Chapter 32: Nutrition??
Several steam trains, spewing thick black smoke, once again departed the Main Base fully loaded with various supplies and Clone soldiers carrying large quantities of ammunition.
At this moment, the Monster Birds around the Main Base had been completely cleared out; at most, a few scattered lone Monster Birds would occasionally gather and could be easily shot down.
However, a short distance from the Main Base, the number of Monster Birds gradually increased, and battle erupted once more.
Thus, the windows of the steam trains opened, and a dozen guns poked out from one carriage, firing fiercely into the distance.
Not only that, but some Clones also climbed onto the roof of the train, firing down on the enemies from above.
Some Clones did not ride the train but instead ran alongside it. This made their combat more flexible, providing a wider firing view and making it easier to change positions.
Thus, under this three-pronged attack, however many Monster Birds gathered around the train were shot down.
After shooting down the Monster Birds, the armed Clones tossed their guns into the carriages and picked up wrenches, hammers, and steel rails to repair the damaged railway.
The transition from warrior to combat engineer was extremely smooth and natural, without any hesitation.
The train continued to roar forward and finally arrived at Copper Mine No. 1.
As a bridgehead, Copper Mine No. 1 had always endured the most intense assaults and suffered the heaviest casualties.
But it didn’t matter; now, the Gun Clones had arrived, and victory was at hand!
Hundreds of Clones leaped down like wolves and tigers, picking up their guns and unleashing a volley of fire.
In just over 20 seconds, more than 30,000 bullets were all fired!
Tom’s concept for this firearm, which he named "Assault Model I," was not to pursue accuracy but only firing rate, and then, with an almost infinite supply of bullets, to defeat the enemy by sheer numbers.
Improving accuracy was not so easy; it required gradually improving the processing precision of firearms, high-precision machine tools, and high-performance materials.
Why bother with all that trouble? I might as well make tens of thousands more bullets with that effort. Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of bullets poured out at once—what enemy couldn’t be killed?
Thus, a large section of the Monster Birds besieging Copper Mine No. 1 were instantly shot down.
The cold weapon Clones, who had just been fighting for their lives, immediately breathed a sigh of relief and retreated, handing over the battle line to their arriving comrades.
The situation that occurred at the Main Base happened again. Under the impact of endless bullets, the Monster Birds fell in large numbers and were eventually all shot down.
At the same time, the Clones who traveled to other mine bases on other trains achieved similar results.
Not only that, but the Main Base was still continuously producing firearms and ammunition.
Thus, in just under five days, all the Monster Birds besieging his base clusters and railway lines were cleared out.
Within a ten-kilometer radius, there was not a single Monster Birds left!
At this moment, Tom finally relaxed.
"But it’s not time to truly relax yet."
Tom thought to himself, "Loshen Star is too big; my base cluster only occupies a tiny spot. It’s unknown how many Monster Birds are further out, so large-scale reconnaissance is needed to confirm their movements and numbers.
At the same time, the development of weapon technology cannot be neglected in the future.
Even on this small Loshen Star, such peculiar creatures have appeared; who knows how many dangers are hidden elsewhere."
After making his decision, Tom immediately recalled a large number of Clones to the Main Base.
With enough firearms and bullets, Tom only left 400 Clones to defend each of the outer mine bases.
Although the number was greatly reduced, the overall combat power was still several times higher than that of the previous 2,000 cold weapon Clones.
Even the Main Base itself actually only needed 1,000 Clones for defense. But to ensure absolute safety, Tom still dispatched 2,000 Clones there for day and night patrols and vigilance.
Adding the total of 1,000 Clones needed for the railway lines, Tom’s total number of Clones assigned to defense dropped sharply from the original 16,000 to just 7,000, and the remaining 9,000 consciousness connection slots could finally be withdrawn.
Just right, at the Main Base, the Clones responsible for basic production tasks had been exhausted to half-death over the past period, so it was a good opportunity to add more manpower there and let them rest.
Thus, Tom once again began a new round of large-scale Clone deployment.
In addition to the 7,000 Clones performing defensive duties, Tom also specifically allocated 1,000 Clones for reconnaissance missions.
They were divided into teams of several individuals, each driving an off-road vehicle, venturing further out to search the desolate and dead silent land of Loshen Star.
Of the remaining 8,000 consciousness connection slots, some were added to basic production, while with the other part, Tom began another, more important task.
The research and development of weapon combat equipment!
Currently, with only the Assault Model I, the combat mode was too limited; more combat equipment was necessary.
"The environment on Loshen Star is different from Earth; here, I can’t build aircraft for now.
So, I can only first try to build combat weapons similar to armored vehicles and tanks.
These things are relatively simple; it’s just about piling on armor. But... the power aspect is difficult to solve; my battery technology isn’t good enough."
After some thought, Tom still decided to use internal combustion engines for power.
There was no gasoline on Loshen Star, but there was a lot of methane. methane has a lower density than gasoline but a higher calorific value, so on average, it’s pretty much the same.
If gasoline can burn to power vehicles, methane can too.
Especially since Loshen Star has low gravity, "fuel consumption" would naturally be low.
In the past, the technological level was insufficient to build internal combustion engines, but now, of course, it was different.
The only difference from Earth is that vehicles on Earth don’t need to carry oxygen because it’s in the atmosphere. Internal combustion engines here on Loshen Star would also need to specifically carry oxygen.
Considering various factors, including gravity differences, terrain differences, fuel differences, technological differences, etc., Tom estimated that he could roughly achieve an average of 8 liters of methane plus oxygen to drive a three-ton vehicle for about 100 kilometers.
"Eight liters per hundred kilometers, that’s acceptable."
Having made up his mind, larger-scale scientific research immediately began.
Tom not only wanted to build more firearms but also armored vehicles, tanks, and various artillery pieces!
While simultaneously carrying out numerous tasks such as weapon research and development, basic production, patrol and vigilance, and reconnaissance and search, Tom also specifically brought back some Monster Birds corpses, intending to thoroughly examine and analyze them in the biological laboratory.
The current Tom possessed a certain foundation in biotechnology.
After a series of examinations, Tom discovered something that somewhat shocked him.
"This Monster Birds’ bodily fluid is so nutritious?!"