This is just perfect.
The classic recurring event: forced conscription in the name of the God-Emperor.
From centenarians to ten-year-old children, no matter who you are, as long as you can breathe, you'll be dragged to the front lines to fill the trenches.
What? You refuse?
Very well. The Adeptus Arbites will immediately declare you a heretic, then execute you with a single shot to set an example!
For the Emperor, purge the heretics!
This is the biggest justification for 'forced conscription', and you don't even have the right to object.
Because to be born human in the hive city is the Emperor's greatest gift to you, and now... it's time for you, a useless piece of trash with no contributions, to make a zero contribution to the Emperor.
Even if this 'contribution' is utterly meaningless.
Their only value is to act as cannon fodder, to slow down the cult's invasion as much as possible.
But clearly, that high-ranking Planetary Defense Force officer didn't care about their lives at all.
If they can't stop the cult, everyone will die!
Rather than that, it's better to preserve the strength of the Planetary Defense Force as much as possible, delaying until support arrives from surrounding star systems.
As for forcing large numbers of innocent, untrained hive city civilians onto a brutal battlefield, and how many lives that would cost, it wasn't within his scope of consideration.
After the order for forced conscription was issued, everyone received an old-model basic laser rifle and a few cluster grenades. They weren't even given a single piece of bulletproof armor before being forcibly herded by the Defense Force, who were there to oversee the battle, into the front lines—a battlefield filled with roaring fire, thick smoke, and bodies strewn across the ground!
Emrys, who had just managed to run back from the cult forces under the Defense Force's artillery fire, suddenly found himself a member of the temporary 177th Regiment, defending the hive city. This rapid change of identity left him feeling a bit helpless.
From a personal standpoint, Emrys certainly didn't want to be pulled in as cannon fodder, to die pointlessly in the trenches, but... he had no choice!
A large number of Planetary Defense Force soldiers behind them, acting as overseers, had already aimed their guns and even heavy artillery at them. Anyone daring to retreat even half a step would be fired upon without hesitation!
What if... he killed the overseers and escaped into the Mid-Hive?
However, this thought was immediately quashed by Emrys. Not to mention that doing so would cause the Planetary Defense Force's line to collapse, giving the cult an opportunity.
Just the dozens of heavy defensive artillery pieces mounted on the edge of the upper hive city walls would be enough to give him a hard time!
The power of those things... was no joke!
Just one shot could turn everything within a few hundred meters, including living beings, into ash!
Unless one was a Zeta-class or Epsilon-class psyker, trying to directly withstand heavy anti-air artillery was akin to a fool's dream; they might as well go to bed.
In comparison, defending the hive city seemed safer.
With the bio-armor, and considering that the cult's weapons were mostly dilapidated logging guns and obsolete laser rifles, as long as he was careful, there wouldn't be much danger.
"Let's just follow orders for now..."
Emrys had no better option, mainly because the overseers behind him were watching very closely, giving him no chance to escape.
He could only see if there was a chance on the battlefield to put on his armor, use stealth mode, and secretly run back... Emrys was deep in thought when someone forcefully poked him with a gun barrel.
He looked back to see a Ministry of Justice marshal pointing a bolter at him, roaring, "Hurry up, move forward, or I'll shoot!"
Unbeknownst to him, Emrys was surprised to find himself lagging at the very back of the crowd, so he could only grip his old-model laser rifle and hurriedly rejoin the flow of people moving forward.
B-17 position, located on the edge of the Mid-Hive.
The good news was that they were near a destroyed residential building; the collapsed rubble could be used for cover, blocking the cult's lasers and bullets, and there was already a mixed force of Defense Force, marshals, and enforcers forming a defensive line.
But the bad news was... they were the first line of defense!
About a thousand people were mixed into the temporary 177th Regiment, and under the coercion of the overseers, they formed the first line of defense in front of the Defense Force's main line, directly facing the overwhelming tide of cultists!
"Listen to my command, grip your guns tightly!"
The commander of the temporary 177th Regiment drew his bolter, stepped on a cultist's corpse, and shouted loudly: "For the Emperor, kill all these heretics!!!"
Bang!
A shell accurately slammed into the cultist crowd.
Instantly, flesh and blood flew, severed limbs were blasted dozens of meters away, and fresh blood mixed with the pungent gunpowder smoke rushed into their nostrils, like the most potent stimulant, causing everyone's hearts to pound wildly and their eyes to gradually turn blood-red.
That was... the smell of war!
It was the smell of carnage!
"Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!"
"Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!"
"Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!"
After a round of artillery bombardment, large sections of residential buildings collapsed, countless bloody remains and severed limbs scattered like a torrential downpour, and bodies piled up like mountains. A rough estimate... at least a thousand people!
However, even after enduring such a terrifying blow, the cult fanatics remained resolute, roaring with twisted faces, their eyes bloodshot as if they had completely lost their minds, and once again converged into a torrent, surging mightily towards the position!
Suffocation!
Terror!
Shock!
Horror!
Most of the temporary 177th Regiment were untrained civilians. Facing the cult fanatics' suicidal charge, and the explosive scene of flying bodies, many were so scared that they lost their minds and turned to flee towards the rear.
Bang bang bang...
However, the rapid gunfire made the terrified temporary 177th Regiment realize the reality again: if they retreated even half a step, they would be ruthlessly massacred by the overseers!
"For the God-Emperor!!!"
The commander of the 177th Regiment gave an order: "Fire! fire! fire!"
Three angry shouts awakened the fear-dominated crowd. Realizing they had no retreat, everyone could only scream wildly, aiming their guns at the cultists!
For a moment, countless laser beams shot towards the cult fanatics!
But many people were touching weapons for the first time and had no experience whatsoever. Moreover, these old-model laser rifles inherently had various problems, which meant the cult did not suffer too many casualties.
"Take cover!"
The commander of the 177th Regiment, seeing this, was so angry his teeth were almost shattered: "Damn it, you idiots, aim before you shoot! If you don't want to die, pay attention!"
But untrained civilians, no matter what, found it very difficult to organize an effective offense in such a short time. It was already quite good if their mental state didn't collapse.
The commander of the 177th Regiment was anxious, but he knew very well that these civilians weren't of much use; they were purely for allowing the exhausted Defense Force to briefly rest.
But, just then.
The 177th Regiment commander suddenly saw that, on a small forward position slightly to the left of the entire defensive line, an organized offense was being mounted. Not only did it curb the cult's charging momentum, but it even, with the aid of artillery fire, annihilated hundreds of cult fanatics!
Unlike the other ran positions.
They clearly had someone in command, organized into three-person teams, hiding behind ruins and trenches, forming a perfect cross-fire network.
Moreover, everyone was divided into two waves.
After the first wave finished shooting, the second line of defense behind them would immediately take over the front, continuously maintaining superior fire suppression, forming a perfect rotational wave.
With the advantage of trenches, cover, and rear artillery support, they inflicted heavy losses on the surging cult fanatics, holding the pressure of the cult's charge on that localized defensive line!
What a talent!
This discovery made the 177th Regiment commander's eyes light up.
What he lacked most now wasn't cannon fodder to fill the lines, but someone with command ability who could maximize their value!
"Communicator! Go to that position!"
The 177th Regiment commander, his face full of pleasant surprise, pointed in that direction: "Find the person who is commanding, and tell him... he is now a company commander, and he is to take unified command of the battle at the front!"