After the task arrangements were completed, the witches dispersed and summoned the clan leaders of the alliance tribes to discuss the specific number of people and time for the migration. Xu Chen led hundreds of hunters to start building the pontoon bridge.
A large amount of wood was cut as required and transported to the vicinity of the dock. The thickest wooden bucket was then used as a floating pier. Several pieces of wood about two meters long were first tied up as load-bearing beams, and then densely packed with wood as thick as an arm.
A layer was laid horizontally as a bridge deck, and finally it was like a raft two meters wide and three meters long. The tied rafts were pushed into the river one by one, and then a group of naked hunters took these rafts in the water.
The two are connected and tied together, so that they continuously extend and connect from both sides of the bank.
Hundreds of people participated in the construction of the pontoon bridge, which was only thirty meters wide. The river beaches on both sides of the river and the river were filled with people, so dense that they could cut off the river water. The whole scene looked lively and spectacular.
There is strength in numbers, this is a timeless truth.
Under Xu Chen's command and dispatch, the pontoon bridge was erected at an astonishing speed.
It only took three hours. By the time the sun set, a pontoon bridge spanning both sides of the bank had been roughly formed.
Looking at this bridge that seemed to appear out of thin air, everyone cheered and was as excited and lively as if they were celebrating the New Year.
The bridge is generally completed, but further fixing is needed.
Therefore, after the bridge deck was erected, Xu Chen had a large number of wooden piles one foot in diameter cut out and driven into the river bottom next to the floating piers at both ends of the pontoon bridge to form fixed foundation piles to stabilize the bridge and prevent it from being deflected by the impact of the river water.
Hundreds of people were busy and thousands of people were watching.
Amid the shouts and cheers, a large number of rafts and three wooden boats also carried hunters back and forth on the river. A large group of hunters, including Long and Lei, who were as strong as wild bears, wielded large axes and copper hammers, and shouted trumpets.
, slamming the wooden piles into the river one by one. After the wooden piles were nailed, someone immediately used hemp ropes and vines to tightly bind them to the bridge deck.
After all the dozens of wooden piles were lowered, the pontoon bridge that was still swaying and deforming while floating in the river was slowly fixed.
After stabilizing the bridge deck, Xu Chen personally led people up the bridge and walked back and forth. Then he ordered more wooden piles to be cut down, and the piles were again driven into the river bottom in an inclined manner, and tied together with the foundation piles in a triangular shape.
, so that the bridge deck becomes more stable.
By the time all the work was completed, the sun had set.
Xu Chen inspected the pontoon bridge back and forth twice again and officially announced that the pontoon bridge was successfully erected.
"Boom..."
Both sides of the Taiwan Strait burst into cheers.
Hundreds of hunters who were soaked from their busy work and two thousand men, women, and children who were watching on the shore all embraced each other with joy, jumping and jumping on the river beach with joy.
"Let's go, I'll take you over there and give it a try!"
Xu Chen greeted a group of witches with a smile. With thousands of people watching, a group of witches officially stepped onto the wooden bridge and became the first group of humans other than Xu Chen to cross the river on the pontoon bridge.
Since it is a pontoon bridge, it is definitely not as stable as an overhead wooden bridge. Even if there are hundreds of large and small wooden stakes to fix it, there is still a feeling of heaving and shaking when walking on it. Therefore, a group of witches can't help but feel very excited when walking on it.
nervous.
A group of people carefully followed Xu Chen and slowly walked along the wooden bridge to the middle of the river.
Looking at the clear river flowing under their feet, the palms of a group of witches, big and small, were sweating nervously. The little witch sisters followed Xu Chen for a long time. Although they were scared, they were relatively calm, but the new little witch of the Gonghuo Tribe was frightened.
He covered his eyes and did not dare to leave.
"Don't be afraid, the bridge is very strong. Try to walk in the middle and look ahead. Don't look at the river on both sides, otherwise you will get dizzy!"
Xu Chen gently held the hand of the little witch Gonghuo and comforted her softly.
"Okay, okay!" The little witch trembled slightly, but still mustered up the courage to hold Xu Chen's hand tightly and slowly walked forward.
A few minutes later, a group of people successfully arrived on the other side of the river.
"Wuga~~"
Thousands of people on the river bank burst into enthusiastic cheers almost simultaneously.
A group of witches, big and small, stepped onto the solid river bank, and their nervous mood instantly relaxed. The witch of the Yugong clan was the oldest, and naturally the most emotionally stable. He turned around and looked at the pontoon and said excitedly:
"Your Majesty the Witch King, the floating bridge is easy to build, and the Wulong River can also be repaired!"
Xu Chen smiled bitterly and shook his head, "The Wulong River is too wide and the current is too strong. It is impossible to build a pontoon bridge. We can only use rafts and boats. Look at the three wooden boats I brought this time. They are the best tools for crossing the river. They are more powerful than rafts."
It is safe and reliable. When the time comes, we will build a larger wooden boat and it will be very convenient to go back and forth."
The great wizard of the Yu Gong clan nodded seriously. She knew that Xu Chen was right. The Wulong River was too wide and the water was too big. Especially when the water rose in summer, the floods swept across both sides of the river. This kind of floating bridge could not withstand it at all.
"Even this bridge is only temporarily accessible for now. It will probably be washed away when the water rises in summer!" Xu Chen said with a serious face.
"What should we do?" the little witch asked nervously.
"There are many solutions. One is to build larger wooden boats to transport people, carriages and horses back and forth across the strait; the other is to build better pontoons and use wooden boats to carry the bridge deck. They can be assembled on the river when in use and dismantled when not in use.
The parking is on both sides; third, a large suspended wooden bridge can be built on the river; the Jicang River is not particularly big, and the water rises in summer and has its ups and downs. It is not too troublesome to pass on both sides of the river, but the bridge is more convenient!
"
After hearing Xu Chen's explanation and that there were many methods, the group of witches breathed a sigh of relief. Their nervous and fearful moods quickly became excited, and they followed Xu Chen back onto the pontoon again.
It was much easier to come back this time. In just five minutes, a group of people successfully returned to the north bank. Naturally, the crowd of onlookers burst into cheers. At the same time, the crowd also rushed up, and they all expressed their desire to cross the bridge.
Try crossing the river.
"There is no problem in crossing the bridge, but the pontoon bridge has limited carrying capacity, so we cannot walk together, we have to line up one by one, and no more than ten people can be on the bridge at one time..."
Under Xu Chen's loud reminder, everyone immediately started queuing up to get on the bridge. After Feng and Lei waited, the officers got on the bridge first, and then ran over with excitement and cheers. With a body of more than 200 kilograms, only
The floating bridge was constantly trembling and shaking under the pressure, and Xu Chen's face kept twitching as he looked at it.
Savages are savages, even dogs crossing the river are so wild.
After a group of hunters who participated in building the bridge ran back and forth on the pontoon twice, howling like ghosts and wolves, a group of tribal chiefs and leaders also walked back and forth on the bridge. By the time the rest of the people started to go up the bridge to experience it, the sky was already dark.
It got dark.
But even though it was dark, it could not stop the excitement of all the savages. Even when Xu Chen and a group of witches were eating and drinking around a bonfire on the river beach and preparing to return to the Gonghuo tribe to rest, there were still torches coming and going on the river.
Hui and the excited shouts of ghosts and wolves howling.
I'm afraid these savages won't be able to stop playing with this new toy for a long time.
When Xu Chen returned to Gonghuo Mountain Col, he was even worried whether the bridge would be broken apart tonight.
After another night of hustle and bustle.
Early the next morning, Xu Chen came to Hetan Pier again.
The three-day witchcraft festival has ended.
Many tribes had already finished breakfast and were packing their goods and luggage, but no tribe was ready to leave. Instead, they all gathered near the dock.
The pontoon is still floating steadily on the river, looking unchanged from yesterday.
A lot of people have gathered on both sides of the river. A large number of men, women, old and young are queuing up on both sides of the river. There are people shouting, walking or running back and forth on the bridge.
Xu Chen's face began to twitch again unconsciously.
He recalled the situation when he was a child, after the village first built cement roads connecting every village, and a large group of children ran back and forth on the road like this, feeling the extremely novel and enjoyable experience.
This group of savages seems to be like this now, as happy as a group of children who have not grown up.
Xu Chen led people to the edge of the pier and asked Gu to blow the horn to disperse the crowd. After giving a few instructions, he rode on horseback and stepped onto the pontoon.
A horse weighing over a thousand kilograms stepped on it, and the bridge suddenly sank.
The horse was a little nervous and neighed and retreated, but under Xu Chen's forcible control, he kicked the horse's belly several times with both feet, and the horse finally stood on the pontoon.
Most of the thick logs used as floating piers were sunk into the water, and the bridge deck was less than three inches away from the river water.
Xu Chen breathed a sigh of relief and rode his horse slowly towards the other side of the river. After a few minutes, he successfully reached the other side.
However, despite crossing the river, Xu Chen felt slightly regretful.
The load-bearing condition of the pontoon was much worse than he expected.
According to the original idea, the bridge must be able to withstand the passage of a carriage.
But at the moment, it seems that it clearly cannot achieve this expected goal.
And as the river water soaks for longer, the bridge's load-bearing capacity will become worse and worse.
However, it was impossible to demolish and rebuild it. In the short term, he could not find thicker and larger dry logs to use as floating piers.
In addition, there are so many rafts on the pier. Even without this bridge, crossing the river would not be a problem, it would just be a little troublesome at most.
Besides, it’s just a group of savages, and the river is shallow in winter, so even wading across the river is fine, and you won’t get pregnant even if you freeze a few times.
When the water rises in spring, the bridge will most likely be washed away, so just make sure it can survive this winter.
After thinking about it more, Xu Chen felt relieved instantly and his mood became lighter. After riding back, he summoned a group of hunter officers from the Gonghuo Clan and the Five Ghost Clan of the Thunder Clan, and told them to take good care of the wooden bridge on weekdays, and not to have too many people at the same time.
When crossing the river, it is best to ride horses one at a time and not to be too crowded. In addition, we are specially warned not to use horse-drawn carriages.
At the same time, he also required that people must be arranged to check the structure of the wooden bridge every day to see if any ropes and wooden piles are loose and swaying. If so, they must be tied up and reinforced quickly.
After getting assurances from Lei and other officers, Xu Chen summoned a group of shamans and tribal chiefs for another meeting.