Having obtained the Commander rights, Alex's next step was naturally to integrate the military forces under his command.
After all, the scale of his army was enormous, with over a million troops, which was extremely rare in the 3k era.
Commanders capable of mobilizing such a large-scale military force for effective action were all renowned generals recorded in history.
Alex deeply understood that how to reasonably and properly utilize this army would be a great test of his ability.
Therefore, integrating the military forces under his command to facilitate command and order issuance became Alex's top priority.
The core of military force integration lay in the formation of combat groups.
Alex drew inspiration from the future Gene-Seed Primarch's approach during the Indomitus Crusade, deciding to group various different units together to form a comprehensive strike force, rather than using different branches of service separately.
While seemingly simple on the surface, the tactic of using different branches of service separately was actually neither conducive to unified command nor multi-branch coordinated operations.
This decentralized command method would only increase the complexity of the command system without bringing any substantial benefits.
Alex was well aware of this, so he decided to adopt a more flexible grouping method.
However, Alex had limited troops at his disposal; he couldn't form massive strike forces like a Gene-Seed Primarch.
He could only consider organizing his existing forces into roughly three to five strike forces, and then flexibly deploy them according to specific combat needs.
Alex planned for each strike force to be composed of about one hundred Astartes Warriors, fifty to one hundred thousand Astra Militarum, and three to five hundred thousand Holy War Army.
In addition, each strike force would also be equipped with a fleet of about three to five cruisers, along with other auxiliary vessels, to ensure mobility and fire support on the battlefield.
Although this scale of organization could not compare to the massive strike forces formed by a Gene-Seed Primarch, and a few hundred thousand troops were not outstanding in truly large-scale, intense battlefields, this grouping method was already sufficient to cope with the current situation.
More importantly, such a division would make Alex's troops much easier to command.
He only needed to issue mission objectives and combat orders to these few strike forces, and the Commanders within the strike forces would execute the orders themselves, without Alex needing to delve into every detail of command.
The advantage of this command method was that it greatly simplified Alex's chain of command and reduced his decision-making burden on the battlefield.
He could focus more on the overall strategic layout without being tied down by trivial tactical details.
At the same time, the coordinated combat capability within the strike forces was also enhanced, and the cooperation between different branches of service would be closer, thereby forming stronger combat power on the battlefield.
Of course, this grouping method was not without challenges.
How to ensure that the Commanders within each strike force could accurately understand and execute Alex's strategic intentions, and how to maintain coordination between the various strike forces in a complex battlefield environment, were all issues Alex needed to face.
But regardless, this was a good start.
The Expeditionary Force command had no objection to Alex's decision; although they felt it was somewhat inconsistent with the Empire's usual practices, there was nothing irregular about it.
Moreover, the leaders of the major factions in the command were all knowledgeable about military affairs, and naturally understood the benefits of doing so.
Thus, Alex's orders were carried out, and the massive Expeditionary Force was divided into three clusters.
However, their first order was not to attack, but to deploy the Holy War Army on Rostov II and then conduct training.
"I know this order might seem absurd, but everyone knows the true level of the Holy War Army; sending them to the battlefield without training them is a waste of the Emperor's currency." At the military meeting, after announcing his order, Alex explained to those who didn't understand: "Don't tell me they have fervent faith in the God-Emperor and can use courage and belief to make enemies fear.
Our enemies are a group of bloodless, tearless machines; their xenos brains only contain cold-blooded slaughter.
If our soldiers don't have enough tactical proficiency, charging head-on into them will only lead to death!
During the period of Holy War Army training, my people will tell you exactly how to fight the Space Necrons; their weapons are very dangerous, and I hope all officers and soldiers will realize this."
"The Ecclesiarchy is willing to accept the training." The Cardinal Bishop sent by the Ecclesiarchy was quite in favor of this.
He also knew that the Holy War Army was essentially just a group of believers with empty fervor, who couldn't even be considered cannon fodder.
Without training, these people would only be sent to the battlefield to gain survival and combat skills through actual combat, skills they could have learned outside of the battlefield.
This approach was also the usual practice for the Holy War Army in past Holy Wars, learning how to fight through actual combat on the battlefield; those who survived became elites and veterans.
Against general rebels, heretics, or even general xenos, doing this was not a problem.
Aside from higher casualties, the effect was actually quite good.
But doing so against the Space Necrons wouldn't work, after all, even the Astra Militarum would suffer heavy casualties if they directly encountered the Space Necrons, and a ragtag army like the Holy War Army, with almost no military training, simply had no chance of fighting them.
The Space Necrons are not Chaos; you can't rely on faith to resist them. Under Gauss rays, even an Astartes can't withstand them directly; if you're truly stubborn, you'll just turn into a pile of ashes.
Moreover, another very important point was that because this Holy War was organized in a hurry, the Holy War Army's weapons, equipment, and logistical supplies were still being prepared.
Although the first batch of a million Holy War Army basically managed to have one weapon per person, the quality of the weapons was...
After all, the Ecclesiarchy was not allowed to possess armed forces, and naturally could not stockpile large quantities of weapons and equipment; many things were temporarily procured, and the quality was inevitably uneven.
Therefore, training was not only a necessary means to improve combat effectiveness but also to buy time for the Holy War Army to better prepare and replenish equipment.
Only through systematic training and preparation could the seemingly numerous million-strong Holy War Army possess a certain level of combat power and play their due role in future battles.
Especially since the Ecclesiarchy would later recruit tens of millions of Holy War Army, Alex certainly didn't want to just throw these people into the battlefield to be ground up.
Although these people were not very good in terms of combat proficiency or other aspects, their piety in faith was very useful!
Don't forget, the Great Rift will open in more than twenty years, and at that time, fervent faith will be an important guarantee against the Great Rift's corruption.
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