Chapter 192: The Kingdom of Edrath
Chapter 192: The Kingdom of Edrath
More than a year had passed since the Steel Federation was established.
A single year was obviously not enough to bring the entire federation into the industrial age.
However, Newhaven already possessed a mature industrial system and strong production capabilities.
Spreading its technology and industries into the surrounding cities posed no real difficulty.
It did not require much time or effort.
During this period, Newhaven’s technology had advanced again, while skilled workers and specialists continued to emerge in growing numbers.
Caelum now controlled all the resources of the Steel Federation.
As long as Newhaven unleashed the full strength of its industrial capacity, it could produce an enormous quantity of weapons within a single year.
In that time, thirty airships and one hundred and fifty bombers were completed.
Each airship could carry up to twenty tons of cargo and sixty passengers.
Combined with the large bomber fleet, a single journey could transport more than one thousand people, along with vast quantities of supplies.
There would be no problem maintaining logistics.
Among the first soldiers to descend, one fifth were specialists from various technical fields.
During the flight, they had surveyed the land and concluded that Ivy’s territory was the best place to build an airfield.
The area was open, barren, and flat.
It was perfect.
The viewers in Ivy’s livestream were eager to watch the chaos unfold.
Faced with such an exciting spectacle, they immediately began urging her to fight.
"Do not be afraid. Bring out your musketeers and artillery. Fight them and show them whose land this is!"
"Beat them up!"
"..."
When the Third Army finished assembling, soldiers came running over with automatic rifles and heavy machine guns.
Only then did the viewers clearly see their equipment.
"Good grief. Every soldier has an automatic rifle!"
"They have heavy machine guns too!"
"Are those mortars?"
"Hiss..."
The more they saw, the more absurd it became.
They desperately wanted to know how the player on the eastern continent had managed this.
How many years had the game even been running?
Yet he had already produced all of these weapons.
Without a complete industrial system, manufacturing such equipment would have been impossible.
Metallic cartridge production alone required a mature chemical industry.
The parts for aircraft and firearms could not possibly be made entirely by hand.
Compared with that arsenal, Ivy’s flintlock muskets truly looked like little more than firewood pokers.
She took a deep breath and surrendered without hesitation.
"I am the lord of this territory. I surrender."
Her fans were immediately disappointed.
"What a shame."
"So much for the show."
"Who says there will be no show? I have wanted to see machine guns mow down an army for ages. Just wait until the church and the kingdoms face these modern weapons."
"The ways they die will surpass all imagination, right? Hahaha."
Just like that, Ivy became the first western lord to guide the invading forces.
In less than five days, the airfield was completed.
It began receiving a continuous stream of supplies delivered by airships and aircraft.
The site became a solid logistics base.
It was also the first forward outpost of the Steel Federation’s western campaign.
Dozens, sometimes more than one hundred aircraft, came and went every day.
They transported canned food, white sugar, ammunition, weapons, diesel, and many other resources.
Ivy and her viewers stared in disbelief.
The comment feed filled with shocked reactions.
"Damn! Their logistics are this powerful?"
"This time, refusing to kneel really is not an option."
"Brothers, I think the other side is cheating. No matter how you look at it, this makes no sense. There is no way anyone could push the technology tree this far in ten years."
After the Steel Federation was founded, the Newhaven army became the Federal Army.
Following another expansion, the federation’s total military strength reached three hundred thousand soldiers.
That number did not include the logistics forces.
After the expansion, the federation possessed one hundred armies in total.
When defeat was certain, joining the winning side was the best choice.
Ivy understood that perfectly.
If she lost her territory, she would have nothing left.
Recovering afterward would be extremely difficult.
To prove her value, she presented the Third Army with a rough map of the western continent.
It clearly marked the territories of the western kingdoms and other major powers.
Had the Third Army not descended from the sky, Ivy intended to begin her own war the following year.
Since she had already been preparing for war, there was no chance she would neglect something as important as a map.
She knew more than the borders of the various kingdoms.
Ivy had also gathered extensive information about troop deployments in the surrounding territories over the years.
Although she was a streamer, her gaming instincts had always been quite good.
As expected, Ivy successfully joined the Federal Army by offering this intelligence.
The army then used her information to begin planning attacks against the surrounding powers.
Inside the livestream, the comments continued.
"Ivy, I never expected someone as honest looking as you to become..."
Ivy sighed.
"I am only trying to earn a living."
During the strategy meeting, Ivy pointed to the country holding the largest territory on the western continent.
"This is the strongest nation in the west. It is called Edrath."
"Edrath possesses a powerful military with nearly one million soldiers. It is also a great naval kingdom with a long coastline and many harbors."
The commander of the Third Army asked, "How powerful is its navy?"
Ivy answered, "The Kingdom of Edrath has the largest and most advanced fleet in the west. It is the undisputed ruler of the western seas."
At the same time, within the Kingdom of Edrath, at the Sacred Redbud Harbor.
Boom!
A cannon roared.
A massive metal shell struck with terrifying force and tore through several wooden sailing ships in an instant.
Before the guns of the Thunder God battleship, the defenses of those wooden vessels were no better than paper.
After several rounds of fire, more than thirty warships had become wreckage scattered across the sea.
On the harbor, Edrath’s soldiers watched dozens of ships sink before their eyes.
Terror seized them.
They screamed at the top of their lungs.
"Monster!"
"Run!"
One naval soldier collapsed to the ground.
He stared at the steel giant slowly approaching the harbor, his face filled with despair.
Was Edrath not supposed to rule the seas?
How could this be happening?
Everything he had believed in and taken pride in had been crushed with effortless ease.
Nothing could have broken his spirit more completely.
"They are entering the harbor! Stop them!"
A group of archers arrived and formed ranks along the docks.
They drew their bows and aimed at the Thunder God outside the harbor.
The soldiers who had witnessed the naval battle from beginning to end saw what they were doing and shouted in despair.
"Fall back!"
Before the warning finished, rapid cannon fire erupted across the harbor.
Rat tat tat!
The large caliber automatic cannons aboard Thunder God swept across the docks.
Every archer standing in formation was torn apart.
Anyone struck by the rounds was blown into pieces and died instantly.