Warhammer: I am the Hammer of the Empire

A total of seven hundred ships, including logistics and many complicated transportation processes, can reach more than two thousand. Such a scale is rare in the history of the empire. It cannot be said that there are only a handful, but it is only a few hundred.

But this scale is actually not huge. Compared with the war organized by the Sun Lord that spans the entire Pangia and combines the combined forces of the four star regions to launch a war, this operation seems to be stretched thin.

More warships came here than expected, but the elusive prophecy, the mysterious purple hand, and the red pirates who were ready to move gave this matter a confusing signal.

It's just that Skadi's battleship group is still moving forward in the tactical array of three armies, divided into three areas: the local territory, the planetary governor, and the Imperial Navy. The Imperial Navy has a hundred elite battleships in front, like the blade of a razor. They were arranged sharply in the void, followed by two hundred planetary governor battle groups of various types, mostly armed ships and retired imperial destroyers or frigates.

They are the backbone of this war. They are the largest in number and have a wide variety. They are responsible for the core fire support and cover. They also bear the responsibility of surrounding the sporadic enemies dispersed by the Imperial Navy. They are not important, but they are needed. Their presence can be effective. Reduce the burden, sacrifice, and battle stress on the Imperial Navy.

The entire fleet group is the largest and most numerous. The most diverse ones are the private ships of many local fortress lords. Most of them are transport ships with a green skin style and are equipped with weapons. Many ships even do not have macro guns.

The most fatal point is that they do not have a navigator. It is difficult to be sensitive to how many things are in the huge void when they rely entirely on the Thinker Array for navigation. This is also the inevitable situation in the surrounding stars of the Engili Spaceport where supplies are scarce.

But even so, they still spent all their money to gather so many ships, mostly because of their busy transportation, which resulted in many free captains or cold traders who obeyed the lord's orders.

This war force composed of about 400 ships does not have an advantage in combat effectiveness. They are more engaged in loose work such as transportation, logistics, and ensuring encirclement. This does not mean that they have no desire to fight. On the contrary, most lords are interested in this place. , especially their own position, are more or less disgusting.

Furthermore, the minimum requirement for the lords to go on an expedition is to leave their names in history, so that their families can add more prefixes, fill their bodies with honors and a few great achievements, even if they do not break the current situation. Later, he can be called a rebel or fearless by future generations, and be worshiped and envied. He can also stabilize the turbulent power network within the territory.

Compared to the planetary governors' need for stability, prosperity, and the idea of ​​surviving a possible traitor invasion, or the Imperial Navy's idea of ​​obedience, duty, and service to the Emperor.

The thoughts of the fortress masters called lords are much more complicated, but they are not useless in combat. On the contrary, with such numbers, as long as there is an advantage in the battle situation, their morale will probably be overwhelmingly higher than that of the planetary governors. Because any battleship destroyed at this moment is the wealth of his family for generations, and it is also a great honor.

Those greedy hunting dogs are very interested in any leftovers of the war. They are probably difficult to control, but the main strength of the Imperial Navy does not rely on them.

However, such a large-scale mixing is still rare in the history of the empire. Except for the almost well-known Gothic War, the empire rarely carries out such exceptional actions. However, compared with the despair at that time, the Astra Militarum is now more desperate. I hope to take the initiative.

It seems a little cold on the bridge of Bordeaux today, about 16 degrees Celsius. It is probably the weather in late autumn in Terra, which is just right for the officers to wear thick windbreakers to show their bravery and hide their big bellies. Although the two great infantry regiments of Belly and Skadi did not have this problem, this temperature has also become the established rule of the fleet.

It may have been just to save a little energy at the beginning, but now it has become the standard temperature on the battleship. The artificial air circulation system spits out air with a faint smell of promethium, which is not fresh, and on the battleship, the super-powerful engine emits a slight The roar can even cause neurasthenia.

The poor temperature control equipment often makes people feel that the right side of their body is burning hot while sleeping, and the left side is cold in the ice cave. This kind of environment is not friendly, but because of the ambiguous attitudes between human beings and the universe, the empire and the void, This kind of environment may be the best summary of the reality. In an extremely huge, but suffocatingly crowded place, you can experience the feeling of life full of differences, which is the same as when human beings face the huge galaxy and countless weird aliens in it. General.

Therefore, there is a saying in the Empire: "If a sailor can thrive on a battleship, it is probably not bad to put him elsewhere."

This sentence not only expresses the ability of talents, but also expresses the fact that adaptability is the greatest talent that humans need to survive in the boundless empire and void.

At this point, Alan Bayer tightened his windbreaker and rested with his eyes squinted in his seat on the bridge. Here, in the highest command room of the empire's greatest technological products, the empire's elite commanders, dispatchers or chief controllers probably They all have this attitude, just like the state of people who have boarded a crowded bus early before a long journey and have been tortured by numbness and silence after experiencing the excitement and farewell emotions of just getting into the seat.

Deathly silence permeated the entire bridge, with only the faint roar of the engine, because they had prepared everything now at least a year ago, so there was absolutely no, too much emotion spent on this matter. For something that was decided a long time ago, even if it is war.

This state is like that of a veteran sleeping in the trench, covering his body with a leather jacket, watching the raindrops falling from the artillery fire falling from the plastic shed he built, carrying maggots, sludge, and blood from the bodies of his dead comrades. , sliding past the military boots, but he only felt sleepy and numb.

Even in the face of war, those who are often on the front line have already learned to naturally switch between fighting and resting. Behind this is a lot of heartbreaking pain and mental torture. It is more of an emotion that others cannot know at all because of numbness. , is the most terrifying thing in this world. The kind of calmness is the overwhelming despair that appears after an unacceptable thing happens again and again.

In the end, the dead silence dissipated instantly after a short beep prompt, and the entire bridge was like a picture with a few frames removed. Everyone began to work on their own, the equipment roared continuously, and the sound outside Bordeleaux's window Bright tail flames also appear on the screen one after another. Its zero temperature is comparable to that of a star, which is the common voice of the greatest machines in the empire.

Flickering light appeared in the void, and the endless dark universe was clearly illuminated by the blue flames of hundreds of battleship engines. This universe, rather at this moment, was not silent, but muscles ready to go. Tighten up and build up strength and motivation.

Those "stars" carry long tails and spread out into three "star clusters" like the Milky Way flying in the universe. The speed of any one of the "stars" is enough to travel through the entire solar system in less than a day. Now being bound by the group, it only takes three or four days, and such a terrifying speed is nothing compared to the openness of the void, because it is easy for them to cross the star system, but it takes several years to go from one star system to another. But after 40,000 years of continuous development by mankind, it now only takes three months to cross one-fifth of the Milky Way.

Although they will still be affected by subspace fluctuations, the pioneering efforts of countless generations behind them are still engraved on every Imperial warship and ship. The Arks that brought civilization across the star sea were eventually used to fight. The Imperial Navy, that is, The descendants of the great pioneers are also the shackles that bind mankind to this land of the Milky Way. The emotions of being bound to the stars and trampled by countless aliens and heretics have not disappeared.

At this point, mankind has put all of itself in the war, for the revenge of the emperor, for the existence of the empire, and for human civilization not to decline again, forming this twisted and terrifying empire today, but mankind no longer has a homeland, Terra It's just a scorched earth now, and they have nothing to lose anymore.

Nowadays, no one thinks about whether the Empire needs to exist, because without the Emperor of mankind, this void and this galaxy will no longer be unimpeded. Those psychic powers and those twisted monsters will tear the entire human civilization into four and five pieces, such as Like the dark technological age.

Now all everyone can do is to be loyal, more loyal, more loyal than ever, as one of the emperor's countless currencies, giving up everything he has.

With this mentality, these three "star clusters" crossed several fortresses. After poor supplies and overall adjustments, it took them two full months to reach their destination. There is no doubt that such a huge march will produce With such problems, they are much slower than expected, mainly because the imperial warships need to wait for the supply line to be laid. A complete supply transportation line spanning the entire star universe is slowly infusing blood to the entire fleet.

At this point, after two months of sailing, the imperial warship finally saw the destination of its journey. On the bridge of Bordeaux, Alan Bayer looked at the green dot displayed on the fortune teller, which was called Oba. Star Fortress, it looked extremely small at the moment, but bright. Alan Bayer wiped his sleepy face with the towel handed by the soldier. He did not have an orderly, but the one who prepared a cart of hot towels for all the commanders here. of hardworking people.

He said. "Thank you." The private immediately responded with a standard military salute, and then walked down with the cart. If he looked carefully, he saw the emblem of the Skadi Fifth Infantry Regiment on his shoulder.

A gratifying young man, this concept flashed through Alan Bayer's mind subconsciously, and he couldn't help but smile bitterly, thinking that he was less than 30 years old, but his thoughts were getting closer to veterans. He had served for several years without dying. It was the Emperor's blessing. In this universe full of monsters and monsters, every breath he took was a piece of good luck.

After wiping his cheeks and feeling more alert, he stood up and returned the towel. He thanked the private again before walking to the captain again.

Those complicated control panels were still the same as before, but considering that he was close to enemy-occupied territory, the captain's cheeks were a lot more tired, and there were a little dark circles under his eyes. Although he was still energetic and healthy, he revealed a vague fatigue.

This is very abnormal. He is an old captain with strong mental power. At the same time, he is also aware that people in the entire command area are in this state to some extent. And he, too, rested restlessly yesterday.

But he didn't think much, he just spoke. "Does the first mate need to change the guard?"

The captain shook his head. "The next step is the handover with the fortress. I don't want me to be able to observe it. In this connection, I plan how the next supplies will be consumed, and we are getting closer to the airspace of the Engili space port."

Alan Baier rubbed his chin. He looked at the many warships in the void. As a senior officer of the Imperial Navy, the captain had the obligation to command and escort those warships. The entire tactical array group was exchanging intelligence all the time, and finally handed it over to the captain to judge the war situation. His pressure was no less than Alan Baier, or even greater.

Considering this, Alan Baier spoke. "I will ask someone to record it. Just once today, take a break."

The captain thought for a while. "No, I can give up command, but I need to be on the bridge during this period."

Alan Baier retorted. "You can't let go here."

The captain scolded. "It's the same whether you go back or anywhere. Don't you understand that for soldiers on the battlefield, the so-called family, protection or responsibility, duty, are not important. For us, the real concern is comrades."

"Comrades are the foundation of most soldiers' persistence. In extreme cases, we can only trust them and love them. Now I am responsible for the lives of a million people. Anyone can relax, but I am the only one in this void, unable to leave a few hours before the start of this war!"

Alan Baier shook his head. "Then you should rest even more. That's all. First Officer, I order you to come on stage. Come, take the captain down."

The captain shook his head. "How can you treat a senior imperial navy officer like this?" His words were calm without anger, because he knew that he could not relax.

However, Alan Baier said. "Only when you are in your best condition can victory come. I will ask the military doctor to give you a shot of sleeping pills. The dosage will not be too large. This is the only way."

The captain nodded, but Alan Baier felt something was wrong. He often took caffeine and was used to fatigue. His physical condition was originally better than those of the commanders. He also had a firm will and good work and rest habits. However, he also felt tired and strong, and could not be separated.

However, after the first officer took the command position, he suppressed his thoughts and began to wait for the handover of supplies. According to the forecast, they would raid the enemy's airspace in three hours!