Read Novel Full Chapter 675 - 387: Steam Tank (2)
Chapter 675: Chapter 387: Steam Tank (2)
Lambert took a deep breath and accepted a specially crafted two-handed heavy hammer.
The light red Extraordinary Fighting Energy wrapped around the head of the hammer like flames, distorting the surrounding air with its high-density energy.
"Break!"
Lambert swung the hammer forward.
"Boom——!!!"
The enormous roar echoed in the enclosed space, causing the twenty-ton vehicle body to suddenly jolt backward under the impact.
Shrill alarms sounded from inside the vehicle.
Hamilton rushed up as if scalded, examining the cracks on the armor and shouting to the driver inside, "Report structural integrity! Did the main beam break?"
"The main beam is intact! Only the exterior armor is deformed!" came the trembling yet excited response from the apprentice inside.
The dust settled.
The front armor of the vehicle was not penetrated. But at that point of impact, there was a terrifying, face basin-sized giant dent, half a foot deep.
Hamilton let out a long breath, turned around, and shouted excitedly to Louis, "It held up! Sir! The structure is intact!"
Lambert set down the heavy hammer, looking at the dent with a grim expression.
"I used all my strength." Lambert turned around, facing the knights who were equally shocked, "A full-power strike only made a dent. It will probably take another to break through."
Gray felt his throat dry up.
Even an Extraordinary Knight couldn’t destroy it with one hit?
"That’s enough." Louis’ voice cut through the crowd’s thoughts, "Next test."
Hamilton immediately shouted to the craftsmen, "Increase pressure! Open the valves to maximum! Let this beast roar!"
As high-energy coal was shoveled into the furnace, a thick plume of black smoke spewed from the exhaust pipe at the rear of the vehicle.
"Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!"
It was the rough sound of a beast with a lion’s roar.
The treads began to move, kicking up mud. It wasn’t faster than a warhorse, but its visual impact was devastating.
Next, it crashed into the line of cheval de frise meant to obstruct the cavalry.
"Crack, crack."
Those sharp wooden stakes, troublesome to the knights, were as fragile as crisps before the plow and treads.
The vehicle showed no signs of slowing, directly crushing through, diving into the muddy trench, and then crawling out with the engine’s roar.
"It’s too clumsy." Gray gritted his teeth, making one last defiant stand, "As long as I don’t collide with it, and keep moving, its main cannon is fixed; it won’t hit me!"
Louis glanced at him, speaking coldly:
"Hamilton, load the iron shot. Sweep a hundred and twenty degrees ahead."
The vehicle stopped turning.
The short, thick, aesthetically unappealing cast-iron cannon barrel rose slightly.
With a crisp "click," the driver pulled the huge loading lever, violently pushing a sealed iron canister filled with lead pellets, scrap iron, and flint oil into the barrel.
The sound of the locking mechanism engaging was like a steel beast closing its jaws.
"Fire."
There was no projectile’s trajectory.
At that moment, everyone only felt their eardrums suddenly throb, as if someone had struck a copper gong in their heads.
"Boom——!!!"
An orange-red storm blasted out of the cannon’s mouth, accompanied by roaring flames.
Hundreds of thumb-sized lead pellets, mixed with sharp iron shards, instantly formed an impenetrable web of death under the frenzied thrust of alchemical gunpowder.
It was a true metal storm.
Thirty meters ahead, fifty iron mannequins simulating cavalry charge, pulled by ropes, were squarely hit by the metal storm.
In the same moment, they completely lost their shape.
No blind spots, no gaps.
The ground was plowed uneven, with dirt lifted half a foot deep.
Those iron men...their chest plates pierced, limbs torn off, shattered metal pieces scattered and fell clanging back to the muddy soil amidst the smoke.
Even the stone wall at the edge of the field, used for testing, was riddled with bullet holes, scattered stones flying everywhere.
The whole scene was silent.
Gray froze in place, his face as pale as paper.
His lips trembled slightly, and he instinctively shielded his chest with his hands, as if the scorching gust would tear him apart in the next second.
The evasive maneuvers he had been rehearsing in his mind, the riding skills he prided himself on...all seemed laughable in the face of this absolute violence of the metal net.
No need for prediction. No need for aiming.
Even a fly would turn to pulp in this sector.
Lambert’s mouth corner twitched slightly. As an Extraordinary Knight, his dynamic vision allowed him to see those lead shots clearer than others; their speed was so fast that even the afterimage was invisible.
Even he, if entering this proximity undefended...
Lambert closed his eyes, a picture flashing in his mind: rows of vehicles advancing, spewing relentless storms of lead pellets and flames, while his Knight Order toppled like mowed down wheat.
No honorable duel, only industrial slaughter.
This thing stripped away the battlefield space the knights relied on to survive.
But it’s not over; Louis didn’t give the crowd a chance to catch their breath, immediately ordering again, "Continue to the next item."
"Fourth round of testing, the siege breaker." Hamilton gestured to the vehicle.
The driver pulled the operation lever, causing the vehicle to shake violently in place.
The exhaust pipe at the tail spewed even thicker black smoke, clearly accumulating pressure for some heavier attack.
The barrel opened, and the warm iron shot casing was ejected, sizzling as it landed in the muddy ground.