After the meeting in the square, there were various tedious and meaningless religious ceremonies and hymn singing. It was not until four hours later that Soshyan really started meaningful work - after talking nonsense in St. Dalton, he took the
to the state religion’s jihadi army.
The State Church mobilized troops from three Sisters for this revenge holy war, but only the Sister of the Ebony Holy Grail came in person, and the others were commanded by guidance sisters. The three Orders combined have 5,000 battle sisters, plus the attached
Their various vehicles and armed servitors are also a considerable force. As for the Battle Sisters' fleet, it consists of six cruisers and a dozen frigates, which is not very powerful.
In addition to the Battle Sisters, the State Church has also recruited 200,000 crusaders and more than one million "mercenaries", as well as more than 30 million "fanatic believers".
Although the state religion cannot have a "standing" "male" armed organization due to the taming decree, no matter how strict the regulations are, there will always be loopholes to exploit. For example, the Crusaders, their identities are "bodyguards" - these militant ascetics
Theists come from the most mysterious of all sects, the Cardinal Order, and it is said that no more devout warriors than them can be found anywhere in the empire except the Sisters of Battle.
As an armed force of the state religion, the equipment of the Crusaders is as luxurious as that of the Battle Sisters (from a mortal perspective). They wear carapace armor, hold powerful storm cards, wear robes, and wave crackling weapons.
The long sword of the energy field formed a physically and mentally indestructible shield wall on the battlefield.
However, in order to avoid accusations from other factions in the empire, the state church does use the Crusaders as bodyguards most of the time. These warriors often form a circular formation around their commander. Any alien who dares to approach this sacred officer will be
Heretics and traitors will be slaughtered by the Crusaders, and the incoming bullets will only be deflected by their elaborate storm shields, unable to cause any damage.
Therefore, for many Astra Militarum, soldiers serving under such a commander are blessed, because the battles in which the Crusaders appear are guaranteed to be truly holy wars.
As for the large number of mercenaries, this is naturally due to the immeasurable wealth of the state religion. They come from different star regions. Some of them fight for their beliefs, but more of them fight for rewards. No matter what, they are all
Although it is difficult for veterans on the battlefield to engage in brutal battlefields like the regular army, they can often play an unexpected role in certain special battlefields, such as urban street fighting.
The fanatic believers who make up the majority of the state religion's jihad originate from one of the largest factions in the state religion and the most militant faction - the Redemption sect.
The Redemption sect preaches the doctrine that everyone is guilty and can only sacrifice. The believers are all ascetics with an extremely poor lifestyle. From the beginning of its establishment, they have strongly demanded the cleansing of all aliens, mutants and heretics. They are also extremely hostile to psykers.
Therefore, the sect has formulated an extremely strict code of conduct for believers. Those who violate these codes will be expelled from the sect and face brutal pursuit. The sect also prohibits believers from exposing their faces in public, so salvation
Members of the sect often wear hooded coats and complex, heavy masks to hide their appearance, and these masks are often designed to be grotesque and disturbing.
For believers in Redemption sects, the path to justice begins with purity, which is often accompanied by open witch hunts and the burning of heretics and mutants.
Although there are many imperial factions who accuse these fanatics of being too extreme and disturbing, the Redemption Sect, as the most powerful "thug" of the state religion, will never give up. Therefore, this sect has been flourishing in the empire.
With the development, now the cultists can be found in almost all the star systems of the empire, especially the hive worlds, and the "illegal" holy wars they "privately" launch often plunge the entire world into turmoil.
Of course, for professional soldiers, such "soldiers" can hardly be called combat effectiveness. Fanatic believers themselves are famous for being uncontrollable. It is impossible to ask them to obey any tactical and strategic instructions, so it is absolutely impossible.
Most Imperial commanders looked down upon these "informal" armies, but that was not the case for Soshyan.
In fact, he has already thought of a battlefield suitable for these fanatical believers, and he must use all the power at hand in this war.
In addition, although the state religion does not have a huge navy, it does have a huge pilgrim fleet, and those pilgrim ships are not only sturdy, but also very huge. They are comparable to the space-class transport ships in the imperial fleet. Each one can easily accommodate a population of 500,000 to 800,000.
, it is also equipped with a large number of living facilities, which is very suitable for use as a troop transport ship.
Therefore, after friendly negotiations with the patriarch, Soshyan was able to commandeer almost all the pilgrim ships in the Maelstrom area, a total of 211 ships.
Of course, receiving the support of the State Church does not come without a price. Soshyan then received the battle blessing of the State Church at the Patron Saint's Summit. Grand Sister Velez, representing the State Church headquarters, personally put on him the laurel crown awarded to him by Terra and made a public announcement.
This expedition will be a holy war against all heretics and aliens, and all adherents of the Ecclesiarchy should join this war.
As for why the patriarch asked Soshyan to come out and call for jihad, the most critical point is that he is going to start selling "jihad coupons" in the maelstrom and needs "official support". Of course, he has very good reasons for doing so.
The state church is entirely responsible for the logistical supplies of these holy warriors, and it is really unaffordable without some increase in income.
Soshiyang knew that the other party must be talking nonsense. With the financial resources of the state religion, not to mention tens of millions, hundreds of millions would not be a problem. However, since the other party had its own logistics, it was hard for him to say anything. After all, the state religion had already used this kind of
The pattern has been used to make money for 10,000 years, and he alone cannot change it. Some things can only be turned a blind eye.
But in fact, it is not a problem. The real problem is that when Velez put the laurel crown on Soshyan, a bunch of cameras around him captured it, and it quickly spread among the expeditionary force. I don’t know if it was because of the angle or something, but the faces of the two people
It looks very close——
So when Soshyan refused the invitation to stay one night on the surface of the planet and returned to the flagship, and just opened the door to the room, Veronica immediately pounced on her like an enraged female cat. No matter how Soshyan explained,
It didn't work. After struggling for several hours, the other party's anger was temporarily extinguished. After Soshyan promised countless times that he would not be alone with Velez in private, Veronica let him go.
After officially incorporating the state religion forces into the expeditionary force, Soshyan did not return to the Sagan system, but went straight to the Galen system because the time he agreed to meet with the great sage Angstrom was coming soon.