Chapter 310: Infrastructure Project
After taking control of the Lothar Basin, the Harland Territory has become a principality spanning the north and south of the Eagle Mountains. With this promotion to the title, King Roger also granted a large amount of territory at the northern foot of the Eagle Mountains to the Duke of Harland.
Today's Haaland covers 400 kilometers from east to west and more than 200 kilometers from north to south, with a total area of more than 90,000 square kilometers, which is equivalent to a small province in Richard's memory in his previous life.
As a mountain duchy spanning the north and south of the Eagle Mountains, roads between several counties are a top priority.
On the whole, the southern part of Harland Territory is relatively gentle, with large areas of hills and a small amount of plain terrain. Except for the Losa Basin, the northern region is basically mountainous.
Richard has always attached great importance to infrastructure projects. More than ten years ago, he personally participated in road construction and mining, from Baron Castle of Far Harden to Fort Vick, from Fort Vick to Fort William, and from Fort Sophia to Fort Vick. , several roads from Fort William to Platos Castle were built more than ten years ago.
With the expansion of the territory, Halland Territory also built the section from Malte Castle to Graveson, the section from Graveson to Copper Mountain Town, the section from Copper Mountain Town to Reindeer Castle, and the section from Reindeer Castle to Salt Lake County. As of three years ago, the road had been built to the northern boundary of Salt Lake County.
The road network in the Harland territory is roughly one horizontal and two vertical, with a total mileage of more than 600 kilometers. The horizontal roads are mainly in the south, from Iron Lion Castle (formerly Baron Harden Castle) in the southeast of the territory to Graveson.
One of the two north-south kilometers starts from Gravessen and goes directly to the North Boundary Fort.
One starts from Marthe Castle, goes along the canyon, and goes north from Fort William. The road is built to the north of Fort Depot and connects with the swamp basin.
In addition, a simple road was built in Grotta River County, which is far from the standard of the Halland Territory Highway.
After being promoted to a noble title and acquiring a new territory, Richard immediately dispatched a large number of surveyors to prepare for re-planning transportation.
First, build the road from the Depot Fort to the Hurricane Fort. This road is now very difficult to walk, and it is the top priority for the Duke of Harland to connect the north and the south.
Fortunately, this road is in a valley, and the altitude fluctuations are not very large. It is not very difficult to build, and there is no need to climb mountains and ridges.
After the summer harvest was completed, Richard transferred 7,000 prime-age laborers from the Losar Basin, and his uncle Rogge also transferred more than 3,000 indentured servants from the Military Depot and the Swamp Basin. Both sides started work almost at the same time, preparing to finish the work before November. This artery, which is more than 100 kilometers long, has been opened.
In addition to this main road, the construction of two sections of roads from Gravessen Castle to Felin Castle and Felin Castle to King's Castle has also started at the same time this year.
Graveson, Felin Castle, and King's Castle are all located at the southern foot of the Eagle Mountains. The terrain is relatively flat. Most of them are plain terrain, and road construction is relatively easy. The terrain near the King's Castle is also mainly hilly. According to the headquarters' estimates, only 220,000 manpower is needed to build the two sections of road.
In addition to these two roads that have been started, the two sections of roads from Salt Lake Fort to Imburg and Imburg to Nitburg are also in the planning of the headquarters.
Fort Nit has not yet had time to build, and is still under planning at the Harland Territory Headquarters. This castle is located at the northern foot of the Eagle Mountains, and is an important passage connecting the north and south of the Eagle Mountains. This year's Orc Invasion War, the Gatling Department passed This passage bypassed Haaland's defense line and penetrated Haaland's line.
Imburg is located in the upper reaches of the Im River. The Im River is the main inflowing river in the Salt Lake area. It originates from the melted water of the snow mountains. To build this road, you need to climb a 3,800-meter peak in the Eagle Mountains.
It would be technically difficult to build this road.
After Richard was promoted to Duke, he planned to build Nit Fort in the north of Tani Canyon to block the orcs in this area. But the area near Tani Canyon is full of barren mountains and ridges, with almost no people.
Building Nitburg in the northern part of Taney Canyon requires huge manpower and material support. If difficulties cannot be overcome, the road between Salt Lake County in Shannan and Nitburg will be built to utilize the human and material resources of Salt Lake County. Then the Taney Canyon area must be developed, just like the Halland Valley area, so that enough manpower and material resources can be invested in projects near Nitburg.
Compared with the investment in developing the Tani Canyon, although it is difficult to build a winding mountain road, the manpower and material resources invested are not comparable at all.
The Dawn Plane has extraordinary power, allowing knights and magicians to participate, and its ability to carry out projects is far more powerful than in the ancient times of Richard's previous life. Whether it is a fossil-to-mud spell or a mud-to-stone spell, it is very useful in engineering infrastructure. If Richard were given hundreds of mid-level magicians, he would be able to use magical power to dig holes much faster than a shield machine.
It's a pity that there are not hundreds of mid-level magicians in Harland Territory. As of this year, there are still only three intermediate magicians in Harland Territory: Richard, Sophia, and Wendy. However, the three-ring magicians have added Adrian and Caperson.
Adrian is one year younger than Richard, and he learned magic knowledge almost at the same time as Richard and Wendy. However, his qualifications are average. It took him more than ten years and many precious meditation potions to advance to the third level in July this year. ring.
Normally speaking, a person with a low-level talent like Adrian would be considered very successful if he became an advanced third-level mage before the age of forty.
The reason why Adrian was able to advance to the third ring at the age of thirty was due to the good research environment of the Harland Masters Association. Let him make some contributions to the research of magic.
Adrian's most important achievement was to create a ring of magic detection rays. This magic is a very important magic in the medical field. Its effect is equivalent to that of an X-ray machine. It has greatly promoted the development of diagnostics and is the foundation of magic medicine.
Because he had contributed to magic research, Adrian's feedback on meditation was particularly good for a while, saving a lot of time. With sufficient resource help, he advanced a few points faster than even with intermediate qualifications.
Caperson was not from the Duchy of Harland; he was from the Province of Maryland.
Caperson comes from a wealthy family in the city. He got a meditation book when he was young and became a magician by chance. He has been hanging out in Nolan for the past few years.
At a gathering of wild mages, Capersen and Roentgen became friends.
Caperson has a good talent. After advancing to the third ring, he was already planning to go to Markholm Magic Kingdom for development. After receiving a letter from Roentgen, he decisively joined the Harland Territory and became the sixth three-ring mage of the Harland Mage Association.
Compared to Roentgen, Capersen has better luck. The meditation method in his hands is very complete. Like the highland meditation method led by Harland, he can smoothly advance to the ninth ring.
This meditation method has been exchanged by Richard for the Highland Meditation Method. It also has certain reference value for him to deduce the legendary meditation method.
Although you cannot rely on the power of a magician to dig tunnels, a magician can still play a very important role in road construction.
Mages are half-scientists and have a high level of mathematics. They can be used as engineers. In addition, they can also use various magic to solve many problems during the project. Magicians have always been involved in major projects in Harland territory.
After the Grizzly Legion moved south, Richard and others returned to the Duchy of Harland.
It was now October, and the autumn harvest in the territory had been completed.
Despite the war this year, the orcs' damage to the economy of Harland Territory was not serious. After all, the orcs failed to enter the rear of Harland Territory, burn, kill and loot. Although the area near Fort Sophia carried out the order to clear the country, it did not last too long. Before April, Richard had joined forces with William to defeat the orc army. .
Because the orcs failed too early, it hardly affected the spring plowing of Harland's territory.
There has been plenty of rain this year, which can be considered a good year. The crop yield is pretty good. Together with the grain reserves in the Losa Basin, the grain storage in the Duke of Halland's grain depot already contains about 280,000 tons.
There are currently about 700,000 indentured slaves in the Duchy of Harland. Each person consumes an average of 450 kilograms of grain, leaving 157,000 tons of rations. In addition, 15,000 tons of military grain are consumed, and 3,000 tons of grain are consumed for brewing wine, plus 30,000 tons of grain reserved for next year. In fact, Fuyu does not have a lot of grain. The grain that can really be put on the market is only about 80,000 tons.
This year's grain exchange for slaves is still going on. Harland exchanged 50,000 tons of grain for about 20,000 slaves. These indentured slaves were used by Richard to develop the Nelson area.
Even after purchasing 20,000 indentured slaves, there are still no people in many areas of Harland territory. On more than 90,000 square kilometers of land, the total population is less than one million, with about ten people per square kilometer.
Counting the land developed by the orcs in the Lothar Basin, the Duchy of Harland already has six million acres of farmland.
Despite the lack of water conservancy facilities and backward agricultural production technology in the Losa Basin, the territory's grain output this year reached 350,000 tons.
In mid-October, the main construction of Hurricane Castle was completed, and most of the defenders moved into the castle. Fuel for the winter was also stored in advance, and a lot of food was also stored. The defenders had already begun to prepare for the winter.
In Hurricane Castle, Richard left about three thousand defenders. The main force was the newly built Eleventh Brigade, and the guard brigade returned to Lot Castle to rest. In addition to a complete infantry brigade, the castle is also stationed with a squadron of reconnaissance cavalry, a squadron of magic hot air balloons, and about a thousand auxiliary soldiers.
Twenty-six heavy trebuchets are installed in the castle, two thousand alchemical bombs are stored, and the weapons and equipment in stock can arm five thousand soldiers. Relying on the castle's reserves is enough for the defenders to fight a large-scale war.
After entering October, the road from Hurricane Castle to Lot Castle has been built, and it is easy to invest the manpower and material resources of Lothar Basin near Hurricane Castle.
The main tasks this year are to build castles and open roads. Next year, the focus of the Losa Basin will be the construction of water conservancy projects.
There are more than 200,000 people in the Losa Basin, and it does not require much investment from the headquarters.
Proper use of the human resources in the Lothar Basin, coupled with the advanced production technology brought by Harland Tie, can greatly improve the productivity of the Lothar Basin.
Although the Lothar Basin has been a territory operated by the orcs for many years, the orcs' planning is very rough and the infrastructure is particularly backward. It will take several years for adjustments to be fully developed.
Harland controlled the Lothar Basin. Based on the actual conditions of the Lothar Basin, Richard built two castles, Lot and Sam, near the two large gathering places. The two castles are not large in area, and the main castle has only three floors. It is more like a military camp than a castle.
After April this year, Richard successively recruited about 600 officials from Harland to take charge of the management of the Losa Basin. These officials come from multiple systems such as law, taxation, medical care, education, mining, agriculture, etc. Many of them are young people who have just graduated from elementary school. Despite the lack of experience and bumpy work, by October, the relationship was finally straightened out.
Due to the large population in the Losa Basin, Richard specially allocated funds to build three primary schools in the Losa Basin. Together with these three primary schools, Harland Territory has established ten primary schools.
When schools reopen in January next year, the number of students enrolled in Halland Territory will exceed 10,000 for the first time.
In late October, the weather has become colder. The northern foothills of the Eagle Mountain Range are even colder than the southern foothills.
Especially near Hurricane Fort, there are strong winds all year round. Even the orcs who are in better physical condition and have rough skin and thick flesh are not willing to move near Hurricane Castle in winter.
In late October, the road from Harland to Depot Fort was about to be completed.
This road starts from Malte Castle in the southern part of Halland Territory, goes north along Fort William, and reaches Hurricane Castle in the northernmost part of the territory, with a total length of 280 kilometers. To the north of the Fort, the terrain became more dangerous, with towering mountains on both sides of the road. It was not until entering the Losa Basin that the terrain became gentle.
Richard rode a four-wheeled carriage and looked at the scenery on both sides of the road.
In mid-October, the first snow fell in the Harland Territory. As the temperature rose, the snow on the mountainside had melted, and the melted water from the mountains flowed into the rivers. Taking advantage of the rising temperature, a large number of caravans walked on this road before the heavy snow closed the mountains, seizing the time to transport various materials and commodities.
The roads built by Harland's leadership are all of a high standard. The road surface is twelve meters wide and can allow four four-wheel carriages to pass side by side. Drainage ditches have also been dug on both sides of the road, and there are road protection trees on the outside of the ditches. The new material asphalt is also used in some sections of roads that are often washed away by water.
Asphalt is a by-product of the coal chemical industry. According to Harland's current production capacity, the annual asphalt output is only more than 1,600 tons. Even if the road is paved thinly, so much asphalt can only build one kilometer of road. Compared with the huge demand for road construction, this bit of asphalt production is simply not enough, so this material can only be used in key places and used together with cement as a special waterproof road construction material.
November is about to enter, and Harland Leader needs to hold the fourth commodity expo in November. Richard needs to meet some people in person during the commodity expo.
Once the heavy snow closes the mountain, it will cut off communications between the north and south of the Eagle Mountain Range. Therefore, Richard needs to take advantage of the temperature to rise and return to Fort William before the heavy snow closes the mountain. There is only one squadron of soldiers working with Richard.
Due to the unstable situation in the Lothar Basin, Richard left a large army at the northern foot of the Eagle Mountains to guard against the orcs.
If winter enters, it will be difficult for the Lothar Basin to receive support from Fort William. Without a large army to garrison, it may not be able to withstand the orc attack.
(End of chapter)