At two o'clock in the afternoon, in a valley behind the school, dozens of soldiers from the guard battalion blocked the entrance to the valley.
Today was the day for the test firing of the improved pneumatic cannon and air gun. Most of the senior figures of the committee came to the scene. Not only were directly related figures such as Guo Qian, Chang Lin, Wang Jiyuan, Farrell, and Morey present, but even the members of the Education Group and the Business Group came to join in the fun.
A successfully trial-produced pneumatic cannon was installed with a pair of wheels and pushed to the gun position by two soldiers.
Luo Ling saw excitement in her uncle Guo's eyes. Not only him, but many of the visitors had such emotions in their eyes.
Luo Ling knew that for many modern people, guns and cannons were the source of power they trusted. As for magic and fighting spirit, they thought they might be suitable for exploration and private fighting, but they were not a force worth relying on on a large battlefield. Therefore, Mao Kai's report did not arouse the excitement of the top leaders before there were decisive results, but the gun and cannon test firing here attracted all the attention.
Meng Guoqiang, the head of the industrial team, stood in front of everyone and introduced the parameters of the gun: "… We redesigned the gun body structure. Based on the original dwarven pneumatic gun, we changed it to breech loading, redesigned the shape of the shells, and doubled the muzzle velocity…"
"Uncle, the structure of this cannon doesn't seem to be much different from the pneumatic cannon used by the dwarves." Luo Ling said softly.
"It's great that Lao Meng and his team were able to make it and make some improvements. After all, we are not in the military industry and have limited equipment, so we have to explore slowly. Some of our ideas are good, but it's useless if we can't make them. For example, when we discussed that an ideal pneumatic gun also needs a shell to provide a closed explosion space for the warhead, but we don't have this processing capability, so we can only use a smoothbore gun with solid shells. In this way, a considerable part of the compressed air used for firing is leaked." Guo Qian smiled and said to Luo Ling, "You must encourage him first and don't undermine Lao Meng's confidence."
"How could I not understand this? This is not my first day as a leader. I will give him a thumbs up and a red flower later." Luo Ling said with a squint.
"You!" Guo Qian pointed at Luo Ling with his finger. "But they are already working on making the rifling, and are preparing to add a soft base to the back of the shell. It can expand when the airflow hits it to increase the sealing and reduce energy loss. Anyway, we should take it one step at a time and take our time."
“… Now let’s start the test firing.”
Two soldiers began to operate the pneumatic cannon, one was responsible for adding shells to the cannon, and the other began to use magic crystals to inflate the gas tank. After about three minutes, the gas tank was full.
“… The first inflation takes a long time, but the air is enough to fire five shells. In between installing shells, you can continue to inflate the gas tank to ensure that the energy of each shell is at its peak.”
There was no target for this test firing. The gun only had a very crude sight, and the setting of the firing parameters was basically based on feeling. The two soldiers roughly adjusted the elevation angle of the gun and started firing.
With a bang, the pneumatic cannon made much less noise than a cannon, and there was no smoke from the explosion of gunpowder. As the cannon body vibrated, an afterimage flew out from the muzzle and hit a tree in the open space in front, breaking the bowl-sized tree into two sections. Then it bounced a few times on the ground, leaving a series of holes.
"Good." Guo Qian took the lead in clapping, and Luo Ling followed suit.
After firing a few rounds and everything was normal, Meng Guoqiang announced: "Next is rapid fire."
The two soldiers continued to operate, and the pneumatic cannon fired one shot after another.
"This weapon looks very flashy," Mirdad commented, "In terms of power, it is equivalent to a blow from a mid-level wizard. But its accuracy is far from perfect."
"You're wrong," Glade retorted. "Weapons like this can't be viewed in isolation. Don't you realize that they're just operated by two ordinary people? How terrifying is it that two ordinary people can deliver a blow comparable to that of a mid-level mage? In other words, they can have as many 'blows comparable to those of a mid-level mage' as they have cannons like this. As long as the number increases, accuracy won't be a problem. Look, this cannon now basically fires five rounds a minute. If ten cannons attack together, they can pour fifty shells on the enemy in a minute, and there will always be a few that will hit the enemy. Especially for those walls and towers that won't run away."
"Is this how it is used? But these are large pieces of metal and magic crystals. How much do they cost?" Milda asked in surprise.
"Don't you find that Luo Ling's territory is particularly rich?"
"Too… "
Luo Ling listened to their argument quietly. She laughed in her heart. In a real war, the "God of War" would never be used so pettily. Even gods would tremble at the iron and fire that covered the sky and the sun, right
However, her curiosity was also aroused by the two book spirits, so she asked, "Can you tell me what war was like in your time?"
"Basically it was the same as it is now, with knights leading soldiers in battle with swords and spears, and magicians casting magic from behind. But based on your description, there were more expert magicians and warriors back then, and more magical equipment," Glade said.
“But the battles of saints are another matter. They involve many rules, and it is difficult for me to describe the way they fight in words. But I know that if a saint faces such an artillery formation, these weapons will have no chance of hurting him at all.” Milda added.
“But now it seems that the elements in the air, or the magic power claimed by Mao Kai, are thinner than before, so there are fewer saints. So this weapon is still very useful. Even in the wars of our time, saints are needed to fight against saints, but it does not mean that ordinary soldiers are useless.” Glade always sings a different tune from the other party.
Saints... We will have them too, Luo Ling thought to herself. She then asked, "Why do you think the magic power is becoming increasingly thinner?"
"This..." Milda was silent for a moment, "In fact, there is no need to speculate. The wizards of the Seven Holy Towers have already reached a conclusion. This can only mean that the God of Nature is getting closer and closer to awakening."
"You mean, the magic power between heaven and earth has been absorbed by the God of Nature?" Luo Ling immediately grasped the key.
Mirdad said, "That's right! The power of gods originally comes from magic. Only after they die or fall asleep, a large amount of magic becomes ownerless energy and dissipates in this space, which will create high-level warriors, magicians, bloodlines, and magic resources."