Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 303 Execution of Deserters
Hai Tu told Chen Xi about what he had experienced:
After receiving Chen Xi's assignment, Hai Tu led his troops to the frozen planet that Chen Xi had mentioned.

It was a dead world ruled by an eternal winter.

The planet's surface reflects a blinding white light, and its atmosphere is filled with ever-present clouds of ice crystals.

The ambient temperature remains below -100 degrees Celsius year-round, and exposed metal will become as brittle as glass within minutes.

Data transmitted back by the probe suggests that the planet may have once been covered by vast oceans, but some unknown catastrophe caused the liquid water in the entire world to undergo a phase transition in a very short period of time.

Today, those giant waves that were frozen in an instant still stand on the planet's surface as ice cliffs tens of meters high, as if time has stood still here.

As the Rostov Expedition progressed, Chen Xi imbued this frozen planet with new strategic significance.

Having accepted Chen Xi's commission, the Tech Priests of the Cult of Mechanics built a massive ecological dome on this planet, maintaining a constant, pleasant temperature inside to combat the planet's frigid environment.

Through the semi-transparent dome, you can see the ecosystem inside that simulates the seasonal changes of Terra, as well as the neatly arranged medical cabins.

This place will become the rear medical center for the expeditionary force, receiving wounded soldiers transferred from the front lines.

This is just like what Guilliman did in the Unyielding Crusade.

Of course, this was also to show the soldiers that the expeditionary force had sufficient logistical and medical support, and that they would receive adequate treatment even if they were wounded on the battlefield, and that the Empire would not turn the wounded into machine servants.

At least not in Rostov.

However, when the sea hare arrived at the domed city and began to take over the affairs of the planet, the judge sent by Chen Xi found him and asked him to observe an execution.

It turns out that a group of Astral Army soldiers killed their superior officer and political commissar on the battlefield, then used standard weapons to mutilate themselves, disguising themselves as wounded, in an attempt to infiltrate a medical planet and escape the battle.

However, during a routine medical check-up, the medics discovered abnormalities in their wounds—laser gun burns and shrapnel wounds from explosives, all from friendly fire.

With conclusive evidence, they were convicted of desertion.

Conventionally, such crimes should be handled by the Ministry of Military Affairs, and those who commit them would either face the death penalty or be incorporated into the penal corps to "atone" on the battlefield with their own flesh and blood.

But they were unlucky; the matter was discovered by the judge Chen Xi had sent to examine whether the wounded were aliens or heretics.

Thus, a public execution was arranged in the central square of the domed city. The judges demanded that all garrison troops, medical personnel, and wounded soldiers who could walk be present to witness the traitor's fate. As the temporary ruler of this planet, Sea Hare was also invited to attend.

However, for the sea hare, the execution scene was far too stimulating.

In particular, the execution method chosen by the judge—beheading with a chainsaw sword.

The buzzing saw teeth spun rapidly on the execution platform, splattering a mixture of engine oil and flesh. Each strike was accompanied by a piercing metallic scraping sound and the muffled crack of bones breaking.

The deserters were pinned to the execution platform, crying and begging for mercy. Some struggled to call out the names of their family members, some cursed hysterically, and some completely broke down, roaring like wild beasts.

The judge merely waved his hand indifferently, and the executioner pressed the activation button on the chainsaw without hesitation—

Buzz—Click!
Blood gushed from the severed neck like a fountain, with a few drops even landing on the faces of those watching in the front row. As the head rolled to the ground, its eyes blinked in terror, and its mouth opened and closed unconsciously, as if still screaming silently.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of blood and the exhaust fumes from the chainsaw sword's engine, mixed together to create a nauseatingly sweet odor.

This was somewhat too shocking for the sea hare, who had always lived in the peaceful environment of the 3K era and had seen the most blood in the form of surgical hemorrhage.

Watching the deserters cry and howl that they didn't want to die, only to have their heads mercilessly sawed off with chainsaws by the executioners, the spurting blood spraying everywhere just like in a B-movie, Hai Tu felt that her spirit had been greatly impacted.

Unable to withstand the pressure, he chose to leave the 40k world and return to the 3k era to take a break.

Chen Xi expressed sympathy for what the sea hare had gone through; such a thing was indeed a bit too extreme.

But for those deserters, Chen Xi only said that they deserved it.

In the Warhammer world of the 40k era, deserters were not uncommon in the military ranks of the human Empire.

The brutal battlefields and all sorts of monsters and demons that the Astral Army faced were enough to break their morale and turn them into a bunch of pigs who only knew how to run away.

At such times, a qualified political commissar should step forward and execute the coward who leads the escape, and then, with fearless courage and exemplary actions, rebuild the morale of the troops through an inspiring speech or a charge led by the leader.

Generally speaking, the commissar's move is very effective. After all, the vast majority of the Astral Army are elite troops handpicked by the best. A temporary collapse in morale is not fatal. As long as they can recover or their loyalty to the Emperor is rekindled, they will be able to muster the courage to continue fighting.

However, sometimes when the political commissar dies in battle, or when the battle situation is too dire, it is difficult for a single political commissar to control the collapsing troops, and desertion will still occur.

Normally, the empire would not execute them immediately, as this would not be in line with the empire's usual practice of using human resources.

Defeated troops would be reorganized, but usually they would lose their normal organization and designation and be reorganized into the Punishment Legion to continue fighting for the Emperor.

The Punishment Legion usually offers no pardons; they must atone for their sins through repeated desperate battles, but usually, death is the end of their atonement.

Only a very few lucky individuals can, through arduous and protracted battles, accumulate enough merit to convince the political commissar and the court that they have atoneed for their crimes and thus be pardoned.

This is by no means easy; it usually requires a key achievement that can turn the tide of an entire battle before the court might think you deserve a pardon.

For this reason, fleeing on the battlefield is a path that the vast majority of Astronautical soldiers would only choose as a last resort.

After all, fighting to the death can bring the compensation for those who die in battle, which can provide a better life for their families, but becoming a deserter carries a much more serious crime.

Therefore, most of the time, the fighting spirit of the Astronauts is highly commendable.

The act of killing one's superior and political commissar and then disguising oneself as a wounded soldier to avoid war, as described by Hai Tu, is an absolute taboo in both the 40K and 3K regimes, and would never be tolerated by any country or army.

Even in the KKK era, these people would only have been executed; their actions were simply too heinous.

(End of this chapter)