Magic? My Iron Torrent will sweep it all away!

Chapter 17: Give a man a fish or teach a man to fish?

Zhao Gang remained motionless, like a statue.

Lin Mo noticed that the veins under the skin of his hand, which was resting on the edge of the conference table, were taut like steel wires.

Noticing Lin Mo's gaze, Zhao Gang turned his head, his eyes burning with desire.

He slapped Lin Mo's shoulder hard.

The force was as heavy as a mountain, causing Lin Mo to stumble.

"Comrade Lin Mo, you did a great job."

"very good!"

Hearing this praise tinged with suppressed excitement, Lin Mo recalled his promise to Fendona and felt somewhat uncertain, saying:

"Brother Zhao, was it a bit... impulsive of me to say I wanted to help them?"

Zhao Gang suddenly raised his other hand, his movement decisive, cutting him off.

"No, you did the right thing!"

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the only crowbar we have to pry open the door to trust in that world!"

After he finished speaking, his gaze turned to the head of the military's strategic analysis group.

"Old Li, what's your opinion?"

Old Li stood up, and the giant screen behind him instantly switched, filled with various tactical markings and red warning symbols.

"Reporting to the deputy commander, the preliminary assessment results are not optimistic."

"The Elven race has extremely high individual soldier quality; each one is a top-tier marksman by our standards."

"And judging by its power, it's comparable to a sniper rifle."

"but......"

He then changed the subject.

"Their tactics are still stuck in the era of attrition warfare."

"Their bows are traditional single-piece bows."

"Range, power, and rate of fire have already reached their ceiling; anything beyond that is magic."

"And their logistics!"

Old Li pointed to the chaotic ruins circled in red on the screen.

"Arrow and bow production is still in the workshop stage. A single high-intensity battle can wipe out a month's worth of their inventory."

"Without external intervention, the Elven race... will not be able to withstand two more sieges of the same scale."

Old Li's words were like a dredging up of the burgeoning fire in the command center.

A new world has been found, but the new world itself is about to perish.

What is this? Is this like buying a ticket for the Titanic?

Academician Qian Zhenhua pushed back his chair, walked shakily to the screen, and stretched out his wrinkled hand, as if trying to touch the desperate yet beautiful face of Fendona on the screen.

"A complete ecosystem, completely different from ours...a civilization based on magic..."

"Besides, Commander Lin is still with the Elven race; we must intervene and help them!"

His voice carried the fervor of discovering a new continent, and a hint of trembling as if he feared it might disappear at any moment.

Zhao Gang's face was ashen, and his fingers tapped rhythmically on the table.

Da, da, da.

The entire command center was filled with this dull hum, making it hard to breathe.

A young staff officer couldn't help but speak up:

"Giving them gunpowder technology directly is too risky. Given their magical abilities, they'll likely surpass us very soon."

Zhao Gang nodded; this was exactly what he was worried about.

Give a man a fish, or teach a man to fish?

This is a problem.

"But we can't send troops directly, so how can we help?"

The entire command center fell into dead silence.

A group of people representing the most brilliant minds in the Great Xia Dynasty were stumped by this question.

"Compound bow!"

Qian Zhenhua's voice boomed like a thunderclap.

Swish!

All eyes instantly focused on this academician.

"They are natural archers; the bow is part of their soul, part of their culture."

A light gleamed in Qian Zhenhua's eyes.

"We won't give them unfamiliar weapons, we'll only give them... better bows!"

"A better bow?" Old Li frowned.

"Our military crossbows are advanced, but in essence..."

"No."

Qian Zhenhua interrupted him and gestured for the staff to bring up a design he had previously considered, which included structural diagrams.

"General Li, please take a look at this."

On the screen, a strange bow-shaped weapon with pulleys and cables appeared.

"This is a bow I designed before. It can achieve a draw weight and arrow speed far exceeding those of traditional bows while reducing the effort required to maintain a full draw by more than 80%!"

Qian Zhenhua's voice became passionate. Originally, this was a good invention, but unfortunately, in modern times, or even in the apocalypse, it seemed rather useless. But it was perfect for elves!

"This means that elven archers can maintain a stable aim for much longer! It's no longer just about experience, it's about aiming!"

"The significant reduction in physical exertion means a dramatic increase in sustained combat capability! Before, my hands would shake after shooting ten arrows, but now I can shoot fifty!"

"This means that each of their elves will fire three, or even five, more deadly arrows than before!"

Before he finished speaking, Qian Zhenhua had someone bring out new blueprints.

It was a relatively simple crossbow, yet it exuded a cold-blooded killing efficiency.

"And this, the latest modern version of the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow."

"It can fire arrows every time you pull the trigger, just like emptying a pistol magazine."

"Its power may not be as great as a composite bow, but its value lies in—close-range firepower suppression!"

"Elves aren't good at close combat? Then let them riddle the enemy with a hail of arrows before they even get close!"

"Imagine an elven archer, even an ordinary elf, each armed with a repeating crossbow, forming a mobile phalanx of arrows—what a terrifying density of firepower that would be!"

The command center was deathly silent.

Everyone was utterly shocked by the scene described by Qian Zhenhua.

This plan is a hundred times better than simply throwing a bunch of AK47s at them!

It solved the immediate problem without revealing core technologies, and it also showed respect for the other party's civilization!

This is the right way to use a dimensional reduction attack!

"good!"

Zhao Gang slammed his hand on the table, his eyes lighting up!

"As expected of Academician Qian! This plan is perfect!"

Qian Zhenhua smiled slightly.

"These bows won't be very complicated; standardized production will make them quick. The issue of combat effectiveness is solved. Next, we need to address their arrow consumption..."

"I observed that their arrowheads were not hard enough and needed to be reforged after being recycled."

"We can provide an improved steel alloy formula and smelting process that doubles the hardness of the arrowheads, allowing for repeated recycling! The main selling point is cost-effectiveness and durability!"

"Great! Then all the problems are solved!" Zhao Gang said excitedly, looking around at everyone.

"Does anyone have anything to add?"

The experts quickly provided supplementary information.

"Design drawings should use the most intuitive illustrations, discarding all modern industrial jargon, so that the other party's craftsmen can understand them!"

"The blueprints can be carried on nanofiber cloth, which is waterproof, fireproof, and corrosion-resistant! It won't be damaged after a few uses or by accident, reducing the time Commander Lin wastes carrying them repeatedly."

"The alloy formula and smelting process must be the simplest and easiest for them to mass-produce! This will comprehensively improve their production speed and combat effectiveness!"

After discussion, the final adjustment requirements were finalized.

Zhao Gang immediately gave the order to begin the operation!