Planning

The next day, Victor personally saw Vitri off, watching until the Gorn Trading Company's remaining two ships disappeared into the distance along the coastline.

Victor then followed Jack's fleet, along with the two newly added cargo ships, westward up the Great Fish River back to Wood Fort Town.

"Number 1, open the territory panel." Victor intended to check it; quite a bit of information should have been updated recently.

Soon, the panel information appeared before Victor's eyes.

The territory has currently been divided into two panels based on location. Please select one to open and review.

Golden Sunflower Territory, Bole County (data not updated for 20 days) or Two Rivers Territory, North York County (data updated)

"Two Rivers Territory." Victor directly selected Two Rivers Territory.

Territory Data

Name: Two Rivers Territory

Population: 8,500 people (including 4,500 herdsmen and 3,000 serfs)

Area: 567,521 square kilometers

Towns: 2 (Sea Song Town, Wood Fort Town)

Villages: 4 under planning: Red Soil Village (for growing iron beans), Riverside Village (the current site of the brickworks, future industrial center), Pasture Village (east of Wood Fort Town, future livestock distribution center, with a slaughtering and processing center planned), Green Field Village (in the hilly region east of the territory, serving as the starting point for the territory's agriculture)

Military Strength:

Own troops: 630 men (including 100 archers, 100 crossbowmen, 100 Light Cavalry, 100 barbarian cavalry, 200 spearmen, and 30 guardsmen with swords.)

Hired troops: 450 men (200 Edelweiss Territory light cavalry, 50 Blue Rose Territory mail-clad cavalry, 200 Blue Rose Territory spearmen.)

Public support: 35, below average (31–40)

Description: The people generally considered their living conditions acceptable and held a cautiously optimistic attitude toward the future.

Effects: Stable economic growth, good social order, and a certain degree of recognition for the government.

Main industries: Livestock farming (livestock inventory:

sheep, 500 cattle, 3,000 horses

approximately 1,500 horses were used by the military and engineering teams)

, primary manufacturing, agriculture

Annual income: 0 gold coins

Annual expenditure: 1,600 gold coins (900 gold for various building materials, troop maintenance costs, salaries for officials and workers, as well as allocated bonuses and pensions.)

Infrastructure:

Castle: A brick-and-timber castle using special techniques and building materials. Sturdy and durable, with defensive towers and a moat. Construction progress currently at 50%.

Farmland: Unreclaimed grassland, planned for wheat, barley, and iron beans.

Pastures: Grasslands raising cattle, sheep, and horses, with livestock shelters sufficient to sustain all animals through the winter and a 1,000-cubic-meter silage trench.

Docks: One inland river dock and one seaside dock.

Factories: One brickworks (equipped with one tunnel kiln, producing 1.2 million standard bricks per month)

One charcoal plant (producing 20 tons of charcoal per month)

One machinery factory (under planning; personnel and equipment not yet fully in place)

Victor looked over the current panel. It was indeed much easier on the eyes.

"The UI has been improved well. It looks much neater now."

After briefly reviewing it, Victor closed the panel. He already knew these figures inside out.

The territory was currently spending more than it earned. There were only expenses and no income. The Gorn Trading Company's money, personnel, and supplies would not be delivered until at least next March. Hopefully, iron bean cultivation would bring me good news next year.

At two in the afternoon, the fleet reached Wood Fort Town. Victor disembarked directly and returned to his residence, leaving Captain Jack, Powell, and the other stewards to finish unloading the cargo as quickly as possible.

This time, the fleet had not transported any troops. It had only brought 1,000 serfs and some supplies, the bulk of which was food for the winter. Victor had already ordered the granaries prepared; all that remained was to store the grain.

What Victor cared about most were the Weaponry Workshop equipment and craftsmen that had arrived with the fleet. Many projects had been unable to move forward, or improve their efficiency, due to a lack of sufficient equipment and technical personnel.

After returning to his residence, Victor immediately summoned several senior military officers and directly revealed that he had obtained one hundred sets of Iron Knight Armor and one hundred Armor-Piercing Crossbows, claiming they were aid from Iron Birch Territory.

What surprised him was that no one cared why Iron Birch Territory had provided these prohibited weapons and equipment. Instead, they were eagerly anticipating their issue.

The cavalry commanders in particular argued among themselves over who would equip their troops with the Iron Knight Armor.

Watching them fight over it like children scrambling for candy, Victor made the decision himself. Following the previous plan, half of the hundred sets of armor would go to Knight Jack to establish the territory's first heavy knight unit. Victor planned to place the remaining fifty sets in storage for the time being and make specific arrangements later, temporarily ending the argument. The Armor-Piercing Crossbows were much easier to distribute. Victor directly replaced the equipment of the entire hundred-man crossbow unit. As for the remaining hundred Armor-Piercing Crossbows, he planned to send them back to Bole County with the returning fleet, which was why he had not initially revealed that there were two hundred of them.

Victor used the remaining fifty sets of armor to keep the cavalry captains motivated, demanding that they train hard during this period. Once spring arrived next year, Victor would test each unit. So long as they performed well, they could be equipped with the armor regardless of which force they belonged to.

Victor now regarded the two hundred cavalry rented to him by Edelweiss Territory and the fifty mail-clad cavalry under James as his own troops as well. After all, his agreement with Vitri had finally made him resolve that, if he wanted to seize the initiative in the future, the more troops he had, the better.

Victor then stated that he planned to reorganize the troops over the winter and adjust their formations. There would be no major military operations during winter anyway.

No one objected. During the previous post-battle review meeting, everyone had already reached a consensus on adjusting the military structure.

Victor quickly ended the meeting and arranged for the troops receiving new equipment to go directly to Powell and collect their weapons and gear.

Victor then made a round of the docks and found that cargo loading and unloading had been proceeding in an orderly fashion, but relying entirely on manpower was indeed inefficient.

Victor had previously tasked Number 1 with designing dock tools in the Calculation Module, including a simple wooden crane, but the territory's craftsmen had lacked the necessary skill to put it into practice.

When he found Powell, Victor learned that the Weaponry Workshop craftsmen, tools, and equipment had already been unloaded and sent to the temporary Weaponry Workshop site prepared earlier.

Victor hurried to the Weaponry Workshop site without stopping. He met several master craftsmen and, without bothering with pleasantries, immediately led them into manufacturing a dock crane. Victor provided the design guidance while the master craftsmen handled the actual construction. The process went smoothly, and they completed the first one before nightfall. Victor then immediately sent men to install and use it at the docks, intending to make further improvements through practical use.