Chapter 309: You Up? Send Some Armored Knights~

Life at the Teutonic Knights forward base in Koblenz was more fulfilling than Morin had anticipated.

Over the past few days, he was like a mouse that had fallen into a rice jar, burrowing in and out around the dismantled Armored Knights in the base.

Given his current status and the reason for their multiple previous collaborations, Leonia didn’t impose any restrictions in this regard.

But she obviously wouldn’t have thought that Morin’s cheat had been on and never turned off…

[Saxon Empire “Siegfried Type 1” Armored Knight: 53%]

Looking at the prompt in the [Technology] tab of the system, Morin couldn’t suppress the smile on his lips.

Before this, Morin just watched this other-worldly war machine for fun, thinking this thing was just an oversized magical Gundam.

But when he truly delved into the internal structure, looking at those precise magitech transmission devices, the load-bearing frame covered with runes, and the power transmission system called “Bionic Magitech Muscle Bundles,” he realized his previous perspective was too small.

Look at this hydraulic shock absorption structure, then look at this power distribution system…

Aren’t these ready-made prerequisite technologies for heavy trucks and future armored chassis?

As long as those expensive bionic ‘Magitech Muscle Bundles’ are replaced with cheaper mechanical transmissions, and the shock absorption devices and power distribution devices are simplified and downgraded…

The armored vehicle units produced might not have “Zenith Star” (super advanced) performance, but at least they could walk on flat ground on this Western Front battlefield full of shell craters.

“Lieutenant Colonel, it seems you are unusually interested in our Armored Knights?”

Director Sims stood behind him at some point, wiping his hands with an oily rag, his glasses reflecting light.

“Interested, very interested.”

Morin straightened up and said without concealment: “I was thinking, if we cut off the legs of this thing and replace them with wheels or tracks, would it save a large sum of money?”

The corner of Sims’s mouth twitched: “Turn a noble knight into… a tractor? Such a blasphemous idea, probably only you, Lieutenant Colonel, dare to say it aloud in the base.”

“Pragmatism, Director.” Morin grinned, “By the way, is the Grand Master ready?”

“She’s waiting over there.”

Sims’s expression became somewhat complex: “To be honest, this is the first time I’ve seen the Grand Master so… so desperately wanting to verify a theory.”

“Aren’t we the same~”

…

The temporary test site was set up in an open area far from the city.

A 77mm Field Gun borrowed from the instruction unit was pushed to the preset position, muzzle pointing horizontally.

And opposite this gun, about 500 meters away, a “Siegfried Type 1” painted in eye-catching gold stood quietly there.

That was Leonia’s dedicated machine—”Golden Lion.”

“I am ready, we can start a new round of testing at any time…”

Leonia’s slightly distorted voice came from the Armored Knight’s loudspeaker.

“Received, Your Excellency Grand Master!”

Morin and Sims stood in the observation post holding binoculars. The latter held a loudspeaker and said: “This time we are using full-charge training rounds. The muzzle velocity will be 15% higher than the previous round.”

“Come on.”

No heroic words, only two brief words.

“Fire!”

With the roar of the artilleryman, the 77mm cannon jerked back violently, and a ball of orange flame spewed from the muzzle.

Almost at the same instant the cannon fire flashed, the golden machine in the distance moved.

That was an explosive force that violated common physical sense.

The 6-meter-tall steel giant seemed to be pushed violently by some invisible force, instantly shifting laterally to the left by one body width.

“Whoosh—”

The training round flew past, grazing the right shoulder armor of the “Golden Lion” with a sharp whistle, and smashed fiercely into the earthen embankment behind, kicking up dust all over the sky.

“Holy shit, dodging even this…”

Morin shook his head, marveling at this evasion ability that violated common sense, but he also believed this definitely had a limit.

“Continue.”

Inside the loudspeaker, Leonia’s voice remained steady.

But if listened carefully, a trace of rapid panting could be heard.

“Close the distance, 450 meters…”

The test lasted for a whole afternoon.

From 500 meters to 450 meters, then to 400 meters, 350 meters… all the way to a close 100 meters.

From standard charge to strong charge.

When the sun set in the west, that golden “Siegfried Type 1” finally stopped moving.

At this time, it had several more scratches on its body. The most thrilling one plowed a deep groove directly on the armor outside the cockpit.

The cockpit armor slowly opened.

With a burst of white gas spewing out, Leonia climbed out from inside.

She was soaked all over, golden hair sticking to her cheeks, sweat dripping continuously from her chin.

Morin walked quickly forward and handed over a towel and a water bottle.

Leonia grabbed the water bottle, tilted her head back and gulped down several mouthfuls, then let out a long breath of turbid air.

“You are right, Morin.”

She leaned against the machine’s leg armor, looking at the still smoking cannon in the distance, her voice somewhat hoarse.

“This is the limit.”

Sims walked over holding a stack of data sheets, his face solemn: “Converting from the shooting situation of the last round of strong charge just now… at a distance of 400 meters, if the muzzle velocity of the shell exceeds 850 meters per second… even with your reaction speed, you can’t guarantee complete evasion.”

“What about other knights?” Morin asked.

“Most knights’ reaction speed is 30% slower than the Grand Master.”

Sims pushed the glasses on the bridge of his nose, looking solemn.

“This means that for ordinary knights, as long as the shell’s muzzle velocity reaches 700 meters per second, they can’t dodge the shell at a distance of 400 meters.”

“And this is just shooting from a single cannon. If multiple cannons fire simultaneously…”

Everyone fell silent.

All along, the reason why Armored Knights could run rampant on the battlefield relied on that layer of indestructible shield and armor, as well as that ridiculous instantaneous evasion ability.

But now, this myth was broken.

As long as the muzzle velocity of the artillery was fast enough to exceed the limit of human neural reaction, then the so-called knight’s dance will no longger be possible.

“Times have changed…”

Morin broke the silence. He reached out and patted that scorching hot machine.

He knew that once the research on high-velocity armor-piercing shells started, this muzzle velocity would only get higher and higher.

So the tactic of Armored Knights relying on their own reactions to evade shells on the battlefield would soon become obsolete.

At this time, these noble knights would have to return to the path of “stacking armor.”

As long as Armored Knights still existed for a day, and dual-seat Armored Knights were constantly being developed, Morin estimated that the volume of this heavy firepower platform might get bigger and bigger, the armor thicker and thicker, and the weapons carried more and more.

Then the positioning would gradually change from assault units to large tactical cores on the battlefield, coordinating operations with a large number of future armored units.

“It won’t eventually rely on the blessing of magitech technology to become some Knight Mech or Titan, right…”

While Morin was letting his imagination run wild, Leonia closed her eyes, seemingly digesting this cruel fact.

After a long time, she opened her eyes again. The fatigue in her eyes was swept away, replaced by a sharper light.

“Since we can’t dodge, we can only compare who is harder and whose fist is longer.”

She turned to look at Morin: “Lieutenant Colonel Morin, regarding the dual-seat ‘Artillery Type’ and ‘Composite Armor’ you mentioned before… please provide more suggestions. I can tell that your ideas are different from all of us…”

“Understood.” Morin nodded, “Also, regarding high-velocity artillery…”

“We can’t make it ourselves.”

Sims smiled bitterly and shook his head: “The Knights’ workshop can only handle magitech devices and precision machinery. Artillery-related technology is not within our scope. The previous assault cannons were purchased directly from Krupp.”

The corner of Morin’s mouth curved into an arc.

This hit right on his muzzle.

“Leave this to me.”

Morin took out an envelope from his pocket and shook it in his hand.

“I have already written a letter home… I think Krupp Arsenal should be very interested in this new toy of ‘small caliber, high caliber-length’.”

Leonia took a deep look at him.

“You even know people from Krupp?”

“I don’t, but Madam Falkenstein does… She still has some connections over there, maybe we can have some cooperation~”

As the sky grew late, the group walked back while chatting about the next arrangements.

When walking to the base gate, Morin suddenly stopped.

“Your Excellency Grand Master.”

Leonia stopped and looked back at him: “Is there anything else, Lieutenant Colonel, please speak freely!”

Hearing Leonia’s words, Morin wasn’t polite anymore.

“Look, this time I gave ideas, helped with testing, and even planned the future development route for you… Even if there is no credit, there is hard work, right?”

“Speak straight.” Leonia crossed her arms, looking at him with a faint smile, “Don’t beat around the bush with me.”

“That… didn’t you say you wanted to give me ‘remuneration’ back in Creil?”

Morin pointed to the neat row of hangars behind him, showing his true intentions.

“Look, my instruction regiment is currently engaged in infantry tactical innovation, and just lacks a little bit… heavy assault units! How about you lend us a few Armored Knights?”

The air seemed to freeze for a few seconds.

Sims beside him almost bit off his own tongue, looking at Morin with a face full of surprise.

Historically, only infantry cooperated with knights in combat. How could there be a logic of lending knights to an infantry regiment as support units?

“Are you serious?” Leonia’s expression became somewhat strange.

“Absolutely.”

Morin had a serious face; at this time, he had no intention of joking.

“You also read the battle report of Amiens. The Armored Knights led by me and Lieutenant Colonel Ludwig cooperated tacitly. ‘Infantry-Knight Coordination’ will also be a trend in the future.”

“Although knight charges are fierce, in urban warfare and complex terrain, without infantry cover, there is still a risk of being ambushed.”

“on the other hand, if infantry has knights as spearheads, the breakthrough ability also grows exponentially.”

“Instead of fighting separately, it’s better to try combining the two together starting now.”

Morin looked into Leonia’s eyes, his tone sincere: “Even giving me a squad is fine. I believe you will definitely not be disappointed with the final result.”

Leonia didn’t answer immediately.

She stared at Morin for a full minute. That scrutinizing gaze made Morin feel like prey being stared at by a lion.

Just when Morin thought there was no hope and was ready to laugh it off, Leonia suddenly smiled.

“Good.”

She agreed crisply.

Morin was overjoyed in his heart: “Many thanks, Grand Master! I knew you…”

“Don’t be in a hurry to thank me.”

Leonia raised her hand to interrupt him, the smile on her face becoming somewhat sly.

“I can give you Armored Knights, even the matching technician team I can give you, but I have a small condition.”

“Please speak!”

“For the subsequent development and testing of the dual-seat Armored Knight, I hope Lieutenant Colonel Morin and the instruction unit can participate personally.”

“I couldn’t ask for more!”