Winter has arrived, dripping water turns to ice, and everything is silent. The earth is covered with white snow, and there are snowfields as far as the eye can see. A lone wolf howled desperately in the wilderness, and then even this only voice that represented life disappeared in the boundless snow.
However, in this dark world of ice and snow, in Kislev City, the capital of the northern kingdom of Kislev, hundreds of arsenals and smelters are operating around the clock.
The huge wealth brought from the pit of hell is being continuously invested in the development of heavy industry. At Rhodes's suggestion, politician Holstar Katfar Brandiotto visited the border city of Baker City between the empire and Kislev.
, founded the Mithril Brotherhood.
On the surface, this organization helps poor craftsmen in the empire tide over difficulties, but in fact it is an extradition agency that specializes in poaching people.
Kislev spies who have infiltrated the empire are specifically looking for craftsmen and artists who live in poverty and are not favored by the empire. They first get to know and contact them on the pretext of enthusiastically supporting them to tide over difficulties, and then lure them to work in Kislev with high technology.
Through this method, hundreds of imperial craftsmen have moved to Kislev in just two months in winter.
When the world was still immersed in peace and tranquility, it seemed that in the entire Old Continent, only the northern kingdom of Kislev was actively preparing for war. Moreover, this order was top-down, and it almost ran through Kislev's more than ten years of history.
A turbulent development process.
Although this approach seemed outrageous to outsiders, only Rhodes, the supreme ruler of this kingdom, knew the pros and cons.
Over time, even Queen Dennis unconsciously recognized the fact that Chaos was about to invade. There is a proverb that a lie told ten thousand times will become the truth. What's more, what Rhodes said was not a lie, day after day, year after year.
A year of whispering in the ears of her daughter Dennis made Dennis subconsciously regard the Chaos invasion as a fact.
After the long winter, on the last day of December, Rhodes heard a piece of good news from the north.
A letter from Black Hammer Castle. The letter states that the dwarf engineers from Dulong City completed the subway construction project of the deep mine last month. This news may not be great news to other people, but for
For Rhodes, the value of this news is beyond the times.
The next day after learning the news, Rhodes took Alves and Galt to Blackhammer Castle for an inspection.
The three of them all knew why Rhodes took this news so seriously, because Rhodes had told them all about the Kislev train plan before. The plan would use the dwarf mine track as the prototype and basis to build railway tracks throughout Kislev.
The towns are connected together by rails, and then a means of transportation called trains are used to connect the towns.
As for the style and concept of the train, Rhodes has told them many times, especially Galt. As an alchemist, he is responsible for the important task of manufacturing trains and improving power devices.
When they arrived at Blackhammer Castle, the dwarf engineer Merlin had been waiting at the castle gate for a long time. Without any unnecessary nonsense, the engineer and his team took Rhodes directly to the deep mine.
Working non-stop and without rest did not make Rhodes and his party feel tired or sleepy. On the contrary, because of this news, the three of them felt invigorated.
"Great Lord, I did not inform you immediately when this track was built. After all, this is the first underground track that truly runs through the entire mine. This track truly connects the entire mine. Through it, you
It can reach any corner of the deep mine. Such a huge project requires acceptance, so I spent a week checking it repeatedly until I confirmed that it can operate safely. Then I wrote to you. "
"You did the right thing, Merlin. Thank you for your hard work, my friend."
Rhodes said, patting the engineer's shoulder sincerely, without showing any arrogance from his superiors to his subordinates. Of course, the dwarf engineer is not actually a subordinate of Rhodes, he just works in Kislev temporarily. Once
Lord Sogard of Dulong City has an order, and they will go back immediately. That is their lord.
"Currently, the track adopts a single-track design, and each mining area has a station responsible for dispatching mine cars. I have not adopted the double-track design you mentioned, because that will inevitably consume more steel, and more importantly, the construction time will be extended by a month.
More than times. In order to achieve results as quickly as possible, I first designed a monorail system."
The engineer took Rhodes to visit this underground track, talking as he walked. For a moment, Rhodes felt as if he had traveled to modern times and was in the excavation area of an underground coal mine, except that there was no safety helmet or lights on his head.
At the moment, they are moving forward holding torches. The firelight shines on the cave wall, flickering brightly and dimly. The occasional rat walking through the mining area has become a signal that the mine is safe.
"What I mean is, Merlin, please help me move this set of tracks above ground. I want to try it out first and build a railway connecting Blackhammer and Heidelberg. Underground construction can be done, so it shouldn't be difficult above ground, right?"
"
After visiting the transportation track of the deep pit mine, Rhodes asked the engineer about the possibility of building an above-ground railway as soon as he came out of the mine.
"Theoretically, it's possible, but Great Lord, the main problem in building above-ground railway tracks is not the technical problem, but the construction period. No matter how long the underground track is, it will only be the distance inside the mine. A large mine can only be the largest one.
A small city, and what you want to build is a railway that spans two towns. This distance is dozens or hundreds of times longer than an ordinary mine track."
"It took half a year from the start of construction to the completion and inspection of this subway mine tunnel. If, as you said, a similar railway is to be built between Heidelberg and Blackhammer, I estimate that the construction period will take at least three years.
"
"Is manpower part of the factor limiting the construction schedule?"
Rhodes asked.
"It's part of it, but what's more important is the maintenance of the above-ground track. Although the construction of the underground track is more difficult, there is almost no possibility of being destroyed by foreign enemies after it is completed, but the above-ground track is different. Beastman,
Greenskins may appear at any time and destroy the track. Once a node along the way is destroyed on the entire track, the train you mentioned cannot run. It is not like a road. Even if the road surface is destroyed, the carriage can still go around it. Unlike railway tracks,
Once one area is damaged, it is impossible for a railcar to pass over the damaged area."
"If you want to ensure the normal progress of railway construction, you need to send troops to patrol along the railway day and night, but you yourself know that this is impossible."
The engineer spread his hands and shook his head.
"Maybe it was impossible before, but not necessarily now. The Great Wall has been built. The north of Blackhammer Castle is blocked and protected by a natural wall. It is almost impossible for the barbarians and beastmen in the north to break through this line of defense. The reason why I
We chose to open a railway between Blackhammer Castle and Heidelberg because this area is actually very safe. There is the Great Wall to the north and Erengrad to the south. There is no way for beastmen or greenskins to break into this area. Even if there are, they will not.
There are very few fish that have slipped through the net. So you don’t have to worry about safety issues. Compared with safety issues, I am more concerned about the impact of weather and geological structure on rail laying.”
Rhodes asked.
"This is indeed a problem," the dwarf engineer frowned. "As far as I know, the journey from Blackhammer Castle to Heidelberg requires passing through permafrost. This is not the Norsca Peninsula, and many permafrost layers are not
Permafrost will change with seasonal changes. In summer, the ice in the permafrost will melt, causing geological changes, which is not a good thing for railway tracks."
"Of course, I have also come up with certain ways to solve this problem, such as preventing the melting of permafrost ice, or directly building bridges and laying tracks."
The engineer went on to say——
"When the railway reaches the permafrost layer, a low bridge is erected so that the rails are not in direct contact with the ground, so as to avoid the impact of geological changes in the permafrost layer on the railway."
"Dry bridge..."
Rhodes said smoothly.
"This is a good name. I agree. It just looks like a bridge, not a bridge in the true sense."
The dwarf engineer clapped his hands in agreement.
"Then, the next step is up to you, Gelt. The dwarves have already built the railway tracks and are waiting for you to improve the means of transportation."
Rhodes turned to face the mage and said.
You can see the embarrassed expression on Geert's face. Obviously, he still has not completed the improvement and manufacturing of the train.