The 11th Army of the Revolutionary Army stationed in Xindu led by Chen Xin was a relatively decent contingent among the left-behind troops, and it did not greatly reduce its will to war like other armies because it could often exert power on the local people or reap various benefits in the course of carrying out plundering and sweeping tasks in various places, and it was more spent in all kinds of busyness, but the political organization was as weak as the vast majority of the left-behind forces, and it could not be compared with the main force of the volunteer army at the beginning of the Battle of Beijing that year. Therefore, Chen Xin did not know that the morale of the entire army might collapse when the casualties reached a certain level. Although this was not a civil war, many people were aware of the possible consequences if they surrendered.

Of course, although the political organization is not consolidated, the means of propaganda and morale are slightly stronger than those of the ancient traditional army. Even in the 11th Army Group, which remained in Xindu, the war situation and the strategic situation were not completely hidden from the officers and men.

"Now the rampant of the enemy is only temporary. Although there is a distance of about 30,000 miles from here to the hinterland of the Central Plains, it is enough to let the elite main force of about 100,000 people rush over without reducing the combat effectiveness when there are conditions to change horses. Now Xindu's food stocks support these times without any problem. I do not believe that the vast majority of the artisans in Europe have migrated to the West, and they will have a sufficient supply of gunpowder that will significantly exceed our level... ”

Such propaganda did not have much effect in the beginning. The greatest effect of a career in the barracks that lasted more than one year or even two years was to make many young people who were still very simple-minded become smarter and more complicated in the contradictions in the barracks.

However, after a full day of rapid and fierce offensive, the offensive momentum of the attacking enemy really quickly withered, which restored the already somewhat sluggish morale to a large extent.

At this time, the offensive launched by the Catholic coalition army also began to fall into a huge predicament, and many people had thought that a fierce offensive based on two or three hundred thousand catties of decent gunpowder and sufficient preparations for the attack could destroy the barely decent enemy defense line around Paris. But when this fierce attack did not work, the relative lack of gunpowder of the rebels of the temporary uprising was quickly manifested.

At this time, it was suggested that the offensive should continue without giving the defenders a chance to breathe, while others felt that after a few more months of preparation, the craftsmen concentrated in the ranks might be able to produce more gunpowder and siege equipment.

In the end, the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces had to make a choice that seemed to be a compromise, and it was the result of discussions with some people around him who had some experience in fighting the enemy in the east before the military meeting: that is, to stop the offensive for about ten days or so. First of all, use about half of the gunpowder accompanying you to make blasting rods for tunnel warfare, and make some simple wooden guns that can be used for short-range firepower in a short period of time, so that you may face more casualties, but the efficiency of killing and injuring opponents will be greatly increased. In the case that the defenders do not seem to be very strong, it is still possible to play a decisive role.

If this round of attacks does not determine the victory, then wait until a month or two later, more siege equipment will be temporarily produced to carry out the attack. In actual combat, the Catholic coalition also found that the use of gunpowder was extremely wasteful to use a single blast attack with a lighter projectile or to use some traditional arquebus. Heavier grenade sets are fired at close range, and can be fired with less gunpowder to achieve better results.

In this way, after a ten-day temporary truce, fierce encounters began again, and this time the attacking Catholic coalition finally became a step smarter in the attack, and did not use gunpowder weapons evenly. Instead, they learned from the legendary elite of the East, selected two or three thousand death squads from the army of two or three hundred thousand, used explosives to attack firearms, and attacked under the cover of other elites and even archers. This round of attacks completely broke the deadlock, and in just three or four days, Xindu's outer defense line was broken through. If it weren't for the unique radial tunnel defense system, the Eleventh Army Group led by Chen Xin would have almost been defeated.

In this critical situation, the defenders of the city finally planned to go on an adventure. Let the children of the balloon class carry supplies that can last for about half a month, take advantage of the temporary sea breeze from the west in the spring to fly eastward, try to land outside the control of the defenders outside the city, and escape the threat of alien people by day and night to reach the reinforcement base along the Rhine.

It's hardly feasible for an average seven-eight-year-old to teenage kid to do this kind of task, but the specially trained children in the balloon class are still very different from the average person. At this time, Chen Xin had no choice but to seek the last trace of vitality with the attitude of being a dead horse as a live horse doctor.

Perhaps having undergone similar training before, and in the two-year Western Expedition and even the one-year anti-rebellion combat training, the children of the balloon class no longer have the fear of performing such a task when they first took off in a balloon a few years ago, and calmly accepted such a major task, carrying supplies at dawn before the sky was completely bright, and made into a balloon pod that was warm and blazing like the roadside in winter before takeoff.

The hot air in the bellows didn't take much time to lift the children, who were not too heavy, and could only carry a heavily armed child outside the hanging furnace, into the air. This time, there is no silk rope like a kite string attached to the ground. Although the early spring morning in Taixi is warmer than in the northern part of the Central Plains in the same season, when the balloon flies into the night sky like hundreds of feet, it still makes people feel the unique cold.

Although they had done their homework more than once at a high altitude, the little girls who were in a group of two still felt a trace of fear and fear that they had not had in their previous missions, so they had to open a tiny valve on the hot air balloon and make the fire in the furnace smaller according to the previous requirements, and it was at this time that the hot air balloon began to slowly lower from the air and seemed to lower slightly. All of this seems to have to be done on their own feet, and the children have to close the valves on the balloons when they descend too fast.

(End of chapter)