Some things are easier to do, but it's another thing to do. Rhodes had previously discussed with Lyanna about setting up a field medical corps, but now it seems that ordinary doctors simply cannot afford such work. First of all, they must be soldiers, in order to be doctors. Not first doctors, then soldiers. There is a fundamental difference in this, and what a field doctor requires is not how skilled the medical staff is, but how to rescue the wounded as soon as possible. On the battlefield where arrows are flying wildly and swords and swords are flickering, not everyone has the psychological quality to calm down and treat the wounded. They can't even reach it in training. Not to mention the real battlefield. When the time comes, a few shells may fall and scare them out of their minds.

After repeated testing, Rod had to abandon the idea. It is better to select field doctors from the medical team than to directly select people with a medical foundation from the soldiers, enter the medical school for training, and learn first aid before they come out of the medical school and become a real field medical soldier.

Once this general direction was established, a large number of soldiers were selected and sent to medical schools to study. The good thing is that the capacity of the medical school is sufficient. It's the lack of teachers. Lyanna alone served as the chief priest of Sarak and the dean of the medical school, and at the same time, she had to perform some difficult surgeries, which was difficult. Sometimes when he thinks of Lyanna's situation, Rhodes feels a little embarrassed for her. But before you can promote new people, you can only do this.

As for the harvester, only sketches and concepts, before they can really become a real thing, it will take a while of research. After all, Rhodes was not an expert in this area, and the mechanical matter could only be temporarily left to the dwarves in Dulong City to solve. Anyway, it would be much easier to have an engineer from Imperial Nunn or a mechanical master from Eternal Peak. But the two still seem too far away.

As the days passed, Bella, a young witch apprentice, found Dennis in Kislev and befriended her. From the letters sent back after review, it can be vaguely seen that they are in a good situation. After all, this time Rod took the initiative to send the found witch to him, and Caterina seemed quite satisfied.

It's just that Sibeth is still worried, and Rhodes can only persuade him to be quiet and bear with it, it's too early to fight the Ice Queen. Blackhammer Fort has grown fast enough, however, today, the population is less than 10,000, and the standing army is only a few hundred. When Erlengrad rebelled and the queen launched a crusade, she gathered an army of more than 50,000 people at once. In terms of strength, there is no comparison, and with the garrison in the port of Errengrad now, twelve gunboats are enough to crush all the docks of Blackhammer Fort in an instant.

It's just that Rhodes also knows that the Ice Queen herself is not having a good time. After the end of the Erlengrad rebellion, the treasury was empty and in debt, and had to fill the treasury by plundering the money of the nobles. The lives of the civilians were already terrible, they were below the subsistence line, and there were constant complaints from all over the country. Now even the nobility of the capital is beginning to be dissatisfied. Everyone was terrified, wondering if it would be themselves who would be slaughtered in the next moment. Today, the wealth belongs to you, and tomorrow it is difficult to say whether the money will not be your own.

......

"My lord, Captain Roberts asks to see you. ”

On this day, the sky over Blackhammer Fort was gloomy. After sending Caroline away, Rhodes sat bored in his office, preparing to go to school activities to get his muscles active. I received news from Roberts' request to see him. This old guy is a veteran of Blackhammer Castle. In the early days, when Rhodes was still destitute, it was this old man who took on the responsibility of being a coachman at sea, transporting the minerals of Blackhammer Fort to the Empire in exchange for gold and silver coins. to maintain the daily expenses and development of Blackhammer Fort.

Celta, Diego, and Yeskovic all came after him, but now they have all been promoted to important positions as leaders of various departments, and this Captain Roberts is still standing still.

The reason why Rod has not been activated is because this guy is too powerful. Whoever is strong will bow down to whom, a typical wall-to-wall grass. When Laheim was dominant in Blackhammer Castle, the old butler Muros asked him to do something for him, and this guy shirked it for various reasons, and finally stayed in the empire directly, not daring to come back. It wasn't until Rod returned to Blackhammer and took care of Laheim that Roberts returned to Blackhammer.

Such a person cannot be said to be bad, but he cannot hold important positions. And since all the things that happened, Rod didn't have a good impression of him. For this guy's sudden request to see, Rod originally wanted to refuse, but after thinking about it for only a few minutes, maybe there was any useful information, so it would be okay to sit down and listen.

The guards then let the old captain into the lord's office.

"Old friend, long time no see. Have a seat. ”

As soon as Roberts entered, Rod beckoned him to sit down. Anyway, this guy didn't do anything bad, and there was no need to keep a straight face on him. In the face of danger, it is normal for everyone to protect themselves.

"My lord, there's no time for small talk. I'm coming to you today because I have something big to tell you. ”

Rod had never seen Roberts look so anxious. As a sleek captain, he is delicate and will not say less to please people. Today, however, is different, risking offending the lord and getting straight to the point. This couldn't help but surprise Rod a little.

"What's the matter?" Qingqing

Rod asked, frowning. He stared at Roberts, really not thinking of anything useful that this guy could provide.

"Plague, there's a plague on the Empire's side, my lord!"

Roberts said heartily. Judging by his nervous and serious expression, Rod felt that it was not lying. Besides, he didn't dare, this guy's character Rod still knows something. If you are timid and afraid, if you don't have real information, you won't talk nonsense. If there is a business that can earn a 10,000 gold crown, but must risk killing his head, Rod dares to guarantee that Roberts would rather choose not to do the business. And deceiving the lord is also to be held accountable. What's more, the plague is indeed a big deal, and it can't be talked about, otherwise it will cause panic among the people.

"When?"

Rhodes stood up, walked quickly to the door, and closed the door. The stone office is well soundproofed, so you don't have to worry about someone hearing through the wall.

"I don't know exactly when the plague happened, but I do know that the officials of Oster Territory are busy putting out the plague right now. ”

"What plague?"

"The plague. ”

Roberts replied categorically.

"It's supposed rat fever. I only learned about it three days ago. Originally, I was going to go to Baker Harbor to import a batch of fabrics, but my people there wrote to me and told me not to go for the time being, and to avoid the limelight first, because the plague had already reached Baker City. It's not too serious, but there's always a risk of infection. I'll tell you as soon as I hear about it. Your grace to me, my lord, is home to thousands of people in Blackhammer Castle, and I can't hide this news. ”

Roberts' answer startled Rode's heart. The so-called greatest enemy of mankind is not actually legions, nor monsters and giants, but the plague. The mighty empire was once crushed by a plague and lost two-thirds of its population. Nearly brought the mighty human kingdom to the brink of extinction. This plague is the plague. Poisoned by the most disgusting blight clan among the ratmen. Of all the calamities, Rhodes also paid the most attention to the plague. Because it's contagious, one to ten, ten to hundred, hundreds to thousands, it's the most terrible.

"Does anyone else know about this now but you?"

Rhodes asked.

"No, even my wife doesn't know yet. I'll be the first to tell you. ”

Roberts replied earnestly.

"Okay, I got it. You go back now, cancel all plans to go out, and don't leave the port until the Empire's plague is over. I will convene an emergency meeting to get all merchant ships to cancel their trips to the Empire. Damn, that's a big deal. Thank you for reporting back to me in a timely manner. ”

Rhodes put his hand on the old captain's shoulder and gave him an affirmative look.

"Go, call me Alves, the chief manager!"

After sending Roberts away, Rod immediately gave orders to the guards around him.