Struggle in the Steam Age

After more than a month of busy work, Lawrence and the others finally completed the reclamation of the abandoned fields that had been opened up in the past. In the process, they found that the previous several developments did not focus on one place to develop farms.

Especially in the recent pioneering work, because a large number of extraordinary people successfully wiped out most of the goblins on this plain, the group of pioneers at that time simply chose to move around the entire plain. The tactics of blooming have opened up many farms in one go.

Although these farms were later abandoned because the threat of the goblins gradually increased, and even became the location of the goblin camps. But after the end of the war, Lawrence quickly restored those farms.

After all, for those who develop fields in tropical rainforest areas, the most complicated job is to cut down the dense native vegetation on the land before, and then spend several times more energy to dig out the roots of these vegetation under the land. And even if there are plants in these lands that have been reclaimed before, the roots are not deep because they are new, so it is much easier to reclaim.

The most important thing is that a series of water conservancy facilities such as ponds and irrigation canals have been built in these areas before. Even the group of people back then used a lot of stones to reinforce them because they had sufficient capital and manpower. So even if left unattended for such a long time, they are easily cleaned out and restored to their original function.

So that's why, in just one month, Lawrence was able to reclaim 1,500 hectares of land with a labor force of about 3,000, hundreds of large livestock, and a very limited number of steam machines. And rice is planted on most of the land.

Of course, this kind of rice cultivation must be extensive. Fortunately, the area of ​​this place is large enough. At the same time, the seeds of these rice have been improved, and the yield per unit area is also large enough. So one season's harvest plus the addition of those farms and fisheries just now can provide a year's rations for nearly 10,000 people on this land.

What surprised them even more was that although the food crops previously planted on this land failed to survive the loss of human management, some economic crops suitable for the local area managed to take root. For example, during the previous exploration process, they discovered several banana trees that had been planted before, which made up for the lack of food.

In addition, there are many coconut trees growing well on the beaches in the nearby area. According to the information Lawrence collected before, the key products exported by this island were dried coconuts and ropes made of fibers from coconut shells.

After satisfying the most important demand for food, many people are free. And these people were quickly organized to build some important facilities.

One of the most important things is to build enough defense measures, because according to the information obtained from the previous visits to the neighbors. Although this generation does not have any large pirate gangs because it is too barren, there are always some small pirate fleets composed of two or three ships, or even a single ship will occasionally wander in this area.

So after the busy farming days passed, Lawrence built a small fort on the beach corresponding to the peninsula at the entrance of the natural bay to block the entire bay.

This is a small coastal defense fortress that can accommodate up to 150 people. Six 120mm coastal defense guns and six heavy mortars purchased before are prepared inside. In addition, there are two secret passages under the fortress. Unleash mines in wartime.

Because many raw materials are difficult to buy for the time being, the materials used in this very modern fortress are indeed very classical. The low and heavy outer walls are all made of mud, stones and logs, and there are also holes for six heavy guns.

There are a large number of sharpened wooden piles on the outside of the fort as a defense. In addition, a large trench five meters wide and three meters deep was dug around the fort near the wall. At the same time, a large number of wooden sticks were set up at the bottom of the trench as obstacles, and some explosives were arranged at the bottom of the trench during wartime.

Naturally, such a highly specialized building could not be designed by an amateur like Lawrence. Fortunately, the Church of Knowledge has collected a lot of knowledge in this area and has also received education in this area.

Although it is definitely impossible for these semi-amateurs to design complex large and medium-sized forts, it is not particularly difficult for them to design such a small fortress and guide its construction. Therefore, the construction process of the whole fortress can be regarded as very smooth.

"Considering that it is difficult for us to purchase industrial products such as steel bars and concrete, I chose a large number of materials that can be found locally as a substitute." Peter Priest, who had been directing on-site before, said, "For example, this kind of If the thick walls of rammed gravel and soil are reinforced with coconut tree trunks, as long as the thickness reaches a certain level, they are naturally no worse than those real reinforced concrete walls.”

Having said that, the young Priest Peter showed an embarrassed smile to his friend, and then scratched his head. "Of course, there are differences. For example, the lifespan of this kind of building will not exceed ten years in this hot and humid place. At the same time, they are easily destroyed layer by layer in the face of continuous bombardment by large-caliber heavy artillery. Peeling, much worse than a one-piece reinforced concrete building—”

"This is good enough." Lawrence looked at the fort that had already taken shape with satisfaction, "Anyway, this fort is only a temporary fort in the plan, and I estimate that five or six years will be enough. As for the continuous heavy artillery Bombardment, I think our enemies are just some pirates, they should not be able to prepare for long-term bombardment like the regular navy."

"You're right." Peter nodded in agreement. "The most suitable for many things is the best. There is no need to blindly pursue the best."

"Yes." Lawrence also nodded. "Especially we need to build this fortress as quickly as possible, because according to the situation I asked before, there are murlocs in addition to pirates in this area. The most important thing is that pirates only visit certain islands randomly, but Almost every island is facing the harassment of murlocs."

"You can rest assured about this." Priest Peter said. "Because this area is relatively far away from the land and overall relatively barren, it basically exists in the form of small tribes. I can guarantee that this fortress will be able to block the main force of those guys."

What Peter said was not wrong, because those murlocs couldn't stay on the shore for too long due to physiological reasons, so if they wanted to attack the Oxhorn Plain, they basically had to choose the shortest route to attack from the bay. And in this way, they must pass through the channel in front of the fort.

Otherwise, whether it is to climb over the mountains on the steep peninsula, or land on the beach in a further area and then attack the flanks of human settlements through the jungle, those feet have webbed feet, good at swimming but not good at land The walking murlocs are very unfriendly.

Although it is said that some elite murlocs, especially some extraordinary murlocs, can complete such difficult movements, it is impossible for these rare extraordinary people to pose a threat to the settlements.

After the two acquaintances talked for a while, suddenly a guard member ran over from the direction of the city and brought two pieces of news to Lawrence.

One of them is that a batch of capybaras was sent by boat from a neighbor I visited before, which was just able to be sent to the built farm to raise them to solve the current problem of insufficient meat. And the other is that the outpost on the edge of the plain found a strange guest, and it is now being sent to the port.