Chapter 165: Naval Battle Settlement
When Gu Hang opened his eyes once more, it was already several dozen minutes later, and the battle at the crossroads had concluded.
When that 3rd Independent Regiment soldier, who had descended from the sky, used a thermal bomb from who knows where to kill the Ork Warlord, Gu Hang withdrew his psionic control over Madfang and instead used his psychic powers to pull the barely breathing, unconscious old priest back with all his might, preventing him from getting caught in the explosion.
At the same time, he saw that as Martins quickly retreated, he hadn’t forgotten to drag that heroic soldier back as well.
Then, Gu Hang witnessed Madfang being melted by the thermal bomb, beginning with his unprotected chest, before his whole body was incinerated from the inside out.
Even though, at the time of Madfang’s death, there were still many Orks alive on the battlefield, without their biggest leader, the remaining Greenskins’ threat would quickly diminish.
Without a leader, they grew chaotic, fighting on their own. Furthermore, Madfang himself had contributed massively to the Greenskins' assault force. Without him at the front absorbing a huge amount of firepower and slaughtering various infantry and armored units, the remaining Greenskins, including the Killing Kans and Terror Iron Kans, were far less capable in combat.
Infantry fighting vehicles began moving forward slowly through the eight-meter-wide corridor, and infantry advanced in an orderly manner, using the vehicles as cover and firing platforms to attack the enemy. From the south of the crossroads, an infantry battalion had circled around, flanking the confused, demoralized Greenskin formation. Rocket launchers fired round after round, and in the narrow corridors, the explosions were even more devastating.
Additionally, although Gu Hang himself was no longer able to maintain combat power due to psionic overload, and Chaplain Rizo was similarly incapacitated, three Space Marines remained. They had become battlefield super-soldiers, playing a role similar to what Madfang had previously held.
Perhaps in terms of individual combat prowess, even Martins, the nominal Battalion Leader but who barely reached company champion level and had poor equipment, was nowhere near as strong as the Ork Warlord. However, there were three of them, and compared to the Greenskin Warlord, their biggest advantage lay in their calmness, rationality, and their adeptness at coordinated combat with mortal forces.
They wouldn’t recklessly use their power armor to face the fiercest enemy fire but instead stepped in when the infantry encountered challenges.
Overall, the battle could basically be considered over; they had achieved ultimate victory.
Although Gu Hang’s forces had suffered heavy losses, winning was what mattered.
Seeing this, he could finally allow himself to collapse.
His excessive use of psychic power had left him with a splitting headache.
However, he didn’t remain unconscious for long—just a few dozen minutes, not enough to impact anything significant.
Upon waking again, he felt much better. Although he was still somewhat weak and dared not use his psychic powers for fear of a worse headache, at least normal movement was no problem.
By this time, the entire battle was essentially over, and his soldiers were cleaning up the battlefield.
If any Greenskin was found still breathing, they were finished off with a few shots or a bayonet to the brain to ensure death. If they encountered fallen comrades, they carefully collected the bodies. If an explosion had left corpses beyond recognition, they at least recovered the head. If even the head was beyond retrieval, there was nothing more they could do.
However, one thing they would certainly recover was the soldier’s armband, which bore the unit number and individual soldier’s identification number.
Through this system, it was possible to identify the soldier through the military administration set up by Tadius.
Every soldier who made the ultimate sacrifice was to be remembered.
Gu Hang, meanwhile, located the body of the Ork Warlord and called Martins over to help him with one task: decapitate the Greenskin leader.
Fortunately, the head hadn’t been completely incinerated by the thermal bomb.
Carrying the head, he proceeded toward the bridge’s command center, accompanied by two Space Marines.
As for the other two Space Marines, one was escorting Rizo for medical attention.
…
The Quintet’s Bridge Command Center.
Most of Alicia’s attention remained on commanding the naval battle. She needed to monitor the enemy ships’ movements at all times, as well as the status of the Quintet in all aspects.
However, amidst this, part of her mind was constantly occupied with the battle unfolding within the starship.
When the Marine Squad had gathered their main forces to try to block the enemy’s advance but had been wiped out, a huge sense of dread had settled over her.
Her biggest fear was that the ship would explode from the inside as the battle progressed.
Alicia knew that Gu Hang’s forces had the support of four Space Marines, and naturally, she had high hopes for these Angels of the God Emperor.
Yet, rationally speaking, could four Space Marines really prevail against an Ork Warlord?
She didn’t dare to dwell on this question, fearing the outcome would be too despairing.
All she could do was keep her attention firmly on commanding the naval battle.
In the meantime, she destroyed a Greenskin destroyer and the fire from the Lovely Maiden took out a Greenskin frigate.
Of the two frigates in the Lovely Maiden’s fleet that had suffered boarding incursions, one had been restored to operational status, while the other, with its void shields disabled, had been destroyed.
In all, the enemy still had one destroyer and two frigates remaining.
Even the Quintet alone could easily eliminate this remaining force.
In ordinary circumstances, like back in school during exercises or simulations, she would be popping champagne with her command team to celebrate a victory.
But now, she couldn’t afford to celebrate.
For one, this was her first genuine naval battle, and she couldn’t allow even the slightest complacency. Not until every Greenskin warship was destroyed could she feel safe celebrating.
The outcome of this battle was far more significant than any previous simulation or exercise.
And on the other hand, the internal threat aboard the starship remained unresolved.
At that moment, word arrived.
Gu Hang was back and en route to the bridge.
“What’s the situation? Did we win?” Alicia asked.
“I…I don’t know,” the sweating ship officer replied, “Governor Gu didn’t say.”
Alicia slapped the console, holding back a curse.
Reasoning with herself, she thought that if they hadn’t won, Gu Hang wouldn’t have dared to play coy like this.
It had to mean they had won.
But without a definite report, she couldn’t feel assured.
Finally, she grumbled, “Let him in.”
Shortly after, the bridge command door slid open.
Then, with a wet thud, a huge, wheel-sized head rolled in.
Alicia flinched, nearly gagging at the overpowering stench of blood.
She was a military officer and a captain, not unfamiliar with death, but her noble background had shielded her from personal exposure to such blood-soaked battlefields. Most gruesome combat came to her in reports, statistics, or perhaps in footage.
As a noble scion of an esteemed naval family, and a Commodore of the Imperial Navy, she had no need to personally face such horrors. Even her ceremonial sidearm was merely symbolic.
But she wasn’t so fragile as to scream.
She held firm, looking closely at the massive head that had rolled up to her command console.
It was that of the Ork Warlord.
She had no doubt about it.
Looking up, she saw Gu Hang, pale yet proudly smiling, striding over with two Space Marines.
Standing before the Warlord’s head, Gu Hang addressed Alicia on the command deck, saying, “As I said, this is the start of our glorious path.”
A radiant smile spread across Alicia’s face, and the nauseating smell filling her nose now seemed almost sweet.
However much she hated it, she now wished she could smell more of such important enemy blood.
“Governor Gu, you are a hero.”
She no longer seemed the least concerned about how Gu Hang had used his Fury Owl forces aboard the ship to pressure her before the battle.
This wasn’t because she was generous; it was simply that victory could mask all grievances.
With this war won, the benefits she stood to gain were immense. Far from resenting his threats, she was now genuinely grateful to Governor Gu for having steeled her resolve.
It would have been a shame to miss out on such a victory.
…
The Ork Warlord’s death was monumental news. She no longer needed to worry about the ship exploding from within as the battle continued.
If it weren’t for the ongoing naval battle, with Greenskin ships still charging from space, she would have arranged a grand welcome for Gu Hang’s return.
Now, she could finally dedicate her entire focus to commanding the naval battle. With her nerves calmed, her resolve soared, and even the firepower seemed more precise and powerful.
Likewise, upon sensing that the internal chaos aboard the Quintet had subsided, with no more boarding disruptions, the few remaining Greenskin ships appeared to realize that their leader might have met his end.
Although lacking concrete information, they hesitated, no longer charging, but instead warily exchanging fire from a safe distance with the Quintet and the pursuing Lovely Maiden.
This was clearly a doomed decision.
After another main destroyer was destroyed, the three remaining Greenskin frigates lost the courage to continue fighting and attempted to flee.
But at this point, where could they run?
The Quintet pursued, picking them off from a distance with superior firepower.
Ultimately, as the three remaining Greenskin frigates tried to activate warp jumps to escape into a starway tunnel, their engines failed, and their
energy shields collapsed. Before their jumps could complete, all three were destroyed.
Destroying Greenskin ships caused no grief.
Greenskin warships were only usable by Greenskins. For humans, even capturing them would be worthless, as no one could operate them, let alone understand how such shoddy contraptions could navigate stably in space.
After all the Greenskin ships had been eliminated, Gu Hang’s field of vision displayed the battle’s final score.
【Decisive Victory: 1401 Grace Points Earned】
【Naval Battle: Losses 2, Enemy 12 Destroyed】
【Lovely Maiden Fleet (Allies): Losses 2, Enemy 2 Destroyed】
【Imperial Navy (Allies): Losses 0, Enemy 10 Destroyed】
【Ground Combat: Losses 13,468, Enemy 2,623 Eliminated】
【Lovely Maiden Fleet (Allies): Losses 5,569, Enemy 823 Eliminated】
【Imperial Navy (Allies): Losses 3,763, Enemy 508 Eliminated】
【Phoenix Battalion (Allies): Losses 0, Enemy 63 Eliminated】
【Fury Owl Force: Losses 4,136, Enemy 1,229 Eliminated】
…
This battle summary was somewhat unique, with the naval component separately calculated, and the ship destruction largely unrelated to Gu Hang.
On the other hand, the boarding operations were closely tied to him.
The Orks’ boarding assault caused significant damage. Those who boarded were considered the elite forces. The Lovely Maiden’s fleet suffered over five thousand casualties, primarily because, in one of the frigates they boarded, nearly everyone was killed. By the end, many sailors, nearly unarmed, couldn’t avoid heavy casualties.
The Quintet had elite Marines and numerous armed sailors, but the highest casualties occurred during Madfang’s devastating penetration, which resulted in numerous losses while barely denting the Greenskins.
Only Gu Hang’s unit achieved a relatively better casualty ratio, although high losses were incurred in taking down the Ork Warlord.
This battle, although relatively brief, especially the ground combat phase, had lasted only a few hours compared to the nearly two-month campaign to annihilate the Greenskin tribe at the High Tower Ruins.
However, the battle’s intensity was extreme.
According to Gu Hang’s calculations, the rewards from eliminating the Greenskins alone would probably amount to a few hundred Grace Points. Despite the elite nature of these Greenskins, including Killing Kans and Terror Iron Kans, it shouldn’t exceed a thousand.
This was based on the Grace Points awarded after the High Tower Ruins campaign, where his forces had killed fifteen thousand Greenskins, earning just over two thousand Grace Points.
Yet, in this battle, the thousand-plus Greenskins earned over a thousand Grace Points.
The biggest difference likely lay in the Ork Warlord’s head.
At this moment, Gu Hang felt fortunate that the final blow had been dealt by Lacroix, one of his soldiers.
If the kill had been credited to Martins, whose allies weren’t eligible for Grace Points, the tally would have been significantly less.
“I must give that lad a hefty medal!”
(End of chapter)