Chapter 160 Black and Red, Plans in the Shadows (10) War
"Okay, officers and gentlemen, tell me, how many swords do you have and why do you serve the Emperor?"
Passing by the busy contract captain Yulia, Lisetta nodded to greet her.
She walked straight to the highest point of the battleship and sat on the throne before speaking to the generals on the opposite side of the joint operations screen.
The screens opposite the throne were lined up, and six video signals from various battleships were connected in real time. The first among the generals was the Exorcist Chapter Commander who was granted fleet command by Lisetta
Savillian.
In the state of joint operations, the Astartes have always had their own set of rules for the ownership of command authority, which are not written in words. However, no matter how complicated these rules are, they cannot escape their cold and violent nature.
Well, there is also the status of the war group and the personal reputation of the commander.
However, the latter two are rarely established among the Astartes. After all, these "people who walk in the stars" travel throughout the empire's territory all year round, and even information about their own battle groups cannot be obtained in time.
It is true that there are people who can awe other chapters in terms of reputation, but throughout the history of the empire, such people can be said to be very few, if not rare.
Of course, this time will not be an exception, so among the many warbands, Xavilian has the closest relationship with the Inquisition, and it also happens to be the one that invests the most troops among the many Astartes warbands that come to obey orders.
His command was established with little controversy, especially after the Dark Templars made it clear that they would not participate in the war.
"795 swords will obey your orders." Xavilian replied, and several Astartes officers remained silent, just waiting for the Inquisitor's orders.
And behind this precious number, which represents the blood and sweat of countless worlds in the empire, there are five companies of the Exorcist Chapter, as well as a company of the Dark Hunters and Emperor's Spear who later joined the Inquisition camp.
Oh, and there is also a special war group that arrived last before the war began - the Blood Ravens.
Three strike cruisers and five battle barges were the battleships they came on, plus the two large cruisers temporarily transferred from the Imperial Navy, the Heart of Wrath and the Doom, and that was all the power Lisetta had in hand.
This is where her confidence lies, because the Space Wolves who are good at fighting may not lack swords, but their poor relationship with the Empire will make them most short of expensive industrial products such as battleships.
The relationship between the Adeptus Mechanicus and Fenris is not close, and during the thousands of years of continuous warfare by the Sons of Russ, the warships of their Legion era have been in a state of constant wear and tear without being replenished.
Despite the best efforts of the Iron Priests (the exclusive title of the Wolf regiment's technical sergeants), Fenris's own lack of mineral veins and the equally lack of manpower in the hands of the technical sergeants still allowed them to fail to even build a final ship in thousands of years of casting attempts.
The embarrassment of the "Moon-class cruiser" cannot be cast.
As a result, smaller assault ships have become the last resort for the Space Wolves. With the degradation of their main battle equipment, their tactics have become increasingly far away from the legion model of the past.
The intelligence in Lisetta's hands showed that the strength of the Space Wolves assembled on Ballog 9 had long exceeded the number of a Codex Chapter, but she was not swayed by this threat at all.
The source of this strategic determination lies in this:
In the context of needing to cover the departure of Gian Moro's navy, the Space Wolves themselves lost a large range of strategic depth.
And their strategic mission of being trapped in Barlog further amplified their huge disadvantage in terms of warships in naval battles.
The number of wolves seems to be large, but there are only two cruisers available. Hundreds of assault ships seem to be numerous, but they have to survive the long firefighting distance between the fleets before they can be counted.
But is this possible? The answer is of course no.
The enemies that the Space Wolves face this time are neither space pirates with no military discipline nor servants of Chaos who have lost their minds. They are Astartes who are equally elite as the Wolves, and they also inherit the genetic principles.
It is the ultimate embodiment of the empire's military power.
Will the Astartes, who are familiar with naval warfare, give up their strengths to allow the desperate Space Wolves a chance to get close?
An assault ship with thin armor cannot even withstand the secondary battery of a heavy cruiser, so how can it possibly survive the artillery fire of an entire sector-level fleet?
Unless they can kill her here and use a sneak attack to reverse the outcome of the entire battle. But the purpose of the Black Templar troops here is precisely for this. Although their Marshal Field has a neutral attitude, he will never
Just sit back and watch Lissetta die.
Three strike cruisers, more than 800 elite Astartes.
This force, which is enough to defeat the galaxy's defenses in a short period of time, has neither participated in the active attack on the Space Wolves, nor has it appeared in any previous publicity.
Just like the paint on their battleships that represents dark revenge, the Black Templar fleet quietly surrounds Lisetta's flagship, waiting in silent silence for the possible assassination of the Space Wolves.
This is also Lisetta's plan. The Black Templars are unwilling to participate in the Inquisition's war against the Space Wolves, but they cannot sit idly by and watch Lissetta's death because of their relationship with the Foreign Order.
So under the latter's arrangement, they passively became Lisetta's talismans, and also became the last link to plug the loopholes in the entire plan.
So there is no luck and no hope. Ten deaths and no life. This is a carefully planned massacre.
The Space Wolves certainly knew how slim victory was for them, but what they didn't know was that the reality was far worse than their worst expectations.
Lissetta has no personal grudges against these Astartes. Even from a personal perspective, she has a deep cultural identity with these warriors from the ice field because of the similar home planet environment.
But unfortunately she doesn't have the power to choose.
She herself is just an exquisite chess piece placed in the center of the stage after the Tribunal, a huge force across the empire, has arranged all the plots of this drama.
If she is replaced, another "Lisetta" will appear here. Kill her to escape this crisis, and the Tribunal will continue to prepare the next counterattack.
The outcome will not change, and since the ending is already determined, why can't it be her who appears here?
She has her own requirements, and there are people in the trial court who are willing to help her realize this "little wish".
Now that the curtain has been raised, all that's left is for her to follow the steps and "go on stage" to perform.
"The entire ship sets sail and initiates contact with the Space Wolves."
Xavilian's eyes turned from the holographic projection that had returned to zero, and then intersected with his captain's eyes.
Decades of cooperation gave this mortal a sufficient tacit understanding with his monarch, and under his command, the Exorcist's strike cruisers began to slowly move forward.
The launch of the flagship was the signal for the war to begin. The entire fleet formed a crescent-like formation at the outermost edge of Balgoro, and then, against the background of the energy storage of the nova cannons on the bows of numerous battleships, it moved toward the base of hundreds of weapon stations.
The Space Wolves pressed forward.
This is... this is...
The clear communication sent to Barlog was connected, and the bearded face of Hoffman, the current wolf master of Sea Wolf Dalian, appeared on the screen.
"Last warning, Space Wolves of Fenris. Lay down your weapons and exit this system immediately! Your rebellion will be forgiven, and your loyalty will be readmitted to the Empire!"
Without any courtesy, Xavilian looked across the screen with an indifferent gaze, and issued an ultimatum to them in the name of the Imperial Tribunal.
Hoffman, who had already returned to the front battlefield on the assault ship, sneered at this. The man wearing heavy bronze armor and holding a giant ax looked past Xavilian and the emblem of the Tribunal hanging high behind him, and finally landed on the star.
On the asteroid group in the picture.
A hoarse voice as sharp as stone came out from under his white fangs:
"The children of Russ never knew what to do with retreat."
The illusion of peace was completely shattered with this declaration, and the Astartes from both camps had no idea of holding back.
After the communication was officially cut off, the fleet launched the attack first, and the Space Wolves outside the Ballog system also began to resist.
In the first hour of the war, Ballog's system defense system became the first victims of the war.
In the orbits of the two outermost planets, dozens of weapon platforms silently collapsed and exploded under the firing of the Nova Cannon, adding the first bloody touch to this war.
The strike cruiser painted with the heads of a kraken and a wolf led the assault fleet, trying to shoot at each other while approaching from the flank of the Inquisition fleet. However, Xavilian and other Astartes battle groups had obviously already responded, and their subordinates
Several large patrol ships focused their attention on them from the beginning.
Dozens of assault ships were destroyed in just half an hour, but their actions of covering the main flagship still failed to allow the Space Wolves' flagship to complete the charge.
The latter turned its rudder toward the interior of the system after its attempt to break out failed, but the Inquisition's fleet under the command of Savillian did not rush to pursue it.
Instead, they fired at a steady pace, clearing out all threats within the fleet's fire range.
Flashes of light lit up again and again on the muzzles of the cruiser's Nova Cannon and Light Spear, and correspondingly, weapons platforms turned into dust in the universe.
The Space Wolves' strike cruisers could not withstand the pressure and retreated toward the back of the planet in disgrace.
The frigates and battle barges of the Tribunal spread out horizontally on both wings of the array. They used macro cannons to engage in fierce exchanges of fire with the dozens of assault ships hidden in the weapons stations and on the back of the planet, and then destroyed the latter one after another on the way to the charge.
"Flanking Fleet Requests Instructions." Xavilian's contracted captain asked him for instructions. There were already enough assault ships that lost power after being hit on both sides. The commander of the flanks needed him to decide how to deal with these battleships.
How to deal with it? Savillian was also in a dilemma.
If the battle situation at this time is based on, then the best way to deal with it is to order the escort fleet to completely destroy it with torpedoes;
But as a result, the surviving Space Wolves on the assault ship would have no way of survival.
"Destroy their engines and wait for the post-war trial." Savillian thought for a while, but in the end he couldn't make up his mind.
In Xavilian's eyes, the essence of this war is ultimately an internal struggle within the empire. In order to preserve power for the empire, he still wants to keep these Space Wolves alive.
However, he still did not have a deep enough understanding of the bloody nature of the wild wolves. His soft-heartedness at this time was destined not to be thanked by the wild wolves, but would instead pave the way for the price he would pay later.
In the second hour of the war, the Grand Fleet had cleared all the outer defenses of the Barlogo system. The Space Wolves' fleet had withdrawn to the core planets, and several outer planets had been abandoned by them.
Sporadic exchanges of fire still occurred at the edges of the two fleets, while the main force of the Inquisition's fleet was already deployed inside the system.
The black ships of the Tribunal at the rear also kept up with the pace of the main fleet. Under the escort of one large, two small, and three Black Templar warships, they slowly passed the location where the war first broke out.
Grand Inquisitor Lisetta can almost confirm that the victory of this war is already in her hands.
"Sir, there is a communication request from the Astropath deck." The command staff below the throne shouted to Lisetta, who only raised her head in response to the reminder from her subordinates.
"You cannot ignore them." Contract Captain Yulia worriedly reminded again that the discipline of the Tribunal is extremely strict. This kind of deliberate neglect of contact from superiors will definitely result in Lisetta and all her subordinates being severely punished afterwards.
accusation.
"Okay, access granted." Grand Inquisitor Lisetta rubbed her hand on the bolter at her waist and replied without raising her head.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! She does not even need to wait for the signal to be connected to know the content of Calvin's communication, and how to passively resist similar orders is already in her mind
forming.
But this time the communication was different from the previous ones. The order from the Relentless Jihad not only resounded on her battleships, but all the battleships participating in the battle at the front also received this clear message using the "secret language" of the star sector.
“This is the Imperial Inquisition, the Supreme Lord Inquisitor Calvin of the Order of the Hammer.
I repeat, this is Inquisitor Calvin, Supreme Lord of the Order of the Hammer of the Imperial Inquisition.
In the name of the Emperor, and in the name of the Inquisition, I order your troops to immediately cease all attacks and await further processing!"
The entire Inquisition fleet stagnated slightly at this moment, and the Space Wolves also smelled something different.
The commanders of the former stopped what they were doing and looked at the Grand Inquisitor sitting behind them. They were waiting for Lisetta's order. After all, the latter was the owner of the highest command sequence at the scene.
Wolfman, the wolf master on the latter's battleship, narrowed his eyes and felt nothing when the canine teeth in his mouth bit his lips.
He is not interested in the disputes within the Tribunal. The time to counterattack is coming. If he gives up because of the enemy's retreat, how will he face those brothers who have sacrificed their lives?
"Objection! According to the first principle of the Tribunal's emergency response regulations, I have absolute autonomy to handle any matter when no higher authority is present! Please understand!"
After a brief silence, Lisetta's reply also echoed across the starry sky as a clear message.
And this kind of behavior is tantamount to saying to all those participating in the war: she alone bears the responsibility for all actions, and what they have to do now is very simple, which is to execute her will!
Bang, she pressed the communication ball around her neck again to end the communication. Lisetta looked forward with cold eyes. She used her psychic power to reject the Gray Knight behind her who wanted to admonish her, and then ordered to her contracted captain:
"Ask Savillian how long he will last, regardless of casualties."