Upon the Dawnbreak expedition’s return to Medusa, the recovered xenos machineries were consigned to vaults deep underground and their fate commented upon no further.

在破曉星遠(yuǎn)征探索隊(duì)回到美杜莎世界后，回收的異形機(jī)械被交付到了地下深處的倉庫中，它們的命運(yùn)（之后）不會(huì)再被談?wù)摗?/p>

Meanwhile, Clan Company Raukaan was reinstated to full front-line duties. The decades that followed saw them victorious time and again under the continuing leadership of Iron Father Kristos and Iron Captain Graevaar – now an honoured Iron Father in his own right. It was nearly two hundred years after the victory on Dawnbreak that word reached the Iron Council of the plight of Columnus. A venerable forge world on the western fringe of Segmentum Solar, Columnus sat directly in the path of a vast Ork Waaagh! Even now, the xenos were flowing toward Columnus like a huge wave, depopulating outlying systems and sweeping the scattered Imperial defenders before them like flotsam on the tide. The forge world’s senior magi had requested immediate aid, and the Iron Hands would give it.

與此同時(shí)，拉卡安氏族連隊(duì)恢復(fù)了全部的前線職責(zé)。在之后的數(shù)十年中，鋼鐵圣父克里斯托斯和鋼鐵連長格萊瓦爾（他現(xiàn)在也憑自己的力量成為了一名受人尊敬的鋼鐵圣父）不斷領(lǐng)導(dǎo)著氏族連隊(duì)奪取了一次又一次的勝利。在破曉星大捷過去大約兩百年之后，關(guān)于考勒姆斯世界困境的消息抵達(dá)了鋼鐵議會(huì)處。考勒姆斯是位于太陽星域西側(cè)邊境的珍貴鑄造世界，它正好位于歐克獸人某次規(guī)模龐大Waaagh! 的路線上。目前，異形如同巨浪般涌向考勒姆斯，它們屠殺邊遠(yuǎn)星系中人口，如同潮水沖走漂浮物那般掃清了它們面前分崩離析的帝國守軍。鑄造世界的高階賢者們請(qǐng)求帝國立即提供支援，而鋼鐵之手們將會(huì)欣然前往。

Less than a month after the distress call had been received, a mighty fleet of black-hulled ships hove into orbit above Columnus, each bearing the white gauntlet of the Iron Hands upon its flanks. Over a third of the Chapter’s strength had been deployed – no fewer than ten Iron Fathers led this expedition, commanding a force that included the whole of Clans Raukaan and Garrsak as well as representative forces from almost every other clan company.

在收到呼救不到一個(gè)月后，一支黑色的強(qiáng)大艦隊(duì)進(jìn)入了考勒姆斯上空的軌道，每艘飛船的側(cè)面都帶著鋼鐵之手的白色手鎧戰(zhàn)團(tuán)紋章。戰(zhàn)團(tuán)部署了超過自身軍力三分之一的力量——領(lǐng)導(dǎo)這次遠(yuǎn)征的至少有十位鋼鐵圣父，他們指揮的部隊(duì)包括完整的拉卡安氏族和卡爾薩克氏族，外加來自幾乎所有其他氏族連隊(duì)的代表部隊(duì)。

As the Iron Hands’ helm-servitors established vox-links with the defenders on Columnus, the Iron Hands learned that they would be fighting in good company. The entirety of the Legio Ferrax had been assembled, the ‘Iron Wolves’ boasting over thirty Titans of varying classes.

隨著鋼鐵之手的輪舵機(jī)仆與考勒姆斯上的守軍建立音頻通訊連接，星際戰(zhàn)士們了解到自己將會(huì)和卓越的盟友并肩作戰(zhàn)。堅(jiān)鐵泰坦軍團(tuán)——或者說“鋼鐵之狼”泰坦軍團(tuán)集結(jié)起了全軍，他們自夸擁有超過三十臺(tái)不同型號(hào)的泰坦。

Phalanx upon phalanx of Skitarii, Cataphractii and augmented tech-guard garrisoned the sprawling, city-sized fortress factories that dotted Columnus. Dozens of regiments of Imperial Guard tanks, artillery and super-heavy armour had been assembled on the planet’s crimson plains, or held the raised super-highways that connected one fortress factory with the next. Countless guns pointed skyward, waiting for the Orks’ assault, and the Iron Hands moved quickly to add their own. As the Orks’ landing sites were likely to be both random and numerous, it was deemed that the Iron Hands’ strength must remain as concentrated as was practical. The Iron Fathers thus split their force into three company-sized armies, and deployed them to the greatest of the fortress factories – Kemlos, Urdri and Slartav. Yet as the tanks of Clan Raukaan roared up the highway toward Urdri, Kristos and Graevaar were to receive disturbing news. The Iron Hands were not the only Space Marines present in defence of Columnus.?

護(hù)教軍、鐵騎自動(dòng)機(jī)兵和技術(shù)守衛(wèi)們組成了一個(gè)又一個(gè)的方陣，駐守在分布于考勒姆斯各處如城市般大小并四處蔓延的堡壘工廠中。數(shù)十個(gè)帝國衛(wèi)隊(duì)團(tuán)的坦克、炮兵和超重型裝甲載具要么是已經(jīng)集結(jié)到了星球緋紅色的平原上，要么就是把守著連接起一座又一座堡壘工廠的高架快速路。無數(shù)槍炮對(duì)準(zhǔn)天空，等待著獸人的來犯，鋼鐵之手也很快將自己的武器加入其中。由于獸人的登陸地點(diǎn)可能將會(huì)是數(shù)量眾多且隨機(jī)的，鋼鐵之手認(rèn)為必須一如既往得將自身兵力集中起來。于是鋼鐵圣父?jìng)儗⒉筷?duì)拆分為三支連隊(duì)規(guī)模的軍隊(duì)，并將其部署到Kemlos、Urdri和Slartav這三座最大的要塞工廠中。然而當(dāng)拉卡安氏族的坦克在高速路上咆哮著沖向Kemlos、Urdri和Slartav三塊區(qū)域時(shí)，鋼鐵之手們將會(huì)收到一個(gè)令其煩惱的消息：他們并非是唯一前來防守考勒姆斯的星際戰(zhàn)士。

As the warriors of Clan Raukaan began moving to their posts within the labyrinthine factorysprawl of Urdri, Shadow Captain Stenn of the Raven Guard approached them. Accompanied by his command squad, Stenn extended the Iron Hands’ commanders a greeting and offer of brotherhood. He explained that his force had been effecting a fighting retreat before the oncoming Orks to slow their advance, giving the defenders of Columnus time to prepare. Now Stenn’s men were ready to fight in earnest, and he possessed important information regarding the peculiar strengths of the foe. In response, Kristos’ silence stretched long, growing ever more uncomfortable as his augmetics hissed and whirred. Finally the Techmarine replied.?

當(dāng)拉卡安氏族的戰(zhàn)士們開始在Urdri迷宮般四處蔓延的廠區(qū)中前往自己的陣地時(shí)，暗鴉守衛(wèi)的暗影連長斯特恩向他們走來。斯特恩在自己指揮小隊(duì)的陪同下來到此處，他向鋼鐵之手的指揮官們致意，并且表達(dá)了兄弟之情。他解釋到：自己的部隊(duì)已經(jīng)在獸人到來前進(jìn)行了一次戰(zhàn)斗撤退，以此來減慢異形們的前進(jìn)速度，為考勒姆斯的守軍們爭(zhēng)取到了備戰(zhàn)時(shí)間。現(xiàn)在斯特恩的下屬們準(zhǔn)備在東部地區(qū)作戰(zhàn)，而且他掌握了關(guān)于敵人特殊力量的重要情報(bào)?？死锼雇兴箘t以漫長的沉默作為回應(yīng)，他的（機(jī)械化）增強(qiáng)部位發(fā)出的嘶嘶聲和嗡嗡聲令對(duì)方感到更為不適。這位技術(shù)軍士最終回答到：

‘The Raven Guard cannot be relied upon,’ he announced in buzzing tones. ‘You fight like smoke, drifting away in the slightest breeze. Additional: Orks are no new foe to the Iron Hands, you know nothing that our battle simulations have not already told us. We will not fight alongside you, Shadow Captain Stenn, for it is in all we do as Iron Hands to avoid the fate suffered by our Primarch.’ The Iron Father and his men swept past the bristling Raven Guard, the crash of their boots receding as they made for their command-post.?

“暗鴉守衛(wèi)是不可信賴的，”他用嗡嗡作響的聲音宣布到，“你們?nèi)鐭熿F般作戰(zhàn)，在微風(fēng)中飄散。另外，獸人也并非鋼鐵之手的新敵人，戰(zhàn)斗模擬還尚未告訴我們（可能的）戰(zhàn)況，你們根本就一無所知。我們不會(huì)和你并肩作戰(zhàn)，暗影連長斯特恩，因?yàn)樯頌殇撹F之手，我們所做的一切都是為了避免我們的原體所遭受的命運(yùn)（在我們身上重演）?！变撹F圣父和他的下屬們從怒火中燒的暗鴉守衛(wèi)們身旁掠過，他們走向自己的指揮所，戰(zhàn)靴碰擊地面的聲音漸行漸遠(yuǎn)。

The Orks arrived scant days later, and their fury was a thing to behold. The Astropaths had been wailing for hours, many dying in the grip of convulsions so severe that they broke their necks or chewed off their own tongues. As each psyker perished, the Tech Adepts of the Colosseum Astropathica simply unlocked another from stasis storage, yet the Astropaths were dying as fast as they could be plugged back into their thrones. Now, as the Orks’ enormous fleet appeared above Columnus, an almighty surge of psionic energy rolled out from amid the greenskin armada. As the bow-wave struck home, every single surviving Astropath died at once in a blaze of green flame that consumed the Colosseum, leaving nothing but a glowing crater in its wake.?

獸人在僅僅數(shù)天后便到達(dá)了考勒姆斯，而且它們的怒火是顯而可見的。星語者們哀嚎了數(shù)個(gè)小時(shí)，很多人都在劇烈的抽搐中死去——他們要么折斷了脖子，要么咬斷了舌頭。每當(dāng)一個(gè)靈能者死去，星語站的技術(shù)專家們就會(huì)從靜滯庫中解鎖另一個(gè)，然而星語者們被架到星語傳送王座上的速度就和他們死去的速度一樣快?，F(xiàn)在，隨著獸人的龐大艦隊(duì)出現(xiàn)在考勒姆斯上空，一股強(qiáng)大的靈能能量被從綠皮艦隊(duì)中釋放而出。當(dāng)弓形波集中目標(biāo)時(shí)，所有幸存星語者都死在了一團(tuán)吞噬了星語大廳的綠色烈焰中?；鹧孢^后，原地只剩下一個(gè)發(fā)光的巨坑。

THE BEAST DESCENDS

野獸降臨

Even as the bodies of Columnus’ first fallen were blazing in the wreckage, orbital augurs were

attempting to calculate the size of the greenskin armada descending upon the planet. The Ork ships resembled a meteor storm of incredible density. Rocket-propelled asteroids and tumbling, thruster-studded lumps of metal jostled for space with snub-nosed attack ships that belched trails of black smoke into the void as they passed. Ploughing through the mass like predatory beasts came slab-sided capital ships, each a preposterous tangle of armour and guns. Worst of all, at the fleet’s heart loomed a mighty space hulk the size of a small moon. Around it played a weird halo of green lightning, alike to a storm in space. This was Waaagh! Zagdakka, and it descended upon Columnus at breakneck speed.?

就當(dāng)考勒姆斯第一批死者的尸體仍在廢墟中燃燒時(shí)，軌道鳥卜儀正在試圖推算降臨到考勒姆斯這支綠皮艦隊(duì)的規(guī)模。獸人飛船們集結(jié)成了一陣密度驚人的流星風(fēng)暴，火箭推動(dòng)的小行星、布滿推進(jìn)器且翻滾著的（不定形）金屬腫塊狀飛船互相推擠著從太空中穿過，鈍首的攻擊艦在經(jīng)過時(shí)向虛空中噴出黑煙。側(cè)面平坦的主力艦們?nèi)缤邮骋矮F那樣從大群的飛船中駛過，而且每艘主力艦上都是火炮和裝甲以荒謬古怪的方式堆積纏結(jié)而成的造物。最糟糕的是，在艦隊(duì)的中心隱現(xiàn)著一艘小號(hào)衛(wèi)星尺寸的巨型太空廢船，其周身散發(fā)著綠色閃電構(gòu)成的詭異光環(huán)，好似太空中的一道風(fēng)暴。（獸人軍閥）怪戰(zhàn)者的Waaagh!以極快的速度向考勒姆斯襲來。

The orbital fortresses were the first to feel the Orks’ wrath. Forge worlds are repositories of the most ancient and deadly technologies, and Columnus’ orbitals were equipped with a vast array of weapons systems. Strobing webs of high-powered lasers reached out into the void, cutting through Ork ships to dissect them in seconds. Vortex warheads detonated amidst tightly packed clusters of greenskin craft and dragged them into the howling void. Gravity drivers crushed Ork ships to scrap or smashed them into one another with deadly force, while vast cycling batteries of missiles and lasers lit the skies of Columnus with their fury. The Orks simply accelerated, charging into the rain of fire.?

軌道要塞們首先感受到了獸人的怒火。鑄造世界們代表著最為古老且致命的科技，考勒姆斯的軌道上也裝備了龐大的武器系統(tǒng)陣列。高能激光束射向虛空，形成帶著殘影的火力網(wǎng)，這些激光束切穿獸人的艦船，并在幾秒內(nèi)將其切碎。漩渦彈頭在密密麻麻的綠皮艦群中爆炸，將它們拖入呼嘯著的虛空中。重力驅(qū)動(dòng)器碾碎了獸人的飛船，或用致命的力量使其相互碰撞。同時(shí)，循環(huán)發(fā)射導(dǎo)彈和激光的巨大炮塔也用自己的怒火點(diǎn)亮了考勒姆斯的天空。而獸人們只是加速?zèng)_入這陣火雨。

Thousands of attack ships and ramming craft were blown apart, shattering into expanding clouds of fire and spinning debris, yet thousands remained. Having exploited the smaller craft as crude shields, the larger assault craft and cruisers now ploughed forward through the plummeting wreckage and opened up with weapons of their own. A ferocious firestorm tore the heavens from pole to pole. Missiles and explosive munitions filled the diminishing gap between the orbitals and their myriad aggressors, the curtain of fire and debris becoming so dense that it seemed nothing could survive it. Yet impossibly, as if driven by some will greater than their own, the Orks came on. Many of the larger asteroids simply ploughed through the incoming fire, their rocky ‘hulls’ absorbing impacts that would have annihilated more conventional craft.?

數(shù)千艘進(jìn)攻飛船和撞擊艇被炸碎，裂成了不斷膨脹的火焰云團(tuán)和旋轉(zhuǎn)的碎片，但還有數(shù)千艘仍在前進(jìn)。大型突擊艇和巡洋艦是純粹將小型艦艇用作了護(hù)盾，他們?cè)趬嬄涞臍埡。ㄈ海┲袏^力前進(jìn)，用自己的武器開辟通路。一場(chǎng)猛烈的火焰風(fēng)暴撕裂了星球兩極之間的天空，星球軌道與無數(shù)入侵者之間的間距不斷縮小，雙方用導(dǎo)彈和爆炸性彈藥相互不停射擊，炮火彈幕和碎片變得如此密集，以至于似乎沒有什么東西能從中幸免于難。但令人難以置信的，仿佛是受到了某種比他們更為強(qiáng)大的意志驅(qū)使那般，獸人們突然出現(xiàn)了。許多大型的小行星簡(jiǎn)單地穿過了來襲的炮火，他們的石質(zhì)“船體”吸收了本可以摧毀更為傳統(tǒng)的艦艇的沖擊力。

Without slowing, they slammed into the orbital fortresses and ripped them apart. Proud bastions that had hung in space for millennia fragmented like shattered glass, explosions stitching through them and immolating their doomed garrisons. From the surface of Columnus it appeared as though the sky had caught fire, the planet’s omnipresent smog banks shredding to reveal tumbling, blazing swathes of wreckage falling toward the surface.

在毫無減速的情況下，獸人的小行星們猛烈地撞向軌道堡壘，將之撕碎。懸掛在太空中千年之久的高傲堡壘們像碎玻璃那樣支離破碎，它們接連爆炸，其上的駐軍們也被一并燒死。從考勒姆斯的地面上看去，那場(chǎng)景仿佛是天空著起了火，星球上無處不在的煙霧（層）被撕開，露出的大片翻滾燃燒著的殘骸正在墜向地面。

Amid this rain of metal and fire came the Orks, ploughing their crude ships down through the atmosphere without the slightest pause. All across the planet, defensive batteries and silos opened fire, desperate to destroy the steel rain before it hit. They would not succeed.

金屬（碎片）和火焰如雨點(diǎn)般落下，獸人們也混在其中一并前來——他們粗陋的飛船毫無停頓地穿過了大氣層。星球各處的所有防御炮塔和導(dǎo)彈發(fā)射井都在開火，絕望地想要在這場(chǎng)鐵雨擊中地面前將之擊落，但它們是不會(huì)成功的。

A LOGICAL COURSE

邏輯過程

Columnus writhed like a beast in pain. Tumbling agglomerations of wreckage the size of mountains crashed down upon fortified outposts and massed armies, obliterating all they struck. Swathes of Skitarii and Imperial Guardsmen were killed as the blast waves from each impact rolled outward. Super-heavy tanks were flung end over end, while Titans reeled and shook like men standing in the path of a gale. Firestorms howled around them, overloading their void shields one by one. It was madness, destruction and death on an unimaginable scale, and in its midst the Orks made planetfall. Asteroid ships gouged vast craters from Columnus’ arid plains as they struck. Huge scrapmetal cruisers burned retros, or else were enfolded in skeins of shimmering green energy that seemed to slow their descent, skidding to a stop at the end of miles-long blazing trenches. Smaller craft fell all around them, skimming low on gravity cushions, lurching to a halt on flaming clouds of jetwash, or simply crashing headlong into the planet’s surface at full speed. Many Orks were killed upon impact, yet millions remained to spill out from their landing sites onto Columnus’ burning surface.

考勒姆斯像只痛苦的野獸那般扭動(dòng)著。山巒般大小的殘骸轟然砸向加固過的哨站和密集的軍隊(duì)，摧毀了自己擊中的一切。當(dāng)每一次撞擊所產(chǎn)生的沖擊波向外擴(kuò)散時(shí)，都有成群的護(hù)教軍和帝國衛(wèi)軍被殺死。超重型坦克被一輛輛地甩了出去，泰坦們則如同直面狂風(fēng)的凡人那樣搖晃踉蹌?；鹧骘L(fēng)暴在它們周圍咆哮，令它們一個(gè)接一個(gè)的發(fā)生虛空盾過載。這是一場(chǎng)規(guī)模無法想象的瘋狂、毀滅和死亡，而獸人們也混在其中登陸了星球。小行星飛船擊中星球表面，考勒姆斯的干旱平原被鑿出巨大的隕石坑。廢金屬拼成的巨大巡洋艦燃燒起反沖火箭，或者是被似乎能減慢它們下降速度的綠色閃光能量束包裹著，他們?cè)诘孛嫔匣隽藬?shù)英里長的燃燒壕溝后才停了下來。小型艦艇落在它們周圍，靠著重力緩沖器從低空滑過，這些小船要么是在（引擎）噴射出火焰云來突然懸停，要么就是干脆全速撞向星球表面。撞擊過程殺死了很多獸人，但仍有數(shù)百萬獸人存活了下來，它們從登陸點(diǎn)沖向了考勒姆斯燃燒的地表。

Now the war began in earnest. As the greenskin space hulk settled into low orbit and began to rain fire and drop-craft onto Columnus’ surface, the Iron Hands’ fleet moved to engage,dwarfed by their monstrous foe yet unwilling to show a moment’s weakness. Around them,Mechanicus war barges and Imperial Navy battleships swept forward, adding their ordnance to the Iron Hands’ own and lighting the skies with a fresh storm of fire. On the surface,meanwhile, the Iron Hands found themselves with no shortage of foes to engage. The fortress factories had been protected from the worst of the devastating bombardment by humming banks of void shields, yet elsewhere the forge world’s defenders had been horribly mauled.

戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)在東部區(qū)域打響了。隨著綠皮的太空廢船進(jìn)入低空軌道，并將炮火和空降艇如雨點(diǎn)般射向考勒姆斯地表，鋼鐵之手的艦隊(duì)也前去迎戰(zhàn)，雖然相比于怪物般龐大的敵人它們是渺小微弱的，但星際戰(zhàn)士們不愿表現(xiàn)出片刻的軟弱。星際戰(zhàn)士艦隊(duì)周圍的機(jī)械神教戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)巨艦和帝國海軍的戰(zhàn)列艦也共同前進(jìn)，所有戰(zhàn)艦共同炮擊著敵艦，天空再次被火焰風(fēng)暴點(diǎn)亮。同時(shí)，那些身處地面的鋼鐵之手們也發(fā)現(xiàn)自己不乏與之交戰(zhàn)的敵人。隆隆作響的虛空盾保護(hù)著要塞工廠，能令其免遭最嚴(yán)重的毀滅性轟炸，而鑄造世界其他區(qū)域的守軍們則遭到了殘酷進(jìn)攻。

Whole regiments had been obliterated in moments, major forge complexes swept from the map or buried in blazing wreckage. The world’s noosphere was clogged with crackling static and radioactive interference, yet cautious estimates by the senior Colomnite Technomagi suggested that as much as forty percent of their world’s defensive strength had been lost at a stroke, wiped out or left so shattered and cut off as to be as good as dead. Now the plains were awash with xenos who moved with a single purpose, vast tides making straight for the fortress factories and evidencing none of the typical infighting that might be expected from the barbaric and fractious Orks. What such a thing could mean, the magi could not guess.

整編的衛(wèi)軍團(tuán)在頃刻間被毀滅，主要的鑄爐復(fù)合體被從地圖上抹去或埋入了燃燒的廢墟。鑄造世界的人類圈中充斥著劈啪作響的靜電與輻射干擾，考勒姆斯高階技術(shù)賢者們做出的周密預(yù)測(cè)表明：他們一舉喪失了自己世界上40%的防御力量，那些部隊(duì)要么是被夷平，要么就是變得極其支離破碎并且被切斷了通訊，就和（全員）陣亡了一樣。目前，星球的平原上遍布著為（同）一個(gè)目標(biāo)而行動(dòng)的異形們，龐大的綠潮直撲要塞工廠，而且有證據(jù)表明：這些野蠻暴躁的獸人們并未像人們可能期待的那樣發(fā)生典型的內(nèi)斗。賢者們無法猜測(cè)這意味著什么。

Superior systems meant the Iron Fathers had retained contact with one another where the other defenders had not, and they swiftly confirmed that all three primary fortress factories were within hours of being besieged. Already there were isolated warbands of greenskins loose within Kemlos, and millions more were on their way. It was agreed that, with so many of the lesser defenders removed from the equation, even the might of the Iron Hands and Titans present on Columnus could not hope to face the greenskins out in the open. While Iron Father Kristos reported that the Raven Guard had departed Urdri in order to harry the advancing Orks and gather survivors, the Iron Hands saw no valid reason to do the same.Thus it was decided – the three great fortress factories would be islands against which the Orks would break. All Iron Hands would remain within the bounds of the cities, and exterminate the Ork forces as they advanced into engagement range. All Imperial assets beyond the walls would be considered lost and no effort wasted in attempting to rescue those too weak to save themselves. Only when the greenskins had exhausted their strength by hurling wave after wave against the defences would the Iron Hands sally forth and crush what remained of the greenskin threat. It was a logical, pragmatic course of action and the Iron Fathers dispersed to prepare their forces.

鋼鐵之手們擁有更卓越的系統(tǒng)，這意味著鋼鐵圣父?jìng)兡軌蛟谄渌剀妭儫o法彼此溝通的區(qū)域進(jìn)行相互聯(lián)系，他們很快便確認(rèn)三座主要的要塞工廠會(huì)在數(shù)小時(shí)之內(nèi)遭到圍困。已經(jīng)有孤立的綠皮戰(zhàn)幫攻入了Kemlos要塞工廠，另外還有數(shù)百萬綠皮在進(jìn)攻的路上。鐵父?jìng)円恢抡J(rèn)為：在將如此之多的低級(jí)守軍排除在（戰(zhàn)斗）計(jì)算方程之外的情況下，哪怕是憑借位于考勒姆斯地表上的鋼鐵之手與泰坦們的力量，也無望在開闊戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)上與綠皮正面交鋒。同時(shí)鐵父克里斯托斯報(bào)告稱：暗鴉守衛(wèi)們已經(jīng)離開了Urdri要塞工廠去不斷襲擾前進(jìn)中的獸人并聚攏幸存者，鋼鐵之手們則認(rèn)為自己沒有正當(dāng)?shù)睦碛扇ゲ扇∠嗤男袆?dòng)。于是他們做出了決定——這三座要塞工廠將成為被獸人攻破的孤島，所有鋼鐵之手都將會(huì)待在城市邊界以內(nèi)，并在獸人部隊(duì)進(jìn)入交戰(zhàn)距離后將其殲滅。城墻外的所有帝國資源都將被視為已損失，也不要浪費(fèi)精力去救援那些弱小到無法保護(hù)自己的人們。只有當(dāng)綠皮們?cè)趯?duì)于守軍防線一波又一波的沖擊中耗盡兵力時(shí)，鋼鐵之手們才會(huì)沖出去粉碎剩余的綠皮威脅。這是一個(gè)合乎邏輯且務(wù)實(shí)的行動(dòng)方針，鐵父?jìng)兎稚㈤_去整軍備戰(zhàn)。