Once Abaddon personally entered the fray, all of Cadia soon began to feel unprecedented pressure.
Although they had blocked the Chaos forces' attacks time and time again, when faced with the full-scale charge of the Black Legion under Abaddon's command, Cadia's greatest weakness was exposed.
They had too few people!!
When Duanmu Huai arrived on Cadia, only a few battered survivors from other planets and the local forces remained. Although, under Lord Creed's command and with Duanmu Huai and the others arriving, they had successfully repelled the Black Legion's attack, that had only been because the enemy was too eager to succeed and believed that Cadia's few remaining troops were no threat at all. Thus, they had recklessly pursued a quick victory and been caught off guard by a counterattack they had never expected.
However, when the Black Legion settled down and began advancing across the entire battlefield on all fronts at once, Cadia's defensive line instantly became dangerously precarious.
Although the Blackstone Fortress had been destroyed, Phalanx was hardly unscathed. It had already been caught in a chaotic battle before reaching the Cadian Star System, and much of its equipment had been destroyed. Although Phalanx had successfully destroyed the Blackstone Fortress in that battle, it too was covered in wounds. Besides, Phalanx had never had a full complement of personnel, and now it was barely any better off than the Blackstone Fortress, which had been blown into fragments.
Not to mention the warships that had been "escorting" Phalanx. Many of them were in even worse shape than Phalanx. Calling them escorts was generous—they were better described as using Phalanx for cover!
Thus, when the Black Fleet once again launched an attack on Cadia, advancing silently and relentlessly, Phalanx and the remnants of its fleet could only focus on fighting