All Along the Watchtower

I'm creating a network of wooden watchtowers in my domain.  These will be placed, evenly spaced, at three corners of every 6-mile hex.  Each is 60' high (so the horizon is up to 9.5 miles away), occupied in shifts by to men 24/7, equipped with a church bell that can be heard 7-8 miles away plus a banked signal fire at the top, and stocked with alchemical powders that will produce thick variously colored smoke in the daytime or change the color of the signal fire at night.  These colors, and a few patterns to the bell ringing, allow for a small number of pre-arranged emergency signals to be sent.

I'm trying to convice our Judge that not only should these towers add their [1275gp] value to the total stronghold value, but also count as +1gp/family worth of "additional troops" for domain morale purposes.  My take on it is that the highly visible towers and rapid signal system provide a sense of heightened security in the same way that some extra soldiers do.

He's undecided about the morale bonus, saying there aren't actually any extra troops*...but I think it's the additional security infrastructure that justifies the added +1, not just more bodies.

Any thoughts?

*in a sense, there are.  By the time I've built 15 towers, teams of two men working 8 hour shifts sucks up 90 men.  I had to enlarge the garrison in order to have adequate men for other duties.  But of course I am already getting the morale bonus for those added bodies.

A tower that isn't manned is a tower that isn't actually providing extra security; conversely, every tower that is manned is taking away troops that could otherwise be patrolling and enforcing the law in your domain. Your GM is right to say your buildings don't count as troops as well as strongholds: In the absence of automation, they aren't.