Chapter 992: Angels also surrender
On the holographic tactical platform, landing ships broke through the interception one after another and traveled back and forth between the Terra Palace and the planet's orbit.
This scene is still very shocking.
Each time, it represents an army unit arriving on the ground.
Dante silently calculated in his mind that there were already more than 30 million troops gathered.
This number is not far from the target set before the war.
Now, large-scale airborne deployment is still continuing.
The direction of the palace will be the main battlefield.
But his role is also not small.
The place they were currently standing at was once a hospital in a hive city. According to some survivors, it had been a crucial base for the nearby city's fight against the Nurgle Plague, housing many plague-stricken civilians. Numerous doctors, volunteers from the Ecclesiarchy, and priests treated civilians and soldiers here, while a team of battle sisters defended the place.
But they soon became a thorn in the side of Nurgle's forces. A demonic force far larger than they could handle arrived. Even the Sisters of Battle and the volunteers fought with all their might, but they were unable to stop the enemy.
They were crushed, and only a very small number of people escaped and hid in the surrounding blocks. They did not dare to come out to look for food and supplies until the Nurgle army passed.
But it's actually very difficult.
The Nurgle army's destruction of the hospital was not their main purpose, but they just did it on their way. But wherever they passed, plague, disease, toxins... these things would contaminate the entire area.
These survivors were all sick to varying degrees; almost all the food supplies they could find were problematic.
But there is no choice but to survive.
Their luck was that they at least lived to see the arrival of the Alliance troops.
The first group to land were members of the Blood Angels, led by Dante. Initially, there weren't many of them, but after landing, they found the hospital, rescued some survivors, obtained some intelligence from them, expelled the supernatural diseases from them, and provided them with supplies.
Then, after confirming that there were not many enemies around, the Blood Angels established a relatively secret base and called for more support.
Then, troops gradually began to gather here.
Unlike the troops airborne to the Terra Palace, the Terra Palace was the main battlefield, a vigorous frontal offensive and defensive battle. The main force was basically composed of the expeditionary soldiers from the Infinite Star Domain, with some Alliance Army troops also sent down, a few group armies, but the total accounted for no more than 20%.
But here, it’s different.
There aren't many of them, but they're exceptionally elite—the core combat company of the Blood Angels Chapter, led by Dante himself, is here.
They did not launch a large-scale battle to eliminate the Chaos traitors, but quietly occupied an area and lay in wait. Their initial work was just to support the subsequent new landing troops in an inconspicuous and unobtrusive manner.
The entire login method is also quite low-key.
There will not be large landing ships coming in a grand manner, but rather small-scale, low-frequency transportation through small-scale secret transmission, stealth landing capsules, stealth fighters, etc.
The core goal is to deploy a group of troops here with minimal attention.
It's impossible that the enemy really didn't notice anything.
However, the Blood Angels do a pretty good job here.
They killed a considerable number of the enemies they witnessed; they would mislead the enemy, attack from other places, and then quickly withdraw, misleading the enemy that this was a small behind-the-enemy-lines action team.
This is annoying, but it won't cause the enemy to send a large army to sweep. As for small-scale sweeps, it depends on the specific situation: whether to eliminate the enemy, avoid their attack, or mislead them in other directions.
In this way, the Blood Angels gradually gathered a total of 600 warriors;
Then, Raymond Weiss came down with six hundred saint warriors.
Then came the 800 Phoenix warriors, led by Martins.
These nearly two thousand Space Marines can be regarded as the current all-star lineup of the League.
But that’s not the end.
Subsequently, small-scale covert airborne deliveries continued.
Until the total number of Space Marines gathered here reached about five thousand.
The remaining three thousand came from various warbands of the alliance.
And now, they are all under the command of Martins.
This appointment caused many people to have doubts at the beginning.
Martins is of course a well-known figure. As everyone knows, he is the "initial shareholder" of the alliance. In the entire process of the alliance growing from small to large, from its establishment to its current strength, he led his Phoenix Legion to make great contributions and extraordinary achievements.
However, everything needs to be compared.
Martins was, after all, only a few hundred years old. The Chapter he led, the Phoenixes, had been excommunicated centuries before. Even after emerging from the Penitential Crusade, they had, with the Alliance's support, incredibly redeveloped and grown stronger, even becoming more powerful than at their peak...
But after all, it can't be compared with the startup group.
A commander with no particular experience in a chapter like this, can rely on his special status in the alliance to become the leader of everyone in such a crucial battle?
If it were somewhere else, it would be fine.
But here, the main forces of two founding groups are present. The two founding group leaders, the Saint - Raymond Weiss, and the Blood Angel - Dante, are all here.
Especially Dante!
This man is a legendary hero of the Empire! Thousands of years of experience, countless glorious battles, isn't he more qualified than some Martins?
Some people are angry.
But more people are still curious.
Take Dante himself, for example.
He didn't have much in mind for a power struggle. He was already too old. Perhaps Space Marines didn't die of old age, but over the millennia he'd lived, he'd fought on the front lines whenever the Imperium needed him. Even if his body was no different from its peak, his heart was weary.
If he could unload some of the burden, he would be more than happy to do so.
But before this battle, he did think that he would be the commander-in-chief.
It's not that he wants to be the leader, but mainly because he truly believes that no one else present is more suitable for this position than himself.
Unexpectedly, it turned out to be Martins.
He first breathed a sigh of relief - he no longer had to bear such a heavy responsibility.
Then I felt a little ashamed, I shouldn’t have thought like that.
Then, he was curious about what kind of abilities and skills Martins had that made Gu Hang think that he was so outstanding that he was more suitable to be the commander-in-chief than himself?
With this question in mind, Dante had his first meeting with Martins.
Just from this aspect, Dante knew why.
The tall figure of Martins standing in front of me was so shocking.
It's not that there aren't some exceptionally tall individuals among the Space Marines, but normally, it's hard to find one as tall as Martins.
This is not normal.
But the difference in size alone was not enough to convince Dante.
What was more crucial was that he sensed a temperament similar to Robert's from Martins.
Is this the Son of God???
No, not at all.
The Son of God has a strict definition.
How many years had Martins lived? He could not have been one of the Emperor's children, ten thousand years ago.
But Martins has the same, similar power.
The father of genes.
Does Gu Hang actually have this ability?
Dante was deeply shocked.
…
Martins did not ignore the mentality issues of these troops who were temporarily assigned to his command.
This problem must be solved, otherwise, in the next important task, if command is not smooth due to such factors, it will be very disastrous.
He also fully understands how to use his advantages.
It had been quite some time since he became the so-called 'Little Primarch'. Although Gu Hang had never said it explicitly, he gradually understood what had happened to him.
He was now completely different from the average Space Marine. He would be easily recognized by ordinary Space Marines. He was different from everyone else, a being of another level.
He appeared in front of everyone without hesitation, making them fully understand that the one leading them was by no means an ordinary chapter leader or a veteran with hundreds of years of experience.
Obviously, his approach was effective.
Not only Dante and Raymond Weiss fully recognized his command, but so did the other Space Marines under his command.
In addition to this, another matter of concern to him was other reinforcements from heaven.
Five thousand of them were considered elite warriors among the Space Marines, and were indeed his core force, but their number was still too small.
The other three troops are also ready to go.
One was the Alliance's Glory Guards. This elite unit, affiliated with the Alliance Army, was composed entirely of mortals, yet its quality was undeniably top-tier. In fact, it couldn't simply be judged by the standards of the Astra Militarum; otherwise, no Astra Militarum could reach their level.
Even when facing an equal number of Space Marines, they were not completely defenseless. If their numbers were three to five times theirs, the Glory Guards could even fight head-on.
The other force comes from the largest non-military combat force in the current alliance - the Holy Lily Battle Sisters.
'Living Saint', led by Mother Superior Grit herself, is in preparation.
These two forces together will have more than 100,000 people.
The third force, while not as numerous, was even smaller than the Space Marines. However, the 'Alliance National Knights' were a true Titan Legion, now so large that perhaps only the Titan Legion of the Forge World of Mars could rival them.
More than three hundred Titans are also a powerful main force.
However, these troops have not yet landed on the ground.
They are in orbit, inside the aircraft carrier, waiting for the critical moment to arrive, and then they will tear through the sky and land to cooperate with the operation.
The key target of their trip is the very core of Nurgle's army, the place marked as the Cauldron of Corruption.
The leader of the Nurgle army, the former Prime Minister of the Empire, Zibodru, who has now been confirmed to have ascended to demon status.
And that day soon arrived.
…
At the last military meeting of the battle group led by Martins, the holographic tactical panel unfolded, and the sickening yellow-green wave representing the Nurgle army almost swallowed up the entire interface. Only a small golden area symbolizing the glory of the Emperor was isolated in the inner ring of the palace and the adjacent area of the palace.
The blazing white arrow representing the main force of the coalition was shooting out from it, its tip pointing directly at the core of the filthy yellow-green vortex - the former Prime Minister of the Empire, the demon prince who has now completely thrown himself into the arms of Nurgle, Qibodu.
"Your Highness, the Regent, with the force of a thunderbolt, is destroying the city head-on, piercing through the layers of rotten barriers. Our mission is to attack from its festering and swollen flanks—" Martins's sturdy, adamantium-armored finger jabbed fiercely at the hologram, landing on the flank of the main force's sharp arrowhead, a hive ruin marked "Hills of Suffering." "From here, we will break through the weak defenses and reach the side of the Cauldron of Corruption, serving as a supporting attack."
"If things change, we will immediately switch to a strong offensive direction."
"The goal of this operation is to eliminate the biggest traitor!"
"Now, let's go!"
The wills of five thousand Space Marines have been fused together like cast iron, sinking into the bottomless quagmire of war in the ruins of the Terran Hive.
They are no longer passive shadows, but a stream of destruction that silently advances through filthy flesh and blood.
At the forefront of the column, Martins stood like a moving fortress. Any Nurgle walkers or bloated Plague Marines who dared to leap from the crumbling, twisted concrete and filthy smoke were reduced to a splatter of sticky flesh and foul ichor beneath the roar of his Dawnbreaker chainsaw. Wherever the blade passed, foul blood vaporized and rotten flesh charred black, as if possessing an invisible purifying force field.
The Blood Angels' assault teams flashed like ghosts among the broken walls and ruins, their explosive bombs accurately lifting the rotten heads of Nurgle's poison gunners hiding in the dark; the saints' sacred flamethrowers roared to purify everything, burning away the plague clouds and mist, opening up a temporary and relatively "clean" passage for the follow-up troops.
Each advance was accompanied by the sticky sound of corpses being thoroughly crushed beneath their boots. A mixture of spores and metal debris floating in the air permeated the seams of their power armor. This incredibly sharp blade followed the twisting ridgeline of the "Hills of Misery," silently and efficiently cutting through the relatively lax flank defenses of the Nurgle army and penetrating directly into the core of the decay.
Suddenly, a blazing light a hundred times more terrifying than a volcanic eruption erupted from the northeastern sky, tearing open a huge gap like flowing magma in the thick radioactive dust cloud covering the low sky of Terra - that was Robert's main army attacking the core fortress area called "Cauldron of Corruption" where Qi Bodu himself was in charge.
The deafening roar of explosions, even from a distance of dozens of kilometers, hammered at the soldiers' auditory sensors like a relentless hammer. The edges of the holographic tactical eyepieces flickered frantically with fragments of data streams from the main force: huge casualty figures scrolled coldly, and armored unit obstruction signals lit up one after another.
Martins's helmet echoed with a rapid and mixed call from the public tactical link:
"...The Steel Walker Dreadnought Phalanx collapsed! The Third Regiment was covered by devastating artillery fire!"
"...Heavy Chaos armored units appeared on the left wing. Model unknown! Their impact speed was extremely high!"
"...Swarms of plague flies have broken through the air defenses! They're obscuring the sky!"
The center of the storm is gathering at the "cauldron of corruption."
(End of this chapter)
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