Chapter 1013, The Lionheart

Chapter 1013, The Lionheart
Now, Gu Hang receives a lot of things every day.

However, Gu Hang basically just glanced at these specific matters. Even if they were particularly important, he would only pay attention and rarely offer any opinions on how to handle them.

Unless, of course, the matter has been dealt with, but the method or outcome is extremely unsatisfactory to him and contradicts his established overall strategy, then he will intervene and offer instructions and opinions.

At times like these, a major undertaking is necessary. This is not only because it concerns matters that even Prime Minister Gu Hang values, but also because it is necessary to correct strategic errors. Therefore, a great deal of effort is required, even to the point of overcorrection.

However, the current matter is not included in this category.

The appearance of a new Son of God is significant enough in itself.

The situation was discovered by Dante's troops, the commander of the Blood Angels and the supreme commander of the Angelic Expedition.

Upon discovering this, he immediately went to make contact and at the same time reported the information to Martins, the commander of the Dark Side Expedition and the 'Alliance Warmaster'.

Then, the report was delivered to Gu Hang's desk.

Under his close supervision, there were reports on almost every development.

Through these reports, he also gained a general understanding of the whole situation.

The whole thing started because the Angel Expeditionary Force was currently focusing its attack on and retaking the Dawn Space. Their offensive there had stalled.

More than a hundred years have passed since the Great Cataclysm, and the situation in many places has deteriorated to a certain extent, with enemies even establishing chaotic kingdoms.

Often, this is a warband, a cult that has grown to an exceptionally powerful scale, spanning dozens or even hundreds of worlds. These worlds are all under their evil rule, and humanity, living within them, suffers cruel treatment. Not only are they exploited and forced to provide various resources and perform military service, but the human population is also used as sacrificial offerings by the Chaos Warband and cultists.

Under oppression, their achievements in construction and the blood sacrifices they underwent strengthened these chaotic forces, enabling them to corrupt more cultists and soldiers from the local area, and even further open warp portals to summon more demonic forces, supporting and recruiting more chaotic traitor troops.

The difficulty of eliminating such a chaotic kingdom is considerable.

It can only be said that after the new empire occupied almost half of the old empire's territory, the remaining half had already entered the 'deep waters' of the expedition.

The difficulty has increased, and situations where a fleet's arrival would immediately lead to a change of flags and allegiance are becoming increasingly rare.

The sense of belonging to the Empire weakened as the period of isolation lengthened; the forces of Chaos or rebels took deeper root; and the aliens became increasingly rampant...

Multiple factors have combined to lead to the current situation.

However, all of this was expected.

For the new empire, it simply means the road has become a bit more difficult. The ultimate goal remains in sight; it's just a matter of taking steady, step-by-step progress.

Recently, the Angel Expeditionary Force has encountered a major problem: a war gang called Bloodeye.

Its territory spans over a hundred worlds, its fleet is sizable, and each world is deeply corrupted, with human rebels and demon armies mixed together. It is led by approximately 1,500 Chaos Space Marines, and a Calamity fleet is also active nearby.

One of the angelic expeditionary forces suffered a significant loss here. After fighting for half a year, not only did they fail to capture the city, but they also suffered heavy casualties and were pushed back. They had no choice but to retreat. While resting and reorganizing their troops, they also requested assistance from Dante, hoping that he could send several more detachments.

At this very moment, the previously aggressive enemy of chaos suddenly slowed its offensive.

Many troops even withdrew.

The bewildered human forces continued to call for reinforcements while dispatching reconnaissance ships deeper into the Blood Eye Gang's controlled territory, eventually figuring out some of the reasons:
An uprising has broken out in the Blood Eyes' controlled area!

At first, the expeditionary fleet found it somewhat unbelievable.

Uprisings are quite common, after all, who would want to live under the rule of chaotic forces? Living a precarious life, dying at any moment, being slaughtered and tortured at will.

Since we're all going to die anyway, we might as well rebel.

However, it's easier said than done.

For ordinary people, it was impossible to successfully stage an uprising in this era.

Let alone not being able to get any guns or cannons, even if we did get them, what then?
A group of untrained ordinary soldiers armed with light weapons would have no chance against the great enemy of Chaos.

Only in a few isolated worlds do the original planetary defense forces still exist, which provides a foundation for forming resistance armies and enabling them to wage guerrilla warfare against the chaotic forces in the wilderness, jungles, and mountains.

However, guerrilla warfare is actually quite difficult.

The enemy has the advantage of 'low human rights'.

They are not like the Alliance, who would hesitate to act when faced with something like a rebel.

The Alliance often finds itself somewhat constrained when dealing with rebels hidden deep within the city walls and protected by its inhabitants. The Alliance is unwilling to engage in massacres while clearing out rebels, even in alien strongholds like the Comoros, where they haven't done so on a large scale.

Ultimately, the alliance's goal in war is to control the region before developing it. If the land is destroyed and the people are all killed, what's the point of occupying and developing it?

However, those chaotic forces clearly didn't care about any of that.

They would massacre without hesitation. If they suspected any remaining resistance forces in a certain area, they would take drastic measures, even resorting to genocidal orbital bombing.

It is truly difficult to start an uprising under the influence of chaotic forces.

That's why the Alliance Expeditionary Force was so surprised—what kind of rebel army is this that managed to force the main force of the Blood Eyes War Gang back?
But this is good news regardless.

The expeditionary force finally gained some breathing room.

They seized the time to rest, maintain equipment, and reorganize their troops in order to regain their strength, while also waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

Throughout this process, they did not give up their mission.

Since the rebels deep within the Blood Eye Gang's controlled territory have managed to create such a large-scale disturbance, they definitely deserve our full support. We can't simply stand by and watch them get wiped out.

The expeditionary force organized a fleet and risked their lives to break through the past.

They were all small, fast-strike boats. Their main mission was to further investigate the intelligence and, incidentally, provide support to the rebel army.

Some small but sophisticated weapon systems, such as feedback power armor, plasma guns, and bomb guns...

There were also some reinforcements: a twenty-man Space Marine squad, plus a thousand elite Army special forces, which formed the backbone of the force.

For the pre-dispatch fleet, which had already suffered setbacks in the previous war, providing such support was already an achievement. In fact, their analysis was not wrong.

Under limited conditions, when only a dozen or so small ships can break through the encirclement and cannot transport particularly large or numerous supplies, it is certainly a good choice to bring as many small weapons as possible and to deploy troops mainly composed of elite forces.

But in fact... it wasn't entirely wrong, just quite unexpected: the rebels thanked them for their aid, but the Alliance commanders present realized that they didn't really need that much support.

After much effort and great danger, the Alliance forces broke through the outer defenses of the Chaos enemies and discovered that in the heart of the Blood Eye Warband, more than a dozen planets had raised the banner of rebellion, forming a united and impressive force!
The main force of the Blood Eyes Warband has returned. The rebel fleet is very brave and their tactics are extremely excellent. Although they are two or three levels behind the enemy in terms of quantity and quality, they do not engage in reckless battles. They cruise between multiple planets and use the planetary defense system to maneuver against the enemy.

While it's difficult to say they had the upper hand in the battle, they were at least able to maintain it.

This is incredibly rare!

Originally, it was thought that the rebel army's survival and ability to cause trouble in the Blood Eye Gang's heartland, forcing them to return, would be a tremendous achievement. However, in reality, they directly conquered 15% of the planets in the Blood Eye Gang's heartland, established an organization, and possessed a fleet.

Weapons and equipment?

They have.

Some were produced by the production lines that were restarted after the counterattack on the military factories occupied by Chaos; others were captured from the enemy's arsenal.

Their ships were all seized from those that had stopped by the Chaos faction, and after being purified, they were put to their own use.

The supplies brought by the Alliance commandos were only somewhat useful, better than nothing; but to expect any real impact was unrealistic. At this scale, much of the fighting was essentially a frontal battle, and the weapons and equipment originally intended for guerrilla warfare and special operations were indeed of little use to the Alliance task force.

In other words, the alliance's thousand or so warriors are the most useful.

After all, the four special operations battalions from the Alliance Army, with 1,200 special forces soldiers, all wearing feedback power armor and at least T3 level; and the twenty Space Marines from a Blood Angels sub-corps called 'Hundred Wings', were all veterans.

After leading his troops to help repel a wave of Chaos' counterattack, the Hundred Wings Flag Bearer, who was in charge of the overall command, met with the leader of the rebel army.

That is truly the son of God!

They had actually heard about this before.

As the assault ships entered the vicinity of the rebel-controlled area, they intercepted some of the rebels' broadcasts via interstellar communication, hearing information about the Son of God, 'Lionheart', Leon Charles.

These rebels claim they are led by Richard the Lionheart... How is that possible?
That's what the Allied officers thought.

The Sons of God—these were figures who lived ten thousand years ago, during the era of the founding of the empire; they were practically mythical beings.

While the event of Robert's resurrection certainly occurred, it was a unique case. Strictly speaking, Robert never truly died; he was merely placed in a static stasis field after being severely injured. If a means to revive him were found—by releasing him from the stasis field—wouldn't he be alive again?
It can't even be called a resurrection.

But Leon?

He's different.

As the genetic father of the First Legion and the Death Angels Chapter, Lionheart is known to have disappeared during the Imperial Civil War in a highly secretive battle that ultimately led to the complete destruction and shattering of the Death Angels Chapter's homeworld.

Although there is no clear death report, being missing for 10,000 years... is not much different from being dead, right?

Anyway, it shouldn't be something that just comes out casually.

Rather than believing that the real Lionheart has appeared, the Alliance members are more inclined to think that it is some ambitious person in disguise; or that some Chaos traitors are using the power of witchcraft to play tricks.

This suspicion made them hesitant to land and fight alongside the rebels, fearing they might fall into a trap and never return.

However, after carefully observing the way the rebels fought with the Blood Eyes Gang, it didn't seem like a performance; moreover, the rebels didn't show any signs of being corrupted by Chaos, so they decided to take the risk and give it a try.

Upon landing, they joined the battle and assisted the rebels in repelling the attack. In the name of the alliance, the new empire, and based on their own demonstrated combat strength, they took the opportunity to request a meeting with the so-called 'Lionheart'.

Everything is going smooth.

They met the leaders of the rebel army.

At first glance, the Hundred Wings' standard-bearer confirmed that this was indeed a son of a god.

Although he looked somewhat old, his majestic figure, his black and dark green armor, and the lion head decoration on his shoulder were exactly the same as those in the murals and statues of the Son of God that the standard-bearer had learned about and seen.

Appearance alone is certainly not enough to make a judgment. More importantly, the standard-bearer of the Hundred Wings had met the 'Regent' Robert.

Although Mattings was not the son of God, the standard-bearer believed that the aura and presence emanating from the man before him were very similar to that of the Regent!

Is this the taste of the Son of God?
That's the only conclusion he could draw.

At the same time, he also felt uneasy.

In legend, the Lionheart was a commander of great talent and ambition, but also ruthless and cruel. He was always able to win, but he never showed mercy to his men or any kindness.

Wouldn't such a commander be difficult to get along with?

What will his attitude be toward the alliance and the new empire?

However, after actually meeting and talking with him, he was surprised to find that while Leon wasn't exactly gentle, he was at least mild-mannered. Although his words were authoritative and his orders were decisive, he wasn't completely unapproachable when it came to advice or suggestions.

Isn't this great?

Leon also took their arrival very seriously.

On one hand, it is their own strength; on the other hand, it is the reinforcements behind them.

He also readily agreed to the league's request to spread the news of his appearance.

Or rather, he never intended to hide it. After he first understood the era he lived in, he realized the immense morale boost that his identity as the Son of God could bring upon his return.

If these things are beneficial to the empire and to humanity, and can be used as weapons, then he would not hesitate to use his prestige.

As for the so-called alliance and new empire... he didn't know who Gu Hang was, nor did he know what that guy Robert was up to.

He'll figure it out eventually, but for now, he needs to get to the present. He's not like Robert, who always has a lot of ideas in his head; he focuses on one thing at a time and does it to the best of his ability.

(End of this chapter)