Munitions Empire

Just as the Orc Race of the Gales Kingdom had reignited the flames of war with the Elf Race of the Poplar Kingdom, and the Poplar Kingdom was once again advancing north to attack the orcs with their weapon superiority, Tang Mo stood on the shipyard, wrapping his arms around the slender waist of Alice, the Countess of the Northern Ridge, watching the colossal ironclad warship slowly leave the shipyard.

This warship was the first in human history to be entirely powered by steam, as well as the first steam-powered warship!

Its commissioning marked the official entry of the Great Tang Group into the ranks of contesting for naval supremacy. And as soon as the Great Tang Group joined this lineup, it moved to the very front...

Equipped with three 120-caliber naval guns, and also armed with twelve 75mm caliber side cannons, the launch of the ironclad warship fundamentally changed the balance of power at sea.

(Here Dragon Spirit would like to explain, the caliber of the C64 field gun is 78mm, previously Dragon Spirit has written some calibers as 75, some as 78, here to unify, it will be written as 75mm.)

It was like a group of ants mixed with an elephant, like a gang of naughty kids joined by a giant, like a group of young girls joined by a hoodlum...

Of course, navies all over the world did not yet know that in Brunas, a warship that they had never seen before, one that would change the rules of naval warfare, was being launched at this very moment.

"I have never seen such a warship!" Although Alice was quite experienced and knowledgeable, she had truly never seen such a warship before.

In fact, she didn’t quite understand naval warships, having only watched naval sailing warships from a distance a few times before.

However, the warship before her was too unconventional; it neither had sails nor was it equipped with so many cannons.

The sides of this warship were mostly steel plates, with some windows located at the higher rear end. And these windows were definitely not so-called gunports, but actual windows...

According to the standards of the era, the number of cannons on this warship could be described as meager: the most it could concentrate on the side was nine cannons of various calibers, which really didn’t constitute much of an advantage.

However, if one thought that its firepower was insufficient because of this, they truly would be deceived by its unpretentious appearance: what it possessed, in fact, were things that naval warships of the era had never had.

Firstly, it was fitted with two types of aiming devices, which increased the hit rate of its shells by dozens to hundreds of times, widening the generation gap with other countries’ service warships.

Secondly, with the help of the aiming devices, its cannons could target objects over 5 kilometers away, which was also beyond the capabilities of other countries’ service warships.

Last of all, because it utilized generators and steam power, its cruising speed was faster, and it had a lighting system. Most importantly... it was also equipped with a telegraph system.

This enabled Tang Mo’s warship to maintain communication with the high echelons of the Great Tang Group from the distant seas, a capability that other countries’ navies could only dream of!

"It really is quite unconventional," said Alice, who was invited to attend the launch ceremony of this new warship. She curiously observed this new warship, which she couldn’t quite classify as beautiful or ugly.

She indeed couldn’t decide whether the warship was beautiful or ugly because it was completely different in style from the current sailing warships.

Previous sailing warships generally had carvings and reliefs, and with white sails, naturally had their own style.

Yet, the ironclad warship in front of them was all about horizontal and vertical lines with clear edges, and its steel hardness made it as sharp as a blade’s edge – an imposing aura that could not be hidden no matter what.

Therefore, Alice liked the warship before her very much. Of course, her fondness also included complex feelings for the owner of the warship.

And this time, quite rarely, Alice did not think about spending money to purchase this warship – the Northern Ridge was an inland area, and no matter how much she liked the warship, she did not need an ironclad warship intended to dominate the high seas...

"Being a bit unconventional is good... after all, it’s meant to fight, not just to look nice," Tang Mo said with a smile to Alice beside him.

He had invited Alice to attend the launching ceremony of the warship, and it was also a way for him to show off his own military power.

As a result, Alice was essentially there to meet her lover; her liking for this warship was merely on the level of "it’s pretty good."

However, with her keen sense on another front, she had proposed to Tang Mo in the bedroom the idea of forming a fleet of faster steam paddle ships. According to her the previous evening, this was her wanting to invest in the Great Tang Group’s fleet.

And Tang Mo had naturally agreed to her request, because this supposed transport fleet did not yet have a single intact power-driven transport ship.

On the contrary, what Tang Mo valued more was the combat power of this new type of warship, because he relied on this warship to vie for maritime supremacy in the future!

Speaking of which, the sister ship of this warship was actually being constructed in the next dock, with even the hull largely completed.

As soon as this warship was launched and began to be seaworthy, Tang Mo would immediately start building a third identical vessel.

According to Tang Mo’s plans, his fleet should have at least around 15 such warships to ensure the absolute safety of his sea trade routes!

As the warship’s weapon systems were too few, most of these weapons had been installed while it was still on the stocks, thus reducing many sea trials.

By Tang Mo’s estimates, with the effort of all the shipbuilders, it could be ready for actual combat in about two to three months, provided that the sailors could learn to operate such a never-before-seen warship.

"I say, the girl named Yulin who’s always with you, does she have something against me? Every time she looks at me, she seems... odd..." Women’s intuition is still pretty accurate. Alice lowered her voice and asked Tang Mo, noticing Yulin’s "hostility".

Tang Mo scratched his head and awkwardly explained, "No way... How come I’ve never noticed? Maybe she’s just too tired from all the work?"

"You always have these girls around you, and they’re always with you, of course, they’re going to be unhappy with me! You bad guy!" Alice didn’t really wish to pinch Tang Mo but just murmured in resentment.

Tang Mo chuckled and deftly changed the subject, asking Alice about the mining development in Northern Ridge.

At the mention of this, Alice perked up and began to methodically introduce the development of the mining industry in Northern Ridge.

Stimulated by Tang Mo’s steam engines, the ore output of Northern Ridge reached an astonishing level with a continuous supply of ore being mined, turning into his rails, into the shells of his warships...

Of course, now almost one-third of the Leite Kingdom’s mineral production had become the consumables supporting Tang Mo’s development.

Liangis was shocked by the total consumption of Tang Mo’s steel and even thought for a moment that Tang Mo was bluffing, using the data to intimidate Shireck, making him wary and hesitant to lay a hand on Tang Mo’s industries.

Unknown to others, Tang Mo was cutting down and burning the Vicious Forest, turning it into a gigantic factory and carving out a new road that went straight to Northern Ridge.

This road hadn’t yet connected to Northern Ridge, but it had already approached the edge of the Vicious Forest. Even more terrifying was the fact that it was made of steel!

A railway spanning more than 100 kilometers had been constructed by Tang Mo—the reasons behind such rapid construction were complex and included a relatively flat route, Tang Mo’s ample supply of steel, and the relentless support from both the Earl of Northern Ridge and Tang Mo himself.

Meanwhile, Tang Mo had supplied the world with 70,000 K1 rifles, 8,900 revolvers, 1,000 Left-Wheel Handguns, 600 lever-action rifles, 900 K3-type KAR98 rifles, 80 C64 field guns, 40 C80 field guns...

Now, including some of the Dorne Kingdom’s troops, the King’s Guard of the Leite Kingdom, the troops of Northern Ridge, and the troops of Suthers, all were equipped with Tang Mo’s arms.

The K1 Quick Guns replicated by factories owned by Shireck and Earl Augustine of the Elf Race weren’t even included in the count yet.

Thanks to industrial development, Northern Ridge’s economy was truly on the rise. With support from Tang Mo, Alice was building four factories, including a metal smelting plant, a parts processing plant, a steam engine plant, and a power plant.

Moreover, Tang Mo was intentionally nurturing private capital. He had shares in four textile mills in Northern Ridge, using steam engine technology to increase the efficiency of these factories.

The increased production capacity naturally led to a greater dependency of the secondary industry chain on the primary industry, which caused the price of agricultural products in Northern Ridge to rise, and farmers increased their tangible incomes.

Originally, the Suthers immigrants who had settled in Northern Ridge were very anxious, not knowing what their future held.

But once they worked hard at farming and quickly reaped simple rewards, they wholeheartedly saw themselves as people of Northern Ridge.

After all, a noble who could cut taxes, grant subsidies to farmers, and revitalize the entire agricultural ecosystem... That was truly unparalleled.

As a result, Northern Ridge was thriving; the society was stable and well-developed, and the new female Earl of Northern Ridge also established her authority.

Meanwhile, Tang Mo was still unaware that the Dorne Kingdom had already taken a thousand of his K1 Quick Guns and was contemplating declaring war on a neighboring country.

At the same time, on a distant continent, the Poplar Kingdom of the Elf Race, having acquired the new weapons, had already gone to war with the Orc Race of the Gales Kingdom...

And all of this was just the beginning of a series of tumultuous events in the second half of the year 114 of the Leite Kingdom. The person stirring up this storm was watching the giant ship in front him being launched, creating spectacular and fierce waves.

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