As is perhaps unsurprising from so calculating and methodical a master as Ferrus Manus, the Iron Hands Legion was a highly structured military force, with numerous tactical and strategic divisions of power and organisation within its ranks. However, on close inspection, the precise nature of this structure is a very particular one, instituting a system of “organised compartmentalisation”within the Legion. This stands in contrast to other highly-structured Legions such as the single overarching hierarchy of many fine gradations as was found in the Emperor's Children or the Imperial Fists. Nor did the Iron Hands subscribe to?the utterly rationalised clarity?and?dogmatic adherence to order and stricture espoused by the Ultramarines. The Iron Hands Legion was instead deliberately composed from a series of interlocking components, each with its own specialisation, duties and chain of command, beholden only to itself and its immediate superiors. Each of these components; be they Legionary squad, armoured vehicle squadron, support elements, etc, came together first as companies in the broadly standard model. But beyond this, each company was a part of?a larger grouping with its own independent command, support and logistical network, armoury and ships created for a particular campaign or battle. These formations were referred to as Orders and were superficially equivalent to a specialised battalion in general Legiones Astartes terms, but far more concrete in makeup and isolated in operation. Inside an Order, the component companies were configured in such a way that each unit's function combined together to form a gestalt whole whose tactical and strategic capacities, like the components of?a machine working together in unison, were capable of actions outweighed by the sum of their parts. In battle each Order was given a specific task which it was expected to fulfil without needing assistance and succeed it would at any cost, for pride, honour and sheer belligerence would allow no other outcome. Orders were often formed from a larger single Clan grouping, and sometimes units from different clans fought together within them, often as rivals for glory and achievement.

對于像費魯斯 馬努斯這樣一位如此精于算計且有條不紊的軍團之主而言，鋼鐵之手軍團是一支高度結(jié)構(gòu)化的軍事力量，而且其內(nèi)部擁有大量關(guān)于權(quán)力和組織的戰(zhàn)術(shù)戰(zhàn)略分支機構(gòu)這件事或許不足為奇。但是，仔細檢查的話，我們會發(fā)現(xiàn)這種結(jié)構(gòu)有非常特殊的精確性質(zhì)，這在軍團中建立起了“有組織的隔離區(qū)劃”制度，這與其他高度結(jié)構(gòu)化的軍團形成了對比——比如我們可以在帝皇之子或帝國之拳軍團中找到的獨有的細微層次的綜合等級體系。鐵手軍團也不認同極限戰(zhàn)士們所擁護的純粹理性化解析（機仆：wtm都想給它翻譯成純粹理性批判）和對命令與約束的教條化堅持，相反，鐵手軍團是故意由一系列相互連接的部份組成的，每個部分都有其自身的特長、職責(zé)和指揮鏈，只對他們自己和他們的直接上級負責(zé)。這些部份中的每一個，無論他們是軍團戰(zhàn)士小隊、裝甲載具中隊還是支援部隊等等，他們最初是作為廣義標(biāo)準(zhǔn)模板中的連隊出現(xiàn)的。但除此之外，每個連隊都是一個更大型團體的組成部分，而這些大型團體都有自身獨立的指揮、支援和后勤網(wǎng)絡(luò)，以及為特定的戰(zhàn)役或戰(zhàn)斗而制造的裝甲單位和艦船。這些編隊被稱為修會，他們在表面上通常等同于一個阿斯塔特軍團中的特種營，但是他們在結(jié)構(gòu)上更加具體，在運作上更加獨立。在修會內(nèi)部，連隊們都是如此配置的：每個單位的功能結(jié)合起來形成一個完形（機仆：也稱為格式塔）整體，后者的戰(zhàn)略戰(zhàn)術(shù)能力能夠超越各組成部分的簡單總和，就像一臺機器的各組成零件齊心協(xié)力地工作。在戰(zhàn)斗中，每個修會都會被給予一項具體的任務(wù)，這些任務(wù)被期望在不需要援助的情況下完成，并且會為完成任務(wù)而不惜一切代價，因為第十軍團戰(zhàn)士們的自豪、榮譽和純粹的好斗性格不會允許其他結(jié)果的產(chǎn)生。修會往往是由一個大型的單一氏族形成的，某些時候來自不同氏族的單位也會加入他們共同作戰(zhàn)，通常是作為榮譽和成就的競爭對手。

Clans were notionally the Iron Hands'?equivalent of?the chapters of other Legions but again, on close inspection, were in practice of?distinct character, being patterned to a larger extent on the Medusan feudal system and were linked to the planet's nomadic barbarian populations as recruiting bases. These Iron Hands Clans were in fact “pocket Legions”, fully self-sufficient and self-supplied, and each had a single Chieftain or Iron Lord to rule them by Primarch-given right. Each Clan had a very real and distinct identity and each vied against each other for glory, attainment and for resources, as well as for the favour of their Primarch.

理論上，鐵手軍團的氏族等同于其他軍團的戰(zhàn)團，但仔細觀察的話，我們會發(fā)現(xiàn)他們實際上具有鮮明的特點，他們在很大程度上模仿了母星美杜莎的封建制度，而且與作為他們征兵基礎(chǔ)的星球上的游牧蠻族息息相關(guān)。鐵手氏族們實際上就是“口袋軍團”，他們完全自給自足，而且每個氏族都有自己單獨的首領(lǐng)或者鋼鐵領(lǐng)主通過原體給予的權(quán)力來統(tǒng)領(lǐng)他們。每個氏族都擁有一個實際且獨特的身份，而且每個氏族都會為了榮譽、成就和資源而互相競爭，當(dāng)然，還有就是為了獲得原體的青睞。

The level of?integration and strength the Iron Hands Legion's system manifested was extraordinary if?somewhat inflexible. Whether deployed as a single company or a full Legion in scale, it was a crushing leviathan when in action; extraordinarily difficult to stop, but also at times brutally intractable and slow to change course through its single-minded pursuit of?its starting objectives. This was Ferrus Manus' deliberate intention, and as part of that design he invested authority and initiative with the few, not the many. Accordingly he created several distinct tiers of organisational structure where field commanders wielded absolute power and authority, and were to be obeyed without question by those beneath them, ensuring any responsibility for failure would be identified and dealt with with merciless efficiency. Within the Iron Hands Legion, command carried with it the power of both life and death; Each Shield-Centurion was empowered to enact at will both reward and preferment, as well as immediate punishment—including execution, over any Legionary beneath them without recourse, hearing or trial. Likewise, at the higher echelons of the Legion, an Iron-Captain had the same rights over their War Leaders and other subordinate officers within their Order, and the ranks beneath them, an Iron-Lord over the Iron-Captains in their Clan, and so on. Overarching this structure, Ferrus Manus was the single judge, ruler and master over all in his Legion without contest or gainsay.

盡管有些不靈活，但鋼鐵之手軍團的體系表現(xiàn)出的整合程度和力量非同一般。無論是作為一個單獨的連隊進行派遣還是作為一個完整的軍團進行派遣，鐵手們在行動中都是一頭毀滅性的巨獸，他們非常難以停止，但有時他們會由于一心一意地追求其起始目標(biāo)而變成極其棘手的敵人，并且會緩慢地改變進程。這正是費魯斯 馬努斯深思熟慮的意圖，而且作為其規(guī)劃的一部分，他只與少數(shù)人而非多數(shù)人分享權(quán)力和對策，因此，他創(chuàng)建了幾個不同層次的組織結(jié)構(gòu)，在這套結(jié)構(gòu)中，指揮官們被給予了絕對的權(quán)力和權(quán)威，他們麾下的部隊要對他們（的命令）進行毫無遲疑的服從，他們確保任何失敗的責(zé)任都要被識別出，并且對其進行毫不留情的處理。在鐵手軍團內(nèi)部，軍團指揮組擁有生死大權(quán)，每名盾衛(wèi)百夫長都被授權(quán)隨意進行獎勵和提拔，也被給予馬上對違規(guī)者進行懲罰——包括處決的權(quán)力，他們有權(quán)如此處置麾下的所有軍團戰(zhàn)士，無需追索，聽證或?qū)徟?。同樣，在軍團的高層中，一位鋼鐵連長也對麾下的戰(zhàn)爭領(lǐng)袖、修會中的其他下級軍官和兩者麾下的部隊擁有同樣的權(quán)力，一位鋼鐵領(lǐng)主也對其氏族內(nèi)的鋼鐵連長們擁有同樣的權(quán)力，并以此類推。費魯斯 馬努斯則凌駕于這套結(jié)構(gòu)之上，是軍團中無可辯駁否認的唯一至高無上的法官、統(tǒng)治者與主宰。

The Iron Hands were a Legion whose numbers remained relatively constant throughout the latter phases of the Great Crusade, balancing their intake of new recruits largely with losses in the field. This was achieved despite the fact that many failed the Legion's notoriously rigorous and unforgivingly harsh training and assessment methods on Medusa. They were, however, known to maintain a particularly extensive and sophisticated arsenal of war engines —particularly tanks, armoured vehicles and Dreadnought walkers— the equal of any Legion save perhaps for Perturabo’s IVth. Thanks to long-standing ties to elements of the Mechanicum and the technological aptitude displayed by many in their number, they possessed access to numerous cybernetic implant systems seldom seen outside the Machine Cult, and they were also able to widely reproduce and maintain large stockpiles of grav-weapons, conversionbeamer and laser-destroyer systems, and other arcane and esoteric machineries of?death. This range of?materiel extended both to extensive numbers of servitors (often created from failed Legion aspirants and, it has long been rumoured, prisoners taken in battle), and advanced super-heavy tanks such as the Fellblade. In addition, battle-automata and troops from the Mechanicum were preferred by the Iron Hands Legion for strategic support when available as the Legion was largely dismissive of?most Imperial Army units as unfit for frontline work.

在大遠征的后期階段，鐵手軍團的人數(shù)相對穩(wěn)定，他們征召的新兵與他們在戰(zhàn)場上的損失大體平衡，而且這一情況的實現(xiàn)，是在不考慮有很多人沒能經(jīng)受住軍團惡名昭著的殘酷考驗、毫不留情的嚴(yán)酷訓(xùn)練和美杜莎上的評估方法的情況下。不過，鐵手軍團因保有極其龐大且復(fù)雜的戰(zhàn)爭引擎軍備——尤其是坦克、裝甲載具和無畏機甲而著稱，也許除了佩圖拉博的第四軍團之外，鐵手軍團的裝甲儲備能匹敵任何軍團。由于和機械神教之間的長期聯(lián)系與許多鐵手戰(zhàn)士所展示出的技術(shù)才能，他們擁有很多在機械神教之外無法被看到的生化植入系統(tǒng)，而且他們也能廣泛地仿制和保有大量的重力武器、轉(zhuǎn)換光束發(fā)射器和激光破壞者系統(tǒng)以及其他神秘玄奧死亡機器的儲備。鐵手軍備的范圍也拓展到了數(shù)量龐大的機仆（通常用失敗的軍團應(yīng)征者改造而成，而根據(jù)長期存在的傳言，戰(zhàn)俘也會被鐵手軍團改造成機仆）和諸如殘暴之刃之類的先進超重型坦克。另外，在可能的時候，鐵手軍團偏好讓戰(zhàn)斗機兵和來自機械神教的部隊提供戰(zhàn)略支持。第十軍團對大多數(shù)帝國軍單位都不屑一顧——因為（鐵手們認為）他們不適合前線作戰(zhàn)。

It is also worthy of note that the Iron Hands Legion, and its master Ferrus Manus, was at the forefront of the introduction of a number of weapons systems and armour patterns over the course of the Great Crusade. The fruits of some, such as their contribution of the prototype Indomitus pattern to the Tactical Dreadnought Armour project and the powerful Stormbreaker pattern thunder hammer, would later be widely disseminated to the rest of?the Legions. While the secrets of certain other weapons and metallurgic and cybermantic crafts, they kept to themselves and their most trusted confidantes within the Mechanicum.

同樣值得記錄的一點是，在大遠征期間，鐵手軍團及其主宰費魯斯 馬努斯處于推行多種武器系統(tǒng)和裝甲載具型號的最前沿。其中的某些成果——比如他們?yōu)閼?zhàn)術(shù)無畏動力甲計劃貢獻的不屈型終結(jié)者動力甲原型機和強大的破颶者型雷霆錘之后將會被廣泛傳播到其他軍團。不過，對于某些其他武器、冶金學(xué)和智控技術(shù)造物的秘密，他們保留在了自己和機械神教中那些他們最為信任的盟友手里。

The strength of the Iron Hands pseudo- feudal system of organisation created a highly disciplined and motivated force which both despised and punished failure and weakness, and rewarded and glorified strength, accomplishment and success. This created an environment in which the most competent and strongest-willed rose quickly within the ranks, and those who did not make the measure were quickly weeded out. It also provided a set of boundaries and strictures which channelled the raw aggression and adversarial tendencies of the Iron Hands themselves, many of whom shared their Primarch's volatile temperament, kept in check through a mixture of coldly-imposed Legion discipline and with Medusan cultural values of?bloody- minded pragmatism which were taken as the Legion’s creed.

鐵手軍團組織結(jié)構(gòu)中的偽封建制度的長處創(chuàng)造出了一支紀(jì)律嚴(yán)明、干勁十足的部隊，他們鄙視懲罰失敗和軟弱，同時獎勵贊頌力量、成就和成功。這創(chuàng)造出了一種氛圍：最為稱職和意志最為堅定的人會被快速提拔，而那些沒有做出成就的人很快就被淘汰了。它也提供了一套（用于）引導(dǎo)鐵手們自身那的強烈的侵略性和敵對傾向都界限和約束——很多鐵手戰(zhàn)士們都分享了他們原體那喜怒無常的易變性情，要通過冷酷強加的軍團紀(jì)律和被當(dāng)作軍團信條的美杜莎血腥實用主義文化價值觀來加以控制。

It also had the effect of creating not inconsiderable friction and indeed direct competition between the Legion's Clans, both to attain glory and praise in their Primarch's eyes and to outdo each other in battle. This competitiveness had a very practical consideration also as the most successful Clans were favoured by their Primarch with a greater proportion of recruits and additional resources —a matter not of favouritism but logic in their master's eyes— a distribution weighted to prefer the Clan who had proved itself most able to utilise what it was given in the Legion's service. For the rest the message was equally clear; it was a matter of the survival of the fittest; adapt, grow strong, overcome—or fail and wither to destruction. It has been argued by some that the embodiment of this philosophy, particularly in the person of its Primarch Ferrus Manus, contributed greatly to the crisis and mental shock endured by the Iron Hands Legion after the dire events of Isstvan V

這也讓軍團的各個氏族之間產(chǎn)生了不小的摩擦和實際上的直接競爭，各氏族彼此競爭既是為了獲得榮耀和原體眼中的褒獎，也是為了在戰(zhàn)斗中超越彼此。這種競爭性也有非常實際的考慮：最成功的氏族會得到原體的青睞，被給予更多的征兵份額與額外的資源——在他們的主宰看來，這不是出于偏袒，而是出于邏輯——分配權(quán)重優(yōu)先給予那些已經(jīng)證明自己最有能力利用原體提供的資源為軍團效勞的氏族。而對其他氏族來說，信息同樣清晰：優(yōu)勝劣汰。適應(yīng)，變得強大，克服困難——或者失敗并走向毀滅。有人認為，這種哲學(xué)尤其體現(xiàn)在鋼鐵之手原體費魯斯?馬努斯身上，它也嚴(yán)重地導(dǎo)致了鐵手軍團在伊斯特萬五號的可怕事件后所承受的危機和精神震撼。

War Disposition

戰(zhàn)爭配置

At the outset of the Horus Heresy, the Iron Hands Legion is commonly estimated to have had an operational strength just in excess of 113,000 Legiones Astartes, with a huge operating reserve of wargear and supplies, alongside a diverse fleet of around a hundred capital vessels of?various classes. This placed the Iron Hands within the mid-tier of Legion strengths recorded at this date by their numbers alone, but in general terms, their resource in wargear, war materiel and supply made them a considerably greater military power in practice than their number alone would suggest.

在荷魯斯叛亂開始時，人們通常估計鋼鐵之手軍團的作戰(zhàn)兵力剛超過113,000名軍團阿斯塔特，擁有數(shù)量龐大的作戰(zhàn)裝備和供給物資的儲備，而且配備了一支擁有大約一百艘各種型號主力艦的多樣化艦隊。單靠他們的兵力數(shù)量，鐵手軍團的實力在當(dāng)時被記錄的各個軍團的實力中處于中游，但總的來說，他們當(dāng)時所擁有的裝備、戰(zhàn)備和供給資源使鐵手軍團實際的軍事力量大大超過了其人數(shù)所能表明的水平。

At the time the events at Isstvan III were taking place, the major constituent of the Legion (believed to be around two thirds its strength both in terms of manpower and ships, comprising the majority of its most powerful Clans), were under the direct command of their Primarch, forming the 52nd Expeditionary fleet. Owing to the perfidious treachery of Fulgrim, and the uncontrollable wrath of Ferrus Manus in response, the Iron Hands Primarch broke ranks from this force and reached Isstvan V with only an elite cadre chosen from his then-favoured Avemii Clan alongside him, almost all of whom were annihilated with their slain Primarch during the Dropsite Massacre. A great many more vessels of the 52nd Expeditionary fleet following on behind their Primarch were also destroyed, along with tens of thousands of Iron Hands on board as they later transited into the Isstvan system, rushing unknowingly into a death trap from which only a few ships were to escape. Taken together, these losses were great, although this left more survivors from the Iron Hands Legion in number than could be ascribed to the Dropsite Massacre's other victim Legions overall. This was largely the case as large groups of Iron Hands were presently engaged elsewhere and unable to heed, or ignorant of, their Primarch's rushed call to assault the traitors at the Isstavan system. The legion was nevertheless savagely reduced;the suvivors scattered physically and utterly shattered spiritually by its losses.?

在伊斯特萬三號暴行發(fā)生時，軍團的主力部隊（據(jù)信這是鐵手軍團人力和艦隊數(shù)的大約三分之二，由軍團中幾個最強大氏族的主力部隊構(gòu)成）在原體的直接命令下組成了第52遠征艦隊。由于弗格瑞姆的背信棄義與費魯斯 馬努斯對此而產(chǎn)生的不可控制的震怒，鐵手原體離開了這種部隊，并且僅僅率領(lǐng)著一支由他從自己最為器重的阿維尼氏族中挑選出的精銳核心部隊就前往了伊斯特萬五號，而在登錄點大屠殺當(dāng)中，這些精銳幾乎全部同他們被害的原體一起殉國。第52遠征艦隊追隨原體前往伊斯特萬星系，大量艦船也慘遭毀滅，船上被運送到伊斯特萬星系的數(shù)萬鐵手軍團戰(zhàn)士也壯烈犧牲，他們渾然不知地闖入了一個死亡陷阱，只有極少數(shù)艦船逃出生天。總的來說，雖然鋼鐵之手軍團的幸存者人數(shù)超過了登錄點大屠殺中其他受害軍團幸存者人數(shù)的總和，但他們?nèi)匀粨p失慘重。在大部分情況下這是因為大量的鋼鐵之手當(dāng)時正在其他地區(qū)作戰(zhàn)，無法理會或者干脆無視了原體的緊急召喚：進攻伊斯特萬星系的叛軍部隊。第十軍團遭受了慘重的損失，這些損失不僅讓幸存者的組織四分五裂，而且讓他們的精神徹底粉碎了。

Initially sent reeling and psychologically devastated, the Irons Hands Legion's survivors fractured, and the full story of what happened to its scions remains clouded to this day. It is known, however, that some Clans re-organised a council of Iron-Fathers on Medusa to take charge of the ravaged Legion, and speeded the recruitment and creation of new Space Marines from the extensive stores of?gene-seed kept there with the goal of?rebuilding the Legion. Alongside this, it is widely believed that in the aftermath some Iron Hands units and, in some cases, entire Clans shunned the Medusan Council's assumed authority and went their own way, consumed by their own hatred and need for revenge. These fractured forces fought their own war and it is widely believed some delved into the use of dark and forbidden forces from humanity's ancient past to do so, although this has been strenuously denied since by the Iron Hands Clan Council.

在最初階段，鐵手幸存者們感到的是震驚與精神崩潰，軍團成為一盤散沙，時至今日，當(dāng)年發(fā)生在費魯斯 馬努斯子嗣們身上的完整故事仍然被隱藏著，不過據(jù)我們所知，某些氏族們在母星美杜莎上重組了鐵父議會來管理被摧毀的第十軍團，而且他們動用為重建軍團而保存在美杜莎的額外基因種子儲備來加快星際戰(zhàn)士的征兵和創(chuàng)造。除此之外，人們普遍相信之后有某些鐵手單位——有些情況下甚至是整個氏族躲開了美杜莎議會假定的權(quán)威，并且走上了自己的道路，他們被自己的仇恨和復(fù)仇的需要所吞噬。這些分裂出去的部隊進行著自己的戰(zhàn)爭，人們普遍相信其中的某些部隊深入研究了對于人類在古老的過去所使用過的黑暗禁忌力量的利用，雖然這種行為是被鐵手氏族議會極力禁止的。

What cannot be contested, however, is that other lone Iron Hands and small scattered groups cast off their Legion's livery entirely and either fought on alone or went renegade—Iron Hands no more. Regardless of the hidden truths of these terrible times, the Iron Hands Legion in the years that followed the Dropsite Massacre, and largely under the auspices of the Medusan faction, managed to re-enter the fight against the Traitors with devastating results on several outer worlds, but it was as a shadow of its former strength; no longer a Legion whole，united or entirely sane.

但無可爭辯的是：其他孤身一人的鐵手戰(zhàn)士們和分散的小型鐵手團隊們完全擺脫了軍團的制服標(biāo)志，他們要么獨自作戰(zhàn)，要么就是叛變投敵，他們再也不是鋼鐵之手。但不考慮這些悲慘年代中被隱藏起來的事實，很大程度上也是在美杜莎派系的支持下，鋼鐵之手軍團在登錄點大屠殺之后的歲月中設(shè)法重新與叛軍交戰(zhàn)，并對數(shù)個邊遠世界進行了毀滅性的打擊，但這只是往昔鐵十軍團的殘影；他們不再是一個統(tǒng)一且完全理性的完整軍團。