Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 358 Magic Bomb
Not long after, the second round of test firing began.

This time, Earl Fagan and a group of young noble students covered their ears in advance, but they found that it was not the cannon on the dock that was responsible for the test firing, but the deafening roar from the armored icebreaker that had previously sailed from the river to the deep water area of the dock.

Due to the distance of several dozen meters, although the metal cannons installed on the ship still made earth-shaking noises, they did not shake the people present to the point of losing their balance.

The ironclad ship's magic cannon was obviously not as stable as the cannons fixed on the dock. After firing, the extremely heavy hull even shook slightly. The barrel itself was pushed violently by the recoil, and then quickly and accurately reset.

It also took two people to operate the gun together, opening the rear magazine, inserting the pointed shell, closing the magazine, engaging the safety, aiming and firing...

This cycle was repeated, and five high-speed horizontal shots were completed within three minutes. The target was a fixed target on the other side of the river at a greater distance. Earl Fagan could feel a shell ejected with the fury of thunder almost every half a minute. The frozen soil and snow on the other side of the river were violently lifted into the air one after another. The target was completely shattered as early as the second shot. The subsequent shots were also so fast that the trajectory of the shells could not be captured by the naked eye.

Judging from the time it took between the sound of the cannon and the smoke rising from the other side, Earl Feigen believed that even if the target was an elite Bloodline Knight with super mobility, it would probably be impossible to avoid its attack range.

Looking back at the group of noble students behind him, he found that they were staring blankly at the heavy metal cannon in front of them, with fear and fanaticism that could not be concealed in their eyes.

Compared to what happened to the previous Earl of Fagan... if Lord Harvey used this more powerful new weapon to deal with the coalition of nobles... I'm afraid the families of these young people would have no chance of redeeming their elders back home with money and loyalty.

I’m afraid it would be difficult to even collect a complete corpse!

"This...is this a weapon developed jointly by a spellcaster and an alchemist?" After a long while, Count Feigen swallowed and asked cautiously.

The answer surprised the nobles present.

"Where do all those spellcasters and alchemists come from?" Harvey laughed. "This is a joint effort of magicians and ordinary workers. The alchemists are only responsible for mixing the ammunition and enchanting the cannon... The metal smelting and casting of the cannon barrel are all handled by the steelworks technicians."

Earl Fagan's heart skipped a beat, and a terrible thought came to his mind.

"This thing... can be mass-produced in a workshop?"

……

During the continuous test firing, Commander Pierce also stood by and watched with an enthusiastic look on his face.

As the commander-in-chief of the army, he could better understand the power and use of this new type of naval gun than those short-sighted nobles in the south. Once they were moved onto the armored icebreakers, the primary problem of the magic-powered cannons being heavy and difficult to transport would be immediately solved.

It can achieve fast-moving covering firepower, longer strike range, and enhanced area damage...

He was almost certain that as long as he had an armored fleet with more than ten naval guns, it would not be a problem to sail down the river from the Grizzly Castle Pier and bombard all the way to the Golden City, the capital of Saint Valen.

Taking advantage of the moment when everyone was whispering, Pierce quickly walked over to Chris and asked quietly, "What is the production volume of this new type of shell? How many new naval guns can each of the three ironclad ships that have been launched be equipped with?"

Chris was stunned for a moment, but faced with the army commander's urgent questioning, he answered honestly, "Uh... after mixing in dragon flame powder, the shells require much less liquid magic energy. However... because this is a test firing, we've only rushed to produce a small number of shells, and the last round of bombardment has almost consumed half of them." Pierce felt his heart colder than a northern winter. He grabbed Chris's arm and said hurriedly, "Quickly, persuade the lord to stop the test firing! God, my heart is bleeding."

In fact, Harvey was also in great pain. Every time he fired a shell that was expensive and of low production, he felt as if a piece of flesh had fallen off his body. He just endured it to keep up appearances in front of these southern nobles.

It is very necessary to show off your muscles in public and demonstrate your ever-increasing strength.

The test firing of the new weapon went very smoothly, and its power and effect were also ideal. I believe that this group of noble students and Earl Fagan himself will firmly engrave this scene in their hearts, which will be remembered for a long time, and will never have any evil intentions again.

……

After finishing the test firing of the new weapon, Harvey invited Earl Fagan to dinner for the first time.

After experiencing the scene in the afternoon, the Earl's attitude was obviously more humble than before, and he even spoke much less.

"Your Excellency, are you coming to the wasteland just to buy some Icefield Vodka this time?" Harvey asked calmly while eating. "I remember that the vodka store in Grizzly Castle seems to have opened."

The Earl quickly put down his knife and fork, wiped his mouth, and said straight to the point, "Your Excellency, I came here to inquire about... your military deployment in Sancha Town... but I haven't found a suitable opportunity to summon you."

Harvey nodded and replied noncommittally, "You only need to cooperate with the construction of the Grizzly Fort dock and shipyard. Don't worry about anything else..."

Earl Feigen rubbed his hands awkwardly and said anxiously, "As a fiefdom earl who has officially pledged allegiance to you, I... I would like to request that you also dispatch our family's elite knights and mercenaries to fight across the border for you in the battle in Sancha Town!"

He paused, as if remembering something, and quickly added, "The nobles of other fiefdoms in Grizzly Territory are also eager to fight for you. At least after swearing allegiance to you, give everyone a chance to prove their loyalty."

When sharks hunt, there is always a large group of small fish that have a symbiotic relationship with them, swimming around them eagerly, trying to get some of the fine meat scraps from the sharks while they tear apart and share their prey.

"Elite knights and mercenaries..." Harvey chuckled. "To be honest, my army and gunboats don't seem to need this level of support..."

Count Feigen certainly understood that compared with magic cannons and ironclad ships, the knights and armed mercenaries carefully trained by the nobles were no different from paper-made ones, but he still felt extremely ashamed when Harvey pointed it out directly.

"But everyone's attitude is commendable..." Harvey changed the subject and took the initiative to calm the Earl. "Although the main battle does not require your contribution, the logistics and subsequent population transfer along the way will require those of you who are familiar with the surrounding noble territories to handle it flexibly for me..."

"After taking Sancha Town, Your Excellency, which noble do you think I should send to temporarily manage this important river port?"

Earl Fagan's body trembled, and he raised his head with a little excitement and looked at Harvey.

(End of this chapter)