Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 387: Expand the military across the board!

After the Winter Festival, the wasteland north of the Gods Ridge Mountains had not seen snow for a full week.

This means that the cold winter is about to end, and spring, when all things come back to life, will soon arrive.

Harvey got up early, which was a rare occasion, but he was still unwilling to go out in the low temperature outside. Instead, he summoned Reiner, who usually came to report on work at lunchtime, to his study in advance.

Also summoned this time were Asdalen and Pierce, and all three of Lord Harvey's direct subordinates were present.

"Expand the army?" Pierce was stunned for a moment, then an expression of joy that was hard to conceal emerged on his face, but he still secretly glanced at Reiner and Asdalen who were sitting on the sofa beside him. Unfortunately, the two metal skulls could not allow him to observe the other party's expressions.

"Yes, the territory's permanent population has exceeded 50,000. Adding the eastern basin that will soon be incorporated into the territory, the current 3,000 regular troops are probably not enough."

"My lord, the territory is short of people everywhere right now. The East Coast Garrison Corps will soon face the spring sowing operation. The person in charge has repeatedly requested to increase the number of agricultural soldiers to be recruited... In addition, the eastern basin is about to undergo large-scale development. Can the expansion of the army be delayed further..." Reiner always sticks to the facts and does not shy away from such issues.

Harvey stood up and walked over to the map on the wall. "You should all know that the nobles and churches in the south are nothing to fear from us. But if a powerful foreign race invades from the north, our territory will be on the front line of attack..."

He picked up a thick charcoal pencil and drew a straight horizontal line to the north of the territory, while an arrow indicated the direction south of Jackdaw Ridge. "Expanding south and defending north is our only option for survival. This means that for a long time to come, we will likely face the dilemma of fighting on two fronts. Expanding our military is essential for rapid development!"

In the Divine Ridge Mountains, which stretch for thousands of miles, the only gaps that can be truly invaded by foreign races are the Evil Moon Mountains in the west, the Jackdaw Ridge in the middle... and the Golden Forest in the east where the elves live.

If the powerful alien races mentioned in the memory fragments invaded the human kingdom from the east and west, at least there would be the demons and elves blocking the way and providing a buffer. Only in the area of Jackdaw Ridge in the Central Kingdom, apart from the loose and barbaric evil orc tribes in the north, only Harvey's pioneering territory was isolated on the front line of the alien invasion.

The plan of southward expansion is of course an urgent matter. Without sufficient population to consume the war and provide productivity, Harvey has no confidence in winning a protracted war. It is probably difficult for him to just deal with the covetous eyes of the nobles and the church.

"At the very least, we must bring the entire northern part of Saint Valen under our rule and jurisdiction as quickly as possible," Harvey concluded cautiously. "Although the population in the north is less than 100,000, the land is flat and fertile, and the aristocratic forces affiliated with the Church are few and far between... Furthermore, once we capture Sancha Town, a key river transportation hub, it will be very convenient for us to advance westward or southward."

Asdalen said slowly, "The only obstacle before us is the church."

Harvey chuckled. "Indeed, I used to be on the sidelines regarding the conflict between the Church and the Union... But now, we have no choice but to take the initiative and completely side with the Union to eliminate all Church influence in Saint Valen."

Pierce said seriously, "Sir, should we send our troops directly to Fengyuan City? Or should we bypass Duke Ralph's garrison and raid Jinhui City, the capital of Saint Valen?"

After becoming the commander of the entire army, Pierce's vision and command ability have greatly improved. He is no longer as reckless and short-sighted as before. He can roughly guess his lord's thoughts and ideas without waiting for Harvey to take the initiative to propose strategic plans.

"Bypass Fengyuan City? I don't think that's necessary." Harvey laughed twice and slapped the area belonging to Fengyuan City on the southern border map. "Attack Fengyuan City first, then go straight to Jinhui City... I want to push all the way and cooperate with the spellcasting troops deployed by the Federation on the border of Daes to form a two-pronged attack on Grand Duke Saint Valen!"

...After Harvey quickly discussed and determined the new round of military expansion plan with the three of them, he didn't even have time to eat lunch and hurried out to the alchemy laboratory.

The alchemy laboratory, which has been renovated and expanded three times, is completely different from the previous one. The building complex next to the magic military factory even has an extremely spacious weapons testing ground built underground.

And this is exactly the destination that Harvey is going to - to accept and test a newly developed magical weapon.

Since Commander-in-Chief Pierce was busy with military affairs, Harvey could only arrange for his personal guard captain Tommy to be responsible for operating and testing the weapons, but he was not allowed to use his bloodline talents to fully simulate the situation of ordinary soldiers using new weapons.

The underground weapons test site is a huge rectangle that looks like a closed rugby field. At one end stand many huge targets painted in eye-catching colors, and there are also rulers and lines drawn on the ground for calculating the range.

"Sir, I'm ready!" Captain Tommy of the Royal Guard took two steps forward, touched his chest and saluted Harvey.

Harvey nodded and nodded at Chris, who was already rubbing his hands in anticipation. The latter immediately showed a smug expression and pulled away a piece of bulging oilcloth beside him, revealing the true appearance of the new weapon hidden underneath.

"This... isn't this a new type of magic gun?" Tommy and the guards beside him were stunned.

Compared to the long-handled magic gun made of a wooden handle and an iron pipe, the thing in front of him looked like a strangely shaped "miniature" magic-powered cannon. It was made entirely of pitch-black extremely cold iron, with a triangular bracket installed at the bottom. When standing upright, it was almost half a person's height. The barrel, which was also more than one meter long, was as thick as an adult's arm. The magic bullets that originally needed to be pressed one by one into a special magazine were now neatly hung on a long leather belt, with one end of the belt connected to the magazine position in front of the trigger of the gun body, which looked indescribable.

"This new weapon has been named the Magic Machine Gun by the Lord." Chris pointed at the weapon in front of him and introduced it proudly. "It uses the same bullets as the magic guns you use every day, but it needs to be mounted on this leather bandolier to be successfully fired..."

"Okay, there's no need to elaborate on the design principles and weapon structure. Soldiers don't need to understand them, they just need to know how to operate them!" Seeing that Chris was about to start talking again, Harvey quickly interrupted his "pre-casting" and called Tommy, who looked confused, to come up and try the gun.

The captain of the guard carefully followed Harvey's instructions and sat on the chair fixed behind the magic machine gun. Then he watched with a dull look as the alchemy apprentices hung a long bullet bag on the gun.

"Sir, how do I aim? There's no sight on this."

Harvey chuckled and encouraged, "No need for sights, just pull the trigger and hold it, shooting straight ahead!"

"Oh... okay!" Tommy responded honestly. After Harvey retreated behind him, he immediately pulled the metal trigger at the tail of the machine gun.

But what happened next made him unable to believe his eyes!

(End of this chapter)