Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 664

Chapter 662, Healthy Competition

The “Alliance National Knights,” though bearing the name “Knights,” had long been defined as a Titan Legion.

While it certainly possessed a large number of Knight Mechs, the primary force was the numerous Titans.

From the Warlord class to the Warhound class, dozens of these machines were deployed

. They were supplemented by three times as many Knight Mechs of all classes. For example, the Overlord-class Knight Mechs were nearly as large as Warhound-class Titans.

They roamed the plains, their every step sending a tremor resembling an earthquake.

Their massive cannons unleashed a hail of lasers, macrocannons, and rockets across the battlefield.

Their immense size also provided excellent cover. The tanks and armored vehicles accompanying them, advancing alongside them, fired recklessly.

Behind the assaulting armored forces, a hundred thousand artillery pieces, assembled at a rate that disregarded the life of their barrels, hurled a barrage of various types of shells into the enemy positions.

The scope of this attack was limited to approximately ten kilometers.

With such a wide area, such intense firepower caused the Iron Armor’s defenses to waver significantly.

The resistance on the positions was practically crushed.

As the tanks rolled through the trenches, the enemy soldiers, hiding in the manholes and corners, had no way to emerge to resist. Then, as the infantry advanced and began to clear the enemy trenches one by one, the first sign of resistance was met with a barrage of tanks and even Titan cannons. No matter how sturdy the manholes, they could not withstand such bombardment.

The established bunkers and close-range support positions were ruthlessly eliminated one by one.

At this point, the Iron Armor’s long-range firepower also came into play.

Artillery, no less numerous than the Imperial forces, targeted the attacking National Knights and the Imperial artillery positions already firing in the rear.

The artillery was certainly effective.

In just two rounds of attack, numerous Imperial tanks were destroyed, and the artillery positions in the rear were also damaged.

However, the crucial Titans were not seriously damaged.

The agility of Titans and Knight mechs made them, despite their size, more vulnerable to attack than tanks. Their energy shields, and even the void shields used by Warlords, made them invulnerable unless they were hit by concentrated fire in a short period of time.

The Iron Armor’s counterattack artillery positions were quickly destroyed.

Not only were Imperial artillery bombarded, but the attacking Titans were also capable of unleashing a barrage of fire.

Even assuming the ground positions were unable to withstand the Imperial armored assault, the Knight mechs’ speed and off-road capabilities meant they could reach the forty kilometers from the front line in just over an hour.

The Iron Armor’s artillery commander understood this, but under the firm orders of his superiors, he still managed to fire two more rounds.

Ultimately, it was pointless; the complete breach of this fifteen-kilometer-long position was a foregone conclusion.

At the same time, the two extra rounds of fire meant the artillery positions were too late to relocate. They

‘d already suffered losses in the long-range bombardment, which was fine, as they’d achieved some results. But being confronted by dozens of Knight Mechs was a complete disaster.

At close range, the powerful artillery positions offered no resistance.

They could only flee, suffering heavy casualties.

Fleeing now would allow them to take advantage of the Knight Mechs’ limited numbers and inability to protect all who fled. If they delayed any longer, waiting for the equally swift mobile forces to arrive, no one would escape.

Throughout this entire process, the Rebels’ most powerful Space Marines remained absent.

Space Marines were certainly formidable, but in a battlefield this large, what could even the most elite of them do?

Faced with the simultaneous roar of a hundred thousand artillery pieces and the blanket bombardment, even a single hit would be fatal.

Unlike Titans, each one possessed energy and void shields, providing some degree of resistance.

They couldn’t charge forward continuously under intense fire like the Knight Mechs.

Even if they stood head-on in front of the torrent of steel, they would be crushed. In this scenario, Space Marines were little different from high-level infantry.

Space Marines weren’t used in this way.

That same night, the Ironclads demonstrated their use of Space Marines.

They launched a nighttime infiltration strike.

Forming dozens of three-man teams, the Space Marines quickly infiltrated Imperial lines and began slaughtering them.

It wasn’t just random killing.

They destroyed ammunition depots, captured survivors, and then, after discovering the camps of Knight Mechs and Titan operators, proceeded to slaughter them. They also destroyed artillery positions…

They arrived swiftly, like ghosts, and retreated with such speed that they were impossible to stop.

Often, the Imperials would launch similar retaliatory actions, or even stationed themselves there to fight the infiltrating Ironclads.

Similar situations unfolded constantly along this 300-kilometer-long front.

This time, however, the situation was somewhat different. After deploying so many Knight Mechs and Titans to breach a 15-kilometer-long defense, they were undoubtedly accumulating strength for the next offensive, a grand strategy that would influence the entire war. How could such a breach be tolerated?

The Imperial Space Marines had already been deployed.

They hadn’t appeared after the massive daytime assault.

With the Iron Torrent sweeping through, the Space Marines hadn’t been needed.

But in this specialized nighttime offensive and defensive operation, facing the infiltrating Space Marine vanguards, only their own level of skill could withstand it.

Their own Space Marines outnumbered the infiltrating Ironclads, perhaps only half as many.

Yet, when the battle finally began, it was a lively and impressive display.

The most impressive victories were achieved by a Phoenix squad and an Ortopis squad.

Both were organized into groups of three, and each group had annihilated at least several times their number of Ironclad warriors.

After dawn, they compared their results. The Ortopis had a slight advantage, claiming 17 men, while the Phoenix squad, on the other hand, had only 14, three fewer.

However, the Phoenix squad of three remained intact after the battle. Although all three were wounded, at least they all survived. Conversely, the Ortopis squad, after a night of fighting, lost one of their battle-brothers. From this perspective, it’s hard to say who ultimately won and who lost.

This healthy rivalry between the two chapters had been going on for some time.

Initially, the Ortopis warriors were quite arrogant and aloof.

This was their usual behavior in their cooperation and interactions with other chapters.

Better equipment, better treatment, greater individual strength… They were the direct descendant of the Imperial Central Chapter. Aside from those founding Chapters with glorious histories, whom they looked up to, they held all others in low regard.

However, the Phoenix Chapter’s performance, while unconvinced, forced them to acknowledge it as a formidable competitor.

Although, during the brutal war, the mid- and high-ranking officers of both Chapters disciplined their arrogant officers, strictly forbidding private duels or fights, even for sparring sessions.

Wouldn’t it be better to use that energy on the battlefield to kill the enemy?

However, when facing the same enemy, using the heads of Ironclads as a tool for comparison was a useful tool.

The results of battles on both sides were often comparable.

So what was there to say?

While they might not admit defeat, they undoubtedly considered the other side their equal.

By comparison, the other Chapter, the Blood Sharks, was also quite impressive.

While their combat effectiveness may be slightly inferior to that of the Ironclad and Ortopis, their tradition of rapid, sudden strikes, particularly their strength, has yielded remarkable results against key enemy targets. Their

performance in preventing infiltration and special operations is mediocre, but when deployed for similar missions, they can be even more effective than the Ortopis and Phoenixes.

Aside from these three exceptionally strong chapters, the remaining seven chapters performed mediocrely, falling just short of the Ironclad, or even slightly behind.

With the exception of the Dragon King’s Spears, the other six consisted of only a few hundred to two hundred men, deployed by their parent Chapters to reinforce the Sol Crusade when it was formed. The

inter-Space Marine rivalry was also significant and brutal.

On both sides, frontline command centers were often suddenly destroyed at crucial moments; decapitation tactics were employed endlessly; key strategic points were quickly seized by Space Marines… Often, just a few dozen, or even just a few, individuals could have the decisive effect on a battle involving tens of thousands of soldiers.

The infighting among them also resulted in rapid casualties on both sides.

By now, over five hundred Imperial Space Marines had been killed.

On the other side, the confirmed number of Ironclads killed must have exceeded a thousand. More than half of these losses were at the hands of the Phoenixes, Ortopis, and Blood Sharks. These three Chapters possessed the largest numbers, but also demonstrated their immense combat prowess.

Combined, over fifteen hundred Space Marines died on both sides in less than a month, demonstrating the sheer intensity of the conflict.

Even Space Marines suffered such heavy casualties, let alone the ordinary troops.

Millions of people, clashing on this modest plain, were losing hundreds every minute to bullets, artillery, and bombardment.

After a month of fighting, the Empire had already lost over two million soldiers.

There was no distinction between minor and major engagements. A single position was fiercely fought over, emptied of countless shells and bombs, splattered with the blood of soldiers, and the wreckage of tanks and armored vehicles… the trenches were completely filled!

Even the renowned elite of the Solar Legion and the Alliance Army were shaken by such horrific casualties.

While this might have been manageable across the entire front, within a single division or regiment where the fighting was fiercest, casualties could quickly reach 50% or 70%.

It was only natural for the remaining survivors to suffer a morale collapse.

Even in the most ironclad of armies, the individuals who comprised them were not truly ironclad.

However, no one would foolishly flee. Even if morale collapsed, they would not abandon their positions and

flee. Fleeing would be

a sure thing. Not to mention the dreaded court-martial, even the constant, day-and-night brutality of combat made escape impossible.

If they stayed firmly in their positions, they might have survived a little longer; if they ran back, they would have been shot or blasted to the ground in the next second.

Beyond the dugouts and trenches, enemy fire extended for kilometers, making escape impossible.

Meanwhile, the armored troops on the other side had no concerns about morale.

The infected, whose minds had been completely parasitized, feared no life or death.

However, they also lacked initiative, becoming rigid, inflexible, and clumsy. Even though they carried similar weapons and armor to human troops, they could only follow their commander’s orders. This certainly boosted their organization and discipline, but it also robbed them of their humanity. They could not display the uniquely human bravery on the battlefield, could not create miracles, and often suffered from a single mistake, resulting in a huge sacrifice, and then they failed to adapt.

Asked to charge a position with a heavy bolter, they simply charged forward without hesitation. According to the commander’s orders, they could have stormed through without a fight, but when flanking fire suddenly arrived, they didn’t know how to dodge and were decimated. Before new orders came from above, the frontline troops had no idea how to adapt.

Because of this, after the Empire suffered millions of casualties, the casualties suffered by the opposing infected army were likely even greater, perhaps even double that.

Furthermore, the infected lacked the ability to consume corpses, recycle biomass, and regenerate new forces. Death was death.

From this perspective, if the war on Wanzhou continued, would the Iron Armor be the last to succumb?

No.

There was another huge variable, coming from the sky.

The warships of both sides are constantly trying to provide support.

A fierce orbital bombardment can bring about a huge change in the ground battle.

(End of this chapter)