The Emperor’s Angel of Death

After leaving Pluto, the fleet officially entered the depths of the Kuiper Belt.

This is an asteroid belt located on the outskirts of Neptune, composed of a large amount of debris, mainly ice. According to the statistics of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Kuiper Belt contains approximately 100,000 small celestial bodies with a diameter greater than 50 kilometers, but the total mass is only one percent of Holy Terra. Some astronomers also classify Pluto as part of the Kuiper Belt, but this view is refuted by some historians. Their theory is that according to ancient records, Pluto belongs to a planet, so how could it belong to an asteroid belt?

Of course, in the 41st millennium, this debate continues, but Pluto is already considered to be part of the outermost edge of the Kuiper Belt.

In the Kuiper Belt, there are also three other dwarf planets: Haumea, Makemake, Eris, and Quaoar. Among them, Eris actually belongs to the scattered disc, but because the scattered disc itself highly overlaps with the Kuiper Belt, the Adeptus Mechanicus and most astronomical historians also classify it as part of the Kuiper Belt.

During the Great Crusade, the Kuiper Belt was a key part of the Imperial Solar System's defense. Pluto can be regarded as a fortress in this defense line, but it does not mean that other areas were undefended.

Due to the special structure of this area and the small mass of the dwarf planets, the Empire built the most magnificent air bases on the four dwarf planets of Haumea, Makemake, Quaoar and Eris, and deployed tens of thousands of various fighters and bombers.

After the battle of Pluto was lost, when the Imperial forces retreated to the star area around Neptune, the Kuiper Belt became the key to slowing down the enemy fleet's advance. Due to the large number of celestial fragments distributed here, coupled with the dense minefields formed by the void mines deployed in advance by the Empire, large warships found it difficult to move and attack. Therefore, the battles in the Kuiper Belt mainly involved small ships and air forces.

According to records, at least three fierce air battles broke out in the Kuiper Belt, with each side investing tens of thousands of fighters, and countless moving stories and ace pilots were born.

The most famous of these is the story of the "Hedgehog" Air Squadron.

This was an air group stationed at the Quaoar Air Base. At the time of deployment, it had 42 fighters. They were all composed of young pilots who had just graduated from the Jupiter Flight Academy, and were even given a nickname that was not at all mighty - because most of the members of this air group were the "prickly" type in the academy, so they were gathered together and thrown onto the battlefield.

At that time, the main force of the rebel fleet had crossed the Pluto defense line and easily broken through the defenders around Neptune. The air force of the Kuiper Belt was already facing a shortage of resources and troops, and could only rely on the desperate assaults of small ships, also known as the Rat Express's adventurous transportation method, to replenish the limited fighters, pilots, and fuel ammunition to the defenders of the Kuiper Belt.

The "Hedgehog" Air Squadron was deployed to this hellish battlefield against this background. (Just complaining, obviously the British were the bravest in World War II in the air force, and they were also the first country to establish an independent air force, but in HH the naval aviation's role is basically non-existent, which is a bit ungrateful, isn't it?)

Quaoar is the dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt closest to Pluto, so it is also the "thorn" that Horus's rebels are most eager to remove. After occupying Pluto, a large aircraft carrier and escort fleet went straight to Quaoar.

At that time, there were about 8,000 various types of fighters deployed on Quaoar, and its satellite, Quaoar I, had also been transformed into a permanent fortress, deploying ultra-high-power weapons.

The battle was very fierce. In just the first three days of engagement, both sides lost more than 2,000 fighters each.

Afterwards, in order to eliminate Quaoar's threat to Pluto, the rebels invested more forces to attack Quaoar. Although the defenders stubbornly resisted and barely repelled the new offensive, Quaoar I was completely destroyed, and even some fragments fell onto the planet.

At this time, the number of available fighters on Quaoar had dropped to less than 4,000. The deployed "Hedgehog" Air Squadron did not have much time to prepare for battle, and entered the battle less than 12 hours after entering the air base.

In just the first battle, they had to face the most brutal situation. The enemy was attacking with all their strength this time, determined to take Quaoar in one fell swoop. The number of their fighters not only reached a staggering 6,000, but there were also many ace air squadrons among them. They were all super elites who had experienced tens of thousands of combat hours, and were the most outstanding and technically skilled ace pilots of mankind in the Great Crusade.

Not only that, but the enemy's air force also saw the first appearance of daemon engines forged from daemons, flesh, and metal. They may not have been as perfect as the Hell Blades of later generations, but they were still terrifying opponents.

The "Hedgehog" Air Squadron only had 32 old Thunderbolt heavy fighters and 10 Fury interceptors, and they were all rookies who had just graduated from flight school, belonging to the rookie-level pilots. In the eyes of most veteran pilots, it would be good enough to ensure their own safe flight.

In a situation where both weapons and experience were inferior to their opponents, for them, only the courage to not be afraid of sacrifice and fight to the death was not weaker than their opponents.

But in reality, the nightmare had just begun. The rebels changed their past tactics. When the Imperial aviators received radar signals and began to enter the flight decks one after another to wait for takeoff, Horus's rebels suddenly sent several modified ships, braving the minefields and recklessly charging towards Quaoar, braving the planet's dense defensive firepower and crashing into several major air bases.

The suicidal attacks caused catastrophic consequences. The thick ice sheet instantly evaporated, and many ammunition and fuel were ignited. More than a thousand fighters and countless pilots and ground crew were killed.

However, to the rebels' surprise, the brutal losses not only did not cause the defenders to collapse, but instead inspired them to even greater fighting spirit.

When the overwhelming warships rushed through the dense fragments of celestial bodies, the remaining fighters of Quaoar fearlessly took off and met them.

Although the defenders were brave enough, the numerical disadvantage still made it difficult for them to resist. In the end, when the battle ended, more than a thousand more fighters were destroyed. At the same time, the "Hedgehog" Air Squadron also lost 12 Thunderbolt heavy fighters and 5 Fury interceptors in the battle, losing more than a third of their strength, while their results were only a mere 3.

After the defenders lost a large number of fighters and manpower, the rebel commander made a judgment. They believed that the defenders were unable to resist, so they began to carry out bombing missions and prepare to deploy land troops.

But this was subsequently proven to be a fatal mistake. Although the defenders suffered heavy losses, their determination did not waver in the slightest, and they also set up an ambush. They did not take off when the enemy bombers entered the interception zone. This made the attackers relax their vigilance, but in reality, all the fighters had already taken off from the back of the planet.

Soon, the attackers were horrified to discover that a large number of fighters appeared on the side of the bomber formation, and because all the fighters went to cover the bombers, the small transport ships and transport planes transporting ground troops were left unprotected.

Purely personal compilation, don't say it's some kind of science popularization again.