Chapter 217: Ships and the Marshal

Long Lake, about fifty kilometers long from north to south and twenty kilometers wide from east to west, is embedded in the northern land like a flawless emerald.

The Running River from the Lonely Mountain pours in from the north of the lake, while the Mirkwood River, flowing through the Woodland Realm, rushes in from the west to converge with the Running River.

And when the river water fills the Long Lake, which was originally a canyon, the current flows around a massive rock and falls along the southern end of the lake, forming a waterfall that emits a tremendous sound.

Afterwards, the water falling from the heights continues to flow toward the south, until it reaches the Sea of Rhun further away.

The military port in Allen's plan is built downstream of this waterfall; here, due to the constant erosion of the river over the years, there is an extremely wide river channel and a large, flat riverbank, which is more than enough to complete Allen's plan.

At this moment, Allen, who had arrived at Long Lake Town a day ago, is standing on the shore of this port with his subordinates, watching, together with Yamila, as a pure white flat-bottomed river boat is pushed into the river by hundreds of shipwrights.

This is a vessel completely different from seagoing sailing ships; its front and back are not a keel running from bow to stern to support the hull, but rather a flat surface made of several neatly bound wooden planks, with only the bottom of the ship showing a knife-like sharp point.

The perimeter of the hull is built with parapets for protection, and including the deck, there are three levels of cabins.

And the Shipbuilding Master Yintalier from Lindon is standing nearby, introducing the details of this ship.

"The flat-bottomed boat entering the water now should meet your requirements. Its speed is not fast, but it has an extremely wide platform and strong load-bearing capacity. The first deck can carry up to fifty fully armed soldiers and provide them with enough space to shoot arrows. At the stern and the bow, I have designed platforms that can each hold four large ballistae, and the two sides of the ship also have mounts that can be equipped with those rapid-fire crossbows, fifteen on the left and fifteen on the right. Your soldiers can attack the enemy through the embrasures while standing on the second level, and you can also store many supplies there, while the bottom level of the ship can be arranged for sailors to perform rowing operations."

As a technician of this era, apart from the data related to the ship, there were no other elements in Yintalier's words.

And among the Teleri, in fact, the vast majority of shipbuilding masters are male Elves, while female Elves use their nimble hands to weave sails for sea ships; a female Elf like Yintalier who studies the craft of shipbuilding is actually an anomaly among the Falathrim.

Perhaps it is precisely because she could not obtain true recognition among her own kind that this extremely tall female Elf with long black hair accepted Cirdan's mission and traveled thousands of miles to Long Lake Town to build ships more suitable for great rivers.

"Of course, I have not only designed this large ship as a combat platform, but also two other types of small boats to cooperate with it. The first type is mainly characterized by speed and can carry fifteen soldiers. It is used to cooperate with the large ship in battle, or for some tasks that require rapid movement, such as pursuing fleeing enemies or quickly supporting allies who are currently in battle."

Yintalier, who kept introducing information about the ships, had silvery-white eyes that seemed to be glowing.

"And the biggest feature of the other type is that it is very easy to operate; one or two people can maintain a decent speed on the river, and its loading capacity is also good. My original intention in designing it was for transporting troops, but thinking about it carefully, it might be more suitable for transporting supplies, or it wouldn't be impossible to use it for commercial trade. By the way, the wooden planks used for these three types of ships have been specially treated to defend against minor attacks and ordinary fire, so they can also ensure considerable sturdiness in battle."

After finishing the introduction, Yintalier turned to look at Allen and asked with a hopeful face: "How is it? Your Majesty Allen, who rules Rhovanion, are you satisfied with my work?"

Actually, hearing this from Yintalier, Allen really wanted to explain that he only rules a part of the land of Rhovanion, plus most of the Humans, while other races and most of the forests are not under his control.

But on second thought, forget it, there is nothing to explain.

Allen, whose thoughts had drifted to who knows where, nodded as he watched the warship sailing on the river channel.

"Not bad."

When Allen was recuperating in Pelargir, he had actually seen the sailing ships that Gondor used for fighting at sea. Setting aside the difference in appearance, if the performance of those sailing ships were compared with this white ship before him, the two sides would not be much different; perhaps Yintalier's design is even better.

And in Allen's understanding, whether it was the Numenoreans of Gondor or the Teleri Elves, the original intention for them to build ships was mostly because of their love for the ocean.

So the ships they designed were really just vehicles used to explore the edges of the ocean, not for war.

However, this situation changed in the later period. It is rumored that with the help of Sauron, when Numenor attacked Valinor, the invincible fleet they built even had engines; Allen did not know if the rumor was true.

As for the three types of ships designed by Yintalier, in Allen's view, they were already enough to defend the Running River and the Redwater River, so only one problem remained.

"Yintalier, how long does it take to build one of these largest ships, and is daily maintenance troublesome?"

Hearing Allen's question, a brighter smile appeared on Yintalier's fair face; these words meant that the results of her efforts had already been recognized by Allen.

"According to the current investment, the time required to build a large ship should be about a year. As for maintenance, it is about the same time; some simple upkeep is needed every year. Of course, this is just the hull; I am not very clear about how to maintain the weapons you add to it. In addition, you also need to consider the sails; our people do not provide sails for sale."

Although she had participated in many wars that took place in Eriador, Yintalier, who had always loved the sea, did not really understand why these Humans wanted to turn ships used for sailing into small war fortresses.

And the Elven fleet docked at the Grey Havens rarely carried weapons on their sailing ships; most troubles could be solved by the Elves relying on the bows and arrows in their hands.

"Okay."

After hearing Yintalier's explanation, Allen nodded again and turned to Malherbe on the side, saying: "I need you to increase investment in the later stage and build a fleet as quickly as possible at a pace of four ships a year or faster. Hmm, currently I need twenty large ships and fifty small boats for carrying troops, and after that, the more ships used for transporting goods, the better, because the Anduin River also needs them."

After hearing Allen's order, Malherbe carefully wrote it down, because from today on, he is the Governor in charge of Long Lake Town for Allen.

And on the night of arriving at Long Lake Town, after a simple banquet, Allen had a long conversation with Fatis.

Allen hoped that Fatis could take his newly enfeoffed Knights to the Running River waters and build a defensive military district on the land already developed by the Easterlings to defend against the Easterlings.

The combat strategy is to combine Cavalry with a naval force, trying to intercept the invading Easterlings on the other side of the Redwater River.

The Cavalry can use the speed of their horses to conduct reconnaissance along the riverbanks, and once traces of the enemy are discovered, they can release signals or use the flight speed of animals to transmit information to the naval fleet that can speed across the river surface.

And the warships built as small war fortresses can allow soldiers to use their speed and platforms to conduct long-range attacks on the enemy, obstructing any attempt by troops to cross the river. Moreover, the storage space of the ships is large, which can provide soldiers with a steady stream of ammunition.

Furthermore, the bow and stern of the warship are equipped with large ballistae of terrifying power, which are enough to deal a devastating blow to enemies who want to cross the river.

Even if the number of Easterlings is large and the warships cannot intercept them all, the Cavalry can still entangle with the Easterlings with the assistance of the warships.

In this set of combat plans, the Cavalry only needs to hold on for a very short time, because as long as a large-scale battle occurs, reinforcements from Long Lake Town, Heidelberg, and Dale will also arrive at the boundary river where the enemy is being resisted at the first opportunity, using the ships intended for transport.

So as to avoid losing the most important line of defense in East Rovanion in a short period of time.

Currently, the Cavalry force Allen has assigned to Fatis is as many as 1,400 strong; even with rotating shifts, their numbers are already enough to complete the tasks of reconnaissance and initial resistance against the enemy.

And the first fleet currently under construction, consisting of twenty large ships, is only Allen's first step. As time goes by and with the development of Long Lake Town, Allen will continue to build a second fleet and a third fleet.

According to the plan Allen spent more than half an hour explaining to Fatis, he felt that as long as there were twenty or thirty years of peaceful years, the days of Easterlings harassing Rovanion at will would never appear again.

At least before Allen himself dies, a tragedy like Iron Wall Town will not happen again.

And Fatis, who received Allen's latest order, breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, because he had already had enough of staying in Long Lake Town.

As a direct descendant of the military nobility of the continent of Calradia, the education Fatis received since childhood had absolutely nothing to do with business.

Because most Swadia nobles looked down on merchants at all; they would only find some agents to handle commercial activities and would absolutely never step in themselves.

Therefore, the knowledge Fatis learned was more about how to manage, that is, how to control those who could create wealth for him, rather than how to create wealth himself.

Such a situation caused Fatis to encounter great difficulties in his work in Long Lake Town; he had to deal with merchants every day, but these merchants were not his subordinates, and he could not adopt some gentle means.

And he also had to obtain the most wealth for the kingdom within a reasonable range to realize the plan Allen proposed at this time, which was a bit difficult for a young noble who had been leading troops in battle for years.

In fact, Fatis had done quite well in these few years, because his character was upright enough to provide most people with a fair commercial environment.

And deep down, like Allen, he also carried some kindness, so most of the townspeople of Long Lake Town were very supportive of their Governor.

It was just that Fatis was not particularly happy; he was busy every day like a headless fly, and he did not have the slightest sense of accomplishment in the work he produced.

To put it bluntly, Fatis did not like his current job, but in order to fulfill Allen's order, he persisted.

Therefore, when he heard Allen let him go to East Rovanion to re-establish a territory, Fatis's heart was joyful; this was not only the life and work he liked, but it was also consistent with the education he received since childhood, and he would be very handy at it.

And in order to let Fatis have enough power to accomplish these things, the title Allen gave him was Marshal of East Rhovanion, having the qualification to command all Human soldiers living east of Mirkwood, and at the same time having the right to conscript militia.

At the same time, Allen also enfeoffed the palace of Ashur and the large area of land around that hillside to Fatis, and also gave the naming rights of the territory to this old friend of his.

Furthermore, Allen had already thought it through for Fatis: where his first batch of subjects should be recruited from—that is, the Northern Men living south of the Running River, especially the people living in the Donglin Bay region.

Two years ago, Ashur, who still occupied East Rovanion, also wanted to cross the Running River to capture slaves, but unfortunately, the plan was crushed by Allen's army before it even began, and the Northern Men there were spared a massacre, gaining over a year of peaceful life.

It is just that now, Dol Guldur is once again occupied by evil, and the Orcish and Great Spider are becoming active in the forest again; presumably, the Northern Men there will once again have to live a life of hiding and concealment.

Allen felt that as long as Fatis promoted it effectively and he himself provided some material assistance, attracting a group of residents to live near the Running River under such circumstances should not be a difficult task.

A stable life is enough to attract the attention of most people in the current turbulent situation; the key lies in how Fatis handles it.

As for finding ways to attract people from other regions to live in his own territory, Fatis had also received relevant education; this is not a rare thing on the continent of Calradia, and sometimes nobles from two lands would even lead soldiers to fight fiercely over the loss of peasants.

Because in their view, the commoners in the territory are also their own property, and the loss of subjects is equivalent to others plundering their wealth; this is a matter that needs to be settled with blades.

Some tyrannical lords would even execute commoners who fled their territory.

However, among the nobles of Calradia, Fatis could be considered one of the best, and Allen never worried that this old friend of his would do anything to mistreat his subjects.

In the end, the two old friends who had known each other for over a decade very happily decided on a matter of vital importance to the North.

And this plan would begin in over a month's time, when it would be the season of spring blossoms, just right for the people to once again reclaim land of their own.