Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 280 Artillery Selection

Bobcat had been extremely nervous these past few days. He had trouble eating or sleeping, and had made many mistakes during daytime training, causing his direct superior to publicly reprimand him several times.

As a squad leader of the territory defense force, this is a mistake that should not be made. If he continues like this, he will probably have to do a self-criticism. He has just completed his literacy education, and writing a self-criticism is tantamount to a terrible torture of physical and mental pain.

All this is due to a strange order issued by the military a week ago.

The lord decided to select a group of grassroots soldiers and junior officers with outstanding performance and abilities from the Defense Army and the Northern Army to form a special combat team. At the initiative of Bobcat, the battalion commander who always valued him put his name on the shortlist.

But the list had been submitted for two or three days, and he had not received any reply, which made him a little uneasy.

On a public holiday, he met with several familiar captains at the officers' club and quietly discussed the selection of personnel to form a new army. They happened to meet Tietou, who was transferred from the Northern Army to serve as the deputy captain of the lord's personal guard.

Although Tietou is a half-orc officer, he has always been respected in the army because he has undergone the blood awakening ceremony bestowed by the lord himself and became a powerful and extraordinary warrior with the talent of "ice blood". No one dares to discriminate against his mixed-race identity.

Although the Defense Army has always been at odds with the Northern Army, Tietou, who came from the Northern Army, happened to become the brother-in-law of the Mountain Cat. His gentle and beautiful younger sister fell in love with the ugly half-orc officer because of an accidental "bear saving the beauty", so the Mountain Cat had to grit his teeth and accept this insane marriage.

"Hi! My dear brother-in-law!" The ugly-looking but warm-hearted half-orc Tietou came over with a glass of light beer. He casually stuck his butt out and squeezed out a spacious seat for himself. "Why are you here at the club so early? Why don't you accompany me to pick up Dinah from get off work? We're going to the convenience market tonight to pick out items for the wedding. My sweet Dinah, I want a ladies' silk hat imported from the South."

The other team leaders' faces were twitching from trying to hold back their laughter. Shanmao tightly gripped the wine glass in his hand and dared not lash out. He looked at Tietou's face, which was half burned by flames and left with a horrible scar, and was afraid and speechless. The burns on his face were left when he was fighting against the demons and was hit by a fireball spewed out by the enemy's mounted monster. It was both an ugly scar and a testimony of honor.

Of course, even if he hadn't been disfigured by the accident, his original appearance would not have been handsome at all.

God bless! I hope my sister and this guy don’t give birth to a daughter after marriage, otherwise he will really cry for help...

Shanmao sighed resignedly and explained in a low voice, "We've met here to privately discuss the Lord's raising of a new army. Do you know any gossip we could share? I haven't received a response from the military, and I haven't been able to sleep well these past few days."

Tietou winked and chuckled, then snapped his fingers. A sparkling snowflake squeezed out from his fingertips and landed in his beer glass, instantly turning his drink icy and refreshing. He leaned his massive head closer to the group, his fang-baring mouth pouting as he whispered mysteriously, "The new army... will be issued a new weapon personally developed by the Lord. It's a hundred times more powerful than the magic gun. I can't say more... Remember the confidentiality clause!"

A new weapon even more powerful than the magic gun? Shanmao was startled and quickly asked, "Any other information beyond the confidentiality regulations? What are the selection requirements? What about the salary and benefits? Will bloodline warriors like you have an easier time getting selected? Do ordinary soldiers and officers like us still have a chance?"

The barrage of questions left Tietou stunned. After gulping down a few large gulps of light beer, he burped and came back to his senses. "The lord said that this batch of new troops...bloodline warriors will not be selected. Only ordinary soldiers like you will be selected. Sigh...I also want to try out the powerful new weapons."

Lynx glanced at his colleagues and saw a smile on their faces. Without these extraordinary monsters competing for the selection, their chances of being selected were greatly increased. The military couldn't possibly favor the Northern Army completely; they had to leave some spots for the Defense Force. Lynx completely forgot about this ill-fated marriage and found his half-blood brother-in-law much more appealing. He warmly put his arm around his shoulders, acting like an older brother, and said gently, "Spend more time with Dinah on your days off. As the lord's personal guard, you're often busy with official duties and can't spare time..."

He immediately changed the subject and whispered, "What exactly is the new weapon developed by the Lord personally..."

Before he could finish his words, the club's door was flung open and a defense soldier rushed in with a stack of documents. He rushed straight to their table and shouted happily, "Captain Bobcat! Captain Thor! You two have been selected!"

……

Joining the newly formed artillery battalion did not disappoint Lynx. Although he could no longer carry a magic gun and wear a neat defense uniform, marching from the barracks through the streets of the territory's residential area every day and receiving the admiring and worshipful salutes of the residents along the way, at least his salary increased significantly, jumping from 120 gold yuan per month to 160 gold yuan, almost catching up with the battalion commander of the defense army.

The new weapon named "Magic Power Cannon" is indeed extremely powerful. Bobcat feels that the Lord's selection of this group of people to form a new army to operate such a powerful weapon also indirectly proves that his excellent performance has won the Lord's attention.

It’s just that the following training is a bit too harsh and tedious.

A magic-powered cannon requires the cooperation of six people to operate, two of whom are responsible for operating the cannon and four are responsible for ensuring vigilance. Because Bobcat used to be a squad leader of the defense forces, he was directly assigned as the leader of an artillery team.

Compared to the magic gun that can be fired by simply raising the hand after loading the bullet, this heavy thing is much more complicated to operate. For nearly a month, they were not qualified to touch the real cannon. Instead, they were forced to use cannon models made of thick tree trunks for simulation exercises, repeating the same set of operations every day.

Drive the Alchemy Camel to the designated firing position, secure the gun mount and raise the muzzle with the joystick, check the ammunition box for ammunition, clean the barrel, load the shells, release the safety pin with special pliers, use the shooting scale to repeatedly confirm the impact point three times, and then enter the firing position...

The entire operational training process must not have any negligence or mistakes, and must be completed within the scheduled time through the skilled cooperation and precise timing of the two gunners. Once an operational error or process is disordered, they will be immediately ruthlessly reprimanded by Officer Pierce, who will personally lead the training.

If a student makes more than three mistakes during training that day, he or she will be criticized in front of the entire battalion during the theoretical study class at night, and will also have to submit a 300-word self-criticism report before lights out.

This was the form of punishment that Lynx feared the most, so he was extremely nervous and focused during daily training. Even after falling asleep at night, he would mutter to himself in his dreams: "Raise the muzzle! Check the ammunition! Clean the barrel! Load the shells..."

I just don't know when I will have the chance to touch a real magic-powered cannon and experience the feeling of live ammunition.

(End of this chapter)