After a day of sailing, on the morning of the second day, the White Gem arrived at the end of the fjord.
Although it was only a few dozen kilometers long, the winding terrain of the fjord severely limited the speed of the White Gem, making this dozens of kilometers journey take almost a day and a night.
However, the scenery along the fjord was quite pleasant, so taking it as an opportunity to enjoy the view wasn’t too much of a problem.
It was after reaching the fjord that Perfikot’s real work on this journey truly began.
"Madam Baroness, are we to build an advance base here in the fjord?" The members of the exploratory team were still unaware of their true mission, believing Perfikot’s lie that they were constructing an advance base for Arctic exploration.
Perfikot didn’t break this illusion, as she still needed this lie to maintain the facade of the current situation.
So she merely replied to the questioning exploration team member, "We’ll first set up a temporary dock and camp here, then begin exploring the surroundings to find a more suitable location.
Though the conditions in this fjord are fair, neither its proximity to surrounding mineral resources nor its terrain and topography are suitable for constructing an advance base."
The fjord terrain was formed by glacial erosion, inherently narrow and long, hence it was named a fjord.
If it were just about building a camp or dock, there wouldn’t be much of an issue, but Perfikot’s plan was to construct a shelter capable of housing several thousand, even tens of thousands, of people, which would be impossible to spread out in this fjord.
Therefore, Perfikot had to search for a more suitable location nearby, which was also the main task of the exploration team.
This was how the previous exploratory sites had been approached; although these sites had been surveyed by the Empire exploration company, it was only a surface survey.
To build a shelter in these places, Perfikot had to conduct onsite investigations and make more detailed site selections based on surrounding terrain, topography, and resource distribution, rather than relying solely on the company’s survey data for conclusions.
For this reason, once the entire team disembarked, Perfikot directly ordered her guards and the exploration team to first construct a camp and set up a temporary dock to unload the materials brought from the White Gem.
At the previous exploratory sites, Perfikot had actually determined they were suitable for building shelters.
If considered from a practical perspective, she could have constructed the advance base at those places and expanded the first shelter from there.
Yet ultimately, Perfikot decided to come to this final exploration site close to the Arctic Circle and chose to build the advance base here.
Beyond the influence of the "Arctic exploration" banner, an important factor was Perfikot’s intent to use this as an opportunity to validate how humans could survive under cold climatic conditions, preparing for the real harsh weather ahead.
According to her calculations, the temperature in the Empire’s mainland would drop to minus 40 degrees Celsius three years later, such extreme cold is deadly.
If enough data on how to survive in such extreme cold isn’t collected while there’s still time, the Empire would be caught off guard when the end-time winter eventually arrives.
Thus, after careful consideration, Perfikot chose this place closest to the Arctic Circle as the site to construct the first shelter.
However, she continued explaining to everyone that they were here to build an advance base for Arctic exploration.
"Madam Baroness, the tents are set up. Would you like to rest for a bit?" An officer from her guard approached Perfikot, carefully questioning her.
The guards had already erected a large tent on the riverbank, prepared specifically for Perfikot.
Perfikot glanced at the tent and nodded slightly.
The camp was still relatively chaotic, as soldiers needed to set up their own tents, first constructing tents for the officers, and then a perimeter wall as a defensive fortification.
These were the results of military reforms; previously, Empire soldiers did not receive such treatments.
Before the steam era, Empire army soldiers didn’t even have tents, let alone warm bedrolls; they slept in the open.
It was only after the military reforms when the Empire’s productivity dramatically improved that the Military Department provided ordinary soldiers with waterproof and warm bedrolls and small tents accommodating two people side by side.
Practically, soldiers usually combined the fabrics of their tents to create a large tent accommodating an entire squad.
Such tents were barely adequate for protection against wind and rain in other seasons.
But in winter? Don’t expect these nearly completely drafty tents to provide much insulation.
As for cold and warmth protection during field camping, that was the job of the moisture-proof sleeping bags.
As for the sleeping bag’s warmth, it was generally sufficient for other seasons. Yet, come winter, even with sleeping bags and tents, spending a night would lead to freezing.
Therefore, as a rule, the Empire refrained from deploying troops in winter; if necessary, the Military Department would prepare additional winter equipment.
But for now, both Perfikot and her guard were quite satisfied with the conditions.
The season was indeed somewhat cold, but not unbearably so.
Sleeping by the campfire with a moisture-proof sleeping bag was still very warm.
Still, without replenishing winter equipment and supplies before winter, even a company of guards plus several dozen exploration team members couldn’t survive this winter.
Bear in mind, they were already near the Arctic Circle, where winter arrived earlier, and temperatures dropped quite low.
Perfikot certainly hoped not to be tent-bound when winter came; alchemist or not, she couldn’t withstand it.
"Have the exploration team prepare quickly; we need to stay until spring, so we must construct the advance base before winter arrives. The sooner they find a suitable location, the sooner we can start building the advance base." Perfikot conveyed her orders to those nearby, emphasizing, "Site selection must consider the nearby iron and coal mines. This advance base will need coal and steel as its bones and blood!"
"Understood, ma’am!" The guard beside Perfikot immediately went to relay her orders, spurring everyone into double the effort for the day.
After all, setting up a camp accommodating more than three hundred people wasn’t a small project. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the Nove1Fire.net