Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 583 Battle Plan
"This is the specific battle plan, everyone... Next we will discuss the details of the operation. Please feel free to ask if you have any questions." Harvey put down the documents in his hand, pressed his palms on the table, looked around with a firm gaze, and said in a steady tone.

Without a doubt, the first "troublemaker" to jump out was Mr. Son of Flame. He gently closed the tactical report in his hand, stood up, and frowned. "According to the military's strategy, the role of us battle mages piloting airships in the raid is... just bait?"

"It's both a decoy and a sharp sword for effective counterattacks when necessary..." Harvey explained patiently. "Considering the anti-aircraft attack capabilities that Floating Island No. 3 must possess, the airships can't get close enough to bomb it. The lizardmen's skin and armor are naturally resistant to magic, so it would be equally dangerous for the mages to leave the cover of their aerial vehicles and engage in ground combat."

If they are not careful, this group of battle mages, numbering no more than a hundred, will be trapped in an enemy formation that is dozens of times larger than their own... After all, the black water of the magic lizardmen can be replenished nearby at any time, and the magic power of the caster cannot be fully restored in an instant once it is exhausted.

The cluster spellcasting that the Mage Corps was proud of essentially needed to be close to the floating island to be effective. Under the solid defense of the floating island itself, it could not cause any destructive damage, not to mention that the magic lizardmen also had the ability to transform into a black crystal shield.

"The only thing you can do is to use the airships to lure away most of the Winged Creatures and provide air cover for the shallow-water heavy gunboats responsible for carrying out targeted bombing of the floating island a few miles away." Vaughn's face was grim, and he pointed out the crux of the problem without mercy.

Stormrunner pondered for a moment, then took the initiative to ask, "Have any of our spellcasters ever engaged them head-on in battle before? Just how powerful is their strange anti-magic armor?"

Duncan, who sat below Harvey, sat up straight and spoke slowly, "The seventh-level creative attack spell, Arcane Storm, is nearly ineffective against them, and they're nearly immune to the Necromancer's mid-level poison spells... But if we can destroy their carapaces with physical attacks, the magic resistance attached to their bodies will be greatly weakened. A single low-level magic missile would be enough to reduce them to dust."

The Eye of Illusion considered for a moment before adding, "Force field magic can effectively defend against the enemy's black water attacks. Ice and fire elemental magic can freeze the enemy's body and slow them down. Meanwhile, fire magic can easily ignite liquid black water... It's like kerosene, igniting instantly."

After hearing two high-level battle mages speak in person, the Son of Flame immediately revealed a satisfied expression and nodded, "So, these alien monsters aren't completely invulnerable. And my greatest strength... happens to be fire magic."

As for the need to rely on physical attacks to achieve "armor breaking" in battle... Fair had a sinister smile on his face. His powerful body that had been transformed by magic was no less powerful than that of a bloodline warrior. Even if he only used a fist as big as a sand bowl, it was enough to hammer those skin monsters into a bag of mud.

He raised his chin with a hint of pride, pointed at Commander Vaughn, who sat across from him with a serious expression, and chuckled, "There's nothing wrong with using us as bait, but Commander...if your mortal soldiers run into trouble on the battlefield, don't forget to call on us, the celestial 'bait,' for immediate assistance."

"Ask for help? The Northern Army has always only rescued others. After fighting under Your Majesty for so long, we have never encountered a situation where we needed a spellcaster to rescue us." Vaughn's face was a little gloomy, but he still suppressed his anger in front of Harvey and refuted in a deep voice.

The Son of Flame scratched his head and curled his lips, saying, "That's true... After all, you only need to stay on the ironclad warship, hide a few miles away from the battlefield, and fire a few shots. You might not even see the shadow of the Demon Lizardmen from beginning to end."

Harvey shook his head and reluctantly reminded him, "Mr. Fair, don't forget that once the floating island defenses are successfully destroyed, the soldiers will need to abandon their ships and land for actual ground combat."

Seeing the situation suddenly becoming tense, Storm Walker quickly stepped in to smooth things over. "Before that, we will do our best to annihilate the enemy's Winged Ones and clear a safe area of airspace for the soldiers fighting on the ground."

He paused, then gave a stiff smile and said, "Come to think of it... Your Majesty, you haven't invited us to visit your steel ship yet, and haven't sent someone to teach us how to fly your new airship?"

Harvey immediately raised his lip when he heard this, and decisively changed the subject: "In that case, today's military meeting will come to an end for the time being. Since the two chief ministers are not in attendance anyway, I will take this opportunity to show you around the new ship from beginning to end!"

Although they arrived at the warship port only one day later, thanks to the extremely high work efficiency of the shipyard workers and alchemy beasts, the deck outfitting of the entire ship has been completed. After working all night... the magic cannons and ship-borne beam weapons delivered in advance have also been assembled.

When Harvey and a group of battle mages stepped onto the deck, the scene before them left everyone speechless.

The Son of Fire walked to the side of the ship without caring about his image at all, raised his hand and knocked lightly, and as expected, the sound of metal clanging was heard.

"Wow! Not only is the entire hull made of steel, but even the sides are made of steel... How much steel did you use to build such a terrifying ship? How heavy is it? How can it float so easily on the water?"

In fact, it is less than five thousand tons... It's just that this world does not have such a unit of weight, and ordinary weight units have not developed words that can describe its volume, just like most people in the previous life could only use "trillion" to describe the extreme quantity.

Harvey could only smile and evade the question, "How much it weighs isn't really important. All you need to know is that it not only floats effortlessly on the water, but also travels nearly five times faster than a traditional sailboat."

"It won't sink to the bottom, and it can even sail very quickly on the water..." The Son of Fire thought about it and found it more and more outrageous. He immediately prepared to take off into the air and dive into the water to find out what was going on.

Who would have thought that Harvey was even quicker? His magician hand instantly activated and grabbed his robe. He said with a smile, "Mr. Fell, I assure you... there is absolutely no magic array engraved on the bottom of the ship. This ship... was indeed forged by mortal craftsmen."

Stormwalker, looking embarrassed, stepped forward to change the subject, "The ship's power source, like the airship's... also relies on the magic power core you developed, Your Majesty, right?"

Harvey nodded and said, "That's right. The only difference is the amount of cargo. To reduce the weight, airships usually only carry one core power supply, so the round-trip mileage must be strictly calculated for each operation."

Thanks to its superior load-bearing capacity, the shallow-water heavy gunboat is equipped with four power cores and can also carry enough liquid magic energy to support ocean voyages.

"Since more cores mean faster speed, why not install a few more? A ship this size could easily carry ten... no, maybe even more. By then, this giant steel fortress might even be able to fly right above the water!"

Seeing the Son of Fire growing increasingly agitated, Harvey rolled his eyes helplessly again. He put his arm around his shoulders and explained quietly, "My friend, I have to explain to you now... the principles of the magic power core cooling system, as well as the potential risks of overheating, shutdown, or even outright explosion."

(End of this chapter)