“If it’s a revolver-type handgun, domestic mass production should be possible. Automatics are beyond our technical capabilities. Retraining the troops would also take time.”
“Percussion-cap ammunition, huh. This structure is revolutionary. The problem is that our country lacks the technology to mass-produce this, but...”
While examining the handgun Aide-Envoy Ayame Zero had brought in, the technical officers voiced opinions one after another.
“What about an ignition method using tone mag fuel stone powder? Right now, powder can be obtained comparatively easily.”
“That’s pushing it... Using it for these handgun rounds is far too expensive. At best, it belongs up to a battleship’s secondary guns.”
As he watched the officers’ debate, Amajio Silverhead spoke to Major Palliard Aminas beside him.
“How is it? Realistically, can we see a path to mass production in about half a year?”
Asked that by his superior, the major shook his head.
“No. If we had a year, we could manage somehow. Even then, there are concerns about machining precision. In six months, hand-made is the best we could do.”
“I see... Yeah. That’s about right. There just isn’t enough time.”
Amajio let out a sigh and stood from his chair.
Then he clapped his hands—clap clap—drawing attention to himself.
The technical officers who had been arguing vigorously hurriedly turned to face Amajio.
“Gentlemen. Have you reached a conclusion?”
“Yes, sir! My apologies, we are still in discussion!”
At that answer, Amajio nodded. It was obvious to anyone.
“Right. Continuing a thorough debate and using it to help our country grow would have been best, but... unfortunately, we have no time left.”
As he spoke, Amajio picked up an assault rifle that had been propped at his side.
This, too, had been provided as a sample from <Paraiso>.
“Now then.”
Amajio stepped out of the outdoor tent.
They had reserved a firing range and set up the venue there so that test firing of the samples would be possible.
He raised the assault rifle and, as casually as if it were nothing, Amajio Silverhead pulled the trigger.
Three-round burst.
The fired rounds struck near the center of a target set about thirty meters away, blasting a large hole.
“A splendid gun. It even has a three-round-burst mechanism. Perfect to issue to low-skill troops. Tight grouping, and the sights are accurate.”
He flipped the safety on with a click, then turned back.
Faced with the perfect shooting display from the highest-ranking general, everyone had fallen silent.
Most soldiers had heard the rumor that Amajio Silverhead was a one-man army, but only a limited few had ever seen it firsthand.
“Our country lacks the technical ability to make this. If we had a few years, we’d catch up. But that would be too late.”
“......”
That was common understanding among every technical officer.
Not just the handgun—this assault rifle in Amajio’s hands was, to them, a mass of precision parts. The dimensional tolerances specified in the blueprints were not something mass production could achieve.
And yet, if they could achieve it, they could mass-produce high-performance guns.
“I’ll leave the report to you, but everyone here understands it now. We have no time. And if we do not send these weapons to the front, our country’s fate will end.”
Amajio raised the assault rifle.
This was an assault rifle built on the historical AK-47 series, redesigned by <Ringo> for mass production.
It could be mass-produced even with low technical capacity, and it was easy to maintain. It endured harsh environments well, and it had high area-suppression power.
Even so, with the Kingdom of Lepuitari as it currently was, mass production was impossible.
“We will import the factory that manufactures it. If necessary, we will import finished goods and parts as well. The same goes for ammunition. Any objections?”
“...Yes, sir. Permission to speak?”
“Granted.”
“Thank you! When you say importing a factory, what exactly do you mean?”
Importing a factory.
Just hearing the words, it would be hard to grasp what that meant.
“Exactly what it sounds like. We provide only the land, and <Paraiso> builds the factory there. They arrange everything. Building materials, construction work, test operation—if necessary, even the actual manufacturing itself. All of it.”
“...Th-that is...”
“Normally, that would never be permitted. But we have no choice but to decide to permit it. Of course, we will carry out technology transfer, but first and foremost, we lack time. We must rapidly establish an education plan, a transport plan, a storage plan, a maintenance plan—everything. Now. We have a path for manufacturing and procurement. Let’s quickly finish the rest as well.”
◇◇◇◇
“The assault rifle increases clearance between components, improving durability and mass-producibility. It also reduces part count as much as possible, considering maintainability on the front. Caliber is 7 millimeters. Magazine capacity is 32 rounds.”
“But the grouping isn’t that good... Olive said Akane said it’s fine because... we can’t really train them anyway...”
Akane and Olive were explaining the weapons and ammunition to be provided to the Kingdom of Lepuitari.
Big Sis Eve, listening, nodded emphatically again and again.
“For now, manufacturing will be done on <The Tree> side, so precision is not an issue. In the future, that cannot be predicted.”
“Right. Historically, wasn’t it said it became the most widely spread military firearm of its time?”
The historical AK-47 and its derivatives were apparently used all over the world for a long time.
It had sufficient power, it was easy to handle, and above all, it was easy to manufacture.
Because this had been redesigned with that as its model, there was more than enough possibility history would repeat itself.
“With this gun, it cannot oppose <The Tree>’s main weapons. No problem.”
Akane stated it flatly.
It would, of course, pose a threat to small machines like doll-machine communicators, but <The Tree> was not soft enough to allow that. If guerrilla warfare was anticipated, they could simply bomb the entire area. Even if it became urban combat, ultimately, it was the same.
“Even so, you’ll be providing machine guns too, right?”
“Y-yeah... Um. A revolver and a sniper rifle and a {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} machine gun that can use the same ammo as this assault rifle and its ammunition. And then a large-caliber anti-materiel rifle, plus a heavy machine gun that shares its ammunition.”
They would manufacture 7-millimeter rounds and 13-millimeter rounds, and provide revolvers, assault rifles, machine guns, sniper rifles, anti-materiel rifles, and heavy machine guns to match.
“The anti-materiel rifle and heavy machine gun could become threats, but if they try to mass-produce them, I think it’ll take at least ten years...”
With that much time, hostile organizations would have been wiped off the map by <The Tree> across the board. Wiped off the map—no, “eradicated” was more accurate.
So it was fine to treat the probability of an organization emerging that threatened <The Tree> due to this arms provision as effectively zero.
The sniper rifles were expected to be effective to a certain degree.
Prava Divine Kingdom cleric-soldiers were not that durable when they were not in a combat state.
If sniping reduced their numbers, it would reduce pressure on the front lines accordingly.
It would require time to train specialists, but if they rushed it over a few months, they could make it work.
And to slow the front’s advance, they would distribute assault rifles to gain stopping power. If operated together with same-caliber machine guns that could be relocated relatively easily, base defensive power would also rise dramatically.
And if heavy machine guns were deployed at key points, it might become possible not only to stall them, but to push them back head-on.
The problem was that enemy cleric-soldiers would likely wage a fight like guerrillas.
“This time, preserved rations with excellent storage stability are also included in the provision targets. We will also organize guerrilla troops on this side, applying continuous pressure to the enemy to buy time to turn bases into combat power.”
That policy had already been conveyed to Amajio Silverhead, and consent had been obtained.
They would export to other countries under the pretext of support from the Kingdom of Lepuitari, forcing each one to fight to the bitter end within its own borders.
This time, the front line was simply too long, so they were not assuming they could suppress everything using only <The Tree>’s forces. In the first place, the targets to protect were other countries, and there was the problem that they could not be trusted much.
If so, it was better to sell goodwill by handing over weapons instead.
