Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 432 The Prototype of the Navy

After staying at the Ice Sea Exploration Base for two days, Harvey hurriedly recalled the Soul Puppet to Spark City.

The wounded members of the exploration team also followed him back to the base camp, while the remaining spellcasters continued to stay in the base, continuing to gradually go deeper into the Eternal Night ruins submerged in the sea, searching for all clues lost in the long river of time and related to the alien enemies from the sea.

For the safety and defense of the base, Harvey will send the two 100-man battalions of the Northern Army to stay and closely monitor the situation in the area around the ruins. At the same time, he will also cooperate with the base engineering team of more than 100 people to complete the construction task of the exploration base.

As the lord of a city, he was naturally not idle.

A week later, Harvey met with the crew members and sailors who were urgently recruited from the entire territory under his direct order in the castle hall, which was officially named the City Lord's Palace.

Reiner had reported the recruitment situation to him in detail yesterday. Harvey had never imagined that so many "navigation talents" could be found around Spark City, far away from the coast and located in the central part of the continent. After all, the order he issued was that applicants must have experience in driving a ship alone or in cooperation, and must be able to read and write, or at the very least pass the literacy education qualification test.

It was not until Harvey flipped through the recruitment information report and personally met this group of "high-end talents" that he could not help but smile bitterly and hold his forehead - they all did have experience in boat driving... but most of them were limited to fishing on the Ralph River and the Glacier River, paddling rafts or small fishing boats, and some were ferrymen who made a living by ferrying people. In a sense, they did not lie on their resumes, and this group of people did have the "boat driving" skills and resume.

In fact, there were only less than six people who truly met Harvey's expectations and had at least experience in sailing multi-masted sailing ships on inland rivers. Most of these people were refugees fleeing from the south. One of them had served as a first mate and helmsman in a merchant fleet and had made a living on the Ralph River for more than ten years.

Harvey thought for a moment and decided to recruit all the more than 30 applicants.

The ironclad sailless ship he made himself was completely different from an ordinary sailing ship. It was much simpler and more convenient to operate. He did not need an experienced captain or a skilled helmsman, and he could quickly get started and pass the training. It was a self-powered ship that did not require the help of wind power. As long as there was an adequate supply of magic fuel, there was no need for any complicated driving skills. He only needed normal eyesight and the ability to turn the steering wheel and capstan to adjust the direction.

Besides, he had no intention of training this group of people like the pilots of the shipping company's civilian ships.

Harvey put down the personnel list and beckoned the waiting commander, Pierce, to his side. Then, turning to the applicants, he said, "I've reviewed your resumes... I summoned you today to personally inform you that everyone present has passed the recruitment assessment and will officially join the military... becoming a glorious naval trainee officer!"

He waved his hand and said, "No need to keep bowing. Stand up straight and meet the man beside me... your future commander-in-chief."

"Yes... Lord City Lord." Everyone stood up cautiously and subconsciously looked at the people they knew around them, with a confused expression on their faces.

Weren't they here to apply for crew and helmsman positions? How did they join the army for no apparent reason and become naval trainee officers?

My God! Even within a thousand miles of Spark City, I'm afraid it still doesn't even touch the sea!
However, this kind of position, which requires the city lord to personally issue a recruitment order and then condescend to take the initiative to meet with people, must be extremely important and promising. Judging from the city lord's attention and protection to his subjects, he will definitely not make fun of them or deceive or defraud them.

The navy is the navy... After all, I was promoted to an officer right after joining the army, even though I'm still a trainee now.

Harvey looked at the bewildered faces of the crowd and took the initiative to explain, "Being an apprentice means you haven't received a formal enlistment contract, and you're likely to be eliminated before you pass the assessment... Of course, your salary will be only half of that of a regular soldier, but all other benefits will be the same. During the three-month apprenticeship, you'll be responsible for learning about the performance structure, driving techniques, and energy operation of sailless ironclad ships..." He paused, then added, "After the three-month apprenticeship, I will personally assess your abilities. Only those who pass will be directly promoted to the official naval rank of captain, a mid-level officer. Your salary will be 30% higher than that of a comparable army officer, but the military missions you'll be undertaking will also be more demanding and dangerous. Those who don't want to accept this can withdraw now."

There was a whisper among the crowd, but no one stood up to give up. Those who dared to recommend themselves to the city lord without asking the reason were the old citizens who joined Harvey's army first. This group of people were natural die-hard pioneers and had the highest loyalty and trust in Harvey.

After a moment, a middle-aged man, about forty years old, with a hint of gray in his hair, suddenly spoke up. "Respected City Lord, may I ask, after becoming a naval... cadet officer, which military officer will instruct and train us? And the ships we need to be familiar with and master... are they the civilian ironclad ships used by the shipping companies?"

Harvey looked at him in surprise. This man should be the old helmsman who had served as the first mate in the merchant navy. His name seemed to be Guterres. When he was looking through the information just now, he found that his eldest son seemed to be serving in the military as well, but he was a low-level officer in the defense force system.

Both father and son enthusiastically joined the army to serve the city lord, and Harvey was truly touched by their unconditional trust and support.

He smiled and said gently, "The instructor is me."

These words immediately caused a commotion among the crowd. Many people raised their heads and looked at Harvey quietly, with obvious excitement and enthusiasm in their eyes.

Guterres also shuddered and asked in surprise, "Lord City Lord... you, you will teach us personally?"

Harvey smiled and shook his head, then suddenly asked everyone, "Is there anyone among you who is familiar with and understands the magic power machine?"

A few hands rose from the crowd. "City... City Lord, someone in my family works at the military factory. They said... that the magic power machine can't run continuously for long periods of time and needs to be regularly cooled with water..."

"The liquid magic energy that powers the magic power machine is extremely precious. When there are no production or manufacturing tasks, the equipment cannot be left running idle. We must learn to conserve energy... and... sustainable development."

Wow, these are slogans from the employee manuals of various important production departments, and these old leaders can recite them by heart.

It was indeed a helpless move for him to train this group of people personally, but except for him, the rest of the people in the entire Spark City knew nothing about the military model of the "modern navy", and Harvey himself was not even a "keyboard military enthusiast", and he could only try and explore, and finally summarize a suitable theoretical system in practice.

The saying "Ten years to build an army, a hundred years to build a navy" that he had heard in his previous life was not an exaggeration. Harvey could only hope that with the blessing of magic technology, he could use the same amount of time to build a Northern Navy that was proficient in magic-powered machines and ironclad ships, just as he had used ten months to build a Northern Army that was brave and skilled in fighting and had overwhelming firepower.

After all, besides him, the entire management of Spark City will soon know... There really is a boundless "sea" above the northern wilderness...

In that sea, there might be foreign enemies who are like thorns in their backs and are eyeing them covetously.

(End of this chapter)