Karni's roaring words fully mobilized the emotions of the warriors.

But looking at the excited crowd in the audience, Karney raised a hand, and the Honor Guards around the conference hall suddenly slammed their weapons on the ground.

The sound of the collision quieted the agitated warriors again, and Karni spoke again.

"In the name of the Emperor, by decree of the Ministry of Military Affairs, I am appointed commander of this battle group."

"Then, in any future military operations that may be required to fend off the Hive Fleet, I need your warriors and yourselves to be completely obedient to my orders."

"And swear that whatever the price of my policy may be, you will carry out my commands to the letter."

With that, Karni sat back down, waiting for a response.

Silence lasted for a moment, and a warrior in black-and-red power armor stood up from his chair.

"Commander of the Second Army of the Blood Lion, Admiral Wadez. I was sent here with my soldiers on the orders of the Ministry of War. ”

"And the Ministry of War has given us a clear directive to act as you wish."

"You don't have to question us, Commander Karni."

He slammed his fist into his chest and made the Aquila salute.

"Since the Imperial Ministry of Military Affairs has appointed you as the commander-in-chief of the battle cluster, then we will obey all your orders."

Wadez sat back down, his words breaking the silence in the chamber.

There is no doubt that Wadez, who was the first to express his attitude, made a deep impression on the hearts of everyone in the conference hall.

Blood Lion Legion......

Sitting in the middle of the conference hall, Karni recalled information about the Legion, and he knew something about the Astral Army.

Like Karni's 39th Space Marine Legion, the Blood Lion Legion was first established shortly before the Empire launched an all-out expedition against the Orcs.

At that time, in order to prepare for a full-scale war with the orcs, the empire carried out the fifth great army, also known as the "beast army". (Note 1)

In the construction of the "Beast" army, the empire created millions of super star marines, perfected and eliminated the defects of some original star warrior gene seeds, making the number of star marines in the empire approaching tens of millions, and the number of star warrior legions established by the empire reached nearly 100.

A legion of Space Marines is not only composed of Space Marines, but usually has several or even a dozen mortal auxiliary legions under its command. They were responsible for the defense of the colony, siege warfare, and large-scale invasions.

For the Space Marine Legion, mortal auxiliaries are indispensable. Even if a Space Marine can be a hundred in some cases, it doesn't mean that 100,000 Space Marines can be equated with tens of millions of astral troops.

Quantity and quality are equally important.

At the same time, in order to allow the newly formed Space Marine Legion to immediately exert its combat effectiveness in the next battle, the Empire directly dispatched a large number of soldiers from the numerous astral armies to join the Star Marine Legion.

However, the number of the Astral Army did not decrease sharply because of this, and even increased dramatically in the following period.

Because the "Beast" army is not like the previous ones, the object is only Astarte.

For the Astral Army, the Empire has also carried out a large-scale formation and expansion, and has also carried out a series of large-scale reloading and weapon updates for them.

It is worth mentioning that when the empire built the army in "Beast", it also changed the recruitment method of the astral army and increased the assessment of the astral army.

But this did not have much of an impact on the recruitment of the Astral Army.

Because the people of the empire are so fucking much.

An empire that has mastered the convenient terraforming technology and is constantly building new human colonies in the galaxy. At the same time, under the powerful force of the Empire, many lost human worlds have returned to the embrace of the Empire.

Coupled with rising living standards and well-being, the Empire's population has seen a rising birth rate, and the Empire's people have achieved far higher life expectancy than ever before through the adoption of new medical technologies and healthier eating habits.

The population of the empire is growing explosively.

Even the empire had to allocate the population of some of the overpopulated nest worlds, moving the surplus population to some newly opened colonies.

Because in the original super-saturated nest capital, there are many jobs, but there are more people. It is difficult for them to find a job and move on with their lives.

In those colonies, there were large plots of land that did not have enough people to work. Labor should be redistributed where it is needed most.

Only in this way can the empire's gains reach the maximum. It was also a great option for those of the Empire.

And it is precisely because of this large population base and strong belief in the emperor that the number of people who participate in the Astral Army's recruitment is an astronomical number.

It is precisely because of such a large number of people that even if the probability of passing the assessment is not high, the expansion of the Astral Army can still be completed quickly in a short period of time.

At the time of the war between the Empire and the Orcs, for the first time, the Blood Lion Legion had only formed ten regiments of 100,000 men.

And because of the excellent combat effectiveness shown by the troops of the first army, as well as a series of honors established in the war with the orcs, in the subsequent time, the expansion of the Blood Lion Legion continued non-stop.

By now, the Blood Lion Legion has become a massive army with thousands of legions. Soldiers of the Blood Lion Legion are fighting for the Empire all over the Empire.

They were known in the Empire for their excellent mechanized warfare. Anyone who sees their steely way of fighting will be impressed by such a legion.

Even in the Astral Army, which has undergone a major reshuffle and has an abundant number of armored vehicles and artillery, the number of vehicles and artillery of the Blood Lion Legion is still very impressive.

In the battle between the Empire and the Orcs, Karni also fought alongside the Blood Lion Legion. He was impressed by the Blood Lion Legion's extremely exaggerated firepower preparation and the never-ending barrage of Xu Jin.

Therefore, after the incident, Karni even took the initiative to find out the relevant information about this Astral Army legion.

And this General of the Second Army of the Blood Lion Legion, Wadez, Karni also knows something about this person.

At the beginning, Karni led the 39th Space Marine Legion to fight alongside the Blood Lion Legion and many other astral troops and the Imperial Navy to destroy the vast empire of orcs in an extreme star field.

And in the final battle, on the core planet of the orcs, when Karni led his space marines to break through the orc defense, they found that an armored regiment of the Blood Lion Legion, under the command of their commander, broke the orc defense line from another direction, approaching the last defense of the orcs.

The armored vehicles of the armored regiment are covered in the blood of the orcs, and they hunt their prey on the battlefield like lions in the steppe.

"Blood Lion", the name that came to Karni's mind at that time could not help but remember.

At that time, the commander of the Blood Lion Armored Regiment was none other than General Wadez, who is now the Second Army of the Blood Lion. In other words, at this time, Wadez had served the empire for more than three hundred years.

His advanced command style and aggressive combat style made even Karni sincerely admire.

Vadez is an excellent army commander, and as an army commander, Karni can't help but start thinking in his mind, if Vadez is his enemy, then can the 130,000 Space Marines led by himself in the 39th Legion defeat the Second Army of the Blood Lion Legion led by Vadez on a frontal battlefield?

...... Hard.

Eventually, Karni came up with such an answer.

Even the Space Marines, under the fire of the Blood Lion Legion's artillery and super-heavy tanks, do not have an advantage. Not to mention, based on some gossip about the Blood Lion Legion that Karni has learned, it seems that they have a dedicated new Titan Corps.

Thousands, if not tens of thousands, of pilots are concentrated in one corps, which makes Karni's scalp tingle just thinking about it.

You must know that even in the extremely elite Astral Army, the Iron Pilot is one in a million.

Only after undergoing intense training and selection that is also considered by Space Marines to be an ordinary soldier has the opportunity to be selected as an Iron Pilot and have his own Titan.

Usually an Astral Corps has only one new Titan squad, which is directly commanded by the regimental commander.

But for most of the corps, they simply can't find a qualified pilot to drive the Titan.

And the Blood Lion Legion was able to assemble an entire Iron Pilot Corps? No, Karney doesn't think it's a fact in his heart.

But even if the rumors are wrong, even if the Blood Lion Legion has only one company of iron pilots, that is surprising enough. Those pilots, they're top hunters.

A pilot named Jack Cooper is said to have piloted his Titan to wipe out an entire company of Space Marines during a simulation training!

The strength of the pilot can be seen from this.

And with a force composed entirely of iron pilots, the Blood Lion Legion, it is terrifying.

And the Blood Lion Legion's powerful armored group combat capability often makes people overlook that this is a well-trained and disciplined force.

As a general in the Blood Lion Legion, Wadez is also strict about discipline.

A good soldier will obey orders absolutely. A good officer will give an order without hesitation. - Excerpt from Tactica Imperialis

As a soldier who has served in the Astral Force for more than hundreds of years, Wadez takes obedience to orders from his superiors as a matter of course.

Even after becoming a general, he is now usually the one who gives orders, but obeying the orders of his superiors is still an instinct carved into his bones as a soldier.

So when Karni's words fell silent in the conference hall, he was the first to stand up and make his attitude known.

As Wadez spoke, he sat back in his seat. Another Space Marine, dressed in blue and white armor, stood up.

"I will lead my men to do what you command, for I am confident that you will lead us to victory in this certain defeat!"

"I'm sure the people in the hall are on the same page on this thing!"

"I think we can start talking about strategic arrangements. As you said, the Zerg are approaching, and we are running out of time. ”

Wadez looked at the Space Marine, who was wearing a blue-and-white Seiko Power Armor, which in some way indicated the Star Marine's unusual identity.

This is because most of the normal Space Marine's power armor is mass-manufactured. This Seiko Power Armor is usually only awarded to those of high status as Astarte monks. For example, a Legion Commander, Company Commander, or Legion Commander's Honor Guard.

Thanks to a clever damage control mechanism and sophisticated manufacturing materials, a set of Seiko Power Armor is even expected to rival the Terminator armor's defensive capabilities in some cases.

This Space Marine's Seiko Power Armor is undoubtedly this high-end item. And unlike the Seiko Power Armor that has been passed down for thousands of years in some legions and is very symbolic, this Seiko Power Armor is too new.

Although after the transformation of the super space marines, the Seiko power armor that the space marines once retained will inevitably undergo a transformation if they want to go to the battlefield again, so as to adapt to the growth of the space marines again.

But the coat of arms on the surface of the armor, the special traces of use, will be inherited with full respect. Just like the power armor worn by Karni, who was sitting in heavy armor in the conference hall at this time.

And this Space Marine's power armor lacks the heavy feeling of inheritance, as if it were brand new.

On the right shoulder of this Seiko Power Armor is XXXIX, which represents the number thirty-nine, symbolizing his legion number.

Wait a minute.

Isn't the Thirty-ninth Legion the Space Marine Legion led by Karni?

If you look closely, it turns out that there is a C sprayed on the top of the starmarine's blue right shoulder armor.

In other words, when connected, it is cxxxix.

Not thirty-nine, but one hundred and thirty-nine.

Karni was also observing the Space Marine, and by the signs and symbols on his shoulder armor, Karni could easily determine the identity of the Space Marine.

From a Space Marine's power armor, you can tell almost everything about a Space Marine.

They will display their rank, company, regiment logo, regiment number, position and other information on their shoulder armor, leg armor, arm armor, knee and other places through special symbols and signs.

"Hello, Commander of the One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Legion, Ewald Haines."

"I'm honored that you have such confidence in me."

"You deserve it, Karney. You are the great hero of the Empire. We all know your name and your credit. You've proven yourself in the battle with the orcs. ”

Haines said, pointing to Karney's right shoulder armor.

On Karney's right shoulder plate, like Haynes, the number of a regiment was printed on it.

XXXIX, XXXIX Corps.

Underneath the numerical number, unlike Haynes' armor, on Carney's shoulder armor is a figure of an eagle with wings outstretched.