Not long after obtaining the system from Sarlayan and establishing contact with netizens from another world, someone has been encouraging Sarlayan to develop thermal weapons... that is, firearms.
Today, Azeroth is still in the feudal cold weapon age, and only bronzebeard dwarves, gnomes and goblins like to use muskets.
It is said that the musket was first designed by gnomes, and the rangers of the Kingdom of Khaz Modan gradually promoted this unique long-range weapon.
The first time he went to Ironforge, Sarlayan bought a musket at the instigation of the barrage, and disassembled the musket entirely under the guidance of some bosses in the barrage.
…and then I couldn’t put it back on.
Fortunately, this disassembly of the musket provided Sarlayan...or the barrage boss with important information about contemporary thermal weapons.
According to the barrage boss,
The muskets developed by dwarfs and dwarves skipped the stages of matchlocks and revolvers and adopted flint-fired methods.
This is the so-called flintlock musket.
If Sarlayan intends to continue to pursue technology and pursue muskets, the black powder widely used today is far from enough. The efficiency of gunpowder must be further improved in order to develop a higher-level percussion gun.
Considering the arcane affinity of the high elves, Danmaku suggested that Sharlayan abandon the gunpowder weapon route.
Turn to using magic instead of gunpowder to activate.
After all, Sarlayan is not a professional researcher. Although Danmaku explained many gun principles to him in as simple and in-depth terms as possible,
But he still only knows what is happening and does not know why.
Leave professional matters to professionals.
Just as it happened, the reform of Quel'Thalas' official system further refined the work that various government departments were responsible for, and the National Defense Research Institute also began to be reorganized from this period.
As the Sun King's senior advisor, Sarlayan relayed the principles of the magic gun designed by the barrage to the technical researchers at the scientific research institute.
At the beginning, the progress of research and development was very unsatisfactory. The arrogant high elf researchers did not even consider using the dwarf musket as a reference. They just wanted to rely on their own strength to independently complete the idea of Earl of Shadow.
After learning about this, Sarlayan couldn't laugh or cry for a moment.
After obtaining Kael'thas's permission, Sarlayan personally dug into the accounts of the Earl of Deep Shadow and purchased 200 muskets and 15 cannons from the Kingdom of Khaz Modan.
Take it apart, let me take it all apart, and swallow it yourself if you can’t finish it (mistake).
Through in-depth research on real objects, researchers finally figured out the trick.
Before setting off for Dalaran, Sarlayan received news that the gun research department had made an important breakthrough.
The first thing to spread the good news was the magic cannon.
After a secret trial by the Firewing Legion,
The newly released magic cannon was approved by Kael'thas, who ordered the ordnance department to vigorously produce it to equip the rapidly expanding navy.
The first mass-produced magic cannon was supplied to the new offshore fleet.
Not long ago, Admiral Jefferson Berryman personally ordered a live-fire exercise to scare off the Lordaeron East Sea Fleet that was loitering near the sea border.
The redesigned magic cannon is very different from the existing artillery.
First of all, the magic cannon is not activated by gunpowder, but by engraving a special magic mark in the barrel.
The user only needs to activate the arcane energy of a specific frequency, and then the magic mark can stimulate enough impact force to push the cone-shaped cannonball out of the barrel.
After the acceleration of the spiral rifling, the exit speed of the artillery shell far exceeds that of the smoothbore cannon that is still widely used today.
Streamlined hollow cannonballs can fly farther than traditional spherical solid projectiles. When impacted, the magic markings inside the cannonballs will be automatically activated, causing arcane explosions within a certain range.
Since it was just an exercise, Admiral Berryman did not show all the features of the new magic cannon to Lordaeron.
The casting techniques of guns and cannons have quite a lot in common. After the breakthrough of the magic cannon, all the researchers at the scientific research institute needed to do was to miniaturize it and apply the new technology to the magic gun for individual soldiers.
This new type of long-range weapon will naturally be given to the ranger troops who are skilled in long-range guerrilla warfare for testing.
Before Sylvanas hurried over to meet Sarlayan, she had personally tried out the new magic gun sent by the scientific research institute.
She was greatly shocked by the convenience and power of this new weapon, and she couldn't help but feel an inexplicable melancholy that times had changed.
Since childhood, she has followed her mother to learn various tactics that are most suitable for rangers. Sylvanas's military literacy is quite high, and she can see the superiority of the magic gun at a glance.
According to the process of the ranger unit, it takes at least ten years to train a ranger who is proficient in bow and arrow.
Bows and arrows are easy to learn but difficult to master. Children in the southern part of Yongge Forest can shoot a few arrows casually.
But if you want to ensure accurate shooting, the arrow must be powerful enough, which is impossible without years of training.
The emergence of the magic gun subverted Sylvanas' inherent knowledge to a certain extent.
This new, easy-to-operate weapon does not require long-term training, and even ordinary civilians can easily master its use.
According to Sylvanas's speculation, recruits only need to receive up to 3 months of training to become proficient in using magic guns and initially develop combat effectiveness.
This speed overturned Sylvanas' common sense and made her feel very confused for a time.
Sarlayan inspected the well-made magic gun and stood up first to walk to the martial arts training ground in the backyard.
"Shiva, follow me."
The martial arts training ground in the Lord's Mansion is all-encompassing, including scarecrows for melee combat training, arrow targets for long-range shooting, and even special sensors for testing the strength of spells.
Sarlayan once dismantled and studied the structure of the musket. Although he did not understand the principle in depth, he was at least able to skillfully use a magic gun with similar specifications.
"Bang!"
After a brief aiming, Sarlayan activated the arcane markings in the barrel of the gun, and the bullets spun out along the rifling, creating a hole in the center of the target.
The magic gun in Sarlayan's hand uses rear-loading ammunition. Since it is filled with arcane-marked bullets, it does not need to eject the shell like the gunpowder bullets mentioned in the barrage, so loading is quite convenient.
"Yes, although there is still a lot of room for improvement, for the current era, it is already a very advanced weapon."
Danmaku once mentioned a theory called finite generation difference to Sarlayan.
To put it simply, don’t let weapons upgrades get too advanced.
After all, the magic gun is still modified based on the structure of a gunpowder weapon, but it is different in the activation procedure.
Sarlayan will not treat researchers from other countries as fools. It will definitely be difficult to lead innovative research, but if you just imitate, you can save a lot of time and energy.
Countries including Lordaeron will definitely vigorously research Quel'Thalas' new weapons after suffering losses.
Even if they cannot completely copy it, sooner or later they will be able to modify the magic guns in their own way. The gunpowder stimulation used by the dwarves is a good alternative.
Sarlayan could still find many problems with the first-generation magic gun.
For example, the bullet loading is slow, the rate of fire is not fast enough, the accuracy is not enough, etc., but these problems can be solved in subsequent iterative research and development, without Sarlayan's personal urging.
Sarlayan has only one requirement for subsequent weapon development and implementation, which is to maintain a limited generation advantage over competitors and not have to throw out all of its trump cards at once.
Sarlayan handed the magic gun to Sylvanas. She also pursed her thin lips and aimed at the target, and the shot also hit the target with ten rings.
"The research and development of new weapons is very necessary. I believe you can understand what this simple and easy-to-learn weapon means to Quel'Thalas, but... this does not mean that we will completely abandon the traditional bow and arrow."
Sylvanas was stunned for a moment: "Why? I mean...there is already such a new type of weapon that is easy to operate, bows and arrows, is it really necessary to exist?"
"Of course."
Sarlayan pointed to the magic gun in Sylvanas' hand: "Although arcane stimulation can minimize the noise when the bullet comes out of the chamber, the sound of the gun is still very obvious, and it is basically impossible to evolve it in a short time.
For silence."
"In certain operations that require silence, the magic gun that produces noise is not suitable."
"Also, the magic gun has a high lower limit and is easy to learn, but its upper limit is far lower than that of a bow and arrow that you can completely control."
Sarlayan shrugged helplessly: "That's what fixed-load ammunition is. All bullets have the same power. Even if you want to increase the weight, it won't work. Instead, it may cause the chamber to explode due to too much energy injection."
"Bows and arrows are different. Just like you, how does the power of the arrows you shoot compare with the power of the magic gun?"
"snort!"
Sylvanas raised her white neck proudly: "Of course it's far beyond."
"That's fine then."
Sarlayan said with a smile: "Magic guns will indeed be installed in large numbers to the ranger troops, but the training of bows and arrows cannot be left behind."
"While investing in magic guns to ensure the lower limit, we must also encourage the rangers to continue to climb to the top."
"Otherwise, the thousands of years of life of the high elves would be too boring. They should always find some goals for themselves."
In fact, as long as Sylvanas is given some time, she can figure this out herself.
The advent of the magic gun had a big impact on Sylvanas's traditional concepts, making her unable to stay calm for a while.
With Sarlayan's explanation, she quickly figured out the joints, and her slightly irritable mood finally calmed down.
"Upper and lower limits?"
A confident smile appeared on Sylvanas's face again: "I really don't know how you got such a brain. If it wasn't for Valeera... forget it."