Things are getting worse and worse in the Duchy of Vendôme.

During the observation of the three-eyed black crow for nearly half a month, the territory of the sea monster steadily advanced from the coastline everywhere, and the living space of the three major cities of Arabe, Stia and Belles was greatly reduced.

Moreover, an unexpected big event happened.

The canyon city of Stya, located between the mountains and the coast, is roughly linear on the coast, and because of the terrain disadvantage, the pressure of the sea monsters is unprecedentedly strong.

In the end, they chose the Great Migration!

The Mage Council, led by the Free Thinking Mage Association, united magicians, nobles, noble knights, and militia groups, mobilized tens of thousands of merchants and people, seized the shortcomings of the sea monster's slow advancement, and began to migrate in the direction of Rabe City through the traffic arteries in the canyon.

However, in the process of migration, the curse of the sea monster broke out, and the blood plague transmitted by biting caused a great chaos, and the fear spread, the order collapsed, and the wives were separated, which was extremely tragic.

The situation began to spiral out of control.

Harald, the chief of staff of the Blackstone Legion, has been in a very depressed mood lately, and after finishing the daily affairs of the barracks every day, he will carry food and drink, but he will chat and drink with his cheap father-in-law, Edmund Cox.

Edmund was also anxious for the same reasons as Harald.

The tragedy of the Great Migration of Stia.

Harald's stepfather was the Governor of the Three Ports of Dathrian Island, one of the three noble families of Stya City. Edmund was a subordinate nobleman attached to another great nobleman, whose territory was located just outside the city of Stya.

During this period, Harald learned about the Great Migration Plan in advance through the secret channel he developed, but he never expected that after the migration began, the communication would be completely interrupted.

Later, information from the city of Arabe revealed that the Great Migration of Stia had become a human tragedy, and their relatives and friends were in Stia.

Edmund took a sip of red wine and raised his bloodshot eyes, "Harald, I won't care about what you did before. Now I have only one request, to ask your commander, to save the principality, there is really no way to hold on. ”

"It's coming, it's coming. Harald played with a yellow-orange-orange bullet in his hand, and his expression was heavy: "I can't judge whether the decision of the Great Migration is right or wrong, I only know that the only one who can save the Duchy is our Blackstone fleet." ”

"Where, where?" Edmund asked, "What about the ironclad battleships you boast about, and what about the invincible gunfire?"

Harald glanced up at him, "Are you questioning the commander?"

Edmund was well aware of the prestige of the commander in the army, as well as the proud achievements he had achieved, and lowered his head slightly, sighing: "I only trust my eyes. ”

He was silent for a long time, and his tone was harsh: "Harald, you ...... Think Alyssa is still alive?"

Alyssa is his daughter, and Harald has a young lover.

Harald was also silent.

After the tempering of the war, he grew up, matured, and even had some contempt for his former prodigal and amorous self.

Alyssa, the lovely girl who adores him and adores him, is indeed the only true love in his heart for a certain period of time.

"Mr. Sir, what did I look like to you?" said Harald, a somewhat abrupt question.

"Before?" Edmund was stunned, he had seen this kid and his precious daughter in the woods, and when they came out, they didn't even tie their belts, and they almost died on the spot.

"Profligate, indulged in wine, no learning, no skills, no ambition. Right?"

Edmund glanced at him and saw the mockery of himself hanging from the corner of his mouth: "It's terrible indeed. But this is not unusual, the children of the nobility, the fine clothes and food. I've seen too much, but you hurt my daughter. ”

"We are in love. Harald looked serious.

"You're in love with every girl you sleep with, aren't you?" Edmund sneered and shook his head, "I've been young, too." When you have a daughter, you will understand how I felt at that time. ”

"And what about me now?" Harald asked again.

Edmund looked at his face, which had been worn out by the wind and the sun, and had long since faded away from the arrogance of a young man, and his eyes were introverted and restrained, not angry and arrogant.

The calm and sharp temperament is only possessed by those characters who have really seen big scenes.

"The fire of war is the anvil that sharpens the will. In the past, you were just a sword that was not quenched, flashy. Now you are more like a well-tempered riding spear, which is calm and dignified when put away, and sharp when lifted. ”

This is Edmund's true assessment.

Harald just smiled, not showing a proud look, and nodded: "The commander is the best blacksmith, and the Blackstone Legion is the strongest furnace." It doesn't matter if you're a pirate, a farmer, or a nobleman, you're nothing more than a bunch of mundane ore. After smelting, beating, and quenching, it finally becomes a sharp blade. ”

"I don't want to admit it, but ...... It is an indisputable fact that you have an admirable commander-in-chief. ”

As a civilian member of the Blackstone Legion, Edmund was unimpressed at first, until he personally experienced the daily training, food and living in the barracks, where everyone was the same, there was no bloodline, no high or low, only discipline and orders to follow.

This maverick and eccentric army in his eyes has made great achievements that he can't imagine.

"Sir, there is an order from the commander-in-chief. ”

The door opened, and the accompanying adjutant, who was also his former first mate, Thales, walked in respectfully and handed over a letter.

Harald looked moved and opened the letter.

Looking at it, his eyebrows raised, and his sullen expression seemed to stretch.

Ordered!

The No. 1 ironclad ship has completed its third sea trial, and the power plant has been verified. Three days later, a ceremony will be held to formally conduct the first test of the open sea voyage and conduct a tentative operation with live ammunition.

Harald was appointed as the first captain of the fleet, serving as the commander of the ocean-going sea trials, accumulating combat experience and exploring new weapons combat methods.

As for the personnel that the fleet needed to be equipped with, Qin Song gave him a lot of power to choose suitable candidates at will among the existing troops.

"Sir, do you want to be my first mate?" Harald looked at Edmund with a smile.

"First mate?"

"First mate of the ironclad!"

......

Daotan Town, Black Forest Castle.

Since the Holy Spirit withdrew from Daotan Town, the original military fortress Black Forest Castle occupies a larger area than Blackstone Castle, with many idle warehouses and natural city barriers.

Now, Alice's laboratory has also been relocated here.

On the school field, Captain Huen is leading the newly selected ten team members to conduct physical training and explain the characteristics of strong armor.

In a laboratory converted from a former grain warehouse, sunlight pours in through the widened windows, illuminating the warehouse, and neat shelves are stacked with iron ingots of various colors—glowing alloy, black iron, and sea iron.

The so-called sea iron is a mineral associated with crystal, this mineral has been nourished by magic for thousands of years, and its properties have undergone a miraculous transformation, and it is named sea iron.

The melting point of marine iron ore is similar to that of iron ore, and the purity is very high, but the extracted iron ingot has surprising physical properties, high strength, high hardness, high fatigue resistance at high temperature, and excellent thermal processing performance.

Perhaps because it was born on the seabed, the steel smelted by sea iron has the properties of stainless steel and has strong corrosion resistance.

After many tests, Qin Song was pleasantly surprised to find that Haitie steel is very suitable for manufacturing high-strength springs.

Using Alice's plasticizing ability, it is lightly plasticized and drawn into a steel bar with a uniform diameter, and then rolled into a uniform spring by a simple spring winding machine, and finally heated at high temperature again, and after re-tempering, it has excellent elasticity and strong fatigue resistance.

The emergence of high-performance springs requires problems to be solved.

"Wow, this one is fun, this one is faster. ”

Crunch, crunch......

The sound of metal grinding came and went, and on the flat ground of the warehouse, two trinkets, one large and one small, ran crookedly.

Luna circled around, clapping her hands.

If you look closely, it is actually two track-driven iron shells, very small, about 30 centimeters long and 20 centimeters wide, with crawlers on both sides and a rectangular iron shell in the middle.

Pocket tanks?

No, much more rudimentary than a tank. It is a small Blackstone engine added to the iron shell as a power, through the gear transmission, driving the driving wheels, driving the tracks, so that the load wheels forward.

If you want to say that it is slightly more difficult, it is only slightly more difficult, and the principle of the bicycle chain and the tank track is essentially the same.

Rescuing the city of Arabe is not something that can be succeeded by relying on a few ironclad ships. Landing operations are unavoidable, and heavy firepower weapons can be used to maximize the effectiveness of sea monsters with violent troop flows.

However, the individual soldier is fragile and has poor mobility, so the vehicle problem must be considered.

The spider demon can barely withstand the recoil of a light machine gun, but the heavier machine gun with a larger caliber is a little weak. The huge recoil will cause the stability of the spider demon to decrease, affecting the shooting accuracy.

Therefore, a heavy machine gun vehicle is imperative.

Tracked combat vehicles.

The armor, power system, and machine-gun turret ensure firepower and mobility.