Warhammer, I really didn't intend to form a second empire!

Ruth stood on a low ridge behind the first wave of landing troops, observing the battlefield situation from a high vantage point.

The chainsaw in his hand gleamed under the starlight, still bearing remnants of green-skinned fungal flesh and blood.

"Don't let them reorganize. Advance and suppress their turrets with heavy firepower. Force those greens out of their fortifications. Their waaaagh field is gone, so don't be afraid of them."

Qin Qiong's voice came from behind, and the Qin ground forces landed at that moment, with Stormbirds and Thunderhawks carrying ground troops and heavy firepower.

Hundreds of mobile anti-aircraft shells, with 680mm muzzle diameters, were directly bombarding the Greenskins' reinforcements, completely disregarding the issues of overheating and wasted ammunition.

Russ stood on the ridge, looking at the plain covered by artillery fire, his gaze lingering for a moment on the array of hundreds of mobile anti-aircraft guns.

The cannons were pointed directly at the path of the Greenskin reinforcements, and a salvo created an impenetrable barrage in the air, blasting the Greenskin troops who had just rushed out of the settlement into rolling pieces and green blood mist.

The Greenskins' reinforcements stalled somewhat during the second salvo, and began to panic slightly after losing the waaaagh force field.

The chaotic shouts that were once extremely common during tribal charges were now much less deafening.

Meanwhile, the ground forces of the Emperor Dragon Legion had completed their deployment.

The heavy transport ship landed at a precise angle at the edge of the open ground. The cargo door popped open, revealing a neatly arranged formation of Xuanwu-type heavy armored battle suits and a raider squad equipped with some heavy artillery.

Ground armored forces began to join the ground battlefield. Thor and Goliath's mechs charged ahead and wiped out Gangart in one fell swoop. Odin was not sent to the battlefield by Qin Qiong; he was no longer needed.

Heavy tanks and speedboats overtook the wolves to their astonishment, crushing the charging greenskins.

In the sky, the aerial formation of Stormbirds and Thunderhawks also routed the Orks. The Banshee fighters, with their agility and speed comparable to the Eldar, destroyed the Orks before they could even react.

Qin Qiong did not participate in ground command; he was not good at that.

After handing over tactical coordination to the fire control officer of the Emperor Dragon Legion, he parachuted directly from the Yellow Flying Ship to the ground and stood about thirty paces behind and to the side of the ridge where Russ was located, leading a guard squad of twenty Xuanwu Heavy Armor Guards.

Ruth turned his head and his gaze lingered on Qin Qiong for a moment.

He had noticed Qin Qiong's composite power armor made of living metal and refined gold long ago; it was strange, but indeed powerful.

Ruth didn't ask about these things. He thought it must be a unique feature of the Imperial Dragon Legion. Who doesn't have secrets these days?

He turned his head, his gaze returning to the plains ahead, a landscape shrouded in the crackling of gunfire.

"The Second Army Corps fought very efficiently, which was much more effective than our method of direct assault."

Ruth admitted this.

Qin Qiong stopped half a step behind Rus and followed his gaze to the battlefield ahead.

The Emperor Dragon Legion's heavy firepower array and the Space Wolves' ground forces are advancing in a crossfire formation, gradually compressing the remaining Greenskins into the ruins on the edge of the settlement.

"This method of advancement has been repeatedly verified in actual combat. The Emperor Dragon Legion's combat system is based on long-range heavy firepower, and tries to avoid getting into attrition-based close combat."

Qin Qiong paused for a moment, then turned his head to look at Rus.

"However, the Space Wolves are indeed very strong in close combat. We saw the efficiency with which the Wolves charged into the Greenskins' defenses from the rear. We can't learn that kind of breakthrough speed from them."

I was just kidding, how could it not work!

But Qin Qiong cannot say that.

Ruth's lips twitched slightly, but he didn't say anything. However, his gaze was no longer so gloomy when Qin Qiong said those words.

He looked down at the hilt of the chainsaw sword at his waist, then his gaze fell on the two power maces hanging from Qin Qiong's waist.

At this moment, a new situation began to emerge in the defensive line directly in front.

After enduring prolonged bombing, the Greenskins that had been compressed into the ruins regrouped and surged forth from the cracks in the ruins. They were small in scale but had a powerful momentum.

Their movement route avoided the direct firing line of the Emperor Dragon Legion's heavy firepower array, advancing in a zigzag pattern along a dry riverbed on the edge of the plain, with their target being the left flank of the Space Wolf formation.

Ruth immediately spotted the weak point in that direction: a salient extending from the Space Wolf formation. To maintain its advance speed, the firepower density in that salient was lower than in other areas.

The green-skinned man realized this, so he chose to break through from there.

Ruth stepped to the side, her boot tip landing on the weathered rock at the edge of the ridge, watching as the green-skinned creatures approached the left flank of the Space Wolves.

Although the wolves managed to regain their footing, they were put on the defensive by the green-skinned soldiers attacking them from behind without heavy firepower support.

Ruth wanted to go down and help, but Qin Qiong stopped him.

"Let me handle this, sir. It's not worth your time to get involved in such a trivial matter."

He took a step forward and leaped hundreds of meters above the edge of the ridge. The foot system of his power armor made a dull thud as he landed, the soles of his boots embedding themselves in the scorched earth and flattening the rubble beneath his feet.

The guards kept following from behind, which made Russ admire them even more.

This height is not something an ordinary Space Marine could jump to.

Qin Qiong took the lance from the guard behind him and moved swiftly across the open area, heading towards the direction where the Greenskins had broken through.

Those green-skinned people noticed him.

Bombs and Molotov cocktails traced chaotic parabolas in the air before landing on the ground in front of him, exploding into plumes of smoke and sparks on the parched earth.

He didn't dodge, but continued to run forward at his original speed. Immediately afterward, the green-skinned warriors who were trying to flank him accelerated and turned, attempting to outflank him from the side.

Qin Qiong's forward step landed with a heavier weight than before, and the power armor's servo system boosted in sync with his movement, cleaving the fastest attacking black-armored green-skinned warrior in two with his lance.

His speed was undiminished, and his lance was unmatched among the group of green-skinned leaders who were known for their bravery. No one could defeat him wherever he went.

In less than five minutes, the two hundred green-skinned leaders were killed by Qin Qiong and his guards.

Qin Qiong knew that since these black-armored, green-skinned leaders could appear here, it proved that the green-skinned warlords must also be nearby. As long as he found them and beheaded them, this battle would be over.

His gaze passed over the low mound at the end of the riverbed and settled on an area behind it covered with crude metal plates.

The welding marks on those metal plates were more regular than those on the surrounding green fortifications, and there was no obvious shelling damage on the surface, as if they had been deliberately protected.

Qin Qiong turned around, pointed to the area covered by the metal plate and spoke into the communication channel to Russ, who had just followed from the ridge.

"The greenskin warlords are over there, Lord Ruth."

Qin Qiong pulled the lance from the chest cavity of the last green-skinned corpse and shook off the green debris clinging to the blade.

"Please wait a moment, sir, while I bring you its head."

Before Ruth could respond, Qin Qiong had already strode toward the area covered by the metal plate.

A body twice the size of the other green-skinned creatures was already waiting there. As Qin Qiong walked in, its gaze turned towards the entrance.

With his enormous physique, standing five meters tall, and his incredibly heavy black armor, this green-skinned warlord had been waiting here for quite some time.

At that moment, the Imperial Guards also charged towards the Greenskin leaders on the side, leaving only Qin Qiong and the Greenskin warlords on both sides.

Qin Qiong put down his lance, took two power maces from his waist, activated their power fields, and held them horizontally in front of him.

“waaaaaaagh!”

The green-skinned warlord charged forward, his huge power claw sweeping towards Qin Qiong, but Qin Qiong blocked it with his mace in one hand.

At that moment, the orc warlord swung his warhammer at the right hand, but to his astonishment, the shrimp blocked his attack effortlessly.

How can this be? !

Qin Qiong didn't care whether the Greenskin warlord was shocked or not. After forcing the Greenskin warlord back with brute force, he swung his two power maces left and right, and with great force, he directly stunned the Greenskin warlord.

The heavy black armor offered no protection against those two power maces.

With just three moves, the green-skinned warlord's power claws were cleaved in two, and his right-hand warhammer was knocked away.

The green-skinned warlord, who had originally wanted to continue his attack, was also knocked to the ground by Qin Qiong's mace. He spat out a mouthful of blood containing his internal organs. His beastly nature drove him to struggle, but Qin Qiong's power mace fell once again.

boom!

The powerful blow pierced a large hole in the ground. The green-skinned warlord struggled for a moment and then fell silent, his head severed by Qin Qiong's spear.

The war preparations were over, and everyone in the legion could feel that the Greenskins' morale had suddenly collapsed, proving that the Greenskin warlords had been beheaded.

As he and his guards prepared to return, Ruth had already arrived with his wolf guards.

As Russ watched Qin Qiong emerge, he noticed that his armor was completely unscathed, and the surprise and admiration in his eyes were impossible to conceal.

"What is your position in my brother's legion?"

"The Left Guard Commander is considered the Wolf Guard Commander under your command, but I am not the only commander."

In other words, there are several others in the Imperial Dragon Legion as strong as him.

Qin Qiong handed the orc warlord's head to Russ, not intending to accept the credit.

"What, are you giving alms, kid?"

"This warlord isn't particularly strong. Even if I didn't make a move, I'm sure many of your men could defeat him. I was just lucky this time; the brothers of the Sixth Legion helped hold back the main battle, which gave me the opportunity to kill him."

Russ's gaze darkened. He didn't want to accept this offer, but the Sixth Legion needed it now.

He thought for a moment, then reached out and took the chainsaw sword from his waist, handing it over.

"Consider this my thank-you gift. From now on, every Wild Wolf will treat you like a brother. If you ever need any help in the future, no matter how far away or how difficult it may be, the Wild Wolves will help without hesitation."

Qin Qiong looked at the sword, remained silent for a moment, and then reached out to take it.

Chapter 52 The Great Qin Empire? Where did this roadside stall come from? I've never heard of it.

When the battle report from the Firewheel sector reached Qiankun Star via the Star Speaker relay station, it was already the tenth day after Qin Qiong handed over the head of the green-skinned warlord to Russ.

Zhao Zheng stood in front of the holographic star map on the bridge of the Lishan ship, watching the battle report, which had been encrypted and forwarded three times, unfold line by line on the screen. His gaze lingered for a moment on the two lines at the end: "The green-skinned warlord has been beheaded, and the war boulder has been destroyed."

Qin Qiong's battle report was written quite concisely, even somewhat sparingly.

The entire report was a standard military report, listing only the timeline of the operation, the number of troops deployed, and the key results achieved, while almost all the details of the process were omitted.

This was the habit of the marshals and generals of the Great Qin Dynasty. They rarely boasted about their achievements in battle reports and almost always used standard, formal reports to document their victories.

Zhao Zheng was already familiar with the style of these battle reports, so he simply nodded, archived the reports, and offered no further comment.

Qin Qiong had roughly predicted the outcome of the Fire Wheel Battle before he even set off; what he was more concerned about was the subsequent impact on the Qin army.

The heavy armored Ironborn experienced their first real coordinated combat in this battle, receiving a wealth of feedback data proving that they were indeed robust and extremely reliable.

Meanwhile, Russ's attitude toward the Qin Dynasty became noticeably more friendly after the Battle of the Fire Wheels, since the Qin not only helped them win the war but also gave him most of the credit.

Given the straightforward nature of the Fenris, if you treat them well, they will remember you tenfold.

Therefore, if Zhao Zheng ever needs to visit them in the future, he believes that Ruth will definitely reciprocate.

This was also a strategic move that would allow him to eventually secure the position of War General.

Zhao Zheng closed the battle report window, and the holographic star map returned to its normal display mode. The area covered by the green and light gold markers of the Qin Empire continued its stable expansion.

Qin Qiong's fleet will not return to Qiankun Star for some time. Before that, Zhao Zheng plans to turn his attention back to several ongoing projects in Qin.

His gaze shifted from the edge of the star map to the experimental protocol spread out on the table in the lounge.

The proposal had a long title and covered all aspects from conceptual design to process verification; it was a complete development plan for shipborne large-scale lethal weapons.

He gave it a code name: Shattered Star.

As the name suggests, it is a weapon capable of destroying an entire planet.

In fact, the Empire also had such weapons, the most famous being the Bipolar Cyclone Torpedo from the Extinction Order, which completely shattered an entire planet by detonating the energy of the Earth's core.

But Zhao Zheng's weapon this time is different; it doesn't need to penetrate deep into the Earth's core to shatter an entire planet.

The idea originated from a post-battle analysis that followed the battle in the central river region.

When Zhao Zheng was reviewing the post-battle reports of the various fleets, he noticed a recurring situation: in the fleet's space naval warfare, the Qin fleet often relied on concentrated fire to destroy enemy ships, but even a successful salvo could usually only cover a limited number of the front-line warships.

This tactic is perfectly viable given the Qin Dynasty's virtually unlimited firepower support. After all, this is how all races in the galaxy wage space warfare, and the Qin Dynasty's artillery and heavy void shields are enough to ensure their victory in every battle in the galaxy.

However, this cluster-based heavy artillery mode also has its drawbacks.

Ultimately, space naval warfare is a rather outdated form of warfare. If you have a cluster of heavy artillery, then the enemy will also have sufficient shield technology. In fact, the shield technology in Warhammer is far superior to its offensive capabilities.

This means that while Qin's cluster heavy artillery tactics are effective, they often become less effective against strong enemies, especially fleets with advanced shield technology.

Especially in the wars against the Greenskins and the Space Dwarves, the sheer number of their ships and their outdated formations meant that the Qin fleet often had to spend most of its time finishing them off.

After the orbital bombardment ended, the main force of those remaining ships was defeated by the concentrated fire and precision strikes of the Qin Dynasty in the head-on battle. However, the remaining ships were scattered between planetary orbits and asteroid belts, requiring a lot of time and resources to eliminate them one by one.

Although the remaining ships had been broken up, they still needed to be identified and cleared one by one, which greatly slowed down the post-war cleanup efficiency.

Zhao Zheng then had an idea: Could there be a weapon that could ignore the enemy's shield technology, cover a large enough battlefield area at once, eliminate those fleets before the battle, and quickly clear out the remaining fleets after the battle?

This idea had been lingering in his mind for a long time until progress was made in the analysis of the ancestral core, and some of the technical documents about the manipulation of energy fields were unlocked.