This is our Warhammer journey

Chapter 317: The Iron Warriors Don't Have Many Choices Left

772 11 Month 19 Day.

The situation has changed in a part of the area located at the edge of the buffer zone.

A massive explosion first erupted on the surface of a civilized world, followed by a wildfire.

The first bombardment from the Chaos Fleet covered almost the entire continent.

The large buildings in the center were blown to smithereens, and then the flames and shockwaves from the explosion swept across more areas, pulverizing the city's stone, granite, and steel, and tearing buildings apart as easily as petals in a storm.

However, this was only the first one; hundreds of millions of sparks flew through the rising, enormous cloud of fire, floating in the air.

However, the second and third ones followed immediately.

Before the flames from one missile had died down, another one crashed into the ground.

One fiery cloud after another burst forth from the point of origin of the explosion, and the streets of the magnificent district vanished, leaving only howling smoke and rubble.

The missile spewed out a large amount of viscous gunpowder and aerosol, engulfing the still-standing buildings in the nearby blocks.

The entire continent was engulfed by a sea of ​​fire several kilometers high.

The black smoke even covered a third of the surface of the surrounding planet, and the gale-force winds carried ash and boulders, blowing the smoke and dust even further.

Frick, a siege master under the Iron Lord and a disciple of Peturabo, directly destroyed the planet's solid defenses on that very day.

However, because the fighting was so intense at the front lines and in the central region, no one noticed the disaster.

Millions of invaders eventually swarmed in, cutting through the ruins. Human laborers and demon engines began clearing the way, while the slave army dragged the first large siege engines and pneumatic bombardments.

These massive siege machines were used to breach city walls and collapse void shields.

Now they are roaring again, besieging those surface cities that have been transformed into fortresses.

But the human army within the fortress continued its fierce resistance. They were exceptionally well-equipped and clearly trained to fight against the forces of Chaos, able to adapt to attacks disrupted by Chaos Code and demonic whispers.

Secondly, they possess a lot of heavy firepower, which is sufficient to defend various surface passes effectively.

The city's underground pipe network was also injected with a massive amount of promethium, causing the Chaos faction's attempt to attack from underground to fail.

This defensive strategy, designed entirely to counter the Iron Warriors' offense, once led the Iron Warriors' commanders to regard these mortals as their own.

Did the opposing team have some Iron Warriors teaching them how to fight?!

It wasn't until about 3 p.m. a week later.

The sky was now pitch black, as if it were night, and sporadic flashes of fire still appeared in the various fortresses.

These mortal forces are even able to use their well-equipped armored forces to launch surprise attacks on the production facilities that the Chaos have established on the planet's surface.

"Deploy orbital strikes for indiscriminate bombing."

The commander of the Iron Warriors seemed to have lost patience.

Inside the fleet suspended in outer space, several frigates began to break formation, sink into near-Earth orbit, and begin firing at these impregnable fortresses.

The cannons began to fall towards the ground, and these projectiles caused catastrophic damage simply through kinetic energy.

These meteor-like steel fragments shattered the fortress structure and ignited chemicals or highly explosive materials, such as burning landmines or gasoline drums, which could easily cause uncontrollable fires.

Night finally fell, but the land had become an eternal darkness, and weeks had passed unnoticed until the Iron Warriors' fleet had turned the entire continent into ruins and a sea of ​​fire that swept across the land.

They did not conquer this place; they merely razed it to the ground.

Because there was simply no loot worth keeping.

"."

The leader of the War Blacksmiths, the head of the Trident, 'The Destroyer' Frickx stood amidst the ruins, gazing at the corpses clad in Void Armor.

Apart from the warriors who put up a fierce resistance, there are no humans left in the planet's cities.

Steel warriors drove slave laborers to dig through ruins and drag out broken war machines.

Even by the standards of a Great Expeditionary Warrior, these machines were considered luxurious. With just a little repair in the hands of a steel warrior, they could be restored to combat power and become part of the barrage of firepower against the Empire.

The War Blacksmith tallied his losses. Thanks to his superb siege skills and his decisive use of naval cannons to destroy the surface resistance, the Iron Lord's forces suffered only one-fifth of their losses.

But Fricks just couldn't be happy.

Just like their previous campaigns, their fierce offensive failed to yield the expected results.

The most precious resource for the Chaos invasion had been taken. Fricks looked at the completely fortified ruins, everything prepared for war, with no other class of humans besides the warriors.

Those vast numbers of mortals.

Without mortals as consumables, they would find it difficult to rely on witchcraft to create an advantage against the Imperial forces in battle, and they would also be unable to pollute and relocate the planets they conquered.

The empire, however, was slow but vast.

The fleet in the Skarrus Sector remained viable, with a steady stream of troops and war machines being supplied to the front lines from the rear of the Skarrus Sector. These were deployed to the occupied territories by the powerful Imperial Navy fleet, causing the Iron Warriors considerable headaches.

Even with the Iron Warriors possessing the highest level of discipline and governance on the Chaos side, it would be impossible for them to retain their victory under such circumstances.

Defend it; it's pointless. The factories we painstakingly built up were either destroyed by the Imperial Navy's cannons or by army forces that were deployed to the planet's surface at some unknown time.

Let's attack; we're too exhausted to fight anymore.

It wasn't that the Iron Warriors' military strength was incapable of conquering the Scalus Sector.

However, if the war continues as it is now, even if they capture the city, it will be of little use.

Lord Peturabo's strategic objectives have always been the Primarch and Cadia.

He needs to prove himself superior to his brothers, and the route through which the Chaos forces can concentrate their large fleet at the Eye of Terror also has sufficient strategic value.

Knowing that the other Primarchs were gradually concentrating their forces in the Cardia, Lord Peturabo hoped to force them to divert their troops by launching a feint attack on the Scarus Sector.

But who knows if the other side will play those battlefield games with you.

Romulus simply emptied the populations of all the planets.

God knows how he did it.

"This can't go on like this."

A steel warrior came to Fricks' side.

Fricks knew him.

Honsor, a genetically profane creation, is a fusion of the genes of the Iron Warrior and the Imperial Fist.

That's why he's not well-liked in the Legion. Even the Iron Lord, whose temper has gradually improved, seems to be annoyed when he mentions this member's name, showing a look of disgust.

However, as a commander, Honso does possess the qualities of a steel warrior.

He was thus given the role of war blacksmith and commanded a cannon fodder force composed of the Sons of Dorne, positioned as assault troops.

Hunsuo proved himself by living to this day.

"I know."

"Fricks replied."

He knew what these war blacksmiths were thinking.

Even though Lord Peturabo's personality is now vastly different from what it used to be, no one dares to question his decisions.

From the moment they entered the Skarus sector, a series of conflicts and losses told them that they could no longer continue like this.

The gap between the losses and the gains is too large. Let alone relying on a feint attack to force the Dawn Fleet to come to the rescue, the pressure of dealing with the naval forces gradually converging on the Skarrus sector from other peripheral sectors, as well as the continuous supply of Astral Forces from the rear of Skarrus, is deadly.

The Iron Warriors are doing well, but the followers of the Four Gods who crave souls for sacrifice have begun to leave the group.

Lord Peturabo couldn't possibly wage a war of attrition against so many sectors in Skarrus, nor could he possibly change his target.

The Iron Warriors have figured out Romulus's tactics. If they were to switch to another sector for an attack, they would simply be letting yet another sector fall under the control of the Dawnwings.

Heaven knows exactly how many Astartes were involved in government affairs. The Chaos Wizard's prophecy didn't show many of these warriors on the front lines, but they were always present in the staff of various departments of the Empire.

The thought of this made Frix feel a little frustrated.

So all their fighting has just helped their opponent consolidate power?

Unfortunately, the Iron Warriors have become traitors, and they are fundamentally unable to unite these imperial forces.

Fricks' gaze finally settled on the Dawn Emblems on the remains of those soldiers.

They don't have many options left.

(End of this chapter)