There were more than two hundred people in the expedition team. Among them, fifty were half-elf and half-human archers, ten were drow scouts, ten were half-elf rangers, ten were dwarf defenders, thirty were barbarian warriors, thirty were centaur rangers, and the rest were all Spear Guards.
Suhlen had also arranged for some winged spellcasters to follow the expedition team. With the addition of transport personnel and construction workers, the total number of the expedition team was close to a thousand. Luckily, there were plenty of horses in North Town City, so they could carry a lot of supplies. Otherwise, the expedition team would be even bigger.
The expedition team's mission was to build a stronghold on the eastern coast. At the same time, they had to clear the surrounding wasteland monsters. Not only did they have to build a stronghold, but they also had to open up the entire Red Sand River.
After all, water transportation was much better than land transportation. Even in the twenty-first century of his past life, sea transportation was still the cheapest way to transport large quantities of goods. If Suhlen wanted to trade with the countries of the eastern continent, the Red Sand River had to be unobstructed.
According to the map given by the adventurers, North Town City was about fifteen hundred kilometers away from the estuary of the Red Sand River. With such a long distance, they had to set up some strongholds and transit stations along the way. Monsters were everywhere in the wasteland. Without a safe place to rest, the trade route would become very dangerous. At the same time, they had to set up transit stations to replenish all kinds of food supplies.
A distance of 1,500 kilometers would require at least five stronghold transit stations. If this trade route was successfully opened, these stronghold transit stations along the way would soon become new towns and cities on this trade route.
However, in order to accomplish all this, Suhlen had to face a very difficult problem. Population. The population of North Town City was too small. The entire Duchy of North Wind's population did not exceed four hundred thousand. They had to migrate from the Kingdom of Florence. In the end, they had to spend a lot of money.
Fortunately, Suhlen had been reforming the Florentine Kingdom bit by bit during this period of time. There were a lot of poor people in many areas. Under Phyllis's arrangement, these poor people would be forcibly sent to Northtown to supplement the population of Northwind Principality.
Suhlen planned to make the Duchy of North Wind's population exceed one million in two to three years. North Town City's population would reach three hundred thousand to four hundred thousand. Mirror Lake City's population would reach one hundred thousand. The new city would also have a population of one hundred thousand. Because of the maple trees planted around the new city, Suhlen named it Maple City.
Of the remaining population, two hundred thousand would be arranged in the vast plains outside the city. Suhlen planned to build a dozen or so large towns there, while the rest would be arranged in the strongholds to be built on the Red River.
According to the weather conditions in the northern wasteland, Suhlen would stop after a hundred kilometers. The further north they went, the colder the weather would get, and the stronger the monsters in the wasteland would become. Suhlen planned to use this hundred kilometers as a buffer zone for North Town City.
In this way, the Duchy of North Wind's territory would become very strange. It would be long from east to west and narrow from north to south. However, this was only temporary. Suhlen planned to slowly develop the southern part of the northern wasteland, which meant that he would continue to develop from Mirror Lake City to the south.
The weather in the south of Mirror Lake City would be warmer. Although there was not as much rain as in the south of Florence due to the mountain range, it was still good. As long as this place was cleaned up, it would be able to grow food and feed more people.
In the southeast of Northtown City, after crossing the swamp, there were grasslands and forests. There were also many resources there. Suhlen planned to take over this place in the future.
Two days later, the exploration team was finally ready. Suhlen personally led the exploration team along the Red River to the east coast. According to the description on the map, following the Red River to the south was the direction of the sea.
Suhlen and the others took a boat down the river, while the army marched on the shore. Since the centaurs raised livestock, there were a lot of horses in Northtown City. The team in front of them had two horses per person. Even the workers were riding horses.
The Red River meandered for three hundred kilometers before turning into a plain. It would also pass through the swamp and eventually merge into the sea.
This area was considered an uncivilized area. Many tribes lived in the wasteland. One of them was a tribe of over three hundred barbarians. When the exploration team from Northtown City arrived, they volunteered to join them. Although Suhlen did not expand his territory here, his reputation in the wasteland was growing as Northtown City rose.
The monsters that Northtown City defeated had spread the name of the city. These barbarians admired Suhlen's reputation, so they came to join him. Of course, part of the reason was that these barbarians were too poor. When Suhlen saw them, most of them were wearing tattered animal hides, and their weapons were very simple.
The leading barbarian chief's iron axe was covered in rust. There were even bubbles and iron slag that had not melted yet. Many of them were holding thick wooden sticks and bone weapons. Although they were poor, they were still quite strong. Suhlen left two barbarians who were familiar with the area. The rest of them were led back to Northtown City by two barbarian warriors.
According to the Barbarians, this plain was called the Nidorian Plains. The most powerful tribe was the Centaurs, followed by the Orcs. However, they weren't large in scale. The Centaurs only had five thousand people, the Orcs had four thousand, and the rest were small tribes.
Suhlen did not touch these tribes for the time being. He was trying to build a stronghold. As long as these tribes did not provoke him, he would not touch them. Moreover, Northtown City did not have enough manpower. Even if they defeated these tribes, they would not be able to take over the plain. In the end, new tribes and monsters would take over the plain. It was a thankless task.
Strictly speaking, the distance between Northtown City and the sea was not as far as fifteen hundred kilometers. This distance was mainly due to the winding Red Sand River. If they were to calculate the distance in a straight line, Northtown City would be around a thousand kilometers from the sea.
The Red Sand River originated from the depths of the Sierra de Lotas to the north of Northtown City. The White Water River originated from there as well. The two rivers had formed a large alluvial plain over the past few thousand years.
The White Water River flowed east, then turned north, and finally merged into the ocean. In fact, the White Water River was closer to the ocean, but Su Lun did not choose the White Water River, because he had observed it in the Astral Boundary. The sea area where the White Water River merged into was too far north, and would be frozen in winter. On the contrary, the Red Sand River was an ice-free port.
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