Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 90: Being flanked by two sides
After the harvest season ended, the northern wilderness gradually entered a relatively long, cold and dry season.

There is abundant rainfall in spring and summer, but the climate is dry and cold in autumn and winter, and even the water flow in the glacial river has become much less.

The territory wall construction plan set by Harvey in the summer has entered the stage of rushing to meet the deadline, and the construction of the wall sections facing north and east should be completed as soon as possible before the first snow falls in the north.

Ever since the territory's own mining areas began to mine iron ore normally, the various types of alchemical beasts in the military factory began to enter a period of explosive production. Hunting teams composed of defeated militiamen rushed through the primitive mountains and forests around the territory every day, searching for all kinds of living beasts that could provide soul transformation for the alchemical beasts.

"Sir, since last week, the hunting team has reported that they can no longer find any trace of wolves. Have we... hunted down and exterminated all the wolves in this area?"

Harvey had anticipated this. He frowned and asked, "I've told you before that we should avoid hunting down female wolves and their pups. Maintaining the pack's reproductive capacity is key to sustainable development... Did they simply not take it seriously?"

Reiner explained with some embarrassment, "It's not entirely the hunting team's fault. The hunting quota given to them by the military factory is too high. Their search area has almost extended to an area that is two days' round trip from the territory. It's still difficult to complete the mission..."

Harvey smiled bitterly. It seemed that the problem was still with him. The production tasks he had given to the military factory this month exceeded their capacity.

But there is no way, the Wolf Spider Alchemist's scope of application is too wide.

The daily patrol and guard work of the territory is basically completed by a small number of patrol soldiers leading a large number of wolf spider beasts.

Small-scale battles between the valley outpost and the evil orcs also require the wolf spider beasts to cooperate with the small group of soldiers to conduct infiltration operations in the mountains and forests.

The hunting team of the territory naturally also needs the cooperation of the wolf spider beast, otherwise they can hardly move forward in the primitive mountains and forests and face many dangers.

Some time ago, Harvey even discovered that the ranch staff had begun using wolf spiders to herd cattle and sheep...

"There are now over 500 wolf spider beasts in our possession. I suggest setting up a dedicated alchemical beast maintenance center to be responsible for the daily upkeep of all alchemical creatures in the territory..."

Reiner does know more about this than Harvey, after all, he is also an alchemical creature.

"Then we can set up a separate training course within the adult night school and recruit a group of skilled workers to study specifically."

Harvey has attached great importance to literacy education and vocational training from the very beginning. The school built next to the municipal department has been in operation for nearly a year and now accommodates about 10 underage children for primary education. The adult literacy school at night has also achieved an enrollment rate of more than % of the residents.

You have to know that in this era, the literacy rate of ordinary civilians in the southern continent is less than 1%.

Harvey's demands in the short term are not high. It is enough for the people to basically read and understand his various policies and announcements.

However, managers joining the territory's municipal departments must ensure 100% literacy and reading and writing rates, and there can be no leniency in this area.

……

"Are there any new developments or news from Pierce's River Valley Outpost?"

Harvey had been feeling a bit tired lately, having neglected to read Pierce's daily outpost reports for several days. "The orcs are appearing more frequently on the north bank of the river valley than before, and seem to be regrouping. However, their main base camp is still in the valley ten kilometers from the glacial river..."

The number of troops currently stationed at the Valley Outpost has stabilized at around 300. As the commander of the outpost, Pierce firmly implements Harvey's rotation training policy, rotating about 200 troops every month, so that all soldiers who have undergone basic training have the opportunity to directly participate in small-scale battles with the evil orcs and conduct actual combat exercises.

But right now, Harvey's territory is facing threats from two sides at the same time, and it is known that the evil orcs in the north are ready to make a move.

I'm afraid that Earl Fagan of Grizzly Castle in the south will not be able to stay quiet for too long. After all, the three temporary tax orders that the other party forwarded through the Federation were all directly ignored by Harvey, and he didn't even send a reply letter.

Harvey vaguely felt that an armed conflict would inevitably break out between him and the Earl of Grizzly Castle.

In order not to directly expose the specific situation of the territory, he set the battlefield of this armed conflict in the mountains on the south side of Jackdaw Ridge in advance, intending to directly defend the enemy outside the territory.

Pierce was tied to the valley outpost, so the job of detecting enemy movements in advance was forced to fall into Asdalen's hands. During this time, he took the wolf spider beast and several teams of soldiers, running around in Jackdaw Ridge, setting up guard posts and temporary camps in advance.

"There are still too few talented people around us who can be used... Everyone has to juggle multiple roles and is completely unable to spare time."

Harvey thought back to his bad behavior in the past few days and felt a little ashamed for a moment.

"I have to get up and stop being lazy..."

"Reiner, have the military factory reduce some of their production plans for this month and allocate a group of workers to start preparing the Alchemy Beast maintenance center in advance. I want to see results as early as next month."

"Have the magic stones from the Egnoga Beetle Farm released. Don't worry about the inventory. A new batch of magic stones will arrive before winter arrives. By the end of this month, I require all soldiers in the territory to be equipped with bullet-type magic guns."

The biggest problem with the military’s weapons configuration now is not the shortage of new guns, but the problem of the reserves of magic bullets.

Because of the large amount of live-fire training, high-frequency rotation training, and frequent small-scale combat, the already limited ammunition reserves are being consumed all the time.

But Harvey knew very well that an army's combat effectiveness and combat experience were entirely dependent on a steady supply of bullets and logistical supplies, so he dared not save at all in this regard.

In addition to the magic stone purchasing channel from the forum member "Frost Giant", the Dragon Stone Chamber of Commerce has also been supplying him with a large amount of low-level magic stones during this period, but Harvey still feels it is not enough.

After the new small-scale digging alchemy beast is assembled and mass-produced, he will begin to mine the magic stone vein located under the main castle of his territory.

At present, this work is still in the secret preparation stage. Harvey decided to mine a small amount first and put it into the production of guns and ammunition in the magic military factory to see whether the quality of the first batch of magic stones is as he predicted.

After all, apart from Harvey, no one else has the opportunity to try to apply high-level charging magic stones to mass-produced magic weapons.

"I hope what we're sitting on is really a magical gold mine, not a powder keg..."

(End of this chapter)