With the Rust Blade Legion joining the fray, the battle situation on Kharkov suddenly became clear.
This iron tide, composed of over fifty Titans, easily tore through the Necrons' hastily constructed defenses.
Although the Necrons still maintained a massive military force, with an endless stream of troops pouring out of the green-glowing portals, they clearly underestimated the destructive power of the Imperium of Man's Titan Legion.
These ancient mechanical gods marched with heavy steps, crushing the Necron Warriors' phalanxes into dust, while volleys from Gauss Weapons only left ripples on their Void Shields.
Kharkov was not Donetsk; the Necrons had no established base here.
Although they constructed portals to rapidly deploy large numbers of troops to this world, and quickly established fortresses and defensive lines, this was ultimately no match for the years of development in a Necron Dynasty's core world like Donetsk.
Therefore, once the Psyker Warmaster Titan crushed their counterattack, the Necrons had little left in their arsenal to counter the Titan Legion.
They might have been able to block one or two Titan battle groups, but when the Rust Blade Legion's fifty-plus Titans sounded the horn of war together, the outcome of this campaign was no longer in doubt.
In orbit, the Expeditionary Force fleet was already evenly matched with the Necrons' fleet.
After the Titan Legion arrived, the fleet that transported and deployed them also joined the void battle, and thus, after several days of fierce fighting, the void battle also reached a decisive conclusion.
Although the Necrons were not completely annihilated, the remaining Necron fleet still lurked on the dark side of the planet, occasionally launching small-scale raids, but the overall situation was decided; the victory of Kharkov was only a matter of time.
Seeing this, Alex did not remain there, returning to Rostov with the fleet that carried the Psyker Warmaster Titan.
As for the war in Kharkov, Alex continued to entrust it to the three Commanders, and the situation in Kherson had also concluded, so Alex no longer needed to personally oversee it.
However, on Sea Hare's side, the Orks seemed to be escalating.
Alex had already deployed a portion of the Astra Militarum to support him, but the current situation seemed less than optimistic.
Alex planned to return to Rostov, recruit another wave of new soldiers, and after their organization was complete, send them to Sea Hare.
Fighting Orcs, with its lower intensity, could also serve as a training exercise.
Moreover, speaking of fighting Orcs, Rostov's Defense Force has a heritage! Don't forget, they used to be Valhalla Ice Warriors!
Valhalla had once suffered an Orc invasion, and the people on that planet defeated the invading Orcs under extremely harsh conditions, making them experts in fighting in cold environments and dealing with Orc invasions for the Imperium.
Although the Valhalla Ice Warriors of Rostov had long since retired and several generations had passed, how much of their glorious tradition remained was a debatable matter, but this did not mean that the Valhallans had forgotten how to fight Orcs.
Especially since they were facing an ice world similar to their homeland, Valhalla, Alex believed these Valhallans would awaken the heritage in their bloodline.
However, for now, Alex still needed to solve the conscription problem.
Upon returning to Rostov, Alex immediately summoned the relevant personnel of the Defense Force.
In the conference hall, a holographic projector displayed the real-time battle situations of various front lines in the Sub-Sector, with the most worrying being the battle on Helson III, where Sea Hare was located.
"The Orcs on Helson III have broken through the third defensive line, and the local garrison has suffered heavy losses," a staff officer reported, as on the holographic map, the red markers symbolizing the Orks spread at an alarming rate.
"What about the Astra Militarum and the Blood Knights Chapter we dispatched earlier?" Alex asked with a frown.
"They stabilized the situation, but the number of Orcs is still increasing, and…" The staff officer hesitated, "Scouts report that they may have discovered some ancient technological ruins, and those Orks are trying to convert it into a war machine."
Orcs are a very peculiar species; as weapons of war created by the Old Ones, Orcs develop their technology based on the enemies they encounter.
If you only have medieval technology, Orcs will only have iron armor and cleavers, but if you are an interstellar space fleet, Orcs can quickly pull out various junkyard-like space warships.
No one knew the exact situation of the Orcs on Helson III before they were frozen, but these Orcs who broke through the ice layer were indeed formidable.
And if they gained some kind of ancient technology's enhancement, or if they obtained some ancient technological ruins, these Orcs could truly create significant trouble.
Therefore, Alex had to quickly send troops to reinforce and control the situation on Helson III.
"How many more people can we conscript?" He looked at his Chamberlain.
Rachel glanced at the data pad in her hand and said with some difficulty, "Governor, Rostov has already undergone three rounds of full conscription, and almost all able-bodied young men have been enlisted into the army.
If we forcibly conscript again, it might affect the planet's production…"
Alex was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "What about women?"
The conference hall fell silent.
Although in the Imperium, where women are used like men and men like livestock, female enlistment is not uncommon, the Imperium currently has only one purely female combat unit: the Battle Sisterss.
While there are female soldiers in the Astra Militarum, and they do go to the front lines to carry guns, not just serve in administrative roles in the rear, the number of female soldiers is not large.
(Female standard-bearer of the Valhalla Ice Warriors)
After all, the Imperium's gender equality is truly equal; the Astra Militarum's conscription standards have never been lowered for women.
"Governor, if we conscript women, will it affect the combat effectiveness of the troops?" a staff officer cautiously reminded him.
Alex shook his head, then looked at the star map in front of him and said, "To fight for the Imperium, there is no need to distinguish between men, women, old, or young; they are all subjects of the Emperor, and they are all his warriors!
Other Astra Militarum regiments of the Imperium never differentiate between men and women during conscription, so why should Rostov be an exception?"
"Yes, if we conscript women, we should be able to raise ten regiments." Rachel and General Grigory discussed it and gave what they considered a more appropriate number.
But Alex was not satisfied with this; he shook his head and said, "What good are ten regiments! And with billions of people on Rostov now, can we only conscript ten regiments? This time, conscript five hundred thousand!
If there are retired veterans from the former Defense Force who are still willing to fight for the Emperor and meet the physical requirements, they are all to be reinstated to active duty!"
"Yes, Governor!" In the conference room, everyone could only bow their heads in agreement in the face of Alex's firmness.
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