Iron Without: The Unique Combat Strategy of the Fourth Part III
WARHAMMER 40KIRON WARRIORSHORUS HERESY
Oroslan
3/20/20244 min read
Blood and Ashes of Incaladion
Even before the Fourth received its official name, its warriors were already compared to iron. They were just as rough and tough, but they always got the job done. They could bend, but did not break. These Astartes had a special affinity for technology. Please note that this refers specifically to military equipment, and not to technology in general, which has always interested the Tenth Legion on a level unnatural for Space Marines.
The more the Fourth fought on the front lines, the more clearly the warriors saw the need to emphasize global strategy to always create numerical and fire superiority over the enemy at the point of breakthrough. They never attacked without dominating the battlefield. Interestingly, Eight fought in a similar manner. But where the Night Lords instilled terror in the enemy with the insane screams of their victims and the broadcast of hololithic projections from their torture chambers, the future Iron Warriors acted differently. They also inspired terror and broke the spirit of the enemy. But they did this with their inexorability, moving forward step by step under artillery cannonade, which stopped only when only ashes remained from the enemy fortress.
They increasingly relied on artillery and orbital bombardment, and these methods soon became the mainstay of their military doctrine. In the years before the Legion reunited with its Primarch, the Fourth had amassed the largest fleet of artillery, surpassing all of its cousins. The Trupodavs also had the largest number of tank battalions and mechanized units, which they placed at the tip of the attacking wedge. Then it became clear to everyone that the Fourth was a strong and united legion that knew how to fight and win with its own methods. Pragmatism, prudence, and rationality were the basis of their strategy.
However, these qualities had a downside. Stubbornness. Having launched an attack, the Fourth stopped only in three cases - when the enemy was defeated, when the legionnaires were exterminated, or when the order came to retreat from the high command. They never gave up or admitted defeat. These warriors were ready to fight to the last drop of blood, literally, but did not retreat. And they were proud of this trait of theirs, because in the exhausting, inglorious wars they needed to be proud of at least something.
The Fourth had many victories in the first half of the Great Crusade, but these victories were also costly. The behavioral paradox, a combination of prudence and illogical stubbornness, was most clearly manifested in the Incaladion campaign. It was a huge and powerful forge world, engulfed in total war. The 8th Expeditionary Fleet came to free it from the tyranny of its anarchic rulers. The campaign lasted from 842 to 843 M30. It ended in unconditional victory, the world was liberated, and the enemies of the Imperium were exterminated to the last warrior. But the advanced units of the 8th Expeditionary Fleet ceased to exist.
Many primarchs and leaders of the mortal armies were critical of the Incaladion campaign. It is generally accepted that the Iron Warriors deliberately took risks and suffered more casualties than they otherwise would have in an effort to prove that they were capable of winning against all odds and predictions. That they can win where others could not. Now, from the height of history, in a retrospective vision, we understand what caused this desire. The glory of the legion is a thing of the past. And now, after decades of fighting on the outskirts of the galaxy, the Fourth wanted to be noticed again. So that he too is given his due, for these warriors shed no less, if not more, blood for the future of Humanity than their cousins. They can be understood.
The general battle on Incaladion did not go according to plan. As the Fourth attacked, the warriors unexpectedly encountered a counterattack from an enemy that outnumbered them in numbers and firepower. The intelligence lied, the enemy deceived the Imperials. It was logical to retreat and regroup, but they moved forward without any plan. They reached the capital and took it, but it cost the lives of 29 thousand legionnaires. More than half of them were honored veterans. Incaladion inflicted damage on the Legion unmatched by any other battle of the era.
Incaladion was a colossal mistake by the leaders of the Fourth. Victory, comparable to defeat, did not bring them the desired glory. On the contrary, the persistent but desperate warriors were subject to universal condemnation. And they had no primarch to protect their sons. While the other legions were rising, the era of the Fourth was coming to an end. Their past victories had long been forgotten, their successes in secondary theaters of military operations were of no interest to anyone. Many senior officers of the Fourth were left to lie in the blood and ashes of Incaladion, among their brothers and two million mortal soldiers.
What was once one of the largest legions has become much smaller in number. This did not pose a threat to the existence of the Fourth, because the stable gene-seed and many recruiting worlds allowed them to easily fill the ranks. But at least half of the legions outnumbered the future Iron Warriors, and most outnumbered them in glory. This is exactly how Perturabo met his warriors - broken, disappointed and depressed.
