Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 320 - 26: Don’t We Have an Army?

It looks like the fighting won’t break out anytime soon.

The Divine Mysterious itself is also engaged in a war against Cangyue.

A full-scale war between kingdoms can normally last one or two years.

Under such circumstances, waging war against another power is nearly as difficult as ascending to heaven.

More than a hundred years ago.

This land was in chaos, with rampant barbarism, and the Church Court struggled to preach, barely wielding some influence.

The rise of the Conquerors pushed the Church Court’s power back to the peninsula of Divine Mysterious and sealed it there.

But the subsequent hundred years of peaceful development also brought profound influence to the Church Court.

The Black Iron Land has tens of millions of All Gods’ believers — most of whom are shallow believers who only pray "All Gods above," with the proportion of fanatics so low as to be negligible in the face of tens of millions.

Even so, when the Holy War Army raised its flag in Kant Territory, it attracted over ten thousand believers in just a few months.

However, if one were to mobilize on a large scale, the master of Black Iron is still a hurdle that can’t be bypassed.

Divine Mysterious has been negotiating with Black Iron, hoping to gain the mobilization rights of the grassroots believers.

The Black Iron King wouldn’t agree because the Church Court’s initiation of the Holy War would expend the war potential of Black Iron Land.

With the Nu Chao family’s ambiguous stance, the master of Black Iron had to suppress the Church Court’s offensive through milder political means to avoid intensifying conflicts.

Despite the shabby state of the Conqueror Order, it can still exert its effectiveness at critical times.

So, the current situation is a tug-of-war between ecclesiastical authority and royal power.

It seems like a standoff where both sides are wary.

According to Roman’s view, the Black Iron King is bound to lose sooner or later, and now it’s just midday.

Roman’s concern is not about whose political skills are more adept, but whose military might is stronger.

The Black Iron King has a fragile stick in hand that breaks with a wave.

The Church Court is a true wolf that, once it tastes a bit of blood, no one will be able to hold back.

The world is still unclear about the true mobilization capacity of the Church Court, and perhaps the Church itself has not come to its senses — it doesn’t know its own strength — that’s how it is with powers too vast.

The reality is, once the Church Court operates at full capacity, Black Iron Land will be engulfed in war instantly, there will be no chance to quell the rebellion, and the master of Black Castle will be like a lone boat in a vast sea. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

After all, with the name of Holy War now proclaimed by the Church, if it develops for another two years, an extreme zeal for faith in the crusade could indeed shatter all the Earth Countries.

The question is, it’s much better to follow the stupid Church than to follow the stupid Nobles.

Unless the Black Iron King can find strong support — Roman just happened to play that role.

He had done everything that needed to be done.

Before settling down the Black Iron King, neither Divine Mysterious nor the Church Court posed a threat to Origin Territory or Fertility Territory.

Roman felt very assured to let his troops take part in production.

Because there really weren’t enough people to do the work.

He had to stay in Fertile City and seize the time for spring plowing, while spring plowing in Origin City had also begun.

Large-scale sowing required mobilizing a substantial number of hands.

And with Origin City having to send a huge amount of supplies to Fertile City, this meant diverting some administrative power to maintain the transportation line.

The isolation between the two cities became the biggest problem plaguing both Origin City and Fertile City.

This difficulty must be solved!

Though he could convey orders through the Beast Witch, it was highly inefficient and the transportation of supplies was troublesome.

Therefore, Roman was eager to carve through the mountain, to build a bridge across the river, and to completely open up Origin City’s passage to the outside world.

The mountain carving project was immense, with a scale and difficulty beyond imagination; the human and material resources required were incalculable, so to start now was impossible.

First things first, though — deal with the current matters at hand.

Before Roman deployed his troops, the meadow pastures of Origin City had been completed, and grass seeds were also sown.

The number of pigs and sheep to be grazed was calculated in tens of thousands, Origin City had allicin which could be used for livestock, and the epidemic prevention system was also very complete. Strict sanitary control was enforced, and any sick animals had to be isolated immediately.

This year’s piglets and lambs were all bred from high-quality boar and ewe stock, blessed by Gwivelle.

By autumn, he would have tens of thousands more adult pigs and sheep, and the quality of their meat could be eagerly anticipated.

On Fertile City’s side.

It took Roman a full twenty days to count the population of Fertile City amidst the laboring.

A total of over forty-three thousand people.

Among them, over ten thousand were old residents of Kant Territory, who had escaped Roman’s plunder and had not fled Kant Territory.

Another ten thousand or so were from the Holy War Army. Their morale was truly high. Roman had slaughtered six thousand of them in the sweeping battle, breaking their spirits, and then he hanged a group of them, who became completely his slaves—they were also closely watched, forbidden to gather. Each bore a scar on their faces, a square symbol that marked them as slaves. If the wounds got infected and they died, it was of no concern; people were abundant.

The largest group turned out to be the followers of the Holy War Army who sought refuge with them, amounting to over twenty thousand. They had already fled directly on the battlefield.

But where could they flee to?

These people had originally escaped from other nobles’ lands to join the Holy War Army. If they fled back, they would no doubt be beaten to death by their lords.

They could only run back to Kant Territory, anxiously awaiting Roman’s judgment.

Roman said nothing.

Just hurry up and farm.

Such a large piece of land.

If we delay any further, it will be too late.

He enforced a regime of terrible dictatorship, using the military’s deterrent force and prioritizing production. The war had just ended at the beginning of the month, yet by the end of the month, he had already deeply plowed thirty thousand acres of land.

But new problems arose.

"No matter what it takes, we must transport ten thousand tons of peat from Origin City!" Roman said unequivocally to the two commanders.

Origin City had a fleet of over a hundred and ten ships. Each small ship could easily carry ten tons, all obtained from captures—shipbuilding was too difficult, with long production cycles needing lots of resources and effort.

But the difficulty of transportation was considerable.

Without transport, there would be no fertilizer available.

Roman had collected all the manure and silt fermentation fertilizer available in Fertile City, which amounted to only a few thousand tons of manure. It was simply not enough.

Even if ten thousand tons of peat were obtained, it still would not be sufficient.

For a hundred thousand acres of land, averaging just over three hundred pounds of peat and manure per acre, it could only be said to be barely enough.

Dick’s expression was troubled: "We don’t have the transportation capacity."

Water conveyance was manageable. The dock of Origin City could make three round trips to King’s Crossing in a single day.

But transporting from King’s Crossing to Fertile City was the real challenge. Even though they could take the wide and level secondary Black Iron Avenue, without thousands of cattle and horses, it would be impossible to transport.

Roman calmly said, "We don’t have cattle and horses, but don’t we have the army?"

The deputy commander was momentarily speechless.

He thought it over but had nothing to rebut with.

The physical fitness of the soldiers was far superior to that of the common peasants. They were better at cooperating, and with enough manpower, even a cart carrying several thousand pounds could be pulled.

Especially those at the Conquest Knight level—their efficiency in pulling carts was comparable to a skinny horse.

After all, a skinny horse needed rest, while the human cooling system was superior to that of livestock, with greater endurance and faster recovery.

Now they understood the feelings of Green and Aaron when they first arrived at Sige Town.

Not to mention squadron leaders and squad leaders, even the deputy commanders had to take a leading role, as the military regulations were very clear.

"I understand," Jet said expressionlessly. "I will make the arrangements."

He was the commander, but he understood better than anyone what the peat meant.

If the army suffered for a while, he would bear the brunt of the criticism.

The army would endure hardship for a while in exchange for those poor people having something to eat this year.

Roman continued, "Mobilize several thousand trackers from Origin City to pull the ships against the current."

The downstream King’s Crossing could transport supplies, and the Bridgehead of Fertile City upstream could also bring them in.

Hundreds of trackers, pulling long ropes along both banks, could propel ships carrying tens of tons against the current, and once they passed Silver Dragon Canyon, the route would be shorter and quicker than the journey to King’s Crossing.