Warlord: King of All Clans

What appeared before Leo's eyes was a long row of bamboo and wooden keels in the dry dock, and densely packed cement craftsmen were building planks and pouring cement around the ship-shaped bamboo and wooden keels.

A wooden hull that had been dismantled revealed the prototype of a barge, and many craftsmen were using trowels and spatulas to modify the hull.

After receiving the notification from his subordinates, Valeri rushed over and said, "Leo... Sir."

Because the river bend was getting bigger and everyone was getting busier, he rarely spent time with Leo.

"Big guy, how are things going?"

After being scolded by Leo, Valeri, who was his uncle, suddenly lost the pitiful thick barrier and regained the demeanor of the chief craftsman of the river bay.

"We trial-made several fishing boats and ferries at the end of last year, and the response was good. This year, cement fishing boats have been put into production, but commercial ships are more complicated and are still under study."

"But the barges you want are relatively simple. As long as there is enough time, we can make as many as you want here."

A barge is a flat-bottomed boat without a power plant, equivalent to a train carriage, and is very suitable for carrying cargo.

Rio got a batch of cement barges and planned to attach them behind armed merchant ships to transport troops and meet the subsequent river crossing and baggage transportation needs.

The Lordship of Isenpol has few good ships. If a large number of merchant ships from the city's caravans are requisitioned for combat transportation, it will not only affect trade but also easily arouse public resentment.

Of course, requisitioning civilian ships was a basic operation for rulers of this era, and Leo didn't mind using this plan if his first choice failed.

As far as the current river bay industry is concerned, the cost of building a large wooden ship and a cement ship is actually similar. The only difference is that the manufacturing time of the former is not calculated in months, but in years, and this is based on the premise of having processed high-quality wood.

However, it is very easy to make a batch of simple cement flat-bottom barges. Just build a bamboo and wooden frame, tie steel wire mesh to key places, and then paste cement on it, and a bamboo reinforcement and iron mesh cement barge will be born.

Such a cement ship would crack if hit by an ironclad ship and would shatter if hit by a cannon, but the problem was that the enemy had neither ironclad ships nor cannons.

If Hewan did not have the ability to industrially manufacture steel bars, he could have built a reinforced concrete battleship.

Leo was relieved, but he still had to be careful when going out on an expedition. He still reminded him carefully: "Don't make blind promises. If the quality of these cement boats is not good, I can also take a wooden boat."

Valery patted his chest and said, "It's absolutely reliable. If not, I can swim to Arbroath!"

Leo was very impressed with his spirit and made the decision, "I will lead the troops to the battle after the spring planting is over in three months. Before that, you must gather at least three armed merchant ships and ten cement barges for me. In addition, whether you requisition or purchase, you must gather ten two-masted cargo ships for me and equip them with steam power. Together, we will form the fleet for this battle."

"clear!"

Leo's new army has been fully operational, but spring sowing is a big deal, and without Ulian in Hewan, Leo can only watch it himself.

Moreover, the city of Abros is three hundred miles away, which is neither far nor near, and it also needs an auxiliary corps to provide logistical support.

These auxiliary troops are part-time conscripts or full-time militiamen. They are the main farming force during the busy farming season and cannot just leave.

In the following period, in addition to preparing for war, Leo also inspected the territories southeast and southwest of Isenbol City.

This is a new development zone that has joined the United Knights Territory. After a year of development, the cultivated land area has expanded by 30%, and the roads, reservoirs, and canal systems have taken shape.

The savages who were blocked in the mountains also began to appear in the sight of the imperial people.

But more importantly, there are forestry and mineral resources in the foothills.

On the northern foothills of the Buck Mountains, the kobold sniffers discovered seven or eight large and small mineral veins suitable for mining.

In addition, the mineral veins that the small lords had discovered long ago but did not have the ability to mine were also developed one by one by Hewan.

The prosperity of the mining industry is also based on the abundance of food. For example, the lead mine of the Hobart family previously had to capture and purchase hundreds of miners to mine in addition to the miners.

This is the limit of what the Hobart family can invest. Any more will affect their agricultural production.

However, after joining the United Knights, the River Bay Mining Team moved in, the mine's labor force doubled, and production capacity increased fivefold.

At the same time, the Hobart family no longer needed to bear the military expenses of the territory, and only raised dozens of private soldiers in their own family for self-defense.

After increasing income and reducing expenditure, the Hobart family's wealth increased significantly within a year, and the family members became wealthy overnight.

A mere local Fangqi family began to wear gold and silver, and no longer used lead objects, but instead used more high-end copper objects.

The same was true for the Petukhov family in the southwest. They simply handed over the military power to Hewan and focused on the development of their own industries, and the family's strength also increased.

Only Isenkulov in the northeast remained silent. In a private meeting with Rigolav and Rudolf, the head of the family, Arnold, mocked the two heads of the family for their short-sightedness.

Without the autonomy of the territory and the right to conscript soldiers, they became lambs to be slaughtered and could be manipulated by others.

What's the point of accumulating more money? Once the relationship breaks down, your savings will become someone else's cake.

Leo didn't care about him. What he wanted was to effectively control the area, not just to enclose land. The current team of the River Bay Lord's Mansion was already struggling to effectively control the three areas, and there was no need to be greedy for the territory in the northeast.

Besides being unwilling to lead his loyal corner flagmen to hand over their military power and join the United Knights, Arnold was extremely well-behaved in other aspects.

In previous years, he would bargain with the former city lord Tariq every year, asking for a reduction in taxes for the year. Now that it is Leo's turn to be the overlord, he has to pay taxes and serve in the military every year without any ambiguity.

The northeast of Isenbor was originally the area with the highest level of land development and the most densely populated. In order to avoid conflicts with River Bay, Arnold provided a large amount of food and labor. According to the traditional values ​​of the North, everyone would praise his loyalty and righteousness and find no fault with him.

During this expedition, at the Lords' Assembly whose power had been hollowed out and existed in name only, Arnold once again volunteered to continue to be Leo's deputy.

But this time, Leo did not plan to bring miscellaneous soldiers into the battlefield again, so he appointed him as the commander of the auxiliary corps, responsible for the logistics supply tasks of the main corps.

Leo's departure was not kept secret in the circle, and soon even Arina Mishe in the western border got the news.

At this time, she was following her father, Shilatu Talhan, to besiege the main city of the Yuezhong tribe, one of the four tribes in the western grasslands.

In just one year, the Yuezhong tribe, which was originally as powerful as the Talhan tribe, had suffered three consecutive defeats. Its main force was completely destroyed, all its branch cities were lost, and the main city was surrounded by the army.

Arina Mishe, who was still supervising the siege, received a letter from his younger brother Yue Gechar, so he put down the war in his hands and rushed thousands of miles to Hewan to request to participate in this expedition.