Keel Harbor, in the eyes of the Norscans, is a port. However, in Rhodes' eyes, it was a small fishing village. The village of two or three thousand people is quite large, but there is little public infrastructure, and the port does not even have a decent wharf. Most of the boats come back from fishing and rush ashore, and then fishermen tow the cargo to shore on foot. Except for some large ships, they are docked at the only pier in the harbor. And this dock also looks rudimentary, as if an ordinary storm can completely overturn it.

While waiting for the refugees to return, Rhodes ordered his men to renovate the place. It used its original materials to reduce the size of the village and build it more delicately and neatly.

As a result of the Clan in The Hague participating in the Gretil Horde army, Rhodes estimated that many of the clan's deaths were on the front line. It seems that this fishing village can accommodate two or three thousand people, but in fact, when the group returns, it is estimated that it will be more than 1,000 people at most. Everyone knows that the Norsca tribe is a soldier, so winning or losing a battle is sometimes directly related to the survival of the tribe.

"Honey, I really don't understand you this time. ”

Day and night, the sound of axes did not stop, looking at the hot tribal village, Caroline walked up to Rod with a puzzled look on her face, and asked in a low voice. She can unconditionally support her husband's decision. But only if Rhodes is doing it right. And now, she really can't understand it. When you go to someone else's territory, you have to renovate someone's place of residence?

"What? What don't you understand?"

When Caroline approached, Rhodes was working with a group of Blackhammer Fort infantry. He took off his armor and wore only a coat made of coarse cloth and animal skins, and worked with the people. Even in the ice and snow, sweat still flowed from the clothes.

Seeing Caroline coming, Rod turned around and asked with a smile.

"Actually, I've always wanted to ask you. The battle is over, and so is the plunder. Why do we have to occupy this place? It's not fertile, and the people here are wild and unruly. For hundreds of years, no one occupied the land of the Norscans. It's worthless......"

Caroline said, wiping the sweat from Rhodes' face. The icy sea breeze blows her long hair, and the fine bangs flutter naturally, looking very soft and beautiful. I have to say that Caroline used to be like a little girl, brutal and willful, but after going through so much, she has changed a lot and matured a lot. But it's not enough. For this savage and bloody world, she still needs to grow.

"The value of this thing depends on how you look at it, if you only look at the output of resources, the quality of the land, this place is really worthless. But what I want, what we want, is not its economic value. ”

Rod grabbed Caroline's hand and smiled back.

"Is there anything else worth besides that?"

Caroline asked, frowning. Number Seven

"Absolutely. First, although the land is barren, the tribesmen will not sit idly by, and for thousands of years, they have lived by fishing and plundering. There are also a lot of things that have been stolen, so if they are said to be poor, it will not be enough. I'm going to put management back in the hands of these guys. Support one of our men and make him pay annual tribute to Blackhammer and Heidelberg. Don't underestimate these small scattered tribes, sometimes plundering an ocean-going merchant ship, and getting enough wealth to live on for a whole year. It's not difficult to pay tribute or something. ”

Rod wiped the snowflakes from his face and continued—

"Second, the Norscans are aggressive, and all the people are soldiers. After supporting the new chieftain, we demanded that they must provide us with troops in time of war. As you know, there are constant battles in the North, big and small. We don't know what threat awaits us in the next moment. Fort Black Hammer raises its own troops, and the cost is too high. Therefore, it is also a good choice to use the military resources of the dependent territories. ”

"Thirdly, and most importantly, after the occupation of this place, this village will become our bridgehead in the north. Monitor the movements of the tribes in the south of Norsca. In the event of another large-scale invasion, Dragonbone Harbor can carry it for us for at least a while. Let us have time to assemble a real legion. to deal with the threat from the north. Otherwise, like this time, they are lightning-fast south, and we don't even have time to call for help from the capital, Kislev City. ”

"Then how can you be sure they'll come back? If these pirates don't come back, I promise no one will want to move here." ”

Caroline asked.

"They'll come back because they have nowhere to go. Norska is scarce in resources, the land is barren, there are not many people to feed in the first place, a large number of people are crowded on this cold continent, in order to compete for food and resources, suicide is common, the Hague clan is now a hungry tribe, in the treacherous Norscan Peninsula, they can be hunted as prey at any time. So, they'll be back. ”

Rod patted Caroline on the shoulder and returned with a smile.

......

A few days later, a large crowd of ragged and emaciated northern refugees appeared on the horizon. The leader was the old man who had spoken to Rhodes before. He was a tribal elder, and the reason why he hadn't left Dragonbone Harbor with the big army before was because he had lived here all his life and couldn't walk anymore. Dying here is not necessarily a bad thing. At least it won't drag down its own people.

As Rod had guessed, only about a thousand returned. This clan originally had two or three thousand people, however, a large-scale war wiped out more than half of them...... And half of these 1,000 people are elderly and children. It's tough.

They returned to their homes with despair and suspicion. However, when they enter the village, they find that the reality is completely different from what they imagined. Keel Village has been rebuilt, the dilapidated tent houses have been replaced with wooden houses, the roads have been filled in so that they are no longer full of potholes, the village is fenced off, and there are simple watchtowers every few hundred steps. At the same time, the pier has been renovated as if it were new.

No one could believe that this was their new home, and at first they even thought that Elder Jabeur was deceiving them. But now it seems that this is not a deception, nor an illusion, but a fact.

And this work is just routine for the soldiers under Rhodes. This was the kind of training they usually practiced, and every time they set up camp in battle, Rhodes asked them to build the camp neatly and neatly, with residential, defensive and sanitary functions. It took only one day to take care of the village for the Norska refugees. Of course, if it weren't for Rhodes' orders, no one would want to do this to these barbarians......