55: Chapter 55 A New Military Unit – The Great Qin Heavenly Fire Guard!

It was a pity that the Heart of the Hive had already been used up, making it impossible to utilize it to accelerate research speed.

Thinking back now, using the Heart of the Hive previously was truly too extravagant.

A common-grade Heart of the Hive could reduce time by a maximum of 1 day.

Yet, he had mostly used them on technologies with 6 hours or even less remaining.

He hoped that in the future, there would be technology capable of breaking down the Heart of the Hive, dividing the full day into several shorter segments.

Only then would he be able to avoid wasting the acceleration time of the Heart of the Hive.

However, although there were no Heart of the Hive left, the Level 3 Thousand Mechanism Tower could support the simultaneous research of two technologies.

This way, he didn't need to wait for the magnetic field research to finish before selecting the next one, greatly increasing efficiency.

After clicking on the magnetic field research technology, Su Yang continued to browse the panel.

He was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Level 3 Main Base had not only unlocked iron ore exploration but also a new mineral vein!

[Technology: Saltpeter Detection]

[Art is an explosion; gain an in-depth understanding of saltpeter properties, acquire the distribution patterns of saltpeter veins, and unlock saltpeter mining technology.]

[command points: 3000 points]

[Time: 12h]

Saltpeter! The raw material for gunpowder, a crucial substance for ushering in the age of thermal weapons!

He hadn't expected the Iron Age and the age of thermal weapons of the Qin Dynasty to arrive simultaneously.

With the support of Great Qin Heavy Industry, Su Yang could hardly imagine what kind of black technology would appear next!

New resources were the foundation for the upcoming series of upgrades; prioritizing them would definitely not be a mistake.

Su Yang adjusted the panel, invested 3000 command points, and activated the other spire of the Thousand Mechanism Tower.

[command points - 3000 points]

[Technology: Saltpeter Detection researching...]

[Pre-requisite technology research detected, unlocking special unit — Great Qin Skyfire Guard]

As expected, a new unit had been triggered; prioritizing resource unlocking was indeed the best choice.

But what kind of unit is this Skyfire Guard?

Just by looking at the name, Su Yang couldn't guess the unit type at all.

However, since it was a unit unlocked by saltpeter and the name contained "fire," it must be a unit related to explosions.

Su Yang impatiently opened the Level 3 Imperial Armor Camp panel and scrolled to the last column.

[Unit: Great Qin Skyfire Guard]

[Unit Type: Heavy Artillery Unit]

[Production Requirements: Level 3 Imperial Armor Camp]

[Required Pre-requisite Technology: Saltpeter Detection]

[Description: A type of artillery unit equipped with heavy Imperial Armor, capable of providing long-range artillery support.]

[The Skyfire Guard's artillery has two modes. The first can launch a large number of small explosive stones to perform area-of-effect strikes on designated zones.]

[The second can launch giant stones or giant explosive stones to inflict massive damage on defensive facilities or single targets.]

[Summoning Cost: 2000 command points]

[Basic Consumption: 5 units of fuel/day, 5 units of concentrated water/day]

[Maintenance Consumption: 5 units of copper/use, 5 units of iron/use]

[Reloading Consumption: 3 units of coal/shot, 2 units of stone ore or 2 units of saltpeter/shot]

A heavy artillery unit!!

[Image]

Great Qin Skyfire Guard: Heavy Artillery Unit

After reviewing the Skyfire Guard panel, Su Yang beamed with joy.

It possessed both area-of-effect strikes and single-target strikes.

Not only could it provide fire coverage over a large area, but it could also conduct single-target sieges.

This undoubtedly brought a massive increase in combat power for both field operations and base defense.

Attacking the Heart of the Hive or Insect Swarm strongholds in the future would no longer be so dangerous.

He could simply deploy the Skyfire Guard first, unleash fire coverage or use heavy artillery to break through the city.

Afterwards, he could send in the Imperial Armor Legion to clean up the remnants; this would not only be efficient but also carry extremely low risk.

Base defense went without saying; the Skyfire Guard's wide-range heavy artillery could be considered cataclysmic for the Bug Swarm Tide.

Summoning a Skyfire Guard required 2000 command points, which wasn't much for Su Yang.

The key was the energy consumption; the basic maintenance was 5 units of fuel per day.

What was more, the ammunition consumption of the Skyfire Guard was calculated per shot.

Each time a cannonball or heavy stone was fired, it required 3 units of fuel and 2 units of saltpeter or stone ore.

This energy consumption was somewhat crazy.

Summoning an army of Skyfire Guards for fire coverage would certainly be cool, but the aftermath would surely be a precarious logistical situation.

The terrifying energy consumption destined the Skyfire Guard to never become the main force of the army.

Compared to large-scale production, a better strategy would be small-batch production, using them as strategic units.

Although energy limitations prevented the grand spectacle of artillery carpet-bombing at this stage,

but with such a powerful unit added, Su Yang still felt excited.

This was an important milestone for ushering in the Great Qin age of thermal weapons!

Aside from the Skyfire Guard, the unlocking of iron ore and saltpeter technologies also brought new upgrades to the Imperial Armor Legion.

[Unit: Great Qin Armored Elite Soldier]

[Rank: Rank 2 >>> Rank 3]

[Effect: Imperial Armor receives a comprehensive upgrade and is equipped with iron shields, increasing overall defensive attributes.]

[command points: 600 points]

[Required Pre-requisite Technology: Iron Smelting Technology]

[Unit: Great Qin Armored Crossbowmen]

[Rank: Rank 2 >>> Rank 3]

[Effect: Imperial Armor receives a comprehensive upgrade and gains two new types of arrows targeting different units.]

[command points: 800 points]

[Required Pre-requisite Technology: Iron Smelting Technology, Gunpowder Research]

[Unit: Great Qin Thousand-Mile Scout]

[Rank: Rank 2 >>> Rank 3]

[Effect: Power system receives a comprehensive upgrade, exploration range increases, and the ability to explore iron ore and saltpeter mines is unlocked.]

[command points: 1000 points]

[Required Pre-requisite Technology: Magnetic Field Research, Saltpeter Detection]

As long as the corresponding technology was unlocked, all three types of Armored Soldiers could be upgraded.

The Scout went without saying; it was the most important unit at the moment.

He would upgrade it immediately once these two technologies finished researching.

In addition, the two upgrades for the Armored Elite Soldiers and Armored Crossbowmen also looked very useful.

First was the Armored Elite Soldier; not only was the Imperial Armor comprehensively improved, but they also gained a shield.

When facing the Bug Swarm Tide, the Armored Elite Soldiers mostly assumed a defensive role.

They were mainly responsible for holding back the Insect Swarm, waiting for the Crossbowmen in the rear to fire.

In previous battles, they could only rely on bronze swords or armor to take hits head-on.

But after the upgrade, they would be able to use shields to block directly, which would greatly improve the margin for error for the Elite Soldiers holding the front line.

The Armored Crossbowman upgrade involved gaining two new types of arrows for targeting different units.

This would definitely play a major role when encountering new types of Insect Swarm in the future.

However, there was no rush for these upgrades; with General Li Xin joining, the territory would not lack combat power for the time being.

The highest priority was still summoning new units and upgrading important technologies and buildings.

Closing the Imperial Armor Camp, Su Yang continued to check other panels.

The next upgrade surprised him even more!