Rise of South America

"It's down!" Xiao Mingli roared, swinging his axe with all his might.

With a "sizzle" sound, an oak tree more than ten meters high crashed to the ground, sending dust flying.

"Which one?" Liu Dafa asked, handing him a cigarette. Xiao Mingli didn't hesitate, lit it, took a deep drag, and sighed with satisfaction. "The third one."

Before traveling through time, Liu Dafa had worked as a salesperson in a company. His communication skills were average, and he wasn't doing particularly well. He and Xiao Mingli had lived together for a while, and the two, with similar personalities, had developed a bond after a few visits.

"You know..." Liu Dafa hesitated for a long time before speaking, "Do you think we really traveled through time? I still can't believe it, but the group of Indians we met yesterday didn't seem fake."

"How could it be fake?!" Xiao Mingli looked up at the sky. "You saw the corpses. Are there still Indians dressed like that these days? We were still sailing on the Yangtze River when the accident happened, and in the blink of an eye, here we are. Where is this? The seaside! The southern hemisphere!"

He was speechless. This person was so unlucky that even drinking cold water could make his teeth ache. He had finally asked for leave and taken a ship to slowly return to his hometown to visit relatives. He thought this journey would be a rare enjoyment, but who knew that fate had arranged for him to experience such a bizarre situation.

Liu Dafa was also speechless. He looked at the sun hanging in the northern sky and thought about the group of Indians shooting wooden arrows at them the previous day. He couldn't help but shiver.

"Don't think too much!" Xiao Mingli was the type of person who took things as they came. Things had already happened, so why not settle down peacefully? He patted Liu Dafa on the shoulder and comforted him, "There's plenty of food on the ship, enough for our 568 people to eat for a long time. Let's focus on work first and not dwell on those things."

"Dinglingling!" A "Beiyang Army" soldier, dressed in a blue military uniform with dragon patterns embroidered on the cuffs and wearing sunglasses, slowly rode past on a bicycle. He carried a high-precision hunting crossbow on his back, with crossbow arrows and steel balls in the basket. This was a member of the department that was officially established last night—the security team.

After Peng Zhicheng's efforts, the security team had finally been set up with 62 members. Peng Zhicheng served as the team leader, and Wang Qinian temporarily took the position of deputy team leader. The team was divided into four squads, each with 15 people, all equipped with high-precision hunting crossbows. One of the squads, a fast-moving force, was equipped with mountain bikes and responsible for patrolling the perimeter. Two of the remaining three "infantry squads" were stationed to the left and right of the logging team, closely guarding its safety, while the last squad was stationed at the construction site on the north bank of the river. Each squad was also equipped with two telescopes, which were kept by the squad leaders and their deputies.

Only a few saws and a dozen axes were found in the cabin. The logging team used these primitive tools in pairs to cut down trees. Most of the workers were novices, hesitant to hurt themselves or damage the equipment, so progress was slow. By the end of the morning, only sixty or seventy trees had been piled up in the yard by the riverbank. After the branches and bark were stripped, the logs were transported across the river. On the other side, several groups worked on processing the fresh wood into boards.

Ideally, fresh wood needs to be naturally dried in the shade or baked before use, as otherwise, it may deform and bend in the future. However, since the goal was to build temporary wooden shelters, this wasn't seen as a major issue. According to the committee's plan, everyone would eventually live in brick houses. Making bricks wasn't a high-tech task—just build an earthen kiln, find some clay, shape the bricks, and bake them after drying in the shade. It was a straightforward process.

Gao Mo, the "expert" on materials, had pointed out that Uruguay had abundant rocks containing calcium carbonate, such as limestone and marble. In fact, Shao Shude had found a small hill of limestone on the south bank of the river earlier in the morning, which excited him greatly. With limestone, cement could be produced using traditional methods. This material, known as "artificial volcanic ash cement," had better corrosion resistance than standard silicate cement. When mixed with slaked lime, it could harden both in air and underwater, making it ideal for humid or underground environments.

Perhaps it was just a stroke of good luck. By noon, Shao Shude had also found a suitable patch of clay land, completing everything needed for brick-making. He was so thrilled that he immediately decided to gather the other committee members to discuss how to allocate manpower, aiming to set up both a brick kiln and a lime kiln first.

On the north bank of the river, the cook aboard the freighter, Lao Zheng, and a group of elderly men and women were preparing dinner for everyone. In the morning, the tugboat owner Lao Zhang and his relatives had caught some fish in the river, though not many. They boiled several large pots of soup and served each person a small bowl. The main dish was white rice, with canned luncheon meat as the side dish. There was enough rice to go around, and each person received one can of meat.

After finishing his meal, Shao Shude found the other committee members and spoke while still eating: "You need to assign some manpower to me. Let Xiao Qian handle the simple housing projects. After all, he studied architectural design. I plan to build a brick kiln first. Construction is happening everywhere right now, and bricks are in high demand. The lime kiln and cement kilns need to be built as soon as possible. Once we have these, we can carry out many construction projects quickly."

"What materials are needed to build a kiln?" Ma Jia asked.

"Mainly bricks, which will be used for the kiln walls, chimneys, and fire pits. Also, we'll need refractory powder. If we want to be thorough, we should also consider refractory insulation materials," Shao Shude replied.

"We have some bricks, and many of them are refractory bricks. But I can't give you all of them. In the future, we'll need refractory bricks for iron and steelmaking. Do you understand how important steelmaking is? This is the foundation of our survival! Everything else must come second," Ma Jia said. As a technical enthusiast, his mind was always focused on the steel industry.

"It won't take much. I'll build a small earth kiln for now. It's an outdated method, but it gets the job done, even though it consumes a lot of energy. In the future, we can look into using rotary kilns or even tunnel kilns," Shao Shude said, deliberately ignoring the latter part of Ma Jia's comment. He knew that Ma Jia was a skilled businessman but lacked strong interpersonal skills.

"Where can we find manpower now?" Ma Qianzu sighed heavily, then glanced at Liu Weimin.

Liu Weimin, understanding the subtle hint, didn't take the bait. Now was a time for everyone to pull together, and he was too tired to bother with petty concerns. If Ma Qianzu wanted to play the bad guy, let him. At least it was for the collective good. "We have a total of 352 young and middle-aged male laborers. Excluding the 62 people in the security team and the 10 people left on the freighter, that leaves 280 laborers. Right now, 50 people are assigned to the logging team, 12 to wood processing, 60 to the construction team mainly for laying foundations, digging reservoirs, and building toilets. There are 10 people working on sanitation, epidemic prevention, and disinfection, 10 for the fishing team, and 20 for building simple wooden houses, mainly due to a shortage of boards. The rest are in the agricultural team burning wasteland, leveling land, and digging ditches." Liu Weimin took stock and noted that the agricultural team had too many people. "How about we transfer some people from the agricultural team?"

"Burning wasteland can be left to the women, and the less urgent tasks can be postponed for now," Ma Qianzu suggested, keen to strengthen his influence. "Transfer 80 people from the agricultural team. Lao Shao, ten of you are enough to build a small kiln, and I will take the rest to mine limestone. What do you think?"

This proposal aligned perfectly with Shao Shude's goals. Limestone was crucial, and the sooner it was mined, the better it would be for starting the work.

Wang Qinian and Xiao Bailang had no objections. Liu Weimin, however, was a bit concerned about how Jin Kela, the captain of the agricultural team, would react. Ma Jia, considering the importance of the materials for future blast furnaces, supported the idea. Peng Zhicheng agreed wholeheartedly, as the cement brick and stone structure of the house would greatly enhance its defense capabilities.

The resolution passed quickly. After dinner, Shao Shude and Ma Qianzu went to the agricultural team to ask for the workers. Though Jin Kela was hesitant, he understood the gravity of the situation and reluctantly agreed.

Shao Shude selected three experienced masons and seven laborers, and they headed to the south bank of the river to find a suitable site for the kiln. This location was chosen because of the easy access to soil. Meanwhile, Ma Qianzu's mining team brought the necessary materials—bricks, refractory powder, and cement—and then left some workers to help level the kiln bottom, while the rest continued to mine limestone in the southwest. The mining team operated in two shifts, one for mining and the other for resting and guarding with hunting crossbows.

With the assistance of the mining team, the kiln bottom was leveled quickly. Shao Shude oversaw the mixing of refractory slurry and worked alongside the masons to lay the kiln's foundation and build its walls. The tasks weren't too difficult, and by evening, the kiln's bottom and fire pit had been completed. Half of the kiln wall had also been built. The next steps included constructing the kiln door, chimney, flue, and other components, as well as making clay bricks and building a brick drying shed. These tasks couldn't be completed quickly, so Shao Shude knew it would take time.

Meanwhile, progress on the simple wooden houses was slow. Only five or six houses had been built in half a day. Qian Hao was growing anxious, but there was little he could do. The supply of boards was insufficient. The logging team only had around 20 saws and axes, and many of the workers were novices. As a result, the logging and processing of boards was slow, further delaying the housing project.

The collected branches, bark, and leftover wood were stored by the women to be used as fuel for the brick kiln. Given the limited coal supply, it was essential to save every bit, as coal would be needed for many projects in the future. The women also organized teams to gather food and firewood and perform other tasks within their capabilities, like cutting grass.

As the last rays of sunlight faded on October 8, hundreds of people scattered along both sides of the river began to pack up and prepare for the evening. With the slow progress on the simple wooden houses, most people had to sleep on the boats. The tools used for logging and limestone mining on the south bank were stored at the brick kiln yard, and the guards were stationed in two sheds to protect the yard. Lao Zhang's son, Xiao Zhang, brought their wolf-blue dog, "Xiao Hu," to guard the yard, while the north bank had its own team of guards led by Lao Zhang's other wolf-blue dog, "Hua Hua," and the new wooden houses built during the day.

At the evening work summary meeting, Ma Jia reported the day's challenges: two saws were damaged, two logging team members had strained arms and would need rest, and many others had blisters, meaning the logging progress would be slower tomorrow. Ma Jia, though used to heavy work from his steel plant days, was leading a group of inexperienced workers, many of whom were office workers unfamiliar with physical labor.

The committee members discussed their work and exchanged opinions. Peng Zhicheng and Wang Qinian, responsible for safety, didn't have much to report. Xiao Bailang, who had been fishing, reported a limited catch, but the committee members decided not to allow him to fish further upstream due to safety concerns.

Ma Qianzu gave an update on the limestone mining. His team, too, consisted of inexperienced workers, so they were still figuring out how to mine effectively. At the end of the meeting, Shao Shude requested help from the group for the brickmaking process. Starting tomorrow, Shao Shude would need to prepare bricks for firing. After making the bricks, they would need to be dried in shade sheds, and it would take at least half a month before they could be stacked in the kiln for firing. This meant preparations had to start immediately.

Liu Weimin, who was overseeing logistics and agriculture, was mainly concerned with firewood collection. The small brick kiln would require tens of thousands of pounds of firewood to fire the bricks at high temperatures for several days, a daunting amount. Currently, the women's team was only collecting less than 1,000 pounds of wood per day. With the kiln set to be completed soon, time was tight, and Liu Weimin's main task was to help gather more firewood.

After a quick discussion, the group dispersed to rest. Everyone was exhausted from the day's hard work, knowing that there was much to be done the next day.