His decision was to run away… Oh, no, we can't say that.

We should say he was choosing a different direction of attack.

What else could he do?

They came here simply for revenge, but now it had turned out like this. Let alone revenge, they were about to be beaten into the ground by the enemy. When wouldn't now be the time to run? Was he really going to sacrifice his life and the lives of his brothers for the Black Legion?

This wasn't the Great Crusade anymore. The situation was completely reversed now. If you lost a battle, the Warband Leader didn't necessarily have to take responsibility, but if the losses were so great that they were unacceptable, then he definitely wouldn't mind swapping the head of the person primarily responsible for a different location.

As for what would happen after he retreated? That was something for Abaddon to worry about. What did it have to do with the Iron Warriors? It would be good enough if he didn't go to him to claim compensation for the losses, let alone helping him take care of the overall situation.

With this in mind, the Iron Warriors Warband Leader quickly turned around and left, returning to the safety of a bunker and sending a large number of instructions to various departments.

Retreat was also an art. If they just ran naked, they would be spotted by the enemy's air force in the wilderness, which would basically be a slow death. They had to make it so that the enemy couldn't spare any forces before they left.

Soon, on the front lines, the figures of the Iron Warriors and their heavy equipment gradually decreased, but the resistance of the Heretics became increasingly frantic. Not only that, but there were also a considerable number of rebellious Planetary Defense Force among the Heretics.

These Planetary Defense Force came from the last and most elite batch of reserves. Originally, their role should have been to be deployed before the enemy collapsed in order to expand the results as much as possible, but now… let's just say they did cause some trouble for the Imperial Fists and Zhang Ge, but not much.

One unit was Space Marines, and the other had a large number of armored units under its command. What kind of waves could a group of light infantry, no matter how elite, make? At most, the organized resistance only slightly slowed down the speed of the advance.

Soon after, on Zhang Ge's side, he had already led a batch of elites into the Defiled Manufactorum base that had been missile-washed and shelled for several rounds.

This group was composed of Power Armor veterans, Seraphim Sisters, Titan Guards, and Space Marines, numbering close to two thousand, while the rest of the troops were required not to approach this place.

After all, even the remaining Warp corruption was not to be underestimated. It required the most steadfast will and the most advanced equipment to be able to block it out.

Among this group, Zhang Ge, who was only wearing Carapace Armor, became an oddity. However, he didn't care much and remained active in the most dangerous areas.

Those rooms, ruins, and factories were filled with all kinds of enemies who had survived the shelling, including twisted Daemons and batches of Heretics armies. The most dangerous time was when they encountered an Iron Warrior who hadn't had time to evacuate.

In the short engagement, Zhang Ge and the dozen or so elites he brought were forced into a corner in round after round of gunfire, losing several people and not even scratching the paint off the Space Marine on the other side. However, just when Zhang Ge thought things were about to go wrong, a bright Volcano Cannon directly plowed through the factory area they were in.

In the entire factory, the only place that survived was the corner where Zhang Ge and others were hiding. The molten metal droplets that were melted by the aftershocks had even splashed dozens of meters in front of Zhang Ge.

However, thanks to the good heat insulation performance of the Carapace Armor, if he was wearing normal bulletproof armor, he would probably have been steamed in the heated air.

Of course, it goes without saying what happened to the Iron Warrior who was the target. Looking at the long, glazed depression, it was clear that he had already completed physical purification.

And in the entire operation, this was the only near-death encounter… It wasn't that Zhang Ge didn't want to, but after that time, Amilia, whom Zhang Ge had managed to send away for a while, was no longer willing to leave the team no matter what.

During the cleanup, the team quickly approached the core area of the entire base.

Logically speaking, there should have been extremely stubborn resistance here.

But the truth was, due to the retreat of the Iron Warriors, this place had been swept clean. From heavy weapons and turrets to various automatic machines, everything that could be taken had been packed away. The remaining mortal guards and the like couldn't even organize a resistance in an organized manner.

When Zhang Ge and others led the team to sweep through and crushed those Heretics, all that was found in this core area were piles and piles of corpses, ritual sacrifices, and wreckage.

Inside the most core bunker, Zhang Ge and his party happened to meet the Imperial Fists Champion.

The encounter happened when Zhang Ge had just descended through the entrance. Obviously, they had acted faster and should have already cleaned it up and were on their way out.

Before Zhang Ge could ask, the Imperial Fists Champion had already spoken first… He had already taken off his helmet again when they met, so it was better to call him Oston?

"The enemy has fled, and they did it cleanly. We didn't find anything of value inside."

"Fled? That word is really rare to use on these enemies."

Oston heard the words and replied, his words full of contempt for the fleeing:

"These traitors have long lost the honor of the Legion period and have mixed with those Chaos Warbands. It would be good if they always fought to the last man. We could wipe them out in one fell swoop. However, it is precisely because of this shameless fleeing that they have been able to survive to this day."

There was a bit of artistry in what he said.

If we didn't count successor Chapters, to say "wipe them out in one fell swoop"... With the Imperial Fists currently adhering to the Codex Astartes with a thousand men, if both sides really had a chance to concentrate all their forces together and fight to the death, the Iron Warriors would be so happy that they wouldn't be able to sleep for three days.

However, Zhang Ge naturally wouldn't tear him down. He just listened quietly to him before continuing:

"At least we have achieved our initial goal."

The hint of emotion that had been revealed did not linger on Oston for too long. He quickly calmed himself:

"That's right. Since they have already fled, then the remaining Heretics are no longer a threat. In addition to successfully defending a large amount of Imperial territory, more importantly, we will be able to free up more troops to deal with the difficulties in other directions of Deadwood Sector."

After these words, he thought for a moment and continued:

"However, let's consider joining up with the main forces further ahead first."

After a brief conversation, the cleanup of the base had also come to an end. Finally, when a double-headed Aquila flag was raised at the highest point of the base, a large number of troops had already passed by on both sides, rushing towards the Deadwood Sector that was close at hand.

Due to the strong winds caused by the long-term sandstorms, the outskirts of the Deadwood Sector did not form a thick polluted atmosphere. After approaching it, the environment was not much different from being in the sandy sea. At most, it changed from crossing sand dunes to crossing sand dunes with the occasional spire of a building sticking out.

In this vast yellow sand, Zhang Ge, who had already rejoined his unit, finally saw the other allied force coming towards him.

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