Building Walls and Digging Trenches

With the fields and vegetable plots planned out and the new tribespeople's huts largely settled, the Fire Tribe did not let up. At the urging of Chief Jianshi and Wang Yan, an even grander project-building defensive fortifications-was swiftly put on the agenda and immediately set in motion.

Their return from the Fish Tribe had brought not only techniques and seeds, but also a powerful sense of crisis. The Fish Tribe's strength and the existence of distant raiders mentioned by other tribes, such as the Wolf Tribe, struck like alarm bells in the hearts of the Fire Tribe's leadership. With seven hundred people and large stores of grain, the Fire Tribe was no longer a small tribe outsiders could ignore, but a juicy piece of meat that made mouths water.

"We must have walls of our own!" Wang Yan said firmly at a leadership meeting. "Before, when we had fewer people, we might have managed by scattering and hiding. But now our population is concentrated, and we're too big a target. Without sturdy defenses, we're just waiting for others to come rob us!"

Everyone unanimously agreed. Jianshi made the decision on the spot. "Build them! Not only that, we must get them up as quickly as possible! While the weather still isn't too cold and we have plenty of hands!" A rammed-earth wall about three meters high, with a thick base, would be built around the central settlement, including all the huts, storehouses, and important workshops. This height would be enough to stop most wild beasts and enemies lacking siege methods. Outside the earthen wall, they would dig a trench half a meter to a meter wide and about a meter deep. Not only would this trench further hinder attacks, it would also effectively prevent snakes, insects, and small and medium-sized wild beasts from slipping into the settlement at night, improving their sense of security. At several commanding heights inside and outside the valley, they would build simple beacon towers from stone and earth and station sentries there. As soon as an enemy was spotted, they would light the beacons to sound the alarm. Wang Yan specifically mentioned collecting dried dung from animals such as wild cattle for fuel, as it produced thick, billowing smoke when burned that could travel extremely far.

Once the orders went out, the entire Fire Tribe became an enormous construction site, instantly springing into efficient action.

Hunting team: responsible for routine patrols, hunting, and fishing to ensure the food supply, while also taking turns working on construction in key sections.

· Gathering team: led by Qingye, responsible for supplying the construction crews with food and drinking water, while continuing to gather wild vegetables and dried fruit for the winter.

· Construction team: currently the largest team, with Jianya in overall charge and Dazhuang directing the work on the ground, taking in almost all the tribe's remaining labor force.

"We can't let people sit idle!" Wang Yan stressed to his father and uncles. "We've only just merged. If many people have nothing to do, trouble can easily breed, and they'll start longing for the past. We must fill their time and energy with strenuous but meaningful collective labor, let them develop a sense of belonging as they sweat together, and make everyone understand that building the tribe is everyone's responsibility!"

This strategy proved highly effective. Under unified direction, the new and old tribespeople assigned to the construction team worked toward the same goal.

The trench-digging crews chanted work songs, using stone shovels and bone spades to move the earth out basket by basket.

The wall-building crews had an even harder task. First, they drove thick logs into the ground in two tightly packed rows to form the wall's framework. Then they mixed the moist clay excavated from the trench with chopped cogon grass and poured it between the forms. Chanting work songs, the strongmen pounded it down hard with heavy wooden rammers, blow after blow. Once one layer was compacted, they added another layer of earth and rammed it down again... Repeating this process, the wall slowly rose amid the pounding of one blow after another.

It was an extremely exhausting job, but no one complained. Everyone could see that the yellow earthen wall was gradually wrapping around their home like the arms of a guardian deity. During the day, when the adults went out to work, the elderly and children who remained in the settlement watched the enclosing wall grow higher by the day and felt a sense of reassurance unlike anything they had known before.

Meanwhile, led by agile young team members such as Shibang and Yingmu, several small teams began building beacon towers at key locations inside and outside the valley. They chose hilltops with broad views, built sturdy stone bases, and laid dry firewood on top, along with specially collected dried cattle dung pressed into cakes.

Wang Yan personally inspected the locations of several beacon towers to ensure they were within sight of one another, forming an effective early-warning network. "Once something happens, the beacons will be lit in sequence, and word will quickly reach the tribe, giving us enough time to respond."

As they looked at the walls beginning to take shape, the deeply dug trenches, and the beacon towers standing on the hilltops, an unprecedented sense of security spread through the heart of every member of the Fire Tribe.

Standing on the earthen wall, which had already risen taller than a person, Jianshi gazed out over the busy, vibrant valley and said with feeling to Wang Yan beside him, "Yan, with this wall, we've finally truly put down roots here and gained the confidence to make a life for ourselves!"

Wang Yan nodded, his gaze deep. "Father, this is only the beginning. Once this wall is fully built, our Fire Tribe will be able to advance and attack or fall back and defend. Only then can we farm, build boats, and develop our techniques with greater peace of mind, and truly grow strong!"