I Became a Witch and Started an Industrial Revolution

Just as the Witch Race was discussing what kind of assistance they should provide to Mitia next.

Far away in the Federation Capital, Mitia watched the first launch of the Sky-Piercing Monkey—uh, no, the rocket projectile—together with the researchers inside an empty launch chamber.

It was just that the rocket projectile exploded almost as soon as it flew out, the scene looking exactly like those double-bang firecrackers from her previous life, which made Mitia subconsciously think in the wrong direction.

In terms of materials science development, the Alliance had absolutely reached the level required to manufacture highly practical rocket projectiles. First and foremost, the most important solid propellant was not a problem at all.

As mentioned before, gun and artillery technology had long since become basically unrelated to black powder. The main reason black powder was no longer used was that its energy density was far too low and could not meet requirements.

The invention of modern firearms and artillery was directly related to smokeless nitrated cotton replacing traditional black powder.

Smokeless nitrated cotton, simply put, was made by reacting high-quality natural cotton with concentrated acids. This product would rapidly deflagrate when exposed to fire, leaving almost no residue and producing no smoke. Its deflagration speed was far more intense than that of black powder.

Just as black powder could be used as the propellant for primitive earthen rockets, smokeless nitrated cotton could likewise be used as the propellant for certain rocket projectiles, with higher energy density and faster flight speed. Therefore, rocket projectiles that used purely smokeless nitrated cotton as propellant were single-base rocket projectiles.

However, reaching the conditions was one thing; turning theory into a usable physical product was not that simple.

The most basic problem was this: how large should the nozzle opening be? If it was too large, the thrust-to-weight ratio would be insufficient; if it was too small, the internal pressure would not be released fast enough, making it very easy for pressure buildup to cause an internal explosion—namely, the airburst that had just occurred.

Then there was naturally the ratio and angle of the tail fins. At present, the Alliance was still unable to use control units to adjust the tail fins and thus achieve in-flight control of the impact point. It belonged to the level of “once it’s fired, it’s out of your hands.”

To put it bluntly, it was not just that it couldn’t be controlled after launch— even the landing point after launch was unknown. No one knew where it would fly… it might even fly back.

After three consecutive launches all produced various issues, Mitia gently shook her head, softly comforting the project director beside her, whose face was flushed red with embarrassment. Mitia handed him a nozzle design blueprint.

It was the very famous Laval nozzle from her previous life.

The fluid dynamics explanation behind the Laval nozzle was rather complex. Put simply, when water flowed through a path that went from wide to narrow, and then from narrow to wide, the flow speed would increase dramatically.

It was essentially the principle of compressing pressure and then releasing it, and this theory was also effective for airflow propulsion. With the same energy output, thrust could surge by several times or even more than ten times.

Needless to say, for creations like rocket projectiles—small in volume, large in capacity, and capable of dumping massive power in an instant to achieve flight—this thing was practically a divine artifact.

And with this design, the previous launch failures and airburst issues could be greatly alleviated.

At worst, it was just a matter of reducing the propellant charge. After all, with the Laval nozzle, propulsion efficiency had already increased. Moderately reducing the dosage could still achieve the same output power.

What remained was to conduct experimental adjustments on tail fin angles, recompiling and organizing a set of data for where the trajectory landing points roughly fell under different angles and different calibers.

Then rocket projectiles could be further developed according to needs—such as the Katyusha rocket launcher that Mitia had been longing for all this time~

She didn’t want to join the multiple-turret cult anymore—it was too expensive and cumbersome—but she definitely wanted to join the multiple-barrel cult! This old lady had money; the more barrels, the better!

Large caliber was beauty, many barrels were goodness!

Just as she was walking out of the firing range, feeling delighted while thinking about her ‘pipe organ,’ the cat-girl secretary who was mainly responsible for office affairs came trotting over to her in high heels, click-clack-click-clack.

Mitia curiously looked at the secretary in front of her, who was panting and out of breath, and even reached out to pat her back to help her catch her breath.

‘Your Majesty… the Anago Tribe has presented you with a gift due to this year’s bountiful harvest.’

“Oh? What kind of thing could make you like this?” Mitia laughed.

Hearing the Empress’s teasing, the little secretary’s face reddened, the cat tail behind her swaying back and forth: ‘A very precious gift. It’s a beastman.’

Upon hearing this, Mitia’s eyelid twitched: “Hm? The Anago have slaves too!”

This wasn’t giving a gift—this was delivering herself straight to the execution ground!

If she remembered correctly, the Anago Tribe’s mid-to-upper management alone probably numbered over ten thousand people. The firing range could probably be as lively as it was on the Festival of the Magic Goddess’s Birth~

‘N-no, that’s not it! To the Anago Tribe, she is an extremely precious and vitally important beast race. She’s not a slave; she’s the Anago’s spiritual totem.’

“Forget it, I’ll take a look myself. Where is the person?”

‘They’re already waiting at the palace gates.’

“All right, let’s go.”

Riding in the official vehicle back to the Empress’s Palace gates, sure enough, a convoy was already waiting there. Several Mecha warriors nearby were questioning people and patrolling, maintaining constant vigilance.

Seeing Mitia’s convoy arrive, the Mecha soldier in charge of questioning immediately stepped forward, blocking the intersection point between the two convoys.

Upon seeing the Empress arrive, the surrounding crowd bowed in greeting. Only the Mecha soldiers stood straight, observing every person’s expression through the tall perspective of their mechanical frames.

The Anago Tribe was a Bearman settlement. They had previously been one of the dominant tribes within the Ortu Alliance.

They had a relatively large population base, and their physical quality was excellent. They were basically the main source of manpower for the Alliance’s heavy armored soldier units, such as flamethrower troops and machine gunners. Of course, that also included shell loaders on warships…

When the Anago Tribe’s chieftain, Baneta, saw Mitia, a simple and honest smile appeared on his face. A burly man over 2.2 meters tall making that expression could only be described as somewhat eye-searing.

However, the little baby he was holding in his arms caught Mitia’s attention—mainly because those upright deer ears were extremely cute, giving her the urge to reach out and touch them.

Especially when she noticed that the one lying in the Bear chieftain’s arms was also secretly looking at her with a pair of moist, wide eyes. Those eyes were clear, yet carried with them… stupidity? In any case, she looked adorably dumb.

“On behalf of the Anago Tribe, I thank Your Majesty for your help. This year, none of our people went hungry.”

“Our ancestors were taken in by them when they fled to the Small Continent. Later, to repay them, our ancestors brought them into the tribe to live together, also to protect them.”

“Little Lillian’s parents unfortunately passed away while away earlier. She’s too young, and we were afraid we wouldn’t be able to raise her, so… they’re our Anago’s lucky totem. Their total population is only a few dozen now.”

Baneta finished speaking with heavy breaths. Listening, Mitia’s lips couldn’t help but twitch—so you’re using me as a daycare?

She wanted to say something, but looking at the nearly identical goofy expressions on both the big and the small, Mitia sighed. Forget it—saying anything probably wouldn’t be understood anyway.

Since she was already here, she would just accept it. After raising her for a while, she could send her to an institution.

And she could understand Baneta’s thinking. He simply didn’t fully trust the Alliance’s public welfare institutions. Welfare institutions treated everyone equally, but in Baneta’s heart, he hoped that the little one in front of him would always be cherished.

Thinking this, Mitia squatted down and waved at Little Lillian.

Baneta lowered his head to look at the little thing in his arms, bounced her a little with a reluctant expression, then squatted down and placed her on the ground: “Go on, go to Her Majesty.”

Lillian turned her head to look at Baneta, then at Mitia who was beckoning to her. She couldn’t help raising a hand and sucking on one finger. Baneta gently nudged her again, and only then did the little one toddle toward Mitia.

After just two steps, her left foot tripped over her right, and she fell straight toward the ground. Everyone was instantly startled.

Fortunately, Mitia reacted extremely quickly, extending her hand and flicking out a golden-red stream of energy that lifted her into midair. Lillian didn’t seem frightened. Lying on the band of energy, she curiously touched it, then wriggled and strained as if trying to climb up.

Mitia waved her hand, and the light band transformed into a semi-transparent little sphere that wrapped around her, letting her play.

At first, she didn’t think much of it and only assumed it was an accident—until, after bidding Baneta farewell and turning around, she accidentally caught sight of the short white tail on the little one’s bottom.

It was as if a bolt of lightning struck her on the spot.

Deer ears, white tail—roe deer!