There is an east coastline to the east of the Song Kingdom, but to lead to the Xian Kingdom, it is necessary to pass through the long coastline of the East China Sea and the North Sea of the Jin Kingdom, and it needs to stop several times along the way, so the distance is far away, and the transit tax must be paid every time it lands.

Even if you take the inland waterway, you also have to get too close to the Zhiguo and Jin Kingdoms, and you will inevitably need to pay various high taxes and fees, which seriously restricts the flow of Song goods into the Central Plains.

A few days later, the barbarian army's air raid on Tiannanguan resumed again, and Bai Liyan (Wei Xian) stepped up the commissioning of the hot air balloon.

The altitude of Qianyue Mountain is low, the air is thin and the oxygen content is low. After months of testing and improvement, the hot air balloon made by Yongxing City has a theoretical ceiling of about 2,200 meters with a load of 10 stones, and can actually continue to rise. Compared with modern hot air balloons that are four or five thousand meters or six or seven kilometers long, the performance and technology are too far behind.

However, Xianguo is located in a plain, the altitude is almost negligible, and the test environment is good.

The Qianyue Mountain is located on the plateau, even if it is a habitable grassland, the altitude is more than 3,000 meters, or even 4,000 meters, such thin air, the fuel can not be fully burned, the extremely low air, will hinder the expansion of the air after heating, the incomplete combustion of alcohol and the winter temperature, but also affect the efficiency of thermal energy, to make the hot air balloon reach the zero altitude ceiling, it will be extremely difficult.

It took a day to rush the airbag into the hot air, and it took another day to observe, and in order to prevent air raids, the test site was moved outside the city. The process went very smoothly, the hot air balloon was successfully lifted into the air, and under the operation of two highly trained soldiers, the hot air balloon carried a hanging basket and a counterweight soil bag, and flew hundreds of meters into the air, even higher than the flying eagle beast.

As soon as the news was news, it was reported to the military and political office by the royal guest who was guarding the north of the city, and Cao Chi was discussing the military plane in the underground military cave, and the royal guest suddenly came to report.

"Report to the marshal, just come to the north gate to report, the Xianjun released a divine object to the sky, which can plant several people to fly into the sky, even in order to get it."

"What? Manned flight! Cao Chizheng didn't seem to understand, and asked again and again.

The royal guest of the hall said again:

"This is true, the brothers of the North Gate have seen it with their own eyes, and it is wonderful that this thing can be controlled by others as they please."

What the royal guest said in the hall was amazing, Cao Chizheng was still half-convinced, and the next moment was to look at the military master Mu Yu:

"Mr. Mu, what do you think about this matter?"

Mu Yu twisted his white hair, and said in a hoarse voice:

"A few months ago, there was a strange news in the Central Plains, and it was rumored that Xianguo had made a strange thing to ascend to heaven, but I don't know why. Now it seems that the thing that the Xian army is using should be exactly this thing, and it must be wrong. ”

"Shhh...... Could it be that Wei Xian wanted to use this object to shoot the Flying Eagle Beast? Cao Chi was thinking in a blink of an eye that since he could fly, he would definitely be able to restrain himself in the air.

"What is the matter, I have to ask Wei Xian to find out."

"Well, Ben Shuai immediately went over and looked, the Xianjun was He Mingtang in the end."

Cao Chi was walking into the Yongdao to the farthest exit, then turning into another nearby Yongdao, passing through several underground passages all the way, and finally came to a royal stable, turned on his horse and came to the north of the city.

Before coming to the north gate, in the extreme distance, I found a strange spherical white cloud floating in the sky, took out a telescope and looked carefully, there was a basket hanging under the white cloud, there were two people in the basket, and it seemed that there was still a fire. Cao Chizheng didn't know why, he just thought that the Xianjun had caught a cloud and drove the cloud to ascend to the sky.

The group rode out of the north gate, ran five or six miles, and came to a temporary tent camp, but they saw Bailiyan and the generals of the Xian army talking, and the strange clouds in the sky were undulating on the stakes tied to the ground by ropes.

"General Wei is really a god, he can send people to heaven, hehaha......"

Cao Chi was inexplicably happy when he was smiling, which couldn't help but remind people of the quasi-bad thing.

"Our army is here to inspect the new combat equipment, and I don't want to alarm the commander."

"Huh...... General Wei's words are wrong, such a divine thing is rare in the world, if this marshal does not come, he will not be overlooked. General Wei, what is this thing, why can it fly into the sky, and can it be used to break the enemy? ”

"The name of this thing is called a hot air balloon, the mystery is difficult to explain for a while, but it can indeed fly into the sky, used to break the enemy Wei has not yet been considered, but it can be used to look, if it can be supplemented by a telescope, it will greatly increase the vision of our army. If it is to be used to break enemies, this thing flutters in the wind, and it is difficult to orient itself, so it is difficult to use it to break enemies. ”

Bailiyan is not worried that the hot air balloon will be blown away by the wind, because the hot air balloon is tied to the ground by ropes, but after all, it is a dangerous class of troops and requires rich operation experience, so the soldiers who operate the hot air balloon are all sailors who operate the sails on the ship.

What Bailiyan is really worried about is the impact of air pressure and bad weather on the hot air balloon, and whether the Eagle Beast will attack the hot air balloon.

Cao Chi listened for a long time, and finally heard that it could not be used to break the enemy, and the suspicion in his heart immediately jumped on his face, and Bai Liyan inexplicably felt that a boulder was pressed on top of his head.

"General Wei, if such a weapon cannot be used to break the enemy, it is really a pity, it is better to order several dead soldiers to ascend to the sky with arrows and crossbows in hand, and then hang this thing in the south gate to shoot the flying eagle beast."

"This ...... If it is not done properly, it will cost people's lives. If it is disturbed by the sharp claws of the flying eagle beast, this thing may be difficult to parry, and please think twice. ”

"Hehe, Ben Shuai has watched this thing ascend to heaven for a long time, and it has not fallen so far, General Wei will not be stingy with this thing."

"The marshal misunderstood, what Wei said is true, once this thing is damaged, it will quickly fall and kill people, it is not a lie."

"Then Ben Shuai will send the dead man to try it, and General Wei will never refuse."

Cao Chi is soft and hard, there is no room for concession, Bailiyan thought about it again and again, and finally couldn't resist the domineering of the royal guest:

"Well, when the royal guest enters this thing, he must follow the discipline of our army, and he must not do what he wants, so as not to miss his life."

"Well, General Wei will immediately move this thing to the city, and Ben Shuai will arrange for the dead to go to the sky to shoot the Flying Eagle Beast."

After agreeing with Cao Chizheng, Bailiyan immediately blew the copper whistle, waved the flag to the soldiers who controlled the hot air balloon, and ordered the fire to be extinguished and the altitude to be reduced.

Different from the rough waving of flags, blowing trumpets and drums adopted by the vassal states of the Central Plains at present, the flag language adopted by the Xian army is a standard flag language in the real sense, which can transmit relatively rich signal content, and most of the instructions of different branches of the military are interoperable.

Cao Chi was about to leave, but when he saw this scene, he faintly noticed the doorway, so he stayed where he was:

"General Wei, what do the soldiers of the Xian Army mean by waving the red flag and yellow flag?"

"Back to the marshal, this is a flag language, which is used to transmit the message of the order, which is extremely convenient."

"Oh......"

Cao Chi sighed lightly, didn't make a sound, looked at it for a while, and turned around and went back to the city with the people.

Around two quarters of an hour, when the height of the hot air balloon was reduced to 100 meters, the Xian army slowly moved the hot air balloon to the city, which immediately caused the princes and armies to wait and see.

"Father, you see, there are people in heaven." Gongliang pine fingered the hot air balloon dumbfounded.

Gongliangwen looked closely, and took out his binoculars to observe carefully, not only people, but also alive.

"Xianguo has been surprising many times, and now it has sent people to the sky, which is really amazing."

Gongliangwen sighed, and his nephew Gongliang said:

"I'm afraid it will be a fierce enemy of my country in the future."

"What my nephew said is that Wei Xian is young and strong, and he is proficient in strategy and governance, and the Xianguo is governed by him, which will become a big disaster in the future. But we don't know who it will be. ”

"Uncle's meaning, Wei Xian will one day rebel against Jin?"

"There is no doubt about the anti-Jin." Gongliangwen affirmed.

At this time, the most embarrassing face was none other than Wang Yanfei, looking at the unknown object floating in the sky, Wang Yanfei's heart was like an unknown object floating in the sky, and he was furious.

"Let's go, go back to camp!"

"General Wang, this matter should be reported to the crown prince and the king immediately, so you should be careful. Perhaps it can also make the spies seek mysteries from the Xianguo for our army's reference. ”

Liu Huang suggested, Wang Yanfei disdainful:

"Hmph, Xianguo has its own princess plan, and it's our business."

"This ......"

Wang Yanfei's eyes were furious, and Liu Huang and Lin Qi didn't dare to say more, they glanced at the sky again, and obediently returned to the Tibetan Soldier Cave.

The hot air balloon passed through the city, and Baili Yan took this opportunity to observe how the flying eagle beast reacted.

Although the Flying Eagle is huge, it is still an eagle with extremely sharp eyesight, and the eagle has a strong sense of revenge.

Jin Xuedi is good at taming beasts, domesticating flying eagle beasts for war, but whether it is a beast of prey or a bird of prey, perennial domestication can not improve their IQ, but teach them how to identify whether the target of the attack has value, and the final formation is only a conditioned reflex, and the adaptability to new things is extremely poor.

As the hot air balloon passed all the way, the Eagle Beast did not react to the attack of the hot air balloon as expected, and at the same time, it was more or less disturbed by the black smoke, making it difficult to launch an air attack.

When he arrived in the south of the city, it immediately caused a lot of commotion, and the appearance of a hot air balloon slightly boosted the morale of the long-depressed city. Cao Chizheng had already arranged for the Yuke marksman to wait at the south gate, and Bai Liyan ordered to lower the height again until the hanging basket fell to the ground, and the generals immediately came forward to investigate carefully, most likely thinking that the Xianjun had sent people to the sky with some divine power.

Cao Chi is arranging three Yuke marksmen, carrying two strong bows and a strong crossbow, and one hundred and fifty arrows to land in the hanging basket, Baili Yan explained the taboo in detail, and arranged for the Xianjun veteran to operate the hot air balloon, and then use a cable directly tied to the copper stake under the city wall and released.

Because the load is too much, the air is thin and the temperature is low, it rises to about 100 zhang, the old man takes the initiative to abandon four ten pounds of earth bags, and after a quarter of an hour, he throws four again, a total of eight earth bags, and finally all of them are abandoned, and when they rise to 168 zhang, they completely stop rising. Even at this altitude, it was an airspace slightly higher than the low-altitude hovering altitude of the Eagle Beast.

Seeing that the hot air balloon was stuck in the air and no longer rising, Cao Chi was quite anxious, and he wanted to rise higher:

"General Wei, why did this ball stop here?"

"It's cold here, the air is thin, the load is too heavy, and it can't be lifted again, so that's all there is to it for the time being."

The rope used to fix the hot air balloon is as thick as a yuan coin, it is a special noose specially made for pulling the hot air balloon, divided into two hundred, three hundred, four hundred zhang multiple sizes, the weight of the rope itself is really not light, plus four adult men, the weight of the bow and crossbow arrows, is already a serious overload, can fly to a height of more than 160 zhang, is already the limit height, and then the height has to be reduced.