what is more crucial is that the officers saw the profane base built by the Iron Warriors in the pictures brought back by the reconnaissance team after returning.

Behind the twisted and intertwined spiked walls are towers engraved with numerous Chaos Runes and blasphemous symbols. At the same time, there are also those slightly low furnaces and various enclosed buildings, indicating that the Iron Warriors have been stationed here for quite some time.

Although the function of most buildings is unclear, the towers and furnaces are still very eye-catching.

The former should be a ritual tool used to forcibly restrain demons... Yes, not all demons are willing to be driven by people, especially those who are forced into the demon engine and tortured.

Therefore, unless the summoner himself is an extremely powerful and favored demon or ascended demon, for most "ordinary people", if they want to command a large number of demons, they have to rely on some coercive means.

The latter should be the profane factories that the Iron Warriors obtained through some means, such as rapid construction modules, airborne construction modules, or simply summoned from the warp. In addition to their conventional functions, these factories are also a kind of evil sacrifice site, swallowing and discharging not only countless twisted machines, but also vast warp energy.

Zhang Ge pondered for a moment.

To let ordinary troops approach such a place to fight... It's not that it's impossible, but the sacrifices are too great. Even for the seasoned Astra Militarum, it is hard to say whether they can escape unscathed if they are exposed to that level of subspace energy.

Without risking his own death, he still wanted to save the lives of his men as much as possible.

After thinking for a while, he asked the coordinating officer in charge of commanding the fighter planes:

"Can the fleet launch a jet attack on the enemy base outside the range of the enemy's air defenses?"

Projectile is a type of fighter jet tactic. Normally, a fighter jet's projectiles are fired horizontally or downwards, but if necessary, they can actually adjust the fuselage posture to an upward angle, and then eject the projectile at a certain angle to increase its range.

Naturally, choosing range means sacrificing accuracy. However, considering that the target is an entire base, a higher accuracy error does not really matter.

"Well... yes, it is possible, but look, these are the only air defense facilities that can be seen from the photos."

He squeezed in next to Zhang Ge, smelling a little of engine oil, and pointed at the blurred area in the photo, then continued:

"Based on the density of their air defenses and the number and variety of our aircraft, I suspect that such an attack would have little effect. Most projectiles would be too slow for specialized air defense weapons and would be intercepted. The few that are left would not be able to penetrate the outer shell's defenses."

Although the speed of fighter jet rockets, missiles and the like is fast enough now, compared with the laser arrays used to intercept small projectiles, that speed is not worth mentioning at all. If there are not enough of them, they can be easily intercepted.

Isn't there...wait.

Zhang Ge thought of something and quickly called the highest-ranking officer of the friendly Crusader Army who was responsible for the support.

The other party answered the call almost immediately after the request was submitted. Inevitably, there was still considerable interference despite the relatively close distance, but I could still barely hear what both parties were saying.

The officer's question was very concise:

"Why?"

"Is the missile support promised by the Adeptus Mechanicus still within the effective range and timeframe?"

"Yes, but the landing point needs to be recalibrated on the ground."

Perhaps it was because senior military officers needed to use more acute thinking to consider various military strategies, so their wording was much closer to that of ordinary cult members than that of normal people.

After listening, Zhang Ge asked:

"Is it difficult? What equipment do you need?"

"I'll come."

Communication ends.

Soon after, Zhang Ge heard the unique sound of mechanical operation. The officer came from a certain direction with a vanguard carrying a box-shaped instrument.

Neither of them showed any obvious features, as they were wrapped in thick red robes with extra radiation protection to prevent radiation damage to friendly forces.

Zhang Ge asked with some doubt:

"Can't we do it ourselves?"

"The process of calling and confirming coordinates is complicated and requires specialized personnel. You are responsible for bringing him close enough."

"Okay, no problem."

After organizing a capable team of ten, Zhang Ge took the lead and led everyone and the vanguard to walk in the sea of ​​sand, slowly approaching the weak defense area explored by the Space Marines.

But before they could see those profane buildings, and only vaguely saw the enemy positions among the countless endless sand dunes on the distant horizon, the vanguard signaled everyone to stop.

He half-crouched down, set up, fixed, and finally unfolded the box-shaped instrument in his hand.

After some routine prayers, he finally activated the device.

In an instant, countless invisible rays of light that had been pre-tuned and bent to correspond to the curvature of the planet were thrown towards those profane structures in curves. Amidst the slight humming and heat dissipation sounds, large amounts of data flowed, communicating across distances.

Soon, Zhang Ge realized that the enemy seemed to have noticed the scan, but because they were unprepared, they could not find the source for a while. It was not until more than ten minutes later that someone discovered this small team that had been hidden for a long time.

However, it was too late.

Before the two sides even started exchanging fire, the vanguard army had already signaled that the marking was complete and they could evacuate. By the time the enemy shells fell a few minutes later, everyone had already moved away from the original location.

In a Mechanicus fortress somewhere in the Macrobei Sector, a large number of missiles took off from the launch silos. These missiles would rise all the way into space to directly bypass all ground detections. After correcting their orbits, they would lower their detection characteristics to the lowest point until they finally arrived above their destination, where they would perform a terminal push and fall directly from space.

Their speed is so fast and their shell defense is so strong that when the relatively weak ground air defense discovers them, they can only intercept a very small part of them.

on the ground.

Counting the time, after about dozens of Terra minutes, the energy concentration of the distant subspace detected by various instruments dropped drastically. Although the mechanized infantry regiment position a hundred kilometers away could not feel the explosion, judging from these data indicators, the attack was effective.

Obviously, with most of their attention concentrated in the Dead Forest Section, the enemy's overall air defense posture inevitably shifted towards the Dead Forest Section. Although they also took the base in the rear into consideration, they probably did not expect that someone would suddenly rush to their rear, hit the base, and just happen to be able to guide a wave of missile strikes against large-scale Chaos forces.

At the same time, judging from the data, the Mechanicus is not so stingy when it comes to cutting materials.

Chapter 196 A Mess of Porridge

For the Iron Warriors, a slight decrease in the concentration of Warp energy is not a big deal, as they don't rely much on the evil magic of the Warp to fight anyway.

But when the Demon, especially the Demon Engine, loses its constraints, it becomes a lot of fun.

In order to efficiently penetrate the Imperial Fists' defenses, the Iron Warriors naturally used every possible means, which naturally included a large number of these highly lethal profane machines.

However, due to how this thing works, it's a double-edged sword.

It forces the demon into the body of a twisted machine. This machine is not only a weapon, but also a terrifying torture device. When the demon is in it, it will suffer eternal torture that even the most brutal demon will shudder at. It will even be forced to serve the creator of all this.

It is conceivable how much anger is contained in its soul, and it is self-evident what the demon engine will do once it is free.

Since there were a large number of Iron Warriors fighting on the front line, the sudden rebellion of the Demon Engines at the front did not cause much trouble. The Iron Warriors who reacted could take action when the Demon Engines had just slaughtered one or two cultist teams around them, and throw thermal bombs at their vulnerable points, turning them into wreckage.

But the problem further back is bigger.

In order to improve loading efficiency, the demon engines that have been converted into self-propelled artillery carriers usually coexist with a large number of artillery shells. They don't even need to do much. As long as they put up a little resistance, the next artillery shell ready to be fired will explode, and the accompanying fireworks and explosions will stretch into a terrifying wall of fire.

The Hell Dragon, which was being maintained at the airport along with the fighter planes, suddenly went berserk, using its breath and sharp claws to tear countless defenseless ground staff, crew members, and fighter planes into pieces.

The situation for ordinary demons was relatively better. After all, this operation was led by the Black Legion, and the Iron Warriors themselves had good self-control, so most of them did not act rashly... However, despite this, that small number of frenzied demons still caused great chaos.

Of course, something more deadly wasn't happening inside the Iron Warriors.