Chapter 120 03.0119: "Hunter and Prey"

After Horatio sailed away, the situation near the Cathedral of the Goddess was finally calmed down.

Lieutenant General Alexander Hood straightened up wearily, rubbing his aching temple.

He had just cleaned up the mess, but the work was not over yet. He now had to replenish the armed forces and send them back to the battleship "Sacred Will".

Then he took the general's guards on board, went to the luxurious and extremely spacious general's bedroom on the battleship, took a hot bath, and had a good rest.

After all the sailors have been re-boarded and supplied, he will lead the Retribution-class battleship "Sacred Will" to sail, and on the way, deliver the list of names to Commodore Peru who has already chased out, and provide him with support. If the void war has not been over by then.

Moreover, the course was exactly the direction he wanted to go towards Lucius, so there would be no detour.

Near the Tiannu Church.

The officers of the Sacred Will commanded the assembly of an armed force of tens of thousands.

The priests of the state religion were performing a preliminary purification ritual using incense and holy water on the armed forces participating in the battle of the Cathedral of the Goddess.

"Alas, there is nothing we can do. I hope it won't delay the departure too much." The Lord Captain put the power saber back into the scabbard. The smell of incense mixed with the unpleasant air of the middle nest made his nose very uncomfortable.

"Captain, the armed forces have been assembled." The chief of staff reported to him.

"When will the shuttle arrive?" The captain took out his kettle, took a big sip, and then wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.

"In half an hour."

"Wait here."

"Hello, soldiers of the Divine Emperor, are you the officers and soldiers of the Sacred Will who will take part in the expedition?" A bishop with a broad build and respectable clothes walked slowly towards them with his grand entourage.

"That's right, Your Excellency the Bishop." The captain straightened his attire and saluted to the bishop who was walking towards him.

The bishop was dressed in a graceful and elegant snow-white robe, a bishop's hat, and held a golden staff inlaid with a series of precious gems.

"The holy sailors have just experienced a battle with the devil. Before setting sail, they need to go to the church again to undergo a purification ceremony, just in case. Any slackness may cause the holy expedition to suffer terrible losses."

"Your Excellency is right. We cannot leave any hidden dangers for the expedition of the main fleet. Please, Bishop." After weighing the risks with the officer next to him, the captain nodded, then turned around and gave orders to the armed forces:

"Everyone line up! March in step!"

"This is the sacred duty bestowed upon me by the Emperor of God. Why bother with that?" The bishop placed his hands on his chest and bowed to show his respect for the expeditionary soldiers.

The armed forces, led by their officers, marched in unison to the nearest Anglican church.

There, the officers and armed sailors who participated in the suppression operation sat on antique benches.

The acolyte in a grey robe and hood gently closed the church door.

The dignified bishop held a huge state religious scripture on the pulpit and praised the God-Emperor, while the acolytes held lit incense burners and followed the priest who sprinkled holy water on the naval soldiers.

The smoke of incense hung over the naval officers and soldiers, accompanied by the murmur of chanting.

In the void.

Horatio placed his right hand on his sword and his left hand behind his back, instructing Farida on how to use the instruments in front of her.

After the hard battle at the Cathedral of the Goddess, he now felt a little tired, and the electrical signals in his brain were telling him that he needed to rest for a while.

[After fighting one big battle, I immediately fight the next one. I'm really exhausted.]
"It's so big, is that the Blood Angels' battleship?" asked Farida.

Horatio raised his head as he closed his eyes to rest, and through the large and thick explosion-proof porthole he saw the battle barge Blade of Vengeance being overtaken by the Indefatigable.

"Yes. It is the largest voidship held by the Space Marines Chapter, and is considered a battleship-class ship. It has five heavy macro cannons on one side, three single-barrel omnidirectional bombardment turrets on the spine, six torpedo silos, and a large hangar."

"Which one has better firepower than our battleship?" "The Doomsday-class battlecruiser we are on now has four heavy macro cannons on one side, two Titan-Forged Heavy Light Spears, two Void Ripper Light Spear turrets on the spine, six torpedo silos, and no hangar.

Our ship-borne weapons are slightly inferior to the battle barges in firepower, and we don’t have a hangar. But their bombardment guns are not a weapon that can easily exert accurate firepower at medium and long distances, and our ships are more maneuverable and have more tactical options. "

Farida nodded and then asked, "What tactics do you think we will adopt to fight this battle?"

"Our frigate squadron will bite them like war dogs, using torpedoes to force them to change course, hindering their maneuvering and speed. Then the battlecruisers will catch up and fire at medium-range gun range to engage them. Finally, the Holy Blood Angels will use boarding battle to end the battle."

"I hope the battle will go as you expected." Farida said this, but she had no doubt about Horatio's professionalism in naval command.

He is no longer the young man who came from Xiachao and knew little about the navy. After more than half a year of training, he has become a true Imperial Navy officer who graduated from the command department of Zhongsi Academy.

Horatio took out the pocket watch given to him by Thei from his pocket. The hands of the watch were fluorescent, so he could see the time even in the dark.

"And about two hours."

"What two hours?"

"We have about two hours to catch up with the enemy ship."

Farida nodded, her eyes full of seriousness.

Horatio looked out the observation window at the dark and boundless void and let out a long breath.

[What kind of ship is the enemy ship? A cruiser? But Chaos has many types of cruisers, and we don’t know what kind of ship it is.]
On the command bridge.

"Captain, according to the parameters sent by the frigate, we have captured the exact coordinates of the enemy warship. According to the frigate captain's identification, it is a murder-class cruiser." Lieutenant Sterling received a briefing from the communications department:
"The distance between our ship and the target is 18960 kilometers, the closing rate is positive 1.6, the bearing is +0608, and the phase is ZD."

Captain Edward narrowed his eyes.

"That means the enemy ship is right in front of us, and is maneuvering from the starboard side to the left."

"Yes, the navigation department has corrected the yaw angle. The enemy ship's maneuver is because our destroyer launched the first wave of torpedoes."

"Very good. Let the hounds go forward and bleed them hard. But tell the captains of the escort ships not to get too close to the enemy and keep their guns at medium range to prevent them from boarding."

"Yes." The captain called the lieutenant of the command department and asked him to inform the communications department of the captain's order and send it to each frigate.

"We are almost there. For now, stay on second combat alert and wait for my orders at any time, Captain."

"As you command, Captain."

Inside the command platform of the second artillery battery on the port side.

The flashing alarm lights overhead were reflected on Horatio's face. Standing in front of the display console, he received the enemy ship parameters from the command bridge.

[Murder level...] ​​He looked at the information on the data board and said silently in his heart.

Once one of the most lauded ships in the Segmentum Obscurus, the Murder Cruiser has now become one of the Imperial Navy's most hated enemies.

She is an ancient warship with a shuttle-shaped hull, and at least 500 of them were produced.

It is said that due to the defects of this design, almost all ships of the Empire that adopted this design defected to the Fallen side during their voyage in the Warp, and caused many losses to the Gothic Sector during the Gothic War.

The Murder-class is a powerful battleship, with 16 small-caliber cannons arranged alternately on one side alone.

Although the caliber, lethality and firepower of this ancient cannon are not as good as the Mars-type heavy cannon used by the current Imperial Navy cruisers, its sufficient firepower is absolutely sufficient. As long as the frigate gets close, it will be torn to pieces quickly.

Not to mention that there is also an incredibly powerful heavy-duty light spear double-barreled cannon on its bow. As long as it hits the hull, it can instantly evaporate a large section of armor and internal structure.

"Both sides' gun emplacements, high-speed normal shells, load and pre-position." A warning sound came from the loudspeaker.

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(End of this chapter)