This 3-meter-high watchtower was constructed from 5 main pillars, reinforced with mud, tree branches, forming a small roof and 3 small surrounding walls.
The area on top of the tower, roughly 4 square meters, allowed for setting up a cooking area with 3 fire pits.
During the day, this watchtower provided a view of over 2 kilometers, while at night, it extended to about 3,400 meters, depending on each person's vision.
Building the entire structure took the tribe a total of 12 days, but looking back at the achievement, everyone was overjoyed.
They couldn't believe they had built such a magnificent structure.
Indeed, Vu also believed in this. The Stone Tribe was now different from before.
Not only did they have food, salt, and warm water, but now they also had a mighty wall. Vu cried, tears streaming down his cheeks.
However, this time, he didn't kneel before the statue over there anymore. Instead, his eyes, full of warmth, looked at Minh Vu.
He knew there was no deity bringing everything to the tribe; it was Vu, the tribe's leader.
After completing the wall, Minh Vu also took a deep breath, but he couldn't rest yet.
There were still many tasks to handle, notably the crafting of bows and arrows.
This was indeed quite challenging for him, a young man from the rivers and lakes. Crafting traps for mice and fish was like second nature to him, but making bows and arrows was a bit more difficult.
However, you don't know how a pig runs until you've eaten pork. Without trying, you won't know if you've failed. He relied on his acquired knowledge and intuition to craft bows step by step.
Inspecting all the bows, there were a total of 34 finished ones. All of them were crafted by Akam and Alan, the combined effort of the two.
Among these 34 bows, 12 were 1.2 meters long, while the rest were 1 meter long. Testing them with fire and bending, these bows had the appropriate stiffness and elasticity according to Minh Vu's requirements.
The next step was the bowstring.
The majority were made from the tendons of large animals like buffalo or deer, but wild buffalo were dangerous creatures, even more so than wolves.
Therefore, using tendons for the bowstring had to be put aside.
Instead, he made the bowstring from tree bark.
The bark was soaked in water for 3 days, then beaten to separate the fibers.
Afterward, the fibers were separated and twisted into thick strings by hand. These strings had a much firmer texture than usual, meeting Minh Vu's requirements.
With the materials ready, Minh Vu began the crafting process. Connecting the bowstring and the bow was a crucial task, directly affecting the success or failure of a bow.
Fortunately, after some experimentation, Minh Vu finally succeeded in assembling them, creating a complete bow. Initially 1.2 meters long, after attaching the bowstring, it shortened by over 10 centimeters.
It was easy to hold, quite sturdy. Minh Vu pulled the bowstring, requiring a bit of force, but in return, there was a significant recoil. With standard arrows, they could fly at least 70 meters.
Minh Vu didn't rush to make the next bow. Instead, he focused on making arrowheads. The arrowheads were made from small, straight branches, dried and sharpened. The tail of the arrow was attached to two trimmed bird feathers. Not visually appealing, but very practical.
Minh Vu made a total of 6 arrows, as he wasn't sure of the appropriate length. He made three main types: one was 50 cm long, the second was 60 cm, and the third was 70 cm.
Crafting all these took up an entire day of his dedication. While other tribe members gathered materials or watched, only Minh Vu crafted these new weapons.
Minh Vu held the belief that without prior training, using weapons like this could be hazardous to those around. Thus, to prioritize safety, he strictly prohibited the use of bows without his permission.
Training with the bow was also quite challenging, requiring a dedicated training ground for the people. So, the entire tribe began working feverishly again.
During these days, the hunters frantically gathered materials for crafting bows and arrows, while others quickly crafted arrows and the bow tube.
The bow tube was used to hold the arrows. Typically made from cowhide, but the tribe didn't have any cowhide, so they used tree bark instead. The bark was split, then wrapped into a flat tube shape, wider at the mouth and narrower at the end, tied together. It was simple but not aesthetically pleasing.
After three days of excitement from everyone, Minh Vu began selecting members to use the bows. A total of 34 finished bows meant 34 people, including Minh Vu, would be equipped with this new weapon.
There were 13 hunters in the tribe, all equipped with 1.1-meter bows. The rest were given 90 cm bows, suitable for teenagers and women aged 18 to 25.
The women in the tribe were very surprised; they didn't expect to be chosen for this archery team.
The shooting range was the edge of the forest, where there were many trees suitable for target practice.
Seeing the members holding the bows, constantly adjusting and pulling the strings, Minh Vu smiled. He then instructed them on the basic use of the bow.
Holding, pulling, aiming, he patiently taught, although his own archery skills were nothing to boast about.
In his life, he had only fired a gun twice: once with a hunting rifle in a military zone and once with an AK rifle in the Cu Chi tunnels.
And now, he was teaching others to shoot bows. It was a bit absurd.
At this moment, both the teacher and the students were equally clueless. Everyone had to go through training to achieve good results.
On the first day of training, nobody achieved much. Not a single arrow hit the target, and over 20 arrows were lost. This made Minh Vu's heart ache.
But it wasn't over yet.
His index and thumb were swollen from constant use, as expected from continuous movement throughout the day.