Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 523 The Arrival of the Great Predator (5K4)
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Salva Ghent took a piece of cardboard from his deputy.

This is a light yellow card, beautifully printed, with the Imperial Eagle and Cadia Supreme Military Council emblems on it, and the holder's appearance and identity information written below. More importantly, it states the ration quota that the holder can receive from the regional central strategic warehouse that has begun to implement the wartime rationing system. Normally, wounded and disabled soldiers or civilians can only get 40% or even 30% of their rations at this time, but this card clearly says 90%.

"Well printed." He turned the card over and over again against the light, and finally threw it back into an open wooden box beside him - there was a whole box of such cards in the box, and there were dozens of such large boxes next to this wooden box.

His deputy, Carl Patzen, laughed. "Of course, Boss, we used the 'real' template after all. Those idiots probably still think the transport was hit by a stray bullet on the way to the mint."

Ghent snorted coldly. "Have the bodies of those soldiers been disposed of?"

Patzen nodded. "It's wartime now, and everything is in chaos. There is a lack of security in the city and factory areas, so it's too easy to deal with."

"That's good." Ghent took one last look at the boxes. "Karl, drive. We'll hide half first, and we can trade the other half as we go."

"Okay. But boss, if I hide it, what if..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

Because of his boldness, keen sense of smell and the fact that his leader, who had recently made a fortune, had been leading them, for the first time an emotion close to "awe" appeared in the eyes of his leader, and at the same time he noticed that something seemed to be blocking his back.

He turned around.

An expression of awe and panic also appeared on the face of this notorious and ruthless thug.

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Captain Marda Helske, along with her superior, Colonel Baratus, were asked to lead their Cadian 24th Regiment in the Dervian Valley.

Static defense, no active attack, that's what Creed said, because this is the Clough war zone, or in other words, the only traffic route to the west of Clough Castle - in Cardia's words, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack. If any enemy tries to attack Clough Castle from the west, then they will definitely choose this route, which is good, this will give Captain Halsk the heroic battle she wants - except that it is very cold here, and the 24th Regiment has not received any of the winter uniforms promised by the Military Affairs Department since it set out and was stationed.

Despite this, they still followed their training, methodically building fortifications, setting up machine guns and barbed wire, and arranging patrols and lookouts. The rest of the people braved the cold wind, carrying guns, and working hard to dig foxholes and trenches on the frozen soil with shovels.

Captain Heilsk was supervising her subordinates' excavation work. She was still a little uneasy. On the one hand, it was too cold here. On the other hand, she was very clear about the strength of her troops. The men and women of the 24th Regiment were all good, but they set out too hastily.

The 24th Regiment had originally been responsible for guarding the interior of the city, so they didn't actually have too many heavy weapons, but they had quite a few light weapons and street fighting fortifications. Moreover, they especially lacked the mobile fire support of various large vehicles, and were almost all light infantry. This was also reflected in their regimental flag, which was a very ordinary flag without any characteristics or honor. Only the number "XXIV" on it could represent the 24th Regiment.

Captain Heilsk knew that Colonel Baratus had tried to protest to the High Castle Lord of Creed, but it was clear that the latter's will and pressure were more resolute and heavier.

So until now, they have been here, freezing in the cold wind with runny noses, waiting for which one, the enemy or the logistics supplies, to come and warm them up first.

But there is no suspense about this matter now. Colonel Baratus has just gathered them and announced what they will face next: "The Voskani Heavy Armored Corps, our opponents, the murderers of the Telok Plains, the traitors and murderers who killed Governor Boerska. Lord Creedburg told me that our opponents are them."

The eyes of all the soldiers who were somewhat tired due to hunger and cold lit up. To join the battle was what every Cadian had been taught since they could speak. They were not afraid of fighting, and it would be even better if the opponent was such a notorious traitor regiment. Perhaps the 24th Regiment could add something to its flag after this battle.

"...He expressed great regards to each of us and his firm confidence that our 24th Regiment could hold this strategic pass on the highway... The Volskani had about , possibly , with fast-attack cavalry and light armored vehicles."

The excited chatter below died down. The 24th Regiment, including officers, had only men, which meant a ten-to-one ratio. Although the Cadians were not afraid of fighting or the enemy, this ratio was a bit too high.

"They have received military training in Cadia, so they are very familiar with our tactics. This will make them very difficult." Baratus coughed here, and Captain Helske's brain was buzzing. She felt that the colonel was also letting the soldiers listening below digest it, because she also felt that she needed to digest it. "...If Creed's judgment is correct, our air support will not be able to be withdrawn. In other words, we have to defend here by ourselves until the last laser, the last grenade, the last person, and if necessary, the last foxhole. This is crucial to defending the west side of the city wall. He believes that we can hold it."

Colonel Baratus smiled, and the old man's gray hair showed a little under his military cap.

He coughed and pulled a crumpled roll of paper from the brim of his military cap. "It is well known that I am sometimes sentimental and will poison everyone's ears with poetry."

There were sporadic laughs from below, but Captain Heilsk saw tears in the corners of the old man's eyes.

"But I hope this poem can serve as a comfort and peace of mind for you, and do not let the orders we have received disturb your souls."

Then he began to chant into the hymn speaker his lieutenant had brought for him:

"This isn't a foxhole.
This is the fertile soil of my home world.

I scattered handfuls of this fertile soil on the coffins of the soldiers in front of me.

The soldiers standing on the defensive embankment, holding laser guns,

And tell the eyes that it can't own our future.

This isn't a foxhole, this is my world.

This isn't a foxhole, this is my home.

Where I lived and laughed with my comrades,
It is empty, but never feels empty inside, because we fill it with light and courage.

Right here, I watch us, you, and them, return to the glory of the Emperor.

This isn't a foxhole, this is my home.

This isn't a foxhole, this is my fortress.

It is home, it is the world, it is the bastion I dug with my own hands,

Is a legacy that flows to me, that makes me face the enemy's blade,

As always, I will not turn away from it, I will not forsake it,

There will not be a step backward, for I have dug my fort and will hold it.

Because this isn’t a foxhole—this is my grave.”

Colonel Baratus finished reading, and there was complete silence. Captain Heilsk felt the adrenaline pumped into her veins, making her boil, and the chill of death gripped her stomach, making her scalp tingle and her eyes widen.

This is a truly great poem, and at this moment, indeed, the soldiers were shocked.

Captain Halsk realized she had to seize this opportunity.

She strode forward and shouted, "Twenty-fourth Regiment! Fight!" Thousands of eyes were staring at her. She repeated it again, and this time there was a response, "Twenty-fourth Regiment!"

"Louder! Let those Voskani hear us! Let the enemies in orbit hear us! The Twenty-fourth! We are the Twenty-fourth of Cadia! Fight!"

The voice became excited, "Twenty-fourth Regiment! Fight!"

But this passionate note did not end perfectly. The soldiers closed their mouths and looked at the sky on the horizon together.

Captain Heilsk turned around hastily.

At first, she thought she saw a good sign. The Eye of Terror, the ominous light that Cadians saw day and night, began to fade and change for the first time in her memory, like the sun in a total eclipse...

Perhaps the Emperor - the Holy Emperor - had intervened? He had heard their prayers, He had used His power, He had shut down the Eye of Terror... They might not have to -

But then, above their heads, the orbital platform began to ignite red flames from its edges, representing destruction and massacre, and behind it, the increasingly obvious, huge, ominous silhouette that obscured the entire southern sky was -

The shape of an eight-pointed star.

Blackstone Fortress.

The big predator is coming.

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When Abaddon's so-called war meeting, which was more like a meeting of warlords boasting about their achievements, military strength and the depth of their own depravity (which they called the degree of being favored by the gods), finally ended, Robouti Guilliman, or "Mercuris", admitted that he was relieved and hurriedly followed Honsou out of the conference room door.

- Although in his heart, he wanted to - wanted to - he felt that - at this distance of only a meeting hall, even if he did not have his own Armor of Reason and the Dagger of Glory, Guilliman felt that he could rush to the Great Despoiler and smash his blasphemous head with his fist before any traitor and heretic could stop him.

The pharmacist had obviously guessed part of the Primarch's thoughts. He glanced back, pretending to be his champion in adjusting the power armor's drug delivery pipeline. Guilliman felt a slight coolness pouring into his veins from the injection port on his wrist like a summer spring. He calmed down, patted the Iron Warrior pharmacist's gauntlet, indicating that he understood.

Honso was right. Killing Abaddon would only make the situation more confusing. It would be better to fish in troubled waters in the current relatively clear and approximate situation and see what he could do. Others might often overlook the name Shiron, but Guilliman had a very good memory. He always remembered that there was a ninth lord under Abaddon - Shiron, and he judged that Shiron was most likely a spy master, or a member of the Alpha Legion.

And it would be worse for the members of the Alpha Legion not to be in the meeting room at this moment than to be there.

They were heading to the hangar, preparing to board the Thunderhawk that would take them back to the Indomitable Star Fortress. The reason they gave to the others for leaving was that they "needed to go back and prepare the airborne and assault forces first."

This is also natural, because the resolution of the meeting that just ended, except for Urkanthos who couldn't wait to be the vanguard to airborne and kill but was stopped by Abaddon's voice with the power of the Four Gods (which also left a deep impression on Guilliman), the other things can be basically summarized as follows:
1. The Daughter of Blackstone or the Shadow Witch - the girl who was the interactive controller of the fortress with a lot of blackstone implanted, suggested that she could fully charge the Eternal Will and fire a warp beam main gun orbital shot at the main defense area of ​​Cadia - the main gun that evaporated most of the fleet with one shot when they came. According to her assurance to the Warmaster, she said that the power of this gun was only half exerted at that time. As long as they fired a shot at the headquarters and the main defense of Krav Fort, the void shield would not be able to withstand such a terrifying and pure warp torrent. If they destroyed the headquarters, they could achieve twice the result with half the effort and land on Cadia to do whatever they wanted.

2. Abaddon seemed to have finally agreed to this proposal, but he also explained the original plan as a backup plan in case the Everlasting Will's main gun failed. This plan was very simple and not difficult. Even the most brainless Beastman among the lords could understand it: attack from all directions around the Clough Castle area, and each person's team would be assigned one or two opponents by the Warmaster to conduct defensive operations in the corresponding directions on the ground of Cadia.

3. The Warmaster did not mention the next move of his own elite Terminators, but he did allow Urkanthos to be the first to lead the Abaddon Hounds to board and attack the orbital defense platform of Cadia, so as to give the best shooting view to the Eternal Will and the subsequent airdrop bay; then everyone else received their landing locations and the names of their opponents, and as a Red Corsair reinforcement rather than a member of the Black Legion, unlike Honso, who had never fought alongside or against the Sons of Horus, Robert Mercury Guilliman's first reaction upon hearing the name of the opponent assigned to them by Abaddon was "As expected".

4. The landing point and target of Colom Gate, who was also a war blacksmith, were announced very vaguely, saying only that they would carry out their own mission. This made Guilliman keenly feel that something was wrong, but Honso said that he was not familiar with this Iron Warrior - there were too many Great Companies of the Iron Warriors back then, more than a hundred Great Companies, or even two hundred. He was born after the rebellion, and it would be strange if he rashly went up here to make connections and inquire, so Guilliman gave up.

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"The Cadian defenders...their ground defense arrangement is very poor. Their commander-in-chief is obviously unable to command the 'individual units'. If this situation of each unit fighting on its own continues, they will undoubtedly be defeated."

After obtaining some combat data from Abaddon and some additional memory information that Honsou had obtained as quickly as possible in some less than glorious ways upon his return, Guilliman came to this conclusion based on the array scan data at the scene and the communication data they had secretly intercepted using the Imperial code that had not yet expired on the Inflexible.

"Their current High Castle Lord is more like a commander who was originally only able to command smaller-scale operations. Although I can see that he has talent, he is indeed talented, but he has no experience in commanding such a large-scale operation, and his opponent is Abaddon... I don't know which side is worse."

"Shouldn't you have more confidence in our 'enemies' and 'allies' instead of being so pessimistic?"

The Warsmith was issuing orders to his Iron Warriors and Sword Dancers. The Pirate Queen had also come with them this time. Her fleet now served as an escort for the Indomitable, surrounding the star fortress like small fish around a giant whale shark.

Guilliman glared at Honsou with a mixture of anger and amusement, and the latter bowed politely to the Primarch.

"For example, here." The Primarch with the appearance of a demon apostle adjusted the display light of the holographic sandbox to vertical, then magnified several areas and pointed them with his fingertips to show them to the war blacksmith.

"It's unreasonable to only arrange infantry here without a heavy firepower team of the Adeptus Astartes. It means that the commander is inexperienced or has other problems."

"Perhaps it was because he took office in a hurry, and his interpersonal relationships and feelings haven't had time to get into place yet."

"But this is the army! This is war! I'm simply... and here... it's simply crazy. What's the point of them deploying so many fighter groups in a swarm over this plain? What a terrible scheduling design. I bet they don't even have a general dispatch to stipulate a basic route occupancy map. The officers who make the decision don't even understand the actual operational efficiency of the airport ground staff in their poor minds!"

"Oh. Poor little Imperial birds. What model is this? Valkyrie? Marauder? And some Avenger attack planes, this is it."

Hongsuo also came over. Although he himself did not know it, he was actually a commander with a talent for commanding sector-level battles. With just a little guidance from Guilliman, he immediately saw the problem. "Their approach will cause these fighters to hover in the sky after releasing their weapons and ammunition because they cannot enter the field in time to replace pilots and replenish ammunition. At the same time, they cannot fight back against the enemy's air force. Moreover, because they have no ammunition to replenish, they cannot support the surrounding areas that need support. This large-scale air battle looks beautiful, but in fact it is all wishful thinking."

"Yes," said Guilliman grimly, "and what Abaddon has in store for them is ..."

Honso grumbled. "Birds of prey, the fierce, bloodthirsty, and extremely agile mutant birds of the Night Lords. I haven't had time to get hold of one or two yet. They're too agile, but I saw them."

The Primarch of the Ultramarines snorted with the most rude voice a Primarch could be allowed. It was obvious that there was some ancient grudge between him and the Eighth Legion that Honso was not aware of.

"The pathetic and corrupt children of Curze, like their father..."

The Master of Alchemy interrupted the Primarch's growl in time, "We are assigned to the attack zone south of the city wall at the landing point. Do you have any ideas?"

The Primarch of the Ultramarines glanced at him quickly, and a bad feeling came over the warsmith's heart.

"What are you going to do?!"

"I can't stand it anymore. Soldiers should die from bullets fired from the front of the battlefield, not from hidden guns in the back. I want to save those I can."

"Oh, no, the Supreme Roar of the Lord of Steel," Honso muttered, slamming his hand that was covered with the medical gauntlet.

One of the most incredible and greatest strategic calculation minds in the galaxy could not wait to lean over and ask the Archangel Hestiaan beside him to reopen multiple holographic sandboxes and begin to carefully search for any unobtrusive but real possibility of victory for their "enemy".

(End of this chapter)