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Chapter 342: Waste of resources, is this how you are supposed to use oil?
Dennis's straightforward words shocked the wizards present, and they almost thought that the other party was joking.
How could musket bullets fall from the sky? This is too outrageous even if I'm joking!
However, they soon heard Lin En nodding and saying, "It really doesn't take much manpower to make lead bullets, so it's not a problem to say that they fell from the sky."
They made lead bullets using the 18th-century high tower method!
All you need is a building several dozen meters high, with a magic furnace on the top and a large pool underneath to catch the lead bullets.
When lead bullets are needed, a furnace of molten lead is boiled on the top of the tower, and the molten lead is poured directly from a high place. The molten lead will be in a state of weightlessness in mid-air, and will spontaneously form a spherical shape under the action of surface tension. It will quickly cool and solidify into spherical lead bullets during the fall.
In other words, the production of lead bullets uses the planet's gravity as a hammer, and the liquid's own tension shapes it. No manpower is required in the entire process. As long as there is enough lead ore, it can be mass-produced at an extremely fast speed!
The Kingdom of Hadrata lacks everything except various minerals!
In order to cope with this war, he directly built more than ten high-tower factories in the royal capital, and stored more than ten tons of lead ore. If nothing else, there were enough bullets for muskets!
This is also the advantage of being close to the city, there is no need to worry about supplies...
After hearing Lynn's explanation, Sanchez and others were still confused. Although this method was very simple, the related principles were not so easy to understand.
It is true that objects fall naturally under the influence of gravity, but considering air resistance, they should be oval or olive-shaped. Why do they fall into the water in the shape of a sphere?
They had never observed this carefully before.
Raphael even drew water vapor from the air on the spot and conducted a liquid free fall experiment directly on the city wall...
……
[Hadratta] Outside the royal capital, Edwyre, who had been keeping an eye on the enemy's movements, immediately noticed the strange actions of the great wizards and became alert.
"Are they creating water currents? No, water drops?" Arno also had a confused expression. With his divine vision, he could see the general movements of everyone on the city wall from two kilometers away.
"Perhaps it's the beginning of some kind of magic!" a cardinal speculated. "It could also be a curse-like witchcraft!"
All the bishops also became alert. In the past, when they led people to capture wizards, their biggest headache was being ambushed by all kinds of strange spells.
Edwill thought for a moment, but couldn't figure out what these people were doing. Out of caution, he raised his hand and cast a six-ring magic spell - [Shelter of Heaven].
An invisible barrier rose quietly, engulfing everyone present. The whole world seemed to be becoming illusory, as if there was a thin film separating them from the world. Looking out from the inside, it was as if they were looking through the surface of a lake, at the fish and shrimp swimming in the lake.
However, the imagined attack did not come. The group of great wizards only created drops of water and then stared at them falling to the ground, as if they were playing a ridiculous and childish game.
Of course this is impossible!
We are in the middle of a war now, the other party will never do something meaningless, there must be some deep meaning behind it!
"These witchcraft weapons are really good!" Compared to still thinking about Edwyre, Arno focused his attention on the battlefield.
The whole situation can only be described as one-sided. The nobles' private soldiers who attacked the capital numbered as many as 50,000 in total. Now, nearly 10,000 of them have been sacrificed, but they still have not achieved any results. They are like wheat stalks in a wheat field, falling down in rows when a sickle is swung.
Arno had to put aside his previous contempt for these wizards. They had also collected information about firearms, but now it seemed that they were much more powerful than expected.
Even though these noble soldiers had the dual protection of armor and divine magic, they were unable to completely block it.
Those cannons are even more powerful. If hit head-on, no matter how thick the armor is, you will be crushed into meat paste.
No wonder they were able to capture the capital so easily and eliminate the kingdom's church...
"After you capture the capital, remember to leave a few people alive. If you can ask for the production method, it will be much easier to deal with those demons in the future!" Arno suddenly said with a smile.
"These are all creations of witchcraft and the devil's knowledge. They must be completely destroyed..." A cardinal next to him retorted with great dissatisfaction.
Rashly watching or learning taboo knowledge may lead to unpredictable consequences.
In the past, some high-ranking officials in the Church believed that some of the inventions of wizards were very interesting and could be fully utilized. However, after checking the confiscated witchcraft notes, some priests and even bishops with weak willpower were actually bewitched by the devil's knowledge and betrayed God's grace...
From now on, in the operation of capturing wizards, the confiscated book pages, notes, and spellcasting materials must be burned immediately, or taken to the forbidden library and sealed!
It is very likely that evil gods and demons have cast spells in those forbidden witchcraft knowledge, and anyone who reads it will inevitably fall into the abyss!
"Aren't we going to take action yet, Lord Edelweir?" Arno was too lazy to argue with these people. He turned his head and looked at Edelweir and asked.
If this continues, these 50,000 people will most likely all die here, and their deaths will be completely worthless.
Edwill did not reply, but asked, "How is the kerosene preparation going?"
"This thing has already been delivered!" A big smile appeared on Arno's face. With a wave of his hand, more than a hundred guards in silver armor brought over metal barrels filled with thick black liquid.
These kerosene were discovered by a fisherman several months ago. After an earthquake, a crack suddenly appeared in the ground, and boiling black oil came out of it. As a result, no one knew who ignited it, and the fire burned for half a month.
The local fishermen thought they had opened the gates of hell, so they informed the church. It was finally a cardinal who stepped in to extinguish the fire!
After testing, it was found that this thing had nothing to do with the so-called devil, and there was no trace of magic. It was used as a weapon in the war against cultists and demons, and achieved good results...
"But the range of the catapult should not be enough to throw the kerosene over..." said a bishop with a frown. The cannons made by those wizards have a much longer range than the catapult and can be easily hit.
"Since it doesn't work on the ground, let's try it from the sky!" Arno grinned. He already understood what Adwill meant.
Chapter 343: Oil - the blood of industry, the source of power!
From the sky?
The bishops present came to their senses after a brief moment of shock.
The wizards' airships did not take off, obviously because they were afraid of the power of the Griffin Knights. That is to say, they could completely imitate them and use the Griffin Knights' speed and height advantage to launch attacks from the air!
"Devi, you will lead the team this time!" Edwill continued to ask.
"I understand, Lord Edwyre, I will never come back until I complete the mission!" Devi placed his right hand on his chest and swore firmly. Then he led a group of griffin knights, carrying kerosene wrapped in special cloth, and rose into the sky.
"I will also go to meet these devil's followers and test their abilities!" Arno couldn't help but ask Edwyre for a fight, and also took a portion of kerosene and replaced one of the griffin knights to carry out the mission.
Hundreds of griffin knights rose into the air, their golden hair sparkling brightly in the sunlight, like pieces of golden clouds.
"Be careful, those griffins are taking off!" On the city wall, Lin En raised his voice a little and reminded.
In fact, there was no need to remind them. Such a big movement could not be concealed at all. Raphael and others who were wondering why the liquid was always round in the air were forced to interrupt their thinking and get ready together.
Now that these elite troops have begun to take action, it means that the Holy See is serious about this!
In just one minute, those griffin knights had rushed to the sky above the royal capital, maintaining an altitude of about a thousand meters, circling continuously, and occasionally diving a distance from time to time, passing over their heads at a distance of about three or four hundred meters. It was full of provocation and successfully interfered with the performance of the musketeers.
Because no one knows when these griffin knights hanging in the sky will launch an attack.
"Pyroblast!" Several wizards who could not stand the provocation cast spells together after the griffin riders swooped down again.
Several fireballs rose into the air and flew towards several griffin knights high in the sky. Using Olympiad formulas, the enemy's flying position was calculated in advance, so it was a sure thing.
However, their plan failed. The griffin simply flapped its wings and suddenly turned in mid-air, easily avoiding the fire and explosion. Then, instead of taking off to avoid, it lowered its altitude again and flew over their heads, making the wizards very angry, and they all cast spells to fight back.
[Magic - Barrage], [Ice Storm], [Multiple - Pyroblast]...
At once, dozens of magic spells flew high into the sky, trying to rely on their numerical advantage to forcibly knock down these agile griffins.
Unfortunately, Devi had anticipated this and commanded everyone to fly high into the sky again the moment he felt the strong fluctuation of magic power. All the magic was in vain again...
Raphael hurriedly spoke to stop them. "Stop it, don't waste your magic power and fall into the enemy's trap!"
"Damn it! If we could use that magic, how could these griffin knights dare to be so arrogant!" Nancy muttered to herself angrily. She and Glenn both learned the laser magic improved by Lynn and Anthony, but Lynn didn't let them use it easily, saying that the time was not right yet...
"Be patient. They don't have the courage to come over. If they get too close, we will just shoot them down. Just pretend they don't exist!" Raphael shook his head.
The wizards on the city wall were very unhappy but there was nothing they could do. Their magic simply could not cross such a long distance to cause enough damage to the griffin that was moving at high speed.
The opponent is too agile and it’s impossible to hit him!
Devi led the griffin knights and frequently provoked the wizards on the city walls in the air. After roughly assessing the safe range, most of the griffins dispersed.
Arno did not leave, but fought together with a small number of griffin knights who stayed behind. He aimed at the cannons placed on the city wall, commanded the griffin under him to dive at an altitude of about 500 meters, and then suddenly threw the burning kerosene cloth in his hand to his target.
"Wait, what is that?" Glenn, who had sharp eyes, had been staring at the sky and noticed something was wrong at the first moment.
"Fire, it's fire!" a wizard shouted loudly.
"Is it some kind of magic?" Dennis frowned as he looked at the fireballs falling from the sky.
"I don't know, but it must be related to those griffin knights..." Sanchez shook his head, his expression was particularly solemn, because the same scene appeared in every corner of the sky above the capital, as if it was raining fire from the sky...
"Magic barrier!"
On the city wall, hundreds of official wizards cast spells together, and a circular magic barrier immediately enveloped their heads. The cloth wrapped in oil quickly disintegrated under the erosion of the flames, hitting the barrier and making a series of explosive roars.
A portion of the black liquid that had not yet burned stuck to the magic barrier above his head.
At the same time, a pungent smell reached everyone's nose.
Toxic gas?
Wizards who had studied poison gas magic noticed it when the substance invaded the barrier and immediately held their breath in alertness.
Lin En quickly recognized the black liquid that had not yet been fully burned, and his expression was both astonished and surprised.
"Wait...could this be...oil?!"
"Oil? What is that?" Dennis and others were confused. It was another word they had never heard of before.
"A very critical liquid fuel." Lynn answered.
What is oil? It is the blood of industry, the source of power, and one of the most important cornerstones of modernization. In addition to being used as fuel, it can also be made into plastics, asphalt, synthetic rubber, and more.
Although the wizarding land is now powered by magic-powered internal combustion engines, which convert hydrogen into magic and cause gas explosions to provide power, and are much more efficient than liquid fuels, cost is a big problem.
For example, a crystalline magic stone of standard diameter, worth three magic gold coins, can only provide the airship with five days of flight fuel.
If it weren't for the war, the parliament would have supported it regardless of the cost, and even used up the magic stone reserves accumulated in the past to continue to supply the consumption of hundreds of airships.
Once the process of magicization is extended to the entire Kingdom of Hadratha, magic stones cannot be the mainstream.
Oil is a good substitute, and he had asked the kingdom's spies to pay attention to it before. However, oil exploration is not an easy task, and no news has been reported back so far.
Lin En didn't expect to find traces of oil in this war, and it was directly used as kerosene. This was simply a waste of resources!
Chapter 344: The Thunder Net Covering the Sky Above the Royal Capital!
Just as Lin En was explaining what oil was, similar magic barriers rose above the towering towers, enclosed factories and the royal capital, blocking the falling rain of fire.