Chapter 1709 The Holy War Army
After the meeting in the square, there were various tedious and meaningless religious ceremonies and hymns singing. It was not until four hours later that Soshiyan really started meaningful work— —After all the nonsense in St. Dalton, he got the command of the Holy War Army of the State Church.
The State Church mobilized troops from three nuns for this revenge crusade, but only the nun of the Ebony Holy Grail came in person, and the others were under the command of guiding nuns. The three orders combined had 5,000 warriors. The nuns, together with the various vehicles and armed servitors assigned to them, are also a considerable force. As for the battle nuns' fleet, it consists of six cruisers and a dozen frigates, which is not very powerful.
In addition to the battle nuns, the State Church has also summoned 200,000 crusaders and more than one million "mercenaries", as well as more than 30 million "fanatic believers".
Although the state religion cannot have a "standing" "male" armed organization due to the taming decree, no matter how strict the regulations are, there will always be loopholes to exploit. For example, the Crusaders, their identity is "bodyguards" - —These militant ascetics hail from the most mysterious of all the Ecclesiastes, the Order of the Cardinals, and it is said that no more devout warriors can be found anywhere in the Empire except the Sisters of Battle.
As an armed force of the state religion, the equipment of the Crusaders is as luxurious as that of the Battle Sisters (from a mortal perspective). They wear carapace armor, hold powerful storm cards, wear robes, and wave crackling weapons. The long sword of the energy field formed a physically and mentally indestructible shield wall on the battlefield.
However, in order to avoid accusations from other factions in the empire, the State Church does use the Crusaders as bodyguards most of the time. These warriors often form a ring around their commander, and anyone who dares to approach this person The aliens, heretics and traitors of the Holy Officers will be massacred by the Crusaders, and incoming bullets will only be deflected off their elaborately decorated storm shields, unable to cause any damage.
Thus, for many Astra Militarum, soldiers serving under such a commander are blessed, because the battles in which the Crusaders appear are guaranteed to be truly holy wars.
As for the large number of mercenaries, this is naturally due to the immeasurable wealth of the state religion. They come from different star regions. Some of them fight for their beliefs, but more of them fight for rewards. , In any case, they are veterans on the battlefield. Although it is difficult for them to engage in cruel battlefields like the regular army, they can often play an unexpected role in certain special battlefields, such as urban street fighting.
The fanatical believers who make up the majority of the state religion’s jihad originate from one of the largest factions in the state religion and the most militant faction - the Redemption Sect.
The Redemption sect preaches the doctrine that everyone is guilty and can only sacrifice. The believers are all ascetics with an extremely poor lifestyle. From the beginning of its establishment, they have strongly demanded the cleansing of all aliens, mutants and heretics. They are also extremely hostile to psykers.
Therefore, the sect has developed an extremely strict code of conduct for believers. Those who violate these codes will be expelled from the sect and face brutal pursuit. The sect also prohibits believers from being exposed in public To hide their appearance, members of the Redemption sect often wear hooded coats and complex, heavy masks, often designed to be grotesque and disturbing.
For the members of the Redemption sect, the path to justice comes from purity, which is often accompanied by open witch hunts and the burning of heretics and mutants.
Although many imperial factions accuse these fanatics of certain behaviors that are too extreme and disturbing, the Redemption Sect, as the most powerful "thug" of the state religion, will never give up on the state religion, so this The sect has been flourishing in the empire, and now the believers can be found in almost all star systems of the empire, especially the hive worlds, and the "illegal" holy wars they "privately" launch often plunge the entire world into turmoil. Of course, for professional soldiers, such "soldiers" can hardly be called combat effectiveness. Fanatic believers themselves are famous for being uncontrollable. It is impossible to ask them to obey any tactical and strategic instructions, so it is absolutely impossible. Most Imperial commanders looked down upon these "informal" forces, but that was not the case for Soshyan.
In fact, he has already thought of a battlefield suitable for these fanatical believers, and he must use all the power at hand in this war.
Although the state religion does not have a huge navy, it does have a huge pilgrim fleet, and those pilgrim ships are not only strong, but also very huge, comparable to the universe-class transport ships in the imperial fleet, each of which can be easily accommodated With a population of 500,000 to 800,000, it is also equipped with a large number of living facilities, making it very suitable for use as a troop transport ship.
Therefore, after friendly negotiations with the patriarch, Soshyan was able to commandeer almost all the pilgrim ships in the Maelstrom area, a total of 211 ships.
Of course, receiving the support of the State Church is not without cost. Soshiyan then received the battle blessing of the State Church at the Patron Saint's Summit. Grand Sister Velez, who represented the headquarters of the State Church, personally put on Terra and bestowed it on him. crown, and publicly declared that this expedition would be a holy war against all heretics and aliens, and that all adherents of the Ecclesiarchy should join this war.
As for why the Patriarch asked Soshiyang to come out and call for jihad, the most critical point is that he is going to start selling "jihad tickets" in the maelstrom and needs an "official support". Of course he is so The reason for doing so is also very good. The logistical supplies of these holy warriors are completely handled by the state religion, and it is really unaffordable without some increase in income.
Soshiyang knew that the other party must be talking nonsense. With the financial resources of the state religion, let alone tens of millions, hundreds of millions would not be a problem. However, since the other party had its own logistics, he could not say anything. After all, the state religion had already used this kind of The pattern has been used to make money for 10,000 years, and he alone cannot change it. He can only turn a blind eye to some things.
But in fact, it is not a problem. The real problem is that when Velez put the crown on Soshyan, a bunch of cameras around him captured it, and it quickly spread among the expeditionary force. I don’t know if it was because of the angle or because of the angle. What, the faces of the two people looked very close——
So when Soshyan refused the invitation to stay on the surface of the planet for a night and returned to the flagship, and just opened the door to the room, Veronica immediately Like an irritated female cat, she pounced on him. No matter what Soshiyan tried to explain, it was useless. It took him several hours to temporarily extinguish the other party's anger, and Soshiyan promised countless times that he would not be alone with Velez in private. , Veronica let him go.
After formally incorporating the state religion forces into the expeditionary force, Soshyan did not return to the Sagan system, but went straight to the Galen system, because he had agreed with the great sage Angstrom The meeting time is coming soon.
Asking for a monthly ticket! !
(End of this chapter)