I am a Primitive Man
Chapter 368 – Iron Spear
“How’s it going?”
Han Cheng walked over from the iron forge and asked with a smile, looking at Shang, who was sitting by the pile of barley stalks panting heavily.
Shang quickly stood up when he saw it was the Divine Child, but he didn’t get up in one go. He tried three times before managing to prop himself up with the wooden fork.
“Divine Child, I was wrong…”
Shang willingly admitted his mistake.
Today, he hadn’t even finished a third of the barley stalks laid out for drying. And this wasn’t even the first batch of barley; if it were, it would have been even more exhausting.
What seemed like an easy task turned out to be so tiring. Perhaps the Divine Child’s idea of making “stone rollers” and using deer instead of people to thresh the grains was necessary.
Otherwise…
Thinking of the vast stretches of land around the tribe they had cleared and imagining the scene of endlessly threshing barley with wooden forks, Shang couldn’t help but shudder.
This was too exhausting.
But what about the weapons he had yearned for…?
His expression dimmed at the thought of it.
Let’s wait a bit longer. Let’s wait until we find the iron bacteria, then…
Seeing Shang’s sincere remorse, Han Cheng patted him on the shoulder and brought his hand from behind to the front.
“Hey, take a look at this.”
Han Cheng raised his right hand, revealing an iron piece before Shang. It was over ten centimeters long, two centimeters wide, and about three to four millimeters thick. Near the base, there was a three-centimeter-long crossbar.
A perfectly circular spearhead would be too heavy and wasteful of iron, not to mention less effective. What Han Cheng held in his hand, which he called a “halberd” based on his memory, was made from this consideration.
His immature drawing skills, combined with Second Senior Brother’s amateur ironworking and the idea of saving iron, resulted in something that didn’t quite look like a halberd.
But this thing was more practical than an iron spearhead. After sharpening the edges, it could easily pierce through prey’s bodies. Meanwhile, the crossbar could help prevent the halberd from being inserted too deeply and becoming difficult to pull out.
Han Cheng had also considered making some weapons. The vine shields led by the eldest Senior brother and the slingshot team led by the second senior brother didn’t need iron. Or even if they did, the increase in power wouldn’t be significant.
To maximize combat effectiveness with the least amount of iron, the spear and archery teams led by Shang and Third Senior Brother mattered.
Even if Shang hadn’t spoken up, Han Cheng would have made some accordingly. But before he could finish, Shang had already started talking.
So, Han Cheng naturally teased him a bit.
“Iron weapons?!”
Shang, feeling dejected, exclaimed in surprise and disbelief when he saw the iron halberd Han Cheng had brought out. Normally steady, he was now filled with excitement and incredulity.
“Take it, go sharpen it. After it’s sharp, put it on the spear shaft.”
Han Cheng handed Shang the slightly misshapen iron halberd and smiled as he spoke.
“Divine Child…”
Shang held the iron halberd in his hand, looking at Han Cheng with a dazed expression, not knowing what to say.
Han Cheng smiled and patted his shoulder, saying, “Alright, go on. Hurry up and sharpen it. Let’s see how powerful it is when it’s mounted.”
“Mm.”
Shang nodded vigorously with slightly reddened eyes and ran towards the whetstone, holding the iron halberd as if it weighed a thousand jin.
From afar, Han Cheng smiled as he watched Shang squatting there, vigorously sharpening the iron halberd.
Giving a little punishment and a sweet reward proved to be a simple yet effective method.
Next to the whetstone, not only Shang but also Third Senior Brother was there, fervently and cautiously sharpening iron arrowheads. There was a total of five such arrowheads.
In addition, Ruhua, who had recently given birth, was also grinding iron needles there.
Compared to other large items, Han Cheng was generous with iron needles, directly making ten of them. However, due to his limited skills, the iron needles he produced were the equivalent of five in modern times. Moreover, their surfaces were not smooth, so they needed to be gradually smoothed using the whetstone before use.
But these were already enough to make everyone happy. The women squatted there, grinding, chattering excitedly.
Apart from these, Han Cheng used the remaining iron to create an iron blade for a plane and a knife specifically for cooking.
All the iron bacteria obtained on this trip were used up.
The iron blade for the plane was ten centimeters long, four centimeters wide, and half a centimeter thick. One end was sharpened on the whetstone, then mounted on a wooden piece thirty centimeters long and ten centimeters wide.
The bottom of the wood was chopped flat with an axe, and a hole five centimeters long and four centimeters wide was chiseled slightly behind the middle. The sharpened iron blade was then diagonally inserted into this hole so that its surface was leveled with the wood underneath. When pushed back and forth, it could scrape off any uneven parts of the wooden board.
Behind the wooden trough, a horizontal hole was drilled, into which a horizontal wooden stick was inserted. This made it convenient to grip and push the plane back and forth.
“Sss… sss…”
Wood shavings of the original color rolled out from the mouth of the plane, fell to the ground, and emitted the unique fragrance of wood.
Han Cheng put away the plane, looked at the smooth wooden board below, and couldn’t help but admire it. Making the wooden board so smooth and neat was something he hadn’t dared to imagine before. However, now, such things appeared so easily under his hands.
He looked at the smooth wooden board and then at the plane in his hand. Although he had used such tools several times, he still felt somewhat unreal.
This was iron. This was the iron that they had once looked down upon…
“Thud!”
As the bowstring rang out, a feathered arrow shot out fiercely and nailed itself firmly onto the target, its feathers swaying slightly.
“Pierced through! Pierced through!”
After someone ran over to see the result, they exclaimed excitedly.
This was a target deliberately thickened, yet a single arrow penetrated it. The power of this iron arrowhead was truly astonishing!
“Pfft!”
Shang forcefully thrust the iron halberd in his hand, its sharp tip easily piercing through the straw-stuffed dummy.
Fantasizing that this was the evil tribe that had once abducted members of his tribe, a grim expression appeared on Shang’s face.
If any tribe dared to invade their tribe again, he would stab them to death with this iron halberd!
In the courtyard bathed in sunlight, away from the wind, a dozen women from the Green Sparrow Tribe made clothes, gloves, and other winter necessities. Holding iron needles, they pierced the tanned hides treated with alum. The sharp iron needles were much more effective than the bone needles used before.
The appearance of iron tools brought joy to the entire Green Sparrow Tribe.
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