"This is what you call the modified Welsh II steam rifle?"

The commander of the 4th Division, Danny? Carey took a modified rifle that Gastens had brought from his men and examined it carefully. Because of the sudden rout, many soldiers of the 5th Company lost their rifles, after all, it was difficult to run through the fear of death with a heavy steam backpack on their backs. Gastens this put or from Bingbo? The old subordinate who had been with him since the 19th Death Squad never left the rifle they had made together in Stralongwood.

"Well, this is a modification of the Welsh II rifle of the Negro Republic, which can increase the range by about ten meters, so that our weapons have ten meters more effective range than the enemy. While advancing in the array, we were able to shoot one or two rounds first, dealing damage to the enemy first. ”

"That's a good thing, can you change it on our Type 27 rifle?" Danny? Carey slung the rifle's steam backpack on his back, expertly reloaded, and picked up his gun to aim. Opposite him was a humanoid target temporarily set up by the division headquarters.

"No, our 27-style shooting is too old, and many structures can't be adjusted. If you want to change it, you can only redesign, and it is estimated that it is too late to help. ”

"Where did you change this gun?"

"The capital of the Republic of Tulucas, Strongwood. We had been there for a few days, and it was the first time we had encountered an enemy armored spearman, so I changed it with a captured rifle. ”

"We've recently captured a lot of enemy rifles, how fast can you be if you were asked to change them?"

"If I am allowed to manage that factory, and given full control and some funding, I can increase the output of the renovation to about 200 spikes a day."

Don't even need a hint from Gastens, Danny? The first time Carey heard Gastens explain that they could shoot first and still have a guaranteed hit rate, he thought of letting Gastens continue to work on gun modifications. Gastens did not shirk either, and the reported data left room for himself. At the same time, he offered to take his old men to Strongwood because they had helped him remodel his guns. If his plan can come to fruition, he can get rid of that damn Charlotte once and for all? At the same time, Findley can also bring back the seeds of revolution that he has worked so hard to cultivate, instead of meaninglessly consuming them in such a war of aggression.

"Will this rifle work against those iron tortoises?" The commander of the 2nd Brigade, Charlotte? Findley's immediate boss, Ann? Aspel asked a new question, "We lost this time in those iron shells." If these Negru only have rifles, it is useless, our army is large, not afraid of death, send more slave death squads to the front, we can win them through a war of attrition. Now the problem is that those iron tortoises can't gnaw at all. ”

"Although the power of my gun is a little greater, if you want to break through the defense, I estimate that the distance will have to be closer to 30 meters or even closer. At that distance, shooting may not be as convenient as melee combat. ”

"Or we can bring in some warhammers from the rear, and we have seen them in our history," suggested one of the officers who were together.

"That's all the old calendar, now let's get the level of the gun up first", Danny? Carey interrupted everyone's conversation, "Gastens, I'll write you a letter later, you bring the letter and documents, and go to Strongwood's garrison commander, Frank, the commander of the Seventh Legion?" Lowwell, he's a cadet with me and can give you what you want. All you have to do is guarantee my supply of 200 modified rifles a day, understand? ”

Gastens nodded, accompanied the officers to test the performance of the weapons, and listened to them talk for a while about how to deal with those armored spearmen. Kerry's document, which left the divisional headquarters of the 4th Division.

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The defeat at the Battle of Green Pine had a far greater impact on the Sixth Army than expected, Danny? Carey did not even ignore such a small favorable factor as Gastens, but paid great attention to it. In the afternoon of the same day, Gastens and the remaining 57 soldiers of his fifth company were sent by the division headquarters in two four-wheeled carriages to take them back to Strongwood as soon as possible. So, in Charlotte? Findley and Yannick? With envy and hatred in Dimo's eyes, Gastens left the precarious front line and began to advance towards the Fragrant City with his men.

Along the way, Gastens fully felt the impact of the war on both countries. The road from Tulucas to Anta province in the Republic of Negro is full of refugees and transport vehicles from Ankenrein. Horses, carts and crowds of people cloak the roads almost impassable. The soldiers in Gastens' car drove the crowd with whips and gunshots, squeezed their way through the roadless road, and returned to Strongwood in two days.

By this time, nearly three weeks had passed since Gastens and his teammates had last left, and the Seventh Army Corps, which was responsible for controlling the occupied area, had completed its control of the area. Gastens met with Frank, the commander of the 7th Combat Readiness Corps, without any problems. Senior Colonel Lowell. Although he commands three divisions of an army and a huge combat force of nearly 30,000 people, because it is a reserve army, Lowwill's rank and Danny? Carey is the same. He read Danny in front of Gastens? Carey's letter, after figuring out that Gastens just wanted a worthless repair shop, readily agreed, entrusted Gastens with full responsibility for the maintenance plant of Slote Power Equipment, and gave him a large amount of looted funds and a company of escorts, allowing him to use it freely.

Gastens got Frank? With Commander Lower's permission, he immediately found the factory where he had modified his guns at that time. About the same as when they left, the factory was closed, and it did not appear to have been ransacked. The gatehouse, which had been guarded the last time he had arrived, was empty, and Gastens walked around the factory and found an unknown worker and asked him to pick up the union president, Thomas? Gurakos came to him.

During the time they waited, Gastens inspected the factory's equipment and confirmed that they were still available. He had also found more material stockpiles, and it seemed that the Seventh Legion had not yet set its mind on these heavy, not so valuable lumps. He divided the soldiers he had returned with into two groups, one consisting of the Sink? Warren led a group led by Bimbo? Beaubruv management. When grouping into groups, Gastens carefully divided the experienced veterans who had completed the firearm modification with him last time into two groups. After the first batch of captured Welsh II steam rifles was delivered from the front, he planned to use these two groups in two shifts to fight for Danny as soon as possible. Kerry provides available weapons support.

In the evening, just as Gastens's team and the company of escorts sent to him by Lawwell were setting up a stove in the open space of the factory to burn some meat to eat, the chairman of the union, Thomas? Gurakos found Gastens, and with him, and Ivan, who stayed to recuperate from his injuries and looked good? Warren.

"Head, did you come back alive?"

Ivan smiled as he stepped forward, hugged Gastens hard, and patted him on the shoulder. Sink? Warren complained about Ivan and looked at his brother with a smile. Trade union president Thomas? Gurakos stood aside with some trepidation, not knowing what to say.

"That's right, we came here this time to get this factory up and running", and Ivan's greetings had time, and Gastens had to put Danny as soon as possible? "I need you and your workers, and in return I will give you wages and food, and keep you safe." ”

Hear that there is pay and food, Thomas? Gurakos's expression was obviously much better, he smiled and shook Gastens' hand, "That's great, the workers can't work during this time, and many people have no money to eat at home." Others were arrested to build roads, and their lives are unknown. Thank you so much for coming back and helping us. ”

"But there are some things I have to say in the front", Gastens did not intend to hide it, "I came here this time to make guns, and the guns I made are to support the front line, and the opponents of these guns are the soldiers of the Negro Republic, and if you are unwilling, or if your workers are unwilling, I will not force it." ”

"...... of the Negro Republic", Thomas? Gurakos pursed his lips and did not show fierce opposition as Gastens expected, "The Negru Republic has done nothing good to us Tulukas, not allowing us to build our own steam factory, nor allowing us to equip ourselves with steam rifles, and when you called, their army and the archmage did not show up, leaving us to fend for ourselves. I don't like you, and I don't want Tulucas to destroy the country, but personally, I'm not disgusted with you, and I don't have a good impression of the Neglo Republic, so the problem you said is not a problem for me. ”

Hearing this reason, Gastens was a little surprised, but he also felt understandable. Just like Rylin under their control, the two small countries have been fighting for years, and how many young and middle-aged people have died on the battlefield, is it not because the Negru Republic and the Ankenrein Empire behind them are going to do weapon tests? The things that the leaders of the country pursue are still different from the things that the people pursue.

"It's good that you can understand that, but I hope the workers you got can understand too, because it's about whether or not I can satisfy my boss. If my superiors were unhappy with me, I might not be able to continue remodeling rifles here and would have had to go back to the front. When the time comes, you may need to find another way to live. ”

"Needless to say, sir", Thomas? Gurakos interrupted Gastens, "I am the chairman of the trade union of this factory, and the war of the bourgeoisie has nothing to do with us working class. I promise I'll find enough people, but a few skilled people have been captured to repair the road, and I don't know if you can help find them back. ”

"That's fine," Gastens replied. He thinks he's relying on Danny? Carey's relationship with Captain Lowwell should not be difficult to meet this requirement. He let go of Thomas? The hand of Gurakos, presented a new invitation.

"I used to be a worker, I know your hard work, this time is not easy. Go find your co-workers, and we'll have a good meal together in the evening. ”

Thomas? Gurakos looked at the soldiers behind Gastens, who also climbed up from the serf class, and looked at him with a smile without any dissatisfaction. Behind them, the glow of the blazing pyroxene scorched the long skewers of meat, which looked so delicious. Thomas? Gurakos' gaze paused on Gastens' face, nodded heavily, and turned away.

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The next day, Gastens went to Frank with the list given by Gurakos? Lauwer, unsurprisingly, received strong support from Commander Lauwell. Seven veteran maintenance technicians from Slote Power Equipment were recovered from the road construction site, and Ivan officially announced his return from injury. At this point, Gastens completed the control of the repair factory, and the first batch of 1,000 captured Welsh II steam rifles sent from the front were also sent to the factory. In terms of time, Danny? Carey had been collecting the guns almost as soon as Gastens had left, so he could get them back so quickly.

After getting the first batch of weapons that needed to be modified, Gastens called all the workers who wanted to participate in the work, his old subordinates. He found four crates, built them in two tiers, climbed up on his own, and began to speak.

"Comrades workers, many of you know me, and some of you who don't know me may have heard of me, my name is Gastens? Warren, once a serf, is now a free man like you. I worked as a miner, went to college, ran a newspaper, and propagated communism in the Ankenrein Empire. Unfortunately, my actions caught the attention of the authorities, who arrested me, sent me to prison, and then to the army's death squads, hoping that enemy bullets would kill me. But the three gods favored me, I survived, not only survived, but also met you. To be honest, I am in charge of this factory now, and the next task is to produce guns for the front. If anyone of you doesn't want to do this, you can leave, and I won't stop you. But, as your union president, Thomas? What does the bourgeois war of aggression have to do with us? If you want to get a steady salary and enough food to eat during the war years, then stay. I will do my best to give everyone the best treatment and ensure everyone's food supply, and I will also do it myself, work with you, and put it into production together. My only hope is that you can do this job well, thank you! ”