Chapter 816: Supporting Fire

The Technical Research Institute's Joint Projects Department holds plenty that catches Henwell's interest.

Leibach, inventor of the steam ballista, has ventured ever deeper into the forbidden art of steam-powered heresy.

Yet aside from being somewhat cumbersome, the steam ballista has always met the firepower requirements Henwell set.

After repeated upgrades, the steam ballista has become increasingly sophisticated, with major improvements to both range and accuracy.

Some heavy steam ballistae, reinforced with extraordinary material, have become the primary firepower of large fortresses.

Without steam ballistae, the fortress clusters along the Northern Mountain Front could never have held the calamity armies at bay for so long.

Heavy units in particular make ideal targets for steam ballistae.

They are large and relatively slow. A single Thunderclap Ballista Bolt can blow half of one into pulp.

Even with those heavy units supporting them, the Northern Mountain Raiders cannot breach the large fortresses.

Any army trying to force its way through the defensive line will be split into isolated groups by the fortress clusters, all while advancing under long-range fire.

Whatever survives the bombardment will be scattered again by human cavalry, then hunted down one group at a time by mobile warbands.

Henwell wants tanks and cannons, but the conditions simply are not there. For now, steam ballistae will have to fill the role.

The Joint Projects Department's other major product is the Heart-Piercing Lotus. This lethal weapon for elite cavalry has gone through several rounds of upgrades as well.

Unfortunately, the extraordinary threshold is too rigid. Even now, only Knights can use it.

However, as the number of enhancement slots gradually increases, demand for the Heart-Piercing Lotus is soaring as well.

That increased use also provides more data for further improvements.

This time, Henwell has a new assignment for the Joint Projects Department.

Now that Peace Haven has taken the offensive in the Calamity War, every warband needs heavy fire support in the battles ahead.

The Giant-Force Ballistae mounted on the army's old ballista carts no longer have enough range to meet battlefield needs.

Henwell plans to mount steam ballistae on wagons and use them to deliver long-range heavy fire against calamity creatures.

Leibach shoots the proposal down at once. "My lord, that simply is not practical."

"A steam ballista is far too large for a wagon to bear its weight."

"We tried a similar project before. Even after streamlining it repeatedly, the complete system still weighed nearly fifteen tons."

"Later, we worked with several carriage works to commission a super-heavy wagon capable of carrying that load."

"It had nine pairs of wheels and was more than eighteen meters long. It could barely travel on a road at all."

"Warbands also move faster and choose from a far wider range of routes."

"A super-heavy wagon can travel only on paved roads. The moment it reaches muddy ground, it becomes dead weight."

Henwell shakes his head. "You are approaching it from the wrong direction. I do not want the entire system mounted on one wagon."

"I want a firing system. Put the steam boiler on one wagon and the ballista assembly on another."

"Add a fuel wagon, an ammunition wagon, a spare-parts and repair wagon, and an auxiliary-equipment wagon. Six wagons together will form one combat system."

Leibach goes still. A heartbeat later, he turns and launches into a rapid discussion with the researchers beside him.

After a while, Leibach says, "My lord, that arrangement could indeed work, but there is one point you must understand."

"Once the system is divided, assembly alone will take at least half an hour before it can fire, and that does not include the time needed to heat the boiler."

"If it must be started without preparation, it may take more than an hour. In a field battle, that delay could easily cost us our opportunity."

Henwell nods. "I know, but a warband-scale battle already takes half an hour from initial deployment to contact."

"With a range advantage, there may be even more time, and battles do not end after only an hour or two."

"With heavy fire support, one of our warbands can withstand an assault by a legion-sized force of calamity creatures."

"Give every warband five steam ballista systems. Even if they require two hours to start, they will still be immensely valuable."

"Once those two hours have passed, they can deliver two volleys every minute, enough to clear a hundred-meter-wide killing zone."

Henwell's determination leaves no room for argument. Leibach promises to compress the system into four wagons if it is at all possible.

That would reduce five systems to twenty vehicles, significantly easing the burden.

Henwell is confident it can be done once Peace Haven finalizes its proprietary rubber-like material.

The arrival of tires will greatly increase vehicle carrying capacity and transform their ability to cross difficult terrain.

With one steam ballista company attached to every warband, commanders will gain far more tactical options, including the power to storm fortified positions when needed.

The steam ballista has developed beyond Henwell's expectations, and he is satisfied with its firepower.

Still, Henwell cannot stop dreaming about his beloved big black barrel.

He visits the Weapons Development Department next.

Its director, Pajero, is the man who created the Thunder Hand Cannon.

The Thunder Hand Cannon has now spread to many units.

Its portability makes it especially popular among cavalry.

It is still an extraordinary weapon, however, and must be activated with fighting spirit.

As a result, Peace Haven owns a considerable number of them but has not issued them to entire formations.

Even within the numbered legions, only elite reconnaissance battalions carry them. Ordinary soldiers cannot activate the weapons.

The legions on the Northern Mountain Front have received the largest allotments, and the weapons have proven devastating against the Northern Mountain Raiders.

The finalized Thunder Hand Cannon has a five-round cylinder, weighs six kilograms, and has an effective killing range of twenty-five meters.

It can easily punch a hole the size of a bowl through a mountain demon, one of the extraordinary calamity creatures found along the Northern Mountain Front.

In one battle, a garrison legion used this unexpected tactic to slaughter nearly ten thousand mountain demons.

That victory bought the entire defensive line a precious week of rest.

Good equipment always has one thing in common: it is never cheap.

The finalized model trades some of Henwell's trial version's power for a larger ammunition capacity, bringing the cost down considerably.

Even so, a standard Thunder Hand Cannon still costs more than one hundred gold coins to produce.

Most of that cost comes from processing and materials, both of which have already been reduced as far as current technology allows.

Reducing the weapon's power has produced the greatest savings in ammunition.

A single round for the trial-model Thunder Hand Cannon cost nearly one gold coin.

The cost is now one silver coin per round. That sixtyfold reduction makes a steady ammunition supply possible.

Its power, however, has fallen from a Knight Rank's full-force strike to an ordinary strike at the same rank.

Even so, the soldiers at the front still love this oversized toy.

In close quarters, one unexpected shot is often enough to inflict a fatal wound.

Henwell's order to the Weapons Development Department is to increase Thunder Hand Cannon production as much as possible.

More than anything else, though, Henwell cares that they have finally built the big black barrel he has been dreaming of.