Chapter 308: Assault Type, Artillery Type, Spell Specialization Type…

Both Leonia and Sims were stunned. They didn’t quite understand Morin’s meaning.

In their perception, the “Siegfried Type 1” Armored Knight was the standard equipment of the Teutonic Knights. Just like the standard rifles of the army, it emphasized uniformity and standardization.

And wasn’t it common knowledge that the larger the caliber of the artillery, the greater the power?

Morin looked at their confused expressions and began to explain: “You thought of some advantages of dual-pilot armor, but you wanted to achieve everything in one step. You wanted one Armored Knight to possess all functions: melee combat, long-range shelling, anti-infantry, anti-mage…”

“But with our current technology, this is impossible to achieve… Biting off more than one can chew will only result in a ‘chimera’ that can do a little bit of everything but nothing well.”

As Morin spoke, he picked up a piece of chalk and started drawing on the blackboard.

“So why can’t we change our thinking and carry out differentiated designs according to different tactical needs? Just like there are infantry, artillery, and cavalry in the army, why can’t Armored Knights have different divisions of labor?”

“Differentiated design?” Sims muttered this term.

“Exactly!”

The chalk in Morin’s hand moved quickly, first drawing a simple small “Siegfried Type 1.”

“First of all, it is certain that in a short time, HEAT warheads will still be the main killing method in knight civil wars… So our existing single-pilot model like the ‘Siegfried Type 1’ can completely continue to be used as an ‘Assault Type’.”

Leonia: “Assault Type?”

“Yes, their core mission remains unchanged: using high omni-directional maneuverability to charge into enemy lines, engage in close-quarters combat with enemy Armored Knights, and cover other units.”

“Other units refer to?” Sims asked curiously after hearing this.

“Of course, the dual-seat model we are discussing…”

“Soul Painter” Morin immediately drew a sketch of an obviously larger Armored Knight next to the small “Siegfried Type 1.”

“Since its size and tonnage have increased, why not go a step further and make it a dedicated ‘Artillery Type’?”

“Wait… Artillery Type?” Sims’s eyes suddenly lit up.

“Yes! A mobile artillery platform!”

Morin looked at Sims’s eyes as if seeing a fellow enthusiast and soulmate, his voice revealing excitement.

“We no longer need to focus on melee performance because its mission is to provide long-range fire support for ‘Assault Type’ teammates from a safe distance!”

“Its armor can be thicker because it doesn’t need to perform too many extreme evasive maneuvers; its size can be larger because we need to stuff stronger weapons and more ammunition into it!”

“Under this division of labor, the ‘Artillery Type’ knight still needs to maintain omni-directional mobility, off-road capability, and certain close-range self-defense capabilities, but its design focus will completely tilt towards firepower and sighting systems.”

Director Sims’s breathing became rapid. He seemed to see a door to a new world slowly opening.

All along, they had been trapped in the mindset that “knights must draw swords for melee combat.”

And Morin opened up a “path they had never imagined” for them…

“Moreover, the advantages of dual-pilot control can be maximized on this ‘Artillery Type’!”

Morin continued: “The pilot focuses on movement, evasion, and close-range combat… while the weapons officer in the back seat can concentrate on operating weapons, precise aiming, and shooting without distractions!”

“And, this is just the ‘Artillery Type’…”

Morin didn’t give them too much time to think. The chalk in his hand moved again, drawing a similar outline next to the “Artillery Type.”

“Using this enlarged dual-seat platform, we can also derive a ‘Spell Specialization Type’!”

“Let a high-ranking mage sit in the back seat with exclusive Magitech Devices—I believe the Empire’s mages are already studying those captured Anti-Air Magitech Devices… The Armored Knight provides the mage with solid protection and unparalleled battlefield mobility!”

“Imagine, an ‘Armored Mage’ who can move at high speed on the battlefield, doesn’t need to consume extra spell slots to protect themselves, but can use them entirely for combat preparation. What a terrifying existence that would be?”

Leonia and Sims looked at each other.

“Armored Mage”… that didn’t sound like an easy unit to deal with.

“As for the long-range weapon issue you are most concerned about…” Morin pulled the topic back: “My idea is actually very simple. At this stage, we only need to solve how to better cooperate with infantry operations and enhance the army’s overall breakthrough capability.”

“So on the ‘Assault Type’ single-seat Armored Knight, we can first install a heavy machine gun in a position convenient for the knight.”

“In the civil war of Armored Knights, this heavy machine gun won’t be used. But when suppressing enemy infantry, mages, and other soft targets, the Armored Knight no longer needs to chase behind with cold weapons but can calmly fire with the heavy machine gun.”

“As for the ‘Artillery Type’ dual-seat Armored Knight, while developing it, we can find a way to develop a dedicated long-barreled, high-velocity anti-armor gun, as well as matching Capped Armor-Piercing shells!”

“Capped Armor-Piercing shells? But isn’t that for large calibers like 305mm?”

Sims was no stranger to this term because the navy had actually used this kind of armor-piercing ammunition long ago.

But in his impression, Capped Armor-Piercing shells should be used on Dreadnought main guns.

“So we need to develop a small-caliber version!”

Morin interrupted him and continued: “The navy uses Capped Armor-Piercing shells. Why is our army still clinging to high-explosive shells and shrapnel? Is there no communication between the army and the navy usually?”

This was a bit harsh, but it was the truth.

The army’s artillery development idea had always been how to deliver more explosives to enemy positions. The importance attached to the concept of “armor-piercing” was far from enough.

Although there was the threat of heavy units like Armored Knights, theoretically, there should be an awareness of “anti-armor” warfare.

But after the army found that existing artillery had difficulty even hitting Armored Knights, they abandoned the plan to continue research in this direction and simply and crudely let Armored Knights fight Armored Knights…

This kind of thinking was very… Morin felt he couldn’t comment well.

Even now, Morin believed that similar tracked or wheeled armored platforms… even trucks, equipped with suitable anti-armor firepower, could completely be used to deal with Armored Knights.

It was just that currently, the Armored Knight platform was indeed more mature.

And in magitech energy circuits, bionic magitech muscle bundles, heaven-defying joint materials science, and “Synchro Operation” technology, it showed incredible reliability…

While the tracked and wheeled armored platforms of this world were currently only prototypes.

The Radiant Crystal Trucks already in use were “toy cars” that could only run at an off-road speed of 25 kilometers per hour…

So from the perspective of quickly forming combat effectiveness, indeed, they could only let Armored Knights hold new weapons to destroy enemy Armored Knights first.

Seeing Sims and Leonia fall into thought because of the setting of the ‘Artillery Type’ dual-seat Armored Knight, Morin also began to strike while the iron was hot.

“If we specially design a small-caliber, long-barreled, high-chamber-pressure cannon to raise the muzzle velocity to a brand-new height, then we can completely stand outside the enemy’s range and conduct ‘long-range target practice’ on their Armored Knights!”

“Long-range target practice…”

Leonia murmured to herself, a picture seemingly appearing before her eyes:

When the Britannian Armored Knights launched a charge, they would first be intercepted by the Teutonic Knights’ “Assault Type” Armored Knights.

Immediately after, several “Artillery Type” Armored Knights deployed in the distance lined up and opened fire calmly from hundreds of meters away.

The opposite Britannian knights could only evade in vain and then be hit by high-speed incoming shells one by one.

A small number of Armored Knights surviving the shelling would also encounter the siege of more “Assault Type” Armored Knights…

“But… Armored Knights can dodge shells.” Sims still raised that most fundamental question.

“That’s for the current high-explosive shells with a muzzle velocity of only four or five hundred.”

Morin said confidently. He had actually discussed this issue with Ludwig many times when recovering in the field hospital.

Armored Knights dodging shells through muzzle flash had certain conditions.

First, visibility must be good so they can see the muzzle flash immediately.

Second, the distance needs to be more than 500 meters. As the distance shortens, the success rate of knights dodging shells by reaction will also drop significantly.

This was also why Ludwig and the others could use 75mm Assault Cannons to “bathe” the enemy.

One was that the distance was close enough, compressed to within two or three hundred meters.

Another was that Ludwig and the others played “saturation fire.” Too many assault cannons fired at the same time, so Armored Knights found it difficult to dodge all incoming shells.

This was also why Morin always believed that once conventional armored vehicle platforms and small-caliber, high-velocity cannons were developed, the survivability of Armored Knights on the battlefield would be greatly affected.

I use a bunch of mobile units driven by ordinary soldiers, equipped with PAK38, PAK40, or even 88mm Cannons, taking turns firing at a distance of several hundred meters. Armored Knights would actually find it very difficult to evade.

And these conventional weapons could obviously outproduce Armored Knights in terms of quantity…

Once the quantity went up, the standing total of only 300-400 Armored Knights in each country could no longer ignore all units except Armored Knights on the battlefield like now.

Morin clapped his hands, pulling their attention back, and then continued: “When the flight speed of the shell exceeds a certain threshold, even modified knights cannot react… But what exactly this threshold is requires testing.”

“We need data.” Morin looked at Leonia and Sims, “Precise data.”

Leonia looked at Morin for a few seconds, then nodded heavily.

“Alright, I’ll be your test subject personally.”