Chapter 444: Qingshan Khan Makes His Own Decision

Chapter 444 Qingshan Khan decides on his own

In the vast void between the Death World of Govalia and the Forge World of Kalibax, warships of all sizes float quietly here, a cluster of Chaos warships.

A Butcher-class strike cruiser.

"Forgestone" Sotarn Wohl-Brown sat in his room with a gloomy face, drinking the wine served by the slaves. The war blacksmith was not wearing a helmet, one of his eyes had been replaced by a scarlet mechanical eye, and his bald forehead was inlaid with implants.

The final outcome of the battle in the Ni-Dline sub-sector can be said to be extremely ironic: the Dark Mechanicus, who wanted to abandon their allies and use some heretical and blasphemous psychic ritual to open a rift and escape early, were completely wiped out, while the Iron Warriors, who had originally planned to fight to the death, were able to escape with a few battleships.

But Sotan Bron was not happy.

On the contrary, the Warsmith was still angry at this moment.

He boasted in front of the Black Oil Man that he would let that unknown regiment feel the wrath of the Iron Warriors, but the boarding operation ended in a complete defeat. Of the six warships, one crashed, three were captured, and two were evacuated.

It was a complete failure.

The only consolation is that all the black oil men who witnessed the war blacksmith's boasting died on the landing site, and no one will come to slap him in the face.

The bitterness of defeat spread on the tip of the tongue.

The War Blacksmith still can't figure it out.

Why are those people so strong?

Just like the command mode of Iron Lord Perturabo, Sotan Bron liked to pay attention to every detail and every key intelligence during the battle. When he received the information that the strike cruiser "Rock" was hit by a boarding torpedo, and then within half an hour, the battleship lost contact, no matter how he called, there was no response, and three hours later, the battleship suddenly stopped in the void without moving.

It's too fast. It's really too fast.

The enemy could seize the bridge in thirty minutes and paralyze the power system in three hours. Were the Iron Warriors on the battleship just a bunch of decorations? All of them just sitting there waiting to be killed?

First it was the "Rock", then the "Iron Chisel", and finally the "Steel Cone". One after another, the three Slaughter-class cruisers all lost contact in the boarding battle.

Then the news came from the surface: the Kurissatai Titan Legion and the Untamed Lord Titan Legion were defeated by a Titan. Although the news was incredible, the War Blacksmith once suspected that the herald had missed a few zeros, but he did not hesitate too much and immediately ordered the remaining warships to break through.

Only then did they escape from the galaxy with great difficulty.

"Hmm…Bang!"

The Warsmith slammed his goblet down.

The old Astartes Legion had never defeated the new Astartes Legion. The humiliating defeat not only made him angry, but also made him feel a little scared - would the Lord of Steel punish us? Eleven lashes or some other means?

"Sotan, Sotan Bron..."

A sigh came from outside the hatch:

"Warsmith, I'm very scared now~"

Sotan Bronn clenched the wine glass tightly, and the bronze wine glass was instantly crushed, and he roared:

"Who is it? Who is talking outside?"

"laugh..."

The hatch slid open slowly.

A burly and terrifying black shadow stood outside the door.

Sotarn Bronn narrowed his eyes and took a closer look. The man was wearing a dirty black Iron Cavalry Terminator suit. The entire armor was severely twisted. If it weren't for the black leather strips hanging from the shoulders and hips, the war blacksmith couldn't even recognize its model. The brass trim on the edge of the armor turned into sharp arrows. White bone spurs broke through the shoulder armor and stretched toward the sky. A sharp-toothed bloody mouth opened in the abdomen, and a tongue was still dripping saliva. The armor was inlaid or hung with some vertical pupil eye-shaped reliefs and ornaments. These symbols were very familiar to the war blacksmith. They once had a name...

It's called the Eye of Horus.

Sotarn Bronn stood up.

"Farkus Cable."

The War Blacksmith called out the other party's name in a deep voice:

"Are you here to laugh at my joke?"

"Hehehe…"

The hoarse laughter seemed to come from hell.

He was extremely tall, and after putting on the Terminator armor, his back was against the ceiling, blocking the light outside the cabin like a door panel. An unclear aura lingered around his body, making it difficult to see his face. The scarlet light illuminated his facial contours from the gaps around his neck armor.

"I'm here to save you, Forgestone."

Fakus said with a smile.

"Save me? I don't need saving."

The Warsmith said coldly.

"No, you need it."

Fakus said slowly,

"The Iron Ring is doomed. You have not achieved your strategic goals, but have suffered heavy losses. Do you dare to return to Midgard? Have you ever thought about how Perturabo will punish you after you return to Midgard? Can your identity as a war blacksmith exempt you from punishment, Sotarn?"

Midgard is the Daemon World of Perturabo and the current home world of the Iron Warriors. Located in the Eye of Terror, the planet is not only a Daemon World, but also a Fortress World, a fortress with towers that reach high into the sky and dungeons that reach deep into the core of the Earth.

Sotan Bran gritted his teeth. Although he was unwilling to admit it, he was indeed a little afraid to return to Midgard. He didn't know how the Lord of Steel would deal with him. After becoming a demon, Perturabo's temper and personality seemed to have become a little more normal. But thinking back to what the Primarch had done, Sotan Bran didn't want to gamble with his life.

"Do you have any suggestions, Farkus?"

The Warsmith asked in a deep voice.

"I can give you a choice, Sotarn."

Falkus Cable grinned.

"What choice?"

"Join us."

"Join you?"

The Warsmith seemed to have heard a joke. He stared at the other party with wide eyes and said in disbelief,

"You, who are you? Sons of Horus? Or the Luna Wolves? A group of loose warbands without a Primarch and without a legion organization. You want me to join you? Hahahaha, if this is the solution, then I would rather return to Midgard and endure his wrath than wander around."

A scarlet light suddenly lit up.

It can be seen that the Terminator Fakus is trying his best to suppress his anger. He stared at the War Blacksmith and said:

"Although we don't have a Primarch, we have a new commander, the Warmaster! He will lead us to renew our revenge against the false emperor's lackeys, take back everything that once belonged to us, crush the corrupt throne, and burn the galaxy once again!"

"What? Warmaster?"

I almost forgot about Sotan Brown.

When was the last time you heard this word?

...

The Forge World of Atar Median.

The highest command of the theater.

Many officers were arguing fiercely.

Just now, Grand Marshal Hexu Luo announced a change in the battle plan. The Titan Legion and the Imperial Guard, which are the main forces, will no longer follow the original plan: to divide and surround the Chaos army bit by bit, compress the enemy's activity space, erode the enemy's occupied territory, and finally trap them inside the galaxy.

Instead, they took the initiative to attack and look for the main force of the Dark Mechanicus for a decisive battle. They no longer focused on the gains and losses of a planet or a city, but paid more attention to the movements and routes of the Dark Mechanicus fleet. They no longer wasted time to recapture planets one by one and build defenses, but looked for the location of the enemy's main force, and once they found it, they would engage in a battle.

The Titan Legion did not comment.

The Mechanicus representative was still thinking.

The Imperial Guards have already raised strong objections.

"I have to remind you, Marshal, that this style of fighting is wasting our military advantage. We can clearly surround and compress them, trapping them inside the galaxy, but now we are using our own weaknesses to attack the enemy's strengths. This is completely..."

"Yes, we obviously have more troops..."

"The leak did cause great losses, but it is not fatal. Marshal, the Titan Legion has recovered and adjusted. We are about to launch the offensive again. As long as we proceed steadily according to the original plan, victory will still belong to us."

"Marshal, you know better than the rest of us that the Imperial Guard is not a fast-moving force, and we are not the Astartes! Many regiments have only been trained to build defenses and fortifications, and taking the initiative to attack is bound to result in heavy casualties..."

Many Guards officers expressed their opinions.

Some staff officers also opposed it.

What they said was correct. When you have a superior force, you should make full use of it. If you can only trade with the enemy at the same rate, it will be a failure. Taking the initiative will inevitably result in greater losses than taking one step at a time.

However, Grand Marshal Hexu Luo made this decision based on a premise: the Dark Mechanicus had mastered a method to open a subspace rift directly within the galaxy and leave without going through the Mandeville point outside the galaxy.

The white-haired old man silently activated the holographic projection.

The photos, data, and analysis annotations submitted by the Grand Inquisitor were all presented in the projection, including the "strange things" that had happened during the "Iron Disaster" campaign: how the traitor Titan Legion evacuated and disappeared without anyone noticing.

As the holographic projection continues to play.

The Guards officer gradually fell silent.

"The evil power of the heretics is permeating reality. We have encountered this situation countless times in the past, and we have learned a painful lesson. The Imperial Guard must learn to adapt, learn to adapt to the way Chaos fights."

Sid Nora looked around and said in a deep voice.

"If people survive and land is lost, both people and land will survive."

"If you keep the land but lose the people, you will lose both the people and the land."

Fu Qinghai said this calmly.

"What's the meaning?"

The Bloodthirsty Chapter Leader nearby came over and asked.

"This is a proverb from ancient Terra, which means that in most situations in war, preserving manpower is more important than occupying a city stronghold."

Fu Qinghai explained.

For the Dark Mechanicus, they don't care whether they occupy the Empire's territory, they just want to plunder resources. So in this case, they can't just think about regaining the Empire's lost territory, but give priority to attacking the opponent's living forces and cut off the Dark Mechanicus's looting and transportation.

"It feels very philosophical."

The Bloodthirster Chapter Master nodded.

"Sage Xiao Fei, may I ask if the Titans of Phaeton's Forge World... Legion can go into battle this time?"

Marshal Hexu Luo turned his head and asked.

"Well, the damage from the last battle has not been fully repaired, and I will be unable to fight for a long time."

Xiao Fei was stunned for a moment and said.

This was Xiao Fei's first time attending a meeting of this level on behalf of a Forge World, so he was a little nervous. The technical priests in the surrounding steel rings also looked at him with some hostility, and he didn't know where this hostility came from.

Is it jealousy?

"Okay, anyway, thank Master Quinto for me. Thank him for his help in the Iron Belt War Zone. On behalf of the Imperial Guard, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to him. The Phaeton Forge World is a model of the Om Messiah's Way."

Marshal Hexu Luo said sincerely.

And tried to pay an Adeptus Mechanicus compliment.

"I'll pass it on to him."

Xiao Fei nodded in response.

The "Po Jun Jin Jia" belongs to the Phaeton Foundry World. Although the Mechanicus did not request it, the Phaeton Foundry World took the initiative to send the "Po Jun Jin Jia" to participate in the Steel Ring Belt Battle. Marshal He Xu Luo was naturally very grateful. The nominal foundry director of the Phaeton Foundry World was Master Quinto, so he asked Xiao Fei to convey his gratitude. Master Quinto was doing experiments in Phaeton and inexplicably received the gratitude of a Marshal of the Guards.

And the real instigator was Qingshan Khan.

Sitting aside, smiling but saying nothing.

It's still a model... Phaeton's forging world is the biggest heresy of Ohm's Messiah. If Mars knew what Phaeton was researching, he would be so angry that he would die.

"Ahem, if you have no objection."

Under the old appearance of Marshal He Xuluo, his sharp eyes like a hawk swept the entire venue, especially lingering on Fu Qinghai for a while, and then said loudly:

"Then execute according to the new battle plan."

The main body of this plan was submitted by Fu Qinghai. Marshal Hexu Luo only modified and improved it based on his plan, enriching the specific steps and arrangements.

"Yes, Marshal."

The Imperial Guard officers stood and saluted.

The Ruling Sages from Mars, representatives of the Mechanicum from various Forge Worlds, and the Technical Priests whispered to each other, and after a silent and secret exchange of data, they finally agreed to the new plan.

The meeting is adjourned.

Marshal Hexu Luo left Fu Qinghai alone.

"Qingshan, I approve of your battle plan. In addition, I have a separate mission for you."

Although Fu Qinghai is a space warrior and He Xuluo is a mortal, Fu Qinghai has a very young face and is actually younger than the Marshal of the Guards, so there is a hint of intimacy in Marshal He Xuluo's address to him, like an elder to a younger generation.

"Go ahead, Marshal."

Fu Qinghai nodded.

"I realize that you are very good at boarding. The Dark Mechanicus can be handed over to the Titan Legion, and the Imperial Guard can cover the Titan Legion, but I want to hand over the Chaos Space Marines to your Chapter. My reconnaissance clippers have discovered that a Chaos fleet is gathering near the remains of the Forge World of High Valia, on the outskirts of the Forge World System of Kalibax. I don't know what they are planning, but I want to send you over to take a look. I will not set any specific plans or goals for you."

"It's the same sentence again."

"All situations are up to you to decide."

Marshal Hexu Luo said affirmatively.

"I understand, Marshal."

Fu Qinghai nodded calmly.

"May the Emperor bless you, Qingshan."

...

　1. World of Warcraft, because the game needs to consider numerical balance, so humans also have some unique talents and attributes, but in the official novel of World of Warcraft, Draenei are stronger than humans in all aspects, not just in magic affinity, but also in physical fitness, intelligence level, height and weight. This book continues to use the novel as the main setting basis, because the game values ​​cannot be directly applied. In addition, I have not read as many Warcraft novels as Warhammer. I have only read the Chronicles trilogy, but a book friend told me that the Cataclysm and Shadowlands expansion packs basically ate up the settings of the Chronicles trilogy. Then I can't do anything about it, after all, I haven't played the latter ones.

(End of this chapter)