Gou is a dark elf in Warhammer

The morning light fell on the heavy walls of Clar Karonde, the morning mist lingered between the towers of the Tower of Destruction like a veil, and the distant bells echoed leisurely. The city gate slowly opened, the sound of iron chains rubbing in the air, and a group of people stepped over the threshold and set out on the road to leave the city.

Dacus, who hadn't been back for a long time, sighed: The world has changed so much.

This place was no longer the Clarakalond he remembered.

In the past, the Red Poison River meandered along the banks, with plantations dotted along its banks, and labor dispatch workers worked in the fields to support the luxurious lives of the Duruchi dignitaries. However, these scenes have long disappeared, replaced by a new industrialized urban landscape.

With the implementation of the first and second five-year plans, the terrain and the existence of the shipyard made it difficult for Clarkalond to advance northwards. To the west was the Red Poison River and to the east was the Sea of ​​Evil. Therefore, it could only expand southwards. The once lush plantations had been swallowed up by the tall city walls and turned into dense apartment areas, factories and railway stations.

The road along the Red Poison River is no longer what it used to be. The rough and broken road has been widened and reinforced, turning it into a highway that can carry giant equipment and cargo. Not only that, several steel bridges have been built on the river, allowing machinery and equipment to shuttle freely between north and south, instead of south and north as before. If you want to cross the Red Poison River, unless it is frozen, you have to take a detour through the Black Ridge Mountains or cross the Nagarys Bridge.

In the past, the labor dispatch of the forest farm would directly push the felled wood into the Red Poison River, let it drift downstream, and drift to the shallows at the estuary, where the labor dispatch there would drag it ashore to make boat wood. This process has lasted for thousands of years and is part of the tradition of the shipbuilding industry in Krakalond. However, with the advancement of technology, this model has been completely eliminated.

The forest no longer exists. The Duruchi had been here for thousands of years, and the forests on both sides of the Red Poison River near the city had long been cut down.

After the launch of the second five-year plan, the Institute of Industry and Construction improved the dwarf felling equipment brought back by Elsin Alvin and put it into large-scale use. The woodland that Daxus was familiar with, the forest farm where he had worked when he was young, also disappeared in the roar of machinery and turned into an empty plain.

When there was no more wood to be cut on both sides of the Red Poison River, Duruchi's logging team began to move towards the Shadow Forest in the north. However, this was just the beginning, and the real large-scale logging operation took place in the south.

The disappearance of the forest has brought about a complete change in land use. The land on both sides of the Hongdu River has now been completely transformed into a new model of farmland.

When the group walked out of the south gate, the Asurs were shocked by the scene before them.

The air was filled with the aroma of ripe grains, golden waves of wheat rolled in the wind, and the vast fields sparkled with dazzling brilliance even under the leaden sky.

Of course, this was nothing, after all, there was plenty of land for cultivation in Ulthuan, with large tracts of vineyards, orchards, valleys, and even special farmland for magical cultivation. But all this before them made them feel an indescribable uneasiness.

What shocked them was not the area of ​​arable land here, but the farming model here, which was a model that they could not imagine even with their rich imagination.

Thanks to Maranul's operation, the plantations of the past have become history. Not only have the noble estates that once stood in the fields disappeared, but also the dispatched laborers who once worked hard in the fields have disappeared. In their place is an unprecedented vast farmland and an agricultural model that even Asul could hardly imagine.

At regular intervals, a tall square iron tower stands among the fields. The tower is silver-white and nearly a hundred meters high. There are runes representing Aisha on the four sides of the tower, and the top radiates a steady and bright light.

The spellcasters in the delegation almost immediately noticed that the light was emitted by the wind of Haixi.

Facts have proved that their judgment is correct. The top of the iron tower is not only equipped with a lightning rod, but also has two special grooves with complete protection measures. One of the grooves is inlaid with a mysterious ball that gathers the wind of Haixi, and the other is inlaid with a mysterious ball that gathers the wind of Jilun.

The arcane ball of Haixi Wind is mainly used to supplement light, ensuring that the farmland is bathed in stable light 24 hours a day to maintain the photosynthesis of wheat. Not only that, it can also directly evaporate snowfall, and even rainwater, to prevent snow accumulation from overwhelming the wheat and prevent excessive water from affecting crop growth.

The mysterious ball of Jilun's wind plays the role of nourishing the land. The energy it emits is like invisible fertilizer, allowing wheat to grow at an extraordinary speed.

Nitrogen fertilizer?

Ji Lunzhifeng: What is nitrogen fertilizer? Can I help you?
Dacus has always been pragmatic, and would never use magic in civilian matters if he could avoid it. But when it comes to food production, he has to resort to magic, and he has to do it to the extreme, providing one-stop service and a full set of solutions.

After all, nearly four million mouths in Naggaroth are no joke, and wheat planting is related to the national economy and people's livelihood, as well as social stability. At such a scale, it is impossible to meet the demand without relying on magic, especially when pasta is the staple food of the Druchi's daily diet.

In addition, there is a special berth at the top of the tower for the raiding ship or Pegasus to park. This design is necessary, otherwise the sorceress in charge of maintenance will suffer a lot.

With the emergence of the new model, the measurement units of Naggaroth's farmland began to become different. There was no such thing as acres or hectares. Instead, it was calculated in "circles" - the diameter of a circle was one thousand meters.

If you look down from the sky, you can clearly see that this vast land is covered with countless circular farmlands with the iron tower as the center. These circles are connected to each other, forming a large circle like some kind of complex geometric pattern, weaving the land into a huge magical agricultural network.

This layout seems to cause a huge waste of land, but Daxus is well aware of the limitations of the underlying logic. The buff of the arcane sphere radiates outward from the center, spreading in a circular shape, rather than a regular square or other strange shapes. Therefore, when planning, planting can only be done in a "pancake-laying" manner.

Just like the production layout in the game "Anno 1800", the underlying logic determines everything: the bonus range is circular, not square, unless a MOD is installed.

If you build facilities outside the gain range, those buildings will not receive bonuses, and their efficiency will be much lower than that inside the pie. Buildings outside the pie may have just completed one round of production, while buildings inside the pie have already started the fourth round. This is just production, and there are also maintenance costs and manpower bonuses. When the bonus is extreme, the factory can even become a zero-manpower, unmanned factory.

The agricultural production model of Naggaroth is very similar to it. The iron tower is equivalent to the town hall or union in the game. It is the core of the entire farmland system and determines the efficiency of land use.

The crops produced by the land beyond the influence of the arcane ball not only grow slowly but also have low yields. Instead of wasting manpower and resources to cultivate these areas, it is better to give up directly. After all, the bonus of magic is even more weird than the bonus in the game.

Therefore, Dacus convened a special meeting to make a detailed plan for the layout of farmland. There was no quarrel or tedious calculation in this meeting, because he was a master of pancake laying. Although he forgot some specific contents as time passed, he would never forget the underlying logic. He directly showed the executors the optimal pancake laying plan - the parallel pancake laying method.

The core is very simple. Several "cakes" are placed in parallel and closely together to form a basic unit. Then, with these basic units as the core, they are filled up and down to avoid unnecessary gaps. In this way, the land utilization rate is maximized, allowing as much land as possible to enjoy the bonus of the arcane ball instead of wasting it.

Finally, under Dacus's careful planning, the farmland in the south of Naggaroth was divided into countless circular planting areas. The black iron towers stood like silent watchers in the vast fields, becoming the core hub of this land. The wind of magic flowed through the farmland, and the light of the arcane ball illuminated the earth, creating an unprecedented agricultural wonder.

If a Tzeentchian demon attempts to descend, or a Nurgle demon attempts to spread corruption, the layout of the circular planting area can limit the potential destructive force to the smallest range, avoiding a catastrophic chain reaction. Even if a "cake" is destroyed, other areas can still maintain operation, ensuring that the food supply of Naggaroth will not be seriously affected.

The planning of infrastructure has also been well thought out.

The gaps between each "cake" were effectively utilized to set up settlements, granaries, equipment warehouses and stations, which not only ensured the daily lives of the personnel, but also greatly optimized the storage and transportation of food. Railways, roads and canals were also laid in the gaps between the "cakes", making the entire agricultural system closely connected and ensuring that agricultural products could be quickly circulated and supplied to major cities in Naggaroth, or stored.

At the same time, wheat varieties also underwent earth-shaking changes. During the second five-year plan, Aishriel successfully cultivated a new cold-resistant variety that broke through the growth restrictions of severe cold and enabled wheat to grow stably in an environment above minus 20 degrees.

This type of wheat has many characteristics, such as short and thick stems, strong resistance to lodging, and is not easy to break even in strong winds and snow...; it is adapted to high-density planting and achieves higher yields on limited land; in the absence of Ji Lun's wind and fertilizer nourishment, the growth cycle is shortened to 90 days, greatly increasing the multiple cropping rate and improving the efficiency of food supply. Unfortunately, wheat is not a magical plant after all, and is still subject to the laws of nature. It is impossible to make the wheat ears fall off automatically when they are ripe, reducing the time between harvests. This means that although production efficiency has been greatly improved, harvesting and processing still require a lot of material and human resources.

Material resources, or production tools...

Maybe it was because the group came out too early, or maybe it was because they were warming up the car, but when they were about to reach the settlement of the first pie, a scene that shocked the Asurs appeared.

The door of the equipment warehouse opened with a bang, and a combine harvester with black smoke slowly drove out with a heavy metal collision sound. The heavy tracks rolled over the road, making a low tremor sound, black smoke rose from the boiler chimney, and the steam valve released white water mist, which quickly dispersed in the cold air. The gears inside the machine were meshing, and the chains were pulling. The huge metal beast seemed to have life, and it was roaring steadily and powerfully.

The Asurs were still in shock when four grain trucks followed them out of the warehouse. These huge trucks were all tracked and steam-driven. They were heavy and solid, and had a cold industrial feel.

Then another combine harvester slowly drove out, and then another...

Dacus raised his hand to signal the harvester to stop, but did not let the driver leave. Instead, he climbed onto the roof and waved to the Asur, signaling them to follow.

The Asur looked at each other, and finally jumped onto the top of the mechanical behemoth.

When in place, the steam engine started up, the mechanical mouth of the combine harvester slowly opened, the drum began to rotate, and the sharp gears cut into the golden wheat field, splitting, devouring, mowing, threshing, and cleaning. The whole process was done in one go. The ripe wheat quickly disappeared in the steam, and the rolling wheat grains poured into the grain collection cabin along the pipe, while the stripped wheat straw was thrown out from the back, forming neat strips of debris.

The Asurs stood on the roof of the harvester, facing the howling cold wind, witnessing everything with their own eyes, their expressions having changed from shock to dullness.

"Is agriculture really like this?!" Finnubar commented in a lost voice.

In Asur's impression, agriculture should be farmers in noble manors holding sickles, slowly harvesting one by one, with each movement carrying the unique graceful arc of elves; the sun shining on the golden fields, farmers carefully filling the wheat grains, and holding up the harvested fruits one by one; the straw is carefully bundled and slowly transported to the granary by carriage...

But the scene before them was not even a bit poetic as they knew it.
This is not farmland at all, but an industrialized war, a comprehensive encirclement and suppression of wheat!
What made them even more frightened was that when the combine harvester completed the first round of harvesting, the clean grain truck following behind drove steadily towards them.

The giant metal arm slowly adjusted its angle, and the mechanical valve released air with a hiss, and the wheat grains poured into the grain storage compartment of the grain cleaning vehicle like a waterfall. The Asurs thought that the work was over, but they were surprised to find that the other side of the grain cleaning vehicle was equipped with a complete set of wind selection and screening equipment!

The bellows vibrate, the air sweeps, blowing away the light impurities, and the screens filter layer by layer, making the wheat grains dry, plump, and pure. Then, the bottom of the grain storage compartment slowly opens, and the screened golden wheat grains flow into the metal transport carriage that has been prepared long ago like water. The whole process is automatic and smooth, as precise as the meshing of clock gears.

At this moment, the Asur finally realized that this was not just a harvest of crops, but also an ultimate crushing of order and efficiency.

They looked at each other subconsciously, their eyes filled with confusion, awe, and even a hint of fear.

“This is just the basics.”

Dacus stood on the roof of the car, facing the cold wind, with a meaningful smile on his face. He looked at the stunned looks of the Asurs and said lightly.

Under his feet, the combine harvester continued to roar forward, and the golden wheat fields fell down in patches under the engulfment of steam. In a blink of an eye, the field had turned into a neat black track mark, becoming a miracle of the interweaving of magic and machinery.

For the entire morning, the Asuls stayed on the roof of the combine harvester, standing at first and sitting at last, enjoying the northwest wind. The wind blew their cloaks and hair, but they were not moved at all. They just watched quietly, feeling the industrial shock of steam and metal, and enjoying this silent but deafening mechanization frenzy.

The combine harvester starts working from the outermost circle of the farmland. The huge mechanical monster rolls forward along the set track, leaving neat and deep tracks on the land with each circle. When the metal behemoth completes 20 circles of harvesting, it is noon. The mature wheat in the whole field has been completely harvested, threshed, screened and transported, leaving behind a neat and uniform harvesting mark, as if the field itself has been shaped by the industrial order.

The growth cycle of the new variety of wheat is shortened to 90 days, but this is without the Jilun wind. With the Jilun wind, the growth cycle of wheat is shortened to 25-28 days.

This world has 400 days a year, and an average of 33 days a month, so agricultural operations in Naggaroth are pushed to their limits.

The farmers here, or more precisely, the agricultural workers, are not cultivators in the traditional sense. They do not hold sickles or sweat profusely in the fields, but are busy in the industrial system with a precise rhythm.

Their job is not easy at all.

During this short harvest period, they need to complete a series of heavy tasks such as harvesting, storage, sorting, and sowing to ensure that the land enters the next production cycle in the shortest possible time. They work non-stop, like part of a machine, driven by a huge production system.

Fortunately, they have machines. It is these cold metal machines that have transformed them from traditional farmers into agricultural workers, and from field laborers into gears on industrial assembly lines.

After completing this section of the work, they will have a little free time, but only a little. They have to load the clean grain in the granary onto trucks. In addition, they also have to irrigate.

But fortunately, they do not have to swing heavy buckets or operate complex canals, but instead rely on a 500-meter-long drip irrigation system.

In the center of the circle, a powerful device pumps water into the water pipes. The dense pipes are like an invisible blood network. Workers rhythmically push the outermost rollers of the drip irrigation system, causing the huge metal skeleton to rotate slowly, ensuring that every inch of land can evenly absorb water.

They are busier during the summer of some years, when Naggaroth's food reserves are at level, and during that time they need to grow alfalfa.

Alfalfa was planted not only for crop rotation, but also to provide livestock feed and ensure food supply for war horses and livestock. During this period, mechanized seeders, irrigation systems, and harvesting equipment were put into use again, bringing about another large-scale wave of agricultural production.

The Asurs stayed in the fields for a whole day, observing and asking questions. They realized that what they witnessed was not just an efficient harvesting process, but a complete agricultural revolution.

Agriculture in Duruchi has gone beyond the traditional concept of "farming" and has become a precise, efficient, and ruthless industrial production. This is no longer a poetic pastoral area, but a metal assembly line that devours the land.

Here, agriculture is no longer a dialogue with nature, but a transformation and conquest of nature.

Amid the roar of machinery, one round of harvesting ends and another round of planting begins.

Of course, this is only temporary, and this pattern will not last forever. (End of this chapter)