Although the offensive had slowed, Alex was not idle.
He had various strike groups submit lists of meritorious personnel, planning a large-scale award ceremony.
The award ceremony was not only to commend the soldiers who performed outstandingly on the battlefield, but also to boost the morale of the entire army.
After all, the Expeditionary Force's morale had been significantly depleted, and the soldiers were physically and mentally exhausted from prolonged combat, urgently needing a spiritual uplift.
Victory on the battlefield depended not only on weaponry and tactical strategies, but also on the psychological state of the soldiers, which was equally crucial.
A grand award ceremony would not only make the soldiers feel that their efforts were recognized, but also strengthen their faith and help them adjust their state for the more arduous challenges in the upcoming battles.
At the same time, his request for reinforcements had already reached the Star Sector Capital.
Alex knew that although the current battle situation was temporarily stable, the enemy's counterattack could come at any time, and the Expeditionary Force must quickly replenish troops and supplies to cope with future battles.
Upon receiving Alex's request for reinforcements, the Star Sector government naturally dared not delay. The 500,000 Astra Militarum originally assembled as three batches of reinforcements were intended to be sent to the front in two batches, but now they were urgently loaded onto ships and immediately set off for the front lines.
And from the Mariupol Forge World, a special batch of reinforcements followed them to the Rostov Sub-Sector.
On the other side, the reinforcements sent by the Griya Forge World also arrived late, finally reaching Rostov II.
These two batches of reinforcements were precisely the Titan Legion and the Skitarii from the Mariupol Forge World that Alex had requested from Kristen before the war began, which also included some support Alex had obtained from Cawl.
These reinforcements from the Adeptus Mechanicus should have arrived before the war began, but due to well-known Imperial logistics issues, they were delayed by several months.
However, even so, they still arrived on the battlefield in time.
—
Perhaps it was from seeing too many Apocalypse-level skirmishes, but Alex felt extremely uneasy about the mere few million troops he had at hand.
These few million troops might be a considerable force in an ordinary interstellar conflict, but in a true Apocalypse-level war, they were simply a drop in the ocean, insignificant.
After all, in this vast galaxy, once a large-scale Apocalypse-level war erupted, it would involve tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of troops.
Wars of that scale had long surpassed any conflict humanity could have imagined in the 3k era.
War swept across entire star systems, planets turned to ash in bombardment, fleets clashed in space, and countless lives perished in an instant.
Alex knew that his few million troops might not even last a single day in a meat grinder battle, and would be swallowed up in an instant.
This sense of powerlessness and crisis made him maintain a high degree of vigilance and caution towards the Necrons.
The Necrons, as one of the oldest and most mysterious races in the galaxy, possessed technology and power far beyond human imagination.
Their fleets were elusive, their weapons extremely destructive, and even their very existence was full of unknown threats.
He particularly remembered that when playing a certain video game back then, the 'Thieves Don't Leave Empty-Handed' combat group lost at least a company just to blow up a Necron Tomb World that was about to awaken.
Therefore, facing an already awakened Necron Tomb, Alex genuinely felt a sense of unease.
He was always worried that the Necrons before him would pull out some 'big treasure' from their Tomb World that would make him black out, directly wiping out the entire Expeditionary Force.
This was not unfounded paranoia, because the Necrons truly possessed such technology and ferocity.
For example, the Necron Monolith, it is one of the most dangerous Necron ground vehicles.
Its core is a singularity torn from the interior of a dying star, and the Monolith draws energy from this singularity to unleash devastating attacks—to put it plainly, this thing uses a miniature black hole as its main cannon.
The Monolith itself is surrounded by a gravitational distortion field, which serves as both its mode of locomotion and a defensive mechanism.
With the current military power of the Expeditionary Force, there was truly no way to deal with this thing.
(Monolith, an out-of-print relic)
Another example is the Celestial Orrery, one of the ancient superweapons used by the Necrons against the Old Ones in the War in Heaven.
This thing looks very ordinary, but in fact, a star is imprisoned within it, and the ammunition fired by its main cannon is star god shard.
(Out-of-print relic, a rare item only found in old versions; these superweapons have been removed from the new codex.)
If he really encountered these things on the battlefield, Alex felt it would be more realistic to run away quickly.
Not to mention that currently, only a core world of this Necron Dynasty had awakened; its Throne World and more core worlds had not yet awakened.
Just one core world made Alex fight so hard; he dared not imagine how much he would have to pay to completely eliminate this Necron Dynasty if it were fully awakened.
He was especially concerned that this Necron Dynasty might possess a star god shard.
Although this legendary existence was jokingly called "Big Zongzi" by the Hammer-heads who were keen on Warhammer culture during the 3k era, carrying a hint of jest and mockery, Alex knew deeply that a star god shard was by no means something to be underestimated.
A star god shard, as a fragment of power left behind by ancient star gods, contained terrifying energy capable of shaking star systems and tearing apart space-time.
Its very existence was a symbol of power beyond mortal comprehension.
If the Necron Dynasty truly possessed such a weapon and deployed it on the battlefield, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Alex could almost foresee that his Expeditionary Force, along with the seemingly powerful fleets in space, would be easily torn apart like paper under the might of the star god shard.
Neither ground troops nor space warships could withstand such destructive power.
(A star god shard being released; this one is the Burning One.)
However, Alex's worries could not be revealed to anyone else.
As the supreme leader of the Expeditionary Force, he knew that every word and every expression of his could affect the morale of the entire army.
He could not show the slightest hesitation or fear, much less let his subordinates perceive his uncertainty about the future and his deep anxieties.
In public, he always displayed strong confidence and a composed demeanor.
Whether facing strategic meetings with the army's high command or daily interactions with ordinary soldiers, his tone remained firm, and his gaze revealed unquestionable authority.
He needed to use this posture to tell everyone that under his leadership, the Expeditionary Force would be invincible, and any enemy would be defeated.
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