I was a knight in the Middle Ages

"Is this the titanite mining area?" Darwin was most excited when he heard this name.

Alpha's face was calm, without a single ripple, because he knew nothing about most of the minerals in this world, including titanite.

"What is titanite ore? Is it very powerful?" Alpha was confused.

"Titanium ore is a very precious substance. If you want to build a sky knight group, then titanium iron extracted from titanium may be a solution." Darwin is knowledgeable and gave Alpha the key explanation at the first time.

"What is the annual output here?" Alpha also knew how precious titanium quartz was, but leaving aside the dosage, it would be meaningless.

"We don't know about this either. They just transport the ore out and don't refine it here." The miners' representative Betas was not very clear about this either.

"However, we only ship out about ten truckloads of ore every month. The main reason is that the landslides here are too serious. There are landslides every month, which seriously affects production."

The miners didn't know whether they could trust the cavalrymen in front of them, but they fed them enough food, which was much better treatment than before.

"They refine it once at our transfer station, and the monthly output is about 200 kilograms," Goodnight explained.

"Then it's not enough to build a Sky Knight Order." Alpha was a little disappointed. Two hundred kilograms, even if it was pure titanium, could only be used to build a few sets of lightweight armor at most.

"Lord Alpha, what are you thinking about? Even the sky armor is not made entirely of titanium. The main component is still iron ore or aluminum ore!" Darwin knew very well that armor made of pure titanium was the strongest, but even the financially powerful Holy See might not be able to afford its high cost.

"Okay, I was being too picky." Alpha soon realized that he was overthinking. It would be better to leave such professional issues to the experienced blacksmiths.

"Then, the next task is to guard the titanium stone mine and seize the slave transit station." However, Alpha still underestimated the power of the transit station.

This transit station made of huge stones is actually the closest material storage and exchange center to the titanium quarry. Since slave trading is illegal, these illegal transactions can only be carried out outside, and at the same time, they need a relatively safe place that is not too close to the main camps of each party. After all, neither party wants to become the other's slave.

Therefore, the nearest transit station is only fifty kilometers away from the titanium mine, and more than two hundred kilometers away from the nearest bandit camp. Alpha has ordered the blockade of all entrances and exits within a radius of ten miles, and everyone can only enter but not leave, in order to block the news.

However, the risk of capturing this transit station is also very high. After all, this is not only the base of several bandit groups in the surrounding area, but also the base of personnel from various forces on the grassland. Even if they succeed in occupying this place, they will face encirclement and suppression from various forces on the grassland.

"Monkey, Lilia!" Alpha discovered that all the old people had been sent out to scout, and there was no familiar person around.

"Phyllis, Darwin, come with me to take a look." Alpha had never observed the situation in the titanite mining area, so he decided to check it out personally.

At present, Alpha has not decided whether to keep the titanium mine. After all, once they choose to protect this place, their nature will change from mobile attack to defensive counterattack, which will bring them great changes.

"What is this?" Alpha looked at the white slag dug out from inside, thoughtfully.

"Lord Alpha, these are all waste slag associated with the titanite mine. They are useless except for plastering the walls." Phyllis seemed to have done her homework.

"How many meters underground is the titanium ore?" Alpha already knew what this stuff was - quicklime. This is good stuff!

"Sir, the titanite ore is buried at least 30 meters underground, and most of the surrounding areas are white stones. They are not hard enough and will break at the touch, which can easily lead to landslides. This ore will also generate heat when it comes into contact with water. Every time we go down, we are racing against death." Although Betas performed mediocre in other aspects, he can be said to be an expert in the field of mining.

"How deep is this white ore buried underground?" Alpha seemed to be in deep thought.

"That's uncertain. Some areas are directly exposed, and some places are four or five meters deep. Before, they considered digging out all the ores, but the workload was too large. The key is that there is no place to store them, and it is very dangerous. This kind of ore will release a lot of heat when it comes into contact with water and cannot be squeezed together." Betas seemed to understand Alpha's thoughts.

"How big is this mining area?" Alpha asked without refutation or making any decision.

"I'm not sure. Look at this small hill. Originally it was a plain, but now the excavated ore is piled up. The area within a kilometer is full of this kind of stone. We have explored within two kilometers around it, but we haven't found the end." Betas was not very clear either.

Alpha remembered that the previous large-scale mineral veins stretched for more than ten kilometers, so this area might not be too small.

"Betas, arrange for someone to survey the surrounding area for me, extending it outward to the edge of our control range, ten miles. Phyllis, you will be responsible for the handover." Alpha assigned the tasks.

"Lord Alpha, I have something important to report." Suddenly the monkey ran back from the front line.

"Phyllis, bring the map here." Alpha ordered, and at the same time summoned Rowling and Lilia to come to the meeting, "Monkey, come with me." Alpha knew that Monkey must have some news to tell him alone.

"Lord Alpha, something happened in the rear." The monkey said breathlessly.

"What's wrong? Please tell me slowly." Alpha asked.

"The city of Balor in the rear is now implementing a rationing system. We can't buy supplies even if we have money. Lord Alpha, the supplies we brought will not last long." Monkey said.

Alpha took out the secret letter from Flinna, verified its authenticity, and opened it to read. It turned out that the material reserves in Balor City were less than a week, and the situation was getting more and more serious. Only by rushing back to the city could the normal consumption of personnel be guaranteed, and more voice could be gained.

After reading the letter, Alpha looked at Rowling and Lilia and asked, "What do you think we should do now?" Then he handed the secret letter to Rowling.

"Lord Alpha, we can't go back." Rowling said, "If we go back now, our plan to suppress the bandits will fail. When the bandits besiege the city, we will run out of ammunition and food sooner or later. We have to come out and fight."

"Besides, if we go back now, we have to give up this place." Rowling said, "Our cavalry needs titanium ore to upgrade their equipment without increasing the weight. This is not available outside. We have finally seized the mine, how can we give it up so easily?"

"What do you think? Don't worry, this is our private meeting." Alpha asked.

"Lord Alpha, I believe that the people in the city must know what consequences this behavior will lead to. Perhaps there is another hidden story. We should go back and find out the truth before making plans. What's more, the material reserves in the city could last at least half a year. Why did they suddenly implement a material rationing system? I'm afraid there must be something fishy here." Lilia is a conservative. After all, material supply is a matter of life and death.

"Rowling, how are the material reserves in the mining area?" Alpha also had to consider the material reserves.

"This place is about 200 kilometers away from the slave transit station and the Menis Iron Mine. The food they store is only enough for one week, which is not enough for us to consume. Should we implement a rationing system? It would be better to get rid of those prisoners directly." Rowling's solution was obviously simple and direct, and it was all over.

"There is no need to implement the rationing system for the time being. It is better to increase revenue than to save money. Everything remains the same. Rowling, you lead the troops to replace Makina, and let Makina go back to Balor and take everyone to the mining area." Alpha has made up his mind. Perhaps the nobles are behind the scenes, and because of this, even if he goes back, it will only be a waste of time.

"Lord Alpha, the mining area has no strategic location to defend. What if we can't resist?" The mining area is flat and there is not even a forest for dozens of miles around. It will be very troublesome to transport the wood at that time.

"You don't need to worry about this. We can use local materials. The most urgent issue now is the personnel issue." Alpha wanted to use local materials to refine limestone, but he still needed a large amount of firewood or coal.

"Is there any coal nearby?" Alpha suddenly asked curiously. After all, it was icy and snowy, and Alpha saw that the supplies for heating were all coal briquettes.

"Lord Alpha, there is a huge open-pit coal mining area near the slave transfer station, which is only about 30 kilometers away from here." Phyllis reported after marking it clearly on the map.

"Okay, I understand. Then everything will proceed as planned. Lilia will compile statistics on the battle situation, and I will make arrangements tomorrow." Alpha will start working overtime all night again.

"Lord Alpha, Captain Makina has arrived at the mining area." This was good news for Alpha.

"Okay, Rowling, count the casualties. Lilia, Monkey, Dora, you three will take turns on duty. Please note that all personnel can only enter and cannot leave before receiving orders." Alpha rearranged the tasks.

"Phyllis, leave the map here. When Makina comes, ask him to come find me." Alpha looked at the map, thinking about how to plan and build the city.

The locations of the mines occupied by the major bandits have been marked on the map. The nearest one is the coal mine 30 kilometers away, followed by the Menis iron mine 180 kilometers away, and there are several inconspicuous small mining areas that Alpha did not pay special attention to.

"Lord Alpha, do you want to use the white stones here to build a city?" As Alpha's secretary, Phyllis stayed.

"Yes, in my hometown, we can make a kind of cement by burning lime and slag clay. By adding water and mixing it with sand and gravel, we can build a city. Bring me some lime later and I will do an experiment." As for the ratio of lime to clay, Alpha did not know and could only experiment slowly.

"Then Lord Alpha, how big a city do you plan to build?" Phyllis was thinking about the issue of material distribution, which needed to be allocated according to the scale of Alpha's city.

"It's not clear yet. It depends on the results of the exploration. At present, I plan to build a temporary camp with a radius of one kilometer. You can ask Rowling to arrange the prisoners and miners to arrange the preliminary preparations for building the city." Alpha was ready to take action.

"Lord Alpha, Captain Makina is here." Alpha was about to call Rowling over, but Rowling and Makina had already arrived.

"Thank you for your hard work, Makino. Have the wounded and prisoners been taken care of?" Alpha understood that there were internal and external troubles at the moment and there could not be any mistakes.

"Lord Alpha, everything has been settled and nothing has gone wrong. But those prisoners and wounded are a pure waste of food and supplies. Can they be disposed of directly?" Rowling was vicious and cruel.

"Don't worry, try to save those who can be cured. I still have some use for them." Alpha rejected Rowling's suggestion.

"Muna, take fifty people back to Balor. Your main task this time is to strive for more supplies, both personnel and daily necessities. If those people in the city are unwilling to sell food supplies, then you will purchase saltpeter, sulfur, herbs, etc. At the same time, bring the herdsmen brought by Yasuo here. I want to rebuild the city here." Alpha explained the task.

Balor is a city controlled by the nobles. If Alpha wants to break the pattern of the nobles' distribution of interests, it can only be completely destroyed, otherwise Alpha can only find another way out. Although the geographical conditions here are not as good as Balor, it is located in the mining area and there are several iron and coal mines around it. Once the city is built, it can completely rely on the distance advantage to replace Balor as the new center of the northern grassland.

Makino understood what Alpha meant and immediately responded, "Okay, I'll arrange it right away."

"No rush, you guys take a night's rest and set off tomorrow morning." Alpha didn't care about one or two days, so there was no need to rush.

"Rowling, you are now mainly responsible for building the city. Use the prisoners and miners to build me a temporary city surrounding the mine. Dig the pit first, and I will prepare the materials for building the city." Alpha began to build the city.

"Leave this task to me." Rowling sneered at the side. It was obvious that the captives were having a hard time.

Alpha reminded: "Rowling, don't deprive the prisoners too much. They still have important uses and you can't let them harbor resentment." Alpha kept those prisoners, obviously they still have a great use.

Alpha turned to Phyllis and said, "Phyllis, let Betas come over." Matters at the mine should be left to professionals, and Alpha would only be responsible for providing ideas.

Alpha explained his ideas and thoughts about cement to Betas, and Betas also did it himself. He built five simple kilns on the spot and started the refining process.

In actual operation, the cement refining process is very simple, but making suitable cement requires repeated experiments. The next day, Betas had already produced several batches of relatively good cement. What remained was to find the most suitable ratio, which was a tedious and lengthy process.

Alpha and Betas used a simple production method to refine a large amount of cement in a short period of time, which was enough for building the city. However, this was far from enough. The consumption rate of building the city was too fast. The key was that there was not enough yellow sand, gravel and bricks to match the cement. Alpha could only continue to use slag as sand and re-develop the production process of brick kilns.

However, brick-making takes a long time. Even the firing alone takes more than ten days. Alpha can only give this task to Betas to complete alone.

Because it has been five days since the mining area was occupied, according to Lilia's report, there have been enemy reconnaissance teams around. I am afraid that the occupation here will not be concealed for much longer.