I Became a Witch and Started an Industrial Revolution

Brina Air Force Base

【Beep beep!! ~~~~~~】

Company Commander Sergei blew the assembly whistle and shouted at the surrounding soldiers who turned to look at him, “Entire company, gear up! Assemble and regroup on me!”

“Move! Faster!”

Meanwhile, inside the General Staff, numerous senior officers gathered together, listening to the final plan:

“The objective of the airborne forces is to capture Stur City, located in the rear of Lezhsk State. After completing the occupation, they will station there and hold the line, blocking any Church Forces retreating from the Ernesto frontline from returning as reinforcements.”

“According to intelligence, cities along the route have already prepared follow-up manpower reinforcements and logistical supplies for them. After bombing the landing zones, our bomber formation will carry out destructive strikes on these supply routes.”

The briefing officer looked solemnly at the officers below:

“However, the pressure our comrades face will not decrease much. It is estimated that there will be around 300,000 troops in the Lezhsk direction, while our airborne 101st–104th Divisions total just over fifty thousand.”

“Supply priority is not on us. We have no retreat, and in all likelihood, no reinforcements either. We must hold out until the landing operation achieves its objectives. The road ahead is difficult—do you have confidence?”

A unified roar erupted from below: “Yes!!!”

“Very good! It seems none of you have grown complacent in comfort.”

The officer smiled. “Across the entire Alliance, our equipment is the best. Only the 1st Ground Assault Division, which handles frontal breakthroughs, has equipment comparable to ours. No matter what, we cannot perform worse than them!”

“Gentlemen, to wear this uniform and die wrapped in a horsehide on the battlefield is our greatest honor. Now, the Alliance needs us!”

“It is time to show loyalty to Her Majesty the Empress! Time to avenge the citizens who perished at the capital station decades ago! Time to avenge the Subcontinent civilians who have died under the Church for centuries!”

“Crushing the Church is when we will truly stand tall at the peak of the continent! For the Empress! For the Alliance!”

“For the Empress!!! For the Alliance!!!”

As the ground crew changed their signals, the massive propellers of the heavy military transport aircraft—converted from flying fortresses—began to spin. Guided by ground vehicles, the aircraft slowly moved onto the main runway.

As the signal light at the rear of the ground vehicle changed color, the four propellers accelerated sharply. The transport aircraft gradually picked up speed, faster and faster, until with a thunderous roar it lifted its nose and climbed into the sky. Around it, several other transport aircraft performed the same maneuver.

Inside the cabin, rows of soldiers wearing fitted exoskeleton armor and carrying packs sat facing each other. Watching the sky outside the window as the aircraft climbed, they felt both excitement and anticipation, heading toward the battlefield with hopes and expectations for the future—and for vengeance.

More and more transport aircraft and fighter aircraft took off, forming up into formations.

Standing on the balcony of her office, Mitia could see—through a divine projection formed by her power—massive formations of aircraft gathering in the skies above Brina and several other states, blotting out the sky as they completed formation and flew toward the distance.

She could also sense countless people gazing toward the unseen horizon, silently offering their prayers.

“Nana, I want to gain the benefits, I want to win the war… but I don’t want to pay the price. I don’t want too many soldiers to die. Am I being too greedy…?”

Her emotions were complicated. She knew her people were heading to the battlefield filled with hope, yet many of them would carry those hopes with them forever into death.

But after the first time—after witnessing the cruelty of war—such feelings might no longer remain.

Anna replied calmly, “Your Majesty, you once said that the world is like this. When resources are limited, conflict is inevitable. It has nothing to do with right or wrong—only life and death. This is a pressure every nation must bear.”

“And since a nation is made up of people, that pressure is transferred onto individuals. The cost will also be borne by people. We group them together and call them soldiers—the nation’s soldiers.”

“Very few truly like war, but some are willing to bear its punishment for the sake of the nation. We cannot avoid it—we can only do our best to compensate and share the burden, so that they bleed but do not weep.”

Anna did not answer whether Mitia was greedy. It was a question without an answer—simply human nature.

Mitia smiled slightly. “You’re right… bleed, but do not weep. They have fulfilled their duty. What remains… is my responsibility.”

She lowered her head and looked at her hand—fair, slender, and delicate. Yet in her eyes, it was stained with endless blood—both of enemies and her own people.

What did the soldiers have to do with it? She was the greatest executioner.

She could not guarantee that the Alliance would never go to war—she could only try to reduce how often it happened.

Belzets

The weather was clear, with not a cloud in the sky. Under normal circumstances, it would have been a perfect day—ideal for sunbathing on the beach and enjoying leisure time.

But at Belzets Port, tension filled the air. With such clear weather, even without magic, they could clearly see the vast fleet stretching endlessly across the sea.

Especially those battleships—far more eye-catching than the smaller vessels around them. Their sheer size made them impossible to ignore.

Officers along the Belzets defensive line shouted themselves hoarse, cursing as they repeatedly reinforced the coastal defense fortifications, digging new trenches and placing iron anti-cavalry barriers, barbed wire, and anything else that could be used for defense along the beach.

A soldier mechanically swung his shovel. As he wiped his sweat and glanced at the sky, his movements froze. After a moment, he pointed upward and shouted in a trembling voice:

“Iron birds! They’re all iron birds! They’re flying over!!!”

Hearing this, others raised their heads and saw the massive aircraft formation blotting out the sky like dark clouds. Panic erupted as people began shouting and screaming, descending into chaos.

Soldiers in underground bunkers and tunnels also heard the chaotic footsteps and muffled shouts above. Confused, they looked up at the bare ceilings overhead.

The Gringol Bomber Formation—101st–102nd Divisions—had already accelerated ahead of the main force. Braving dense anti-air fire, they opened their bomb bays, releasing large, bulky bombs that tilted downward and fell toward the ground.

As the bombs struck the protective shield with dull thuds, the front cylindrical section suddenly detonated, ejecting a high-speed jet that blasted directly into the magic shield, drilling a large hole through it. Immediately after, a conical warhead burst through and penetrated inside.

Before the terrified eyes of the Church Soldiers, it drilled like a rotating auger deep into the ground, reaching a soldier who had been looking at the ceiling—then a flash of blinding light.

“Boom—!”

With a violent tremor underground, the anti-aircraft positions on the surface were swallowed by the collapsing crater.

A tandem shaped-charge bunker-busting bomb—the first “gift” the Alliance had prepared for the Church.

After discovering that magic shields could resist explosive damage, and that the Church heavily relied on underground fortifications, the Alliance developed this specialized penetrating bomb. It combined shaped-charge armor-piercing capability with deep-penetration bunker-busting effects.

If it didn’t hit the shield, even better—the shaped-charge front section could blast a penetration hole into the ground itself, allowing the secondary warhead to drill even deeper underground.

Although the Alliance’s explosives and materials had not yet reached tungsten-alloy-level strength, limiting the maximum penetration depth to about eight meters, it was already sufficient for their operational needs.