All in all, the design concept of "individual mecha" is actually similar to the plate armor knights of the Roman Empire today.
But the difference is that the "individual mecha" has more functions than armor that only has protective capabilities, and it will be more comfortable to operate.
According to Ishgard's current research progress, they have successfully allowed an ordinary human to wear a mecha and gain twice the strength of an ordinary person when the power is turned on.
Not only that, although the current "individual mecha" is far less flexible than ordinary soldiers, it has also demonstrated its advantages in special operations.
"For example, its helmet currently allows ordinary humans to move around normally in the dark without lighting, and the visibility has exceeded one hundred meters..."
Nia stated proudly, "And this night vision capability is a built-in function of the helmet of the individual mecha. In this case, we have reason to believe that the "individual mecha" will be the backbone of future high-intensity wars. It's just that it's a little expensive..."
“How much?”
"The cost of a test model of a "single-soldier mecha" is about one thousandth of the military expenditure of the entire army of Ishgard. After all, the "gems" used to provide night vision are extremely rare minerals, and the "metal muscles" that increase the strength of the operator can only be made by sirens... So... ahahaha... they still have a long way to go... probably."
“Uh…” Originally Yang Hao was still very happy.
But when he heard the words "one thousandth of the total military budget".
His face full of joy turned into confusion.
What kind of concept is this
In the Roman Empire at that time, "one thousandth" of the national military budget could even allow General Dreshuka to train a whole group of fully armed cavalry for the military district while the steam factory was operating normally.
In Isurgard, with its ironclad ships and expensive new rifles, the value of this "one thousandth" of military expenditure would only be more expensive...
Ishugard had to pay such a high price to build a test machine of "single-soldier mecha", not to mention the two countries of Gabai nowadays...
Then again, His Majesty the Regent was originally surprised how Isurgard could come up with such advanced technology, but after Nia's explanation, he understood: the key to the technology lies in Isurgard's multi-racial advantage.
Those Sirens who can create flesh and blood from inorganic matter are probably the main force of this core technology. As for the so-called "gems and night vision abilities", they are insignificant things that can be ignored. If Yang Hao wants to obtain this technology, the help of the Sirens is bound to be indispensable.
Although it is true that Caparia and Bayerjans should have a lot of replaceable magic and enchantments, they are the only one that can make metal grow flesh and blood - from this perspective, the future of Siren is really not to be underestimated.
There was nothing else in Ishugard's confidential research that Yang Hao was interested in. So after thinking about it, he chose the research data of "individual mecha" and the future migration of the Siren as conditions and agreed to Miss Nia's request.
"That way, I can report to my superiors, and the warriors of Ishugard won't have to worry about having to fight the Romans with sticks after winning a battle in Elucia.
So that's it for this contract, let's sign it right away... Is there anything else?"
Yang Hao's question made Nia shake her head: "No, this is the most important thing for us at the moment. In addition, there is also the evaluation of the steam rifle in Alesse... If I have to say something else, I just want to ask Your Majesty Yang Hao if you have time after the celebration on February 5th?"
"Maybe, maybe not."
"Please leave one for me if you have one - I will discuss something less important with you then. Thank you..."
The black dragon signed his name on the contract in a relaxed manner, stamped it with the seal of Ishugard, and then bowed and left.
Yang Hao also signed his name and stamped the national seals of the two countries, then took Natalia out of the reception room.
Someone will take care of the next things, and he will go to Nalujia to make adjustments himself tomorrow...
The work in Caparia has been completed today, and the current regent just wants to go and see how his good child is doing, and then he has to go to the Purple Palace to work.
He muttered in his heart, calculating how long it would take for his real rest time in February to arrive. At this time, Natalia beside him sighed deeply:
"Looking closely, Your Majesty, your work is really heavy. You have to eat faster all day long even when you eat because of your work... It's hard to imagine how long someone like you can last."
"Ah. That's my job after all, Natalia. Working here is better than working with Roman."
Yang Hao's sigh made Natalia tilt her head: "Roman at that time... Are you talking about the time when he was often forced to go to the debate venue the next day without any preparation?"
"That counts. But more importantly, when I was working at Roman, I not only had no time and no supporters, but I also had to take on the task of educating Anna, and even had to handle all the diplomatic and construction development work. Then, from time to time, there were unexpected meetings for me to preside over... Working at Roman was really like hell, and I still can't forget it.
But here, although my work is still very heavy, at least there are people who support me. When they have meetings, they will let me prepare a week in advance, and I don’t have to handle all the work... Working here is much easier than Roman. And I am also very happy to work here. "
"It seems that your mentality has changed since your exile."
"I can't say that my mentality has changed, but rather that I've grown up. But if you hadn't saved me, I wouldn't have been able to get to where I am today, Natalia."
"Um… "
Natalia, in a sense, is one of the most important women in Yang Hao's life.
If it weren't for the chief judge who saved Yang Hao's life and changed the original death penalty to exile, Yang Hao wouldn't have gone through so many hardships, met Theresa on his way back, and finally walked step by step to where he is today.
He was very grateful for Natalia's efforts and admired her courage and strength in bearing the pressure at that time.
After all, if Yang Hao had to choose someone other than Theresa during that time when he was traveling in the Monster Forest and didn't want to trust anyone, and when his mentality was unstable, Natalia would probably be the only choice.
In Yang Hao's eyes at the time, other people were either "people he absolutely did not want to contact" or "people he did not want to trust at all".
At that time, he could only trust Theresa, and Natalia, who was accessible to him at that time, naturally occupied some weight in his heart.
So Yang Hao was really grateful to Natalia. But then again, for Natalia, her thoughts on Yang Hao were also changing every day.
If she saved Yang Hao at the beginning, it was because she didn't want to see a man who was down-to-earth and contributing to the empire being humiliated by a group of villains, and expected him to save the country.
Then, after becoming the little queen's maid and discovering the miserable treatment she had been treated, she decided to devote her life to taking care of the little girl.
Natalia's feelings towards Yang Hao also gradually changed from sympathy at the beginning to hope.
And in the end, when she already regarded herself as Anna's mother, this relationship turned into a vague romance.
And now, after realizing that Anna also wanted me to be her real mother, this relationship finally turned into clear love -
Natalia knew very well that in the world of aristocrats, the most important thing in building a family might not be love, but she was also willing to be a harbor where Yang Hao could rest when he was tired.
After all, family is a harbor where tired people can always return. And for Anna, she also needs a complete family.
With this thought in mind, Natalia made her own decision.
If she still wants to have a family even though he has no love for her, then all Natalia can do is to muster up the courage while proving her own worth.
She took a deep breath and pretended to sigh casually: "But as expected, Your Majesty, it is still too tiring for you to work like this, right? If you have a family that can give you a haven to rest in your tiredness... maybe it will be good for your future work and life, right?"
"Yes, I agree." Yang Hao nodded. "And it will be good for Anna too."
Natalia was delighted at first, but then her heart began beating wildly.
She knew Yang Hao's pragmatic style, and she also knew that Yang Hao would definitely not refuse... Therefore, her love had the possibility of coming true.
Therefore, she only had one last step left to do - if she could be brave enough and express her inner feelings, then...
Natalia can then find her own happiness.
She opened her mouth excitedly, her green eyes flashing with deep love. But at this moment, Yang Hao looked up at the ceiling of the corridor and said with emotion:
"I will take you to the Purple Palace to meet Theresa. I hope you are well prepared. After all, it will be the first time for her to meet you..."
"Huh?"
Theresa
A very unfamiliar...female name
Natalia looked at Yang Hao blankly.
Facing Natalia's gaze, Yang Hao slapped his head and said that he was too busy at the time and had no time to tell you about this.
"Teresa is my love." He smiled happily, "She is also my family. But she has to work hard in the Purple Palace, so she won't be able to meet you for a while. You can see her after the celebration, and I hope we can get along harmoniously then, so... Um? Natalia? What's wrong with you?"
"No, nothing... I just feel a little tired."
The former president of the court muttered with his head down, his eyes lifeless.
The love that had just sprouted was shattered. Before I could grasp happiness, my slender hand was suddenly slapped away.
Maybe she needed time to calm down. Maybe she had to tell Anna that she already had a new mother booked.
…
After playing with Anna for a while and making his good child happy, Yang Hao asked Natalia, who was exhausted for some reason, to rest for a while. He asked the elven wizard to send the information about Ishugard, and then he sent himself to the Purple Palace.
Theresa seemed to be still handling work in the audience hall, so Yang Hao sat directly on the stool in the office, looking at the intelligence about Ishugard at hand, evaluating the strength of the Alesse people, and making a budget for the future situation of Ishugard.
The steam rifles of the Alesse people seem to be able to kill unarmored units at around 400 meters.
In fact, the lethality was greatly exaggerated. After all, the enemy they faced at that time was a group of unarmored militiamen.
"Comparing our rifles with those of Ishgard, these steam rifles are undoubtedly the worst." He muttered, "Especially when facing the highly armored elven riflemen of Caparia - these steel balls shot from 400 meters can't even make the magic barrier appear.
But it is already amazing that the steam rifle can achieve this... But the common "impotence" problem of steam rifles has not been solved by the Alesse people. "
Among the rifle weapons that Yang Hao knows about today, Arese's steam rifle is the most underrated weapon.
Although according to the evaluation of the Isgardians, those steam rifles have the ability to penetrate plate armor within 50 meters and kill unarmored humans within 500 meters, the limitations of steam rifles are still there.
After multiple shots, the cylinder with insufficient pressure will cause the steel ball to lack initial velocity and power after being shot out. The speed of the steel ball flying in the air is also very slow compared to the bullet.
Combined with the curvature of the steel ball itself, if the Isgardians had developed equipment such as "bulletproof vests" and "steel helmets", they could even directly chase after the Arese steam rifle blockade and break through the Arese defense line in one fell swoop.
If we have to say what the advantage of these steam rifles is, it is probably their semi-automatic shooting structure, right
"The semi-automatic shooting structure... we need to find a way to borrow it from them - otherwise Arthur and Joseph will really have no time to rest. At this stage, it is better to copy the essence than to work on it by ourselves."
His Majesty the Regent muttered, and after putting down the report in his hand for the time being, he once again considered the possible southward movement of the barbarians in the near future.
Barbed wire, heavy machine guns, rifles - with the dense firepower network composed of howitzer golems and machine gun golems, Yang Hao is confident that he can stop the barbarians' attack from the south.
The fear is that these barbarians are really "fleeing". The "fleeing" barbarians may flee directly into the monster forest and become wandering "robbers"...
It's not that it's difficult to solve, but it would waste the limited human resources - if possible, Yang Hao hopes to restrict them directly to the grassland...
Want to try some elf magic
Just as Yang Hao was thinking deeply, suddenly—
He felt as if there were two large pieces of dough on top of his head.
"Theresa?"
He tried to call out, but found that his eyes had been covered at some point.
In the darkness, he could feel his body being slowly guided to lie down...
He could feel the two heavy pieces of dough gradually moving away from his head, and his head finally rested on the comfortable and familiar thighs.
"Humph, don't think about work when you get home, okay? If you keep going like this, you'll die suddenly outside one day, and then I'll have to waste my divine power to save you."
The nun who was gently stroking Yang Hao's cheek said with some venom.
"So close your eyes and get some sleep—it's still a while before dinner."
“But I’m thinking about work.”
"So give me sleep!"
She tapped Yang Hao's forehead and then hummed Bayer's lullaby softly.
Are you treating me like a naughty child
His Majesty the Regent muttered.
Let your whole body and mind be immersed in the comfortable tranquility.
He gave up thinking and chose to fall asleep in the tenderness of Mother Teresa.
Chapter 4: The Great Khan and His Army8K
…
late at night…
In the Khutot Khanate after the unification of the northern barbarians.
The Great Khan Hutot Khan was making the final decision and preparations in his tent before heading south. But before that, the Great Khan needed to deal with a difficult matter.
After he promulgated the new law, there was a loyal Qiexue who had made great military achievements but also committed a "capital crime".
After the new law was promulgated, this Qiexue chose to rape a decent woman after drinking, regardless of the strict law. He even accidentally caused a fire, almost burning down one of the grain warehouses that his side was preparing for the southward march.
Now, the woman's family was also crying in the tent about the miserable treatment their daughter had suffered, but this Qiexue was also a warrior of noble blood and bravery.
He is not only a warrior, but also a loyal attendant who has been following the Khan since he took office. He also regrets his mistakes and is willing to accept all punishments from the Khan.
But for the Great Khan, this was not a major issue that could be solved simply by "sheltering" or "executing according to the law."
If he chose to cover up, the laws he had promulgated with great difficulty would become a joke in the eyes of the grassland countries and tribesmen, and everyone would take the Khan's actions as an example.
Since the Great Khan can protect his subordinates, then bureaucrats and tribal leaders at all levels can naturally choose to protect their subordinates as well!
By then, the laws of the Khutot Khanate will become a mere decoration, and everyone will choose to pay bribes to the powerful tribal leaders to beg them to help them when they commit crimes.
At that time, the development of the Khutot Khanate will be extremely seriously affected, which is absolutely unacceptable to the Great Khan.