Chapter 11 - Construction

In the northeast of the city, Baron Shupert saw Laksdya Otto together with someone organising the position of the government building to be built. When Laksdya Otto saw Baron Shupert's presence, he immediately asked Baron Shupert for his opinion on the structure and layout of the government building itself. He suggested building the fortress and defence towers first, followed by the government building.

"What do you think Laksdya?"

"Good idea, but I will leave the fort's construction to Major General Wanto. He and the Marines will assist in the fort construction to complete it within the specified time. For the government building itself, I will recruit architects and residents so that the construction runs smoothly."

"Hmm... how about that... the problem is that we don't have any licensed architects or building experts. Most of these architects are high-ranking nobles so it is very rare to find architects living in areas like this."

"Hmm... we have a low-end architect, but I'm worried that he won't meet the qualifications that the Laksdya wants."

"That's fine, just call him here."

"Okay, please wait a moment."

While Baron Shupert was heading to where the architect was, Admiral Otto and General Wanto were discussing the building materials and equipment they would use to build the fort. The plan was to cut down trees from the nearby forest based on the advice of the Amacsa townspeople, then the timber would be transported and carried using military trucks and some of the IFV/APC that were inside the LPD KRI Banjarmasin and KRI Makassar. As for building equipment, it will be discussed with building experts in Amacsa City. The rest will adjust depending on the tasks that have been given. After everything was done, Admiral Otto and General Wanto met with several building experts whom Baron Shupert had brought.

"Good afternoon, Your Majesty. We have come to fulfil your summons."

"Don't call me Your Majesty, just call me Admiral."

"So, for what purpose has the Admiral summoned us?"

"Come here, please look at the map of Amacsa city that we have made. We plan to build a government building in the north-east of the city and it will be as shown on the map. Then there will be several military posts at each entrance to the city."

"Hmm... it can actually be done. However, the amount of wood used will be more than expected. Then, we don't understand some of the construction techniques that you have described here. We only know how to make a house from wood, while for stone-based buildings we only know the basics. Master masons in big cities or in the capital might know more about that."

"There's a point there too..."

"Admiral, the method of construction that we described also uses construction tools that they don't even know what they are. Maybe we should try a simpler and more understandable way, but this will extend the construction time."

"It's okay, the most important thing is that we can complete the construction of the building. Other administrative matters will also be taken care of at the same time. The most important thing is that we can exchange ideas before completing this construction project."

"Yes, Admiral."

"Alright, for now let's focus on drawing up this construction plan. We are also planning to deploy our marines to help the construction process to be completed faster. Perhaps we will also use some of our vehicles to facilitate the transport of the necessary building materials."

"Yes Admiral!"

After a lengthy discussion between the construction expert and the Admiral, a construction plan was drawn up and will be implemented as soon as possible. To overcome some of the problems that might occur in the future, the Admiral suggested several things to increase the city's productivity in several sectors. One of them is the construction of reservoirs and the development of sustainable irrigation systems. At a later date, everyone is busy preparing building materials and digging building foundations at a predetermined location. The building materials themselves will be taken from the edge of the nearby rainforest, the results of trade with the Kingdom of Wachia, as well as the craftsmanship of the craftsmen in the city. The forest area where the trees were taken will be turned into a closed area for the military before being reforested. It takes approximately 10 hours to gather materials from the forest to the city. This is because they have to choose a detour that can be travelled by transport vehicles.

By delaying the delivery of timber from the nearby forest, the construction process can proceed simultaneously with the environmental inspection. This is done to check the condition of the land around the construction area and see what the whole city looks like. Later, the results of this inspection will be used for the creation of additional fortifications and the reconstruction of damaged areas into public facilities or public buildings. The building will be purchased in full payment if there is an owner. By late afternoon, the progress of the fort wall work had reached the end of construction due to the cooperation and assistance of several former members of the Zeni Building Detachment who were being transferred to the marines, as well as the assistance of IFV/APC vehicles that could reach quite high places. The main buildings inside the fort such as administrative, military, and other buildings are still in the stage of adjusting the building foundations.

The work ended at night due to limited light, so the marines camped around the construction site to conduct mobile patrols and adapt to their new environment. Meanwhile, the sailors were forced to return to the artificial harbour using the deployed IFV/APC to return to the ship. The next day, construction activities resumed, especially for the completion of the fort walls and testing to test the durability of the fort and which areas should be strengthened. The construction of the fort itself is expected to be completed in two to three days. This was followed by the construction of the core building inside the fort.

The division of labour is done by putting a group of people in their respective fields to build a building, the size of the group also depends on the size of the building to be built. Work on the main building is planned to run for a full week which will be accompanied by administrative work to take care of important needs that must be completed as soon as possible. During the construction of the fort and the buildings inside the fort, there were no interesting events except for the admiration and curiosity of the Wachia Kingdom merchants who brought the necessary building materials. The rest of the Amacsa townspeople themselves had become accustomed to the noise of the trucks and marines travelling around the town. After the construction of the fortress was completed and the core building started, several locations that had been surveyed to become the city's fortress and watchtowers had begun the construction process.

2 Weeks passed, and almost all the construction of the planned buildings was almost complete. All that remained of the construction plan was the construction of a moat around the city for the city's defence as well as to create an artificial river. The administrative process of the temporary Indonesian government also began. Structurally/hierarchically, Laksdya Otto was the highest authority while Laksda Agas would be the joint military commander. Officially, the provisional government of Indonesia also merged with the existing Amacsa city government. However, some officials were removed from their positions due to poor performance, and one official was even jailed for embezzling city funds. The interim government also conducted a census and recruited people to fill vacant positions in the government.