Munitions Empire

Chapter 25: 25 new weapons

"This is the secret weapon I've developed! It's called a Revolver, which can fire six shots in one go without any need for cumbersome operations in between; you just need to pull the trigger... It's a powerful close-combat handgun," Tang Mo replied.

"A Revolver..." Tagg muttered subconsciously, looking again at the weapon in Tang Mo's hand, not knowing what to say.

He wanted to see the weapon, but didn't dare to make such a request, so he stood there, not knowing how to speak up.

"Hahaha! I looked pretty much the same when I first saw this thing," Dwarf Mathews laughed heartily, speaking to Roger beside him.

Roger shrugged his shoulders; he knew that Wes, who stood there pretending to be profound, had a similar reaction when he first saw the Revolver.

They were all astonished by the Revolver before them because it truly overturned the understanding of the era.

After Wes saw the weapon, he stuck by Tang Mo's side and refused to leave; after Mathews saw it, he stayed to help out without even drawing a salary... Now, it was Tagg's turn.

"Believe me, Tang's Weapon Workshop won't disappoint you! Our future is boundless, so I will definitely fulfill the promises I've made to you," Tang Mo said, walking up to Tagg and patting him on the shoulder.

"Can, can this thing be sold... sold to Lord Earl?" Tagg swallowed, finally suppressing the excitement in his heart, and asked with trepidation.

He never considered seizing the item by force, because he knew that this was not a one-time deal, and slaughtering the goose that lays the golden eggs was not something he should do.

Besides, he was an upright, righteous man. Wasn't he working for Lord Earl because the Earl was benevolent and kind, and acted openly and honorably?

"No," Tang Mo shook his head.

"Why... why not?" Tagg was startled, and the next second somewhat indignant, staring at Tang Mo and asking.

"Because although this weapon is powerful, I still cannot mass-produce it. I wouldn't mind giving Lord Earl one for self-defense, but as you should know, it isn't cheap to make," Tang Mo said with a smile, expressing his regret.

"I'll trust you for a goblin's fart! Do you ever speak truth?" Tagg frowned and cursed inwardly.

He thought Tang Mo was about to demand an exorbitant price, so he didn't believe Tang Mo at all. He pondered internally whether he could decide on behalf of Lord Earl and offer a price Tang Mo couldn't refuse.

Indeed, he knew that Lord Earl's savings had been significantly depleted by the purchase of the Quick Guns. After all, Lord Earl wasn't like other lords who exploited their people, so his wealth wasn't that vast.

But this weapon... but such a weapon was an irresistible temptation for Tagg. Seeing this weapon was like a tiger seeing beef, like a gourmet seeing delicious food!

Before Tagg could figure out an appropriate price, Tang Mo took the initiative to explain, "It actually doesn't have a high technical difficulty; in fact, we handcrafted it. However, what really limits its production is this firing mechanism."

"This firing device can only be handcrafted by me, so the output is very low! It's fine for personal use, but supplying troops on a large scale is currently beyond our reach." As he spoke, he handed a small primer cap to Tagg.

"Weapon manufacturing is inherently complex, and it is naturally costly. Without ammunition, these expensive weapons would become scrap iron, so right now, we can only manufacture them on a small scale for personal use." He smiled as he passed the handgun to Old Roger beside him.

Hearing Tang Mo's explanation and realizing he had been wrong, Tagg blushed with regret and said, "I understand; I can understand."

When he realized that the weapon truly couldn't be mass-produced, he could distinctly feel his mood plummet.

However, within the complexity of his emotions, there was also a hint of relief. He breathed a sigh of relief because he no longer had to make a desperate decision on behalf of Lord Earl.

He truly hadn't considered seizing anything by force, because his own moral integrity simply wouldn't allow it. If Lord Earl commanded it, he might have struggled and felt distressed but would have obeyed, but making such a decision on his own was entirely out of the question.

Since Tang Mo had revealed his hand, he naturally didn't plan to continue hiding this outdated Revolver any longer.

He continued speaking to Tagg: "So, I can make a few more of these weapons, and you can have someone take them back to Lord Earl... But you must be careful. If word of this gets out, it could lead to a disaster..."

"Really? Is that possible?" Tagg, with newfound hope igniting in his eyes, looked at Tang Mo and asked.

Without answering him, Tang Mo went on: "I can't produce them in large quantities, but Shireck can, as long as they have enough craftsmen. They could replicate it, and then Lord Earl's advantage would vanish! While I don't think they can duplicate the ammunition for these weapons, there's always an exception..."

Tagg immediately nodded and solemnly said, "I understand. I'll make a trip back to Northern Ridge myself and tell Lord Earl everything. Trust me, I will bring back more support from Lord Earl, including materials and manpower!"

In fact, during the past few days, he had seen too much in Brunas. He had written some of it in letters to the Earl, but there was much he hadn't had time to write down or dared to include in the letters.

Therefore, he also wanted to return to Northern Ridge to recount everything he had witnessed to Lord Earl. He felt that Northern Ridge should work closely with Brunas to establish a stronger partnership.

Even just considering Tang Mo, this young man, he wasn't mediocre—he was definitely worth being recruited and won over by Lord Earl, not to be made an enemy of—this was Tagg's conviction, a firm one at that.

"I hope you can bring more manpower. You've seen it—we need people here." Knowing that once Tagg returned, he would clearly convey the strength of the Tang Weapons Workshop, Lord Earl would certainly value their cooperation even more. Thus, Tang Mo decided to ask for more from the Earl.

As the saying goes, might as well ask for the moon. He was a businessman, after all, and naturally had to seek maximum benefits for himself.

"I can have Lord Earl gather all the beggars, serfs, slaves, and anyone willing to come here from Northern Ridge..." After giving it some thought, Tagg planned to use these as an exchange for the new type of weapon in Tang Mo's possession.

In Tagg's view, the cost was worth it to acquire these weapons since they were the best lifesavers for warriors on the battlefield and essential for victory in the war.

As long as they won this war, Northern Ridge could continue to prosper and recoup the money and resources spent!

And what Tang Mo wanted, or rather, the manpower and some supplies that he cared about, were all costs that Northern Ridge could afford... in exchange for advanced weapons.

"You also need to bring tents and food! Otherwise, I can't settle so many people." Tang Mo wasn't particular about who came; he wasn't even afraid of Lord Earl planting spies in his workshop. At this time, he needed to quickly increase his strength, so welcoming all comers was indeed what he should do.

Tagg nodded seriously and promised, "Understood! I will return with this batch of K1 Quick Guns, and then bring as much of these things as possible."

"Excellent! I will prepare a good number of K1 Quick Guns for you! Also, I will make a few of these weapons and prepare some ammunition to send to Lord Earl with you. With these, his safety should be even more assured," Tang Mo said generously, providing Tagg with the reassurance he wanted.

"Thank you, thank you! I will do my best to get enough manpower, tents, food... Basically, I will bring back everything you need!" Tagg said excitedly—provided that Tang Mo was willing to cooperate, he felt Lord Earl wouldn't mind supplying more resources to Tang Mo.

After Tang Mo presented this weapon, he knew he had to provide Lord Earl with the same kind of weapon.

Because once Tagg knew, Lord Earl would know; and once Lord Earl knew, he would certainly want such a weapon.

Instead of waiting for a request, better to be proactive. After all, he was now a weapons merchant—how could he possibly not sell a weapon?

Since such weapons would eventually be sold anyway, making sales pitches now wasn't unacceptable.

The reason Tang Mo was so generous was actually because he had already started making small quantities of smokeless powder. With that substance, he could create metallic cartridge bullets.

Even with a very limited production, handcrafting metallic cartridge bullets could allow the Revolver to evolve into a true Left-Wheel Handgun—although they were the same type of weapon, Tang Mo knew there were differences in the way they were loaded.

There are no wrong names, only misspoken nicknames. The Left-Wheel Handgun replaced the Revolver as the unofficial official name for this type of handgun for good reason.

The early Revolvers could only be loaded one bullet at a time, and loading them required using the gun's ramrod to tamp down the powder—a process that was quite cumbersome.

Even though the paper-cartridge Revolvers he developed were more advanced, the actual pre-loading speed was still very slow.