The War of 1002

by Fireheart 1945

Chapter 94; R&D

"We've managed to streamline the production of artillery and rifles," the gray stallion was saying. "We're having some problems in getting the numerous smiths to agree on what a part should look like and how decorated it should be."

"Decoration? Really?" James asked, frustrated.

"Yes, sadly. Some believe the weapons we produce should be unique, so that each pony feels that their rifle is special to them, like custom-made swords in the past."

"That might be nice if Equestria had a universal policy of the right to bear arms and every citizen could by their own firearm for self defense, but not in regards to military endeavors. The rifles should be exactly alike, so that ammunition and spare parts can be used interchangeably without problem. That streamlines logistics and maintenance."

"It does, but the Diarchs have had to contract many different smiths in order to meet the demands for the war."

"Why not just build factories with assembly lines, with molds for metallic parts all being standardized so that they all come out alike?"

"We've been doing that, or some of it. Unfortunately, we've had to scale it back to a single factory here in Canterlot."

"Why on Earth would anyone do that?"

"Because we still need the smiths, and they aren't happy about factories potentially taking their jobs away."

James sighed heavily. "I'm guessing they threatened to go on strike?"

"In essence, yes."

James sighed again, and covered his face in his hands.

"I'm sorry, sir, but the smithies of the kingdom far outnumber factories and manufactories. We've had to compromise."

"Well, I hope that nonsense stops soon."

"I agree in principle. However, the smiths do have a legitimate point about wanting to stay in business, and nopony wants - or at least, nopony should want - others to become unemployed."

"Surely some previous jobs became redundant or out of date before?"

"Yes. For example, the advent of airships has meant that the old manner of having pegasi pull floating wagons full of goods from one high place, such as Cloudsdale, to another is becoming obsolete. And I know what you're going to ask; why isn't the same true for the weapons industry, especially during the war? I'm afraid it all goes back to needing smiths and their expertise to keep up with the demands for the conflict. And they haven't been alone; many tailors, both in small towns and large cities, have voiced protest to any major effort to introduce large scale industrialization of textiles. As with the smiths, we had to compromise in order to keep up the supply of uniforms."

"Ugh, I hope the shipyards-"

"They did. Dockyard workers don't want to lose their jobs either, so again, only small scale industrialization of the shipyards took place. Several turreted ironclads were built, and used successfully at sea, but they were few in number. If the enemy fleets had been made of iron instead of wood, we would likely have been badly outgunned in the naval department."

"How was Equestria able to keep our armies supplied? It sounds like a miracle that our logistics were as good as they were."

"Hard work, clever calculation, and considerable compromise."

"I don't envy you."

The stallion - whose name was Steel Lobby - smiled. "I appreciate that compliment. And yes, it hasn't been easy. However, we've had considerable success in coming up with new designs for our armaments. Admittedly, the lab coats are much more to thank - and blame - than us in industry in that regard."

"Blame?"

"Well, yes," Steel said, frowning a little. "There have been... accidents. And several times, we caught ourselves with a faulty design just in time, as in, right before we were about to test it. An example would have been a bolt-action design that would have been weak behind the barrel; too much chance of the bolt being shoved to far and fast into the shooter's face, or worse, the breech could have blown, potentially burning and slicing, or even killing, the soldier using it."

"Glad you caught that one."

"Us too. However, the science department didn't give us all duds. In fact, they're responsible for improving the design of the breech-loading cannon you sent us; a much heavier, but more powerful, cannon was made, still capable of quick-firing."

"In so far as that pertains to keeping our guys alive, good."

"Yes. Sadly, the magazine-loaded design for heavy artillery... failed."

"How bad?"

"When we went to fire it on the test range, the magazine jammed. It also wasn't a good sign that one of the dummy shells got it's tip bumped in a way that surely would have set it off had it been a real one. The labs tried to fix the magazine, but it kept jamming or misfiring in such a way as to have been fatal if the shells had real charges in them."

"Sounds like you guys dodged a few metaphorical bullets."

"We did. But the tanks were even worse."

"What happened?"

"Hmm, lets see; engine too big or too small, gun too big, tracks too weak to traverse off road, tank too heavy and got stuck in light mud, and... oh, yes, a version where the track was too heavy for the engine to move. We've had to build and re-build. Of course, some of us engineers like a challenge, but this was like trying to fit jigsaw puzzle pieces in places they didn't want to go, if you get my meaning."

"I think I do. And it's a shame things like that happened."

"Oh, it wasn't all bad. In fact, even those things that went wrong taught us valuable lessons."

"Oh?"

"Yes. The design errors taught us what not to do. It also stimulated innovation, as we had to come up with solutions for the designers' mistakes."

"Probably not easy."

"No, but nonetheless rewarding. We've continued to streamline production; we can now produce a Gallop tank between two and two and a half times faster than we did when we first started out. While rifle and melee weapons largely continue to be produced by individual smiths, our tanks are produced by factories and their owners."

"I hope safety standards and pay for the workers are good."

"They are. Some of the factory owners wanted to skimp on safety, others on pay, still more on both, but the Princess managed to... convince them otherwise."

"Good."

"Indeed. And we've continued to streamline production where possible. I expect weapon production to rise even higher in the next few months, provided we stick to schedule and nothing goes wrong. Hopefully I didn't just jinx us by saying that."

"Any new weapons or equipment in the works? Something I could examine today?"

"Oh, yes sir. Right this way."

------------------------------------------------------------

James was led into a very large room within the factory/lab complex. Within the room was a very large, rectangular body with caterpillars on either side.

"What's this?"

" A project we had in mind. The current tanks we have do have their limitations, despite their usefulness. Gallop tanks lack sufficient punch against an enemy on the scale of the Barrel, and the latter are relatively slow, with a gun pointing in just one direction. We got inspiration from the navy; if they could build ironclad monsters to stop the Griffons at sea, why could we not build a travelling iron fortress of our own? One with numerous guns and with armor considerable enough to stop most projectiles."

"You were trying to build, in essence, a battleship on caterpillars."

"Indeed." Steel's mouth turned down. "Unfortunately, the idea proved... difficult. Between the size of the steam-powered engines, the size of the coal bunkers, the need to keep the ammunition bunkers both well armored as well as away from any significant source of heat, among other problems... well, let's just say we're still not sure just where the guns will go."

"So you've given up?"

"Oh, no sir. We are still trying to make sure this will work. But with the war over, we expect our funding to be cut, and..."

"You're worried that this land ironclad project will fail."

"That's... accurate."

"Would the completed model have anti-aircraft capabilities?"

"There would be anti-flight weapons, yes, though these would be limited. It's more likely we would fit captured Gatling guns to the finished product than to put anti-air cannons everywhere. This giant tank is designed to win land battles, after all."

"I know, but it would be slow and thus vulnerable to air attack."

"I understand, general. However, we do have a few other projects that would complement the giant's defenses. If you'll follow me..."

James did, to what looked to be a Barrel chassis. The guns had been removed, and a twin-barrel version of the anti-air gun he'd seen used during the war were housed in a casemate in the center if the vehicle.

"I see. So these, assuming they were completed, would accompany the beast."

"It would be one such project; we have two more to see, one of which is just off to the right."

James looked, and saw a Gallop with an odd-looking turret; the gun had been replaced by a rocket.

"So, you've modified it to shoot rockets?"

"Not just rockets, sir. These rockets would fly to a target using magical tracking methods. They are in testing; we've fired them at large, unmanned gliders, with some success. I say 'some' because there seems to be a bug in one of the spells that can cause the missile to retarget something other than its intended target."

"I hope no one was killed because of that."

"No, thank heavens. We do clear the skies before testing these and other such weapons, you know. But when we've had multiple gliders in the air, and one comes near the target glider, the rocket often seems to... reconsider what it should be aiming at."

"Sounds like quite a problem. Can it be fixed?"

"Yes, though the unicorns who have made up the spell are facing difficulties in figuring out just how to go about it."

"What's the third weapon you were going to show me?"

"Not far off, sir."

James again followed Steel to a sort of harness.

"This is, we hope, something that will give us total control of the sky in any future combat."

"What is it, and what does it do?"

"It's a battle harness for pegasi. We're planning to put either the guided rockets from the previous project on it or, failing that, to fix Gatling guns to it."

"Looks pretty heavy. Will a pegasus even be able to lift that thing off the ground?"

"Try lifting it yourself, general, if you don't believe me."

James did, putting both hands to work. To his shock, the harness weighed barely anything; he took one hand away and lifted it with just one, pumping his arm up and down.

"We've used a combination of light but strong metals and anti-gravity spells to vastly lighten the load on the pegasus using the device. As such, they'll be able to fly and engage targets from a distance. They won't need swords or spears, and they certainly won't have to worry about trying to awkwardly fire a rifle in flight. They just have to press that forward lever - the one to the front - and the harness will discharge its ordinance."

James put the harness back in its place. "The harness is most impressive. Honestly, I'm more impressed with it than the other two, if you'll forgive me."

"Nothing to forgive, sir. Given how the other projects have gone, and seeing where the land ironclad in particular is heading, its the most likely project to be approved and see service. Though, I hope we never do see another war."

"Not the worst hope anyone has had. I hope this next generation has peace. But we need to provide them security in case another war does happen. And these will definitely help. Good work so far."

"Thank you, sir," Steel said, bowing.

"However, engineering is one thing; doctrine is another. I hope you take that into account when building these things."

"We do cooperate with the military theorists, as well as those who have spectated the war with the explicit hope of making up future tank doctrines."

"They better not spread out tanks in penny packets. I hope that's not what these were designed for; to be static or slow-moving fortresses complemented by only a few armored vehicles."

"No sir. The 'fist' or 'hoof' doctrine of concentrating armored units will be in effect, at least so far as I'm aware."

"Good. However, if you'll forgive me, I must point out that an armored behemoth would be a massive target upon a battlefield, no matter what support one may give it. Additionally, I can think of numerous ways it could get stuck, especially on uneven terrain, and I doubt it could move through forests. What answers do you have for that?"

"I admit it would be a major target, but the theorists believe that the pegasi, in these new harnesses, could potentially eliminate hostile artillery before it became a serious problem. And the land ironclad would not be travelling alone, as I just said; it would be in the midst of a swarm of smaller armored vehicles, along with hoof soldiers and artillery support of its own."

"That being said, how many Gallops of Barrels could you make out of all the materials being used on this one unit?"

"Admittedly, several of either; I don't have the precise calculations with me, so please pardon me for not giving an exact number."

"You also mentioned it would be steam powered; that means a lot of internal heat to dissipate."

"Our designers have labored on that problem; between science and magic, they believe they've found a solution to construct boilers that keep the heat inside - except for the pipes through which the steam would travel - while not letting it out. It would be very efficient, at least compared to steam engines that have existed previously."

"Why not use oil and petrol?"

"Because we need to find the stuff and pump it first, and there aren't many in Equestria that want to risk damage to the environment or invest in oil production. The risks are believed to be too great."

"Sounds like a half-measure kind of thing. Honestly, oil is better in the long run."

"Perhaps, but our engines run primarily on steam power at this time, so we need to take what we can get. Perhaps in the future, we can switch to petrol and oil."

"...I suppose I'll have to be content with that."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"We have considered aerial combat regarding airships," Steel was saying as they continued outside to a runway.

"But airships are big, fat, juicy targets," James objected. "And the balloon on top is an easy target. If you're looking to keep the airship in the air, then normal armor for it is out of the question."

"That's all true. And, I might add, so far the process of making metal that light - while not draining its strength - is a slow one."

"So why airships? Why not just pegasi?"

"Because pegasi cannot carry heavy weapons, even with the harness prototype I showed you earlier; trying to have a pegasi hold a cannon that is about to fire would be... trouble, to say the least. Airships can carry entire batteries of artillery. In addition, they can drop bombs from the bottom of the hull, so they're versatile when it comes to using heavy weapons in the air. I could also add that we could fit numerous Gatling Guns, anti-air cannons, and rockets on a hull, making it difficult to attack. It could also fly high enough to avoid anti-air artillery."

"If other nations come up with something like aerial combat harnesses of their own, the airship could still be in trouble, especially if it gets swarmed."

"True. However, doctrine would call for heavy escort by pegasi on whatever missions they were sent upon. That's another thing I should mention; they would act as mobile bases for pegasi in combat missions."

"That still doesn't solve the armor issue. One good shot from somebody, and the balloon is going down."

"We are testing new spells and metallurgy methods in order to produce a light but strong armor for the balloon, like the metal for the harnesses. As I said, that process is slow, but if there were enough smiths or factories working on the project, Equestria could produce at least eight fully functional aerial battleships of the type I've described per year, provided funding remained steady. Furthermore, we could make different types, one perhaps for carrying pegasi to the battlefield, another for heavy weapons, et cetera."

"Okay, so the airship can have an armored balloon. That still leaves the hull; wood won't cut it."

"You'd be surprised; there are magical woodworking techniques that can strengthen and even shape wood. But in general, yes; iron, or preferably very light steel, would do much better. And yes, the air ship could technically carry it."

"I hope hydrogen wouldn't be necessary. We had a rather... famous, or infamous, incident with a dirigible that floated using hydrogen gas."

"Indeed. Hydrogen would be a dangerous gas to use. Helium, though, doesn't lift as much."

They stopped in front of an airship hull. There was no balloon attached, and workers were all over it.

"This is a prototype hull that we've constructed. As you can see, lightweight metal has been applied to the hull, however thinly. We are going to add a balloon soon, and we plan, assuming all goes well, to add weaponry."

"Pretty small. Not much bigger than a carrack from olden days."

"True, but this is a prototype, not a full fledged aerial battleship. Besides, it is a natural conclusion that having smaller vessels, in addition to pegasi escorts, will help protect larger ships and add additional firepower. The enemy will be forced to choose between focusing on the escorts, and thus exposing themselves to the fire of the larger ships, or they'll concentrate on the heavier behemoths and be swarmed by smaller ships."

"That sounds ambitious, given how slow you've implied the construction will be for armored airships."

"True. However, this is the near future we're talking about. No doubt we'll streamline the process in due course."

"Can't you also use the lightweight metal for building tanks as well?"

Steel sighed. "Would that it were that easy. However, I doubt the process will become streamlined to the point where we could split it between one and the other. It's best to concentrate it on a single branch of the military, the one that needs it most, and airships and pegasus harnesses are the ones we're focusing on."

"Alright." James didn't push the matter. "How long until some of these prototypes see... if not action, then service?"

Steel was silent for a moment. "It will be at the very least half a year, more likely two, before we have tanks and airships like they ones you've seen here. The harness is almost done and merely needs weaponry to be properly attached. As for the building of other factories and mass production of small arms and various parts for things... we really do need to get the smiths dealt with, either by getting them to enter factories so that they can put their expertise there, or, as much as I hate to say it, by ignoring their protests and building factories regardless of their complaints. Given their hissy fits during the war, it's hard to say that they wouldn't deserve the latter, but there are plenty of other things - horseshoe and horseshoe nail production for two - that they can construct while being left out of the construction of modern weapons entirely. Given we are no longer at war, we can certainly do the latter, though I wouldn't want anypony to be out of a job and have their families go hungry because of it."

"I can see the problem. Nonetheless, if only they had left off their petty squabbles, the war might have gone more smoothly in the logistics department. I don't want anyone fired if it can be rightly helped either, but this... ugh."

"I agree it's a muddle. If it helps, justice has been partially done."

"How so?"

"Princess Luna had them fined a number of times. She used the fact that Equestria was at war to punish them for threatening to not work, with additional threats to take away their licenses for smith work if they continued to obstruct the war effort. Not quite a slap on the fetlock, not quite what they perhaps deserved, but it was something."

"I doubt they were pleased."

"So be it. We were at war."

James nodded. "I should have asked this earlier, but the whole thing with the smith derailed my train of thought; how long until new rifles begin production?"

"Probably soon. Still bolt-action or similar, though energy rifles that would shoot magical beams have been contemplated."

"'Contemplated?'"

"Well... yes. Given the griffon atrocities in making their version, we've been reluctant to commit to such a project. The Princesses were furious when they learned what the griffons had done in that regard."

"No kidding. Making unicorns pour energy into something until they were almost dry of energy and starving? That's not war, it's near-murder. I have hopes all the victims survived, but I have... doubts."

"As do I," Steel sighed. "Ought to hang all of their 'scientists' who were involved in the project, along with those who helped them and the soldiers who took their weapons. But I'll fall into a whirlwind of rage if I stay on the subject any longer. Energy rifles are on the blueprints, and they will likely be implemented in the near future, though I suppose we'll have to be careful on how we introduce the concept. Not that they'll be powered by unicorns, or not directly; we intend for them to be given batteries or clips of magical energy to serve as ammunition."

"Are these batteries... safe? Will they explode if hit by enemy fire?"

"That's a good question, though as we haven't made them yet, we can't test it." Steel paused. "I don't think they would necessarily do so; stored magic isn't the same as gunpowder. I do think that the magic in them would break out and be lost, but - and I could be wrong - a soldier suffering this kind of hit to an energy clip would not be in any danger... well, beyond the normal dangers of the battlefield. That is only my take on it without further testing, though, so take it with a grain of salt."

"So long as this isn't occultic..."

"Occult? As in, magic from demons and witchcraft and spirits?"

"That's what I meant by the word."

"Sir," Steel said, his face twisting in disgust, "that brand of 'magic' has been illegal in Equestria from the beginning, and there is no reason it should change, now or forever. Except for the most foolish or most insane and villainous ponies, none would use that kind of garbage in their magic."

"Alright," James said. "I didn't mean to offend, I merely wanted to eliminate the possibility."

"Possibility eliminated. Since long before Equestria's founding into eternity. And no offense taken. I understand why those not versed in magic might be drawn to such conclusions. Trust me when I say, none of these weapons are occultic in nature. No demons, spirits, witchcraft, or using animal parts and sacrifices to achieve any of it."

"That's good news."

"Yes, indeed. In any case, has your visit to our facility been satisfactory?"

"It has. Good to see you preparing for the next war instead of the last one."

"Has that been a problem back home?"

"Yes. Get a military genius, and more often than not you stick with his stuff even when new technology makes it outdated. Even after breech-loading artillery and bolt-action rifles became common, we had countries fighting in line of battle formations. That works with matchlock and flintlock weapons; they're so inaccurate anyway, you need to have everybody shooting at the same body of guys. But with any of this stuff, it would be suicidal."

"It most certainly would be. As you said, we've been trying to prepare for the next war, so our enemies will be facing a new array of weapons. I do hope another war is not necessary, but if it is, I think we'll be ready for it."

James looked back at the prototype being constructed, and thought of all the other weapons he'd seen under construction. "Yeah, I think you will be."

Comments

[origami]

Using a picture of Jeff Daniels as Colonel Joshua Chamberlain from Gettysburg for the cover?

[HumanSVD]

11252124
More like the Federal Govt usurped more power and sovereignty from the states.

[HumanSVD]

10846072
The Confederacy was right.

[Helljumper206]

Each time I see this story updated and see Col. Chamberlin's face. My mine goes straight to the battle of little round top

[Zaravan]

Oh nice! I was wondering when this would update! It's one of my all time favorites on the site. I'm glad to see it given attention.

However, In story, I worry that the fighting isn't yet over. After all, why would the author introduce brand new improved weapons and technology, in such detail... If it was not going to be later displayed in use?

[Moonlit_Stardust]

11274796

Considering this was a mix of American Civil War/World War One, I suspect we are going to be looking at a Mexican-American war/World War Two situation with another nation.

I guess in that case, who will James be? General Patton or John Riley? I guess it will depend on what Equestria does.

Then again we could be looking at an Equestrian Civil War too.

[Stainless Steel Fox]

Land battleships are a dead end, unless you have the sort of super-tech that they use in the Bolo universe. Steam power will not cut it. The increased mechanical complexity of multiple treads and power plants needed to spread the load make it impractical, a hangar queen and far more vulnerable to battle damage.

Airships, they might be missing a trick, whatever magic allows pegasi to tow carts and chariots, rather than just having them hang straight down. If you could make the airship hull operate on the same principles, you might be able to eliminate the gasbag entirely. Though it may be that they are already doing that just to get some of the airship designs I've seen in canon to work, since the envelopes are far too small for the gondolas using conventional lifting gasses.

Anti-combustion and heating spells on the interior of the gasbags to allow them to use hydrogen safely and generate more lift? Or build the ship on a core of cloudcrete, enchanted with a cloud walking spell. As Cloudsdale shows, that can hold up a whole city of non-cloud based objects.

For lighter, more efficient steam engines, use closed cycle Stirling engines, with key made of mithral or some other enchanted metal that can handle higher and lower temperatures (since efficiency equals 1-(T_C/T_H) where T_C is the temperature of the heat sink where the heat dissipates and T_H is the temperature of the heat source). A permanent heating and cooling spell at the ends would remove the need to carry fuel, and allow for a much higher temperature differential as the cold end can be a lot lower temperature than the environment.

(I once used this design as a powerplant for magi-streampunk power armour, using bound fire and ice elementals as the power source and heat sink.)

An alternative might be to ditch steam power entirely, and just use an animation spell on the rotors, similar to what Twilight did on her snow plough in Winter Wrap Up. From what we saw it was self sustaining once cast.

One advantage airships have in Equestria is that the pegasi can control the weather, since the biggest threat to airships was actually the wind and gusts. To be honest, the armoured air-battleships could do most of the jobs a land battleship could do, even acting as a transport for a big artillery gun that you land to actually fire due to recoil.

For the guided rockets, maybe closer to Fox One rather than Fox Three. The attacker has to hit the target with a tracking spell which the missile then homes in on, similar to painting a target rather than just designating it. ('Danger Zone' music intensifies)

[Hunter 2-3]

I am THRILLED to see a new chapter. I'm still waiting to see what's going to happen to Chrysalis, Rainero and their toadies.

[paladinwolf]

11274982
I agree with ya 100% on the land battleships... and so would Dave Fletcher, aka tank jesus of the Bovington Tank museum
preview.redd.it/rf3dywsjsgi81.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=6117bda3688f5fb81acb7705c31304b291bba357
That's him with a British land battleship...
Now, Imagine that thing with deflector shields, magic powered air filtration and climate controls, add in some of those gatlings, and maybe some other interesting magic-tech. Could be the start of the Equestrian Bolo designs!

[Viatorem]

A small but welcome update (and nice break form the headache inducing trial).

Is interesting to see how the war, and its consequences (like light industrialisation) forced Equestria to change. It would definitely be interesting to see what “scars” came about when the cuasi Mediaeval/modern society that was pre-war Equestria, was dragged kicking and screaming to a more “modern” standard.

As for the landship, as many pointed out is a development death end, best option would be to concentrate in a sort of primitive MBT (main battle tank).

That being said I love the aesthetics of ridiculous land ships. So, sing me up to see a pony version!

Also how about using nuclear power to create the steam to move the land ship ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

Historically, balloons were hard to kill circa WW1. You need incendiary bullets. Helium being non flamable, they're a LOT tougher. The US army used 75 of them in WW2 (mostly ship convoy duty) & only 1 was shot down.

You have gas bags like truck tires & several separate bags so shredding one doesn't totally deflate the balloon. They can climb faster, climb higher, & stay up longer than aircraft. They can carry far more ammo + their tether ropes can damage aircraft.

Big problem is helium only comes from oil wells & only a few have any.

[Joe Toon]

11323595
Fair enough I suppose

[Northern Star]

11308660
More so from certain mined areas. No one takes the helium reserve seriously anyways

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

Uhm....also cryogenic research, but yeah. That & the alpaca wool reserve are the 2 that get named as boondoggles the most. Generas are always prepared for the last war. Back when, they were worried about having to fight Russia & remembered about how German soldiers suffered for lack of winter clothes. Alpaca is tougher than cashmere, lighter & warmer than sheep's wool + hypoallergenic. Synthetic fabrics make it semi obsolete.

But Equestria uses airships. They are good for convoy duty being capable of 80-90 mph (2x as fast as the best warship speed) & good for spotting submarines & enemy ships.

[Split Lighting]

I finally caught up! I'm so glad I've reread it all. Its been years since I've read this story and glad that I did. I look forward to more chapters and expanding the story building of this Equestria.

Thank you and Happy New Year.

[Night Star the Scholar]

I hope you come back...

Almost done with your story.

[Rose1453]

I still really enjoy this story. I've read and re-read it about ten times over the years. I look forward and hope to see the end of this story someday.