I Became a Witch and Started an Industrial Revolution

The Church’s so-called army of five million on paper not only failed to bring any good news to the commanders of its various army groups, but a continuous stream of reports declaring entire armies annihilated instead convinced many officers that the Alliance had launched a full-scale national invasion.

The most direct consequence of the military’s chaotic command system was that the Church’s once fairly efficient intelligence network became overloaded and gradually collapsed.

It became increasingly difficult for them to sift useful information from the mountain of chaotic battle reports.

And delays in intelligence only compounded over time.

Quite often, frontline soldiers had already surrendered and spent nearly a week mining under Alliance supervision before suddenly receiving an official Church letter ordering them to defend some designated position to the death, producing instructions so absurd they bordered on comedy.

Gurlaig

With overwhelming firepower, the assault forces cleared the surrounding areas before halting at Gurlaig, where they immediately began constructing an extensive network of permanent fortifications.

Because of the increasingly severe situation across the frontlines, the Alliance deliberately reduced bomber sortie rates, freeing up airfields for transport aircraft to airdrop specialized engineering equipment.

Specialized trench-excavating machines worked around the clock, relentlessly boring into the earth. The excavated soil was packed into blast walls, which would later serve as the upper defensive structures protecting the trenches.

This vast and deep trench system would encircle half of the defensive position.

Above it, numerous reinforced concrete military bunkers would be constructed to house heavy machine guns, recoilless cannons, and dual-purpose anti-aircraft autocannons.

Large quantities of hollow steel frames assembled with mortise-and-tenon structures would then be erected outside the blast walls to form another layer of solid armor.

The cavities inside these frames had been reserved for energy crystals and pre-etched miniature Composite Shield generators.

Outside the defensive line, countless conical steel-reinforced cages with foundations extending more than half a meter underground had already been installed.

Later, concrete would be poured over them all the way to the surface, creating an extensive field of anti-tank and anti-Mechanical Body dragon’s teeth with a surface height of ninety centimeters and exceptionally stable foundations.

The outermost layer consisted of solid steel anti-tank hedgehogs, likewise anchored deep underground, together with multiple layers of barbed wire.

Large numbers of anti-personnel mines were also placed throughout the gaps between the dragon’s teeth and the anti-tank obstacles.

At the innermost section lay a traditional trench network.

Steel frames formed the external supports before being encased in concrete, while blast walls reinforced with concrete pillars supported underground barracks and command posts buried two meters beneath the surface.

Thanks to Seris’ industrialized metal etching technology, every hollow steel frame manufactured in Alliance factories came with reserved energy crystal interfaces.

Depending on operational needs, they could be reinforced multiple times, providing both physical and magical protection simultaneously.

It could be said that nowhere had the Alliance invested more effort or attached greater importance than the Gurlaig Defensive Line.

As long as Gurlaig remained secure, Seris could continuously reinforce the Main Continent through the continental salient along the shortest possible route.

In the future, this region would inevitably become the central strategic battleground for both sides.

Whether launching a counteroffensive outward or advancing inward, this corridor remained the fastest route available.

Naturally, the Allied Nations did not simply stand by while the Alliance drove another nail into the Main Continent.

Intense aerial battles erupted over Mosseradel.

During the first week, the Alliance Air Force suffered considerable losses.

Traditional twin-mounted machine guns struggled to penetrate the thick hides of the Dragon Race’s primary flying beasts during the split-second engagements of aerial combat.

Only after the second production batch replaced the heavy machine guns with twin-mounted 20mm autocannons did the situation begin to improve.

The exchange ratio eventually reached approximately 1 to 1.85.

On average, for every Alliance fighter lost, the enemy sacrificed between one and two Air Cavalry riders.

As fighter pilots gradually adapted to the Air Cavalry’s combat style, the kill ratio continued climbing.

Many Air Cavalry soldiers from the Wolis Empire who had participated in only one or two aerial engagements openly expressed that they no longer wished to take to the skies.

Whenever Alliance fighters attacked at close range, soldiers often absorbed dozens of 20mm shells in the instant they made contact.

The psychological impact alone was devastating.

The overwhelming torrent of autocannon fire could shatter a Magic Shield in less than two seconds.

Even plate armor engraved with miniature protective Rune Formations and the thick scales of their flying mounts were rapidly torn apart before the shells ripped directly into flesh.

After all, they were still creatures of flesh and blood.

Once both layers of defense had been breached, a single shell could blast away half of a person’s body.

No sane individual wanted to die such a horrifying death.

Another air raid siren sounded.

The Wolis Empire Air Cavalry stationed around Mosseradel cursed loudly as they mounted their wyverns and soared into the sky, forming squadrons before charging toward the incoming fighter formations.

Under the blazing midday sun, rows of small rockets ignited beneath the silver wings of dozens of fighters.

Dense smoke trails and shrieking rocket exhaust merged into a massive aerial barrage.

The rain of rockets slammed into the wyvern formations like a storm of pear blossoms, producing violent explosions.

The dazzling brilliance of countless Magic Shields blended together with clouds of crimson blood mist.

The attacked Wyvern Knight Corps immediately launched a fierce counterattack.

Countless magic-infused spears and arrows streaked toward the fighter formations.

The Alliance aircraft scattered instantly.

Some climbed sharply into the sky, while others executed high-angle turns to evade the attack.

Several fighters, trailing black smoke, spiraled toward the ground.

One parachute after another blossomed across the sky.

Through every conceivable evasive maneuver, they avoided the majority of the incoming attacks before regrouping, climbing once more, and diving from above to unleash another dense storm of autocannon fire.

The Allied Air Cavalry instinctively ignored the vulnerable pilots descending beneath parachutes and instead pursued their aerial opponents.

It wasn’t that they had never tried attacking them before.

They had.

But after witnessing an entire unit instantly annihilated by the golden arrows that erupted from those parachuting pilots, they had learned their lesson.

The enemy’s Main God was exceptionally protective.

Unless absolutely necessary, it was best not to provoke It.

Likewise, if an Air Cavalry rider was merely seriously wounded and fell from the sky, Alliance fighter pilots would not attack them either.

Those who had already exploded in midair obviously did not count.

After a brief yet fierce engagement, more than half of the several dozen attacking steel birds withdrew after suffering losses.

The Air Cavalry Regiment had likewise lost over half its strength and hovered in the air cursing furiously.

It was always the same.

The Alliance would fight only halfway before retreating.

Yet this very tactic prevented the Allied forces from organizing a large-scale Air Cavalry assault against the Alliance’s defensive positions.

After all, no one could estimate how severe the casualties would become if they attempted to attack ground targets while simultaneously facing threats from the sky.

Waiting for the ground army to arrive was simply the safer choice.

Moreover, perhaps it was merely an illusion—

Or so they thought.

Every time the two sides met again after a period of time, the enemy’s weapons or flying machines always seemed noticeably faster and even harder to deal with.

In reality, it wasn’t an illusion at all.

To allow Air Force pilots to keep pace with the extraordinary agility of magical flying beasts, the Aircraft Design Bureau submitted a completely new air-superiority fighter design.

To reduce weight as much as possible, the new aircraft employed lightweight materials for its internal frame.

Its outer skin was made from composite plastics.

A close-fitting shield, powered directly by a Magic Crystal Engine, enveloped the fuselage.

Its armament consisted solely of two 20mm autocannons.

Nothing more.

It possessed the lightest possible airframe, the most aerodynamically efficient design, and its close-fitting shield also greatly improved structural fatigue resistance, allowing it to withstand extremely high-G maneuvers.

Its limited payload and defensive capability meant that it was utterly outclassed by other fighters in ground-attack missions and virtually every other role.

Its only purpose was aerial dogfighting.

This was the first aircraft designed solely around absolute air-superiority performance.

Its prototype designation was 0-1.

Its official name—

Type Zero.