Two months had gone by and Kaduna had been stabilized with the two cities of Merula and Ronalla had been fully integrated , the army had been increased to at least four thousand men and women, and still more people were feining to join the army.
Productivity was at an all time high as jobs were provided for everyone. Steam power had been integrated into the industrial system as Alaric figured out how to make a much more versatile steam engine and at this moment in time Damon was in the testing area witnessing the birth of the new smokeless powder.
" My Lord is this to your satisfaction" Derek Morgan the chief alchemist asked.
" It is perfect Mr Derek, how soon can we go into mass production?"
"We can be able to get about thirty kilograms by the end of the week but it'll increase overtime." Derek replied.
"You have done me a great service Mr Derek, you will try as much as possible to increase the production of this compound and also research on more highly explosive compounds. Thank you very much once again ". Damon said before leaving the area back to the castle.
Although Damon didn't show it ,he was the one happiest man in the world right now. He hurriedly summoned Alaric who seemed to had been waiting for Damon to call him over.
Inside Damon's office Alaric was presented with blueprints for some new guns and a breach loading cannon.
Without saying a word Alaric took the blueprints and headed out to work. The new territory also meant that Damon had more skilled blacksmiths under his command, some of them could even mould hot metal with their bare hands so making the components for this new weapon was not going to be a problem for them.
Next thing on his agenda was the creation of new uniforms for the army and the ISB. After a long period of thinking he opted for the uniforms of the world war 2 German army and the uniforms of the Soviet red army. It was going to be changed at a later date but at the moment it would serve his purpose.
There were to be three types of uniforms, there was the combat uniform which just like the German world war 2 combat uniform, light brown for the army and dark blue for the ISB.
There was the dress uniform that was worn by soldiers and officers who were on administrative duties . It was a copy of the German SS officers uniform , light brown for the army and dark blue for the ISB.
The ceremonial uniform followed the Soviet ceremonial uniform style.
A month later Damon was back at the testing grounds , this time for the testing of the new weapons.
The first weapon tested was the Mg 42 general purpose machine gun also known as Hitlers buzzsaw. During Damon's past life, it was known for its high efficiency and effectiveness. Infact post world war 2 this machine gun was still being used with minor modifications.
The Mg 42 was recoil operated , had an air cooled barrel and was belt fed. It was made to use 7.62mm rounds .
Damon picked up the weapons carefully, loaded a one hundred round belt into the gun, disengaged the safety and started firing.
Within seconds, the rounds had been exhausted. Damon loaded round after round sending them down range. Within a minute about 1200-1500 rounds had been exhausted.
" General Barksdale , what do you think of our new weapon" Damon asked .
Barksdale who was too stunned to speak let the question simmer in his head before answering " my Lord I just imagined what would happen if we had one hundred of this on the battlefield".
" Think bigger General, we would have thousands of this on the battlefield."
" Then I weep for who ever makes an enemy of us." Barksdale replied.
Next was the heavy machine gun that fired large caliber rounds. Modeled after the American browning machine gun,bit fired a .50 cal or a 12.4mm round they were also belt fed .
Next were the riffles , three different automatic rifles were produced ,the AK 47, sig Sauer and the m16 variants. Bolt action rifles for precision shooting like the Beretta and the Remington riffles were the ones produced . They both used .300 Winchester rounds.
Next were the submachine guns two were produced, the Mp40 German SMG and the holy Grail of the mob, the uzi. The Mp40 used a 70 round drum magazine, shooting a 9mm caliber bullet. The Uzi was loaded with a 9mm magazine capable of holding between twenty and thirty rounds .
Then there were the pistols of which two were produced , the smith and Wesson and the Beretta m9 pistols which fired 9mm rounds and with magazines able to hold between 17 and 20 rounds.
And finally the stars of the show the 105mm , 122 mm and the 150mm breach loading cannons and howitzers were produced with an effective range of 12000 meters and a maximum range of 32000 meters which was possible due to the riffling in the grove of the canon barrel .
After the weapons testing, Alaric and the other blacksmiths were asked to create designated production lines for the weapons and ammunitions so as to increase production. They were given at least six months to to be able to retrofit the whole army with the new weapons.
As Damon was leaving, he handed another set of blueprints to Alaric , they were blueprints for weapons accessories like the suppressor and the telescopic sights for the riffles.
As soon as Damon arrives at the castle, a letter came, not just any letter but a letter from the Duke Abegnog.
It was an invitation from the Duke to join him in the central region of Elysium for the imperial academy tournament.
He was to come to the city of Abegnog first to join the Duke's caravan in the journey.
He was allowed a maximum of five guards for his protection.The timeline, was two months .
Damon already knew that this was not just a simple invitation, it was for him to answer to the Duke for conquering Ronalla so if he refuses it would be a sign of outright rebellion and Damon was not ready for any conflicts at the moment.