Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 200 Tianshuang City's Misplaced Attack, Fifth Grade, and the First Appearance of Stars

When the orcish autumn hunting army first set out, Chen Mo was quite nervous. After all, the enmity between orcs and humans was deep and complex, and the orcs' long-standing suppression of humans had earned them a notorious reputation.

Chen Mo had detailed battle plans provided to him by Dongxia, and had also organized the Han Hai Territory's military corps to discuss battle plans on several occasions. The Han Hai Territory now possessed the ability to perish together with some of the enemy forces, and also had many ways to inflict heavy, or even locally devastating, blows on the orcs.

However, both Han Hai and Tian Shuang are geographically disadvantaged and have limited resilience, much like an ordinary person armed with a gun facing a pack of dozens or even hundreds of wolves. Even if they gain an advantage in the war, they cannot guarantee that they will not be annihilated by the onslaught of crazed orcs.

Chen Mo even prepared for the worst: if he couldn't hold onto Tianshuang City, he would also lose Hanhai Territory. In that case, he would try to move the people as far as possible into the desert and reopen the territory once the orcs were gone.

If they can't even stay deep in the desert, then they can head south to the Dark Forest to seek refuge with the elves, since the two sides are currently in a brief honeymoon period.

If all else fails, then take a portion of the core members aboard the Qiming. Even if we're adrift at sea, as long as we can still activate the teleportation array, there will always be a day when we can make a comeback.

However, the course of the war after it began seemed to deviate significantly from what was expected.

It's quite normal for the main force of the orcs to directly attack Greenpine. They've been fighting like this for many years. After all, if the orcs don't enter the human kingdoms, they can't get anything. What's the point of waging war if they can't?
But the orcs' siege of Skyfrost City without attacking is quite interesting.

The team analyzed all sorts of possibilities, but no matter what the possibility was, the orcs' behavior was not a bad thing.

Based on this understanding, after careful consideration, Chen Mo issued a strange order to the defensive forces of Tianshuang City.

Let's try some staggered turn-based attacks.

When they first received the order, the management of Skyfrost City was quite confused. However, their lord was now a big fan of the Lord of the Vast Ocean, and Skyfrost City's supplies were mostly provided by the Vast Ocean Territory. So, even if it was a suicidal game, they would still carry it out, let alone a turn-based game.

Since the orcs chose to attack in the afternoon, Skyfrost City decided to launch its counterattack in the morning.

No, this shouldn't be called a counterattack; it should be considered a proactive attack.

The weapon used is also the current version of the world's ranged overlord, the heavy catapult.

As the orc army slowly assembled in the distance, the catapults of Skyfrost City began to launch their attacks.

Without a doubt, at this distance, even with the addition of a mage's magic circle, there was absolutely no possibility of hitting the orcs. The attacks from Skyfrost City and the orcs were both meaningless, hitting empty ground and failing to achieve any offensive effect.

After a brief period of observation, the orc army immediately responded positively.

When the images and data, filmed in Tianshuang City and painstakingly transmitted via the Penglai airship, were displayed before him, Chen Mo was completely certain of his thoughts.

The orc generals on this route simply didn't want to fight.

We're good at this kind of long-range artillery warfare!
Every morning, when the catapults of Frostborn begin to creak and groan, a portion of the orcish forces will press forward to the limit of Frostborn's attack range, raising their great shields and long axes high and letting out a defiant roar as the "bombs" fall in twos and threes.

In rare cases, agile orc generals of the Thousand Beast Chief level would venture into the slingshot attack zone of Skyfrost City, dodging and weaving, displaying a brave and fearless orc spirit.

In the afternoon, the orcs' catapults began to roar precisely on time.

Similarly, the battlefield appeared increasingly lively as everyone was kept strictly outside the attack range, but from beginning to end, it did not have any substantial impact on Skyfrost City.

The two sides thus engaged in a precise, time-controlled battle of projectiles, even developing a unique battlefield tacit understanding. When their own projectiles were depleted, they would even take advantage of the lulls in the "battle" to go to the center of the battlefield to collect materials.

The projectiles are launched from Tianshuang City in the morning and retrieved outside the city at noon.

The enemy was currently having lunch, and as everyone knows, it's not advisable to engage in strenuous activity while eating, so the orc army remained still.

The orc army dropped the projectiles in the afternoon and retrieved them from the battlefield in the evening.

With nightfall approaching and fearing the enemy might plot something, Skyfrost City lowered its guard and remained on high alert.

Thus, a rare spectacle, unseen in the history of warfare, unfolded on the front lines of Tianshuang City.

In this atmosphere of tacit understanding, seeing that there were no major problems in Tianshuang City for the time being, Chen Mo felt relieved and continued to devote himself to his oil industrial base.

The first phase of the "Three-Three Project" – whether it's the oil collection pool, distillation tower, oil storage tank, or transportation line – wasn't particularly difficult. As long as you put in enough manpower and follow the task plan and operating instructions step by step, you could definitely get it done.

After implementing the two core technologies of "paying wages for work" and "clear rewards and punishments," the overall project progressed extremely rapidly.

In fact, this kind of plan is nothing new, and anyone can understand how to use it. However, the core lies in the "financial power" behind the lord. Without the investment of real money, even the best plan is just a mirage.

However, the second phase of industrialization cannot be accomplished simply by spending money.

When Chen Mo announced the Xuan Shui City Industrial Zone plan, his young commanders raised a question.

"The White Deer Plains are teeming with orcs, and we are surrounded by powerful enemies. We could be attacked at any time. Why not locate the industrial zone in our home territory of the Vast Sea Territory?"

Chen Mo first praised the student who raised the question, then threw the question back at him: "Why do you think that is?"

This is one of the characteristics of the Lord's Classroom: when time is not tight, Chen Mo likes to let students try to come up with the solutions themselves first.

Thinking promotes growth!

"It's too far to transport it back, and it's easy for people to spot it along the way!"

"We are strong enough to defend this black water!"

"Are some production activities only possible near oil-producing areas?"

“I still think the desert is too limiting. Food and water are scarce there, so it can’t support too many people and can’t provide… what that lord was talking about, enough industrialized population!”

After going around in circles, the most reliable answer came from Ma Qianzu, a leading figure among the younger generation of officers.

"Our Han Hai Territory has a small population, and the population we can influence in the surrounding areas is also small. In the words of the lord, our influence range is limited. But the White Deer Plain is different. There are tens of millions of beastmen and humans here, which is a huge market!"

"Therefore, I think that if we put industrial production in Hanhai, we not only have to solve the problem of transporting crude oil back, but also the problem of transporting industrial products back in the future. This back-and-forth back and forth is both dangerous and troublesome!"

After finishing his summary, the soldier looked at his lord with high hopes and, unsurprisingly, received a verbal commendation from Chen Mo.

"What's said above is all correct!"

"However, it's not complete yet!"

Chen Mo pointed the laser pointer at the huge military map on the screen.

"First of all, we need to make one point clear: black water, which is what I call petroleum, and all the products derived from it are entirely based on petroleum as a raw material."

"Therefore, some of you previously believed that for safety reasons, the relevant industrial production lines should be moved back to Han Hai Territory. This presents a huge contradiction!"

“Xuanshui City is unsafe, and people think it might fall. If it does fall, without oil as a raw material, wouldn’t our Hanhai City’s oil industry become nothing but a pile of scrap metal?”

Chen Mo tapped the map: "The crude oil producing areas are the core of the entire chain. Losing Xuanshui City is equivalent to losing the oil industry chain."

"Since there are reasons to defend this place, it makes no difference to defend a few more factories."

Seeing the students' thoughtful expressions, Chen Mo paused for a moment to let them process the information before continuing, "Secondly, the location of Xuan Shui City is not as bad as you might imagine."

"The key is that the Rotten Swamp, which is now called the Black Water Swamp or the Mysterious Water Swamp, was originally a natural geographical barrier."

"In some ways, it is even better protected than the desert."

"Orc cavalry and heavy infantry cannot advance in the swamp. We have a natural and powerful moat. As long as we hold the main passage into the swamp, the orcs can only use their weak air force to challenge our anti-aircraft firepower."

"In this area, I think we..."

"Victory is assured!" This statement elicited a thunderous response from the entire classroom.

Once the atmosphere calmed down, Chen Mo continued to add.

"There's another point. Bailu Plain was originally our planned future development base. Our current basic task is defense, but in the future, we will inevitably have to launch offensive campaigns on Bailu Plain."

"Starting the attack from here will save a lot of time and distance."

"Therefore, it is most appropriate to produce our future offensive weapons here!"

As the lord waved his hand, the map on the screen switched to a picture of a weapon.

Although no one had ever seen this thing before, the moment they saw it, a strange and fierce aura emanated from it.

Real weapons of war, with their powerful and violent aesthetics, can always capture people's hearts the moment they come into view.

As the core element of the steel torrent on Earth, the "tank," known as the king of land warfare, undoubtedly hits the sweet spot of these young commanders who are just beginning to develop a metal worship.

That's right. As a continuation of the military-first policy, after acquiring the oil-producing area, the first thing Dongxia recommended to Chen Mo was this thing.

The young lord of Dongxia felt an inexplicable affinity for this steel behemoth.

However, due to the extremely limited transport capacity of the current altar, let alone main battle tanks that weigh seventy or eighty tons, even the prototype of the tank in the picture, the first generation of the legendary tank of Dongxia, weighed thirty-six tons, which Lord Chen Mo cannot currently handle.

Even if the tanks are deployed in batches over two months, the fuel problem remains a major obstacle preventing them from leaving the mountains.

Although the Han Hai Territory has built various power generation facilities and has relatively abundant power reserves over the past year, it must be made clear that electric engines are far inferior to traditional diesel engines, the core power source for tanks, in the case of such heavy war machines.

Pure electric power has low energy density, limited range, and slow charging speed. Most critically, its reliability drops significantly when exposed to extremely cold or hot environments.

The only advantage that electric motors have over diesel engines is their low noise. However, this is of no value on the battlefield, since tanks are meant for head-on engagements, not for sneak attacks or scouting.

Now, the fuel problem has finally been solved.

Hanhai has its own steel production line.

Hanhailing can also produce basic artillery shells and bullets.

Thus, the answer was slapped directly in Chen Mo's face: the modified 59-style Starry Night, a fresh design.

However, the amount of work required to fully implement this is astonishing.

The entire design is a complete set of instructions that are precise down to the material requirements, production processes, and assembly schemes for every screw and every piece of sheet metal, providing step-by-step guidance on how to operate it.

However, despite the extremely detailed process instructions, which included a large amount of video and picture guidance materials, the Hanhailing technicians, who had never been exposed to this level of process before, still found it overwhelming and daunting.

After all, this was an industrial entity that could only forge metal gun tips yesterday, and had never even manufactured a bicycle.

To take a leapfrog approach and produce advanced weapons like tanks in one step is not just a case of taking too big a step and ending up with a mess, it's like going straight for a gender mutation.

Therefore, Lord Chen Mo, the only one in the entire venue with some understanding of tanks and a high acceptance of various technical terms, had to personally take charge and begin the arduous training and guidance of the technical personnel.

All the trained engineers, technicians, half-baked dwarven craftsmen, and quick-witted human apprentices in the entire Vast Ocean Territory were gathered together to learn this manufacturing process that transcends countless eras under the guidance of the great lord.

To paraphrase Copperbeard, who was sitting in the front row, apart from the outer steel plate, he couldn't even understand the blueprints for the other components.

Copperbeard was already the highest-ranking local master craftsman in the Vast Ocean Territory. The smelting and forging techniques he learned from his dwarf stepfather allowed him to quickly master the operation of most of the equipment in the Eastern Xia. He also took on the role of chief engineer in the construction of the steel mill, the precision machining of the arsenal, and even the construction of the "Enlightenment" armed transport ship.

He couldn't understand it; the territory was basically useless to everyone. However, the greatest characteristic of the craftsmen trained in the Vast Ocean Territory was their exceptionally strong execution ability.

Even if you can't understand the blueprints, as long as you can follow the video step by step, you'll eventually figure it out.

"As long as you work hard, you can build an airship even with just a hammer."

Of course, the support we are receiving now goes far beyond just a hammer, and the product we need to complete is not as simple as an airship.

From the very beginning, Chen Mo had been trying to reduce the pressure on his "technical workers".

"We can do it step by step, solving it piece by piece."

"The parts that need to be done in our own factory are mainly four parts: the hull and turret, the running system, the engine casing, and the overall assembly!"

"Let's look at them one by one, starting with the hull and turret, which are just two big iron shells!"

"For materials, the finished steel produced by Hanhai is sufficient. We have already practiced the processes of rolling armor steel plates, flame cutting, and welding in previous industrial construction and production processes, right? It's just that the steel plates are thicker this time and the precision requirements are higher."

Chen Mo clapped his hands encouragingly: "It's okay, we can try in batches and practice in sections! If it rolls off-center, we can re-roll it; if it cuts crookedly, we can re-cut it; if it's welded badly, we can go back to the furnace and start over. We can afford to make mistakes now. Even if we can only produce the shell of one car a month, that's still a victory!"

"Looking at the movement system, what we need to cast and manufacture are all bulky, heavy-duty components: road wheels, idler wheels, drive sprockets, track pads..."

"If our workers can't even do these tasks properly following the instructions, like making some pins and fasteners and drilling a few mounting holes, I'd seriously question whether all our education funds over the years have been wasted on sand beetles?"

The atmosphere on the field relaxed a little, and some students chuckled softly in response.

The lord is joking, so hurry up and laugh! I'm talking to you, still staring like an idiot!

Manufacturing these things is certainly not as easy as the lord says, but it is indeed possible to make them if you spend the time.

We build the framework by making each wheel and assembling each track one by one, and at most, we can polish and make some corrections later.

"The third part, the engine assembly, is indeed more difficult. It's not that casting is difficult, but this part involves many precision components that will be installed in the future, and our tolerances must meet the requirements."

"For the cylinder block, cylinder head, and gearbox housing, we'll try casting molds first, then fix whatever problems arise."

"I will provide the complete set of internal components, including the high-pressure fuel injection system, turbocharger, high-precision bearings, piston rings, a full set of seals, electronic control unit, etc. You just need to test and practice repeatedly until the outer shell we manufacture can assemble these internal components perfectly!"

This part is actually the most troublesome. If there is a slight deviation in the casting of the tank's outer armor, it will not affect its use. Even if some parts are not properly assembled, they can be polished again.

However, such a precision component as an engine cannot tolerate the slightest carelessness; any oversight could lead to incalculable consequences.

Chen Mo looked around, his voice growing louder: "Of course, I hope that one day you can tell me that we've mastered this little gadget and can make it ourselves!"

"Rest assured, the territory will absolutely reward any of you who achieves any technological breakthrough!"

This statement instantly resonated with all the technicians.

The lord has always been generous, especially towards technical personnel. In the past six months, due to their outstanding performance in product manufacturing or the breakthroughs achieved in individual processes, Han Hai Ling has not only transferred a large number of technical workers and their families into the national workforce, but also offered them astonishingly generous rewards.

In the vast desert, the easiest way to find a wife is for skilled workers, followed by professional soldiers.

After all, although professional soldiers have high status and good benefits, they need to go out often. For ordinary people in the Starry World, fighting, especially fighting against orcs, is an extremely dangerous thing. They might be wiped out in a battle one day.

In contrast, skilled workers who can stay at home day and night earn higher salaries and enjoy higher status in their territories. Master craftsmen like Bronzebeard can even have their entire families transferred to national status, and often receive additional quotas, materials, and financial rewards.

Seeing the blue work uniform and the two pens on his upper arm, the girls in the area all felt that this was a reliable, down-to-earth, and promising person.

As a result, everyone learning technology has become a trend in the area.

Now, the construction of this new "tank" will undoubtedly create countless new elites in the industry! The technicians present unconsciously clenched their fists.

(End of this chapter)