Chapter 358: Chapter 357 Military Enhancement

“Humans, this kind of creature, really needs to be pushed to unleash their full potential…”

After reading the military report, Zhang Yuan couldn’t help but sigh.

What is learned from books is superficial–it’s only through practice that one can truly understand. This must be the best application of Virtual World Technology so far.

The report showed that after two years of training, the casualty rate for holding a position for four hours has dropped from over 50% initially to under 20% now. Soldiers’ individual combat abilities and teamwork capabilities have been comprehensively strengthened.

“It’s time to start a different exercise…”

Past military exercises have involved electronic firearms, which means getting hit results in a helmet emitting blue smoke, followed by declaring oneself “dead.”

Conventional exercises can’t involve live ammunition; you can’t seriously kill your own soldiers, can you?

The losing side in such exercises, although penalized with physical punishment, intensified training, and the like, might feel guilty, but how can this compare to the learning effects of exercises in Virtual Space?

Death in Virtual Space, though not real, brings genuine pain and fear!

Even though the pain is significantly reduced, the sight of one’s internal organs rupturing and life force rapidly draining still produces intense emotions.

These emotions, to a large extent, transform into a desire for victory, teaching them about the brutality of war and enabling them to use their brains, growing into real soldiers.

Of course, some psychologists think such training is too cruel or might trigger psychological disorders in soldiers.

These concerns are very real, so there’s a long interval between exercises, at least six months of normal daily routine. After each exercise, counselors are available to check the soldiers’ mental health… and if one truly can’t adapt, they can only leave the military.

Military accomplishments haven’t distracted Zhang Yuan too much. They are just small successes achieved by the entire civilization in recent years.

Seeing that it’s about time, he gets up from his seat and heads off to attend a major meeting of the Scientific Council.

When he arrives at the venue, he sees it filled with scientists, researchers, technicians, and engineers. Many people are continuing to enter, finding and taking their seats.

“Ladies and gentlemen, let’s get straight to the point. This meeting is about the achievements we’ve made over the years.”

“First, the construction of the Pelican Transport Ship is complete. It passed its maneuverability test six months ago… This spaceship can successfully transport 120,000 people back to Gliese 581. This is the last return trip; miss this, and there will be no more chances.”

“Proper personnel statistics and reports of information must be meticulously prepared.”

In the intent survey last month, there were still 120,000 people hesitating and wandering, somewhat wanting to return to Gliese 581, yet also somewhat not wanting to.

No matter the choice, the Kunlun Mountain Fleet will provide the utmost support without forcibly retaining them.

The trauma brought by war is permanently present; though it has healed, the scars remain.

On the other hand, the Pelican Transport Ship will carry not only the 120,000 returning people but also the latest knowledge seized from the Badit people.

This knowledge includes cosmic fundamentals, application of Super-Magnetic A material, and subatomic science–a breakthrough for a Third-level Civilization, and it’s very natural to report this back to the main base.

Zhang Yuan continued speaking on the podium, “…Our fleet will head to the Huantai Civilization’s trade market in the future, seeking knowledge on Superluminal Communication and Curvature Navigation. This may well take five hundred, even a thousand years or more!”

“So this should be the last time we report back to the main base with information. We hope that after they receive these materials, they will be able to develop smoothly.”

“The process of collecting letters from the public is also proceeding in an orderly manner. The Pelican Transport Ship serves essentially as a courier, using electromagnetic wave communication near the Cosmic String Route–still a very risky business… We can only resort to this very traditional method. We should be able to return to the main base in fifty years.”

“The captain of the Pelican Transport Ship is Mr. Hu Pan from the New Civilization Development Department.”

The middle-aged man stood up from his seat and bowed deeply to all the council members.

Next was the discussion about the Super-magnetic A material and the latest model of fighter, the Sea Swallow Space-IV Fighter. This was the latest research and development, equipped with the interstellar ramjet engine in its newest form.

The first experimental lab had completed the super engine!

The screen displayed a simulated image of the latest generation of warship, including the newest electromagnetic kinetic energy weapons and ion cannon weapons.

“…Regarding the performance and cost-effectiveness of this fighter, whether it is worth mass-producing, or what kind of difficulties we have encountered. There’s also the issue of the entire electromagnetic industry’s upgrading and replacement…”

“For this matter, let’s invite Adviser Ye Junchang from the military’s technical staff to speak.”

The discussion was very intense. A larger magnetic field brought about an all-around enhancement. Not only did the ion engines become faster and stronger, but the electromagnetic guns, ion cannons, and other weapons would all undergo another upgrade.

By simple calculations, if these technologies were fully realized, the mobility of the IV-type spaceship would reach 280% of that of the III-type spaceship. During actual combat, the casualty ratio could reach 1:2 or even 1:3.

Adviser Ye said, “Theoretically, the Sea Swallow IV-type fighter is already a mature third-level Civilization fighter, while the Sea Swallow-III can only be considered a second-level Civilization fighter. There is a generation gap between them, so such a casualty ratio is not surprising.”

“What we are facing is that the technology is not mature enough. The Super-magnetic A material cannot be preserved, consumes a huge amount of energy, and must be manufactured and used on the spot. The miniaturization of the entire generator becomes the biggest problem… Currently, generating a huge magnetic field is extremely costly and the size of the devices is too large for miniaturization.”

Even the Badit Civilization itself had not solved this problem.

“In a nutshell, an interstellar ramjet engine at our current level of technology can only be installed in medium-sized or large spaceships.”

But installed in medium-sized or large spaceships, the boost in mobility isn’t as terrifying. At best, it’s just a lick on the surface.

For a simple example, the Sea Swallow IV-type fighter can easily produce 8 Gs of overload. Humans can only withstand a few seconds at that acceleration, but can the Kunlun Mountain withstand 8 Gs of overload? Certainly not. Just 0.1 G of acceleration would easily tear apart the spaceship.

Unless, like gravitational acceleration, the force is precisely applied to every single atom…

Because of these difficulties, at the end of the meeting, it was only decided to install a ramjet engine on one of the Yingjun Class Destroyers to give it a trial and accumulate some technical experience before proceeding with miniaturization research.

Then, the meeting decided to use the Super-magnetic A material to install several electromagnetic shield generators in various locations on Kunlun Mountain.

The electromagnetic shield, being one of the simplest shield technologies, does not have a strong defensive capability against various interstellar warfare weapons. However, it is still shield technology and is certainly better than having none at all.

Its main defensive capability is against free ions in space. When a spaceship travels at high speeds, the friction between the ship’s hull and these particles is extremely intense, causing the Kunlun Mountain to need to stop and maintain the surface of the spaceship after a period of travel, otherwise, all kinds of instruments are likely to be damaged.

But with electromagnetic shield technology, the ionic friction can be greatly reduced, increasing the upper limit of the ship’s travel speed and reducing the frequency of maintenance.

This is indeed a significant improvement.

…