Episode 37: Gradual Invasion Plan
“You know… having facilities over there makes me want to build something even bigger,” Eve mused.
“Yes, Ma’am. However, considering the risks of plunder and destruction, it’s still difficult to expand further,” ＜Ringo＞ replied.
About three months had passed since they began defending the port town of Telek. Confirming the gradual shift towards a welcoming atmosphere, ＜Ringo＞ negotiated with the merchant guild and secured a leasehold. It was a small plot of land, only about the size of a warehouse, but having a place where they could install equipment relatively safely made all the difference.
Using the materials they had brought with them, they spent about a week constructing a three-story building. The first and third floors were packed with defensive equipment, while the second floor housed a general-purpose fabrication machine (printer), an atomic decomposition machine (recycler), and a replenishment machine (material filler). This provided them with a certain level of production capability. Although the production speed was slow, it now allowed them to replenish ammunition locally. Fortunately, the raw materials could be extracted from the surrounding soil and stone, so they were secure for the time being. Once they had stockpiled a certain amount, they planned to prototype a few automated combat machines. Mass production would be ideal, but rare metals were difficult to obtain in Telek, and they were somewhat short on materials.
However, the problem was securing a power source. For the time being, they were running each piece of equipment with a diesel engine, but since that required refueling, they needed to come up with a solution. For the immediate future, they had installed solar panels and a vertical (Magnus-type) wind turbine on the roof, but that was far from meeting their power needs. They needed to either acquire another leasehold and install an energy plant, or, at worst, consider connecting to a ＜Paraiso＞ warship.
“Fortunately, we have a decent prospect of obtaining iron to some extent…”
“Yes, Ma’am. For the time being, transportation is the bottleneck, limiting the amount we can obtain, but we have provided technical assistance related to axles and wheels, so I expect that to gradually improve.”
In defending (or rather, seizing) the port town of Telek, ＜Paraiso＞ had provided several forms of technical guidance. One of these was improving transportation efficiency. They taught them how to reinforce wooden axles and wheels with metal, as well as the principles of bearings, dampers, and suspension. They also shared knowledge about structural materials for supporting heavy objects.
Furthermore, they promoted the improvement of roads, emphasizing the importance of crushed stone paving and providing passing places. ＜Ringo＞ judged that laying down a railway, which would drastically increase transportation volume, was beyond their capabilities for now. However, if a new ore vein were discovered, it would be worth considering.
“Would it be faster to provide bearings from our side?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Since the situation is unstable, we want to secure iron ore quickly. Let’s load axles and bearings onto the next transport. Providing about 100 sets should significantly improve transport operations.”
The iron ore’s iron content was estimated to be around 50%. Considering that, it was simply half the transportation efficiency of iron ingots, so they wanted to smelt it locally if possible.
“Hmm. Prepare an atomic decomposition machine (recycler) specialized for iron smelting…? Ideally, I’d like to install it at the mine, but then security would be difficult…”
“If we don’t make it a reasonably sized facility, the processing capacity will be overwhelmed. If it’s a stationary type, it will indeed be difficult to defend in that location. Whether we dispatch forces or station them there, the distance is a bottleneck.”
The town of Iron was located approximately 300 km inland from the port town of Telek. Using a typical horse-drawn carriage, it was a journey of five to six days. They estimated that if the roads were improved and axles and bearings supplied by ＜The Tree＞ were introduced, this could be reduced to two to three days.
Even so, it was still that distance. Naturally, it was outside the main gun range of the Alpha-class destroyers, and defense by ＜The Tree＞’s forces was impossible. Missiles could reach, but the cost-effectiveness was terrible. That left them with no choice but to rely on the garrison stationed in the town of Iron, which, frankly, was very unreliable. If they were seriously invaded by a national force, they would be easily swept aside. No matter how well-armed they were, they were, after all, just militia.
“For the time being, transporting iron ore, huh…? And build an iron manufacturing facility in the port town of Telek?”
“We can increase the amount that can be transported by transport ships, but considering the current production volume and transport capacity, it’s not very meaningful. It’s more efficient to import it as iron ore and refine it with ＜The Tree＞’s facilities. Here, we can also utilize the slag without waste, so let’s continue to obtain iron ore as is until we can build large-scale facilities in the port town of Telek.”
“Okay. Then, road improvement is a matter of urgency. What about securing crushed stone?”
“There was a quarry located a little away from the port town of Telek, so that’s a candidate. However, considering all 300 km of road, it may not be enough, so we are currently conducting interviews to find other candidate sites.”
For the time being, they were planning to lay crushed stone to a depth of 50 cm and a width of 4 m, assuming a simple pavement. Although there would be some ups and downs depending on the location, they would need approximately 600,000 cubic meters of crushed stone for 0.5 m x 4 m x 300 km. Hauling that much stone from the current quarry would interfere with the town’s operations. Also, the property required for paving is hardness. It would be difficult to gain understanding for deliberately crushing good quality stone and scattering it on the ground.
“We could open it in a few weeks if we brought out heavy machinery, but that would be premature.”
“That’s right. It will also create employment for refugees, so we can’t use heavy machinery for a while.”
Since the farmland development had come to an end, there seemed to be a surplus of male labor. Such labor was used wastefully and without waste to carry out scattering. While supplying wealth from ＜The Tree＞, they would activate domestic demand. The overall plan was to gradually increase dependence on ＜The Tree＞ and eventually achieve complete control.
“Well, the port town of Telek is safe for the time being. And the transport ship loaded with iron ore should be arriving soon…”
“Yes, Ma’am. We will use the iron we obtained this time to manufacture defensive equipment for the port town of Telek.”
“…Commander (Onee-chan), I’ll design it. The cannon.”
“Oh. Is that so, Olive? I’m looking forward to it.”
“Commander (Onee-sama), I thought about the placement.”
“Wow, that’s amazing. A collaboration between the two of you.”
She stroked the heads of Ichigo and Olive with a smile. Perhaps happy to be praised, the two androids wagged their tails.
The remaining three were assigned to other tasks. The eldest sister, Akane, was investigating how to utilize the slag extracted from iron ore. The third daughter, Utsugi, and the fourth daughter, Erika, were both in charge of expanding the atomic decomposition machine (recycler). By entrusting them with these tasks, they were improving their autonomy and training ＜The Tree＞’s network connection capabilities. The ultimate goal was to have them lead operations at bases like the port town of Telek, but it would take several years before they could be entrusted with that.
For the time being, the sisters were scheduled to share tasks within ＜The Tree＞.
“Well, things are going smoothly. It’s good that the port town of Telek is geographically isolated. The internal situation has deteriorated, and trade between the central government and the port town of Telek has been cut off after all, right?”
“Yes, Ma’am. We are continuing to conduct surveys from the sky, but we cannot detect any groups heading to the port town of Telek at all. A large-scale conflict is occurring in the neighboring territories, so they must have other priorities.”
The port town of Telek mainly traded in luxury goods and luxury items for the upper classes. Therefore, when war broke out, it was initially seen as a target for plunder, but it was quickly ignored. Since they couldn’t obtain the most needed food and weapons, it was only natural. That was probably due to the skills of Kuravia Telek.
“For the time being, it’s the internal affairs phase. We’ve grasped the situation in the neighboring areas to some extent, and it’s much more stable than expected… stable? So, we’re going to dive in!”
“Yes, Ma’am. The development of the flying boat is also progressing smoothly. Let’s consider this an opportunity to expand our power at once.”
“Ichigo, Olive, once you’ve completed the installation of your turrets, we’ll install an energy plant in the port town of Telek. I’m counting on you.”
“Yes, Onee-sama!”
“…Leave it to us, Onee-chan.”
By the way, since everyone here had the same appearance, from a distance, it looked like four girls were just frolicking around. It was a truly peaceful scene.
Eventually, a transport ship loaded with iron ore arrived at ＜The Tree＞. With this, ＜The Tree＞ had acquired 1,000 tons of iron ore, which would yield 500 tons of iron. For the foreseeable future, this amount of iron would be regularly available. Commander (Eve)’s gleeful laughter would not cease anytime soon.