"Hmm... it looks like a thick bamboo pole," Nightingale leaned closer. "What's it called?"
"RPG—" Roland raised the corners of his mouth, "—the ancestor of RPGs."
"R—P—G..." Nightingale repeated awkwardly, "What a strange name. Is this someone's code name? To commemorate the ancestor who invented this weapon?"
Roland shook his head with a smile, "It has many names and countless forms in the Dream World, but this is the most widely spread name. Because it's so popular, a group of believers who worship it have emerged, and it has even gradually evolved into a religion—Pan-RPG Religion."
"Like legendary weapons such as the Savior and Destroyer Swords?" Nightingale immediately became interested, "Is it that powerful?"
The so-called Savior and Destroyer Swords are holy artifacts described in an epic biography passed down from ancient witches. They seemed to have existed before the First Battle of Divine Will, and there were fanatical organizations that wanted to find them. Although it's just a story, the two do have some similarities.
"If it reaches the level of Pan-RPG, you can indeed think so," after all, even things like asses spewing fire belong to this category, and it undoubtedly contributes to maintaining world peace, "but its ancestor is much worse."
"But you can't directly jump to the level of RPG and Pan-RPG, so you can only start with the ancestor of RPG and slowly improve it, right?" Nightingale had an expression of sudden realization.
"Exactly." Roland couldn't help but feel gratified. After years of being influenced, someone could finally keep up with his rhythm. "Your comprehension is not bad."
"Of course, the development of things is always progressive, isn't it?" Nightingale threw a piece of dried fish into her mouth triumphantly, "Like the black stockings and 'madam' you sometimes mention... aren't they progressive forms of gliders and stone boats? I've learned a lot from following you for so long."
"Uh..." Roland coughed twice, "Let's forget about those."
Whether it was the Battle of the North Slope Outpost or the Night Raid Battle of Tower One, there was a common problem: ordinary soldiers had difficulty posing a sufficiently large threat to high-level devils head-on. Although according to the Union's intelligence, high-level devils have more than one ability and come in a variety of types with no obvious pattern, it seems that using magic to create barriers to resist damage has become their inherent ability.
Perhaps this is just a coincidence, or it may be the optimal solution that the enemy has found in a long struggle, and devils that do not have this ability have long been turned into ashes. In any case, it's always right to deal with the worst-case scenario.
Such a barrier is similar to Sylvie's ability, but it can only protect the surface of the body, and its bearing capacity is limited. If you stand in place and let a squad shoot at you, targeting multiple points at the same time, it would probably only last for a few seconds.
The problem is that the enemy is not a target.
Assuming that the First Army infantry squad launches an attack on a high-level devil first, the target will at most react after one or two shots. After that, whether it hides, evades, or takes the opportunity to launch a counterattack will be detrimental to the former.
The God's Punishment Witches were originally responsible for filling this gap. They were born to suppress high-level devils, possessing power comparable to transcendents, and they can also disable their opponents' abilities, which can be said to be a tit-for-tat existence. However, as the war has progressed to this point, high-level devils, who should be the commanders of the army, have repeatedly appeared on the front lines of battle. According to this trend, three hundred God's Punishment Witches are somewhat insufficient.
He needed a weapon that could effectively increase the firepower of individual soldiers.
RPGs look very promising, but the name "rocket-propelled grenade" destined that Neverwinter City would be difficult to mass-produce this legendary weapon in a short period of time—even the simplest rocket engine is a power system including fuel and a combustion chamber, and the technical content is not low. If Anna still has to make and debug it, it loses its original intention.
So remove the rocket propulsion and just leave a grenade.
Also the ancestor of RPGs—recoilless individual grenade.
The most famous representative work in history is the Panzerfaust.
Although many people refer to this type of weapon as a rocket launcher, they are actually two branches of weapons. The biggest difference is that rocket launchers fire rockets, which have their own power source and can be launched normally without a tube, such as the famous Type 107 rocket launcher. You can pile up an earthen mound, use dry batteries to ignite it, and the accuracy is not bad.
The Panzerfaust and RPG are recoilless guns, which require a tube to create counterforce. If ignited in an open space, they will only spin in place and will not fly out even a meter away. Especially the latter, the rockets at the rear of the warhead are mainly used to increase range and improve accuracy, and the power required for launch is still provided by the propellant.
Compared with its constantly evolving descendants, the biggest advantage of the Panzerfaust is its simplicity. The tube is a straight cylinder, the warhead is pressed from thin iron sheet, and the propellant is black huoyào, which is very suitable for mass production.
Of course, Roland does not intend to copy the Panzerfaust, because excessive simplicity is also its biggest shortcoming—short range, poor accuracy, and low power are all unbearable flaws. As a historical reference, he naturally knows that some very small changes can greatly improve the performance of weapons.
For example, installing a gourd-shaped Laval nozzle at the rear of the launch tube can accelerate the ejected gas from subsonic to supersonic, thereby increasing the recoil momentum and increasing the range of the warhead.
Adding a grip, sight, and wooden sleeve to the tube can effectively improve the shooting experience and increase shooting accuracy.
Tail fins made of mild steel can also be installed on the projectile body. After flying out, they will automatically open and rotate with the projectile body to increase its stability.
In addition, if the front end of the warhead is pressed into a hollow inverted cone, the bàozhà energy can be focused forward to form a shaped charge armor-piercing effect, which greatly increases its destructive power to magic barriers.
And these improvement methods are all within the industrial technology level of Neverwinter City.
Roland closed the drawing and got up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.
Admittedly, even if the First Army is equipped with a large number of individual grenades, it is impossible to completely offset the advantages of high-level devils, but ordinary soldiers at least have the capital to contend with their opponents—no matter how strong the enemy's maneuverability is, armor-piercing grenades fired from blind spots are still fatal. As long as one hits, the outcome will be completely different.
This also means that with just a little training, any ordinary person can have the means to kill high-level devils. In addition, "armored units" such as spider devils and giant skeletons will not make the infantry team helpless. And the cost is only a small cluster of huoyào and half a steel ingot.
This is really a good deal, isn't it?