All economic development in order to create a stronger army. After two years of development, the number of standing troops at Blackhammer has reached a thousand. Four hundred of them came from Noska and belonged to the main forces in the field army. The other six hundred were from Kislev and consisted of the Kisley Lady. Together with the 400-strong Norsca Field Army, they formed the regular army of Blackhammer Fort.

Needless to say, the main Norsca army before followed Rhodes to the north and south, experienced the Beastman War, the two Norsca tribe invasions, the Erlengrad rebellion, and grew into an experienced veteran army in a series of wars. And the newly formed standing army Rhodes was also strict with them. In addition to day-to-day tactics, combat training, these recruits must also take on the role of engineers. Outside of training, you have to travel to various parts of Blackhammer Fort to participate in the construction of the project.

They built the military road connecting Blackhammer Fort to Heidelberg, and they also have a credit for the Blackwater Dam. At the same time, a series of projects such as the stadium, library, theater, and three-level city wall are all busy with the standing army. The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and the Armageddon on the plains is actually very rare, and most of the battles are actually skirmishes, with hundreds or thousands of people fighting everywhere. The terrain of these battles is also varied, sometimes in the hills, sometimes in the valleys, sometimes in the plains, and sometimes on the river beaches.

The physical fitness of human beings is far inferior to that of the Beastmen, Greenskins, and Chaos Legion soldiers, so tactics are very important, formation is a part, and fortification construction is also a very important part. As it turned out, in several battles in which the number of battles won with less, the Norsca army of Blackhammer Castle won with fortifications.

Build a protective wall as quickly as possible, or build a temporary wooden bridge, or divert water to change the terrain, etc., these are all places where Rhodes has to train his recruits. Just like the recent invasion of the Norsca coalition, the Northern Legion used the fortifications to build a great wall of ice and snow overnight, surrounding the barbarians and slaughtering them. Without this wall, the Norsca coalition would have been able to crush the northern army in terms of numbers.

Similarly, in the case of a steep valley, there is a huge difference between an army that can build a wall to meet the enemy in a short period of time and an army that can only resist hard. In the face of large units such as giants or behemoths, the formation of human infantry is simply looking for abuse.

In addition, various tools of warfare were also required to be mastered by the soldiers, such as the use of asphalt and coal water. There are few fire mages in Kislev, but fire attack is just as important to the battlefield, how to set traps, how to use fire attack in the enemy's path, these are also things that Rhodes requires recruits to master. After two years of training, many recruits have in fact mastered these skills.

Of course, the actual total strength of Blackhammer Fort is far more than that. The standing army needs to be maintained at military expense, and it belongs to professional soldiers, and their number cannot be too large, otherwise the lord cannot afford it. In general, in the event of a real war, the local lords, including the king himself, would recruit temporary soldiers.

These soldiers were non-professional soldiers, they came from all walks of life, from fruit growers, hunters, blacksmiths, craftsmen, lumberjacks, handicraftsmen, and so on. Of course, in most cases, it is the peasant soldiers who are recruited, that is, the peasants who are outside the cities.

In fact, like the Empire, Kislev has a large population in the cities, but it is still far from being in the countryside compared to the countryside, and at least 80% of the people actually live in the countryside. So, once a big war breaks out, the conscripted army can quickly expand to tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands.

However, these soldiers are not qualified soldiers at all, and they can be killed in good times, and most people only think about running for their lives in bad times...... The real main force in the legion is still the standing army. It has been said that the Standing Army and the Conscription Army belong to two different species......

Therefore, the number of troops that Blackhammer Fort can actually put together is far more than this thousand people. According to the latest census data, there are about 12,000 permanent residents in the entire Black Hammer Castle, excluding the elderly, women and children, and about 4,000 adult males. Combined with the non-urban population, that is, the peasant households distributed in the vast suburbs, this number is estimated to be at least twenty or thirty thousand, and if the necessary logistics personnel are retained, at least three or four thousand troops can be assembled in the event of a major war.

But this is done in a life-or-death situation when the territory is invaded, and no one would do this on a normal day. Because the legion that could bear these three or four thousand men needed a lot of food and supplies, the food that the lords had worked so hard to save for several years might be consumed in a short time. Moreover, the accumulation of these people will lead to the dereliction of farmland, and if it is the season of sowing and harvesting, the losses will be great. Some predominantly agricultural towns may collapse as a result, causing famine, and the territory may be abandoned.

Therefore, even for a major event such as the Erengrad rebellion, the lords of the northern border sent less than a quarter of their troops at the beginning. to fulfill their duty of allegiance to the tsar.

It can be said that Rod's territory is equivalent to forty or fifty thousand people raising an army of one thousand, and the ratio is about fifty to one. In fact, this ratio is already high compared to the lords of various places. Generally speaking, the ratio of the standing army of the liege to the total population of the territory is about 100 to 1. And the reason why Rhodes can achieve fifty to one is because the standing army of Fort Black Hammer is not only responsible for defending the homeland and going to other places, but also responsible for various municipal construction and public construction, which actually offsets part of the military expenditure.

"Rhodes ......"

Rhodes sat in his office staring out the window at the town in deep thought when Alves knocked on the door and walked in. His beard grew again, like black seaweed wrapping around a childlike mouth. Rhodes once asked him to pay attention to the image, but in Alves's opinion, the dwarf does not need to pay attention to the image, no one cares what he is, everyone only cares about whether he is capable of managing the castle well. vp

"There was a brawl at Ironforge this morning, when a Kislev vendor went to the Dwarven Blacksmith's shop to buy ironware, only to be kicked out by the Dwarven Artisan, causing a brawl in the street. To be precise, it was the vendors' accomplices and the dwarven craftsmen who fought in the streets, causing the streets to be blocked in a short period of time, and a large number of people gathered, but rest assured, I have solved it. ”

Alves walked in, talking as he went.

"What is the cause of the brawl?

Rhodes asked, staring back at Alves.

"Clearly, the cause was that the Kislev trader went to the dwarven blacksmith shop to buy ironware, and bargained three times in a row, and finally the dwarven craftsman got angry, dragged him out of the shop, and kicked the tall trader. Dissatisfied with the physical assault, the vendor and his accomplices rushed in to beat the dwarves, only to have all the dwarves in the shop rush out. The two sides beat each other up in the street. ”

Alves sat down and continued—

"You know, the dwarves' heads are a tendon, they never bargain, they get what they pay for, they always have. The peddler is said to have bargained three times in a row before the dwarven blacksmith broke out. ”

"Bargaining is a bad human habit. ”

Rod smiled wryly.

"Indeed, it is human nature to be cunning, and all kinds of counterfeit goods are rampant on human territory, however, you will not see a single counterfeit product in the dwarves. Poorly manufactured products are a disgrace to dwarves, like cutting off a beard, and are intolerable. It's a pity that human beings have never been able to do this, and glory and character have always been decorations in the kingdom of mankind. Or what hangs in the mouths of knights and kings, the most unreliable. But these events are also a wake-up call that the dwarven district needs to be treated. ”

Alves looked at Rhodes, and his expression suddenly became serious.

"Indeed...... What are you going to do with this?"

Rod asked.

"The dwarves are not the people of Blackhammer, and they are not the Lady of Keshrie to be exact, so the dwarves will not obey our rule. But the 'Iron Forge' can't be ignored, otherwise, there will be many such incidents in the future, and once it turns into a conflict between the people of the Black Hammer Castle and the dwarves one day, then I will have no way to return to the sky." Actually, I used to think about this, and my idea was to make the dwarves autonomous. Similar to when you conquered the Norscan tribe, let the Hague clan stay where it was, and support a big chief to manage the original tribe, this can solve many management problems. ”

"Let them elect a district chief for themselves, dwarves are not like the Norscans, they are not conquered people, they are not easy to manage directly. ”

Rhodes said.