Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 805 Diving Cruise
Three days later, the Northern Naval Submarine Force launched a defensive operation against the underground river beneath the border of Eisengard, in accordance with the established operational plan.

The first batch of twenty submarines set off from the lake area dock in turn, and under the guidance of the sea creature soldiers who served as "abyss navigators", they slowly sank into the deep Thorn Lake.

Using the magic stone lamps at the bow of the ships, they quickly discovered a huge underwater fissure in the center of the lake, nearly 100 meters wide, wide enough for three submarines to dive side by side. After the navigator went in to explore and returned to report that it was safe, the submarine force followed closely behind and entered in single file.

"Buzz—This is the Jihu Naval Garrison Command. First Submarine Squadron, please report your current location immediately—Buzz—"

After venturing deep into the underground river through fissures at the bottom of the lake, the signal from the communication network carried by the submarines became intermittent due to the water and thick rock layers. The submarine convoy, which was originally descending in a column, had to rely on the navigator's guidance and directional calibration to avoid getting lost or separated in the dense network of underground waterways.

"Lieutenant, this stealth route is confirmed. Should we report back to command?"

The young sea-folk officer Quincy nodded and calmly ordered, "Send our coordinates back to the shore, and tell them... this is the last time we will initiate contact. After that, we will enter silent patrol mode as planned."

As the first advance party to enter the underground river, Quincy understood the mission his team was tasked with: to be the first to reach the designated garrison position in the battle plan, then deploy alchemical mines to blockade the main waterway, and to remain on guard there for at least three days and three nights until the oxygen inside the ships ran out, before returning to shore after the second batch of replacement ships arrived to take over.

The dark, shadowless underground river is the Lizardmen's advantageous battlefield. Submarines, whether navigating or deploying alchemical mines, inevitably release magical fluctuations, which are like fireflies in the darkness to these alien sentinels. Once their location is detected, there is an immediate risk of battle.

Therefore, long before the operation began, the General Staff and the Navy jointly formulated a meticulous action plan: once the submarines arrived at their garrison location and completed their mine-laying mission, they needed to immediately enter a state of silence, shut down all alchemy equipment that might generate magical fluctuations, and completely disappear into the darkness.

Therefore, for the sake of the operation plan, Commander Guterres transferred almost the entire number of the sea creature officers to join the first advance team to be stationed, so that these sea creature warriors who were already very familiar with deep-sea navigation could take on the important task of navigation and guidance.

Two soft knocks echoed through the ship; the submarine's porthole was tapped twice rhythmically from the outside.

Quincy peered out the porthole and immediately spotted one of his own kind, a navigator, floating outside, making several tactical hand gestures with his palm pressed against the porthole.

This means we have reached the designated coordinates and can now deploy mine traps!

Using the dim light inside the ship, the young lieutenant nodded to the navigator outside, then whispered the order: "Bombardiers, position five degrees to the left ahead... Deploy the first batch of trap mines!"

"Yes, sir!"

The two bombardiers immediately responded in low voices, and with a highly skilled coordinate calibration and loading procedure, they launched the mines that had been pre-loaded into the launcher one after another into the darkness ahead.

After a slight fluctuation of magical energy, a shuttle-shaped black shadow swiftly slid out of the mine launch port mounted on the underside of the submarine, stirring up waves of water before using its momentum to head towards the intersection of the underground river channel more than 300 meters ahead.

At the same time, the other submarines stationed at various outposts also completed the deployment of trap mines almost simultaneously, immediately sealing off several main waterways south of the underground river and forming a net of warning in the water.

The limited oxygen stored in submarines, coupled with the cramped, dark space underwater for extended periods, can easily cause claustrophobia, chest tightness, and tinnitus among the soldiers. Fortunately, the Royal Medical Institute has a magical potion called "Relaxing Potion," which not only significantly reduces the soldiers' heart rate and breathing frequency during diving operations, thus decreasing oxygen consumption, but also effectively alleviates many of the negative effects of deep-sea diving. Having completed the most crucial part of the garrison mission, Quincy's tense emotions eased slightly. Looking around at the remaining soldiers who remained silent on the ship, he said softly, "For the next three days, we need to stay here, like silent ghosts, keeping a close watch... We cannot let our guard down for the slightest!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers all stood solemnly, responding with clenched fists and chests in silence.

……

By the time His Majesty the Emperor received the report from the naval command, it was already past nightfall.

After listening briefly to Guterres's report on the first phase of operations, Xavi asked a few key questions before quickly ending the call.

He got up and paced around the room a few times, but couldn't help walking back to the map, squinting and staring intently at the underground river channels drawn on it.

"Our underwater military capabilities... are still too weak."

Although the idea of ​​developing submersibles arose several years ago, which can be considered as a precaution, compared with the increasingly mature military shipbuilding technology, the entire underwater combat system of the Northern Navy is still in the experimental stage, and very few have been applied to actual combat.

When they actually had to face the alien enemies underground, the difference between the two became apparent—the submarine carrying ten soldiers was comparable in size to a sea fish and a tiger shark, even compared to an ordinary floating island fortress.

The mere fifty deep-sea submersibles constitute the entirety of the Northern Navy's underwater combat power. The idea of ​​relying solely on the Alchemist torpedo, a heavy weapon, to sink an enemy's floating island fortress in an underground river battle remains a pipe dream.

“Your Majesty, at least on the ground battlefield for now, we still have a clear advantage. I think the Lizardmen will be more focused on how to turn the tide on the grasslands as soon as possible.” Asdaren, who was in charge of intelligence gathering for the entire eastern front, also had his own views on the current predicament.

"Perhaps our predictions of the enemy's actions are flawed... Maybe their floating fortresses won't even be heading south from the grassland border."

Harvey shrugged, noncommittally saying, "In this war, we can't afford to take any chances... Please inform Chris and Benoit, as well as Dean Arturo of the Academy of Sciences."

He paused for a moment, and then finally revealed a plan that had been lingering in his mind for a long time.

"We need to start developing weapons of war that are advantageous for underwater warfare as soon as possible... Submarines cannot be relied upon as the only option; giant underwater combat alchemical beasts should be the main force on the battlefield in the future."

Of course... the premise is that they need to travel to the southern seas, capture enough giant marine monsters with the full cooperation of the sea creatures, and extract their souls for alchemical beast transformation experiments.

(End of this chapter)