Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 490 Debt Collection Operation

Two days later, the 2,000 soldiers participating in this overseas operation were ready to set off. The main combat force set out from the old royal capital, Jinhui City, and directly took an ironclad ship downstream to Silver Pine City. Then they parted ways with the flanking troops and headed straight for Bluethorn City, which stood on the border of Barkley.

At the same time, according to the plan determined at the combat meeting, the two flanking forces from Black Mountain Port and Silver Pine City also entered the border of Barclay from the east and west sides, and began to harass the vassal noble forces under the Grand Duke of the Border in the surrounding areas.

Compared to the attack on the old capital, this large-scale military operation could no longer rely on convenient river transportation. The tributary of the Ralph River immediately turned west after passing through Silverpine City and headed towards the wizard kingdom of Daus... After entering the territory of Barclay, the combat troops could only rely on fighting on foot.

This is also one of the main reasons why Harvey deployed a large number of war beasts into this operation. Whether it is used for long-distance marches or transporting war supplies, ordinary ox-drawn and horse-drawn carts are simply unable to meet the logistical transportation needs of the Northern Army. The magic-powered cannons weighing thousands of kilograms alone cannot be easily pulled by anyone except the alchemical camel beasts.

……

Ivan, the staff officer who went on the expedition with the main force, saw a man among the officers who surprised him.

"Mr. Knight, why...are you following us again?"

Dickinson was wearing the uniform of an ordinary soldier of the Northern Army, which was a bit out of place. There was no rank insignia on the dark black uniform, and he was naturally not equipped with any weapons. Standing among a group of middle and lower-level officers, he looked a little uneasy.

"I... I applied to Commander-in-Chief, Sir Pierce, to join the campaign against the Border Duke of Barclay, but the City Lord rejected my request, only allowing me to accompany the team... but not to personally participate in the battle."

Ivan smiled and said, "The Lord Mayor and the Commander don't intend to humiliate you. Even a newly enlisted soldier needs at least three months of training to master the use of a magic rifle. Using a magic machine gun and a magic power cannon requires even longer periods of coordinated practice. It's not something you can master overnight."

He paused, taking in Dickinson's attire, and teased him in a friendly manner, "Furthermore, the Northern Army has no knights. Aside from the special operations teams composed of bloodline warriors, we have almost no chance of close combat with the enemy... So the fighting style you were good at in the past is not suitable for joining our forces."

Dickinson was not angry. He nodded and said, "It's okay. It's great that I can go with the army. Even if I can't go to the front line in person, I can still do some logistical work within my ability."

Ivan was stunned for a moment, then asked in confusion, "Why do you insist on going with the army? Wouldn't it be better to stay in the old capital and ask the city lord for a position more worthy of your status? The city lord himself praised you in person."

The chief knight shook his head and muttered, "After the city lord took control of the capital, he didn't act as everyone expected... and immediately replace the Grand Duke on the throne. Instead, he abolished taxes and labor service, punished the convicted nobles, and stabilized the city... He even sent troops to the border to mediate the war. Now... now, for the sake of the people who were previously harassed by the neighboring country, he is sending troops to attack the border Grand Duke Barclay and reclaim the food and property that were looted..."

He became increasingly emotional as he spoke, his face flushing slightly. "As the Chief Knight of Saint Valen's capital, the responsibility of protecting the people and the country should have fallen on me and my Knights. But the Knights refused to surrender and are seeking their own destruction... Let me repay their debts and responsibilities on their behalf!" Ivan sighed with some regret and said admiringly, "Although the Lord Mayor has already praised you, I still want to repeat: you are indeed a true knight!"

He then looked around and whispered in Dickinson's ear, "Joining the Northern Army and fighting to protect our country and its people... isn't that difficult, actually. If you're willing... I can recommend you to the higher-ups at the General Staff. The city lord and the commander aren't willing to let you condescend to become an ordinary soldier, but joining the General Staff should be no problem at all!"

……

In the North, Spark City.

Harvey, who had just received the battle report, let out a slow breath and turned to Reiner and Asdalen in the study. "I hope this overseas military operation will yield enough food and supplies to last us until the harvest season."

As long as they can successfully survive this month of food shortage, not only Xinghuo City's East Expansion Base, but even the large tracts of fertile farmland around Fengyuan City will be ready for harvest. Although enchanted grains are not yet popular in the southern region, and the wheat yield and quality will be slightly inferior, there will be no problem in feeding the large number of migrating people.

The several Southern Chambers of Commerce with which they had good cooperative relations also sent back news that they were willing to temporarily allocate some of their winter food to Saint Valen. Part of it would be used to relieve the hungry people in Black Mountain Port and Silver Pine City, who had just experienced the baptism of war. The rest would continue to go north to fill the daily food consumption of Spark City, a huge wasteland city with a rapidly growing population.

The continuous foreign wars and population growth during this period have put tremendous pressure on all production departments in Xinghuo City. In the midst of his anxiety, Harvey finally received a piece of good news that surprised him - the arable land reclaimed in the early spring of this year at the Dongtuo Base is expected to yield far more than the original production target, reaching an unprecedented grain output!

Whether it is wheat planting or intercropping technology of oil crops and cassava, they can all harvest enough high-quality food to feed as many as 100,000 people this autumn. Refined flour, vegetable oils, starch products... will be continuously shipped out from the processing plants built in advance after the harvest season, and then quickly transported to Xinghuo City by rail trains, and finally delivered to the tables of city residents.

In the future, not only will farmland continue to be reclaimed, but planting plans for various economic crops will also be carried out one after another. In the southwest of the closed eastern basin, a pasture that is even larger than the Spark City Farm has been opened up. The breeding team has already sent many young animals in advance to start raising them, and will provide the public with better quality meat products in the future.

For the people who actively participated in the East Expansion Plan, Harvey also fulfilled his original promise - those who already had formal resident status in Spark City were rewarded with generous salary allowances and priority enrollment for their children, while those who had not yet obtained formal resident status did not need to wait for the six-month observation period and were directly issued identity cards as an encouragement.

In addition, in order to further increase efforts to develop the wasteland granary of the Dongtuo Base, Harvey also plans to build a hardened road hundreds of miles long parallel to the railway line to make up for the railway whose transportation frequency has almost reached saturation, as a supplementary transportation facility.

Of course, the hundreds of miles between Xinghuo City and Dongtuo Base cannot be reached smoothly by riding a bicycle alone. The magic motorcycles that are only used for military operations are not suitable for ordinary daily transportation. The most suitable ones are the war beasts that were originally used as troop transport vehicles. With a little modification and equipped with a magic power core and four rubber wheels, they can be directly "converted from military to civilian" and turned into civilian magic-powered trucks for transporting goods!

(End of this chapter)