Let go of that monster girl!

The mouse girls jumped off the train, unloaded various parts, and began assembling a medieval mouse-powered crane.

This treadmill crane has a simple structure and was slightly modified by the mouse girl.

The core component is a set of large hamster wheels, more than three meters in diameter, with pedals on the inside. The hamster girls line up and run inside, which drives the winch to wind up the rope and lift heavy objects.

The large wooden wheel is connected to a long boom via a gear set, and an iron hook and pulley system are hung at the top of the boom.

The entire machine is supported by a thick wooden frame, and the base is secured with four ground stakes.

Molen unfolded a blueprint, and several foreman rats wearing brand-new white hard hats gathered around, tiptoeing and sticking their heads to the edge of the drawing.

The building in the picture is very simple, just a large cylindrical house with windows all around it. It is much simpler than the old mill and even looks a bit shabby.

A foreman rat honestly commented:

"Your Excellency, this is so ugly."

"There's nothing we can do, it's a pillbox."

Molen was also somewhat helpless.

Mill Village is located on a plain in the northern part of Aw Mountain Territory. The tall watchtowers can monitor the entire northern border of Aw Mountain and be on guard against any possible enemies.

In the future, walls, trenches, and minefields will all be built under the protection of pillboxes.

However, such watchtowers are neither aesthetically pleasing nor particularly sturdy; they can probably only block a few arrows and defend against passing Chimera Beasts.

Molen had to admit that creating such a stupid and ugly thing was causing his architect's soul great pain.

But the joy of his factory owner's soul made up for it.

If possible, Molen would very much like to build a permanent concrete fortification according to World War II standards.

Imagine pouring C150 steel fiber reinforced concrete at the top of the hour to create a colossal structure tens of meters above ground and dozens of meters underground. Even if a dragon girl were to crash into it, she would only leave a white mark. That would be incredibly reassuring.

However, after several experiments, it was discovered that manufacturing and maintaining concrete was actually not such a troublesome problem.

The biggest problem is that the rat girls have a very difficult time operating those casting templates and steel frames that weigh several tons or tens of tons.

Molen glanced at the newly assembled rat girl running wheel crane.

This machine has a lifting capacity of up to six tons, which is quite considerable. It can be roughly the same as a motor, but it is less than one-tenth the lifting capacity of a tower crane.

In fact, in terms of sheer volume, Roman-era composite crane towers were already capable of lifting objects weighing hundreds of tons.

However, such a colossal structure was even more difficult to build than the tower itself.

Use what you can first; that's the basic philosophy of the dwarf mountain rat.

Moreover, it's not that Molen wasn't prepared to improve the process.

"Run! Run!"

A bunch of female hamsters were lined up in the hamster wheel, their short legs thumping as they pedaled, their tails swishing wildly.

To prevent fallen mice from rolling around inside, there are also safety mice with red hats standing next to the running wheel.

The winch tightens, the rope straightens, and the crane boom slowly rises.

One after another, long, square, and thick stone slabs were lifted off the ground and moved smoothly in the air, their positions controlled by the mouse girls on the ground using guide ropes.

"so big!"

"But it doesn't creak."

Masonry and concrete are not new technologies.

In traditional craftsmanship, experienced stonemasons are needed to select high-quality stones in the quarry, carefully study their textures, and use wedges to cut them piece by piece into suitable shapes before slowly transporting them to the construction site.

The low hill has already skipped the step of finding stones and reached a new stage of creating stones.

Precast concrete slabs.

Add some steel bars, add some cement, hollow out the middle, and you'll have a perfectly square shape, light and easy to make, as many as you want.

Precast slabs have a regular shape and weigh less than half as much as stones of the same volume, making installation several times faster.

As for strength, simply not collapsing for now is considered a victory.

Anyway, the tower mainly served as a lookout post and gun mount.

The rat girls stationed in the mill village only need to fire a few shots to buy time when they spot the enemy.

Airships and ratgirl trains will arrive with heavy firepower when the time comes.

At the construction site, the rat women began clearing away the ruins of the old mill, leaving the relatively stable foundation stone walls and installing precast slabs directly on them.

One after another, gray-white square panels were hoisted up and fixed in place by the mouse girls standing on them using cement grout. The cylindrical tower grew taller layer by layer.

Molen picked up the binoculars and turned eastward.

A faint glowstone light was also emanating from the direction of the dessert mound.

Another construction team is working on the same project over there.

The significant increase in the number of rat girls has brought about an important benefit: now, Dwarf Mountain can operate several construction sites simultaneously.

Soon, the low hills will establish an outer defensive perimeter consisting of watchtowers and mobile heavy firepower.

At that time, whoever comes will receive a generous gift.

A foreman rat asked:

"Your Excellency, if we're unsure whether they're enemies or not, we can't just open fire on them directly. How should we notify Dwarf Mountain?"

Indeed, just like the White Ant Girl before and the recent Harpy, many suspicious individuals require Moren to personally confirm whether or not to allow them to pass.

Molen patted a small, very simple machine behind him.

"I've also considered that."

After building so many railway tracks, we've finally put them to use.

Chapter 113 Ding Ding Ding and Dong Dong Dong

Ding Ding Ding Ding!

The shift change bell rang from the electric bell above the mine entrance.

The rat girls, carrying pickaxes, pushing minecarts, and carrying glowstone lanterns, emerged one after another from several mine entrances as they changed shifts.

They laughed and chatted about all sorts of interesting little things.

Low hills, on the city wall.

Moren had already returned to the low hills with the Rat Girl train and was sitting on a small wooden stool next to the scout rat watchtower.

He held a thin telegram book open in his hand, the cover of which had the words "Ding Ding" written on it, a name given by the scout rat.

A group of onlookers, including Lyme, gathered around, all eyes intently fixed on the small electric bell hanging on the watchtower post.

The scout rat, holding an identical booklet, stood beside Morren, occasionally tiptoeing to peek and see which page the Baron had turned to.

Then lower your head and compare it with your own to confirm that the content is the same.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the doorbell suddenly rang loudly.

Ding ding ding ding ding!

The mouse girls all shrank their necks, but since they had all seen the electric bell before, they weren't as scared as last time and huddled together.

"very noisy."

"You'll get used to it."

The doorbell stopped for a moment, then rang again, this time at a pre-arranged frequency.

Ding, ding ding ding, ding.

Ding ding ding, ding, ding.

The rhythm is distinct, with alternating long and short beats.

The scout mouse scratched its round ears, picked up a charcoal pencil, and struggled to find the corresponding symbols one by one in the booklet, its little brows furrowed.

After drawing for a while, she thought for a moment, then turned the notebook over and held it up in front of Moren.

It reads ugly on top: "Squeak! Can you hear me!"

"so amazing."

"It really came through!"

The mouse girls crowded around to look and exclaimed in amazement.

Molen reached out and pressed the wooden button on the telegraph machine next to the electric bell. The scout rat vigorously cranked the telegraph machine's handle, and a new signal was sent from one end, traveling along the rails into the distance.

After a while, the other side replied, and the scout mouse translated it:

"so amazing."

Iron is an excellent conductor of electricity. Compared to electrical wires, railway tracks are much thicker; the resistance of one kilometer of railway track is less than one ohm.

Moreover, as a medium for telegraphs, it is not necessary to use two mining rails; the transmitter is connected to the mining rail on one side and grounded on the other.

The required voltage is also very low; a small hand-cranked motor can suffice.

No matter where they are within Dwarf Mountain's territory, as long as the rats have telegraph machines and are near the mine tracks, they can directly contact Dwarf Mountain.

Morren stood up, walked to the railing of the watchtower, and looked down.

The mine track starts from the low hill and stretches into the distance, disappearing into the darkness. Only the scattered clusters of fluorescent mushrooms along the way mark its direction.

From now on, the hill will no longer be an isolated island cut off by darkness; these tinkling sounds will reunite the scattered outposts into a whole.

These orbits will not be limited to the low hills; they will gradually spread until they reunite the dark areas.

However, before that, we need to resolve the issue in the north.

Knock knock, knock knock knock.

Beep beep, beep beep beep.

A strange musical sound came from the training ground.

The rats, humans, and limes on the watchtower all turned their heads in unison, looking towards the training ground.

Molen looked down and saw a military band composed of mouse girls standing in the center of the training ground: a few playing small drums, a few blowing small brass trumpets, and a few playing cymbals.

They wore matching vests and homemade dome hats with a white cardboard feather stuck in them.

He was walking back and forth on the training field with a serious expression on his face, the drumbeats were neat and the horn was loud.

On the other side of the training ground, the militia rats marched forward in neat formation, and the newly joined rats also tried to keep up with the rhythm, but the formation was very difficult to maintain.

"Master, what is this..." Lem asked curiously.

"Military band".

It was Molen's own idea, but he didn't expect it to have such an interesting effect.

He couldn't help but laugh at his own slightly mischievous idea.

The mouse girls in the military band stood solemnly, waving their little hands, the drumsticks thumping, changing the rhythm, the drumbeats and trumpets becoming tight and rapid.

Upon hearing this rhythm, the militia rats immediately changed their marching formation and ran towards the artillery model placed on the side of the training ground, hurriedly taking their positions.

The military band changed their tune again, with the drumbeats and trumpets turning into a series of powerful, continuous strikes.

The militia rats began to simulate loading actions, moving shell models, pulling open the breech handle, and aiming at the sights.

However, due to insufficient training, the whole process was a complete mess.

The experienced gunners were skilled, but the inexperienced new rats made the shells roll around, forgot to stuff the gunpowder bags, and dropped the ignition fuse. It was only thanks to the experienced rat girls in the team that no major chaos occurred.

Molen couldn't help but laugh while rubbing his forehead.

Ugh.

She is quite cute.

But it's also quite a headache.

You can't enjoy the childlike nature of the mouse girls while expecting them to be disciplined and obey orders.

The immobile formation of the Macedonian phalanx represents the limit of the rats' courage.