Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3700 A perilous journey with a thousand men pulling iron, rotten tracks unable to bear the weight of a new cauldron.
The smoke of gunpowder had not yet dissipated within Ghost Cry Pass. The stench of blood, mixed with the damp earth, the sweat of soldiers, and the pheromones of hormones, permeated the air, creating a unique smell. Whether inhaled or left on the body, it would leave an indelible mark, a trace that would be difficult to forget for a lifetime.

Xun Yu stood on a relatively flat slope inside the pass, looking at the wreckage of four cannons abandoned by the Flying Cavalry.

One cannon barrel was twisted and cracked, like sheet metal torn apart by a giant beast; the inside of another cannon barrel was charred black, emitting a pungent sulfur smell; the other two cannons appeared relatively intact, but their heavy, clumsy, mud-covered, and dark red blood-stained cast iron bodies still exuded a chilling sense of oppression.

"..."

Looking at this enormous weapon, anyone who hadn't managed to get to the top of the peak could only remain silent.

Xun Yu was no exception.

He watched silently, lost in thought, but judging from his expression, it was definitely not something to be happy about.

Even from a certain perspective, capturing four cannons from the Flying Cavalry was equivalent to reducing a portion of the Flying Cavalry's strength, and also gave Shandong and the Central Plains an opportunity to imitate and catch up...

But is that really the case?
Without four cannons, the Flying Cavalry is no good?

Xun Yu lowered his head slightly to hide the bitterness in his heart.

"My lord," a military officer in charge of clearing the battlefield stepped forward and reported cautiously, a hint of difficulty on his face, "this item...this item is extremely heavy, unlike ordinary supplies. The mountain path is rugged and slippery; I fear it will be difficult to transport..."

To be honest, even if the mountain road wasn't slippery, the military commander wouldn't want to transport this thing.

Wouldn't it be better to use transportation capacity to transport money?

Even if you don't have money, transporting some weapons and armor is still a good option.

This thing is so big and thick, even a strong man couldn't handle it...

Xun Yu's gaze swept over the cannons, his expression complex.

The sense of shame surging within him still burned within him.

There was a moment when he wanted to destroy these cannons or throw them into the mountains and valleys to get rid of them, but reason told him that they had to be transported back to Xuxian!

Its value far exceeds that of ordinary knives, spears, and arrows captured!
Cao Cao needed to understand the new cannons of the Flying Cavalry, and the skilled craftsmen in the workshop needed to disassemble and study them!
Only by knowing yourself and your enemy can you gain the upper hand!
"It must be brought back!"

Xun Yu's voice was firm and unwavering, brooking no argument: "This is a military order! Gather the strongest soldiers, cut down trees to make pry bars, and use ropes to drag it! No matter how difficult, you must transport it back to Yingchuan!"

Military orders are like mountains.

Soon, hundreds of Cao army soldiers were reluctantly summoned to cut down trees as thick as bowls, trimmed their branches, and made simple crowbars and logs to move the cannons.

Thick ropes were attached to the cannon barrels, and at the command of the military academy, Cao's soldiers began to attempt to move the cannons by carrying them on their shoulders and by pulling them with their hands using the most primitive means.

Indeed, from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period, the people of Shandong, and the vast majority of ordinary people, built the Great Wall by carrying it on their shoulders and pulling it by hand. However, this does not mean that the only way of working was by carrying it on their shoulders and pulling it by hand...

Just because one generation suffers, does that mean the next generation will suffer too?
Cao's soldiers, their veins bulging, shouted commands as they pulled the heavy cannons off the artillery platform, preparing to load them onto the supply wagons.

The cannon moved a short distance with difficulty on the muddy ground, leaving deep marks.

The first cannon that Cao's army was trying to transport, the one that had exploded and was twisted, ran into trouble as soon as it was being dragged to a bend in a steep slope.

Despite the Cao army soldiers' caution, the slippery mud and heavy loads made control extremely difficult.

Just as they were trying to turn the cannon, one of the Cao soldiers responsible for towing it on the left slipped and fell to the ground, causing the soldiers next to him to lose their balance as well!

"Oh no! Grab him quickly!"

The officer's shouts were drowned out by panicked cries.

The heavy cannon barrel, like a wild bull that had broken free, slid down the slope, smashing past the soldiers who tried to stop it, crushing one unfortunate man, and then, with a tooth-grinding metallic scraping sound and the dull thud of logs crushing rocks, it rumbled down the steep ravine!

A tremendous sound echoed up in layers.

The roadside at the bend was a mess.

Cao's soldiers, still in shock, sat sprawled out in disarray...

"Useless! A bunch of useless trash!"

The military officer in charge of the matter turned ashen-faced and began to curse, but cleverly avoided taking responsibility for his poor organization and failure to scout the road conditions in advance.

Fortunately, it was just that damaged cannon that fell down...

The military commander glanced sideways at Xun Yu's command post on Guiku Pass and, finding that Xun Yu hadn't witnessed his mistake, loudly berated Cao Cao's soldiers for their incompetence, repeatedly emphasizing that such mistakes must not be repeated, especially with those two intact cannons.

"Be extremely careful! Everyone, pay utmost attention! Another misfire and you'll be court-martialed!"

The handling became more cautious and slower.

But when the group reached the edge of a dense, slippery woodland, tragedy struck again.

A few soldiers responsible for placing the logs were slightly careless, and one of the logs shifted on the slippery rocks, causing the transported artillery to tilt instantly!

Cao's soldiers tried desperately to pull on the rope, but the enormous weight and the slippery ground rendered their efforts futile.

The heavy iron cannon, with its rope attached, fell into the depths of the dense forest, along with the Cao army soldiers who hadn't had time to let go!

Trees as thick as bowls were snapped in two, branches and leaves flying everywhere. Several Cao soldiers were killed in the crash, and the cannon eventually got stuck between a boulder and several large trees, unable to move an inch further...

Having lost two cannons in succession, the military commander could no longer conceal the truth and could only bow his head and apologize to Xun Yu.

In just a short while, we lost two cannons!

Two of these valuable spoils were lost before they even got down the mountain!
Xun Yu dropped the documents and, disregarding the mud, rushed to the scene himself.

Looking at the cannon, motionless and deep in the dense forest, Xun Yu felt as if he saw the remains of some ferocious beast, or perhaps some kind of omen.

Xun Yu remained silent for a moment, then looked at the exhausted, numb, and fearful eyes of the Cao army soldiers around him, as well as the military officer's evasive expressions such as "I have done my best," "It's not my fault, it's just that the terrain is too treacherous," or "It's too hot, too cold, rainy, windy, and the sun is too bright." A huge sense of powerlessness welled up in Xun Yu's heart.

Xun Yu suppressed his anger and did not reprimand him.

This is a fundamental problem, and it cannot be solved by punishing a military officer or by killing these Cao soldiers here...

"Go log!"

Xun Yu pointed to the dense forest, "Chop! Chop enough logs! Lay them across the mountain path! Make sure they're firmly packed all around! Make a path! Not enough men? Send another team! Today, this stuff must be transported down the mountain!"

With Xun Yu personally overseeing the battle, no one dared to slack off.

Cao's soldiers used knives, axes, or iron saws to cut down the trees one by one, then cut them into logs and laid them densely on the muddy ground in front of and on both sides of the cannons, forming a simple but relatively stable "track".

After a section of the road was laid out, hundreds of soldiers, shouting deafening chants, carried ropes on their shoulders, like boatmen pulling a giant boat, inch by inch moving the cannon along the log 'track'.

Each time a log was moved, a soldier would carry it to the front of the mat and put it down again.

A simple pattern, but effective.

But here's the problem...

No one would think that this simple pattern could yield any experience or a way to save effort.

Everyone was carrying out Xun Yu's orders. Everyone was like a log, being picked up, put down, and pressed down by the heavy cannons.

Xun Yu stood in the mud, mud staining his boots and wetting his sleeves. He watched every step he took, occasionally calling out to adjust his leverage and direction. This took the better part of a day. When the two cannons were finally dragged with great difficulty to the foot of the relatively flat mountain, everyone was exhausted to the point of near collapse.

However, the ordeal was not over.

On the temporarily leveled open ground at the foot of the mountain, several oxcarts used for transporting supplies had been waiting for some time. These oxcarts were standard military equipment, used to transport provisions, tents, and even small catapult parts; they were a common single-axle design.

"Quick! Load it onto the trucks! Transport it back to camp!"

The magistrate wiped his sweat and directed his soldiers to lift a cannon onto one of the sturdiest-looking oxcarts.

The heavy gun barrel was laboriously moved onto the vehicle platform using ropes and pry bars.

The instant the cannon barrel completely landed—

*Click!*

A sharp, heart-stopping crack!

The seemingly sturdy axle snapped in two!

The heavy cannon, along with half of the vehicle's deck, tilted and crashed to the ground, splashing up a large amount of mud!
The oxen pulling the cart were also thrown to the ground by the overturned vehicle, and they mooed in fright.

"Useless! Change the car!" The military commander's face turned a deep shade of liver as he roared in exasperation.

The second oxcart was brought over.

The soldiers became even more cautious, even finding more wooden stakes to place under the vehicle for added support.

The cannon was raised again and slowly lowered...

"Creak..."

"Bang!"

This time, the axle didn't break, but the wooden beam supporting the car body couldn't withstand the terrifying concentrated load. After groaning, it snapped with a crash!
The cannon slammed heavily onto the ground again...

There was dead silence.

The Cao army soldiers stared blankly at the two wrecked oxcarts and the heavy iron lumps still lying on the ground, their eyes filled with numbness and indifference, as if they were merely cogs in Cao's machine, appearing wherever needed. But do cogs have brains?
A craftsman accompanying the army stood at the back of the crowd, looking at the broken axle and beam. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but looking at the magistrate's ashen face and then at the silent soldiers and officers around him, he swallowed his words, silently lowered his head, and even shrank back into the crowd, intentionally or unintentionally.

So what?
What good are suggestions?

If I say something or make a suggestion, it might be interpreted as mocking someone and I could be arrested for causing trouble.

Even if they aren't arrested, they might still be assigned tasks—and inevitably, they'll perform poorly. Because others might not be willing to do more work. Those who give good advice get promoted and rich, so what do those who actually do the work get?
The less trouble, the better.

The military commander was frantic, pacing around the cannon several times, kicking the wrecked oxcart and scolding the soldiers for being useless, but he couldn't come up with a practical solution. As night fell and further delay might lead to unforeseen circumstances, he had no choice but to steel himself and, with a look of fear on his face, report again to Xun Yu, who was reviewing the casualty list in the makeshift tent.

"My lord..." Li Junhou's voice trembled with tears, "That...that cannon is just too heavy...I...I've already tried two oxcarts, but...the axles broke...it's just...it's simply impossible to load it..."

Xun Yu put down the bamboo slips in his hand, raised his head, and his eyes were sharp as knives.

If looks could kill, Li Junhou would probably be in more than seven orifices by now.

The silent pressure created by the silence almost suffocated Li Junhou; large beads of sweat dripped down, but he dared not wipe them away.

A moment later, Xun Yu got up and went to the scene of the 'disaster' again. He looked at the two wrecked oxcarts on the ground, the fresh wood shavings at the broken ends like mocking mouths. He also looked at the two silent but incredibly heavy iron cannons, and he also saw the numb faces of the soldiers around him and the evasive eyes of the craftsmen.

A deep sense of weariness and absurdity welled up in Xun Yu's heart.

Transporting these two cannons seems even more difficult than attacking Guiku Pass!

The layers of rigidity, shirking of responsibility, and incompetence in Shandong and the Central Plains acted like invisible shackles, binding everything, including Xun Yu's hands and feet, forcing him to stop thinking about the strategic situation and turn to these trivial tasks that had little value but which he had to do.

Is it valuable?

Is it worthless?

This path was chosen by the people of the Han Dynasty over the past three or four hundred years...

Xun Yu walked to a fairly intact oxcart, squatted down, and carefully examined the thin axle and structure, as well as the sturdy barrel of the cannon on the ground.

An idea quickly took shape in his mind.

"You, you, and all of you," Xun Yu pointed at the silent, bowed craftsmen, then at a few soldiers who seemed relatively quick-witted, "Get to work immediately! Remove the axles from these two wrecked carts! And find a working oxcart!"

The crowd was puzzled, but they dared not delay and immediately began to dismantle the device.

Xun Yu took a long spear and immediately used the butt of the spear to draw a simple diagram on the muddy ground: "Take three pairs of the thickest and strongest axles and reinforce them to the chassis of an oxcart! The three pairs of axles should be arranged side-by-side! The spacing should be even! The cart planks should be thickened and reinforced with salvaged thick wooden planks! Secure the ropes tightly! Quickly!"

The commands are clear and specific.

A look of realization and surprise flashed across the craftsmen's eyes. Xun Lingjun actually knew these things?
They dared not hesitate any longer and immediately joined the soldiers in action.

The clanging and banging of the hammers and the creaking of the ropes being pulled rang out once again.

This time, under Xun Yu's personal design and supervision, a "super oxcart" with three pairs of sturdy axles and its wheels reinforced with multiple layers of thick wooden planks and bound together with ropes and iron hoops like a rice dumpling was created.

Although ugly and bulky, its structural strength has been greatly improved.

The cannon was carefully moved onto the oxcart. The axle groaned heavily, and the cart sagged noticeably, but it held up and did not break!
Everyone cheered...

Only Xun Yu remained expressionless.

Xun Yu watched as the oxcart, driven and supported by the soldiers, began to move extremely slowly, and finally let out a long sigh of relief.

There was no joy of victory in that breath, only a deep-seated weariness and helplessness.

He expended enormous manpower and resources, as well as his already limited time, to transport these two damaged cannons back.

The rigidity and inefficiency deeply rooted in the old, massive system of Shandong...

Military academy officers only know how to shirk responsibility and deceive their superiors but not their subordinates; craftsmen have skills but dare not speak out; ordinary soldiers are indifferent and apathetic, only seeking to protect themselves.

Originally, all four cannons should have been able to be preserved, but now only two remain. Moreover, if Xun Yu hadn't personally guided and supervised the operation, perhaps even these two cannons wouldn't have been able to be transported successfully.

This is perhaps even more chilling and disheartening than an enemy with open and honest fighting on the battlefield.

The wheels left deep ruts in the mud, creaking and groaning as they slowly moved toward Cao Cao's camp.

Xun Yu stood there, watching the heavy carriage disappear into the distance, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

The Ghost Cry Pass has been captured, and the artillery has been transported back.

However, the road to Heluo did not seem to become smoother as a result; on the contrary, it appeared to be more rugged and longer.

Even……

It's getting more and more distant.

Troublesome things are like the Calabash Brothers: one comes, another one comes; you deal with one pair, and there are still others.

The artillery had barely been moved away when another troublesome situation arose.

Sima Yi suffered repeated defeats at Feihu Fort and Guiku Pass, and was forced to retreat to Taigu Pass.

This can be considered a major victory for Cao Cao's army, and it also means that they have regained some initiative on the Songshan front. However, the problem of the Han Dynasty's overall system in Shandong being numb and rigid is not only reflected in the transportation sector...

The sweltering summer wind swept across the foothills of Mount Song, carrying the scent of damp earth and a barely perceptible smell of decay, and blew into Cao Cao's sprawling camps.

The embers of victory at Feihu Fortress had not yet completely cooled, but new dark clouds were already looming heavily over Cao Cao's army.

The land, still damp from the rain, was muddy between the tents.

Many of the soldiers who had retreated from Flying Fox Fortress still had mud stuck in the seams of their armor, and they leaned wearily against the makeshift tents.

Nobody cares about these things, and nobody pays attention to them.

After all, for the people of Shandong in the Han Dynasty, ordinary soldiers and civilians were just numbers.

In the first few days, there were only a few sporadic coughs, which were not noticeable among the groans of the wounded soldiers.

However, within ten days, coughing began to spread like wild grass, rising and falling in various camps. The sound became rough and muffled, carrying a pain as if tearing at the chest.

Symptoms such as low-grade fever, chills, and aches and pains in the limbs began to quietly spread among the soldiers.

If a problem arises, keep it a secret for now.

Only when small problems escalate into big problems and can no longer be concealed do they begin to follow the proper procedures...

So, at this point, everything became tricky.

The doctors were extremely stressed.

Limited herbal reserves were being rapidly depleted, and the smell of decocted herbs, mixed with the stench of sweat, blood, and excrement, created a suffocating stench over the camp.

The doctors tried their best, but there was only so much they could do. They had no way to command the officers and soldiers, let alone enforce effective methods on the soldiers.

Shandong is never short of people who criticize others' behavior, but when it comes to doing it themselves, they immediately shut up, pretending they're too busy, didn't hear, and don't know or understand. Then they always add, "Don't criticize others all day long. Before criticizing others, think about yourself. If I were to actually do it, I would definitely do better than so-and-so."

Therefore, there are quite a few people who criticize doctors, asking them to do this one moment and saying that the doctor did not do that the next. But when a doctor says that it is typhoid fever and that isolation is necessary and that treatment should be carried out immediately according to the methods for treating epidemics, they immediately shut their mouths and plug their ears.

At the same time, the doctor who first used the word "plague" was imprisoned.

Don't ask why, because if you do, it'll just be considered troublemaking.

Then, the typhoid fever began to spread...