Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 311 - 310: Gawain’s Improvement Plan

The shell exploded within the target range, a thunderous roar echoing in everyone’s ears. Gawain knew that this loud bang not only exploded on the target but also shattered the traditions of this world. From today on, the walls of the nobility would no longer be impregnable, and the towers of Mages would no longer be unbeatable. This power capable of tearing through rock and steel had been firmly in the hands of the Transcendents for centuries, but now it only took a militia trained for three months to pull the lever and achieve it.

Some were left in a daze.

Jenni stared blankly at the explosion of fire, weighing in her mind how powerful a magic it equated to — even though she had personally participated in the optimization of the acceleration track, the moment the shell exploded still exceeded her imagination.

She thought about her formidable mentor, wondering how many shots her mentor could withstand in front of the Rail Cannon - one shot? Or two?

However many shots one could withstand was irrelevant, for in the new order crafted by the leader, anyone opposing the Cecil Clan would face a barrage of shots.

Those who attempted to use magic shields and amulets to withstand the concentrated fire of heat-ray guns had already validated this point with their lives.

Aunt Heidi also fell into a stupor. She immediately compared this war machine to the catapults used in the second defensive battle and realized the vast difference — a brief thought revealed that these were two entirely different concepts of weaponry.

Catapults often served as a form of deterrence, with enormous stones or flaming projectiles soaring into the sky, bringing unstoppable power crashing down on heads or walls. The pressure it brought was deadly to traditional aristocratic private soldiers who had little sense of honor and responsibility, but beyond the blow to morale, the actual damage a catapult could inflict in a battle was quite limited. It merely supplemented long-range attacks when there were not enough combat Mages. In most cases, there were not enough combat Mages; their role was often to eliminate key enemy units, create positional interference, or counter enemy Mages.

And this Mage device named by the ancestors as the "Magic Crystal Railgun" was truly a weapon aimed at destruction.

Accuracy, range, destructiveness, stability, ease of operation... the purpose of all these metrics was singular: to achieve targeted damage rapidly, accurately, and effectively... Just as the ancestor once said, when the cannonball explodes, the castles of traditional nobility and the shield walls formed by pioneering knights will vanish without a trace.

Byron watched the clouds of smoke gradually dissipate in the north wind, raised his hand, and scratched his somewhat disheveled gray-white hair: "This thing is way more intense than the ray gun... and way more intense than the catapult."

"If the battlefields of the future are filled with these things..." Sir Philip, however, frowned as he gazed into the distance. "What will become of knights and heavily armored infantry?"

Byron glanced at his companion and shrugged: "Didn’t you see just now? Knights shout to fire the cannon, and infantry are responsible for reloading and pulling the lever."

Sir Philip, being serious by nature, inevitably fell into a conflict: "...I always feel that such battles lack a sense of honor..."

Byron tried to console nearby: "Think about it this way, when these things become widespread, the battlefield will basically have two kinds of people: those who are killed by cannons before even meeting the enemy, and those responsible for firing the cannons. The honor on the battlefield is either in fighting bravely or in ultimate victory - now the ones who would fight bravely are dead before the battle even starts, so without a doubt, the ultimate victory is the most honorable, making those who fire the cannon the most honorable..."

Sir Philip was dumbfounded listening: "Can it really be explained this way?"

"How else to explain it? It can’t be that whoever loses is the honored one each time, right? If that were the case, who would ever win a battle? Might as well surrender at the start of the battle - so the ones firing the cannon are the most honorable, at least more than those lying on the ground. You say you are the most honorable on the field, then who else would be honored if not you, right..."

Sir Philip thought seriously for a moment and then turned to leave: "...I still feel like you’re talking nonsense again."

Byron, watching Sir Philip’s back, felt a bit bored and pulled a slight smirk: "Try not to have any when the first batch of Rail Cannons is deployed..."

Then he promptly approached Gawain: "Leader, will these new weapons be quickly deployed and equipped?"

Gawain looked at this seasoned knight and recognized the keen interest he had developed in these weapons. Byron was a true pragmatist in combat, indifferent to whether a weapon conformed to knightly traditions—as long as it effectively resolved the enemy, it was good equipment, and the Magic Crystal Railgun was evidently just such good equipment.

"We still need to conduct some final tests, and then make adjustments for industrial-scale production. It will be on the production line by next spring at the earliest."

Seeing a trace of disappointment on Byron’s face, Gawain smiled: "Even if there were a batch of finished Rail Cannons right now, the Combat Corps aren’t prepared to be equipped with them yet - to use this new weapon most effectively, we must form a new specialized unit."

"A new specialized unit?" Byron came out of the excitement of "I’m gonna have an Italian Cannon" (just grasp the essence) and quickly understood what Gawain meant.

From the aspects of range, power, and attack form of this new weapon, it was not difficult to determine the impact it could have on the conditions of war. This was by no means simply "a more powerful catapult." For the Soldiers operating the Magic Crystal Railgun, everything from the most basic training content to their battlefield roles, to how the upper command would direct them, all needed to be newly defined to maximize the utility of these "big bangs."

"The Cecil Combat Corps will add an ’Artillery’ unit specifically to operate this heavy firepower. The artillery unit’s organization, training, and logistics support in actual combat will be entrusted to you and Sir Philip after this," Gawain said steadily, "Operating the Rail Cannon requires certain technical mastery. It’s not like the heat-ray guns; the range of the Magic Crystal Railgun has already exceeded what can be targeted and corrected purely by intuitive sense, so this new type of cannon demands higher requirements of the Soldiers. It requires various auxiliary aiming tools to correct the angle during aiming, requires the use of precompiled shooting charts to estimate shell drop points, and requires them to quickly respond to shooting instructions given by commanders, thus demanding high educational standards from Soldiers — even basic literacy isn’t enough, so you must pay close attention when selecting your first batch of artillerymen."

Watching Sir Byron follow orders and leave, Gawain softly sighed with relief.

Under his command, the soldiers and technicians used up all the prepared test rounds and live ammunition, collecting a lot of valuable data in the process.

After the test ended, he called Kamel and Nicholas Egg to his side.

"Are you satisfied with this weapon?" The arcane light on Kamel’s body flickered, and he was clearly in a good mood.

Gawain nodded: "Very good, all aspects have met my requirements, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. Do you know what it is?"

Kamel was still not quite used to Gawain’s ability to instantly see through a brand new thing and immediately come up with a bunch of practical suggestions, so he was momentarily dumbfounded. But Nicholas Egg was clearly more accustomed, this humorous entity with a diameter of 1.3 meters buzzed: "Technologies are interlinked. After realizing the launch of shells with acceleration tracks, you’re surely considering creating various sizes, models, and purposes of similar products next, right..."

"Exactly," Gawain nodded, then turned his gaze to the launch site not far away. The Magic Crystal Railgun had undergone cooling down after a continuous high-intensity firing pressure test. Now, technicians were cautiously removing the covers of the gun mounts, observing the charging structures and overload devices (Rebecca Enhancement Module) inside, to determine what changes the precision parts of the cannon had undergone after bearing these loads. "This cannon is powerful, but it’s only suitable for installation on city walls or other fixed fortifications, and large acceleration tracks require a fixed Magic Web to be operational. This means our soldiers lack offensive capability... a weapon that cannot take the initiative in offense is destined to be incomplete."

Kamel understood Gawain’s meaning: "Miniaturization?"

"That’s the first direction," Gawain nodded, "On the battlefield against conventional armies, the cannon’s power is excessive. Think of ways to lighten the shells, reduce the acceleration track, lower energy consumption, make it driven by a Magic Capacity Set, mount it on a carriage, or even disassemble it so that artillery soldiers can carry it. Another direction is the diversification of shells—currently, the shells have only one effect, which is to kill enemies through explosions. But since we can launch dozens of kilograms of ancient magical devices hundreds or even thousands of meters away, why not add some variations to these devices?"

Kamel was immediately reminded by Gawain, a brand new line of thinking opened before him—

As a researcher from the Gondor Empire, he never lacked innovative ideas.

"Dozens of kilograms of ancient magical devices... there are indeed many ways to use them," the ancient Master Mage said with unusual joy, "I could even fit an ’Annihilation Seed’ inside!"

Gawain glanced at him: "... You’d better suggest something cheaper and usable in this era."

"... I’ll think about it later then."

"You’ll be responsible for the mechanical design of the artillery," Gawain nodded to Nicholas Egg, then looked at Kamel, "You’re the expert in the magic field. I believe with the two of you, creating more battlefield-suitable improved models won’t be difficult. However, research must fit practical needs, and the production of new equipment must consider the production line capacity. For now, let’s focus our main efforts on those key projects and not spread our energy too thin."

Nicholas Egg floated up and down a bit, and Kamel also nodded: "Rest assured, I understand this."

Gawain suddenly remembered something else: "Speaking of... Santis has been on his way for two days now, right?"

"Yes, he wants to complete the task you gave him as soon as possible," Kamel said, "Moreover, establishing contact with the Mage community in the royal capital quickly can also alleviate the shortage of talent in the territory—if we can expand with a batch of technical personnel from the royal capital alongside the population increase in spring, everything will be perfect."

Gawain looked thoughtful: "Is this part of the plan proceeding smoothly too..."

He looked up and saw Jenni and Rebecca standing not far away, pointing at the dismantled Magic Crystal Railgun with enthusiasm.

"Jenni! Rebecca!" Gawain called out.

The two young women quickly ran over, Rebecca beaming: "Ancestor, did you call me? What is it?"

Gawain nodded: "I have an idea about the Magic Web architecture, see if you can implement it."

"Have you thought of an improvement?" Jenni looked surprised at this seemingly endlessly energetic and inspired leader, "Or have you discovered a flaw in the current Magic Web?"

"No, I plan to create a flaw in it..."

The two young women were simultaneously bewildered: "Huh?"

Gawain smiled: "I plan to dig a hole..."