Chapter 585: Marek's Line

"Your Highness, both Master Marek and Master Bodfinger are already waiting in the small conference room, ......you see," Genolio urged. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

"Alright, let's go then. Lorist nodded: "Anderbell, you practice the basic sword style a few more times, and then go take a shower, don't catch a cold." ”

Lorist touched Anderbell's head, which was holding a small wooden sword, before turning to leave.

Since Anderbell became more and more naughty and did not like to read and learn calligraphy, Lorist had no choice but to teach him swordsmanship and lay the foundation for him as soon as possible. Surprisingly, Anderbell is also really talented in martial arts, and he is also very interested and patient in practicing martial arts, unlike when he was learning knowledge, he always wants to sneak out to play. It only took Lorist three days to teach him the basic twenty-eight sword styles, so he proudly boasted that he was worthy of his own species, and this bear child also had this day to make himself proud.

Bodfinger and Malek came this time to discuss the deployment of the province of the mountain, on how to set up the defense line between the province of the mountain and the dragon mountain range and the border of the barbarian plain is a major matter related to the long-term stability of the province of the mountain, only because of the geographical environment, it took more than a year to carefully survey the border of the province of the mountain before they found that because of the woodland and complex hilly terrain, it is difficult for the Norton family to set up a complete and comprehensive defensive front to protect the entire border of the province of the mountain.

Four hundred and seventy-three miles, this is the total distance of the border line between the Panshan Province and the Demon Dragon Mountain Range and the Barbarian Plain, even if the Rock Legion has 45,000 people, it is not enough to scatter on this border, and only one hundred-man team can be arranged for each mile or more.

Lorist will never allow one of his family's main field regiments to be wasted on this border line, now there are only a few inhabitants in the entire Panshan Province, and 45,000 people are arranged on this border line to defend against the invasion of mountain barbarian tribes and demonic beasts, not to mention whether it can be prevented, just relying on this thin defensive front is a passive situation, as long as one point is broken through, the entire defensive front will be completely useless. What's more, the setting of moats and walled walls plus stone arrow towers may be able to block the attacks of the mountain barbarian tribes, but they will definitely not be able to block the attacks of the demonic beasts and carnivorous demonic beasts.

"Your Highness, after more than a month of discussion, the staff officers of the Ministry of Armed Forces have come to a conclusion. If you want to meet the requirements of Your Highness to set up a defensive front that does not require much force defense and can prevent the invasion of the mountain barbarian tribes and demonic beasts into the province of the mountains for a long time, the best way is to dig an artificial river along the border line, and use the river to intercept the group of monsters from entering the province of the mountains, and at the same time cause trouble to the invasion of the mountain tribes, we have enough time to warn and respond when they cross the river. Malek reported.

The boundary line of the map of Punshan Province, which was unfolded on the table, was outlined with a thick red line, which was very dazzling.

"Artificial river?" Lorist looked interested, "Tell me about the specific plan." ”

"Yes, Your Highness. Malek continued: "This man-made river runs from the upper reaches of the Lancang River in the north and follows the border of the province of Punshan to Lake Tylinloz in the Black Forest, a total distance of about 500 li. As for the scale of this artificial river, we set it at fifty meters wide and ten meters deep. After careful surveying by the personnel sent by the Ministry of Armed Forces, we have determined that the geographical environment on the border line can excavate an artificial river of this size......"

Lorist suddenly felt that he had a headache, he originally thought that he was just digging a small river channel ten meters wide and about five or six meters deep, but he did not expect that the scale of this artificial river designed by the Ministry of Armed Forces would reach a width of fifty meters and a depth of ten meters. Is this an artificial canal? Obviously, it is the scale of the excavation of an artificial canal......

Malek's voice was also a little low, after all, the scale of this artificial river plan is too large, it is obvious that this means that the family will need to invest a huge amount of money in the next few years to complete, and even Lorist does not dare to guarantee that the family has the financial resources to implement the plan of this artificial river channel. Malek took out a few more drawings and placed them in front of Lorlist.

"The staff officers of the Armed Forces Department and the designers of the Engineering Department made careful calculations and confirmed that only an artificial river channel of this size could intercept the attempts of the Demon Beasts to cross the river, and could make the mountain barbarian tribe look at the river in fear. With the armament level of the mountain barbarian tribe, it would take more than three hours for them to cross a fifty-meter-wide river, and the size of a thousand people would give our guards enough time to issue a warning signal and hold out until reinforcements arrived. ”

Pointing to an engineering plan placed in front of Lorlist, Marek said: "The earth excavated from this artificial channel, the designers of the engineering department and the staff officers of the armed forces department decided to make large mud bricks on the spot, and then build a trapezoidal embankment on this side of our river, and set up guard posts and arrow towers on the embankment. In this way, only a very small number of patrol personnel can do a good warning and defense, whether it is the mountain barbarian tribe or the monster, as long as it is close to the artificial river channel, it will be discovered, the vigilant patrol personnel can light the wolf smoke to warn the rear, and at the same time, they can use the arrow tower to launch a defensive attack on the mountain barbarian tribe or the monster who are ready to cross the river......"

Lorist's head hurt even more, now not only the canal, but also the Great Wall came out, and he seemed to have seen countless Kingford wings flying into the sky, as well as the angry face of the family treasurer, Viscount Speer. Looking at the drawings carefully, Lorist had to admit that the defensive front of this canal and embankment was indeed invulnerable, and it was also the best way to solve the invasion of the mountain barbarian tribes in the Demon Dragon Mountain Range and the demonic beasts in the barbarian plain once and for all.

There is no natural danger, we have artificially built a moat, and the staff officers of the Armed Forces Department and the designers of the Engineering Department have indeed opened their brains a little bit this time. Fortunately, the canal and the Great Wall are only more than 500 miles long, and Lorist estimates that the family should be able to dig out this huge project fund through gritting their teeth, and they don't need to go bankrupt.

Moreover, if the construction of this artificial river channel and embankment is completed, it will have too many benefits for the family and the province of Panshan, not to mention that the Rock Legion can be liberated to become the mobile armed force of the family, and the province of the mountain will be relieved of the danger of being attacked by the mountain barbarian tribes and demonic beasts, and can even use this artificial river channel to improve the water conservancy and irrigation facilities of the province, and build this somewhat wild new province into a land of fish and rice......

"Borg, do you think it's really necessary to build such a huge defensive project?" Lorist asked Bodfinger, who was silent.

"Your Highness, I don't know what to say...... Bodfinger smiled bitterly, "Theoretically, I should object, because this project of digging an artificial river channel and building a defensive levee has damaged the morale of our Norton family's armed forces, and our family armed forces have become shrinking turtles that rely on this artificial natural danger, and they dare not take an offensive posture against the mountain barbarian tribes of the Demon Dragon Mountain Range and the wandering barbarian demonic beast herds, and can only passively counterattack after being attacked."

But in reality, I wish the man-made river and the dam were now complete. It has only been a year since the Rock Legion has been stationed on this border in Punshan Province, but the number of our soldiers who have suffered casualties has already reached more than 1,200. These casualties were not killed or injured on the battlefield or in battle, but were basically attacked by small groups of mountain barbarians on patrols, or happened to collide with roaming carnivorous monsters and mountain barbarian teams that came out to hunt.

Due to various factors, such as the difficulty of the terrain and the lack of experience of our soldiers in the mountains and forests, we could not find an enemy to confront head-on, and we were always encountered by these harassing attacks or various traps. It is not that our soldiers' armor is not strong, their weapons are unfavorable, and they lack the spirit of bravery and enterprising, but among the more than 700 soldiers who died, less than 200 actually fought the enemy head-on, and most of the soldiers died from poisoned arrows, traps and monsters. Sometimes, when patrols are attacked, and by the time help arrives, the enemy has already fled......

At present, the morale of the Rock Legion is somewhat low, and our soldiers are accustomed to facing the enemy head-on, even when attacked by several times the enemy. But the soldiers are very unaccustomed to the current situation, because we can't find out where the enemy is, and every time we go out on patrol, there is a high possibility of accidental casualties. So it was a very encouraging thing for me and the soldiers of the Rock Corps to dig artificial channels and build dikes to set up the border defense line according to the plan of the Ministry of Armed Forces. ”

Lorist patted his forehead and deployed the Rock Legion on the border of the Side Mountain Province because the Rock Legion had a reputation for being good at guarding. But he forgot that this time the Rock Legion was not to resist the attack of tens of thousands of enemies, but to defend the border line of the Panshan Province that was four or five hundred miles long, coupled with the complex geographical environment, this was not a task that the well-defended Rock Legion could easily complete. If it weren't for Bodfinger's report, Lorist really didn't know that the Rock Legion had suffered such a large number of casualties and difficulties.

It seems that the canal and the Great Wall had to be built. Lorist asked Malek: "Since the Ministry of Armed Forces has designed this artificial channel and embankment, then there should be engineering calculations and engineering deadlines, let's talk about it, I'll see how much it will cost Kingford......

"Your Highness......" Malek was also a little embarrassed: "The budget of the engineering department is to dig this artificial river channel and build the embankment, which requires 100,000 young and strong laborers, and if the progress of the project is completed every year is 100 miles, it will take a five-year project period, and the initial budget amount is about 2 million Jinford per year." ”

The Norton family has been involved in a lot of large-scale development projects, and they are familiar with the budgets for these projects. If there were no prisoners of war to serve hard labor, then the young and strong laborers needed to be recruited from the family territory, a young and strong laborer could earn seven or eight gold fords a year, and the salary cost of 100,000 young and strong laborers would be seven or eight hundred thousand a year, plus free food and drink, welfare subsidies, equipment needed for the project, means of transportation, tent accommodation, etc., the project budget of two million gold fords was very normal.

"However, because the construction site is in the Punshan Province and the Demon Dragon Mountains, as well as the border line of the Barbarian Plains, we also need to dispatch family forces to ensure the safety of the project. The family needs to dispatch three main field corps to advance about thirty miles from the border line, and must ensure absolute control of this area, so as to smoothly ensure the safety of the construction of the project. After the careful budgeting of our armed forces staff, the annual military expenditure of each regiment needs to increase by one million Kingford......" Malek closed the folder in his hand, he had already finished reporting.

Well, to put it very well, Lorist is very satisfied with the efficiency of the Ministry of Armed Forces, and has a very clear budget for all aspects of expenditure, so as to ensure that all budget expenditures have a clear direction, and will not become a confused account.

Dispatching the main field corps of a family's armed forces, which only increases by one million Jinford a year, is already a very economical expense. Wartime allowances for soldiers, replenishment of wartime wear and tear such as weapons and armor, pensions for sacrificed soldiers and treatment of disabled soldiers, supplies of logistical and military materials such as materials consumed for the construction of barracks and defense facilities, and rewards are all not small expenses. Therefore, the cost of 100,000 young and strong laborers to build a project in a year plus the cost of the project is only 2 million, but it costs a family army of 45,000 people to spend more than 1 million goldfords.

According to Malek's report, digging an artificial river channel and building a dam for a five-year period is 10 million project costs, which can make the governor of the province of Panshan safe and secure once and for all from the invasion of the mountain barbarian tribes and demonic beasts, so that the family can obtain a stable territory in the province directly under the central government, then the family should be able to make up this cost by gritting its teeth. But the problem is that in order for this project to be carried out smoothly and safely, the family must also dispatch three main field regiments, and spend an additional 3 million military expenses every year, which is an additional military expenditure of 15 million gold fords in five years, and 25 million plus the project costs.

Lorist led the family's three main armed legions, plus the North Sea Fleet, to fight fiercely in the Falcan Hill Plain and the merchant alliance for three years, and the family's military expenditure reached more than 10 million. However, the Norton family did not lose money in this war, but because they opened the trade route to the central and southern part of the continent, mastered the golden sea route in the sunny sea, and invested in the city of Morient to build a transit wholesale market, they earned more than they spent, which was a very cost-effective war business.

However, now that the main field corps of the three families have been dispatched to carry out the guard and patrol tasks along the border line of Panshan Province for five years to ensure the safety of the project, it is impossible to get the same amount of return from the annual increase in military expenditure of 3 million and the military expenditure of 15 million in five years......

Sure enough, the report submitted by the Ministry of Armed Forces on the border line of Punshan Province to dig artificial rivers and build embankments as a defensive moat caused a great reaction within the family, and the treasurer Speer, who had always been stingy with military spending, was the most staunch opponent, declaring that he would rather the family set up two more legions to be responsible for the defense of the border line of Punson Province than agree to the approval of this costly project.

Lorist had to convene a high-level family meeting to discuss the project. An analysis of Director Speer, Lorlist, and him changed his attitude from the most staunch opponent to the most staunch supporter. Lorist told him that the construction of this man-made defensive moat could ensure the stability of the province for fifty years, and in terms of a period of fifty years, it would be equivalent to the family's annual expenditure of 500,000 gold fords. However, the formation of two new legions to garrison this border line, not to mention the military expenditure, the annual military expenditure will need to be one million, and if there are several major conflicts with the mountain barbarian tribes, more additional military expenses will be required, and at least more than 50 million gold fords will be spent in fifty years.

After Director Speer turned from an opponent to a supporter, the family leaders quickly reached a consensus and decided to implement the plan to defend the moat. The project was entrusted to Malek, and Lorlist's joking suggestion that the boundary line of artificial rivers and dikes be called the Marek Line was unanimously approved......

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