Chapter 342 Mount & Blade

"A soldier on foot is not a soldier at all."

——A common phrase used by Attila's barbarian cavalry.

"Life is only for fighting, and death is for sleeping; life is not for glory, and death is for redemption."

—The last part of the sacrificial prayer of the Krieg Death Legion before they go into battle.

......

When dawn appeared on the gray horizon and its first rays of light swept across the wasteland plains, in the outposts on the outer defense line of the hive city, the sentinels stared at the cold, dust-covered earth with sore eyelids.

There were footsteps behind them. The sentries on guard duty, the sentries waiting to be relieved and the sentries wrapped in sleeping bags all looked back. It was Qingshan Khan, Chapter Master of the Iron Pagoda Regiment, who was leading several Space Marines and was patrolling the outer defense line.

Several scantily clad sentinels quickly stood up and saluted, looking at the Space Marines in black-gold power armor with awe. The tall ceramic giant looked very indifferent, and his red eyepiece slowly scanned them, then the surrounding fortifications, and then turned and left.

They did not speak - perhaps they did, on the intercom channel, but it was clear that the Space Marine was unwilling to share the content of the conversation with them.

The sentry guessed correctly. Fu Qinghai was indeed discussing the defense deployment of the hive city with several of his subordinates.

"Minefields, barbed wire, tank traps, anti-tank trenches... they all look pretty realistic."

Fu Qinghai's voice sounded in the communication channel.

The trenches and low walls were connected to the bunkers, which were simply reinforced with quick-hardening cement and plastic steel bars. The bunkers were equipped with multiple firing holes for heavy weapons, and sandbags were piled up around the weapon positions. The intersections were specially arranged with oil tanks filled with gravel, corrugated steel plates and bulletproof armor.

This is the outer defense line outside the wall. The main body of the hive, including the wall, is protected by multiple void shield arrays.

"A strong fortress is often breached from the inside. It took Sartrefan and I a lot of time to identify, screen, and purge the heretical forces inside the hive."

Kalamanda said.

The planet Kaelnak III is not big. It is the only hive city where humans gather in large numbers. Fu Qinghai first needs to confirm its defense situation and ensure the safety of the hive before considering whether he can go out to kill the orcs and traitors. Otherwise, if the hive is not defended, this battle will be in vain.

Now it seems that although the local planetary defense forces are the same as most of the empire's planetary defense forces: average morale, sparse training, and poor equipment. But at least they have spent some effort in building fortifications and there are no obvious loopholes.

As for the strike from orbit...

The Purity and the Warhorse were anchored above the hive city.

"Call the planetary governor."

The inspection is completed, said Fu Qinghai.

…

On the balcony of a watchtower.

The planetary governor came hurriedly in a disheveled robe embroidered with brocade and diamonds. He came to Fu Qinghai with a few servants and said in a slightly flattering tone:

"Master, I heard you were looking for me?"

Fu Qinghai looked into the distance and said,

"The fortifications are well built. We will reinforce them later and turn them from semi-permanent fortifications into permanent fortifications."

The planetary governor's face flashed with hesitation:

"Well, so what you mean is... this war will last for a long time?"

"No."

Fu Qinghai shook his head and pointed into the distance:

"What is that?"

There was some smoke rising faintly in the distance.

"That's the greenskin, my lord."

Fu Qinghai raised his hand and pointed to the sky:

"What is that?"

The sky is clear and the sun is blinding.

"That is the sun, my Lord."

"There are green-skinned spores and the sun is shining. What does this mean? Under photosynthesis, even if I kill all the Orks now, you will still have to spend one or two hundred years to completely clean up the Orks on this planet."

Fu Qinghai said calmly:

"So this is just my suggestion. I suggest you strengthen the fortifications. After all, we won't be stationed here forever, and there will be many more wars in the future of the hive world."

"I understand, my Lord."

The Planetary Governor nodded.

…

Fu Qinghai is deploying his troops.

To be honest, he didn't really understand the role and position of traditional cavalry in the era of interstellar war.

The Death Korps of Krieg is a large and complete Imperial Guard Corps, which includes infantry, artillery, grenadiers, and armored troops. Krieg is particularly good at siege warfare, and they have a variety of burrowing vehicles. The three major military sequences of the Empire: Space Marines, Mechanicus, and Imperial Guards. Space Marines do not have their own burrowing vehicles, but Krieg does.

Strictly speaking, the Death Troopers are only the second-line troops of the Death Corps. They were brought back during the Krieg Civil War because the civil war had exhausted all the resources and there was not enough fuel to refuel the tanks. Because they were quite effective in actual combat, they were retained after the civil war.

The Death Troopers do the same job as the Sentinels, reconnaissance, harassment, guerrilla warfare, support... They are not considered the frontline or main force of the Krieg Death Corps at all.

What is so special about Attila's barbarian cavalry?

Attila is a feudal world.

Krieg joined the human empire as a hive world. As mentioned earlier, the technological level of the hive world is similar to the overall technological level of the empire, while the technological level of the feudal world is much lower than that of the empire.

Officials of the Ministry of Military Affairs were aware of the bravery of Attila's barbarian cavalry and equipped them with special cavalry weapons - hunting spears - that were sufficient for them to participate in interstellar wars. However, this could not change the fact that traditional cavalry itself had great flaws.

In the 41K era, Attila's Brutes once repelled the invasion of the Necrons, but it should be noted that the Necron dynasty itself was not strong, and Attila's Brutes also suffered heavy casualties and paid a heavy price.

Therefore, the two cavalry units were formed due to various special reasons. Normally speaking, no one would play traditional cavalry in the era of interstellar war.

Fortunately, Fu Qinghai does not rely entirely on the two Imperial Guards cavalry units as the main force. He has three companies of space warriors, all equipped with jet motorcycles - and this is what cavalry should look like in the era of interstellar war.

The Space Marines of the 5th and 6th Companies were taking every opportunity to familiarize themselves with the operation of the jet bikes. These young, brand-new alien Space Marines had never ridden a jet bike before, so it took them some time to master it. However, the genetic talent engraved in their gene seeds allowed them to master it very quickly, and they could soon perform all kinds of fancy moves.

Although the defense of the hive city is still good and it is safe for the time being, Fu Qinghai will not allow the greenskins and chaos to occupy other areas, other vast areas of the planet.

Everything is ready, only the east wind is missing.

Now, Fu Qinghai just needs to wait for an opportunity.

The best time to come out in full force.

......

Karnak III, Trash Hills.

Deep in the mountains of the Hive World stood a rusted steel statue. Ten stories high, it had a crude barrel-shaped head and a large, patchwork face.

A cruel face, a harsh face, a face full of Oak confidence and Oak power, it towered among the sparse trees, surrounded by makeshift fences in the garbage pit and the workshop where the technician boy lived.

Behind it were trees and fetid jungle mud.

The statue was looking down at the Orc huts, as if it was looking at the war in the distance. It was obviously an unfinished statue. Messy Orc huts were scattered around the statue, and the gaps were filled with junk picked up by the scavenger boy. The technician boy was picking and choosing, thinking and pondering, and then began to piece them together.

Li Hanxing put down the telescope.

His face was hidden under the gas mask. Although his expression could not be seen, his breathing was obviously becoming rapid.

Ancient Giant Garbage!

The orcs are creating ancient giant garbage!

Li Hanxing didn't know much about the Ork vehicles, but judging from the size alone, this unfinished behemoth was definitely not a mecha unit like the Killing Can, the Gork or the Maork, but a proper Titan unit.

When their Titan units, their siege weapons - the Ancient Titans, are completed, can the defenses of the Hive City withstand the attack of this behemoth?

"Pululu."

The biological mount sitting down snorted.

The sharp hooves were stepping on the grass.

"Sir, what should we do now?"

A death trooper beside him asked.

He was asking: Attack? Or go back and report?

Li Hanxing was thinking and hesitating in his heart.

The task assigned to him by Qingshan Khan was just to scout the enemy, without any order to engage in battle, but the opportunity was very rare at the moment - the convoy of the Evil Sun Clan had gone out in full force and disappeared, leaving only a group of technicians and fart spirits in this temporary base. Although the technicians were not bad in combat, they were not the real main force after all. This hill was already far away from the hive city, and if he returned at this moment... by the time he came back next time, the orcs' ancient giant garbage would probably have been completed.

Li Hanxing picked up the telescope again.

He took another look at the statue:

the orcs were using a crane and hinges to hoist a huge multi-barreled revolver weapon onto the shoulders of the ancient giant. A team of fart spirits lined up in a row, shouting "Hey hey hey" under the whip of the orc overseer, pulling the rope under the pulley, trying to drag a strangely shaped orc-style giant cannon.

At this moment, outside the fence behind the garbage truck and the garbage dump, in the dense bushes, a pair of cunning eyes were also looking at the Death Knights on the top of the hill in the distance.

This orc hunter was dressed very differently from the technician boy in the base - his face was smeared with mud and war paint, fangs and claws hung around his neck, and he wore a large, tattered animal skin vest on his body.

The orc patiently stroked the Squig War Pig under his crotch, signaling his mount to be patient. The round and sturdy red monster twisted its body restlessly and rubbed against the rough tree trunk next to it. As the orc's mouth curled up, his hooked fangs became more prominent, and his pair of cruel and cunning bulging eyes stared at Li Hanxing closely.

No more waiting!

After thinking it over, the Death Trooper Captain finally made up his mind and said,

"Cancel the radio silence and inform the Hive of our current location coordinates."

"receive."

The Death Trooper carrying the Communicator immediately picked up the microphone and began to deliver the message.

When the cavalryman finished the operation, Li Hanxing held the hollow metal spear of the hunting spear with his right hand, and lifted the reins of the biochemical riding beast with his left hand. The warhorse "Herod" neighed and said in a deep voice:

"Everyone, follow me!"

…

The top of the hill.

The Death Cavalry whipped their horses and the war horses began to speed up. Various stimulating drugs had been injected into their blood vessels. Metabolism and hormone secretion were intensifying, making the war horses more aggressive and ferocious. These hairless and tailless biochemical mounts began to spew out scalding hot air from their noses.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The earth began to tremble.

The tremors became more and more severe.

In the stronghold not far away, the technicians who were busy at work were all stunned. They subconsciously stopped their work and looked over the fence.

The sunlight shone on the gray chrome-plated plastic steel breastplates of the Death Knights, and the reflection was slightly dim. A row of hunting spears and lances were erected high, and flags were fluttering in the wind.

"Wow!"

The ones who exploded instantly were the fart spirits.

They dropped the ropes and parts in their hands and ran in panic in all directions like a group of headless flies, allowing the orc overseers to whip them with crackling whips. The vibration of the earth passed through their feet into their hearts, and without waiting for them to organize a defense, these low-level Ork creatures collapsed first.

"What the hell! What the hell is coming!"

An orc opened his mouth and shouted, and the technician boys grabbed all the weapons they could get, from bang-bang guns to big hack-slashes, even wrenches, crowbars and screwdrivers.

However, before they could get ready, Li Hanxing took the lead, leaped over the low fence on his horse, and stepped hard on the orc's chest with his sharp horse hoof as big as a human head.

"Bang!"

The sturdy orc's chest collapsed, his ribs broke and his internal organs were crushed. He died instantly. The death cavalry behind him followed the company commander and rushed into the stronghold, trampling the fence to pieces.

Li Hanxing raised the tip of the gun in his hand. Instead of using the hunting spear, he controlled the warhorse to ram hard at the orc who was blocking the way in front of him. The plastic steel armor fixed on the forehead of the warhorse knocked the blocker away, and in the process, "ping-ping-pang-clang" knocked down a group of boys.

Sporadic gunshots rang out, and bullets hit the war horses, splashing clusters of blood. However, these biochemical mounts seemed to have no sense of pain and continued to charge forward.

Only when he rushed to the front of the ancient giant did Li Hanxing lower his body and press down the hunting spear. The tip of the spear fiercely stabbed the joint of the steel statue. The promethium tank under the hot melting spear tip spewed out an extremely compressed yellow flame jet, melting the hinges and gears together!

"Crack... Crunch..."

The unfinished product Gu Juji's body tilted.

Li Hanxing threw down his disposable hunting spear, rolled over to avoid the incoming chainsaw axe, pulled out the laser pistol from his waist, and raised his hand to shoot. The death cavalrymen behind him followed suit, thrusting their hunting spears at the ancient giant. Amid the continuous explosions of the plasma spear tips and the molten spear tips, the steel giant fell to the ground with a bang.

Smoke and dust filled the stronghold, and the Death Riders slowed down one after another. The sheds, rubbish and garbage prevented them from riding freely on their horses, so they could only draw their sabers and pistols to fight.

Fortunately, the morale of the beastmen has collapsed...

Li Hanxing was thinking.

The biochemical beast under his crotch had already started to bite the corpse of a snot monster. It chewed the flattened green creature for a while and swallowed it into its stomach. The broad chest of the warhorse was covered with large and small pits of flesh and blood, and blood was flowing down its legs.

"Waaaagh—"

A roar interrupted Li Hanxing's thoughts.

The smoke slowly dissipated.

Li Hanxing suddenly turned his head and saw that the entire stronghold was surrounded by densely packed orc cavalry, with red-skinned bipedal Squig war pigs under their crotch and green snake-shaped battle flags tied on their backs, which were different from those of the Evil Sun Clan. They had grim smiles on their faces, and held exaggerated killing saws and power claws with flashing arcs in their hands, looking at the Death Cavalry with ill intentions.

There are even giant Squig monsters that are as big as mountains, carrying huge cannons and carriages and wearing thick armor.

Snakebite Clan!

When did they come?

Under the gas mask, Li Hanxing's face was pale.

The most powerful hunting spears have all been used up, and the Death Troopers are left with only ordinary sabers and laser pistols. What can they use to fight the War Boar Troopers of the Snakebite Clan?

"Hehehehe…"

The leading orc cavalry rode towards them riding pigs.

This orc was incredibly strong, with an iron jaw, a hard skull, and squiggly leather armor. Under his crotch was a white squiggly dragon. He walked and laughed, his mouth wide open, revealing a mouthful of yellow fangs, and muttered in a half-baked Low Gothic tongue:

"Shrimp is crushed into pieces, and the head is used as a chamber pot!"

"All the shrimps are dead, and the land is filled with blood!"

Li Hanxing took a deep breath, ignored the orc boss's mocking words, drew out his saber and raised it in the air, and whispered:

"Death Cavalry, assemble!"

In the stronghold, all the remaining death cavalry formed a circle, gathered around Li Hanxing, and all of them faced outward.

Faced with the desperate struggle of the Death Riders, the orc leader showed no fear at all. He continued to walk forward a few steps, raised the chainsaw axe in his hand, pointed at Li Hanxing's head, and said:

"Boss Xi, you are so skinny and skinny, I want..."

"Swish!"

In the shed next to the orc boss, a black shadow suddenly flashed out, and the lightning claws in its hands stabbed straight upwards. The four sharp and slender claws wrapped in the disintegration force field fiercely pierced through the orc boss's iron chin and hard skull, and emerged from the top of his head.

! ! ? ?

The Death Troopers were stunned.

The orc cavalry were also stunned.

Sartrefan retracted his lightning claws, turned to look at the dazed Li Hanxing, and said calmly:

"I'm here to take prisoners. What are you here for?"

"Are you here to die?"

Before Li Hanxing could answer, the roar of engines and the whistling of air were heard in the sky. "Swoosh", five jet motorcycles flew over the orc stronghold and dropped several stasis bombs.

"boom--"

The time-expanding ball of light locked several orcs inside.

At the top of the hills around the stronghold, several war horses climbed up the ridge one after another, carrying guards dressed in nomadic clothes on their backs. They held hunting spears in their hands and looked down at the orc stronghold at the foot of the mountain. Then, more and more cavalry appeared on the ridge, forming a new ridge, with a dense mass of towering heads...

Tariha raised his hunting spear with one hand and shouted loudly:

"Attila the Barbarian!"

"Hoo! Ha!"

Three thousand people roared a war cry like a tsunami.

"Follow me, charge!"

Warhammer 40,000: Mount & Blade

......

　There are a lot of pictures, I will post them when I wake up during the day

(end of this chapter)