From Robinson Crusoe

The material used for the edge wall of the platform outside the cave is large rocks. Chen Zhou plans to build it to 1.8m high and about 1m wide.

Inside the semicircular wall, he plans to build four 3m-high wooden watchtowers to observe the situation outside the wall. If necessary, he can also hang a few lights on the top of the watchtower to provide lighting.

The foundation of the stone wall had to be deep enough to support the heavy structure.

In the past, the sides of the platform, which were prone to landslides and soil loss during the rainy season, had to be covered with a layer of rocks. When laying the rock slope protection, they had to be made steep enough to make it difficult for people to climb.

On the east side of the cave near the storage room, Chen Zhou left a hole in the stone wall for installing a gate, and at the door was a stone staircase leading to the outside.

In fact, he struggled for a while about whether to leave a door in the wall.

For the indigenous people of this era, the stone wall was undoubtedly an indestructible line of defense. If there were not enough people, it would be difficult for them to climb up the platform, climb up the wall and attack the cave amidst the bombardment of bullets and crossbows.

But the gate is undoubtedly the weak point of this "iron wall".

In order to avoid being attacked, Robinson didn't even leave a door to the shelter and used a ladder to enter and exit.

Although this is highly secure, it causes a lot of trouble, such as problems getting in and out when in a hurry to go home, and the inconvenience of transporting supplies.

Chen Zhou is different from Robinson Crusoe. His supplies are not a one-time deal, but delivered continuously.

There is a mysterious reward every 15 days. What if another cargo as big as a container is delivered and you want to put it back into the cave, what should you do if there is no door?

Whether it is hanging it from the wall to the other side, or directly raising the land outside the wall to form a slope, or demolishing a section of the wall, it is too troublesome.

In addition to the convenience issue, Chen Zhou also took into consideration that the possibility of the cave being attacked was actually not high.

Focusing all energy on building the wall, even if it is built to be impregnable, is fraught with the suspicion of being unfounded.

Put yourself in his shoes. Suppose he was a native who had luckily escaped the first wave of attacks during the cannibalism ritual, and mustered up the courage to chase the terrible enemy. Then he watched his companions fall one by one, suffering heavy casualties. He must have been terrified and would have fled.

Even though the natives who landed on the island were brave warriors selected from thousands, and most of the improved flintlock rifles malfunctioned that day and did not cause the expected casualties to the natives, they had the advantage in numbers and launched a pursuit.

According to Chen Zhou's guess, the natives would at most chase them to the top of the mountain.

As for going deep into unfamiliar territory and attacking sturdy buildings, that is a choice that even wild animals would not make.

Even if he accidentally killed the tribal leader's favorite youngest son, this would not happen.

Moreover, the cave was built deep in the island, and when the location was initially chosen, a shady spot was chosen, and it was definitely not an open area that could be seen at a glance.

The way up the mountain was extremely bumpy. No matter whether starting from the rocky beach or the sandy beach in the northeast corner, a lot of physical strength would be consumed along the way. The natives had no reason to fight him to the end.

In his opinion, instead of worrying about a door that he didn't know whether it would be attacked, it would be better to practice shooting more to avoid missing someone due to nervousness.

……

Of course, although it was extremely unlikely that the natives would chase him all the way to the cave, Chen Zhou still took some remedial measures for the sake of his own life.

For example, for the material of the gate, he used a thick wooden door inlaid with iron sheets.

It was the largest and strongest door on the entire sailboat. It took a lot of effort to move it. It was only put back into service after being repaired, painted, and nailed with iron sheets.

He also set up staggered barricades around the outside of the platform.

These chevaux de frise are all made of very thick wood, with their heads pointed outward, like hedgehogs in a defensive posture, facing outward in unison, which can cause a lot of trouble for the enemy when they attack.

……

Building walls and laying floor tiles are both major projects. Since June, Chen Zhou has been carrying stones and white mud every day.

The heat of the dry season provided some help to the construction - the white mud dried quickly and the progress of the project could be accelerated accordingly.

During the construction, he also made some interesting attempts.

For example, digging a well in the hope of achieving self-sufficiency and staying in the cave for a long time, as long as there is enough food, they can fight a protracted war.

Unfortunately, due to the high altitude and the large number of rocks on the mountain, he did not have the tools to dig through the hard rock, so he was forced to stop work when the well was two meters deep - there were huge rocks underneath and he could not dig at all.

For example, build a secret passage and sneak away through it when the defense line is breached.

This idea is feasible, but the workload is too large.

The platform is surrounded by relatively gentle slopes. To reach a place far enough and safe enough, a tunnel at least 500m to 800m long must be dug.

According to optimistic estimates, it will take at least two to three years to dig through.

With this time, he might as well build a few crossbows to increase the lethality of the defensive facilities.

The heavy crossbow mounted high up has a strong deterrent effect on primitive natives without any armor, even on iron cans with plate armor.

The giant crossbow arrows cut from Damascus steel can completely break through the defense of the knight's plate armor. Except that the range is far inferior to that of artillery and the firing rate is not as good as that of muskets, it is actually not outdated.

……

Of course, there are successful attempts as well as failed ones.

The design that Chen Zhou was most proud of was a great success——

He built the new toilet on the edge of the platform, right next to the wall, and built a slope in the pit at the bottom of the toilet, leading directly to the end of the field.

There is a special composting area at the end of the field. Excrement and kitchen waste can flow smoothly into the composting area through the slope. There is no need to worry about the accumulation of feces and urine, or the water level rising during the rainy season and maggots splashing up from the feces.

However, he had heard that in medieval Europe, assassins climbed up castles through toilet pipes and assassinated nobles, so he was cautious and installed a few iron bars at the end of the slope as a metal fence.

At the bottom of the pit, there are dozens of sharp spikes pointing upwards. When the amount of excrement is large enough, these sharp spikes will be buried in the feces and urine.

If someone with bad intentions removed the iron rod and tried to sneak into his private territory through the toilet pipe, these sharp spikes would definitely give him an unforgettable surprise.

The punctured wound led to direct and seamless viral infection. Even if he escaped in time, he would still die from the infection in this era of backward medicine.

In addition to the brand new, easy-to-use, and odor-free toilet, Chen Zhou also carefully laid the platform floor tiles with a slight slope.

At the end of the ramp, there are several drainage pipes.

The inside of the pipeline is made of ceramic pipes he made himself, with a diameter of 20 centimeters. As long as you don't pour anything into it, it will basically not be blocked.

……

Building walls, constructing watchtowers, making barricades, laying slope protection and floor tiles, building new toilets, and setting up composting sites, any one of these tasks cannot be completed in a short period of time.

Even with Chen Zhou's hard work, he was busy from early June to the end of July, and finally completed the wall near August.

……

At this time, the cave already had the appearance of a barrier.

Going up from the rocky beach, out of the edge of the woods and arriving at the field, you can feel the indifferent gaze of the blue-black wall from afar.

The sharp chevaux de frise are interlaced with each other, expressing the cave owner's rejection.

The steep slope surface is also paved with dark-toned stones. Looking upward over the nearly 4-meter drop, four towering watchtowers silently patrol the surrounding walls.

Since most of the building materials are stone, and the colors of the stone are not rich, this series of defense facilities looks aesthetically pleasing. If Chen Zhou were to describe it honestly, he would say that this place looks like a bandit's stronghold.

Moreover, it is not a gathering place for heroes who rob the rich and help the poor, but a home for villains who rob houses, do all kinds of evil, and bully the weak and fear the strong.

Of course, after so much labor, countless sweat, and working for most of the dry season, Chen Zhou was tanned like an African man. There was no way he could describe his lair as a bandit's den.

To commemorate the completion of the fortifications, he lavishly took out several large pieces of corrugated cardboard that he had treasured and painted fields, chevaux de frise, slope protection, walls and watchtowers on them.

……

However, in his pink and purple paint, those sharp and cold defense facilities not only do not feel intimidating, but instead have a fairy-tale-like gorgeous color.

The crops are thriving, the grass is clear...

The perspective in the painting moves away from a close blooming flower, across the undulating ridges of the field, over the tender leaves of garlic sprouts, and over the fruits of peppers.

Looking forward, there are sturdy chevaux de frise.

A vine took root in the soil in the cracks of the rock slope, stretched its trunk tenaciously, climbed on the surface of the chevaux de frise, and bloomed tiny flowers.

Upwards, there is a thick stone wall.

Lai Fu stood on the wall, looking into the distance proudly.

The wind blew its hair, and the expression of this nearly two-year-old big dog became less playful and more steady.

There was an oil lamp hanging on the top of the watchtower. Hutou was climbing on the edge of the railing, staring intently at a bird that was resting on the top of another tower.

A few wisps of smoke floated up from the steep rock wall, and a few lines were lightly drawn on the yellowed corrugated cardboard, as if the afterglow of the setting sun was sprinkled on this quiet and peaceful land.

This is Chen Zhou's beautification. In fact, the cave dwelling in the shade cannot enjoy the warmth of the sunset at all. When the sun sets from the other side of the mountain, this place will only fall into darkness.

……

When he painted the tiger's head, Chen Zhou couldn't help but smile.

In a dozen days, this guy will be one year old.

Adequate food supply, balanced nutrition, huge amount of exercise, all these factors combined have made its size even bigger than its parent, even a circle larger than Xiao Huihui.

Without much fat, it weighs an astonishing 17 kilograms. Climbing on the observation deck, it looks like a little tiger.

Looking at its current appearance, it is hard to imagine that it actually grew from a small ball of fur.

Physical maturity also brings about sexual maturity. The first target of the tiger head, who has no ethical or moral concepts, is his biological mother, Tuzi.

Little Huihui, this useless thing, is lazy and gluttonous all day long, and has no dignity as a father. When facing the bigger and more ferocious Tiger Head, he once lost the courage to fight. If Chen Zhou hadn't taken sides, he would have been beaten and humiliated.

Unable to capture its biological mother, Tiger Head set his sights on its sisters, repeatedly harassing Bangdang and Huiqiu.

Fortunately, Chen Zhou discovered it in time and locked all three female cats in the house, leaving Hu Tou alone to love freely outside.

Not to mention, this guy is tall and strong, has strong hunting ability, and is well-fed. He has the feeling of being the tall, rich and handsome cat. He wandered around the forest alone for a few laps and soon found a suitable target.

Near the cave, Hutou said that he was the second in command and no cat dared to be the boss.

Its fighting ability is amazing. Chen Zhou once witnessed it fighting against four wild cats alone and defeating them severely.

When Tiger Head is young, he tends to dominate the edge of the woods. When he grows to more than 12 kilograms, basically no male cat dares to step into his territory. Even if there are newcomers, they will quickly face the reality after being taught a lesson and leave in disgrace.

Therefore, all the wild cats you can see in this small piece of land are basically female cats.

They have long regarded Tiger Head as their ideal target, and under the stimulation of hormones, they are willing to have sex with each other, just like a bolt from the blue. How can they resist such a dream lover? They will respond to Tiger Head's every request.

Two of the female cats were influenced by Tiger Head and became bolder. They even followed it over the wall and ran into Chen Zhou's yard, where they secretly ate the cat food he left there.

However, considering his own ability to bear it, Chen Zhou did not take in the two little female cats.

Keeping a pet is a responsible thing to do, and it is inevitable that you will develop feelings for your pet during the process.

He is well aware of the strong reproductive capacity of cats, and is even more aware of the destructiveness of cats to the ecological environment.

If there were enough tools and technology to sterilize cats, he would have sterilized Xiaohuihui, Tizi, Maoqiu and Gangdang long ago.

Otherwise, if these cats in the house continue to reproduce from generation to generation, sooner or later they will fall into the same predicament as Robinson Crusoe - there are too many cats.

At that time, in order to protect the food at home and to continue living a normal life, it is inevitable to kill.

If among the kittens he killed there were offspring of his favorite cat, he would definitely feel bad.

Rather than feeling uncomfortable later, it is better to avoid trouble now.

The best way to deal with them is to let them fend for themselves in the wild, and when they turn hostile and decide to kill you, don't feel bad when you do.

……

After the wall was built, being inside it naturally gave people an unprecedented sense of security.

After finishing this big project, seeing that there was only half a month left in the dry season, Chen Zhou thought about taking a long trip to the river valley plain and the fruit tree valley to look for cassava, pick more fruits, and transplant a few plants - this matter had been shelved for almost a year.

According to the book, in addition to citrus fruits, cocoa trees also grow in the Fruit Valley.

Chen Zhou knew that cocoa was the raw material of chocolate.

He used to be a big fan of chocolate. Out of curiosity, he even searched for videos himself to learn how cocoa beans are turned into chocolate. The manufacturing process was much simpler than he had imagined.

With his current skills and conditions, he can definitely try making his own chocolate.

There were less than four months left before the natives arrived on the island. He wanted to finish all the things he needed to do outside first, and then concentrate on dealing with the natives. He also wanted to think about how to get along with them after successfully rescuing them, how to tame them, and how to develop a specific plan and make the necessary props.

But before leaving, he had one important thing to do - celebrate his birthday.

Chen Zhou's birthday is August 8st in the Gregorian calendar, which was the second day of the seventh lunar month in 1.

如今已是1661年7月29日，再有两天就到8月1日了，不知道农历为何年何月的他决定依照公历过一个生日。

This was certainly not for the so-called "sense of ceremony", because he did not celebrate his birthday on August 8 last year.

In addition to being a necessary relaxation after a busy day, so as not to stretch oneself too tight and thus break, holding this birthday party is actually also a completion party to celebrate the full completion of the fortifications.

When living alone, one is often so bored that one has nothing to say and nothing to do. One’s life is both busy and leisurely, both fulfilling and boring.

By frequently reviewing his own behavior, Chen Zhou gradually realized that the psychological impact of long-term solitude had already manifested itself in him.

To put it in modern terms, his sanity value is gradually decreasing, and he is getting closer and closer to madness.

This birthday party was his attempt to regain his sanity.

Otherwise, he felt that if he continued like this, when the time came to rescue the native captives, he would be affected by his psychological state and might have an accident.

Even if they can ensure their own safety, if they get too excited and kill the captives brought to the island by the natives, then all their efforts will be in vain. (End of this chapter)