Unknown Knight

Including the slaves traded by Rogge, Aix now has nearly 160 subordinates. As the saying goes, more people means easier work. With enough manpower, the second and third floors of the caves that were originally planned to be built later can be built now. At the same time, the outer walls used for defense also need to be expanded and reinforced.

In order to make more rational use of the human resources at hand, senior HR Aix, after some thought and planning, made some adjustments and division of labor for the entire team based on the current situation.

Specifically, James, Veron and Old Mike were mainly responsible for the construction inside and outside the cave. They coordinated all the young and strong laborers in the base and arranged specific working hours according to the progress requirements and environmental changes during the day.

Niza, Bestur, Zeb and Mathilde were mainly responsible for training the guards of the stronghold. After a selection process, they picked out more than 30 people as the guards of the stronghold. In addition to the five regular people who were responsible for sentry duty, the rest took turns to participate in the construction of the caves and organize training. The training standards were based on the simple requirements of the array infantry of the Tangquan Fortress, which was estimated to be enough for use here at the moment.

The rest were taken care of by Aisu, Ran Ying and Banbo, who were responsible for the logistical and miscellaneous work. They consisted of a dozen women and five craftsmen specially assigned by Aix to Banbo to make water-collecting nets. These women mainly cooked for everyone, boiled water, did some light chores, and if they had time, helped Banbo's craftsmen to weave water-collecting nets, etc.

Then there are the liaison investigators who are in charge of Niza, assisted by Bolcha, Zeb, and Old Mike. In addition to these few leaders, Aix also asked them to select a dozen smart and eloquent people. These people are mainly responsible for contacting outsiders in Zion who want to join the army, and secretly purchasing various supplies needed for the stronghold in the city. Another more important task is to find out the movements of various forces in the city and try every means to obtain the intelligence needed for the stronghold.

With these divisions of labor, the entire stronghold soon began to operate very smoothly. In addition, with the presence of old men like Niza and James, they had seen and used various modes of Tangquan Fortress. Velen was also an old scholar who had presided over the overall situation. Under their restraint and leadership, and with the hard work of several new leaders, the work of the stronghold soon got on track, and various affairs were carried out step by step, without any chaos due to the sudden increase in manpower.

Although everyone was very helpful, Aix was not idle. With the assistance of his two concubines, Aisu and Ran Ying, he kept track of all the important data of the stronghold at all times (mainly the amount of food used. After all, all food is bought now, and the plan must be checked and there is no room for negligence), and analyzed all kinds of information that the spies brought back from the city. He had a feeling that the masters of the other four major families in the city had always coveted his wealth and would definitely not allow him to build a stronghold outside the city.

In addition to these, the most important task at hand for Aix is ​​the planning and design of the entire mound. If it were an ordinary city, the planning and design by Velen and James would be enough, but this is the edge of the Death Desert, the climate changes greatly, and there will be extreme weather in the Death Season, so we must put a lot of effort into the design of the residence.

His specific idea came from the inspiration of termite nests. He planned to dig the entire cave into three layers in advance, and then dig two or three layers downwards when he had time. The center was hollow, and the widest bottom was a circular hall more than 20 meters wide. There were three main exits, one facing the gap in the cliff, one facing the desert, and one in the opposite direction of the gap in the cliff. There were also two large ventilation holes on the cliff facing the sea.

In addition, there are several small ventilation holes on the second and third floors. These ventilation holes are not large, only two body widths wide, and can also be used as warning holes to serve a defensive warning role.

With this design, the entire base is like a huge termite nest. The temperature difference between inside and outside the cave can be used to allow air convection, keeping the air in the cave fresh. At the same time, it can also make the entire cave like a natural air conditioner, with a cool and suitable temperature inside.

The temperature in the desert is higher during the day, and hot air will enter the cave through the vents. The rising heat causes the air to circulate, lifting the relatively cool air at the bottom from the central cavity, allowing the entire cave to maintain a cool and constant temperature.

At night, the temperature in the desert drops suddenly, and the relatively high air inside the cave will overflow to the outside. While circulating the air, the temperature inside the cave does not change too much, making it relatively comfortable and pleasant.

In addition, the air with higher humidity from the sea surface will cause the walls inside the cave to absorb moisture, thereby maintaining a constant humidity inside the cave. It is not like walking in the desert outside, where the skin will not become dry and cracked due to lack of water, and the nasal mucosa will not become dry and painful or even cause nosebleeds due to water loss.

The production of water-collecting nets has begun to take shape. Under the leadership of Banbo and with sufficient manpower, nearly a hundred water-collecting nets have been produced in more than ten days.

Now the water collected by all the water collection networks is enough for use, but Aix is ​​not satisfied. He asked Bambo to continue to lead the craftsmen to make water collection nets. When the materials are used up, he asked Borcha to take people to Zion City to buy more. Anyway, reed, the main material, is everywhere on the mudflats of the river bend. Local people usually use it as firewood, and the price is relatively cheap.

In addition to storing part of the excess water in purchased jars, the rest was used for the construction of the wall outside the cave.

The earth dug out from the cave is rich in organic matter and is very sticky after being mixed with water. When used to build the wall, it is used to fill the gaps between the stones on the outer layer of the wall. It has a very good solidification effect. After drying, the wall surface is extremely strong, which is incomparable to the pure adobe walls of the city of Zion.

Aix even asked Aisu to lead a dozen women to the terrace of the bay below, near the cliff, to clear out an area of ​​several acres, and try to plant some local vegetable seeds bought from Zion City, and use the surplus water to irrigate the vegetables. Because the area near the cliff is in the shade, the time it receives sunlight every day is relatively short, which can reduce evaporation, save the currently precious water resources, and increase the survival rate of vegetables.

In addition, everyone also discovered that the water collection nets placed at the entrances and vents of the cave collected twice or even more water than other places due to the increased air flow rate. Aix had to arrange for the night guards to replace the pottery jars filled with water in these places when they changed shifts in the middle of the night to prevent the precious water from overflowing and being wasted.

This discovery makes the placement of water collection nets more targeted. More water collection nets have been placed near the seaside, near the edge of the cliff, in the gaps leading from the bay to the cliff, and at the exit vents of the cave, where there is more air circulation. This has resulted in more and more water being collected.