Munitions Empire

As the Great Tang Group developed, the world was also gradually, bit by bit, beginning its true industrial revolution.

The labor-intensive workshops were being phased out, the crumbling industry was being reconstituted by machinery, and a greater force was bursting forth.

Due to a severe shortage of production capacity, both the Great Tang Group and the Shireck Consortium initiated a new round of industrial adjustment and layout without any prior arrangement.

To ensure continued increased capacity in the manufacture of specialized vehicles such as trucks, the Great Tang Group introduced a new car to replace the Model T— the People's Car.

The People's Car's redesigned shell gave it a more modern appearance, with a style approaching that of streamline sedans around the 1920s, looking very cool indeed. Moreover, this car did indeed undergo some improvements, quite significant ones at that.

Yet, these improvements, compared to the downgraded engine, still left many car buyers extremely dissatisfied.

The engines used in the previous cars, although technically subpar, were now replaced by engines with even lesser quality and more disappointing performance.

Sitting in the "4S" dealership, customers were somewhat dissatisfied with this new model.

A man in a crisp suit squeezed in front of the counter, yelling at the car salesperson, "What's this? Is that all the equipment it comes with?"

"The new model of the People's Sedan is really terrible, the engine is said to be two-stroke, and the noise is three times louder than before." Beside him, another Brunas resident eager to purchase a car was also quite agitated, having waited a long time for the new model.

Previous advertisements claimed that the new car would only cost 68 Gold Coins, which was 2 Gold Coins cheaper than the old model, a significant stimulus for the common folk who hadn't yet had the chance to buy a car.

Many were waiting for today, ready to purchase their own family car.

Aside from Brunas, there weren't many cities with so many gas stations capable of sustaining such a large number of cars.

In all of Brunas, there were more than 20,000 cars, a number that kept growing as if there were no end in sight.

Many were concerned that without gasoline or electricity, this huge city with a population exceeding one million could collapse within a single day.

But this was already a great advancement in world civilization, because in the past, if a city's population exceeded one million, it would have faced issues like plagues, making it virtually impossible to continue growing.

Nowadays, though Brunas' population had exceeded one million, it was still developing rapidly, a miracle indeed.

"Ah... don't mention it, the previous engines weren't up to much, but this time, the issue with engine noise is really serious," a so-called car expert lamented, waving the specification sheet in his hand.

These advertising flyers were a comparison tool printed by car dealerships to show detailed vehicle specifications.

They listed how much extra money the optional features would cost, how many colors one could choose from, and in what ways the new model had improved over the old cars.

"However, isn't it a bit too hasty to focus only on the engine? I heard they stuffed a lot of soundproofing cotton in the engine bay to reduce noise..." A man wanting to buy a car explained quietly.

The so-called car expert immediately retorted, "What do you know... that stuff is just for show, once you actually drive it, the noise is definitely twice as loud as before!"

"And the vibration, it must be terrible!" someone else nearby chimed in promptly, with the look of someone determined not to buy.

Many people followed, shouting in agreement, "Right! And there are the shaking issues!"

"But the new car does look really nice! It feels very upscale at first glance."

The man who had actually prepared to buy a car today continued to grumble, "True... but, but, it does look much nicer."

His words likewise garnered a crowd's agreement: "If the engine weren't so bad, this would definitely be a great sedan."

To be honest, the appearance of the new model was indeed very attractive, looking more luxurious than the previous Model T.

It appeared more high-end and classy, yet was cheaper in price, making it quite tempting for the working-class.

The rich folks who had bought cars before had paid more money for vehicles that did not look as aesthetically pleasing as this new model, a fact that made many current potential buyers feel pretty good.

Actually, the new car cost less than 70 Gold Coins; in Brunas, many could afford it. And it really did turn heads, looking more streamlined and attractive than the previous cars, truly offering great value for money.

Actually, many families don't necessarily pursue so-called performance when buying cars. What they care about varies widely and, more often than not, they consider practicality and aesthetics.

After all, even if a car has great acceleration, a family won't drive it to do a quintuple hairpin turn and participate in a roaring rally race after purchasing it.

You say, when you're stuck in traffic on Wencui Street, with a Bentley in front and an Alfa Romeo behind, a Mercedes S600 on the left and a Wuling Hongguang on the right, what difference does it make if your car has a 2.8T turbocharged engine or a 1.6 naturally aspirated engine?

Besides, in Brunas now, there's only one company producing several types of cars with almost identical performance. Who can outperform whom?

If you have a two-stroke engine, doesn't everyone else have a two-stroke engine too? Aside from those high-end Rolls-Royces specially prepared for the super-rich, everyone is on the same level...

"Who's to say you're wrong..." Some people's attitudes change when it comes to the design of these cars.

In this day and age, looks are still very persuasive. Whether it's a car or a woman, if it looks good, it will have a market, a big market at that.

"The wheels are pretty good too," said a woman next to him, looking at the shiny mirror-like hubcaps and speaking with satisfaction.

"Yeah, I heard they redesigned the suspension; it's really comfortable to drive..." The car expert softened his stance a bit. He had just experienced the car's suspension, which truly was an indescribable premium experience.

The new car employed a softer suspension tuning to specifically handle highways and urban roads. This suspension adjustment made the ride smoother and you could feel the elasticity bouncing up and down when sitting in it, super comfortable.

This sense of luxury was also a reason why many people get carsick. In fact, up to around 2010, there were many people in Huaxia who got carsick, especially in good cars, largely because of the suspension tuning.

Moreover, designers at the Great Tang Group did implement a large number of technological innovations in this new car, and it was indeed much improved from previous models.

Just speaking of the tires alone, there were innovations beyond compare. Previously, due to the production and pricing issues with rubber, the tires of the T-model cars were very narrow and small, which made it impossible to use better suspension methods.

Now, with islands in the southern part of the Endless Sea and ports all under the control of the Great Tang Group, the production capacity of rubber increased dramatically, as did the transport capacity, naturally bringing down rubber prices significantly.

With such a backdrop, the Great Tang Group lowered the cost of manufacturing car tires and also increased production capacity.

The car's tires could be made bigger and wider due to the reduced prices of rubber, which likewise increased the car's comfort.

Plus, as friends who own cars know, the bigger the rims are, the more majestic and aggressive the car looks; hence the new car's wheels, which were a size larger than those of the T-model, indeed made the new model look more aesthetically pleasing.

However, due to the underwhelming engine, the new car's acceleration from zero to a hundred kilometers per hour was so abysmal it took over 20 seconds - the pick-up performance was rubbish and the high-speed performance mediocre.

In order to further reduce costs, the new car still employed gravity-fed fuel tanks which meant that gasoline entered the engine by natural gravity, so on steep inclines or declines, fuel supply issues could potentially arise, especially when the fuel level was very low.

In summary, this was a case of aggressively cutting costs, resulting in something that could only be called "a motorbike with a canopy", a civilian car that wore its era's emblem heavily.

The design aimed to free up engine production lines which were originally for T-model cars, so that they could produce more important truck engines instead.

This era desperately needed trucks. The military needed them, local transport needed them; everywhere, there was a void in truck demand.

You see, every city is undergoing modernization and having a transport vehicle that almost never needs rest is critical to any city.

Places that purchase trucks often directly buy a series of other things from the Great Tang Group, which are then loaded up and taken away together.

For instance, areas afflicted by plague would directly buy ten trucks and then fill them with medicine to drive off. Similarly, places awaiting arms would also directly purchase vehicles, pulling behind them 75mm caliber field cannons, with the truck beds full of ammunition to head back.

The assembled trucks were loaded onto flat railcars, covered with tarpaulin, and then driven straight to Jade City.

Similarly, such trucks kept heading non-stop to Dorne, Suthers, and even the Ice Cold Kingdom, Poplar Kingdom, and Songmu Kingdom.

"Are you buying or not? If not, make some space!" Finally, the salesgirl couldn't stand it any longer and exploded with a roar in the crowd.

"Hey, what kind of attitude is that..." The car expert couldn't save face, becoming annoyed and ready to speak up.

Behind him, a rich, impatient fat man waved his banknotes: "I'll buy two! Two! If you're not buying, move aside! Bullying a young lady, what kind of man does that!?"