The Undead Empire That Travels Through the Multiverse

Although the super soldier project took a completely different direction under the intervention of Tony and Steve, and everything went smoothly and two captains were born, they still failed to create the third super soldier.

Dr. Erskine was not assassinated by a spy, and the super soldier's enhanced serum naturally did not have the problem of being destroyed and the formula lost.

However, Dr. Erskine did not create another super soldier of the captain's level. Instead, he reduced the strengthening effect of the serum and met the U.S. military's need to strengthen soldiers in a "deteriorated" way.

The reason is also very simple, that is, cost and efficiency issues.

The cost of manufacturing the captain's strengthening experiments alone is as high as hundreds of thousands of dollars for just two experimental chambers used for strengthening, and each use also costs thousands of dollars to maintain and replace worn parts.

Even with the efforts of two mechanical geniuses, Howard and Tony, they were still unable to effectively solve these problems due to the industrial level of this era. Although the loss of parts was reduced, it could not reach an acceptable level.

You must know that this was in the 1940s. When the United States auctioned the legendary ship Enterprise after the war, the auction price of the ship was only US$561,333. However, the Enterprise Association established at that time to save the ship paid Without this amount of money, one can imagine the value of the U.S. dollar in this era.

For the United States, the Army has never been its military strength. You must know that before World War I, the United States did not have a national standing army. The so-called U.S. Army was only a local force maintained by each state at that time.

The majority of the U.S. military has always been the Navy and the later gradually rising Air Force. This is why there are sayings that first-class people in the Air Force, second-class people in the Navy, third-class people in the Army, and fourth-class two-legged animals in the Marine Corps.

Therefore, although Congress approved the project with the persistence and lobbying of the Army generals, and also poured money into the project, it is obvious that the cost of building a captain-level super soldier is undoubtedly an amount that the gentlemen on Capitol Hill will not approve.

And in the opinion of the men on Capitol Hill, spending so much money to build a powerful superman soldier is better than using the money to build two warships or two regiments of tanks, which can do more than a superman soldier. , the deterrent effect is stronger.

But at this time, the influence of the army generals was still very great, and they were not reduced to third-class status later.

After all, the U.S. Air Force has not yet been established at this point in time, and the Navy and Army are basically evenly matched in terms of competition for military spending.

It is precisely because of this that the U.S. Army still has some money at this time, so they still want super soldiers. Just like naughty children want to play with the models and Gundams in your cabinet, the generals also want new toys. .

However, the cost of building a super soldier is almost equivalent to that of a frigate in the Navy, which still discourages the army generals and requires the Strategic Science Group responsible for researching super soldiers to reduce the cost.

This requirement is not difficult for Dr. Erskine to meet. He only needs to improve the formula of the serum so that the effect is not so good and the investment required for strengthening does not need to be so large.

With the combined efforts of the two Starks, they successfully reduced the cost of each reinforced soldier to less than ten thousand dollars.

Of course, the combat effectiveness of the soldiers strengthened in this way is actually just that. Although they are indeed stronger and have higher physical fitness than ordinary people, they actually do not play a big role on the battlefield.

After all, there is only one shield that can make Captain America Captain America. In this era, after Steve Rogers has obtained the orphaned shield from Howard, Peggy Carter does not have a shield as an equipment, but uses a pistol. and other weapons she is accustomed to.

Under such circumstances, these enhanced soldiers can actually be used as super soldiers, and cannot become superheroes like Steve Rogers.

Therefore, these reinforced soldiers built at the cost of a cruiser were eventually organized into a special force, under the management of the Strategic Science Corps and led by two captains as captains and deputy captains, and were put into the battlefield soon afterwards. Used as a special operations force.

In this era, Steve Rogers also embarked on his destined trajectory and embarked on the European battlefield with Peggy Carter.

As for Steve and Tony from the future, they followed Howard to provide them with logistical support to ensure that they had a better chance of survival on the cruel battlefield.

At this time, Tony Stark finally truly saw how cruel the war was, and what a terrible scene it could cause when the weapons he created were actually landed.

Although Tony and Howard did not actually arrive at the front line of the battlefield to see with their own eyes the scene of soldiers being torn apart by artillery, or an entire regiment of troops being beaten and declassified in a very short period of time after rushing to the battlefield, but The relatively safe rear stimulated him even more.

The wounded soldiers in the field hospital who were missing arms and legs and wailing incessantly, those with desperate or even lifeless eyes, the last survivors of the entire army, the emotions they displayed and the cruelty of war greatly shocked the former playboy.

This not only shocked Tony greatly, but also made him feel as if he had been hit hard.

In Afghanistan, when he saw that the weapons he originally made to protect those soldiers were used to kill them, Tony reflected on whether he had done something wrong.

During the days when he was imprisoned in a cave to make weapons for those terrorists, Tony, in addition to thinking about how to escape and build the Mark 1 steel suit, was also thinking more about whether he had done something wrong.

The result of his thinking was that the entire Stark Group gave up the arms business they had built their business on, and sent Obadiah Stanya, Howard's partner and the elders who had taken care of Tony, to prison.

Originally, Tony felt that what he had experienced was shocking enough. After all, he was a top genius and rich second generation living in the United States during peacetime. Tony Stark's life was literally one of luxury and extravagance.

Sleeping with the Playboy cover girl for a whole year was just a daily pastime for the former Tony Stark. When he was at his most extreme, the woman lying on his bed was different every day, and she would be attracted to him at dawn. After dealing with Pepper, there was never a woman who could stay in Tony Stark's bed until the next day.

In addition to these, Tony Stark's life is also full of any entertainment methods for wealthy people of his time.

Luxury car? yacht? Silver party? No matter what you think of or what you can't imagine, Tony Stark can proudly say that he has played it all.

Even when he went to attend an academic conference, he was able to trick a beautiful scientist into sleeping with her.

It is conceivable that such a hopeless bastard, who is praised as a playboy, how could he have truly seen the cruelty and horror of war?

And in his time, war was far away from his life in a sense, and it was relatively less "cruel".

At least there won't be soldiers charging with machine guns fired at them, and there won't be large-scale infantry groups attacking strong fortifications, leaving corpses on the ground and then leading to a difficult victory or defeat. The attack and defense of a position can kill the United States in one day. People die in Afghanistan every year.

As for the damage caused by war to those countries, the collapse of social order, economic collapse, destruction of peaceful life, and more indirect war disasters...

How can the richest people living in the United States see it? All they can hear and see are the "liberal democracy" and "human rights interests" promoted by the media.

"Although they lost everything, they gained freedom" may be the best comment on the disasters caused by war in Tony Stark's era.

In comparison, the war disasters during World War II were much more direct.

Although the most intense stage of the war had passed by the time they arrived on the European battlefield, and the intensity of the war on the Western Front battlefield of World War II was far less than that on the Eastern Front battlefield, the bombing of London, the Battle of Britain and the German naval blockade had a profound impact on the Allies. Britain, the only country on the Western Front that had not yet surrendered, had a great impact.

In addition, the Normandy landings began shortly after they arrived in England, and the intensity of the war suddenly rose again.

Britain is the base camp and rear area of ​​the Allied counterattack on the Western Front. Therefore, a large number of wounded soldiers will be transported to Britain for treatment, and except for those with connections, most of those who can be transported back are not dead but There are a large proportion of severely injured people who cannot recover quickly, including disabled people.

Although Tony tried his best to stay in the laboratory, relying on the equipment built for the special forces on the front line to prevent himself from thinking about the wounded soldiers who were crying in pain.

But how is it possible that this can be avoided?

He could avoid the wails of the wounded soldiers and their figures, but he could not avoid the torture in his own heart.

If Tony Stark was a bastard or a playboy, he wouldn't be bothered by these things at all. They are just big soldiers. They are just numbers in the hands of generals. For a top rich man like him, these people His human lives combined may not be worth as much as the toys he made casually.

Just like when he was in Afghanistan, the total sum of the soldiers who escorted him, the pension plus the loss of equipment, may not be one-tenth as expensive as the Jericho missiles he sold at that time.

According to relevant regulations in the United States, if a soldier is confirmed to have been killed in combat, his family can receive a pension of US$8,000 from the military and approximately US$300,000 from the government. In addition, there are military benefits. Fang purchased insurance compensation of approximately US$500,000 for the soldiers, as well as other related policy compensation.

However, the money must be used to confirm that the soldier was actually killed in battle, and not due to non-combat attrition or disappearance due to other reasons. In addition, in addition to the direct pension, other compensation and insurance payments will take a long time. Process, with American administrative efficiency...

If all pensions and compensations could be paid out smoothly, there would be no need for veterans to wash their tracks.

At that time, the number of soldiers escorting Tony in several vehicles totaled less than 50 people, so their pensions together, even if paid in full, would only be about more than 10 million US dollars. This was probably only the amount of Tony Stark and Tony Stark at that time. One-fiftieth of what the U.S. military casually said when talking about business: "One-time purchase of more than $500 million will give you drinks."

When everything can be measured in money, a soldier's life is so cheap.

At that time, Tony Stark adhered to the idea of ​​"creating a powerful weapon, and then finding an opportunity to use it once, and relying on the terrifying power of the weapon to scare everyone." The weapon he created was really intended to be used. , rather than a force deterrence like a nuclear bomb on a launcher.

This was considered by Tony Stark at the time to be an effective means of strategic deterrence. Compared with force deterrence on the shelf, he felt that actual use would be more effective and more impressive.

But when he looks back at this point of view now, all Tony Stark can feel is a terrifying suffocation that makes his hair stand on end.

Stark Industries used to be the largest arms procurement supplier for the U.S. military. Just the bits of residue leaked from the fingers of Stark Industries were enough to support a large military-industrial group. It is conceivable that the U.S. military made history from How many weapons did Tucker Industries acquire.

From the most basic guns and ammunition to various vehicles such as aircraft and tanks, as well as missiles with a wide variety of models and effects that are addictive...

Tony simply couldn't calculate how many arms Stark Industries sold back then, and how many people these arms killed.

As soon as Tony closed his eyes at this time, he seemed to see countless people who died tragically under weapons manufactured by Stark Industries looking at him and begging for their lives.

If Tony's experience in Afghanistan hadn't already condemned Tony's conscience, he might not have been able to hold on and would have suffered a mental breakdown.

Fortunately, this time his father Howard was by his side, and he could ask his father why he chose to make arms as he wanted.

However, Howard's answer to Tony made him slightly disappointed, because at this time, Howard was just a rich man who was proficient in machinery and inventions, not the influential military industrial giant he later became.

Moreover, what they are conducting at this time is also a just war. Making weapons and arming the army at this time can be said to be fighting for the just cause of mankind. If they cannot defeat the Three-Nation Axis headed by Germany and win the war, then all All mankind will be enslaved by careerists.

But for Tony, the United States seventy years later is fundamentally different from the United States during World War II, because the United States seventy years later was the one that initiated the war.