Chapter 296 Crisis is Coming (Please vote and subscribe)

After three days of driving, the convoy loaded with sword grass finally arrived at Hanyang City. Luo Chong also took the opportunity to teach the tribesmen how to weave straw mats while the team was re-preparing supplies.

The production of straw mats was divided into two steps by Luo Chong, one was material preparation, and the other was weaving, which was handed over to the woodworking group and the textile group to complete respectively.

Under Luo Chong's guidance, the woodworking group and the metallurgical group worked together to create a tool specifically used to decompose the leaves of sword grass. It was a kind of knife similar to the modern scraper used to scrape potatoes, with a palm-long wooden handle and three iron blades side by side at the top.

When using it, put a finger-wide sword grass leaf into the blade from the root, and when it comes out from the other end, the sword blades on both sides will be cut off at once, and the middle of the grass leaf will be divided into two. The worker only needs to hold the tail of the sword grass with one hand and push the knife outward with the other hand to get two five-millimeter-wide thin strips.

After these decomposed grass leaves are boiled, they are then air-dried. This step is to soften the grass leaves and sterilize them. After all, they are used as cool mats for laying on the kang. In summer, they even come into direct contact with the skin, so they must be clean.

The last step is to weave the straw mats. Fine wool threads are used as warps, one thread is placed every five centimeters, and then the grass leaves are used as wefts. The grass leaves are woven together by alternating the warps up and down. After the completion, they are tied and fixed. The edges can also be wrapped with linen cut into narrow strips. The whole process is completed.

This method is not difficult compared to weaving. Luo Chong only explained it to Xiaodie once and she understood it. This also made Luo Chong feel more at ease. In the end, he simply gave Xiaodie full authority to manage this task, and her mother Shang was responsible for the weaving work of the Han tribe. The mother and daughter each had a task, so they both had work to do.

After arranging all kinds of work in Hanyang City, Luo Chong also led the caravan to the new city area. The car was not only filled with a large amount of food, but also a lot of tools and equipment for infrastructure construction. He also brought a lot of cattle and horses to transport earthwork. In addition, there were more than ten foremen of the construction team, who went there to lead the workers to work.

This journey took a week. Just when Luo Chong arrived at the new city construction site, a crisis quietly descended on Hanyang City.

At the end of March, when early summer was about to come, and the more than 2,000 acres of rice planted by the Han tribe would mature in at most half a month, a team of thousands of enemies had arrived from the north within three days of Hanyang City.

These people were painted with white ferocious totems, hung with various human bone ornaments, holding simple shields tied with branches and vines, as well as a large number of crude bows and arrows, and countless bone spears and stone spears. They were the cannibal army coming from the north.

In more than a year, three consecutive battles with the Han tribe all ended in defeat. The constant loss of soldiers and generals also made this huge cannibal tribe angry.

The first time was just a 40-man team encountering the Tree Tribe. In the end, the cannibals were defeated, but three injured enemies escaped.

The second encounter was also a team of dozens of people, but Luo Chong used a trick to lead them to the Black Rat Tribe. When they were both injured, Luo Chong appeared as a savior. He not only completely annihilated the cannibals, but also gathered the remaining population of the Black Rat Tribe. In the end, he reaped a lot of rewards. That time was an annihilation war, but no enemy escaped.

The third time was an ambush in the northern valley. That time, only the power of the Han tribe was used. Not only did they eliminate more than a dozen cannibal apes, but they also captured more than 200 slaves, who are still working for the Han tribe. That was also an annihilation war, and no fish escaped.

But no one escaped. Did the enemy really not know who did it? How was that possible? The three teams disappeared in the same direction. Three people even escaped from one of them. According to their description, they were defeated by a tribe that used bows and arrows and rattan shields. The opponent's weapons were very sharp, and it took only a few people to defeat them.

In this way, the answer is obvious. In the same direction, there is a tribe that has a grudge against them and has the ability to defeat them. They use bows and shields as weapons. Although they don't know the name of this tribe and how many people there are, they don't care at all, because they think they have more people.

In fact, it is true. Although the Han tribe has a population of more than 4,000, it still can't gather thousands of adult males. This is the gap.

The cannibals know the general direction and the weapons and equipment of the Han tribe. They will naturally not be unprepared this time. They will come to deliver food as before.

In a year, according to the description of the three people who escaped back and the two arrows with feathers they brought back, the cannibals also developed the same equipment. They used branches to tie wooden signs as shields, cut saplings to hang strings to make bows, and made arrows with dry thin vines. They came to the Han tribe in the south fully armed, intending to annihilate this tribe that has repeatedly opposed them in one fell swoop.

But what they didn't expect was that they had an unexpected harvest before they found the residence of the Han tribe.

The market in early April was coming soon. Some tribes that were going to trade goods with the Han tribe had already sent out their teams, but they never expected to encounter such a powerful enemy on the way.

The first to encounter this cannibal army was the trading team of the Sharp Horn Tribe. They had a total of 40 adult men and drove 200 saiga antelopes. They were going to exchange more white salt with the Han tribe this time. After all, their tribe was far away from Hanyang City, and it would take nearly a month to go back and forth.

This time, so many people were sent to guard the sheep, and they thought it would be foolproof. Who would have thought that when they were about to reach Hanyang City in a few days, enemies suddenly appeared all over the mountains.

The two sides didn't even fight at all. The difference in numbers was huge. The leader of the Sharp Horn Tribe directly ordered to abandon the sheep and escape, trying to use the sheep to attract the enemy's attention and let his team escape.

Moreover, the team leader was very smart. He let the team split into two and escape separately. One team went to the Han tribe to ask for help, and the other team fled to the residence of the Sharp Horn Tribe.

However, the enemy had too many people. In the end, only a few people from each team escaped the encirclement. The rest were either captured alive or killed. As for the 200 antelopes, they all became food for the cannibals.

Only 6 people escaped to the Sharp Horn Tribe, and only 3 people escaped to the Han Tribe. It can be said that the loss was heavy.

The three did not dare to stay and fled to the Han Tribe desperately, fearing that they would be caught by the enemy. However, while they were running away, they also led the enemy to the direction of Hanyang City.

(End of this chapter)