Chapter 235 04.0234: "Kill three birds with one stone"

[Citizen Army…]
There were five trucks in total, two of which were loaded with food, one was a water truck, and the other two were full of armed men.

pat-

The tailgate at the rear of the vehicle was lowered, and members of the Citizen Army with red ribbons tied around their arms jumped out of the vehicle.

Trucks and water wagons loaded with food turned around and faced their open compartments toward the hungry people in the square.

There was indeed a generous portion of bread in there, they weren't lying.

When they saw that there was real bread to eat, the emotions of all the hungry people present quickly calmed down.

"Please line up and come one by one!" A young woman in work clothes stood next to the car and shouted to the square through a loudspeaker.

Other armed personnel took down the fences from their vehicles and set up winding diversion fences in front of the trucks that were collecting supplies to prevent congestion.

It can be seen that they are very experienced in distributing relief supplies.

After the mountain of human flesh was completely burned into a pile of charred organic carbon, the ragged hungry people had to flock to the other side and, under the arrangement of the members of the Citizen Army, lined up beside the trucks to receive bread.

However, it was obvious that based on the loading capacity of these trucks, even if five trucks were fully loaded with bread, there would not be enough for the huge crowds present.

But it is enough to buy time for the supply transport plane.

On the other hand, a Holy Rose Sisters preaching team arrived on a transport plane under the protection of two combat sister teams.

These civilians might not be able to tell the difference between the Imperial Navy and the Hive Police, nor do they recognize the genetically modified warriors who are so tall and scary, but at least they recognize these nuns.

These are the only daughters who do not despise their rough, cracked and dirty hands and are still willing to spread the light of the Emperor.

As the light of faith shines, it blooms after the hymns are sung.

The crowd, who were agitated by the evil energy, finally calmed down and sang in unison with the nuns' rhythm.

The melody of the hymn was like a wave, surging and crashing among the crowd of hundreds of thousands of people, growing bigger and louder, gradually changing from a surge to a tsunami.

Perhaps it was because of the constantly accumulating power of faith, or perhaps it was the unique function of this holy weapon.

Amid the hymns, the rose haloes carried by the preaching sisters shone brightly, emitting a warm and dazzling light, dispelling the endless darkness and coldness that enveloped the border area between the middle and lower nests.

This consecration vessel is essentially a psychic seal, used to seal a small portion of the psychic power of the Emperor's Light so that it can be activated in a distant place.

The technology has been passed down since the 30th millennium and has been shining in the 41st millennium to spread the greatness of the God-Emperor through the religious system.

Those who were hiding in the crowd and had been obviously corrupted by Chaos screamed on the spot when they saw the light.

He was blinded by the imperial spiritual energy and the song of consecration, and his skin began to peel off as if burned by fire, and he screamed miserably and hoarsely.

The silver-armored and black-robed battle nuns, the Hell Soldier, and the Astartes monks quickly attacked, killing those who had been clearly corrupted with exquisite and fatal skills, and began a local cleanup operation within a controllable area.

The siege and strangulation did not last long, leaving behind a field of bodies of mutants and evil god supporters who were burned by the power of faith.

Soon, a heavily armed riot control force affiliated with the Imperial Ministry of Justice was deployed with the Navy's Valkyrie fighter jets.

They carried square tower shields and combat shotguns, and were required to cooperate with the Imperial Navy's stability maintenance operations and not to open fire without authorization.

Their iron boots stepped on the corpses of mutants and corrupted people, and they struck the shields with their stun sticks, making rhythmic and terrible noises.

Even if they didn't open fire, just seeing these tall and fully armed Ministry of Justice bailiffs and hearing the sound of them hitting their shields was enough.

Any desire of the hungry people to resist was instantly crushed by the invisible iron fist of the code. They immediately squatted on the ground obediently. No one dared to run or make a noise. Only whispers lingered in the scene.

They had seen the suppression tactics of the Ministry of Justice's marshals. It was ruthless! Too ruthless! The pure black Lemanus tanks ran over the crowd, leaving corpses all over the ground.

Just thinking about it is terrifying, and no one wants this to happen to them. After all, no matter how much flesh you have, it can't stop the steel tracks of a tank that are sticky with flesh and blood.

A senior sister from the order's headquarters carefully examined the surroundings.

Judging whether it is necessary to clean up the crowd gathered in front of him.

The naval forces and battle sisters led by Horatio, as well as the Astartes and the reinforcements from the Ministry of Justice Riot Squad were on standby.

As soon as the Sisters determine that these people are beyond help, they will immediately go all out to wipe them out to avoid leaving any hidden dangers of corruption.

After a long and depressing time, the elder sister sought the guidance of the light of faith and finally shook her head.

"Angels of the Divine Emperor, loyal heirs of the Empire, thanks to your timely interception, these hundreds of thousands of people were saved from falling into the abyss of depravity.

The remaining people still have a pious reverence for the God-Emperor in their hearts. Because of this, they can gaze upon the shining of the Holy Light.

Later we will establish a preaching anchor point here, spread it out in all directions, and eventually cover the entire area.

Our sisters will replace the Navy to take charge of the stability and relief work in the entire Vegas middle and lower nest junction area, relieving your pressure."

Horatio breathed a sigh of relief and pushed the hammer of the bolt pistol back into a semi-unlocked position.

Rather than wasting armaments, using force will only lead to endless killing and create more hatred.

Religious beliefs are much more useful than naval rockets in managing hundreds of millions of people.

A preaching team of several hundred or even thousands of people, in conjunction with the Sisters' own relief fleet, can help the Empire keep a firm control over the population of thousands of square kilometers, always keeping them pious to the God-Emperor and preventing them from being so restless.

And under the concept of asceticism and frugality, they can maintain the loyalty of a larger population with less supplies.

After paying tribute to the Holy Rose Sister, the navy and the Blood Angels were not idle either.

He discussed it with Captain Afiel and decided to cooperate with the actions of multiple parties.

The Hell's Spies and Marine Infantrymen put away their guns that were pointed at the starving people and removed the gleaming bayonets from their guns, no longer acting so murderously.

But the gun safety is still in a semi-unlocked state, ready to deal with emergencies at any time.

The Blood Angels showed their talents outside of combat.

These poor starving people of the lower and middle nests loathe the imperial bureaucracy.

But they generally have a very high faith in the God-Emperor.

The image of a God-Emperor who is high above them, omnipotent and in love with them is often their only spiritual comfort in their difficult lives. The vast majority of people are simple and loyal believers of the God-Emperor.

They prayed for the God-Emperor's salvation and help day and night, and regarded every meal they received as a gift from the God-Emperor, and expressed their sincere gratitude to the God-Emperor for this gift.

These blood angels took off their helmets, revealing the image of holy angels from mythology, with faces that were handsome and powerful, yet as delicate as plaster.

The jet packs on their backs had gorgeous angel wings on both sides. The winged giants walked among the crowd, their steps carrying the solemn rhythm of ancient church bells.

A deep and rich bass voice came from the loudspeaker array, chanting maxims, soothing the people's emotions, caring considerately for the elderly, the weak and the disabled, preaching the Emperor's holy words, talking to them, and listening to their stories.

"The Emperor of God loves the world, so he sent down his angels to the mortal world."

"Don't worry about the crowd, just pray."

"Only the Emperor can protect us."

"When the Emperor appears, the universe is born."

The atmosphere in the square changed, gradually it even had a bit of the flavor of a mass, and these hungry people began to really believe that the Space Marines were the angels of the God-Emperor, who came today to redeem them from their lost path.

"You are here, you are finally here. The Emperor of God has heard our prayers. You are really here."

The hungry people knelt down before them with tears of gratitude, singing hymns with missing words and out of tune, praising the light of the God-Emperor for shining into this dark underground.

When distributing relief supplies, conflicts and even fights are inevitable among the recipients.

In order to prevent mass incidents that might affect the stability of the scene, Horatio arranged some soldiers to assist the citizen army in maintaining order, and also assigned another group of people to help the second group of medical nuns led by Sister Arabella to conduct physical examinations and rescue the weak and injured among the starving people.

He keenly realized that now was a good opportunity to improve the public image of the Imperial Navy and reduce public relations pressure.

It is the best counterattack against the rumor propaganda of illegal newspapers.

This was also the original intention when he discussed the design of the No. 3 emergency plan with several leaders, which was:
On the one hand, it reduces the overall cost of the operation. For the Imperial Navy's Gothic Fleet, whose time is precious, it is much more cost-effective to spend a certain amount of supplies than to waste time in street fighting to slaughter the entire area house by house.

Secondly, it can avoid the chaos caused by the Great Purge, so as not to force people into a desperate situation and open up a high speed for the infiltration of Chaos Corruption. It can also allow the Holy Rose Sisters to reduce the pressure of maintaining stability in the navy, so that more resources can be used on the cutting edge to solve the imminent hidden dangers.

It would then further Admiral Hood's plan to help the Navy Department gain complete control of the Vegas area, and serve as perfect public relations material to counter the rumors printed by the illegal publishing houses with practical actions.

Kill three birds with one stone.

However, the sailors assigned to the assisting mission were not very willing to do so and were always reluctant.

Gun smoke, bullet marks and blood are the medals that demonstrate their military exploits. What can the dirty handprints and low-quality, fading clothing dyes of the untouchables represent?

These dirty lower nest pariahs would only defile their battle equipment, and decent uniforms and armor, which symbolize the glory of the God-Emperor.

Horatio understood their thoughts and knew their reluctance.

Having served in the Imperial Army for so long, he now knows very well that the Imperial Army only serves and is loyal to the God-Emperor and the Empire.

They will protect the property and population under the rule of the empire to the death, but one cannot expect the imperial army soldiers to serve the people like the soldiers of a certain Eastern power in the 3K era.

They have their own pride and glory; fighting and protecting are their sacred duties, and other aspects cannot be forced.

Unless the Divine Emperor himself says that his soldiers should serve the people, they will do it without hesitation.

Unfortunately, the great emperor can no longer speak.

Horatio knew very well that the best way to deal with this situation was to lead by example.

"Archie, give me a hand."

"okay!"

Without saying a word, Horatio climbed down from the podium and took Archie to help a skinny old man sit on the steps.

He didn't care at all about the old man's black palms and the mud on his dirty clothes, which stained his consecrated armor and uniform.

The nun removed the rags that had been worn through his feet and used disinfectant and repairing ointment to treat him.

Captain Afiel jumped off the podium and picked up a skinny girl who was almost fainting from hunger with a gentleness that was inconsistent with his body size, and carried her towards the relief truck.

Her legs had long since disappeared, and she only had simple prosthetic legs made of rough wooden sticks to replace them. She still needed crutches to walk.

He was so thin that he looked like a living skeleton, and his hair had almost fallen out due to long-term lack of nutrition.

Horatio glanced at Louise and nodded.

[This is all great PR material!]
The clever Louise understood what Horatio was thinking, and she took the opportunity to record it all with the camera on her power backpack.

All it needs is a little trimming by the Admiralty before it can be shown to the public on the biggest screens.

Or as a newspaper illustration, starting the propaganda machine.

Not only can it dispel the rumors that "the internal struggle in the navy is fierce and it is no longer able to perform its protective functions", but it can also gain public support when certain people try to cause trouble for the navy, forcing the other party to stay under pressure and not act rashly.

The actions of their own officers and Space Marine captains left the naval warriors speechless.

"The Navy Department has ordered us to assist the Sisters in rebuilding the missionary system in the Vegas Junction area and to protect the Sisters' safety. What are you waiting for? Follow the officers' orders."

Louise spoke at the right time in the communication channel, then put away her weapons and knives, turned on the camera and joined the stability maintenance team, taking the initiative to help the citizen army mediate the civilians who had already started conflicts because of the queues, and was alert to all possible threats to the medical sisters, recording all the good things one by one.

"Yes, sergeant! What are you still standing there for? Can't you see that the superiors and the adults are already taking action? Lead the soldiers to move, deploy the troops immediately, control order, establish a smooth road, and carry out landing and clearing the area!"

"Yes! Each class will line up, maintain order, and prevent trampling. Arrange a class behind each medical sister..."

The Inquisitor followed Horatio to the Citizen Army truck.

"Long time no see, Feiyi." The Inquisitor's face looked better than before.

Perhaps in order to reduce the sense of strangeness when meeting old friends, he put his hands in his pockets, put on a nonchalant look, and tried hard to replicate the style he had when he was still in the nest.

But the man walking towards him had a serious face, his clothes were covered with dust, and they were an old work suit just like everyone else's. The inner circle of his scarf was covered with oil and sweat stains.

He looked nervous and uneasy, and not very happy.

"Clarence, you didn't tell me that there were soldiers next to you." The man whispered unhappily, using the derogatory term used by the middle and lower nest people to refer to the planetary defense forces loyal to the planetary governor.

Obviously, these people cannot clearly distinguish the differences between the Imperial Navy Armed Forces, the Imperial Guard, and the Planetary Defense Forces, and instead use the term "Soldiers" instead.

"This gentleman is from His Holy Navy. It's a bit too much to describe him as a soldier, Feuilly." The Inquisitor maintained a nonchalant smile, obviously not wanting to make the atmosphere awkward when they first met.

As the Imperial Navy officers and soldiers approached, the Citizen Army militants became visibly nervous.

These men and women put their fingers on the sides of the triggers but did not dare to raise the muzzles of their guns.

They were always wary of these officers and soldiers, but did not express clear hostility or targeting them, and even felt a certain inferiority complex due to being dwarfed by them.

Especially when I saw several extremely tall and well-equipped giant warriors among the crowd coming towards me.

"So... who are these... these big guys?"

"Space Marines. Haven't you heard of them?"

After these words were spoken, the man froze in place for a moment, his eyes complicated.

For most Imperials, it is normal that they have never seen a Space Marine, but it is not unheard of that they have heard of their great names and legends.

The citizens' army looked incredulous and at a loss as to what to do with these red-armored giants whom they had only heard of but never seen.

The giants' huge stature and the oppressive feeling brought by their extremely heavy equipment, which was almost too heavy for mortals, made them feel fear and panic. Some of them knelt down trembling.

But their leader, under such a intimidating aura, did not kneel down like his companions, but respectfully performed the Sky Eagle salute to show his respect.

Horatio glanced past the man with a gleam in his eye, doing a less-than-standard Skyhawk salute.

He approached Ravenno and asked, "So, he knows you're the Inquisitor?"

"Of course. I grew up in an orphanage with him when I was a child. Allow me to introduce you to Halston Feuilly, the de facto leader of the Abyssal Port Citizens' Army."

"I just hope he doesn't add fuel to the fire, otherwise I'm afraid I will have to kill them.

I heard from Brigadier General Peru that after this incident is resolved, I will sail away with the 25th Gothic Squadron, and may not return to Abyss Port for a long time.

I hope that the Hell Snipers will play a greater role on the battlefield rather than acting as the empire's internal police."

"No, I told him to hold back until the Navy sorts this out.

They will not be a problem for you in the foreseeable future, and you can even use the Citizen Army to do some small stability maintenance work for you. However, I think you may need to pay a small amount of "remuneration".

I have already paid for the bread in advance."

Huo Lei snorted and said in a joking tone:
"We will consider it. But I am wondering, if we provide them with financial or equipment support, and they start an uprising to overthrow the Guild Alliance when we are not around someday, will we be considered as 'aiding in civil unrest'? Your Excellency the Inquisitor."

The Inquisitor raised an eyebrow at him and laughed playfully.

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(End of this chapter)