Chapter 424 Black and Red, the Plan in the Shadows (Ten) War

"Okay, officers, tell me, how many swords do you have and why do you serve the Emperor?"

Passing by the busy Contract Captain Yulia, Lisetta nodded as a greeting to her.

She walked straight to the highest point of the warship and sat on the throne, and then spoke to the generals opposite the joint combat screen.

The screens opposite the throne were lined up, and six video signals from various warships were connected in real time. And the first among the generals was the Exorcist Chapter Master Savillian who was granted the command of the fleet by Lisetta.

In the state of joint combat, the ownership of the command of the Astartes has always had its own set of unwritten rules. But no matter how complicated this rule is, it can't escape its cold and violent nature.

Well, there is also the status of the chapter and the personal reputation of the commander.

But the latter two are rarely established among the Astartes. After all, these "people walking in the starry sky" are running around the empire all year round, and even the information of their own chapters will not be obtained in time.

There are people who can command respect from other chapters in terms of reputation, but throughout the history of the Empire, such people are rare, if not rare.

This time will certainly not be an exception, so Savillian, as the most closely related to the Inquisition among many chapters, also happens to be the one with the most troops among the many Astartes chapters that come to obey orders.

His command was established almost without any controversy, especially after the Dark Templars made it clear that they would not participate in the war.

"795 swords will obey your orders." Savillian replied, and several Astartes officers remained silent, just waiting for the Inquisitor's order.

Behind this precious number that represents the blood and sweat of countless worlds in the Empire, there are a full 5 companies of the Exorcist Chapter, as well as a company of the Dark Hunters and the Emperor's Spears who later joined the Inquisition camp.

Oh, there is also a special chapter that arrived last before the war began - the Blood Ravens.

Three strike cruisers and five battle barges were the warships they took when they came, and together with the two large cruisers Heart of Wrath and Doom temporarily transferred by the Imperial Navy, they were all the power in Lisetta's hands.

This is where her confidence lies, because the warlike Space Wolves may not lack swords, but their bad relationship with the Empire will make them most lack expensive industrial products such as warships.

The relationship between the Mechanicus and Fenris is not close, and the warships of the Sons of Russ in the Legion era have been in a state of continuous loss and no replenishment in the thousands of years of continuous war.

Although the Iron Priests (the exclusive title of the Wolf Corps Technical Sergeants) have tried their best, Fenris's own scarce mineral veins and the equally scarce manpower in the hands of the technical sergeants still made them unable to cast even the most embarrassing "Moon Class Cruiser" in thousands of years of casting attempts.

Therefore, smaller assault ships became the last resort for the Space Wolves, and their tactics were increasingly far away from the Legion model of the year under the degradation of this main battle equipment.

The intelligence in Lisetta's hands showed that the Space Wolves' forces gathered on Balelog 9 had already exceeded the number of a "Codex" Chapter, but she was not shaken by this threat.

This strategic determination came from this:

The Space Wolves had lost their strategic depth in a large area when they needed to cover the departure of the Janmorro Navy.

And their strategic mission of being trapped in Balelog further magnified their huge disadvantage in terms of warships in naval battles.

The number of wolves seemed large, but there were only two cruisers available. Hundreds of assault ships seemed large, but they had to survive the long firefight distance between the fleets to count.

But is this possible? The answer is of course no.

The enemies faced by the Space Wolves this time were neither space pirates without military discipline nor Chaos servants who had lost their minds. They were Astartes who were as elite as the Wolves, and they were also the embodiment of the ultimate imperial force who inherited the blood of the Primarchs.

Will the Astartes, who are familiar with naval warfare, give up their strengths and allow the desperate Space Wolves to get close?

The thinly armored assault ship can't even withstand the secondary guns of the heavy cruiser, so how can it survive the artillery fire of an entire sector-level fleet?

Unless they can kill her here and use a sneak attack to overturn the outcome of the entire battle. But the significance of the Black Templars' troops here is precisely for this. Although their Marshal Field is neutral, he will never sit idly by and watch Lisetta die.

Three strike cruisers, more than 800 elite Astartes.

This force, which is enough to flatten the galaxy defense in a short time, neither participated in the active attack on the Space Wolves nor appeared in any previous public propaganda.

Just like the paint on their warships representing dark revenge, the Black Templars' fleet quietly surrounded Lisetta's flagship, waiting for the possible assassination of the Space Wolves in silence.

This was also Lisetta's plan. The Black Templars were unwilling to participate in the war between the Inquisition and the Space Wolves, but they could not sit idly by and watch Lisetta die because of their relationship with the Anti-Xenophobic Order.

So under the latter's arrangement, they passively became Lisetta's amulet, and also became the last link to fill the loopholes in the entire plan.

So there is no luck, and no hope. Ten to one, no to one. This is a carefully planned massacre.

The Space Wolves certainly know how slim their chances of victory are, but what they don't know is that the reality is far worse than their worst expectations.

Lisetta has no personal grudges against these Astartes. In fact, from a personal perspective, because of the similar environment of their home planet, she has a deep cultural identity with these warriors from the ice field.

But unfortunately, she has no power to choose.

She herself is just a delicate chess piece placed in the center of the stage by the Inquisition, a huge force across the empire, after arranging all the plots of this drama.

If she is replaced, there will be another "Lisetta" here. Kill her to escape this crisis, and the Inquisition will continue to plan the next counterattack.

The result will not change, and since the ending is already determined, why can't she appear here?

She has her own requirements, and there are people in the Inquisition who are willing to help her realize this "little wish".

Now that the curtain has been opened, the only thing left is for her to "go on stage" and perform according to the steps.

"All ships set sail and contact the Space Wolves."

Savilian's eyes turned from the holographic projection that had been reset to zero, and then intersected with his captain's eyes.

Decades of cooperation have given this mortal enough tacit understanding with his monarch. Under his command, the Exorcist's strike cruiser began to slowly move forward.

The launch of the flagship was the signal for the start of the war. The entire fleet deployed a crescent-shaped formation at the outermost edge of Balgoro, and then, with the energy-accumulating background of the nova cannons on the bows of many warships, pressed towards the Space Wolves relying on hundreds of weapon stations.

Ziz...Ziz...

The clear text communication sent to Balrog was connected, and the bearded face of Hoffman, the current wolf lord of the Sea Wolf Company, appeared on the screen.

"Last warning, Space Wolves of Fenris. Lay down your weapons and leave this system immediately! Your rebellion will be forgiven, and the Empire will accept your loyalty again!"

Without any courtesy, Savillian looked across the screen with a cold gaze, and issued a final ultimatum to them in the name of the Imperial Inquisition.

Hoffman, who had already returned to the front battlefield on the assault ship, sneered at this. The man wearing heavy bronze armor and holding a giant axe passed his eyes through Savillian and the emblem of the Inquisition hanging high behind him, and finally fell on the asteroids on the star map.

A hoarse voice like a stone grind came out from his mouth under his white fangs:

"The descendants of Russ never know what retreat is."

The illusion of peace was completely shattered with this declaration, and the Astartes of the two camps completely lost the idea of ​​holding back.

After the communication was officially cut off, the fleet launched the attack first, and the Space Wolves outside the Balelog system also began to resist.

In the first hour of the war, Balelog's system defense system became the first victim of this war.

In the orbits of the two outermost planets, dozens of weapon platforms silently collapsed and exploded under the shooting of the nova cannon, staining the war with the first touch of blood.

The strike cruiser with the siren and wolf head painted on it tried to approach the flank of the Inquisition fleet while firing at each other. However, Savillian and other Astartes warships had obviously prepared for it, and several of his large cruisers had focused their attention on them from the beginning.

Dozens of assault ships were destroyed in just half an hour, but their behavior of covering the main flagship still prevented the flagship of the Space Wolves from completing the charge.

After the latter failed to break through, the latter turned the rudder to the interior of the system, but the fleet of the Inquisition under the command of Savillian did not rush to pursue.

Instead, it shot forward at a steady rhythm, clearing all threats within the fleet's firepower range.

Flashes of light lit up again and again on the muzzles of the cruiser's nova cannons and light spears, and the corresponding weapon platforms turned into dust in the universe.

The Space Wolves' strike cruisers could not bear this pressure and retreated to the back of the planet in a panic.

The frigates and battle barges of the Inquisition were deployed horizontally on both wings of the array. They used macro cannons to fiercely exchange fire with more than a dozen assault ships hidden in the weapon station and on the back of the planet, and then destroyed the latter one by one on the way to the charge.

"The flank fleet requests instructions." Savillian's contracted captain asked him for instructions. There were enough assault ships that lost power after being hit on both wings, and the commander of the flank needed him to decide how to deal with these warships.

How to deal with it? Savillian was also entangled.

If it is based on the current battle situation, the best way to deal with it is to order the frigate fleet to completely destroy it with torpedoes;

But in this way, the surviving Space Wolves on the assault ships will have no way to survive.

"Destroy their engines and wait for the post-war judgment." Savillian thought about it, but he still couldn't make up his mind.

In Savillian's eyes, the essence of this war was ultimately an internal struggle of the Empire. In order to preserve the power of the Empire, he still wanted to save the lives of these Space Wolves.

But he still didn't have a deep enough understanding of the blood of the Space Wolves. His mercy at this time was destined not to be thanked by the Space Wolves, but to lay the groundwork for the price he would pay later.

In the second hour of the war, the Grand Fleet had cleared all the outer defenses of the Balelog system, and the Space Wolves' fleet had retreated to the core planets. Several outer planets had been abandoned by them.

Sporadic exchanges of fire still occurred on the edge of the two fleets, while the main fleet of the Inquisition had already been deployed inside the system.

The Inquisition's black ships in the rear also kept up with the pace of the main fleet. Under the escort of three Black Templar warships, one large and two small, they slowly stepped over the location where the war first broke out.

Grand Inquisitor Lisetta could almost confirm that the victory of this war was in her hands.

"My Lord, there is a communication request on the Astropath Deck." The commander under the throne shouted to Lisetta, who simply raised her head to respond to the reminder of her subordinates.

"You can't ignore them." Contract Captain Yulia reminded again with concern that the discipline of the Inquisition was extremely strict. This deliberate neglect of the contact of superiors would definitely lead to Lisetta and all her subordinates being severely accused afterwards.

"Okay, access is granted." Grand Inquisitor Lisetta rubbed her hand on the grenade launcher at her waist and replied without raising her head.

She didn't even need to wait for the signal to be connected to know the content of Calvin's communication, and she had already formed a plan in her mind on how to passively resist similar orders.

But this time the communication was different from the previous one. The order from the Unremitting Crusade not only resounded on her warship, but also all the warships participating in the battle in the front received this plain text message using the "secret language" of the star zone.

"This is the Imperial Inquisition, the Supreme Lord Inquisitor Calvin of the Holy Hammer Adeptus.

I repeat, this is the Supreme Lord Inquisitor Calvin of the Holy Hammer Adeptus of the Imperial Inquisition.

In the name of the Emperor, in the name of the Inquisition, I order you to immediately stop all attacks and wait for further processing!"

The entire fleet of the Inquisition paused slightly at this moment, and the Space Wolves also smelled something different.

The commanders of the former stopped their work and looked at the Grand Inquisitor sitting in the back. They were waiting for Lisetta's order. After all, the latter was the owner of the highest command sequence on the scene.

On the latter's warship, Wolf Lord Hoffman narrowed his eyes, and his canine teeth bit his lips without feeling anything.

He had no interest in the disputes within the Inquisition. The time for counterattack was coming. If he gave up because of the enemy's retreat, how could he face the brothers who had already sacrificed?

"Objection! According to the first principle of the Inquisition's emergency handling regulations, I have absolute autonomy to handle any matter when no higher authority is present! Please understand!"

After a short silence, Lisetta's reply also resounded in the starry sky in plain text.

And this behavior is tantamount to telling all the participants in the war: the responsibility for all actions is borne by her alone, and now what they have to do is very simple, that is, to execute her will!

Snap, pressing the communication ball on the neck again to end the communication, Lisetta looked forward with cold eyes. She used her psychic power to reject the gray knight who wanted to persuade her behind her, and then ordered her contracted captain:

"Ask Savillian how long he will take, regardless of casualties."

Update, make up for yesterday's.