Over the past few months, Lynn had been busy with more than just making muskets and cannons. He hadn't neglected diplomacy, either.
During that time, he researched solid slime-glue tires that didn't need inflating. The electric arc furnace wasn't just for making guns and cannons; it could be used for other things, too. Wanting to make money, Lynn came up with the idea of expanding the textile industry.
Early steam engines were still pretty crappy. They couldn't serve as drilling machines, but they could be used in textile mills, do some simple pounding, and pump water out of mines. They could even power a steam train that ran slower than a person could jog.
They couldn't afford iron rails, so they settled for wooden tracks covered in iron.
They still needed to work on producing steel with a blast furnace and a converter. What came out of the blast furnace was molten iron. To turn it into steel, they still needed a converter. Making that breakthrough was a bit troublesome, and expensive.
Lynn had made tires, so carriages got an upgrade, too. They were another product for sale, and the merchants came running as soon as they caught wind of it.
Quite a few people were envious, but Lynn's was a State-controlled Enterprise. There were no private enterprises; it had a bit of a state-owned-enterprise character to it, rather than the usual factory-running model.
A planned economy was the most efficient way to enter the industrial age. There was no such thing as a Stone Age.
The only thing they needed to worry about was traitors colluding with outsiders to sell off the means of production.
It was better to guide than to block, so Lynn developed the Patent Law and the Technology Diffusion Treaty.
For twenty years after a technology was invented, anyone who wanted to manufacture it needed a license and had to pay a Patent Fee. This would encourage technological progress.
That way, merchants would come to buy manufacturing licenses. If anyone pirated the technology, Lynn would have grounds to deal with them.
Lynn also decided to establish Civilian Enterprises, with himself holding 51 percent of the shares and distributing the remaining 49 percent.
Military Enterprises—such as those dealing in steel, minerals, guns, cannons, and roads—would be entirely controlled by the state.
Afterward, Lynn wondered if he should try Bandit Suppression. It worked especially well, and all the conservative opponents shut up.
After all, cannons didn't look like much. They just fired an iron ball. In a magical world, who hadn't seen magic with terrifying destructive power?
The same went for flintlock muskets.
But after seeing them in real combat, they all shut up.
Lynn had used the tactics of the old volley-and-charge era. First, the troops formed a Skirmish Line and fired from a distance of 200 meters, harassing the enemy without pause. When the enemy charged, they gradually fell back, first forming a small formation—a circle—then gradually shifting into a line. The infantry in the rear held their position in the line, raised their guns, and aimed. After one volley, the enemy broke and ran. Then the troops charged forward to cut them down.
Against knights, they formed a Hollow Square Formation.
Then Lynn had them fight in the rain, as if their flintlocks had been soaked. The infantry fought around the cannons, and once the cannons opened fire, the enemy was blasted into retreat.
When it was all over, Lynn wondered if they should expand flintlock production and equip everyone. Then someone said they didn't have enough muskets. Lynn thought someone had been embezzling, but it turned out the Foreign Legion's quartermaster corps was made up of donkey-humans.
"Damn stupid donkeys!"
Lynn cursed.
After all that, they finally had enough flintlocks for everyone to carry one, with the surplus stored in the warehouse. After expanding the army, the force had reached 1,500 soldiers, with another 1,500 in training, ready to be sent to the battlefield at any time.
In truth, Line Infantry only needed a week of training. For skirmishers, all they had to do was teach them how to fire.
Everyone was armored, too. The artillerymen could wear armor if they wanted.
As for bayonets?
According to many accounts from the Line Infantry era, plenty of generals went their whole lives without fighting even one bayonet battle. Usually, the enemy just broke and ran.
Bayonet materials weren't a problem. They already had high-quality steel.
In the Northern Border, they had successfully established themselves. Next came expansion.
You ask how they could expand without a reason?
Paradox Game War Criminals saw an ugly map or wanted resources, and they'd find an excuse to start a war. It had nothing to do with good or evil, morality or justice. They just wanted to fight you.
But before expanding, they had to do something that would push their luck.
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