The morning mist in Stonewatch Valley had not yet fully dispersed, but the brickyard by the stream was already filled with the "Shuffling" sound of mud being kneaded.
Over a thousand hobgoblin laborers squatted on the open ground, their hands flying as they kneaded the wet clay into uniform mud balls, then pressed them into wooden molds to form brick blanks.
Their movements were swift and precise; in less than half an hour, the open ground was covered with neat rows of brick blanks, three times more efficient than ordinary hobgoblin slaves.
Kurzadh stood on the hillside, watching this scene, a smile playing on his lips.
These hobgoblin laborers and hobgoblin Tinkerers were the confidence he had to start the fortress project, and the "Secret weapon" that spawned them was located between the nearby Lumber Yard and quarry—that giant mountain of trash piled with discarded wood, broken stones, and rusty iron, which was the tribe's secondary building, the junkyard.
This junkyard was full of greenskin characteristics, looking like a deformed mound from afar, and metallic clanging sounds would echo when the wind blew.
Every month, Kurzadh would personally select thirty hobgoblin slaves and three hobgoblin Boyz and "throw" them into the trash mountain.
These little guys would scurry through the garbage, gnawing on scrap wood, fiddling with broken iron, as if they were "playing with trash."
After a month, the hobgoblin slaves would transform into nimble-handed hobgoblin laborers, and the hobgoblin Boyz would become hobgoblin Tinkerers with some technical know-how, occasionally even bringing out small gadgets assembled from discarded parts—unfortunately, so far, those gadgets were either crooked iron lumps or wooden frames that fell apart with a touch, none of them usable.
After four years, the tribe, relying on this junkyard, had accumulated nearly a thousand hobgoblin laborers and three hundred hobgoblin Tinkerers.
Now, these upgraded laborers had become the core force for the fortress construction.
"Boss, we're running out of clay!" a hobgoblin Technician ran over, holding a cracked piece of clay in his hand, his small eyes filled with anxiety.
He had "Graduated" from the junkyard three months ago and was now responsible for managing the clay pit, much more reliable than ordinary hobgoblins.
Kurzadh nodded, pointing downstream along the creek: "Tell the goblins to dig over there; the soil layer is thick there, and there's plenty of clay."
He had already planned for assembly line work—hobgoblin laborers responsible for digging clay and making brick blanks, hobgoblin Tinkerers responsible for adjusting wooden molds and checking brick blank quality, and another group specialized in cutting trees and making charcoal, with clear division of labor and extremely high efficiency.
Kurzadh also considered fuel.
The coal in the tribe's warehouse had to be reserved for the Blacksmith Shop to smelt iron; the fuel for firing bricks would be the most abundant wood in the territory.
The hobgoblin Tinkerers, with the hobgoblin laborers, cut down a patch of miscellaneous trees at the forest's edge, cut them into sections, and piled them in the charcoal burning ground.
After three days of smoldering in an earthen kiln, they could be made into dark charcoal.
Within a week, a clay pit, a brickyard, and a charcoal burning ground were built along the valley river, and even Guzhana's adobe kilns were emitting black smoke.
"Don't expect too much from the first test firing," Guzhana stood in front of the earthen kiln, demonstrating to the hobgoblin laborers how to load the kiln.
"Stack the brick blanks neatly, leave space for air circulation, and burn the fire evenly, otherwise the bricks will crack."
The goblins obediently followed suit, carefully stacking the dried brick blanks into the earthen kiln, then lighting the charcoal.
The kiln fire burned with a "whooshing" sound, and black smoke billowed from the chimney, floating above the valley.
Three days later, the earthen kiln cooled down, and Guzhana opened the kiln door, a rush of hot air assaulting her—the brick blanks inside had turned dark red, looking hard, but several pieces shattered as soon as they were picked up.
"Still not good," Guzhana frowned, picking up a broken brick.
"The firing temperature wasn't controlled well; some parts were overfired, and some weren't fired through."
Kurzadh, however, was not anxious.
He picked up a relatively intact red brick: "It's okay; for a first test firing, it's pretty good to get this far.
Don't throw away these broken bricks; they'll be useful."
He already had a plan in mind; although these fragile red bricks couldn't be used for walls, they could be used to reinforce the walls of the brick kiln, making full use of them.
Next came the crucial part of fortress construction—the binder.
According to Guzhana's plan, she intended to use the "yellow mud plus lime" formula commonly used by Chaos dwarf; this binder, though ordinary, was stable and frequently used by humans for building houses.
But when she was about to start, Kurzadh stopped her.
"No need for yellow mud and lime; I have a better way," Kurzadh said.
Guzhana was stunned: "A better way? This is a universal formula for humans and Chaos dwarf; is there anything better than this?" She couldn't fathom how a greenskin chieftain could understand binder technology.
Kurzadh, of course, didn't understand, but he had seen more powerful things on Earth in his previous life.
He first thought of the mortar used for the Great Wall, but that required glutinous rice juice, which was unavailable in the tribe, and even if it were, the cost would be too high.
He then thought of sanhetu, but sanhetu lacked sufficient viscosity to bind heavy granite.
Finally, his gaze fell on "Cement"—this powder, when mixed with water, could solidify, becoming as hard as stone.
If he could make it, building city walls would be twice as effective with half the effort.
"I want to make a 'magic powder' that can stick stones together with water, ten times stronger than yellow mud and lime," Kurzadh explained to Guzhana.
"It needs clay, lime, iron powder, and something called gypsum.
I've already asked Antonio to purchase gypsum in Katushir; for now, let's try with water, clay, and lime."
Lime was easy to obtain; there was plenty of limestone in the quarry.
Guzhana, with the hobgoblin Tinkerers, broke the limestone into small pieces and put them into the earthen kiln with charcoal to burn.
A week later, the limestone turned into a white powder, which was quicklime.
But when Kurzadh mixed clay, lime, and water, stirred it into a paste, and applied it between two pieces of granite, a problem arose—although this mixture was stronger than yellow mud after drying, it was still prone to cracking and couldn't support heavy city walls at all.
"Still not working," Kurzadh frowned, staring at the cracked mixture.
"The temperature isn't high enough, the lime isn't thoroughly fired, and the clay particles are too coarse."
The temperature of the earthen kiln simply couldn't meet the requirements for firing cement; conventional methods wouldn't work, so he had to think of other ways.
He suddenly remembered information he had read in his previous life—in ancient times, when there was no cement, people used volcanic ash mixed with lime as a binder, and it worked very well.
There was no volcanic ash in the tribe, but there were the red bricks from the previous failed test firing!
Those red bricks, after firing, had a porous texture; if they were crushed and ground into powder, wouldn't that be "Artificial volcanic ash"?
"Guzhana, bring all the broken red bricks from before!" Kurzadh's eyes lit up.
"Have the hobgoblin Tinkerers break the red bricks and grind them into fine powder, the finer the better!"
Although Guzhana was puzzled, she still complied.
The hobgoblin Tinkerers used stone mills to grind the broken red bricks into fine powder; the white brick powder piled on the ground looked like a heap of flour.
Kurzadh mixed the brick powder, finely ground clay, and lime in proportion, then added water and stirred—the paste-like mixture was finer than before and had a slight stickiness.
"Try it now," Kurzadh picked up a handful of the mixture, applied it between two pieces of granite, then stacked them together.
"Wait until it dries tomorrow, then you'll see the effect."
Guzhana was half-skeptical; she thought this binder made from broken bricks would at most be similar to yellow mud and lime, or even inferior.
But early the next morning, when she went to check, she was completely stunned—the two pieces of granite were firmly stuck together.
She tapped them with an iron hammer; the granite didn't crack, and the binder didn't come off.
It was even three times stronger than the yellow mud and lime she had used before!
"This... how is this possible?" Guzhana picked up a stone that had been bonded with the mixture, examining it repeatedly, her eyes full of disbelief.
"Broken bricks ground into powder can actually be this strong?"
Kurzadh smiled triumphantly: "This is called 'artificial volcanic ash cement.'
Although it's not as good as real cement, it's enough for building city walls."
He knew that this makeshift cement, though simplified in its process, perfectly solved the tribe's problem—the raw materials were readily available broken bricks, clay, and lime, requiring no special equipment, and both hobgoblin laborers and hobgoblin Tinkerers could operate it.
In the following days, the greenskins in the tribe became thoroughly busy.
The hobgoblin Tinkerers were responsible for grinding brick powder, lime, and clay, mixing them in proportion to form "Cement"; the hobgoblin laborers then used this "Cement" to lay the city wall foundation—first, arranging the granite blocks, then filling the gaps with "Cement," and compacting each layer with a wooden mallet.
Granite that previously required several orcs to move could now be stacked quickly and steadily with the "Cement" to fix it.
Kurzadh stood before the city wall foundation under construction, watching the busy greenskins —hobgoblin laborers carrying "Cement" buckets, filling gaps under the guidance of hobgoblin Tinkerers; Orc Boyz moving granite, still clumsy but much more serious than before; Guzhana, holding a small hammer, occasionally tapping the city wall to check its firmness.
"At this rate, the foundation will be laid in another month, and then we can start building the brick walls above," Guzhana walked to Kurzadh's side, her voice full of admiration.
"I never thought you knew about this; you're even better than me, a Chaos dwarf."
Kurzadh smiled and waved his hand: "I just know a few tricks; the ones doing the real work are our brothers."
He knew clearly that without the hobgoblin laborers and hobgoblin Tinkerers, these upgraded laborers, and without Guzhana's technical guidance, even if he knew the "Cement" formula, he wouldn't be able to build the fortress.
As the sun set, the "Cement" in the valley still emitted a faint warmth, and the newly laid granite foundation gleamed with a cold, hard light in the afterglow.
Kurzadh looked at everything before him and suddenly felt that this fortress was not just a pile of stones and bricks, but a symbol of the Blackrock Clan's rise—from a small tribe of only dozens of people to a large tribe with three thousand greenskins and two strongholds, from living by plundering to being able to build fortresses and make "Cement" themselves.
The greenskins were establishing themselves on this land in their own way.
"Furball, do you think our fortress will be even stronger than human castles in the future?" Kurzadh stroked the giant squig beside him.
Furball whimpered, rubbing his head against Kurzadh's hand, as if nodding.
Laughter from the Orc Boyz echoed from the distant Lumber Yard, the sound of hammering from the quarry still reverberated through the valley, and the brickyard by the stream remained brightly lit.