At the abandoned factory in Frax, the leman russ battle tank had slowly come to a stop at the entrance, as the area was now fully occupied, with the Ultramarines and Claws of the Stars having taken control of the factory. The Astra Militarum were currently clearing the battlefield, ensuring that no Chaos Traitor Army could leave alive.
Smoke filled the battlefield, surrounded by rubble and debris from bombardments and fighting. Gunshots could still be heard occasionally from the distant streets, likely from traitors being executed.
Seeing Li Feng's tank, the Soldiers immediately stood at attention and saluted, watching his tank drive away. Li Feng had gathered these scattered Soldiers and led them in a battle that would be recorded in history.
Fides also learned that the formidable army that had dominated the enemy's rear was, in fact, commanded by Li Feng. This made Fides' heart flutter even more, and she began to imagine her and his children; if it was a Boy, he would be sent to be a Space Marine, and if it was a girl, she would be sent to be a Sister of Battle.
As Li Feng jumped down from his war chariot, the surrounding Soldiers now looked at him with absolute trust and adoration. Many of them planned to tell the story of fighting alongside Li Feng to their descendants… provided they lived long enough to do so.
Li Feng looked at Fides, who was sitting on the tank's roof, and extended his hand: "Come on, I'll help you down…"
Fides' face flushed, and she said somewhat shyly, "Can't you just carry me down?"
This made Li Feng give her a blank stare, looking at Fides in disbelief: "Do you even hear yourself?"
"What's wrong! I'm injured, can't you help me?"
"Let's not even talk about your own weight, just your power armour alone is incredibly heavy."
But Li Feng had no choice, so he leaned closer. Fides thought Li Feng had agreed and even slightly lifted her leg, making it easier for Li Feng to carry her bridal style… "Huh?"
But Li Feng simply hoisted Fides onto his shoulder and carried her down from the vehicle. Although Li Feng had the 'Physical Enhancement' provided by his system, carrying power armour was still manageable. After all, when carrying it on his shoulder, all his muscles and legs were engaged, but to carry a girl in power armour bridal style! That would be the end of his biceps and lumbar discs!
Li Feng slowly placed Fides, who was on his shoulder, onto the ground, then clapped his hands and walked towards the factory. Fides had not yet recovered from Li Feng's actions.
At this moment, Winters walked over from inside. Upon seeing Sister Fides behind Li Feng, he nodded and indicated:
"Sister, would it be convenient for me to borrow the Colonel for a moment?"
Li Feng quickly pulled Winters aside. Fides had asked him all sorts of questions the entire way, even pestering him for a long time about a few female signal Soldiers in the squad.
"What's up, Old Winters? What's the situation?"
Winters looked left and right, and after confirming no one was around, he whispered:
"We found Savan; that guy hanged himself in the basement."
"Isn't that a good thing? Although we couldn't capture him alive, at least he's intact, and we can take him back to parade him through the streets to show off our achievements!"
Winters' next words wiped the smile off Li Feng's face:
"That… do you remember the Chaplain behind Captain Titus, named Leandros?"
"I remember him, what about it? He's that guy who always complains and grumbles."
"He reported us."
"Huh?"
Winters explained the whole story to Li Feng. Initially, Leandros followed the company down, constantly complaining along the way that Titus didn't fight according to the teachings of the codex astartes, but instead went on a rampage alone, tearing apart Chaos Space Marines everywhere.
Then Leandros went to the Claws of the Stars to accuse Huron of violating the codex astartes by having so many Apothecaries, and also not fighting according to the codex astartes, even calling a mortal his brother, implying treachery.
Finally, at the end of the encirclement battle, Leandros discovered that Li Feng's troops were a mixed-arms force, which severely violated the Department of Military Affairs' rules.
Leandros alone reported all three highest-ranking officers on this battlefield… Li Feng was now curious how the Ultramarines managed to cultivate such an incredible individual.
"Old Winters, what did headquarters say?"
"Headquarters said to ignore him. At least on our side, the Inquisitor putting pressure on those generals will help us hold the line. Secondly, the Chaos Traitor Army on the front lines has retreated, and we need to draw half of our men to rendezvous with the Kriegers who are arriving soon."
… Frax River, Southern Crossing… The assembly call sounded, echoing throughout the entire river valley… The river valley was already littered with the bodies of the Chaos Traitor Army. The bodies were piled so high they even blocked the flow of the river, and at the crossing's position, no one could hear the assembly call anymore.
Only that one officer, quietly smoking a cigarette, leaning on his rifle, searched through the mountains of corpses and seas of blood for the bodies of his Soldiers… Li Feng's troops moved against the flow of the army, heading towards the landing point… On top of the leading leman russ battle tank, a hastily constructed gallows stood, from which the body of the traitor Bishop Savan hung… And this road was surrounded by piles of bodies of Kriegers, Chaos Traitor Army, daemons, and Chaos Space Marines… The intensity of the fighting here far exceeded what Li Feng's unit had experienced in the past few days.
Countless times, the enemy on the front line tried to break away and go to Bastogne for support, but each time they were relentlessly pinned down by the Kriegers' death charges, making every attempt by the Chaos Traitor Army to retreat result in even more devastating casualties than their attacks.
And at High Ground 30, the Carcharodons and Mantis Warriors' two companies now had less than half their original numbers remaining… and the Dark Angels were not much better off… But he felt he had revealed another secret, which was that the Dark Angels might not have fully adhered to the codex astartes in private.
Li Feng looked at the army behind him, from one person at the beginning, to six, then ten, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands… and now only just over 100,000 remained, with tens of thousands having died in the Bastogne encirclement battle… Li Feng wanted to say that this sacrifice was too great, but looking at the Kriegers silently passing by his vehicle… he closed his mouth.
Tens of thousands of casualties were a huge loss for Li Feng. But for the Death Korps of Krieg… according to Fides, before the encirclement battle began, Krieg had already sacrificed nearly 3 million Soldiers, and the casualty figures for the Krieg Legion, which had been responsible for containing the main Chaos Traitor Army force, had not even been fully tallied yet.
But in the end, the medals belonged to Li Feng and the "Cannon Fodder Regiment"… Perhaps in the eyes of these Kriegers, Li Feng and his men were the ones who reaped the fruits of victory. Perhaps the Kriegers didn't think that way at all; in their eyes, there was only proving their loyalty to the Emperor through death, and nothing more.
Li Feng didn't know what the Kriegers thought, nor did he want to know, because Li Feng knew that these Kriegers silently endured everything. But now, now he only needed to ensure that the glory belonged to him and his Soldiers; that was enough.
"The glory that belongs to Caesar will ultimately return to Caesar."
Li Feng even had a thought in his mind: to lead this army across the Rubicon (Sol System) and directly to Rome (Terra).
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