127: Chapter 127 The Cruel War

Inside the command center, Xia Xingchen looked at the casualty report; nearly one hundred thousand men had been lost in this single offensive.

To put it bluntly, one-eighth of Xia Xingchen's soldiers had been buried in this land.

As for the remaining weapon and armor losses, Xia Xingchen did not look at them; looking would only cause him distress and heartache, so it was better not to look at all.

Division Commander Zhang Bo came to Xia Xingchen's side and briefed him on the current situation.

"Archon, the Inquisitor and the Space Marine Chapter Master wish to see you."

Upon hearing this, Xia Xingchen stood up.

Not long after, Xia Xingchen arrived before the Nova Chapter Master, Bardan Duwa, and Inquisitor Kolo.

Xia Xingchen stood by the sand table in front of the desk, watching the two of them as if they were discussing something.

Seeing Xia Xingchen arrive, Bardan Duwa immediately stopped the discussion.

"Governor, you are here. We were just preparing to inform you of some extremely important military intelligence."

Inquisitor Kolo traced a line on the sand table with his hand.

"Intelligence from the Lower Hive: Chaos has completely turned it into a sacrificial ground, and the entire bottom is filled with massive amounts of scarlet gas."

Inquisitor Kolo explained the intelligence brought back by the Nova Marines to Xia Xingchen.

"It is obvious that Chaos has turned the Lower Hive into a giant powder keg. As soon as our troops enter, they will not hesitate to instantly release the chaos from the Lower Hive, and we will then face challenges from multiple fronts."

Xia Xingchen understood instantly after hearing this; when their army attacked the Hive City, the position they were in was neither the Lower Hive nor the Upper Hive, but the Middle Hive right in the center.

In other words, they had to face the Chaos garrison inside the Middle Hive while simultaneously guarding against the existence of those who had completely turned into lunatics and monsters beneath the ground.

Xia Xingchen was silent for a moment, then finally looked up and said to them earnestly, "Will we receive any additional help?"

Xia Xingchen waited for a while, but the only response was the silence of Inquisitor Kolo and the Nova Chapter Master.

Xia Xingchen understood in his heart; it seemed he had to rely on his own strength to occupy the entire Middle Hive and ensure they wouldn't be overrun by the monsters from the Lower Hive.

"There is no other way. Mobilize all your connections and recruit as many people as you can. This war cannot be won by relying solely on mortals."

Xia Xingchen had no choice but to make this request to Inquisitor Kolo and the Nova Chapter Master, Bardan Duwa.

The two of them both nodded, assuring Xia Xingchen that they would do their best to bring in new reinforcements. (In reality, it was impossible for them to recruit any reinforcements.)

Before reinforcements arrived, all Xia Xingchen could rely on were his own troops.

Xia Xingchen immediately issued a new order to the entire force: all frontline combat units must be fully committed to the battlefield.

At the same time, Xia Xingchen was forced to temporarily pull the Penal Legion onto the front line, mixing them into the organizational structure of his own troops.

Simply put, Xia Xingchen's shattered units were reorganized into new companies, and two companies were drawn from the Penal Legion to form a temporary reinforced regiment with Xia Xingchen's incomplete companies.

The purpose was to garrison the second line, prevent the monsters from the Lower Hive from rushing up, and ensure logistical transport.

From this moment on, Troy Hive City became an endless meat grinder.

C-10 Street

An Imperial heavy machine gun fired continuously into the dark street.

After countless bullets were fired, the sounds of flesh being torn and bones breaking could always be heard from the dark street.

But after this round of shooting ended, the muzzle stopped.

The Imperial company soldiers looked toward the dark corner.

There was a sewer there that led directly to the Lower Hive, so countless monsters crawled out from that direction.

The company Commander had also tried using grenades or explosives to destroy this underground sewer passage, but they failed; whenever they destroyed one tunnel, Chaos would always dig a second tunnel from another location.

There was no other way; Xia Xingchen's company had to set up a defensive line on the outside to stop these hellish monsters from crawling out.

B-10 Zone, a few streets away

The Death Assault Army was charging frantically toward the clock tower, the high ground in B-10 Zone controlled by the rebels.

Chaos firepower poured down continuously from a clock tower.

The Death Assault Army was not without options; they carried rocket launchers and poured fire continuously at the tower, blasting one gap after another into it.

The entire tower looked like a dilapidated, drafty trash heap, with the risk of collapsing at any moment.

But the firing point on the high tower kept roaring, like the cry of Khorne, telling the Death Assault Army below that control of this area was still in their hands.

A-1 Zone

The fighting here far exceeded any other area; the intensity of the battle far exceeded anywhere else.

This was the main thoroughfare of the Middle Hive, the only place suitable for mechanized units to advance.

Therefore, the mortal troops of Khorne and the Chaos Astartes had forged unimaginable, terrifying weapons here.

This was the first time Xia Xingchen's troops truly witnessed the terrifying creations of the Warp.

Brass Scorpion

This behemoth, forged from brass and daemonic flesh, was Khorne's most chilling super-heavy walker, regarded as a mobile altar of slaughter.

The Brass Scorpion was equipped with Hell cannons and Inferno cannons, capable of delivering super-saturated artillery strikes against frontline troops.

At the same time, it also possessed terrifying melee capabilities; its two huge brass-forged pincers were like harvesting shears, constantly crushing any existence that attempted to get close to it.

In the rear, Skull Cannons provided continuous fire support.

Thus, the army of Khorne organized a defensive line integrating defense, long-range strikes, and melee combat.

Apart from having no air force, the army of Khorne had everything it needed.

At this moment, Xia Xingchen's troops looked at the Brass Scorpion in front of them without the slightest shock.

They had long been accustomed to Chaos being able to pull out things that humans could not understand.

Such as the Brass Scorpion in front of them.

Xia Xingchen's troops had once relied on several Leman Russ Tanks to kill a Brass Scorpion.

The soldiers blasted the entire Brass Scorpion into fragments, but there was no pilot inside, nor any mechanical structure; no one could understand how it functioned.

Xia Xingchen's troops looked at the battlefield, where there were tank wrecks and corpses everywhere; it was as if all the troops were piling up corpses to push forward.

During the month-long frantic offensive, several of Xia Xingchen's frontline Commanders had already gone insane.

They could no longer bear to watch the soldiers and colleagues they had spent day and night with disappear instantly on the battlefield.

But the war would never stop; the rear would continuously send up new troops, new Commanders, new combat orders, and one cruel command after another.

A double-headed dragon tank was strapped with a large amount of high explosives, advancing toward a fortress in front at all costs, while the army of Khorne tried desperately to stop it.

The moment the double-headed dragon tank crashed into the bunker, the massive explosion instantly wiped both the Imperial and Chaos forces from this land.

The Empire also used every method available; no matter how many sacrifices were needed, no matter how high the price, the objective had to be completed.

The Imperial troops were now like gnawing on nails, pulling out the nails driven in by the army of Khorne one by one.

In a corner that no one noticed, Kargos had personally arrived in the Middle Hive area.

The Khorne Commander reported the current situation to Kargos; one-third of the Middle Hive had been captured.

Kargos looked at the situation below, was silent for a moment, and then asked, "What about the situation in the Lower Hive? I remember our plan was to have the troops in the Lower Hive hold back the Imperial army, isn't that right?"

As soon as Kargos mentioned this, the frontline Commander immediately fell silent.

"What is the situation?"