Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 812 "Legendary" Giant Cannon

On a late afternoon nearing the end of winter, the rare sunshine peeked through the thick clouds, shining on the hard frozen ground of the North, but without a trace of warmth.

Even after sleeping all morning following his all-night work, Harvey still felt somewhat tired when he woke up. Just as he was debating whether to have lunch in his warm bed, he received some exciting news that lifted his spirits.

The No. 1 Weapon Laboratory, secretly established at the outpost, has completed the prototype design and assembly of a new weapon through the joint efforts of the Academy of Magic and the Alchemy Experiment Center.

This top-secret weapons development project was started long before the Eastern Defense War in Eisengard began. After many failures and setbacks, it finally made encouraging progress before the end of the year and the beginning of spring.

Of course, all the preliminary research and development work is in preparation for the final weapons test. After all, theoretical research is ultimately meant to serve practical application. Whether it can play a decisive role in turning the tide of the current stalemate remains to be seen.

Over the past year, Harvey has been closely monitoring the progress of the weapon development. The experimental reports he received have piled up like a small mountain, which is enough to show that the research work is far more difficult than before. Compared with the mature magic weapons that have already been put into the battlefield, every step has been extremely difficult.

"Minister Chris said that if His Majesty has free time... he can go to inspect the prototype manufacturing results of the weapon this evening."

The guards responsible for receiving communications strictly relayed the messages from the outpost, while His Majesty's personal airship had already completed its preheating and was waiting in the small take-off and landing field behind the palace.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Harvey got up with some excitement and went straight into the adjacent living room. The servant who had been waiting there quickly brought him some casual clothes suitable for winter outings and helped him change quickly.

……

The No. 1 Weapon Testing Base is located directly behind the outpost fortress in the wasteland, situated on a higher plateau with a wide view, overlooking the entire outpost fortress and the surging glacial river.

Although it is only a hundred miles away from Xinghuo City, the weather is much worse than that of Wangdu, which is located at the foot of Shenji Mountain. It is only just approaching the end of winter, and it has been snowing heavily all day long, with biting cold winds blowing frequently at night.

The Emperor's airship had just docked at the base's landing pad when Harvey stepped out of the cabin. The extremely low temperature made him shrink back in shock. After letting out a long sigh, he saw Chris rushing over to greet him through the wind and snow.

"Your Majesty, I did not expect you to arrive so quickly."

"What are the specifics?" Harvey didn't waste any time, braving the wind and snow as he hurried alongside Chris towards the indoor testing ground ahead. "With such terrible weather, will it affect the experimental tests?"

Chris paused for half a second, a wry smile appearing on his face, which was red from the cold. He stammered, "Your Majesty, we've only just finished assembling the prototype of the weapon... If we want to test its power, we'll probably have to wait for Professor Quinn..."

It means... there are only "cannons", but the "shells" to fire them are still nowhere to be found?
Harvey nodded, not disappointed, and said calmly, "It's quite a bit of progress. Let me see the prototype weapon first."

Upon entering the indoor testing ground, without Chris's guidance or introduction, everyone immediately noticed the enormous "cannon" launching device standing in the center... a device far exceeding the specifications of ordinary models.

The massive artillery base was firmly fixed to the concrete ground, its height approaching the lower edge of the five-meter ceiling of the indoor testing range, seemingly without any consideration for future relocation.

The nearly thirty-meter-long cannon barrel was cast from a single piece of metal mixed with magical minerals, and the gleaming muzzle reached a terrifying 800 millimeters in diameter, making it incomparable to the magical cannons currently deployed on the battlefield. Huge firing buffers were mounted on both sides of the cannon, welded firmly to the hard ground without moving an inch.

The ammunition compartment located behind the gun barrel base is slightly open, resembling the gaping maw of a metal monster. It's not hard to imagine what a huge shell would be needed to fit it. Even the firing and loading operations would probably require the alchemical beast's hoisting zipline, making it impossible for ordinary soldiers to operate.

Before Harvey could even ask a question, Tommy, the captain of his personal guard who had been following closely behind him, couldn't help but exclaim, "This thing could probably fit a living person inside before launching it, right?"

Chris smirked, a hint of smugness in his voice as he quipped, "Theoretically, it's possible. If we had enough legendary spellcasters... perhaps we could try stuffing them into cannons and launching them into the enemy's rear, which could produce a devastating effect."

Harvey keenly picked up on the information hidden in this rambling and cautiously asked, "So... this giant cannon has a range of over a hundred kilometers?"

Currently, among the artillery weapons deployed by the Northern Army, the longest-range magic-powered naval gun, after continuous improvements and upgrades, has a maximum firing range of only about 30 kilometers, which is already enough to be called a revolutionary super weapon.

“One hundred and fifty kilometers, but… that’s just the theoretical maximum range after rigorous calculations.” Chris gestured seriously, counting on his fingers. “But that’s on the condition that we can manufacture high-yield shells that match the caliber of the artillery.”

The so-called theoretical maximum range means that there are currently no suitable shells available for test firing, and all data is still in the paper calculation stage.

Seeing that even the emperor himself and the others looked puzzled, Chris quickly explained, "Currently, the largest magic energy shells that the royal capital's military factories can produce cannot withstand such long-distance firing... The enormous kinetic energy generated at this firing rate will cause the liquid magic energy originally filled in the shell to have an irreversible reaction, often detonating prematurely before reaching the impact point."

Similarly, when a certain amount of liquid magic energy is filled into high-yield shells, the magic energy can dissipate due to slight vibrations during the packaging, manufacturing, and transportation process, resulting in a series of violent reactions. This has frequently occurred in the past manufacturing of weapons and ammunition, and can be considered the number one culprit for production accidents in military factories.

Therefore, Quinn's experimental project was to develop matching shells for this giant cannon, ensuring that it not only had an ultra-long range but also a destructive power commensurate with its caliber.

Harvey nodded slowly, and then asked Chris to continue explaining the design and manufacturing of the giant cannon.

"The core of the entire weapon development process stems from whether the development of the shells goes smoothly. If we can really manufacture suitable shells..." Chris paused, and under the expectant gazes of everyone, he said in a deep voice, "The power of one shot... could probably raze the outpost directly below the test site to the ground."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone present fell into a deathly silence.

The military base at the River Valley Outpost was one of the earliest defensive fortresses deployed in the early days of the People's Republic of China. Although it was not as large as the Ice Sea, Snow Mountain, and Big Bear Lake bases, it still covered an area of ​​nearly 10,000 square meters. The defensive fortress at the core was entirely constructed of solid reinforced concrete. To completely destroy it would require at least a squadron of hundreds of bomber airships to drop bombs and bomb it in a concentrated manner.

But can this giant cannon in front of us really be destroyed completely with just a single, precisely aimed shot, as Chris said?

This sounds rather unacceptable.

Harvey, who had maintained a calm expression, finally smiled and said, "Very good, this is the power I expected."

(End of this chapter)