Alien world

Chapter 1874, Section 507: The First Victory

The enemy was a swarm of rats ten thousand times larger than their own, yet their casualty rate was only three percent. Even including the resistance forces and other defending troops, the casualty rate did not exceed ten percent, making it an epic victory.

Any force other than the Thirteen Supreme Kings would have boasted of this achievement and become a regional overlord.

But then I thought that what's here is only one percent of the chaos in the north, not even counting the demonic forces—so there's nothing to be happy about.

In any case, they survived the most difficult time and can now fully enjoy the bitter fruit of victory.

The 158 soldiers who perished in the war have been covered with white sheets and are ready to be sent back to Liberty City. The six missing men have not yet been found... They are not truly missing, but their bodies have simply not been found in the rat swarm.

The militiamen were helping to clear rat carcasses from the city walls while searching for the remains of soldiers. But if they had accidentally fallen off the walls… there would be almost no chance of them being retrieved.

At noon, Fermi, Jack, the Berserker, and others stood in front of the portal and held a brief farewell ceremony.

Frank watched solemnly as the fallen soldier was placed in a coffin and taken home with the wounded.

They are dead, but they are still alive.

The entire Hellfire Legion signed a pact to become undead after death and continue guarding Free City. If one more heroic spirit could be born from these 158 people, it would lessen the grief of losing their comrades.

After the fallen soldiers were sent back to Liberty City, what remained were the resistance fighters who had died in battle.

They were undoubtedly more valiant and...tragic. Some of them didn't even know their identities; they had only heard the news of the ratmen invading the empire's borders, so they came alone with their luggage to resist the forces of chaos.

All Free City can do is sing praises together and help the Empire find their families as much as possible.

"Therefore, the Empire's attitude is correct. Civilians should not get involved in the war; they can protect the country from other places."

I don't like what you're saying.

Frank's mutterings were overheard by the berserker, who scoffed, "They died for honor and their beliefs; they were soldiers too!"

"You're right, I shouldn't have said that," Frank apologized for his words.

"Since you've already said that, what else can I say?"

On the fifth day, the sound of artillery fire disappeared from the Great Wall in the north, leaving only sporadic gunshots on the smoke-filled battlefield.

As far as the eye could see, there were no more moving ratmen within the firing range.

The soldiers reached the top of the city wall, the sound of gunfire still echoing in their minds, as if they were not used to such tranquility.

"Long live!"

Someone's shout broke the silence, and more and more people joined in.

"Long live!"

"Long live!"

Long live Annam!

"Long live the Emperor!"

Long live the Golden Family!

"Long live Lily!"

Who is Lily?

"The cats of Liberty City." "Long live the Succubus Queen!"

"There are damned cultists!"

A deafening roar of cheers, mixed with chaos, echoed across the Great Wall of the North, carried higher and higher by the wind, passing over the goblins dancing on the airships, and drifting into the distance.

……

The Hellfire Legion succeeded, defending the northern Great Wall for the Empire. They did not disappoint Annam.

Liberty City sent them a congratulatory letter for achieving the first phase of victory, offering only congratulations and no new orders, so they took a temporary rest at the Northern Wall.

News of the defensive battle also traveled back to Liberty City from the front lines as the portal reopened.

First and foremost is the most impactful magical imagery: the scene of an endless swarm of rats crashing against the Northern Wall is truly breathtaking, so much so that it didn't need much editing to ignite a wave of "everyone can contribute their own strength."

Especially the younger students, who never knew they could join the fight in this way, were clamoring for double the homework, with one class saying five times more.
The first thing to be addressed is the weapon that has gathered a large amount of data and suggestions.

For example, new muskets with more bullets and less chance of jamming, and larger, more robust, and more capable airships.

The ratmen have no air superiority, are slow, and stand close together, so using an airship to fight them is like a cat playing with mice—except for Tom.

The magic cannons also need to increase their rate of fire. If they could fire in rapid succession like the second-generation magic muskets, hundreds of cannons could create a no-go zone for the ratmen.

Throwing shells is a great tactic, but it's too crude. They need to develop projectiles that can actually be thrown—basically, hand grenades. Regular-sized ones aren't enough. If they could replicate the hand grenade as understood by the Annamese, it would be enough to kill infantry, but to the Skaven, what difference would that make? It's like throwing a handful of sand into the sea.
Hand grenades must be designed for high power and high lethality, ideally with a kill radius exceeding the throwing range.

Don't worry about getting hurt, because the kind ratmen will help block the flying shards.

The knight golem, which made a remarkable debut, may need improvement; it needs to be durable, durable, and durable again. Frontline warriors say it would be best to provide a magic core that can be replaced at any time, so that when it runs out of energy, a new core can be swapped out to continue fighting.

When Michael found out, he started to have wicked ideas:

"Then could we combine the core with a grenade to develop an energy core that can be used by the Knight Golem and can also be thrown as a grenade in critical moments?"

"Why not develop them separately?"

Annan wanted science to be rigorous, linear, and logical, rather than the crude and simplistic kind of "I think."

Omnipotence usually means omnipotence.

Michael, undeterred, tried a different approach: "Could we invent a grenade that, with slight modifications, could also serve as an energy core in a critical moment?"

Just as Ruth was about to say that there was no difference, Annan began to think about it seriously and realized that there was some truth to it...

There's also the oil that the reconnaissance airships poured out when they arrived. Its potency is several times that of kerosene, and it's extremely difficult to extinguish. It's perfect for dealing with rat swarms, but its production is limited—because it's a byproduct of alchemy.

Although it's hard to understand why petroleum is a byproduct of alchemy, alchemy is just that amazing.

Michael had previously produced oil, but the cost was too high. One pound of oil required one gold nar to refine into gold. Although it was still expensive after being turned into a byproduct of gold refining, it was barely affordable.

In addition, there was an interesting side story: after Annan learned that Henry had used two muskets as paddles to hit the thrown fel stones back, he casually made a tennis ball.

The men weren't interested; they preferred the more physical, hand-to-hand combat of football. The elves, however, were somewhat interested, finding the power generated by the waist in tennis similar to elven techniques, offering a more diverse and less monotonous way to develop skills. After training their soldiers, they would often spar a few rounds in the arena.

It is well known that the nasal cavity always makes a sound when exerting force, especially in sports like tennis that require rapid bursts of energy. Therefore, when Pokémon play, they always make embarrassing panting sounds like "uh-huh" when they play, which makes the arena full of young male spectators watching Pokémon play even when there are no events.

(End of this chapter)