Munitions Empire

In a shipyard workshop of Shireck, thousands of people gathered around a large ship temporarily modified, conducting the final checks.

This ship was designed by Shireck's genius engineer, built through enhancements as an entirely new type of warship that overturned previous sailship designs, adopting an unprecedented layout.

Indeed, this was a steamship, powered primarily by steam engines, no longer reliant on sails, but propelled continuously by the power of machinery.

"Gentlemen, we have proven that the smartest people in this world aren't just from that shitty Great Tang Group! We also have technicians worth boasting about! They too can create the most advanced weaponry in the world!" On the scaffold, the plump Shireck director proudly waved his arms and boasted to all the dignitaries present for the launching ceremony.

Behind him, the oddly-shaped warship was slowly pushed towards the sea by the workers.

This dock was actually quite old; its size was not large and indeed not the best choice for constructing large-tonnage warships.

However, the volume of this warship was not large either, and compared to the ironclad warships of the Great Tang Group, its length could even be considered somewhat pitiful.

There was no helping it, as the actual Brunas-class warships of the Great Tang Group were hovering around a hundred meters in length, whereas the warship before them was less than 60 meters long.

But this was already the largest ironclad warship that the Shireck Consortium could build, because if it were any longer, the keel joining techniques they possessed would not suffice to support the heavy hull.

Despite this, it was still incredibly heavy—the steel-plated hull meant this warship sat much deeper in the water than other sailships.

Because of the deep draft, this ship couldn't enter shallower rivers, and even some smaller seaports were inaccessible to it.

The fat director of the Shireck Consortium was unfazed by these flaws because the warship before him was truly the first steam-powered warship that Shireck could produce.

Therefore, he spoke excitedly, sparing no words of praise, and triumphantly announced to all the onlookers: "Next, we are about to witness the launching of this new type of ship! It shall become our new weapon!"

Warm applause erupted from below, as everyone felt that after a long silence, Shireck was finally back on the right path to development in certain areas.

The decayed Shireck was finally awakened, no longer complacent, at last focusing on innovation and development like they did a century ago.

For the shareholders of Shireck, there could be no more exciting news. Their stocks would become more valuable, their net worth would rise! The future was also looking more promising.

So they clapped excitedly, expressing their emotions. Although they had lost the 11-nation war, Shireck would eventually gain even more!

The fat man was quite proud, for it was he who had brought this endless potential for development to the group. So recently, he had become the most esteemed representative among the directors and had regained some power that was rightfully his.

The Taren and Xilun kingdoms were no longer viable, but he had found new profit streams, received fresh recognition, and he would be more competitive and wealthier than before!

"A groundbreaking warship has been tirelessly built by us! This is our new... hope!" So, his face beamed with smugness, and he was filled with confidence in himself.

A production line, modified with the steam and electrical engines as the basis from the Tang Group, had entered the final stages of adjustment.

This line could produce more advanced Shireck Automatic Pistols—a new type of weapon that could provide soldiers with continuous fire support at medium and close range.

It was so advanced that Shireck's executives regarded it as a secret weapon; unmatched in performance, it was a true masterpiece.

In fact, this weapon was just the Mauser "broomhandle," intentionally leaked to Shireck by Tang Mo; its technology wasn't actually advanced.

The weapon had significant recoil, and compared to submachine guns, it was rather imitation, so its performance was only mediocre.

However, because there were not many submachine guns in the Huaxia war zone, it shone brightly and became a popular piece of equipment.

As for Tang Mo, he himself could manufacture submachine guns, so he didn't value this weapon that was larger than a pistol but less effective than a submachine gun... However, as a "letter of loyalty" for defecting to Shireck, it was indeed sufficient. Your journey continues at empire

"Honestly, your genius design has impressed me deeply! Compared with you, our competitors are downright idiotic!" The fat Shireck director concluded his speech and, amid the applause, walked down to the stage. Soon, he stood beside a young man, taking a glass of wine from one of his attendants and lavishing praise on the young man.

"You are the most far-sighted decision-maker I've ever seen, Mr. Hansen!" the young man said with a smile, offering up flattering words that were comfortable to hear: "Few have the courage like you to spend so much money on building an experimental warship."

"Compared to sailboats, it virtually has no disadvantages—just that it's a bit more expensive," the young man remarked as he gazed at the giant object that had been launched into the water in the distance.

"This is all your achievement! I've been lobbying the council to bring you in as a new Consortium director... To be honest, it was a tough decision, however... clearly, you're worth this treatment!" The man named Hansen, filled with sincerity, assured the young man: "As long as you can keep inventing and creating better weapons, anything is possible!"

"You will attain the greatest wealth in the world, possess countless beautiful women, and you can scoff at kings and even Emperors!" Hansen depicted a wonderful future, encouraging the young weapon design master beside him: "Just as long as! You can continue to create more, new weapons!"

"I will! I feel I have a talent for this... Don't you think so?" the young man asked, gesturing with his wine glass in hand towards the extravagantly shaped warship in the distance, speaking confidently.

"Hahahaha! I believe you will! Just as you say, you are a very talented young man!" Hansen burst into laughter, and after having his fill of laughter, he spoke in agreement.

To be frank, he really liked this young man—ambitious, young, filled with passion, and knowledgeable about technology. He could design exquisite weapons and also had a sharp eye for business.

Hansen had been grooming him as a close confidant, feeling that by helping the young man into the council, he would gain another ally to support himself.

After all, when the young man compromised and sold his workshop, he didn't ask for cash but for Shireck shares—though it was just a little bit, it removed the greatest obstacle to his entering the council.

There was no way around it; his workshop was too important for Shireck—it had a set of industrial technology equipment similar to that of the Great Tang Group.

Moreover, it had two types of new weapons ready for mass production—one was a semi-automatic individual weapon, and the other was a very advanced metal cartridge bolt-action rifle.

The successful acquisition instantly provided Shireck with two products that could match the individual weapons of the Great Tang Group in performance, thus saving the precariously positioned Shireck Consortium from crisis.

The young man in front of him had not disappointed Hansen's expectations. After joining Shireck, he immediately constructed a brand-new warship for them!

An armored, brand-new, steam-powered warship clad in iron! He resolved Shireck's troublesome issues in the most direct way possible.

Shireck's technicians, who had never seen Great Tang Group's ironclad warships, struggled without success to understand the principle behind the propeller.

Even if they guessed the design of the propeller, they lacked the experience to solve the issue of the drive shaft's sealing technology—they were completely ignorant about this technological aspect, lacking both data and theoretical support.

Therefore, Shireck's steamships had long been unable to hit the water, which left Shireck significantly lagging behind the Great Tang Group in the realm of naval weapons.

The young man who had just joined Shireck thought outside the box and solved their dilemma.

He employed the principle of water wheels, installing two huge, symmetrical water wheels high up on either side of the ship, driven by a steam engine to turn the wheels and propel the ship forward.

Yes, Shireck's first generation ironclad warships used the design of a paddle wheel ship, a somewhat outdated thought process.

However, being outdated brought its own advantages—at least this ship did not need to consider watertight structures for the drive shaft, and so the design was substantially simplified.

Although the speed of this type of ship was slow, it was indeed faster than a sailboat, and, crucially, it didn't rely on sails. It could sail against the wind, substantially increasing its versatility.

Of course, the paddle wheel ship had its own flaws—the biggest two being low propulsion efficiency and the paddle wheel obstructing the placement of cannons on the warship.

Compared to the Great Tang Group's warship, which had numerous cannons on its flanks, Shireck's new ironclad had only a couple of cannons, mounted at the bow and stern!

But these two cannons were copied from the Great Tang Group's breech-loading cannons by Shireck, with a performance that was much better compared to the muzzle-loading cannons on previous sailing warships.

Moreso, these two cannons were installed within rotating turrets, protected by iron plates, thus their survivability was much greater than a muzzle-loader set straightforwardly behind a gun port.

All in all, this was a brand new warship—the most advanced warship of Shireck!