In April of Gaia's seventh year, other than establishing the Martial Arts Department, Ouyang Shuo was also paying close attention to the latest developments in military technology.
After a year of industrialization, the dynasty's military industry welcomed another major breakthrough. The most eye-catching performance was in the field of strategic weapons and equipment.
In the naval field, Great Xia's first ironclad warship was finally launched in the North Sea Bay.
The first ironclad warship was a wooden warship with a thick layer of metal armor to defend against attacks. It was equipped with a large number of cannons and was 23 meters long and 13 meters wide.
Great Xia had already successfully developed the first ironclad warship in the fifth year of Gaia. As the warship was not very practical, it was not installed in the navy on a large scale.
The second ironclad warship transformed into a steel battleship and cruiser equipped with cannons. It was close to the level of modern warships of the 20th century.
In April of Gaia's seventh year, Great Xia's first ironclad warship was born.
The creation of this warship was attributed to the development of heavy cannons, the more advanced steam engines, and the rapid advancement of Great Xia's metallurgical technology, which made shipbuilding possible.
Apart from cannons, ironclad warships were equipped with torpedoes, which became the key weapons in naval warfare.
Due to the maturation of ironclad warship manufacturing technology, coupled with Gaia's increasing openness to industrial technology, ironclad warships would replace sailing battleships in the next few years.
In order to maintain maritime supremacy, the imperial court had to mass-produce ironclad warships.
The problem was that the construction cost of an ironclad warship was not low. Just one ironclad warship cost up to a million gold coins, and the construction period was as long as half a year.
In history, the Qing Dynasty had to grit their teeth to purchase two first-class ironclad warships. Of course, the ironclad warships designed by Great Xia could not compare to first-class warships like the Dingyuan.
It was for no other reason than the lack of generators.
Of course, the cannons could not compare to the cannons that could rotate 360 degrees.
To build ironclad warships on a large scale, many shipyards were required to start construction at the same time.
Since Gaia's first year, Great Xia had been building shipyards at various ports. Currently, there were 16 shipyards of varying sizes. This was how they had a large number of fortress warships and Z1 warships installed in the naval fleet.
The problem was that these shipyards were used to build wooden warships.
Only the North Sea Shipyard, which was the territory's first shipyard, had the ability to build ironclad warships. For this reason, the imperial court had to upgrade the remaining 15 large shipyards.
As Gaia had already removed the blurring function, just this alone would take more than half a year. Just the budget for the modification of the shipyard was as high as three million gold coins.
Coupled with the cost of building the ironclad warships, the budget was almost sky-high.
Even so, Ouyang Shuo had to grit his teeth and decided to equip the Indian Ocean Fleet and the Pacific Fleet with two ironclad warships as their main battleships.
In the future, adjustments would be made according to the situation.
In addition to naval equipment, there was also a major breakthrough in air force equipment.
Of course, strictly speaking, Great Xia didn't have an air force in the true sense of the word. They were only equipped with flying brigades or flying squadrons in their fleets and army groups, and they relied on the mimicry aircraft.
Although the Mimic Flying Device was good, its shortcomings were obvious.
Firstly, they relied too much on the Magnetite Ore for energy, which limited the number of Mimic Aircrafts.
Secondly, the energy circuit used the engraving technology of the Atlantis civilization. The degree of industrialization of the aircraft was very low, and it was not even suitable to be used as a fighter.
The Seventh Research Institute had been working on these two shortcomings.
Finally, this month, the Seventh Research Institute had a substantial breakthrough. Combining the manufacturing technology of the Mimic Flying Device, they were the first to develop the first generation of fighter aircraft.
The first generation of fighter aircraft used the hybrid power of the Magnetite Ore and the internal combustion engine. They complemented each other and could be used to guide artillery fire, reconnaissance, and bombing on the battlefield.
Although there was still a gap between it and a real fighter aircraft, it was already very impressive.
Most importantly, after the adoption of hybrid power, it laid the foundation for the mass production of fighter aircraft. It was also the most solid step for Great Xia to nurture a real air force.
Ouyang Shuo believed that one day, a real air force would appear in the Great Xia army.
Finally, there was the land combat equipment.
In the second half of last year, Ouyang Shuo made a trip to Atlantis City to discuss a big deal with Kalia to purchase the combat puppet technology that was unique to the Atlantis civilization.
At present, the Great Xia arsenal had already built the first prototype of the combat puppet.
After a period of time, they would be able to produce a real combat puppet. By then, the Great Xia army would have a strategic weapon and equipment.
The rapid development of technology was undoubtedly a symbol of the dynasty's prosperity.
When these strategic weapons and equipment were fully developed and entered the mass production stage, the Great Xia army was bound to usher in another transformation and take off.
Supporting all of this was the rapid advancement of industrialization.
Only by advancing industrialization and laying out the entire industrial chain would they have the conditions to produce complex industrial equipment like the combat puppet and the first generation of fighter aircraft.
Without the countless spare parts factories, all of this would be a castle in the air.
And supporting the deepening of industrialization of Great Xia was the planned new district of the capital.
On April 1st, the imperial court announced the "Master Plan for the Capital's New District" to the public. It announced that the new district would prioritize the layout of research institutions, factories, and supporting workshops related to the military industry.
The development of commerce was secondary.
The combat puppet, the first generation of fighter aircraft, and other strategic weapons and equipment were the core of the new district.
Ouyang Shuo knew that if one did not sacrifice the child, one would not be able to trap the wolf. The game had evolved to the seventh year of Gaia, and the gap between the individual combat power of the various armies was rapidly shrinking.
Even if the Great Xia soldiers were the best of the best, it was impossible for them to fight one against five.
The only thing that allowed the Great Xia army to continue to maintain an advantage, other than the terrifying size of the army, was the constant upgrading of weapons and equipment, as well as the accompanying tactical strategies.
Only in this way could the Great Xia army remain undefeated and support the dynasty's continued expansion.
The huge investment at this moment was to lay a solid foundation for the Great Xia army to surpass the dynasty for the second time. No matter how difficult it was or how much money was required, Ouyang Shuo had to grit his teeth and persevere.
If he was unwilling to invest now, he might be beaten up if his technology lagged behind in the future.
It was because of this strategic consideration that Ouyang Shuo focused his energy on the reorganization of the dynasty and technological research and development in the first half of the seventh year of Gaia.
He didn't pay much attention to the few wars initiated by the imperial court.
The game world was constantly changing, and there was no room for slacking or shortsightedness. If one was careless and conservative, it could be a huge hidden danger in the future.
"To resist foreign aggression, one must first pacify the internal affairs!"
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