Chapter 109: Crossing the Desert

Tongtian County, the main hall of the county government.

Chen Mu watched with keen interest the four prisoners of war kneeling below.

They were three men and one woman: two middle-aged men and a young couple. All were tightly bound, their mouths gagged with socks to prevent suicide by tongue biting.

Their appearance was almost identical to that of the Daxia people, except their clothing was peculiar—a seamless, pullover robe with no visible stitching.

After observing for a while, Chen Mu signaled the soldiers to remove the socks from their mouths, standing nearby to prevent any self-harm.

“So, you’re from the Cheng family?” he asked.

“Where did you come from? How many are left? And what happened to the carriage that escaped?”

The three men remained silent, glaring fiercely at Chen Mu.

The woman shouted, “The family head will come to save us! We Kunlun—”

The elder man hurriedly interrupted her, “Xiao Li! Don’t tell him anything!”

The woman shut her mouth and turned away from Chen Mu.

Chen Mu smiled, “Save you? I’ll catch them soon enough, and then you’ll be reunited.”

“Take them away!”

The soldiers stuffed the socks back into their mouths, grabbed their arms, and led them away.

Chen Mu said, “They might flee to Xiqiang, or even farther. We’ll need to divide our forces.”

Though the Cheng family prisoners said nothing, Chen Mu could deduce their situation.

The three who escaped could not return to their mountain hideout in the snow-capped peaks—if they had more allies, they would have brought them along.

Moreover, they had time to seek reinforcements but did not.

Chen Mu concluded that only these few remained in the snowy mountains.

Returning offered no chance to produce weapons, so their best option was to control a country. Persia was too close, making governance and production impractical; Xiqiang was also difficult.

Yet, they possessed steam locomotives, capable of traveling farther.

To the west lay three regions: directly west were the snowy mountains and deserts; south of them were Persia and Xiqiang; to the north was the Xiongnu.

What lay west beyond the snowy mountains and desert was unknown.

Chen Mu therefore decided to split his forces: Li Feng would lead cavalry to circle around through the Xiongnu from the north, while Chen Mu himself would lead infantry through Persia into Xiqiang, enlisting their cavalry to pursue further.

Upon reaching Xiqiang, however, they were told that to the west lay only barren desert, uninhabited.

Chen Mu ordered them to search the desert, but after hundreds of miles, there was no sign of life.

He was forced to withdraw his troops, instructing Xiqiang to continue the search and send any news back to Daxia, promising heavy rewards.

After returning to the capital and spending a peaceful year, Chen Mu received news from Li Feng.

The Xiongnu side was the same—westward lay vast, uninhabited desert, even larger in scale.

Li Feng had ample supplies but could not find the desert’s edge, forcing him to retreat to Xiongnu territory.

Given this, Chen Mu ordered Li Feng to withdraw as well.

To continue pursuing the Cheng family, they first needed to develop better transportation; otherwise, even if they crossed the desert from Xiqiang, much of their supplies would be consumed, leaving them isolated and vulnerable.

Chen Mu dispatched men to the south in search of rubber forests while conducting research at the Engineering Academy.

To cross the desert swiftly, they needed either automobiles or tanks. Building automobiles was simple, but what if rubber was not found?

Building tanks was impossible—the current steam engines lacked sufficient power.

Thus, Chen Mu devised a compromise: the steam-powered tracked vehicle.

The track mechanism was not complicated. After a month of study with the academy’s engineers, they produced a track.

Using metal for the tracks and transmission, and wood for the body, they completed Daxia’s first steam-powered tracked vehicle.

This vehicle was several times larger than a carriage, half its space dedicated to coal and water, the other half to supplies.

It could cross the Xiqiang desert in a single day.

The Daxia military factories then expanded rapidly, mass-producing these vehicles.

A month later, Daxia possessed a thousand steam-powered tracked vehicles.

Chen Mu then led ten thousand soldiers from the Invincible Flying Army and the Wudang Flying Army, riding these vehicles to Tongtian County.

After resupplying, Chen Mu took five thousand soldiers, transported supplies and artillery across the desert, and began building a fortress.

Another month passed, and on this side of the desert, they had established a camp housing ten thousand elite soldiers from both flying armies.

The Invincible Flying Army was split into two: an artillery unit of one thousand men wielding fifty heavy cannons and two hundred light cannons; and a rifle unit of four thousand men, each armed with breech-loading flintlock muskets fitted with bayonets.

The Wudang Flying Army retained their original equipment for close combat.

Chen Mu named this camp the Midway Fortress.

From here, Daxia would begin its conquest of the western desert, extending all the way to the sea.

Having secured a foothold, Chen Mu dispatched steam locomotives westward to scout for possible enemies.

One day, a scout returned with news.

“Three hundred miles northwest by north, we spotted enemy forces—a twelve-man squad riding strange horses, armed with muskets. After a skirmish, we captured one, but cannot communicate with him.”

Chen Mu stood, “Bring me to see.”

At the prison, Chen Mu smiled.

The “strange horses” the scout mentioned were camels.

The captive wore a white robe and turban, speaking rapidly and unintelligibly.

They were Ismailis.

Since the Ismailis had appeared, the vast desert must have been occupied by them, forming an Ismaili domain.

Given the terrain and resources, they could not have developed muskets themselves; the Cheng family must have manufactured them.

“Cheng family, I have finally found you.”

“Order the entire army to prepare for deployment.”

Chen Mu assembled three thousand musketeers and a hundred artillerymen, carrying twenty-five light cannons.

Seventy-five supply vehicles and a total of four hundred steam-powered tracked vehicles accompanied them westward.

At the site of the previous skirmish, no enemy was found.

After advancing another hundred miles, they finally spotted a city.

The city was built of sand, standing just over a man’s height.

It housed over a dozen cannons on its walls and more than a hundred soldiers armed with muskets.

Chen Mu ordered an attack formation.

Twenty-five vehicles carrying light cannons took the center, flanked on both sides by musketeers for protection, with supply vehicles parked a mile behind.

The convoy advanced slowly, probing the enemy’s artillery range.

At three miles, then two, the enemy remained silent.

When they reached just over a mile, Chen Mu commanded a halt and adjusted the cannons’ angles to fire upon the city walls.

Boom!

After a thunderous roar, twenty-five shells soared toward the city’s ramparts.