Unknown Knight

In about half a month, the number of water-collecting nets produced by Banbo reached 150. These water-collecting nets were enough. The water collected every day not only filled all the purchased jars, but the excess water was not only used for the construction of the outer wall of the cave, but also used to mix the earth inside the cave into mud and ash, which was used to smooth the walls, ceiling and ground of the cave. This not only made the cave beautiful and strong, but also reduced the falling of dust, making the cave more tidy.

At this time, Aix asked Bampo to temporarily stop making water-collecting nets and focus his main energy on making backpacks and winnowing baskets for transporting soil. In addition, at Niza's request, he made some long rows of shields woven with reed poles for use by array infantry.

There were no other trees here except for the scattered coconut trees on the beach, so it was impossible to make wooden shields, so they had to use reed poles instead.

However, after receiving the task and figuring out the production requirements, Bambo took the matter seriously and made the shield tight and solid, which far exceeded Aix's expectations.

He originally just hoped that this kind of reed shield could defend against arrows, but he didn't expect that Banbo's craftsmanship was so superb that the shield he made could not only defend against arrows, but also not be afraid of sword cuts, and even defend against javelins and spear stabs. It was no different from a wooden shield of ordinary quality, and it was even lighter. The only shortcoming was that it was not easy to prevent fire. Compared with the thick wooden shield, this kind of reed shield was extremely easy to burn, which was a flaw in the ointment.

Immediately, Axe asked Bamba to hand over the job of making the backpacks and dustpans to other people, and he was specifically responsible for making this kind of shield. Seeing Axe's approval, Bamba was greatly encouraged. He patted his chest and promised to complete the task with high standards. He even boasted to Axe that reed bamboo was too weak to weave and if he had bamboo, he could even weave armor, which would definitely have a higher defense than ordinary leather armor.

Aix looked at the shield made by Banbo and had no doubt about what he said. It even reminded him of the rattan armor soldiers in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. However, there was a serious lack of water in the desert, and bamboo needed water to grow, so it was impossible to have bamboo nearby.

More than half a month later, thanks to Banbo's efforts, the guards of more than 30 people each had a reed shield.

Niza organized these people into a military formation and trained array infantry. Soon they were able to advance and retreat in a measured manner and were quite powerful. This was enough to deal with the scattered soldiers in the city of Zion. Aix believed that with the same number, his array infantry could defeat two to three times the number of enemies here.

Even Aix was not satisfied with this. He even rotated other construction workers and made them train every two days. He did not require much from them, only that they should not flee during the battle and should be able to hold their ground.

In terms of defense, although the wall outside the cave is still far from complete, the walls of the three entrances and exits have been completed. They are all built in a uniform shape with a bottom of four meters, a top of three meters, and a height of five meters. Without good siege equipment, it would be difficult for ordinary people to attack.

Seeing the established stronghold, Aix felt relieved. For more than a month, he had been worried. Of the five major families in the city, except for the Ogebai family, with which Chaoran had cooperated, the other four families regarded him as prey. They were waiting for their people to die of thirst and hunger in the wild and escape back to Zion City in disgrace, and then they would wait obediently to be exploited and controlled by them.

But I'm afraid their wish is doomed to fail this time. Not only did Aix and his people solve the most difficult water problem in the desert, they also moved into a big mansion that was far more comfortable than the city. Even the food shortage was solved because of the deal with Rogge.

And since everyone has a cave to live in temporarily, the cave does not need to be expanded on a large scale as before. It only takes fifty or sixty people to slowly carry out the internal expansion and build the outer wall.

In addition to the abundant water resources, James led the surplus labor to reclaim land on the terrace of the bay. He almost reclaimed the entire second terrace and cleared more than ten acres of land.

These lands are conveniently irrigated because of the many water collection networks nearby. Aix planted all these lands with easy-to-ripen vegetables and fruits. According to James's estimation, when these vegetables and fruits ripen one after another, they can be eaten with grain, which can save at least one-third or even two-fifths of the grain.

In order to ensure that the vegetable fields here can be continuously irrigated and not die of thirst in the scorching sun at noon, and to reduce water evaporation, Aix also designed a drip irrigation system.

Specifically, Banbo used red-hot iron bars to burn through the partitions of each section of the reed pole, then used a knife to regularize the tail and tip, and then stuffed the thinner tip into the thicker tail of another reed pole, so that the end and end were connected to form a delivery pipeline. When it came to the land that needed watering, several small holes were punched on the reed pole with iron bars as drip outlets.

However, such a system consumes a lot of reed poles. Now the reed poles on the streets of Zion City are almost sold out, and the price has even doubled. Poor families even pull out the reed poles used on the roofs of their houses and sell them. Anyway, there is not much rain in a year and they are not needed.

For some vegetables that cannot tolerate excessive exposure to the sun, Aix also asked Bambo to lead people to build simple racks and cover them with coarse burlap. This has a very good sun protection effect and can basically ensure the healthy growth of vegetables. Moreover, all vegetables grow well when there is sufficient rain and heat, and are at least 1.5 times larger than vegetables grown elsewhere at the same time.

Of course, this is also thanks to the composting technology from Tangquan Fortress. James applied this technology, which was invented under the guidance of the great Lord Aix and the joint efforts of all members of the Biological Research Institute, to growing vegetables here. The effect is naturally very obvious. A considerable proportion of the increase in production is achieved by applying "organic fertilizer".

Seeing the vegetables growing vigorously on the plateau, Aix became ambitious and even wanted to reclaim land in the Gobi Desert outside the mound and plant local drought-resistant wheat. Perhaps he could solve the food problem on his own without having to spend a lot of money to buy Rogge's super expensive food.

However, although the ideal is beautiful, the reality is often very bleak. Before Aix's idea could be implemented, unfavorable news came from Zion City by Bolcha and others.

It turned out that the masters of the other four major families in Zion City were too confident at first. After they knew that Aix and his group were hiding outside the city, they did not take it seriously at first. The vast desolation of the Death Desert, coupled with the arrival of the hot Death Season, made them believe that Aix would not be able to escape far, and at most he would hide in a corner somewhere outside the city.

The masters were not in a hurry. They had seen this situation many times. They just had to wait until Aix and his group had used up all their water and food. Then they would obediently return to Zion City and accept their bleeding like pulling meat with a blunt knife. In this way, they could achieve their goal of harvesting without much effort.