Colonel Jeska stepped forward and hung the blueprint on the rack:
"Build it like Kaisan!"
...
Winters stood atop a mound of earth, his front facing the bustling military camp that was under construction.
Beyond that lay the majestic Styx.
To the left of Winters, there was another mound of similar height.
The Legion Command had officially named the two mounds the Southern Highlands and Northern Highlands.
However, because the two mounds resembled a woman’s breasts, the soldiers all called them... that.
The camp and the two mounds were triangulated, close to the riverbank.
This position was not very defensible because the two mounds towered over and overlooked the entire camp.
The Paratu troops had no choice but to construct fortresses on both the Southern and Northern Highlands and disperse forces to garrison them.
They had positioned the camp on this unsuitable defensive terrain for two reasons:
First, half a kilometer northwest from here was a dense coniferous forest;
Second, the width of the river here was less than two hundred meters, which was ideal for bridge building.
Time waited for no one, as the soldiers of the Fifth Legion were still digging trenches and building camp walls, soldiers from the Sixth Legion had already dragged logs back.
The camp at that moment was a massive open-air woodworking shop and a blacksmith’s forge.
Blacksmiths, carpenters, charcoal burners, bricklayers... all the craftsmen in the army were gathered in one place, and Berlion was among them.
Even those who could barely use a plane were drafted.
The bellows roared with fire as the forge hummed, and the continuous clanging of forging echoed without cease.
Excess armor and weapons were melted down to forge axes, nails, and anchors, then distributed to those in need.
Everyone worked selflessly, and in the center of the camp, a giant raft was gradually taking shape.
"Thump!"
"Thump!"
"Thump!"
At the same time, another giant raft was floating on the water, pounding wooden stakes into the riverbed.
A few small boats were anchored in the middle of the river, measuring the depth.
On the giant raft, there was a crude contraption resembling a pile driver: a stone block, a set of lifting gear, and a track.
The raft carrying this apparatus was at the core of the bridge-building project.
The soldiers on the raft shouted as they pushed the winch, the ropes creaking. The heavy stone block was lifted bit by bit.
The rest of the soldiers on the raft worked together to place a log on the track, struggling against the buoyancy to probe deeper.
When the tip of the log touched the riverbed, the officer on the raft released the brake of the lifting machine.
The stone block fell heavily on the end of the stake, making the raft tremble.
The stake was hammered nearly half a meter deep into the riverbed.
The soldiers shouted their chants again as they pushed the winch—they had to repeat this two more times until the stake was firmly embedded deep in the riverbed.
The stakes fixed in the riverbed would serve as bridge piers, extending towards the opposite bank.
The giant raft, carrying a six-meter-tall pile driver, moved like a mythic giant across the water, stunning the Herders on the opposite bank to stare and run around shouting.
"You’ve never seen this thing, have you?" Winters felt waves of elation in his heart, "Looks like ’The War Chronicles of Tall Houses’ doesn’t have a Herder version."
Brother Reed was also beside Winters.
The old man stroked his beard and exclaimed, "Ingenious devices, truly astounding."
"What?" Winters didn’t understand.
"I’m saying you’re really skillful!"
"It wasn’t my invention." Winters scratched his head in embarrassment, "It’s all from ancient texts. There were no physical examples. When I was at the Land Academy, our teacher guided us in trying to recreate them."
"However," said Brother Reed, smacking his lips, "I fear this bridge might not be very durable."
"We don’t expect it to last until the end of the world, once is enough."
Brother Reed laughed heartily, "True that."
This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.
"White Lion!" Winters suddenly shouted towards the Styx, "What other tricks do you have? Bring them all on!"