If Tang Mo knew that in the distant Poplar Kingdom, a group of weapon designers had unwittingly headed down the wrong path, he would have been very amused.
After all, such a prank-like conclusion is quite laughable, and although he greatly admired their courage to strive and experiment, he naturally would not forget the large sum of money the Elf Race owed him.
This left him with little sympathy for the plight of the Poplar Kingdom, and he might even feel secretly pleased.
Unfortunately, he was not aware that the elves of the Poplar Kingdom were stitching together his two outdated weapons.
Because while the Poplar Kingdom was developing its own characteristic weapons, Tang Mo had not ceased advancing in the realm of weaponry.
Although he had allocated most of his steel to that colossal steel warship, the remaining steel still supported him in producing limited quantities of epoch-making automatic weapons.
This weapon was the legendary Maxim machine gun, also known as the harbinger of slaughter in World War I, the scythe of the Grim Reaper, the automatic typewriter of the King of Hell...
In any event, as soon as this weapon was introduced, it completely overturned the mode of warfare, sweeping traditional tactics into the historical rubbish bin.
The Maxim machine gun was designed by someone not particularly specialized in the field, whose name was Maxim, which was translated into Chinese as "Maxim" for the name of this heavy machine gun.
Before designing this weapon, he actually began working with mechanics through windmills, which on one hand proved his genius, and on the other, showed that the design of such a machine gun was not overly complex.
Indeed, the construction of this machine gun was not overly intricate, which led to it being rarely prone to malfunctions and convenient to repair.
Even the Great Qing Dynasty, a backward era by comparison, could replicate it, and even after a century, there were still ancient Maxim machine guns in operation, which all indirectly emphasized the simplicity and directness of this contraption.
The design concept of this weapon was simple, utilizing the waste gases generated by the firing of the ammunition as the power to drive the mechanism, completing the loading of a new bullet.
This energy allowed the firearm to cycle through its actions, thereby theoretically achieving automatic loading and firing of weapons, that is, true automation of weaponry!
In Tang Mo's Maxim factory, the simplest form of gas-operated machinery was produced and named the Propellant Blow-back System.
This automated firing mechanism's bolt was held tightly against a spring, without a locking lever or a bolt lock.
At the moment when the powder in the bullet casing was ignited, the bolt was still in a restricted state until the gas pressure in the chamber overcame the mass of the bolt, causing it to move rapidly backward, then cycling through a similar deceleration process as with recoil-operated firearms.
Clearly, mechanically speaking, this method was simpler than a recoil-operated system; therefore, the costs of manufacturing and maintenance were relatively lower, and it was also more convenient to produce and maintain.
In order to make these nearly perfect preset machine gun positions operational when the war arrived, Tang Mo even constructed roads leading to these positions.
These roads extended to less than 200 meters from the position, where a concealed armory for temporary ammunition storage was also constructed.
At the same time, Tang Mo had also dug trenches around these machine gun positions. After the outbreak of war, he could immediately deploy troops into these defensive positions to protect his machine gun emplacements, allowing his guns to slaughter the enemy more effectively.
"Now I finally understand why you dismissed lever-action rifles," Mathews said, filled with awe as he gazed at the third Maxim heavy machine gun that had just been assembled.
He had to be in awe, for he had fabricated a weapon that could truly fire continuously.
This was the dream of his lifetime, and Tang Mo had easily made it a reality. He had never dreamed that the waste gases produced by ammunition could be harnessed as the power for continuous firing!
Even more unimaginable to him was the fact that Tang Mo's automatic weapons featured an impressively mature feeding mechanism; just by continuously pushing the ammo belt into the side of the machine gun, it could almost sweep fire endlessly.
Who else could break through a defensive line guarded by such a weapon? It could slaughter a battalion of Soldiers in merely a few minutes!
Mathews had even naturally used the word "slaughter," because he felt facing these troops wasn't a battle; it was a massacre!
Moreover, after seeing and understanding this weapon, he immediately realized why Tang Mo kept expanding his ammunition production workshops.
Tang Mo had long known this thing was a monster that devoured lives, and was all too aware of how insatiable its hunger was. It devoured lives for energy, and bullets were its energy!
"Lever-action rifles are still pretty good, at least now I use one when I go hunting," Tang Mo said to Mathews with a smile.
In fact, Tang Mo had produced many lever-action rifles, some equipped his own guard, and others - the guards of the Northern Ridge Earl.
This weapon might not be so useful on the battlefield, but it was quite effective in close combat.
Especially in the well-maintained urban environment, where some elite units, using lever-action rifles, actually had no problem.
"I'm not worried about Shireck anymore, I even feel a bit worried for them," Mathews shook his head: "Honestly, I hope they realize their mistake soon and not send so many young men here to die."
"I hope so too," Tang Mo nodded earnestly in agreement: "I also hope that in the future when people bring up Brunas, they'll remember it as a fun place, not a graveyard for foreigners."
He sighed as if lamenting the future fate of the Shireck private army: "Sadly the cost of growth is just too heavy to bear..."