Mystery: But the Witch's Path

By 12:30, everyone had arrived.

Since it was a small banquet, there were only 25 people. Apart from Uncle Rafe, the others either brought their own descendants or were sons and daughters-in-law, and they were basically all in pairs.

It's fortunate that there weren't many people, otherwise there really wouldn't be enough room for everyone to stand at the table.

Once everyone had arrived, Altair signaled to Hahn to begin the banquet.

As Hahn gently rang the bell to signal that the luncheon could begin, Altair rose and accompanied some important guests to their seats, while the other guests casually sat down in groups.

The seating arrangements at the luncheon were not as strict as those at the dinner.

Once everyone was seated, the servants began serving the meal, starting with cold dishes and ham, then moving on to hot dishes, roast meat, roast chicken, roast vegetables, and finally desserts such as fruit tarts and pudding.

Since there will be performances in the afternoon, the luncheon will only serve some low-alcohol white wine or cider.

During the luncheon, Altair and everyone else enjoyed a cheerful and lively meal that lasted an hour and a half.

After lunch, Altair made way for everyone.

The older generation has generally begun to relinquish authority and enter a period of vacation.

Middle-aged people, like Karel Duarte, have basically completed the transfer of power and begun to establish themselves.

Some of the younger generation are around my age, and they are mostly still in the learning stage, as students, and will make plans after they become adults.

.........

After lunch, and after a brief chat, Hahn came in and whispered in Altair's ear, "Simon's arrangements are complete; the performance can begin."

After listening to this private conversation, Altair looked at the people sitting there and found that, apart from a few young people, almost everyone was looking at him.

Altair smiled helplessly and shook his head, thinking, 'These people are probably waiting for Hahn to come in and report.'

He then rose and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for attending the 'Sheffield Home' banquet. To express our gratitude, we have prepared a fireworks display for you. After the show, you can participate in the fireworks yourself. Please follow me to the backyard."

Altair and Hahn simply made a gesture of invitation.

Hahn led the way, while Altair accompanied Uncle Rafe and the others as they left the living room.

Those in the know also wanted to see, so they left. As for the rest, seeing most people leave, they followed suit.

We were led to the backyard and sat on the stands that had already been set up.

Looking down from the stands, one can't help but admire Simon's professionalism; from there, he can see everything happening on the firing range.

Seeing that everyone was seated, Altair began his introduction: "Since 1145, the actions of Emperor Roselle, such as inventing the steam engine and improving rifled cannons, completely ended the era of knights."

"This also allowed the Republic of Intis to rise rapidly during that era, dominating other countries for nearly 50 years. It wasn't until Roselle was assassinated in the White Maple Palace and Intis was thrown into turmoil that other countries took advantage of this period to begin their industrial revolution."

"After that, the way wars were fought between the two countries completely changed to fighting with firearms. And an unavoidable problem with firearms is gunpowder, which is the foundation of this series of weapons. Whoever has better technology can gain the upper hand."

"Of course, that's not entirely true, since the military possesses a large number of powerful weapons like steam rifles. But you're all aware of the drawbacks of such weapons: high cost, complex maintenance, the need for phlogiston power, and the requirement for specially trained personnel to operate them, among other issues."

"The solution to these problems is to update gunpowder technology. Whoever possesses new gunpowder that is cheaper to produce and more powerful will be able to control the changing landscape of weaponry."

"Today, the performance we have prepared for you is a test firing of weapons using 'new type of gunpowder' technology."

As soon as Altair finished speaking, Simon led all the team members to a corner of the shooting range. After receiving the signal that they could begin, the 12-member team started their performance.

Because the distance was over 100 meters, the gunshots from the squad using the Kar98k had faded from sharp explosions to muffled "thumps" by the time they reached the stands.

Seeing the satisfied expressions on their faces, Altair gave a brief introduction: "'Kar98k' is a bolt-action rifle, chambered for 7.92×57mm Mauser rounds, fed by a 5-round internal magazine, with an effective range of 800 meters, a length of 1100mm, and an unloaded weight of approximately 3.9 kg."

"The bolt action is smooth and reliable, and the accuracy is excellent. With the addition of an optical sight, it can be used as a sniper rifle. The disadvantage is that the rate of fire is slow and it cannot cope with sudden close-range melee."

"But its superior performance cannot be denied. Compared with the weapons currently in service with the military, it is cheaper and more powerful. The ammunition uses entirely new smokeless powder."

The current timeline is in the late Victorian era of the "original world," where ordinary weapons have not yet been completely replaced by smokeless gunpowder technology.

While watching the demonstration at the shooting range, Uncle Rafe casually remarked, "What's the cost and production time of this rifle?"

Altair was secretly pleased. Uncle Rafe was a good person. He was just waiting for someone to ask a question. How could he introduce the advantages if no one asked a question? "Because the Kar98k is a new type of firearm, its production time is currently between 12 and 14 hours. Once mass production begins, the production time can be reduced to about 9 hours."

Altair's words made these bigwigs nod repeatedly.

The demonstration process of the kar98k was entirely a weapon test, from range, accuracy, and muzzle velocity to environmental simulations such as immersion in water, sand, and low temperature, to continuous firing.

..........

After the Kar98k test was completed, Simon and his team switched to the MG42 to begin testing.

The MG42 fires at an extremely high rate of 1200 rounds per minute, producing a continuous, tearing sound like "sizzle-sizzle-" as if tearing cloth. There is no obvious interval between single shots; it sounds more like the sharp sound of a metal grinding wheel cutting steel, creating a very oppressive effect.

Seeing the shocked expressions on people's faces, Altair could understand, since modern heavy machine guns didn't have that kind of effect, and simply explained:

"The MG42 general-purpose machine gun combines the combat needs of both light and heavy machine guns."

"It uses 7.92×57mm Mauser ammunition, belt-fed, with a theoretical rate of fire of up to 1200 rounds per minute. Its effective range is 800 meters (light machine gun configuration) and 1000 meters (heavy machine gun configuration). The gun is 1219mm long and weighs approximately 11.5 kg unloaded."

"The rate of fire is extremely high, the gunshot is like the roar of a chainsaw, and the suppressive power is extremely strong."

"Manufactured using stamping technology, it has low cost, high output, and excellent reliability, and can adapt to harsh battlefield environments such as extreme cold and mud."

"The downside is that the high rate of fire leads to rapid ammunition consumption, which places high demands on the shooter's gun control skills and logistical support."

"But I think this level of ammunition consumption is not a disadvantage for the military, or even for an industrial power like ours."

"If the two firearms are paired together, they can form the core firepower combination of an infantry squad. The Kar98k is responsible for precise single-shot firing and mid-to-long-range sniping. The MG42 is responsible for suppressing fire and area control."

If the Kar98k brought surprise to these people, then the MG42 brought shock, because the design of this machine gun completely surpassed all current firearms.

After the performance, everyone participated in the trial phase, eager to try out this weapon that could influence the course of the battle.

When Altair quoted the cost and time, these high-ranking people looked at him as if he were a piece of gold.