Chapter 62: Bombing Costs
The Ork chieftain inside the Great Gagant was approaching some limit, and the thirty-meter-tall war machine was becoming increasingly agile in operation.
A barrage of artillery fire poured forth, explosions erupting all around. Countless Ork troops surrounded the Great Gagant while five more 30-meter-tall war machines took shape nearby.
The Mechanicus Titan army charged directly at the other five Ork mechs nearing completion, and a fierce battle erupted between them.
At this moment, the Ork chieftain controlling the Great Gagant charged straight at Omega. Artillery fire exploded all around, and the powerful Gagant's massive claws suddenly swung forward, narrowly missing Omega as he twisted aside.
Facing attacks from machine guns, cannons, and large power claws, Omega wielded his power sword with nimble precision, dodging dangers like a swallow in flight, flashing forward with each evasion.
Boom!
The power sword struck the thigh joint of the thirty-meter-tall Great Gagant hard. The impact was tremendous, affecting the Gagant's movement efficiency, but the strange Ork psychic energy allowed the giant war machine to continue moving with near-normal function.
After repeated strikes, the sluggish Great Gagant revealed an opening. Omega leaped forward, thrust through the force field defense and steel armor plating, and struck the mech pilot directly.
A scream erupted from within, followed by a chaotic flurry of his sword strikes that killed the Ork leader through the steel interior.
As soon as he landed, the 30-meter-tall Great Gagant crashed to the ground with a thunderous roar, kicking up countless plumes of dust. The massive offensive momentum the Ork army had just organized was immediately dealt a devastating blow.
The Alpha warriors, emboldened by the victory, annihilated the remaining Ork forces, cutting down Ork Boys, Kommandos, and Tankbustas across the scorched earth with disciplined volleys.
Omega charged at the Ork mechanical monster that towered tens of meters tall. After he brought down another one, the company commander destroyed the remaining three Ork Gagant mechs before they could be completed, and the Titan army destroyed one.
The Ork army, reduced to only tens of thousands, still attempted to construct a colossal thirty-meter-tall war machine, but was repeatedly bombarded by tank formations and collapsed before completion.
Above, aerial bombs shattered the Ork army's formation. Below, a massive human army surrounded and annihilated them. And Omega, the Primarch, charged forward relentlessly.
In less than three days, they wiped out millions of Orks.
To eliminate approximately five million Orks, the human side consumed an enormous quantity of ammunition. It can be said that the overwhelming volume of artillery shells and missiles defeated the vast Ork army, achieving an unprecedented victory in this landing operation.
But the battle here had already attracted the attention of the Ork army across the planet. They were excited and delighted by the arrival of such a powerful enemy.
From the planet's surface, tens of millions of Orks marched in from seven or eight directions, followed by an even larger wave of greenskins. They were all drawn to the human war base, yearning for war.
Spaceships and planetary flying forces quickly acquired data on the Ork army's location and determined its coordinates.
The war base had just transported a massive quantity of missiles from space. They were launched one after another, forming a tremendous missile torrent across the sky. The entire sky was filled with white trails formed by countless missile exhaust plumes.
The countless white clouds that filled the sky left observers on the ground in awe as missiles flew overhead in staggering numbers.
Boom boom boom!
Explosions echoed across the distant landscape. The sheer volume of missiles detonating and the resulting shockwaves swept across the battlefield thousands of miles away, where Omega was located.
Omega was aboard a Thunderhawk gunship, receiving battlefield intelligence compiled by several Magi from the orbiting warship.
The cramped interior thrummed with vox-chatter, reports flowing in from forward observers, from tank commanders, from the Mechanicus spotters coordinating the missile strikes.
Magos Julius reported, his augmented voice carrying the flat precision of machine-thought,
"The tens of millions of Orks coming from eight directions were all struck by the missile barrage, but judging from their behavioral patterns before and after the bombardment, their resilience is extraordinary. The estimated number of Orks remaining is at least over a million."
"I do not recommend airdropping Space Marines for direct combat. Instead, we should use continuous bombing to wear them down, gradually whittling their numbers before deploying the Alpha Legion for final elimination."
Empty planes circled in the sky. Omega, recalling the aircraft that had been shot down by Orks and watching missiles bombard from thousands of miles away, asked directly,
"Could bombers be equipped with long-range missiles, making the aircraft faster and more agile, so pilots wouldn't need to engage in close-range bombing runs? This would significantly reduce casualties among our air crews."
He continued, "Training a pilot costs far more than training a tank driver. Every aircraft we lose is irreplaceable. Every pilot we lose is a node of experience we cannot rebuild quickly."
Upon hearing this request, the five Magi on the orbiting warship exchanged a glance, that singular moment of machine-thought processing among the Mechanicus faithful.
At present, all weapons manufacturing by the Human Empire comes from the Mechanicus, and their methods are based entirely on STC templates.
Bombers and transport planes are all built from predefined STC templates. Unless a new STC template is available, the Magi will not easily be able to construct aircraft outside the existing templates.
Omega's demands went beyond the current Mechanicus protocols, so Julius and the others hesitated. However, as Magi, they understood that fulfilling these demands was entirely feasible.
Space battleships reach speeds approaching light, so making aircraft faster posed no fundamental problem.
Long-range missiles have existed for generations and could easily be integrated. Combining the two, everyone felt the solution was practical and achievable. The only challenge lay in exceeding the scope of existing STC protocols.
Magos Julius had studied vast amounts of technology over the years. He felt confident this atmospheric weapon could be modified without excessive difficulty, and spoke with certainty.
"Of course it can be done."
Omega didn't think as complexly as the Magi. He simply wanted pilots to survive longer, and using technology to preserve their lives was the most direct solution. The combination of high-velocity strike craft and long-range missiles was absolutely achievable. They could develop it themselves.
However, as commander of a massive fleet, he simply didn't have the time to research and develop such modifications piece by piece. The war demanded action now.
Despite their diversionary attack strategy, the Ork army could not escape targeted bombing. Their numbers were reduced from tens of millions to just over a million from thousands of miles away.
More than one million remaining Orks showed no concern for their casualties. Instead, they learned from experience. Before attacking again, they collected vast quantities of weapons and armor from their fallen comrades and constructed numerous Dreadnoughts and massive Gagants on the spot.
Some even used materials to build their own Ork war bases, preparing for a prolonged conflict.
But the constant bombardment from the sky, countless human bombers, and massive quantities of missiles reduced any fixed stronghold to rubble before it could be completed.
Whenever the Ork army swarmed in large numbers, they faced devastating missile bombardment.
As the Ork army dwindled in strength, the Mechanicus mechanized forces, the Titan army, and the Space Marines began to encircle them.
On a vast plain, hundreds of thousands of Orks, mostly clad in war machines and accompanied by large numbers of Gagants, led by Ork mobile forces, charged toward the massive human tank army of over a million strong positioned ahead.
Orks charged forward through a frenzied barrage of shells, cannons, ion guns, and machine gun fire, while countless tanks opened fire from the opposite side, followed by large numbers of towed artillery pieces unleashing their own volleys.
Boom boom boom!
Across the plains stretching for hundreds of kilometers, the sounds of countless exploding shells raised massive plumes of smoke and violent blasts. Dense formations of aircraft continuously dropped ordnance from the sky.
Undeterred by the relentless bombardment from planes and tanks, the Orks charged forward without hesitation.
Ork Boys and Kommandos were frequently blasted into the air by cannonfire, their bodies scattered across the devastated terrain. The Ork mobile forces, being heavily targeted, were swiftly eliminated and fell to the plains before they could close with the human lines.
However, the Orks' massive Gagant war machines were equipped with force field defense technology. Their energy shields withstood tank shells as they advanced steadily forward. These powerful war engines quickly approached the tank formation, growing ever closer.
[End of Chapter]
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