Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1627 The End of the War

The sound was loud and deep, seemingly emanating from underground. Yet, even through the earth's strata, vibrations could be heard, clearly indicating the sound of a large-caliber firearm.

"Is this a light weapon?"

“Yes, they are light weapons,” Wen Yuan nodded. “The ones you hold in your hand are of course light weapons.”

A few minutes later, Victoria saw the small arms.

The prototype of the Shaoping Type 5 20mm torch bullet storm gun was developed—an improved version of the 9mm storm gun that Zhu Xianxi had used during his previous inspection.

20 millimeters is the diameter of a cannon. The muzzle is dark and gaping, yet it can be easily held in the hand. The gun body uses a large amount of polymer materials instead of wood, increasing its durability.

The new Storm Gun uses pyroxene propellant, which is liquid propellant. The magazine only contains bullets, because even 20mm bullets can hold dozens of rounds.

The version for regular soldiers has a stock and bipod, requiring the rifle to be held against the shoulder for firing. The version for Qi trainers, however, features a bullpup design and a changed center of gravity, allowing it to be held with one hand like a pistol.

“Wait a minute,” Victoria said in surprise, “It’s one thing for Qi cultivators to use guns, but for ordinary soldiers to use guns like this? Isn’t this the caliber of a cannon? Or is this gun made with a reduced propellant charge?”

Victoria knew of such weapons—he had 13mm rifles too. Although these rifles had the same caliber as heavy machine guns, their propellant charge was far less. The purpose of firing them this way was primarily to increase "stopping force," that is, the ability to "quickly incapacitate the target."

It's actually quite similar to a shotgun that fires slugs. Although the range is limited, it can basically guarantee that one shot will blast the enemy open, completely incapacitating them. This type of weapon is generally used for defensive purposes because the reduced propellant charge also reduces its penetrating power. It can blast the enemy open with one shot without penetrating the flesh and harming targets behind, making it very suitable for counter-terrorism operations.

The most commonly used ammunition for that type of firearm is subsonic heavy bullets. The muzzle velocity is less than the speed of sound, allowing for near-silent firing and the silent elimination of the enemy.

But what was happening in front of her was clearly a different matter. What Victoria had just heard was indeed the sound of artillery firing, and it seemed to have been quite loud.

"So, even ordinary soldiers can fire this?"

"Any college student you grab could fire this, right?" Wen Yuan picked it up with one hand and fired a shot at the target in front of her.

With a deafening roar, the blast of propellant swept across the firing range ahead, the sound so loud it hurt people's ears in the confined space. This was clearly not a reduced-charge firing, but a full-charge firing just like an artillery piece.

The target in front wasn't made of wood or paper at all, but was a large, homogeneous block of steel welded there. The "bullet" from before had already made a large hole in the steel plate, alongside the other holes.

How thick is that steel plate?

“Five centimeters.” Five centimeters thick armor plate. Victoria did a rough calculation—that’s roughly the thickness of armor on a heavy tank at its weakest point. For a medium tank, that’s the thickness of its side and rear armor. For a light tank, even its frontal armor probably wouldn’t be that thick. If you aimed a burst at a light tank, it would probably be torn to shreds like paper.

Besides tank armor, these "bullets" are also extremely destructive to various forms of cover. Ordinary brick walls simply cannot stop them; a single shot can blast a large hole in them.

"This is artillery, isn't it? You just fired armor-piercing shells?"

"Armor-piercing rounds? No, no, no, this is the real armor-piercing round." Wen Yuan picked up a bullet that was lying alone on the table. "What I fired just now was a regular hard-core bullet. This one I have now is the real armor-piercing round—a shaped-charge armor-piercing round. We initially tried discarding sabot armor-piercing rounds, but found that they weren't very effective with smaller calibers, so we switched to these shaped-charge rounds. However, only Qi cultivators can use these; regular soldiers can use hard-core bullets, which are about right." "So you're not a regular soldier at all? This is something you can just pull in and fire?"

"You don't believe me?" Wen Yuan put down her gun. "Then go out and grab one."

Victoria turned around and went out. She took the elevator to the ground floor and casually grabbed one from outside.

Another shot rang out, but the shooter was unharmed.

"This is."

"The person you grabbed was Lu Liang." Shang Luo pressed his forehead. "I told you not to grab her, but you didn't believe me. She's also a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Otherwise, why would she be standing at the lab door? Why don't you go grab someone else?"

“Never mind.” Victoria looked around. “I don’t see a single ordinary person here.”

“Yes.” Wen Yuan nodded. “That’s essentially how it is—we have different standards for ordinary people. Our people are enhanced by spiritual energy. They have consumed immortal roots since childhood, and after the spiritual energy rises, everyone has gained some ‘progress’.”

"So you're all superhumans? When you say 'ordinary people,' you actually mean 'ordinary superhumans'?"

“You could say that,” Wen Yuan explained. “If you were to judge it by the standards of an ordinary person, one burst from this thing might break a shoulder, or the muzzle might fly into the air and kill you. But our conscription standards have been raised to a level that surpasses that of an ordinary person—so, if you want to see what kind of opponents Rome will face in the future, that’s what it is.”

With the blessing of spiritual energy, this is no longer a war between humans, but a war between natural beings and superhumans.

The gap between the two sides is first reflected in individual weapons—when the most basic individual weapon changes from a gun to a cannon that can penetrate a tank, this is the ultimate informatization, where information and firepower achieve unparalleled harmony: I observe, I adjust, I decide, I strike.

Once "I" alone can bring all the frontline targets into the scope of tactical operations, the outcome of the war is clearly decided before it even begins.

Because the following might happen during a battle between the two sides:

In an encounter, an infantry squad fired a salvo and destroyed four tanks—an entire armored platoon was wiped out.

Four troop carriers were destroyed—an entire armored infantry platoon was wiped out.

Because an infantry squad consists of 12 men, and 12 "storm guns" are essentially machine guns, this is equivalent to the medium-to-short-range anti-aircraft firepower of a cruiser. In contrast, a battalion in the army only has a dozen or so guns.

A squad can wipe out a battalion; a platoon can wipe out a regiment; if this continues, a company can wipe out a division, and a battalion can challenge an army.

This marks the end of all old-style wars.

“I understand,” Victoria nodded. “May I take a picture? I think the Senate’s expression when they see this will be quite interesting.”

(End of this chapter)