Invincible after death, but in Warhammer 40K

The battlefield Zhang Ge found himself in, though small in scale—merely a struggle over a tiny section of the Spire Dominus—held significant strategic importance for both sides. For a time, all eyes were fixed on this location.

The forces of Chaos were stunned that, despite the Bastion Ring being encircled by their defenses, this backwater hive city had somehow managed to field a fully operational armored force elsewhere in the Spire.

Most of their elite troops were tied up either besieging the Bastion Ring or spearheading assaults.

After all, under normal circumstances, the rest of the Spire would only be defended by Household Retinues or PDF forces—let alone in such a remote hive.

Of course, this was also due to their own stretched-thin manpower. Even if an escort-class ship crammed in tens of thousands of ground troops, spreading them across the entire Spire would leave them dangerously sparse. Concentrating their forces was the only viable option.

Moreover, though their defensive lines were composed of a handful of Heretics and masses of Turncoat Populace, they were more than sufficient for stalling purposes. After all, breaching the Void Shield Nexus wouldn't take much longer.

But this very strategy now left them in a dire predicament. The forces of Chaos couldn't quickly muster enough elite troops to counter another breakthrough force. With their Traitor Astartes committed to the main assault, they could only scrape together whatever Daemonic Cohorts and vehicles were available.

The bulk of their forces remained Turncoat Populace—little more than paper against a concentrated elite strike force.

As for the hive's defenders, they too were astonished by their allies' efficiency. But with the flames of war licking at their own doorstep, the nobility had no time for their usual "stand by and watch allies suffer" tactics.

Even if the nobles harbored blood feuds among themselves—grudges so deep that patricide and matricide were commonplace—at least their rivals wouldn't stitch their dismembered parents back together with warpcraft, resurrect them with fused souls, and then have them dance a courtship ritual before dragging them into a Nerve Amplification-enhanced Slaaneshi Ritual.

Thus, as Zhang Ge launched his counterattack, other sectors simultaneously began large-scale offensives, pinning down the Chaos forces in their areas. This coordinated effort further strained Chaos' already limited elite reserves.

In this situation, though Chaos' total troop count in the region dwarfed Zhang Ge's by over tenfold—roughly 500,000 to 600,000—the majority were hastily conscripted Turncoat Populace. Even after scraping together every available Cultist Elite from surrounding defenses, they barely mustered 10,000.

Within their seemingly formidable defensive lines, even the Turncoat PDF had become the backbone of their forces.

Before the 1st Mechanized Infantry could even be fully committed, over 10,000 Zealots, supported by hundreds of artillery pieces, had already smashed through Chaos' initial defensive layers.

Though the casualty ratio wasn't pretty, every sacrifice held meaning. A tangible breach had been forced, and the thousands of devout corpses left in their wake had weakened the local Warp Attenuation.

Finally, the 1st Mechanized Infantry joined the assault. Led by Zhang Ge, the main force surged toward the gap.

The rumble of treads grew denser as armored vehicles rolled over the corpses strewn across the ground, advancing like a sharpened blade.

Heretics attempted to block the convoy, but the Leman Russ and Punisher Variants effortlessly obliterated pre-positioned heavy weapon emplacements. What had once been sturdy barricades were reduced to dust under direct cannon fire.

Meanwhile, with the support of Valkyrie Gunships and other aircraft, hundreds of elite infantry—eventually swelling to 2,000–3,000—were airlifted to the upper levels of flanking buildings.

Using Auspex Scanners, these assault teams cleared the structures from above, ensuring the advancing convoy wouldn't be ambushed from the sides.

One force dismantled frontal fortifications; another shielded the flanks. Tanks and infantry advanced in lockstep. Simple in theory, but executing it required impeccable coordination. Any misstep could lead to catastrophic losses—especially at night, without real-time communication.

In all of human history before Zhang Ge's arrival, there had never been a battle where tens of thousands of troops executed a Noctis Advance with such precision in high-intensity urban combat.

Forget division-scale coordination—even battalion-level maneuvers often fell apart. Some professional armies couldn't even manage basic squad-level armored-infantry synergy in city fights.

This pure, straightforward strike was something only Adeptus Astartes-tier elites could pull off. Deceptively simple, yet as unstoppable as a collapsing mountain. Chaos wasn't failing to stop them out of incompetence—they simply couldn't.

It was like entering a boxing match only to find your opponent wearing a powered alloy gauntlet. Was it really your fault for losing?

Daemons and enemy vehicles that emerged from the ruins were crushed beneath treads. Zhang Ge, seated in a Centaur Light Carrier salvaged from the tower's ruins, barely felt the convoy slow.

He watched as furious Daemonic Engines charged out—only to be physically "elevated" off the battlefield in flames. His expression remained blank.

Even without direct conversation, the soaring morale was palpable.

From the cheering wounded Zealots at the assault's start to tank commanders who now stood half-out of their hatches, planting banners bearing Zhang Ge's likeness on their turrets—it was unmistakable.

No matter which faction you belonged to, no matter if you'd been a mere Figurehead Commander before, if you could lead them to grasp even a sliver of hope in this storm, if you could make their sacrifices feel meaningful, they would trust you without hesitation.

Unexpectedly, this had even begun to separate Zhang Ge's image from the Titan he was bound to. After all, even without the Titan, he had brought them victory.

In other words—oh no. He'd actually become a Hero of the Imperium.

Zhang Ge realized this.

But there was no turning back now. He could only keep his expression rigid, suppressing any visible discomfort, while secretly hoping the Traitor Astartes Captain would descend like a divine blade and deliver him a "pleasant surprise."

Yet as his forces ground forward, shattering the Heretics' defenses inch by inch, the anticipated Decapitation Strike never came. Zhang Ge was forced to consider the worst-case scenario:

What if—just what if—the Chaos forces had a better tactical option?

Namely, the Traitor Astartes leader might have decided to abandon this front entirely. Instead, he could be gathering his Chaos Space Marines to spearhead a direct assault on the Void Shield Nexus—a true Decapitation Strike against the control systems.

As for the rest of his troops? Let them be encircled and annihilated. Even if every last one died, as long as he could destroy the Nexus and escape the hive with his Astartes, he could always rebuild his forces later.

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