Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

"As I said before, the current fighting situation is exactly like this-"

"Terrible battle loss ratio, Perturabo. A voice floated faintly from a dark corner. Perturabo glanced patiently over there, and with a thought, he controlled the light in the command room that was turned off by Coze. Lights up again.

"If you have any objections, Curze, you can go back to the ship," Perturabo said sternly. "It's not yet the nine-hour deadline you set for yourself, so I'm not late."

"Haha..." Coze continued to write something famous on the data pad, "I mean, such a beautiful battle loss ratio, but there is not even a Hrud prisoner..."

"Ignore him, Iron Lord. Continue describing combat missions. Konrad always does this," Sanguinius gestured cryptically to his head with a rueful smile as Curze was immersed in the image of his datapad. .

Perturabo looked at Mortarion and Sanguinius, who were sitting on his left and right sides. The vague feeling of trouble came back to his heart, not to mention that after a few hours, the communication between the battalion commander and his sergeant was interrupted. Still unable to restore contact, only the location where they disappeared is clear.

Perturabo continued: "The supply problem I just described was based on the premise that the Iron Warriors would continue to fight the Hrud alone, but I now have external support, and you each carry sufficient supplies. War readiness supplies, so supplies should no longer be an issue, but just for our reference.”

"Unless the Hrud have hidden an order of magnitude more strength in ground defense than I estimate, and are able to mobilize troops from other unexplored neighboring sectors to assist."

he added objectively.

"What about the no-man's land of the Satradar Abyss?" Sanguinius asked. "Is it possible to hide the Hrud?"

"Yes, but according to investigation, the area where the main force of Hrud is gathered is all under the control of the Iron Warriors, and there are no longer any organized military forces remaining."

Mortarion nodded silently. It was hard to tell whether he was happy or unhappy because there were fewer enemies to deal with.

"And on these major fortress planets..." Perturabo tapped his hand on the table. The projection of the entire star cluster in the center of the indoor table quickly enlarged and simplified, leaving only a few planets marked with red skulls, and A handful of captured planets bearing the emblem of the Iron Warriors, and a line of ships slicing the battle line.

"These parts are areas where the Hrud can barely be called military district headquarters. The defenses are the most difficult to break through. They contain a large number of poisonous mist and evil energy shields that can withstand long-range weapons. The Iron Warriors have individually numbered them. Specific information. You can check it in the file I sent. In the middle of this area are the 12th and 13th clans, and in the middle area between the Gugain area and the Mod area, it is closer to the Dorbis-3 satellite area. , deploying group armies mobilized by these two large clans, but sometimes they are driven to the southern region by maneuver..."

The angel listened solemnly, wings folded behind him, as Perturabo highlighted several of the Horud clans he considered particularly difficult to deal with.

Curze glanced here and adjusted the gesture of sliding the data pad so that the long nails would no longer make noise.

"Any more?" Mortarion muttered, his voice hissing in his respirator.

"There are also some independent guerrilla forces and artillery squads," Perturabo explained, turning out the weapons page in the combat document and placing it on the side of the projection, "Provisional artillery weapons based on the impressions of the returning reconnaissance squads. Modeling, data is for reference only.”

Sanguinius looked thoughtful, contemplating the next battle plan in his mind. The finishing work of Galasper's eradication was not a challenge even for the newly born Blood Angels, but the battle of Satradar Abyss would be the first chapter that qualified after the prologue.

He stood up and marked several nodes: "I can see that the attack would have been more difficult, but the gaps burned by the Iron Warriors in these places have broken the chain of defense. Therefore, the air defense system in these areas has broken through It can be handed over to the Blood Angels, and each planet can be assigned anywhere from five to ten companies. Since the legion will be rebuilt soon, they will be mainly infantry companies, supplemented by a few special forces."

"There are a lot of enemies in these areas, Archangel, but none of them are worth tasting." Curze added in a low voice, the fluorescent light emitted from the data pad illuminating his face with clear shadows.

"Of course I know," the angel maintained his smile, and Mortarion cast a suspicious look, making Perturabo wonder what kind of tacit understanding they had developed in Garaspa.

"The Death Guard can participate in the breakthrough mission of these remaining fortresses." Mortarion withdrew his gaze and stood up as well. The hand wearing a new dark gauntlet was divided into photo areas in the war zone. "The data on small arms they currently display is not easy. To cause effective damage to the Death Guard's heavy armor, the main thing that needs to be guarded against is the entropy field effect. I need the cooperation of the stasis field cancellation equipment developed by the Iron Warriors."

"Of course, the Iron Warriors will be responsible for orbital delivery, air support and information monitoring." Perturabo said, "Conrad, your legion..."

"All the remaining areas are left." Coz said lightly. After the stadium fell into silence, he raised his head and scanned around. "Why, haven't you almost taken over the main battlefield, leaving only me, this poor little bat?" Did you pick up some trivial scraps?”

He bit his lip and looked over gloomily: "Or are you planning to take a few more planets from my hands and leave them to the Imperial Fists who are still on the way, my dear brother?"

"I believe you don't need to use all your troops in the remaining areas," Perturabo said without any change of expression, as if he didn't hear Curze's sarcasm. "You can deploy some more teams to assist the Death Guard and Blood Angels in their attack. Lord of the Eighth Army."

"Of course, of course." Coze lowered his head again and whispered softly like he was dreaming, "There are still nine days left, and there are still some scraps left for the Imperial Fist..."

Perturabo resisted the urge to turn off the light on Curze's side again.

"Then, the general deployment policy has been clarified, and the remaining content no longer needs to be described in detail. The battlefield situation is changeable, so we should leave it to the future for discussion."

After all, as for the terrain, climate, tides, gravity, magnetic field and other factors of each planet, it is just a dry reading from the script. It is better to let the Primarchs take the documents back to their respective fleets and discuss them with military advisors and The generals under his command discussed.

The Iron Lord stood up, stretched out his hand to the two Primarchs who had come from afar, and shook hands with them in turn. Although a war meeting seems too hasty for the scene of brothers meeting, Perturabo believes that this is one of the best ways to get acquainted in the war years of the Great Crusade.

"Conrad?" Seeing that Coze still hadn't gotten up, Perturabo had to call him.

"Wait a minute, my royal court is completing some things that must be self-reliant," Curze said softly. After a few seconds, a cold smile slipped on his face, he closed the data pad, stood up and walked towards Perturabo Come.

"My auxiliary army just went to the outside of the no-man's land to capture a group of Hrud prisoners," he said briskly. "The royal court is stepping up the development of targeted poisons, such as fear toxins. If you need it, Mota Ryan, I can give you a few."

Sanguinius's eyes lit up slightly, and considering the presence of Perturabo, he restrained his tone: "Give me one too, okay? We need to understand their habits, that's all."

Perturabo breathed in deeply and exhaled.

"Don't be angry, General. I did not interfere with your deployment plan. I sent this mission before I met you. Of course, I will wait until it succeeds to inform you. In case my auxiliary army is killed and injured during the capture, nothing will be found. , haven’t I lost all face?”

"I implore you to return to your fleet immediately and study your poison, Konrad!"

"...Hal's personal vendetta caused him to waste a lot of resources valuable to the Fifth Legion. He (Khan) blamed the former World Eater for his ignorance and incompetence, his inability to see the big picture, and the destiny of Terra and mankind. However, he scornfully admitted that he expected nothing more from those with the blood of Angron, who was the most brutal and angry of his relatives. "—— Death of Titan campaign book abridged translation