"What? Father, that's impossible!"
Company Commander Abaddon denied it.
Perhaps that Kasgar really did have some skill.
He had used five hundred elite veteran Sons of the Emperor to hold the Defensive Fortifications on the surface, systematically break through the enemy's weak points, and finally launch a counterattack.
The Sons of the Emperor were renowned for their elite quality but limited numbers, and every veteran who had survived the Great Crusade until now could be called the best of the best.
Wasn't it just relying on the elite Astartes under his command?!
The Company Commander of the Lunar Wolves, undefeated through countless battles, the fiercest, most dominant, strongest man of the Sixteenth Legion, Ezekiel Abaddon, could do the same!
If he had commanded the battle for Silent Star, he would have led a squad of elite Gatling veterans in a surprise boarding assault to decapitate the xenos leaders.
That was not difficult.
But Horus said that Kasgar had not even used Space Marines.
An Acting Prefect of a Space Marine Legion who had not used Space Marines in battle?
Then how had he won this battle?
Horus did not answer. He merely watched the projected record before him in silence.
In the footage, under the fire of the Crystalline Aliens' Focused Energy Weapons, Kasgar's defensive positions collapsed and fell one after another. Before the enemy's overwhelming assault, they seemed to have no ability to fight back at all.
It was not only Abaddon. The remaining Lunar Wolves company commanders also stared intently at the projection.
They too wanted to know how someone who could place such pressure on Lord Horus had managed to win without relying on veteran Space Marine companies under his command.
"That's... the Auxilia?"
"And Automated Flying Mechs. Are they some secret weapon of the Adeptus Mechanicus?"
"Doesn't look like it. As far as I know, the Cybernetic Legion has always developed large-scale, heavy-firepower Automated Mecha."
"These small reconnaissance machines don't seem to fit their style."
As the battle began to turn with the addition of the Automated Flying Mechs and the Auxilia, the company commanders gathered around the large table in the Staff Room and voiced their opinions.
"Impressive."
"If our forces could coordinate strikes this beautifully too..."
"Very impressive."
"The xenos have been completely tied down. Most of their main force cannot enter the battle at all. Such powerful guerilla warfare."
In the end, as the Chemos Guard and the Automated Flying Mechs filling the skies eliminated the Crystalline Aliens on the surface one by one, the xenos warship in the sky was ambushed by Imperial cruisers that had long been lying in wait. The campaign against the xenos ended in a resounding victory with minimal casualties.
"According to our post-battle statistics, Kasgar deployed more than six thousand members of the Chemos Guard onto the battlefield. In the end, only a little over one hundred died, while the wounded were also kept below one hundred."
"As for the most elite veteran Sons of the Emperor, apart from one whose right leg was burned through in a xenos ambush during the following boarding action, all the rest were completely unharmed."
"A perfect campaign."
Horus sighed. "Ezekiel, do you still insist that you could have done it?"
Ezekiel Abaddon fell silent.
Defeating the xenos was not difficult.
But doing so while ensuring casualties remained that low was nearly impossible.
"Ezekiel, you are a powerful and proud warrior. There is nothing wrong with that."
"But you should not become so full of yourself that you believe we Lunar Wolves are the strongest warriors and have no need to learn from other Legions."
His hand rested on the wolf pelt draped over the company commander's shoulder guard, his tone earnest.
"Even I cannot escape blame for misjudging Kasgar this time."
"I was arrogant and lacked an eye for talent. If Kasgar were not my brother-in-law, but a Legion warrior of the Lunar Wolves..."
"His talent for command might very well have been buried because of it."
Horus's voice was full of regret.
The First Returned Son was humble.
One could not become proud and complacent merely because of a few achievements.
That was the virtue he had learned during thirty years at the Emperor's side, and the reason the Primarchs would be willing to honor him as their elder brother in the future.
"Don't be nervous, Company Commander Ten. I'm not criticizing you."
Seeing the tense, uneasy expression on Company Commander Ten Gavril Loken's face, Horus quickly said.
"It is simply that we Lunar Wolves can no longer be proud and complacent."
"Ever since the days when we first landed on Chemos, I had vaguely sensed that there was something unusual about them."
"Company commanders, imagine it."
"If Kasgar accumulated enough prestige and brought all the Sons of the Emperor into such refined, coordinated guerilla tactics."
Horus paused for a moment, as though waiting for the company commanders to digest his words.
"Then even if I personally commanded the assault on the surface, I might not achieve much."
At that moment, Horus gazed at the surging currents of the Warp beyond the floor-to-ceiling window, as though he could truly see the Lunar Wolves' mighty siege firepower clashing in the ultimate collision of spear and shield against the Third Legion's perfect guerilla tactics.
For some reason, even though it was an illusion, he could still see it with absolute clarity.
Choral City?
Was that where they would fight?
His thoughts returned to the present.
The Lunar Wolves needed to learn.
Stagnation, pride, and complacency would only bring destruction.
Whether it was the defense-specialized Imperial Fists, the logistics-specialized Ultramarines, or the Sons of the Emperor with their perfect tactics that had even fooled Horus himself, all were examples worth learning from.
Kasgar's battle had not merely achieved remarkable results.
It had also made Horus continually reflect on the shortcomings of himself and his Legion.
Horus ordered that, from then on, all Lunar Wolves officers at company level and above were to take part in study, drawing on the strengths of other Legions to make up for their own weaknesses.
He named it—
Great Learning of the Lunar Wolves!
As for the content of the first course...
"I once asked Fulgrim, when she assured me of Kasgar's talent for command."
"I asked her: why do you trust a recruit so much?"
"Fulgrim, she..."
"She gave me this."
Horus removed his heavy gauntlet and placed it on the table. In his exposed palm was a small storage device.
"She said only facts can prove my words."
"If one day you truly find yourself astonished by him, take this out and have a look."
Fulgrim seemed to have long anticipated that Kasgar would amaze everyone, and had handed this thing to him in advance.
It was a storage device containing recorded footage, which could be connected directly to the projection equipment in their meeting room.
"Then let us see together exactly what allowed Kasgar to master such formidable tactics while still a recruit."
Horus was especially serious.
He stared fixedly at the projection.
After several seconds, a line of strange small text gradually appeared on the projector.
Please enjoy the epic stage play adapted from the personal experiences of the great Primarch Lady Fulgrim—
Thirty Years - Chemos - Centaur - Golden Ring
Before you continue