Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 642

Chapter 640, So Stupid

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The main fleets on the northern front are gathering.

Marshal Leroy, commander-in-chief of the theater, is holding a crucial military meeting here.

The northern front has achieved significant, decisive progress.

At least, that’s what Leroy reported to Holy Terra.

He wasn’t lying.

From the outset, the northern front wasn’t given much attention, only slightly stronger than the southern front. At the outset of the Iron Armor Rebellion, the Empire’s focus was on the Phoenix Chapter on the western front. Later, when the Phoenix Chapter collapsed, Holy Terra focused on building a massive army, even deploying its most powerful chapter, the Ortopis, along with the Solar Fleet and the Solar Auxiliary Corps. This combined force was also intended to rebuild the western front.

In comparison, the northern front received less support.

Initially, like Gu Hang on the southern front, the northern front consisted of local forces assembled in the local universe.

Unlike the southern front, the Iron Armor’s invasion of the Devouring Stars universe was far more intense than their attack on the eastern universe. While the Galactus Universe mobilized its own forces and requested support from several Chapters operating within it, it also quickly sought outside assistance.

The Space Marines and the Bats, two of the founding Chapters, both accepted the call-up.

Of course, each had its own reasons for accepting the call-up. The Bats, whose homeworld was Galactus, accepted the call-up because it was their own children who had defected, and it wasn’t too far away.

However, each Chapter only sent one company.

There were reasons for this small number. The founding Chapters were very busy and numerous. They often numbered in the dozens or hundreds, scattered across the universe, each with their own missions. Being able to spare a fully staffed company was considered a good deal. Furthermore, the founding Chapters’ equipment and strength were top-notch.

However, the founding Chapters were too few in number, and even the several Chapters within the Galactus Universe faced their own threats.

Honestly, the Space Marines raised by the Empire weren’t raised in vain. They all had a mission to perform: responding to Imperial call-ups, responding to requests for assistance from across the land, and expanding into a sector naturally meant protecting that sector. Rebellions, xenos, Chaos corruption… they had to do everything.

Many Chapters were even forced to defend their homeworlds in particularly threatening locations.

Unless their homeworlds were directly and mortally threatened, it was difficult for a Chapter to concentrate its entire forces on a single task.

Oh, Phoenix, Fury, New World Torch, Blood Shark… these Chapters were different.

They had no other missions to perform but the Alliance’s.

Consequently, the initial gathering of Space Marines on the northern front numbered just over a thousand. With such a force, it was barely enough to stabilize the situation in the Devouring Stars region, only to mitigate the decline.

A counterattack was impossible.

Until the arrival of the Black Crusaders.

Leroy is the Grand Admiral of the Black Crusaders’ Third Fleet, commanding not only a battle barge and two battlecruisers as its mainstays, but also a thousand Space Marines.

Hmm… speaking of ‘overpopulation,’ it’s hard to say which is more extreme, the Ironclad or the Black Crusaders. The Black Crusaders publicly maintain eight expeditionary fleets, each with a thousand Space Marines. It’s hard to say how many ‘reserve recruits’ they secretly hold. Regardless, when the Black Crusaders suffer losses, they can quickly replenish them.

Their overpopulation is legal.

The Codex also stipulates that during an expedition, personnel limits can be exceeded to a certain extent.

The Black Crusaders are using this law to legitimize their actions.

As for why other Chapters couldn’t do the same… first, consider whether their Chapter’s name is Black Cross.

Furthermore, the Black Cross actually worked hard. Without a homeworld, their eight fleets fought on the front lines of various battlefields across the Imperium, responding enthusiastically to every Imperial call to arms with virtually no record of misconduct.

Their strength, limited conflicts of interest, dedication, and connections… undoubtedly meant few bothered them.

The arrival of the 1,000-man Fourth Fleet immediately stabilized the Devouring Universe, even allowing for a counterattack.

They reached the Lefor Sector, just a stone’s throw from the Princess Sector. Then, they encountered an entire Hive Fleet and were held firmly at bay

until reinforcements arrived .

The Inquisition for the Exorcism of the Exorcists was intrigued by the fighting and the Void Zerg’s cooperation with the Ironclad’s strategy. They dispatched Inquisitors and Argent Watch Space Marines, elite units drawn from various Chapters specifically dedicated to combating xenos enemies. This,

along with a large number of Stormtroopers, formed the support provided by the Exorcist Adeptus.

Despite the small number of Space Marines, the three hundred Argent Watch were expert combatants against the Void Swarm. The hundreds of thousands of Stormtroopers led by the Inquisitors were also a formidable force.

This allowed the battle on the northern front to begin to advance with some difficulty.

Then, when the Phoenix on the western front collapsed, Holy Terra panicked. Not only did they engage in fierce internal political strife, ousting Prime Minister Ogurren, bringing Gallardo to the forefront, and rapidly reorganizing the main Western Front forces, they also sought reinforcements from all sides.

Gu Hang’s acquisition of a wealth of strategic supplies on the southern front occurred within this context.

Naturally, reinforcements also arrived on the northern front.

While these various forces were not mentioned in detail, the most important was the Black Crusade.

They had arrived with a new expeditionary fleet.

The Black Crusade’s Seventh Fleet joined the battle, bringing the number of Space Marines active on the northern front to nearly four thousand, and the fleet was formidable.

Marshal Mathieu Leroy of the Black Crusade’s Third Fleet, Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Front, led his legion with high spirits. The previous difficult advance was reversed, and progress was rapid

, if not overwhelming. Completely eradicating the Zerg was no easy task.

They won a crucial battle, using a single planet as a battlefield, turning it into a bloodbath, attracting billions of Zerg and drawing the main force of the Hive Fleet.

They prevailed, destroying the main force of the Hive Fleet, with only a few escaping. The billions of Zerg on the surface were reduced to ash by a single Skyburn torpedo.

While Zerg presence persisted throughout the Lefort Sector, Leroy no longer wished to be dragged down by this quagmire. Since

the Hive Fleet could no longer threaten the main force of the Northern Front, shouldn’t he seize this opportunity to directly attack the Princess Sector?

Before proceeding, he needed to hold a military meeting to ascertain the consensus of the entire legion.

He was the commander-in-chief, to be sure, but the so-called Northern Front Army was so complex that he couldn’t simply command anything.

The first topic of the meeting wasn’t their own strategy or tactics, but rather a discussion of the distant southern battlefield and a response from Gu Hang.

“Gu Hang, did you refuse to cooperate with our advance from the south and join us in the invasion of the Princess Star Region?”

“How foolish.”

(End of Chapter)