Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 19: Parents' Planning

“How do you know that?” Claude was curious.

Bok Al whispered in Claude's ear: "My father was excited to be home last night and stayed in the study for a long time. When I went to the study this morning, I saw a map on the table with three lines.

A black line is the sea route from White Deer Town to Port Neru, which is long overdue. A red line runs north from our town of White Deer, connecting several islands in the stormy sea, and then continues north until Tilsim, our kingdom, is under the direct authority of the mainland of Nubian... ”

“So I guess your father and my father are trying to open up such a route.” Bok Al was also excited to share with Claude what he found out about his father, the big plan that adults were planning, a secret that made him proud:

“My father had previously analysed with me that it was not easy to upgrade Bai Lu Town from a town to a city, free from the jurisdiction of Baromyse County, simply because of population growth and commercial prosperity, unless its strategic position in the kingdom could be enhanced.

Being a white deer town at the crossroads of the three southwestern counties to the diplomatic corridors, its position was not very strategic in peacetime, and business travel more often regarded it as a supply point than as a trading ground for bulk commodities or a wholesale market with concentrated raw materials.

So my father believed that if White Deer Town was to be upgraded to a city, it would have to occupy a key place in the strategic setting of the kingdom. Although these aspects of the market, workshop, raw materials cannot compete with the three counties in the southwest, Bai Lu Town is close to the sea and has the natural deep water strait lake of Bailinga Lake, upgraded to Hong Kong City has a unique geographical advantage.

I wish my father and your father had made their plans come true, and once this route has been successfully opened, the development of White Deer Town will be on the horizon. Even the successful implementation of the Bangis Gorge plan proposed by Similoch County will not stop us from flying in White Deer Town... ”

Claude nodded and Boquer was absolutely right. If this route succeeded, then the strategic position of White Deer Town would rise in a straight line in the Kingdom's layout, and it would be an unquestionable fact to upgrade to a city.

From the map of the kingdom of Ovilas, the three southwest counties are like a gourd surrounded by mountains, and even those facing the sea to the north are cliffs and rocky. And Bai Lu Town is just at the mouth of the gourd, which makes it a major transportation route outside the three counties in the southwest.

In addition, from the map of the Farea continent, the northwest of the three counties facing the sea is a great bay, just like a large cake bitten into a large chunk, and the location of White Deer Town is at the bottom of this recess. From the Gulf Gate to Bai Lu Town, it takes not only a day, but also a waterway that stretches over ten miles.

So even this maritime commercial trade corridor from the Kingdom to the countries of the western part of the continent essentially ignores Bai Lu Town, a coastal fishing port, and instead runs straight through the bay entrance. Only those ships that have been hit by a storm or are in distress at sea would they have thought of going to White Deer Town for supplies and ship repairs.

That is also why the fishing port of White Deer Town has been overlooked by the Kingdom's high level in its desire to expand its armed forces at sea. Compared to Port Neru, Bai Lu Town, with a deep-water lake in the Strait, Lake Bai Ringa, which is large enough to accommodate two or three pelagic battleship formations and does not worry about natural disasters such as the storm tsunami, has restricted access to the waterways for more than a decade.

In addition, at the time of the outbreak of the naval war, the geographical location of the fishing port in Bai Lu Town was also extremely unfavourable, and the enemy used only a few battleships to keep our battleships from forming out of the waterway. Even if the enemy fleet is unable to seal off our battleships in Lake Beringa, it can set up a second line of closure at the bay entrance, holding all our battleships in the bay with just one split fleet, preventing them from reaching the main battlefield.

Finally, in the Kingdom's version of the map, the geographical location of the three southwestern counties is too remote, and it takes three days to sail from White Deer Town to Port Neru. And the Kingdom's fearless fleet, in the event of a maritime battle with the Eastern Five United Fleet, can only be located in the waters of the Kingdom to the east or further northeast. From the outbreak of naval warfare to the formation of battleships arranged in Lake Beringa to the battlefield, the old saying means thank you for the yellow flowers, you only came...

Both maritime commerce and Kingdom armaments neglected Bai Lu Town, a fishing port town, so that Bai Lu Town could only develop maritime fisheries. The problem is that inconvenience also affects the development of fisheries, for example, from White Deer Town to County City, where the need for seafood is only a day away, and not all people can afford to catch it. Unless it is a catch of rare varieties, large quantities of common aquaculture are shipped to county cities for sale, perhaps at a loss of freight or something.

As far as shipping elsewhere is concerned, the mountainous hills of the three southwest counties, apart from Baromyse County, Balevia County, take at least two or three days of carriage to other towns and stink before they reach the catches on the way. So now the biggest industry in Bai Lu Town is the production of dried seafood, which is also the most famous specialty of Bai Lu Town.

If Bok Al's conjectured father was planning a major event that would open a direct route from White Deer Town to Tilsim on the Nubian mainland, then success in White Deer Town would be a top priority in the Kingdom's strategic set-up.

The new route will not only reduce the Kingdom's voyage to the continent of Nubicia for more than a decade, but most importantly rid it of the disadvantages of maritime strategy. The fearless fleet will no longer have to scrupulously defend that maritime lifeline, and they will even be able to challenge the joint fleet to block threats from the sea from the enemy beyond the realm's waters.

In addition to the increase in strategic position, the opening of this new route is commercially more valuable, by which time Bai Lu Town is likely to become the largest transit point in the Kingdom for a variety of raw materials commodities from the Nubian mainland, the first-hand wholesale commodity purchasing market. No wonder Bok Al's father was so excited when he returned last night. He stayed in the study for so long. As a famous businessman in White Deer Town, he naturally realizes how many business opportunities it contains and how much profit he can reap...

When you think about last night's banquet, Ericsson's father was there, opening a new route would be the most famous Captain O'Trooney in White Deer Town. It is well known that Captain Otruni is the most familiar captain of the stormy waters off the Gulf, and that his Red Sea Shark pelagic fishing vessel has hunted those rare catches countless times deep into the stormy waters, where he knows exactly how many island reefs there are.

With this captain, the storm waters are not threatened, and all that remains is to head north through the silent ocean between the two continents, which is also the greatest test for opening this new route. Compared to the route across the Silent Ocean in the eastern corner of the continent, the width of this Silent Ocean is several times greater. What danger lies in the infinite ocean is unpredictable to anyone...

“Do you know where my father drew the red line?” Bok Al mysteriously said, "You may not have guessed that my father drew a red line between Lake Beringa and the Khmeda Swamp, and the Normandis River in Dodsus County. I think they're trying to connect these three places to a canal. In that case, merchandise shipments in the three southwestern counties need not be transported by long highway overland routes, which can be transported directly from the waterway to our town of Bai Lu, reducing transportation costs and shortening shipping dates…"

Bok Al has some exciting hand-dancing: “Think about it, if both routes are successful, we Bai Deer Town can jump to become the most important southwestern town in the Kingdom, even if the counties of the three southwestern counties are not important to Bai Deer Town, we will develop here as the largest port city in the southwest...”

Claude grabbed his hand and pulled it down: "Shh, shh, shh. You got Vincent's attention. And why are you so excited? ”

“Er...” Boc Al sat down in a hurry, seeing Vincent on the podium no longer paying attention to his side, lowering his voice and asking Claude, "Did my father and your father surprise you when they planned the opening of these two routes? This is a big plan to change the future of White Deer Town! I was very excited when I thought about it, as Mr. Elim used to say when we teach history, that we are in a flood of time-changing history, that we are witnessing history and that history is witnessing our every move. ”

“Pfft...” Claude couldn't help it. After all, Bok Al, like himself, is sixteen years old. At this age, the youngster is the second best offender, and Bok Al has always been proud to be born in White Deer Town, which is also brainwashed by history books, because history books say that White Deer Town is the origin of the Kingdom's revival...

“Boa, I understand everything you just said, and I was shocked by this big plan that our fathers and fathers had planned. But you think we're just a 16-year-old junior high school student, and we have the ability to intervene or to help our fathers achieve this big plan?

As you can imagine, my father and your father are planning the opening of these two new routes, but the plan is just a plan, and like the Bongis Gorge plan proposed by Similoch County, the budget is so huge that it still stays on paper. And now we don't know how much money our father needs for this new route plan that they are preparing, and how to get it together... ”

Because of the geographic environment, the three southwestern counties are the closest, most conservative and most remote part of the kingdom of Orvillas, with only White Deer Town, a major diplomatic corridor, lagging behind the rest of the kingdom. To that end, the Conscious Man of West Milloch County proposed the Banguis Gorge Plan, which took five or six years to pool more than 100,000 young and strong labor and open an external passage from the Banguis Gorge in the Farings Mountains.

If the Bongis Gorge plan succeeds, then there will be another main road to the outside world in the three southwestern counties and the property of the three southwestern counties will be freely accessible within the kingdom, which will greatly enhance the economic capacity of the three southwestern counties and better integrate them into the economic development of the kingdom.

The only bad thing about this plan is that once the construction is successful, it will significantly reduce the status of Bai Lu Town, the three southwestern counties, at the diplomatic junction. By then, it is conceivable that all business trips through Bai Lu Town will choose to travel to and from the three southwestern provinces of Banguis, where travel is easier and shorter.

So when the White Deer Morning News published this Bungis Gorge project, it was verbally abused by the residents of Bungis Town, but the good news soon came that the Bungis Gorge project had a budget of 300,000 gold kroner, or 1.5 million silver taller, which is equivalent to 150 million yuan if one silver taller is calculated as one million yuan.

With such a huge construction budget stuck in the National Assembly, the Lords' Assembly would not support such a costly transport project, especially now that it is still a budget, and the actual construction does not know how much additional money is required, and nobody is willing to assume that responsibility.

“Got it?” Claude looks at Boquer: “All we can do now is keep quiet and divulge this plan to our fathers. We don't have the ability to help them, so wish them success...”