Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 66: Advancing into the Wasteland

Vaughn and Wayne walked into the barracks one after another and were immediately surrounded by everyone.

"Captain! Tell us quickly! What does the new weapon look like?" Several impatient soldiers forced them to sit on chairs and started asking questions.

Vaughn pursed his lips, trying not to laugh out loud. He glanced at his new vice-captain, Wayne, and said, "You tell me!"

Wayne nodded, pulled out a magic gun from the long leather gun bag behind him, and placed it across his legs.

"What? Where's the new weapon? Isn't this still the same magic gun?" Tommy yelled, took the gun and checked it over and over again, but found no difference.

"This is indeed a new weapon..." Wayne said with a mysterious expression, "Vaughn and I were called over today just to test the gun."

The first batch of recruited militia has now been reorganized into a sharpshooter team by Pierce. All of them are equipped with magic guns for standard shooting training. However, the guns only have three rounds of ammunition, which is not enough to form crushing fire suppression in battle, so they also have to practice bayonet and spear throwing skills on a daily basis.

"This new model of magic gun can fire ten times in a row after each charge!"

"What? Ten rounds in a row?" A gasp was heard in the barracks.

Wayne looked around with a smug look on his face. "The lab has only rushed out fifty new models, so don't even think you can own one. The commander said only the top fifty in moving target shooting are eligible..."

Vaughn, who had been silent the whole time, interrupted at this time: "With the new model of magic gun, you don't have to recharge it after every shot..." He took out a rectangular and flat metal box from the leather bag on his waist, and under the puzzled gaze of everyone, he inserted it into the slot under the butt of the gun.

The originally dim inscription symbols on the surface of the magic gun immediately lit up, indicating that the gun had been fully charged and could fire energy beams at any time.

The quick-witted Tommy immediately realized what was happening and exclaimed in surprise, "A magic gun that can be recharged on the fly? Then, even when we're out in the field, we can still shoot without worrying about it running out of energy!"

Vaughn nodded. "Captain Pierce will distribute the new magic rifles... and ammunition this afternoon. I'm here to check the list of soldiers eligible to apply for weapons. From now on, whether it's live-fire training or combat missions, we need to record the amount of ammunition each person has applied for..."

Everyone started discussing again.

Just as Vaughn was about to raise his hand to stop everyone from being quiet, a sharp assembly whistle suddenly sounded outside the barracks.

……

This is the signal for the entire army to assemble!
Pierce stood on the camp grounds, looking at the neatly lined-up soldiers before him. His face was cold as he announced, "The Lord has ordered us to assemble a small combat team and head to the glacial valley to establish a defensive outpost."

"The captain whose name I call out, please step out!"

"Captain Vaughn of the Sharpshooters!"

Vaughn perked up, stepped out of the line and shouted, "Here!"

Pierce nodded slightly, "Select fifty sharpshooters to participate in this operation!"

The original first batch of recruits for the Sharpshooters consisted of less than eighty members. Later, Pierce selected some from the second round of recruits to supplement the team, making a total of one hundred soldiers, led by Captain Vaughn and ten deputies including Wayne.

"Reserve Team 2, Captain Kraut!"

The only recruit captain who stood out in the shooting competition also stood up. He is the recruit with the best training results in all aspects among the four reserve teams of 100 people.

"Reserve Team Four, Captain Tieyan!"

……

Vaughn was a little confused. It seemed that such a small number of soldiers would not be enough to be sent to the front line to fight against the invasion of evil orcs in the glacial valley.

Confronting the fel orcs head-on was different from their usual patrols, where they would sniper-shoot lone fel orcs. Could it be that Commander Pierce was planning to deploy all of the wolf spider alchemists to the front lines?
What about patrols and security in the territory? Without the early warning and tracking of the wolf spider beasts, ordinary soldiers alone would be unable to deal with the roving evil beastmen. Without the advantage of sneak attacks, there would inevitably be casualties.

If the demonic orcs occasionally broke through the defenses and entered the territory, Vaughn couldn't imagine what would happen to the unarmed civilians. He didn't know whether the soldiers would be able to rescue them in time...

"The sharpshooters will stay here, and the other teams will disband. In two hours, we'll assemble and set off!"

Vaughn and Wayne looked at each other and realized that new weapons were about to be dispatched.

Dave excitedly held the four magazines and new pistol he had received and shouted to the other soldiers, "Hey, forty rounds of magic ammunition! Even if a group of evil orcs showed up right now, I'm sure I can call out their names one by one!"

An old lieutenant sneered, "Good fellow, you thought you were just a bunch of wooden stakes, standing still for you to shoot at!"

Everyone burst into laughter and then began to check their new equipment.

At about four o'clock in the afternoon, the assembly whistle sounded again, and a combat team of 250 people gathered in the square and then slowly marched out of the territory.

It would take at least two days and one night to reach the glacial valley area by marching on foot alone. They needed to camp once along the way, so they also brought a few alchemical camels and a dozen logistics personnel.

As Vaughn expected, as soon as he walked out of the territory wall, he saw Mr. Asdalen leading about thirty wolf spider beasts waiting by the road.

There are now about fifty wolf spider beasts in the territory, which means that more than half of the defense and vigilance forces have been drained away at once.

But he also unexpectedly discovered that behind those wolf spider beasts with long legs and toes, there were a dozen or so peculiarly shaped alchemical beasts crawling. They were slightly smaller than camel beasts, but still huge compared to an ordinary soldier.

Its shape is like a large carriage, and under its square body are six metal limbs that are thicker than Vaughn's waist, which firmly support the huge body of this giant beast.

I am 1.9 meters tall, but when I stand in front of it, I am probably only half its height.

"What is this thing?" Duff muttered quietly at the back of the team, and other sharp-eyed soldiers also began to discuss it among themselves.

Commander Pierce's cold voice came from the head of the team, "Everyone, keep quiet! That's the Lord's newly developed war-type alchemy beast."

"Now listen to my orders. All soldiers will form teams, with each team of two aboard a war beast!"

"Huh?" Vaughn was stunned, not quite understanding what the commander was saying.

Is this thing really a carriage? But the mountain road is so bumpy and uneven, can it really carry so many soldiers through the primeval forest?

Asdalen raised one hand, and the thirteen war beasts obediently retracted their thick legs and squatted steadily on the ground, with a door-shaped hole as high as a person appearing in their abdomen.

Although Vaughn was confused, he still strictly followed the instructions and led two teams of soldiers into the belly of the war beast.

It was quite spacious inside. Twenty people squeezed together without feeling crowded. They could also observe the situation outside from the small round windows inlaid with crystal lenses on the left and right sides. A small magic stone of light was fixed on the top to provide simple lighting for the soldiers inside.

Dave was a little scared. He leaned over to Vaughn's ear and whispered, "This thing looks scary. We have to sit in its belly. What if I want to poop?"

Asdalen happened to be standing outside their war beast. Upon hearing this, he chuckled, "Then you'd better pray that you can hold it in. Friendly reminder, this guy is alive..."

The hatch in the belly of the war beast closed, and Vaughn felt a continuous slight vibration, and then heard the heavy footsteps of the war beast.

More than a dozen behemoths, carrying over two hundred soldiers, slowly advanced northward, gradually disappearing into the dense primeval forest...

(End of this chapter)