Free Web NovelChapter 2129: Chapter 1552: Rebuilding the Three Guards, Standing on the Shoulders of Emperor Taizong...
On the low hill over a dozen yards high, the Tuluting Mountain Guard Station on the Niuman River at Xing’an Ridge has weathered its eighty-ninth year. The winds and rains of eighty to ninety years have left this thousand-strong mountain fortress guard station mottled and old, filled with pockmarks reminiscent of "elder’s spots."
Half of the watchtower within the guard station has collapsed, as has the warehouse, leaving only most of a military camp, which has become the Dorbi Tribe’s encampment. Yet the rammed earth walls built nearly ninety years ago have not collapsed like the ones at Nurgan Metropolitan Authority. The bricks on the outer layer have fallen away, exposing the gray-yellow base, but they remain firmly standing!
"East Sea Chief Divine bears witness! Beneath this earth wall lies a foundation as deep as a person, painstakingly compacted. Then, using heavy mallets, the entire wall was rammed layer by layer, so tightly that it could not possibly be made firmer... Look, the clay used for building the wall was carefully sieved fine soil, then mixed with lime, fragmented straw, and sticky rice paste. It’s hard to tell how much manpower was spent on this!"
The sky was damply overcast, and the forest sea was a vast and profound expanse. Many climbed atop the guard station’s earth wall, gazing down at the wild forest of Outer Northeast, listening to the whistle of the wind and the neighing of horses. Looking out across tens, even hundreds, of miles of forest sea, one sees no trace of human habitation. It’s uncertain how many small Wild Man Jurchen tribes, like beasts, are struggling for survival in the forest. Indeed, amid the vast riverbanks and mountain forests, this mountain fortress guard station beneath their feet is almost the only mark of civilization, surviving the wild tide.
"Indeed! This earth wall will not collapse... That’s the benefit of having a guard station on a mountain; rainwater can’t pile up, it all flows to the foot of the mountain! And so long as the foundation beneath the wall isn’t soaked and softened, this earth wall will withstand decades, even a hundred years, without falling! As for manpower assaults, you see this depression left from battles. But this earth wall is solid! It can’t be moved with an iron shovel, and heavy mallets only leave small dents..."
Chief of Harman, Ali, watched the pitted surface of the earth wall with a thoughtful expression. The bottom of this section of the wall showed numerous hammer marks and arrow strikes—evidence of countless skirmishes. Yet from the intact upper layer of the earth wall, it seems none of the battles breached the mountain fortress guard’s defenses? However, the tribes within the guard station now resemble the Shengshu Jurchen Wild Man entirely; there is no sign of any guard station heritage. Is this current so-called "Dorbi Tribe" still truly the Tuluting Mountain Guard once appointed by the Great Emperor?
"Ancestor! What are you looking at?"
"Agudah, I am observing the terrain of this area. The more I look, the more clearly I see what an excellent choice for the Great Ming Mountain Fortress site this is, so difficult to attack yet easy to defend. No, with the power of nearby tribes, capturing it is absolutely impossible!"
Zuwaro continued upward, climbing onto the higher watchtower, scanning his surroundings with the Divine Eye Telescope. The site of this mountain fortress is in the triangular, narrow zone where two rivers intersect and lies at the river’s upper reaches.
Undoubtedly, this intertwining mountain and river terrain limits the deployment of large numbers of troops. Only the northeast direction could provide enough room for large-scale siege efforts, allowing merely one or two thousand troops to engage at once. Yet the mountain fortress’s topography and earth wall watchtower, combined, could host several hundred archers and store ample food...even the eight thousand-strong Xiquipilli Army would likely be resigned to a prolonged siege, unable to breach it.
Nevertheless, the mountain fortress is situated upstream on Niuman River, so reaching it from the west demands traversing upstream, while from the east, you must cross the Xing’an Range mountains. In this wild place of Outer Northeast, crossing endless dark forest seas, either bypassing mountains or following rivers upstream, the logistical challenges of transporting enough supplies to support thousands over a thousand miles or several thousand? ... This is a feat Zuwaro simply cannot fathom, almost impossible to fulfill!
Thus, in some sense, this mountain fortress at Xing’an Ridge truly is "military invulnerable." When considering political and economic perspectives, in this era, not a single soul would endure such staggering costs to vie for these pointless wild mountain forests...
"Ancestor, suppose two or three hundred archers garrisoned this mountain fortress, it would be unassailable from the outside... But no tribe would bother a pointless siege; for easier plunder, they can simply venture south in search of easily overtaken tribes!"
"No! Agudah, you misunderstand my intention... Recall the ’potato’ seeds I previously bestowed upon you? Potato yields are at least five times that of barnyard grass! And this location abuts a river, free from water scarcity. Even the mountainous terrain can cultivate potatoes!"
"Oh! Are you saying that we should cultivate the little ’potato’ seeds here? Establish this as a pivotal encampment for the tribespeople?"
"Chief Divine bears witness; indeed, Agudah, this place is idyllic for a secure logistics base!"
"Great Divine Spirit! Indeed, this site is secure, with even thousand-strong tribes incapable of forcefully conquering this village... Yet this site is quite distant from our Maha tribe. Our month-long journey stretched likely 1200 miles. Starting from the Henggu River to Niuman River, we traversed the Xing’an Range mountains... Hmm, planting potatoes... Planting potatoes!"
Maha Agudah’s expression shifted, revealing both hesitance and expectation. On the journey to the village, he originally intended to procure horses and return, rounding up this over hundred-strong "Dorbi Tribe," especially capturing over thirty strong men war slaves, and transport them back to Nurgan.
