Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World-Chapter 543: Rebellion 11 - Area 51

TL: Rui88

“You said Chief of Staff Schroeder is not at home? What about other places? Have you looked?”

A feeling of panic rushed to Burgan’s head.

The officer reporting to him spread his hands helplessly.

Burgan crossed his arms and continued to pace the floor, though his steps were no longer as steady as before.

‘Calm down! Calm down! Burgan, you can think of a solution.’

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck his mind.

‘Wait a minute, it seems that Chief of Staff Schroeder’s absence from Lakeheart Town is actually more advantageous for me. In any case, Schroeder is second only to Paul Grayman in the Alda army. If he were here and didn’t cooperate with my actions, it would cause a certain amount of trouble no matter how I dealt with it.’

‘But if he’s not here, that’s much better.’

‘And…’

Thinking of this, he immediately took action, “Come with me!”

Burgan beckoned to the officer who had come to report to him.

The two walked out of the office, and the two subordinates waiting outside immediately followed. They quickly passed through the wide corridor of the General Staff building and then went up the stairs to the third floor.

The entire building was already under Burgan’s control, so they proceeded unimpeded.

He stopped in front of a door.

“Break down this door!”

At Burgan’s command, the two subordinates following him turned sideways and slammed their shoulders hard against it.

After a few continuous thuds, the door to the room was broken open, and they immediately walked in.

“This is Chief of Staff Schroeder’s office!”

Unlike the panic he had shown just now, Burgan was now almost ecstatic. With his excellent eyesight, he immediately spotted what he was looking for.

A round seal sat quietly in an ink pad box on the desk.

He walked over in a few steps, came to the side of the desk, and snatched up the seal to examine it carefully.

“There’s no mistake, this is the official seal of the General Staff. With this, our future actions will be much more convenient.”

…

Owen Schroeder, Chief of Staff of the Alda Army, and his two guards rode at a full gallop. It was very fortunate that they had left before the militia sealed off Lakeheart Town. They then rode southeast from Lakeheart Town for more than three hours, only stopping when they encountered a forest.

Schroeder and his guards stopped their horses, allowing the panting mounts a few minutes of rest.

The old knight took out a pistol with a thick, short barrel from his waist, raised it to the sky, and pulled the trigger. The pistol did not make a loud bang like an ordinary musket, but a muffled sound. Then, a ball of light shot out from the muzzle, and with a whoosh, it shot straight up into the night sky.

Rising into the air, the ball of light suddenly exploded with a pop, and countless bright specks scattered in all directions, like a flower blooming in an instant.

Schroeder put away his pistol and quietly stared at the dark forest ahead. The only sound in the air was the hissing of the panting mounts.

After just a few minutes, a few points of light suddenly appeared in the depths of the dark, dense forest.

Soon, the points of light became clearer, and finally, it could be seen that they were several approaching lanterns.

“Which lord is it?”

Several knights emerged from the dense forest. Under the light of the lanterns, it could be seen that they were all wearing the uniforms of the Alda army.

Schroeder replied, “It is I, Owen Schroeder.”

“So it is Lord Schroeder. Are you entering Area 51?”

When the leader said the latter half of the sentence, his tone revealed a hint of unease. After all, coming to this place in the middle of the night, and with the Chief of Staff himself present, it was clear that something very urgent and important had happened.

“I need to see Herman and Claude immediately. I have very urgent matters to discuss with them.”

It was just as they thought. The soldiers who came to greet Schroeder were startled; something big must have happened in Lakeheart Town.

“I understand, Lord Schroeder. Please follow us closely with your guards. You will be able to see them in half an hour.”

Area 51 was originally a secret place Paul had chosen in the forest near Lakeheart Town for the purpose of fighting the pirates. He trained new recruits there, forming the initial three infantry battalions. Later, as the army expanded, it was no longer used for training new recruits but was converted into a site for the research, development, and manufacturing of weapons and equipment…of course, the weapons and equipment here referred to the gunpowder weapons unique to the Alda army. It was only then that this place was officially named Area 51 by Paul.

Gunpowder weapons were the most confidential matter in the Alda army. Paul felt that before he could gain enough security, it was better to keep these things firmly in his own hands. Therefore, the production of gunpowder and gunpowder weapons was carried out in the extremely secret location of Area 51. The only people who knew about Area 51 were a few high-level officials in the Administration Council and the army. The veterans and junior officers who had been trained here thought this training camp had long been abandoned.

Since Area 51 was a secret base, it was naturally protected very strictly. The forest connecting Area 51 to the outside world was full of traps, and they were changed periodically. This was why Schroeder needed to wait outside the forest for people from inside to come and greet him; even he did not know the latest safe path.

Of course, Schroeder had not run to Area 51 to seek refuge.

Few people knew that the Alda Army, in addition to the eight battalions on the surface, actually had a ninth battalion. This ninth infantry battalion existed specifically to guard Area 51. Even when Paul had downsized the army to save expenses, this infantry battalion had retained its full establishment for security reasons…Paul did not want demobilized soldiers to leak any information about Area 51, not even a little bit.

Schroeder’s purpose in coming to Area 51 was to use this infantry battalion to deal with the rebels in Lakeheart Town.

As for secrecy… his home had been broken into. Clearly, suppressing the rebellion was the higher priority.

Schroeder and his two guards followed the soldiers who were guiding them, winding through the forest. After about half an hour, the scene ahead suddenly opened up. Under the bright moonlight, a cluster of buildings the size of a small town appeared before their eyes.

Area 51 was not only a production base for weapons and equipment but also served a residential function. All the people who worked here…whether they were engineers responsible for research and development, workers involved in production, or administrative personnel in charge of management and logistics, as well as the officers and soldiers stationed here…had their families brought to this secret area, also for security reasons.

To accommodate these people, in addition to the military factories, Area 51 also had shops, farms, and a series of production units such as factories and workshops producing various daily necessities, and so on. There were even schools and a theater.

As for whether the people inside needed to communicate with the outside world… please, in this era, most people never left the village where they were born their entire lives.

In short, this was a small town located deep in the forest with a certain degree of self-sufficiency, just like the cities of the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War that could not be found on any map.