Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 516 Military Reform
Are emperors gods?

For Chen Xi and Hathor, this was not a philosophical question to be explored, but a cold and cruel reality hanging over the human race.

The withered being on the throne may still be struggling at the boundary between mortality and divinity, vehemently denying its own divinity.

But Chen Xi knew, and was certain, that Hathor understood as well—that the ending was already predetermined.

One day, the Golden Throne will no longer be a prison; the decaying remains upon it will be completely transformed, becoming the "Dark King" who devours all things.

That moment was the death knell tolled for human civilization.

This is not conjecture, but an irresistible trajectory of fate, like the gravitational pull of the stars.

It is like the breathtaking scene in the Lion King's dream: the emperor, fishing, sits on a fragile boat, his blood gushing from his body into the chaotic depths.

The blood attracted countless twisted, greedy shadows in the deep water, which stirred and coveted this deadly temptation.

However, the lingering, ancient, terrifying majesty of the emperor still acts like an invisible shackle, deterring the monsters of the abyss and preventing them from easily capsizing this lone boat carrying the last hope.

This balance, fragile as a spider's web, will eventually be broken by the blood that flows from within itself.

"Debating whether the Emperor is a god or not is of no practical use." Chen Xi's voice broke the silence on the bridge, as crisp and decisive as a wrought-iron hammer.

His gaze sharpened as he turned to Hathor beside him, pulling the ethereal theology back to the iron-and-blood reality: "We have a more pressing issue to decide—the reorganization and strengthening of the chapters."

As he finished speaking, the psionic barrier that had surrounded the two of them and prevented them from being spied on vanished silently like ripples on water, and the hum of the high-frequency silent force field also stopped abruptly.

Heavy footsteps approached from afar, their echoes clearly reverberating on the metal deck.

Loken, Sigismund, Ventanus, and Ahriman also came over, and together with Grand Master Ston, the core command of the Ash Knights was now complete.

The air seemed to freeze, leaving only the low, humming sound of the life support system and the subtle buzzing of the adamantium armor's servo joints.

An invisible pressure spread, and every word spoken from now on would determine the future form of this force and the role it would play in the impending cataclysmic storm.

The cold light from the bridge illuminated Hathor's sharply defined profile.

She abruptly cut off those heavy thoughts about the Emperor and the Dark Lord as precisely as shutting down a tactical data stream.

Seeing this, Hathor quickly suppressed her surging questions and brought all her thoughts back to the key issue raised by Chen Xi: "Specific plan? How do you intend to reorganize the battle group?" Her voice was calm and direct, without the slightest hesitation.

The reorganization of the battle groups was something every commander present had long anticipated.

The Ash Knights' size has long exceeded the limits set forth in the Astartes Codex; the existence of four thousand Astartes monks is an undeniable reality.

More importantly, from Governor Chen Xi to Hathor, and then to Chapter Commander Shi Dong and his core command, everyone clearly realized that the existing chapter model based on the Holy Scriptures and mainly composed of small tactical units was inadequate in the face of the future battlefield where the Empire was collapsing, the battle lines were constantly being stretched, and the intensity of the threat was rising sharply.

Insufficient power projection, limited strategic coordination, and difficulty in forming a decisive advantage in the face of large-scale, high-intensity conflicts—these drawbacks were particularly evident in the actual combat of the "Tempering Plan".

The reorganization was not a whim, but an inevitable choice based on harsh reality and future predictions. It was an urgent need to maintain the fighting power of the battle groups and even the survival of the empire.

For this reason, the shortcomings in firepower, slow command, and gaps in the coordination between new and veteran soldiers exposed in the recently concluded "Anvil" and "Furnace" operations have provided the most direct impetus and the clearest direction for improvement for this long-planned reform.

The reorganization was finally moved from theoretical planning to practical decision-making.

However, most commanders anticipated that detailed discussions should only take place after the troops had withdrawn to their rear bases, completed rest and regrouping, and undergone damage assessments.

Chen Xi's urgency at this moment, convening a high-level meeting while the fighting on the planet below had not yet completely subsided and the smoke was still rising and swirling outside the bridge windows, and even going so far as to urgently recall Company Commander Ventanus, who was stationed in the rear star system, to participate, surprised some people.

On the bridge, a cold blue light outlined the frozen postwar data of the Broken Tooth system and the planet Elegy VII.

Chen Xi stood solemnly in front of the holographic star map, his fingertip tracing the light spots and touching the area where the battle had just ended.

“Based on the battlefield feedback from Operation 'Quenching',” Chen Xi said calmly, his gaze sweeping over the crowd gathered around the star map, “there is no doubt that the platform design of the MK10 power armor gives it flexibility in battlefield deployment.”

But my view is: specializing in one task leads to higher efficiency.

He paused for a moment to allow everyone to hear him clearly and to seriously assess and consider his words: "For each company, clearly define the three types of dedicated combat units: heavy equipment, tactical, and vanguard."

This allows soldiers to focus their energy and skills on achieving the ultimate mastery of a single function.

“Efficiency?” Ventanus looked up, his fingers swiping rapidly across the data panel, bringing up several battlefield records. “Your Excellency, I understand the advantages of specialization.”

However, during Operation 'Tempering', it was the team's immediate role switching that saved the defense line when they were ambushed by the 'Broken Tooth' leader.

The mobility of the Fóposka allowed sergeants to quickly fill firepower gaps, if only a single-function squad had been present at the time…

"That will only lead to a more brutal massacre!" Sigismund's voice, like a hammer blow, interrupted Ventanus. "Expecting lightly armored units equipped with Phobos armor to take on the war leaders head-on?"

Ventanus, you and I have both seen how the Terminator Company of the Legion Era crushed this kind of trash!
'Instant conversion'?
That's assuming the enemy gives you time!
The real battlefield is ever-changing!

When heavily armored enemies launch a surprise attack on an infiltration squad, what they need isn't to temporarily change their armor, but rather for a squad of heavily armored comrades, dedicated to destruction, to immediately rain down upon them!

Regiment Commander Shi Dongzhan tapped the edge of the tactical platform with his rough fingers, producing a dull thud: "Company Commander Sigismund is right. But what about the resources?"
Your Excellency Governor, we are not the legions of the Great Expeditionary Era.

Each company needs a dedicated heavy armor unit? Gravis-type armor and Terminator armor—these all require resources, training grounds, and maintenance teams!
Can the current size of the battle group support such a dispersed deployment? Or would it be more practical to concentrate resources and form one or two dedicated heavy assault companies?

"Concentrate?" Chen Xi's fingertip struck a mark of intense fighting in the holographic image, the very spot where Mikhail's squad encountered the war leader "Broken Tooth": "What do we do in the event of a sudden encounter? There's no time or space for you to calmly redeploy your troops!"

A Phoebus armored squad on an infiltration mission suddenly encounters heavily armed enemies behind enemy lines and urgently needs heavy firepower suppression. Are they really expected to simply switch into Gravis heavy armor while under heavy fire?

Support for the orbital drop pod usually only includes replacing the backpack module—changing the standard powered backpack for a jetpack, nothing more.

In this situation, the most effective solution is to airdrop a squad of heavily armored units equipped with Gravis armor and specializing in suppressive fire! And these units must be already in your battle order, ready to be deployed at any time!

He looked around at everyone, his gaze sharp: "In the past, due to their size, battle groups often carried out missions independently in small teams, and being isolated and helpless was the norm."

This forces each soldier to become a jack-of-all-trades in order to deal with all sorts of possibilities.

However, on large-scale battlefields at the legion level, this "jack of all trades, master of none" approach will be compressed to its limit.

Often, what the front line urgently needs is simply a heavily armed stronghold that can be anchored at key points and provide sustained devastating firepower, rather than a flashy all-around performance.

Special operational needs? Simply deploy another special operations team specifically formed for this purpose.

This is the fundamental difference between a legion and a warband—a warband, due to manpower shortages, strives for versatility; a legion, with abundant manpower, achieves specialization and better resource allocation.

Ahriman’s deep voice came from under the hood, resonating with the psionicists: “Your Excellency’s logic is clear. Specialization can maximize individual effectiveness and form a stronger collective force through efficient combination.”

In the chaos of war, clear role definitions can reduce the complexity of the command chain and information misjudgment, which aligns with the deduction of war efficiency.

"So, how exactly will it be allocated?" Shi Dong pressed, as the battle group commander, he had to implement the blueprint. "Will it be assigned to each company in the form of squads? Or will it be based on mixed tactical squads as the basic unit? The framework of the Holy Scripture..."

"Mixed tactical squads?" Ventanus immediately retorted. He had always been one of the maintainers of the Holy Codex system. "This is just going back to the old ways! Although the members of the squad have their own roles, the squad as a whole still lacks clear functional specialization."

This goes against the original intention of having someone specifically assigned to a task!
It merely shifts the problem from the individual level to the squad level; the predicament remains when the entire squad faces a threat that its functions cannot effectively address!

“Agreed.” Sigismund’s voice was firm. “Since soldiers are assigned roles based on their functions, they should be used in a concentrated manner to maximize their expertise.”

Dispersed and mixed compilation is merely a formality and wastes the advantages brought by specialization.

Think of Shadowmoon Wolves' 'Gastaline', Imperial Fist's 'Templar Brotherhood'—only through concentration can devastating power be unleashed!

Chen Xi slightly raised his hand, signaling a pause in the debate: "The existence of mixed tactical squads still has its value, such as the most elite veterans in the battle group. They have been through countless battles and each has their own strengths."

They are organized into special mission teams dedicated to handling special operations requiring extremely high skill, stealth, or rapid response—decapitation strikes, infiltration, and intelligence gathering remain indispensable.

He looked around at everyone, his gaze profound: "The future of the empire is uncertain, but not every battlefield requires a large army to be deployed."

Elite special operations teams, retained as a special formation, are a necessary supplement. However, they should be the exception, not the rule.

"So, what about the overall organizational structure?" Loken's voice came from behind Hathor, his masked head turning slightly, the cold goggles locking onto Chen Xi. "Mixed functional squads within the company?"
Or... do you intend to completely dismantle the Holy Scripture's company structure and establish a company-level dedicated unit?

Chen Xi met Loken's gaze and nodded affirmatively: "My idea is to improve upon the 'outer shell' of the Holy Scripture."

The 'thousand-man formation' of a warband has become an ingrained ideology for the Empire, a tacitly accepted rule.

While a few battle groups can exceed their authorized strength, maintaining this 'outer shell' is currently more beneficial than harmful, reducing unnecessary suspicion and resistance.

He pulled up the organizational chart of the Ash Knights, and blue light quickly projected a cluster of cursors, representing the Astartes of the Ash Knights.

"Therefore, the Ash Knights will continue to maintain the basic unit of a thousand-man battle group."

Each battle group comprises ten companies, but the nature of these companies will be completely transformed—no longer the ambiguous combat companies defined in the Codex, but specialized companies with unified functions: the heavy companies focus on Gravis-type heavy armor, Terminator armor, and heavy firepower support; the tactical companies are equipped with standard MK10 armor and are responsible for multi-purpose assaults and defensive operations; the vanguard companies use Phobos armor and perform high-speed mobility, infiltration, and reconnaissance.

Chen Xi drew clear lines on the projection screen with his fingers, categorizing the cursors that represented different functions.

“Furthermore, based on the experience gained from the coordinated operations of strike groups during Operation 'Tempering',” his voice carried the precision of building a war machine, “we will establish two to three standing strike groups within each battle group.”

“A strike group,” Chen Xi clenched his fist, and the cursor representing the strike group on the star map suddenly lit up and rotated, “with one or two heavy armored companies as the core of the assault and the fulcrum of the defense, and two or three tactical companies as the mobile and assault forces.”

When necessary, they can be incorporated into the vanguard company to carry out battlefield cover, deep infiltration, or high-speed penetration missions.

Each strike group, commanded by an experienced commander, possesses independent command links and tactical decision-making authority, and is the primary operational force projection unit of the battle group.

“In routine operations,” Chen Xi concluded, his voice carrying the authority of a final decision, “the battle group will be deployed in dispersed units of strike groups to deal with regional threats.”

The strike group commander has the authority to flexibly organize subordinate heavy, tactical, and vanguard units into half-company or even smaller units, based on specific mission requirements, and assign them to the command of the adjutant to carry out routine combat missions, thus maintaining tactical flexibility.

But when faced with large-scale battles, the empire's territory needs a true legion-level iron fist...

He surveyed the bridge, his gaze sweeping over every legendary commander and chapter leader: "All strike groups will be brought together under unified command, and under the direction of the chapter leader or higher-level commanders, they will coalesce into an invincible fist of the legion."

This is the path the Ash Knights will take: beneath the 'shell' of the Holy Warband, beats a legion-like 'core'.

As Chen Xi finished speaking, a brief silence fell over the bridge, broken only by the low hum of the Thinker array.

In the cold blue light, different ideas gradually settled after a silent clash.

Stollen's brow furrowed as he scrutinized the feasibility of the plan; Ventanus silently jotted down key points, the sacred doctrines and the new framework clashing fiercely in his mind; Sigismund's adamantine face revealed a hint of approval for the efficient gathering of power; Ahriman's shadow beneath his hood swayed slightly, as if conducting a deeper deduction; Loken's visor-covered head turned slightly again, his cold spectacles assessing the will and power behind this change, finally settling back on Hathor's calm and dignified figure.

Hathor Lupeka stepped forward, his molten gold eyes sweeping over the newly formed strike group markers on the holographic star map. His voice carried the decisiveness of a warlord and a hint of anticipation for the future: "Very good. The shackles of the Holy Scripture must be broken, and the structure of power needs to be reshaped. This plan is the starting point for the Legion's soul to return in the new era. I approve."

(End of this chapter)