Since the strategic direction was decided, the next step was naturally to refine the specific combat plan.
Although he had never commanded a battle of such a large scale, he had learned a lot from the Primarch since he had been with the Lion.
The most important thing in war is logistics!
And the first thing Emrys did was to ask all the sub-chapters to report their personnel, supplies, and equipment status as a reference for this operation plan.
Since he re-integrated the sub-chapters, and with the lingering prestige of the Lion and the Emperor, as well as several rescue operations, his status had subtly surpassed that of the Supreme grandmaster, becoming an invisible leader.
Soon, a combat meeting was held.
But the result, Emrys took one look at the reports from all the sub-chapters, including the Dark Angels, on their armaments, weapons, and resources, and felt like his Sun temples were throbbing wildly.
"Is that all?!"
He looked at Azrael with a shocked expression, hoping the Supreme grandmaster could explain to him.
"Including the Dark Angels, a total of nineteen Chapters, and you can't even put together a complete armored assault group, and not only that, but there aren't even any aerial strike units?!"
This was something he had never expected.
Emrys had thought that when the Dark Angels assaulted the Draconys, even if they were dispersed by the Warp's influence, the other sub-chapters would more or less retain some frontal assault capability, right?
But what was the reality?
Land Raider Crusaders and Redeemers: 14 in total, a significant portion of which lacked ammunition, and all were damaged, requiring repair by Tech-Priests.
Predator tanks, Vindicator siege tanks, Baal Predators, and Rhino transports: a dozen or so remaining.
All super-heavy tanks were destroyed.
Manticore self-propelled artillery and Basilisk artillery: only a dozen or so, also severely lacking ammunition.
As for anything else, there was nothing!
A force of nineteen Chapters couldn't even assemble an armored group, didn't even have aerial strike units, and as for artillery support units — those dozen pitiful self-propelled guns were barely better than nothing.
The only good news was that the number of Terminators and Dreadnoughts was quite sufficient!
The First Legion lived up to its name!
After suffering such a terrifying blow from Chaos, it still retained a full nine hundred-plus sets of Terminator tactical armor, and the number of Dreadnoughts remained an astonishing ninety!
"Where are the things?!"
Emrys' mouth twitched as he looked incredulously at the Chapter Masters present, asking a soul-searching question.
"No, you guys came to raid the Chaos stronghold without even bringing heavy equipment, are you that arrogant?!"
The Chapter Masters lowered their heads, not daring to meet his gaze, seemingly ashamed and unable to speak.
They knew in their hearts that this information on the equipment, weapons, and resources of each Chapter was truly embarrassing; for the mighty First Legion to be beaten into such a state, it would probably be a laughingstock if word got out!
But—there was nothing they could do!
"After the Chapters were dispersed, they all encountered encirclement by Chaos, and almost all of this heavy firepower and equipment was destroyed." Azrael sighed, stepping in to defend the Chapter Masters.
"This is all my fault; I failed in my position as Supreme grandmaster, I couldn't predict the scale of Chaos, which led to the current situation."
Emrys pinched his brow, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, feeling as if his trigeminal nerve was throbbing with pain.
How was this battle to be fought?
Let alone him, even if the Lion were brought here, he would likely be equally helpless. A clever housewife cannot cook without rice, let alone if the stove itself has been overturned?
This was war, not a chessboard simulation!
Even if Space Marines were all demigods, with extraordinary reactions and abilities, the enemies they faced were not defenseless mortals, but large numbers of Khorne Daemons and renegade Chapters!
First, and most importantly.
They had no aerial support units or strike units, which meant that Chaos aerial units could brazenly unleash firepower on ground units, while they were completely defenseless!
Secondly, without a heavy armored assault group, once they encountered a Chaos stronghold, they would have to break through with blood and lives, just like the 'Ravenwing' did in the past.
A dozen self-propelled guns simply couldn't cope with the massive artillery bombardment of the Chaos Legions!
This was no longer a disadvantage; it was despair!
In such an extremely disadvantaged situation, even if the Dark Angels bore the name of the First Legion, and every one of them was an elite, without the support of the aforementioned conditions, even the most powerful Space Marine Chapter could be easily crushed by even the Astra Militarum!
In the previous small-scale battles, Emrys had relied on the 'Forest,' a ghostly ability, combined with numerical superiority and careful planning against an unsuspecting enemy, to achieve small, localized victories.
But this time, the situation was completely different.
They were facing a truly large-scale decisive battle against the Chaos Legions.
It was a war of tens of thousands of Space Marines, the Emperor's Death Angels, against hundreds of thousands of Daemon Legions, within a Daemon world!
A war of this scale could never be decided by individual strategy or a few clever tricks. Even if Emrys possessed heavenly wisdom, it would be impossible for him to lead the Dark Angels, with their extreme equipment disadvantage, to defeat the Chaos Legions, who held an overwhelming advantage!
No, even if the Regent were invited, without time to develop, it would be impossible to bridge such a large disadvantage!
"If we can contact 'The Rock,' we can restore all our formations and equipment within three days."
Azrael sighed deeply.
"These things, in The Rock's reliquaries and armories, are in redundant quantities, enough for the Dark Angels to rebuild three times, but—"
God damn, so rich?!
Emrys' eye twitched as he stared at Azrael.
"You really treat the 'Codex Astartes' as waste paper, hoarding so much?!"
To be able to rebuild the Dark Angels Legion three times, one can imagine how much these guys had hoarded!
"The Rock is cut off by the Warp; even I can't contact it, let alone you?" Emrys shook his head helplessly and sighed.
"If I could contact it, I would have contacted the Lion long ago."
If only the Lion were here, Chaos wouldn't be so arrogant!
The combat meeting fell into a stalemate.
Indeed, without massive weapon and equipment support, how could their remaining twenty thousand men shake the hundreds of thousands of Chaos Daemons?!
"If it comes to it, we can only consider using Terminators and Dreadnoughts as heavy equipment." Azrael's eyelids drooped.
This decision meant sacrificing the Chapter's precious ancient relics!
"How much are you short for now?" Emrys frowned and asked.
"If we're talking about the minimum standard, considering the scale of Chaos we'll need to deal with after we break into 'The Great Tower'—" Azrael looked at Emrys strangely, not understanding his intention in asking, but after a rough calculation in his mind, he decisively reported a string of numbers:
"Land Raider Crusaders: 300-400 vehicles.
Rhino transports, Stormravens: 800-1000 vehicles.
Whirlwind missile tanks: 100 vehicles.
Stormhawk interceptors: 100 aircraft.
Stormraven or Thunderhawk gunships: 80-120 aircraft.
Basilisk self-propelled artillery, Manticore self-propelled artillery: 200-300 guns.
Super-heavy tanks: 50 vehicles!"
"I'll figure something out."
Emrys pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and put it to his lips, his eyes somewhat hollow.
"I don't know—if I can handle it."
"You—have a way?"
At these words, the Chapter Masters, who had been looking down, like sharks smelling blood, all looked up, their eyes filled with eagerness.
"Let's be clear, I'm lending these things to you." Emrys took a deep drag, then crushed the cigarette and gritted his teeth.
"Once the battle is over, I don't care how you do it, you return every single one to me. If any are missing, go and steal them!"
Damn, this was going to be a huge Bleeding!
He could already foresee the sight of those several 'Forge Worlds' being emptied in one go.
No wonder they say that war is fought with money!
Ammunition, resources, logistics—none could be lacking. To get revenge on Khorne, he had truly gone all out this time, almost emptying his entire fortune!
After the war council, Emrys instructed them to continue investigating the 'Giant Tower' and the scale of the Chaos legions, while he himself disappeared for several days.
No one, including the grandmaster, knew where this First Watch Knight, personally appointed by the 'Lion King' and holding the same status as 'Luther' once did, had gone.
Meanwhile, the forces of Chaos spared no expense to lure Emrys and the main forces of the Dark Angels!
Numerous sacrifices were offered, evil Chaos rituals were performed, and the Warp rifts gradually expanded. The 'Giant Tower' at the core, in turn, was even more frantically drawing energy from the world's geothermic veins.
The plasma torrent, like a pillar of light, erupting from its peak, made the reality of the entire Draconys almost completely 'merge' with the Warp!
The physical laws, atmospheric environment, and everything seen and heard here had been thoroughly twisted by the Warp, completely turning it into an earthly purgatory!
If that 'Giant Tower' was allowed to continue drawing energy from the geothermic veins without restraint, establishing a deeper connection with the Warp, it wouldn't be long before this place would completely transform into a Warp conduit, allowing the tragedy of the Cadia Fortress world to repeat itself.
Just as the Dark Angels were about to lose their patience, Emrys finally returned, a deep weariness etched on his face.
"The things you asked for are ready."
With dark circles under his eyes, he looked at the eagerly awaiting Chapter Masters and the grandmaster's earnest gaze, his tone carrying a hint of imperceptible heartache.
"Prepare yourselves. The operation plan can begin."
As his words fell, he turned and stepped aside.
A 'miniature' portal instantly returned to its original form, settling deep within this hidden canyon like a colossal mountain.
The portal was cast from transforming metal, featuring the unique Cybertronian style, with an overall height of three hundred meters and an astonishing width of one hundred meters, large enough to accommodate an entire legion entering and exiting simultaneously.
Boom!!!
As the portal opened, a mighty surge of energy swept forth like a tide, and a brilliant azure energy curtain, like a vortex, appeared at the center of the portal.
Immediately after, to the dumbfounded, almost petrified gazes of Azrael and these Chapter Masters, rows of metallic mechanical lifeforms, entirely silver, emerged from the portal's vortex like streaks of light, stepping with uniform precision onto the open ground of the canyon.
Rumbling sounds followed, shaking the ground.
The entire canyon and mountains seemed to tremble as new armored vehicles and heavy tanks, emblazoned with the familiar yet strange Imperial double Aquila and cog mechanicus, drove out of the vortex. Their silver exteriors and unique stylistic designs appeared before the Dark Angels' eyes like an unshakeable steel torrent.
If these were already impressive enough, then what appeared next caused the expressions of the Chapter Masters, including Azrael, to gradually change, almost making them lose their composure.
What did they see?!
After the armored vehicle and tank torrent, hundreds of mechanical lifeforms emerged from this massive portal. These mechanical lifeforms were almost identical in size to 'Knights', and even the weapons they wielded were very familiar.
Flamethrowers, meltagun assault cannons, Avenger Gatling cannons, Destroyer plasma shoulder cannons, autocannons, storm spear launchers, impact lances, assault lances, and so on—it was almost a complete arsenal!
"Wait, are these things—are they 'Knights' or xenos?!"
grandmaster Asmodai of Repentance almost dropped his Hammer of Retribution, staring at these 'things' that looked like xenos but bore the Cog Mechanicus on their bodies, unable to help but ask a soul-searching question.
They could swear they had never seen such strange 'things' in their lives, with armor resembling the 'Tau' but etched with the Cog Mechanicus and the Imperial Aquila!
If these 'mechanical lifeforms' were already considered blasphemous, enough for the Mechanicus to execute tens of thousands of times, then the next group to emerge from the portal after these 'Transformers' were absolutely utter heretics!
"Are these Tech-Priests?"
Azrael's eyelids twitched wildly.
What did he see?
Completely mechanized, true Tech-Priests. These individuals made no attempt to conceal themselves; every inch of their bodies, under the bird's eye view detection, was severely labeled as 'alien' life!
Those 'xenos' with entirely metallic silver bodies, yet identical to Tech-Priests, chanted hymns to the Machine God as they marched out of the portal in perfect formation, even mirroring the Mechanicus' ceremonial procession and bearing the Mechanicus' cog banners.
In binary language, the Great Machine God.
Asmodai clenched his fists.
The veins on the Foreheads of the Techmarines throbbed, feeling their blood rush to their brains.
Ezekiel painfully closed his eyes, no longer wanting to look at these blasphemous things.
"Hello, I am Optimus Prime."
Suddenly, the tallest mechanical lifeform among them, with what looked like propulsion devices on his back, half-crouched and looked at Azrael with 'sincere' eyes.
"Don't worry, we are all members of Holy Terra, and also the descendants of the Holy Machine God, Machine God, Primus, and Cybertron."
Just that one sentence, if heard by the Mechanicus, would surely get them all killed!
...Azrael took a deep breath, feeling a little uncomfortable in his heart.
Descendants of the Machine God?
And Primus? When did the Machine God change His name? Just that one sentence, if the Mechanicus found out, they would surely kill these blasphemous things!
As for the Techmarines?
If not for the people next to them holding them back, they would have already rushed forward, wishing they could shove their bolters into its mouth!
Good news: Emrys had indeed fulfilled his promise, gathering all the equipment and supplies needed for the war.
But the bad news was: they were all xenos!
It was a good thing Space Marines had strong physiques and didn't suffer from high blood pressure, otherwise these blasphemous things would surely give them a stroke!
The grandmaster stiffly turned his head, his eyes filled with an indescribable meaning.
"Lord—"
"Just tell me if it's enough!"
Emrys seemed to guess his meaning, speaking a step ahead and directly cutting Azrael off.
Azrael sighed deeply.
"Enough."
In this situation, what else could he do?
He had originally thought the Dark Angels' secrets were already quite 'heretical,' but he never expected that this one's degree of 'heresy' had clearly surpassed the limits of the Dark Angels!
You are the true 'heretic'!
If these things were to be leaked, even the 'Regent' would have to weigh the consequences!
"Pass on my orders—" Azrael said with a helpless expression, "What happened here today must never be leaked, otherwise it will be treated as—as—as 'heresy' !"
And so.
The Dark Angels had one more secret.