Chapter 306: Riding the Wind

Jiang Yan began to understand that this is not something that can be stolen if you want to steal a teacher. What Yip's Workshop does is not a question of whether others can do it, but a question of whether others dare to think about it. Jiang Yan also suddenly discovered that his body was actually stronger than others. The guards who followed him into the balloon couldn't stay any longer, and soon began to feel dizzy and vomit, and he didn't seem to have anything to do. Listening to the sound of the wind whirring in his ears, his mind seemed to be clearer than usual. And the scenery that was so different from what he had seen before fascinated him.

The flight altitude of the tethered balloon is affected by many aspects, especially the weight of the rope used for tethering is a big problem, in the past few days waiting for Ye Tao, as long as the weather is good, the wind is not too strong, and it is suitable for balloon flight, Jiang Yan always has to fly once. Even despite the obstruction of the guards, he participated in a hot air balloon flight without a leash and flying freely with the wind. Compared to the balloon basket swaying in the wind and struggling and fluttering with a rope, the feeling of flying with the wind is much better. Jiang Yan couldn't understand what the various operations of the two technicians in the gondola meant, but that didn't prevent him from enjoying the pleasure of flying. During a morning flight, the hot air balloon flew about thirty miles and landed at a nearby Invalides farm. Along the way, the clouds on the ground and the smoke and dust raised by the galloping carriages on the road have become so microscopic, much more real and shocking than the bird's-eye view imagined by those painters. When the balloons were climbing test, the height they reached was something that some birds could only look at, although it was so cold, Jiang Yan thought it was too interesting. When the balloon finally fell to the ground, and the farmers of the Invalides Farm who got the news looked from afar, waiting for the balloon to be put away before daring to approach cautiously, revealing the obvious awe of these people who had fallen from the sky, Jiang Yan couldn't have been happier.

There were also many important people in Yunzhou who came to Ye's workshop with Ye Tao to inspect this test, and the people from the Manufacturing Bureau were naturally not a problem, but the presence of all the chief officers of the Yunzhou military level made Jiang Yan a little surprised. For example, talking about Weiran and Chi Lei, it is not easy to see them, so Jiang Yan feels more and more that the trip to Yunzhou is worth it.

The factory building on the edge of the test site, which had never been opened when Jiang Yan arrived, opened its doors, and three small airships were pushed out on a flatbed cart, and the hot gas generator was ignited in the open space on one side. Unlike hot air balloons, the airbags of this batch of airships are not completely flexible, the lower part of the airbags is made of very light and tough bamboo, and after the hot air in the airbags is inflated, you can see that the shape of the airbags is also very different from the balloons, not spherical naturally, but relatively flat. Ye Tao's original device designed to heat the air is very much like a modern hot air balloon, but on the airship, there are two such heating devices, connected to a larger and safer fuel tank. The two heaters allow the larger airbags to heat up and lift off more quickly, which also greatly improves the load capacity and safety factor of the airship. The hanging basket under the airship was open, and although Ye Tao was very confident in the airship, he didn't want to make something like Zeppelin all at once. In addition to the heater, fuel tank and related equipment for control, there are also devices for adjusting the direction of flight, which is specially designed by Old Man Qi to send some retired old sailors to help design, the huge tail rudder and the sail for diversion in front of the gondola, and the well-designed delta wings on both sides of the gondola, to a certain extent, can allow the airship to fly freely. Even if it is a short flight against the wind or for sprint acceleration, the airship has a special design: two conical jet tubes that can burn a part of the fuel to achieve the effect of a rocket jet.

The current airship is no longer the stage of prototype testing, but a model that can basically be put into use directly, and different equipment is installed on the current three airships.

One is a pair of binoculars with brackets installed at the bow and on each side of the gondola, both of which are high-grade colors with aspherical grinding lenses using natural fluorite lenses, and the observation effect is extremely good, and the magnification and field of view are also ideal, which is very suitable for aerial observation.

One is the first to install a telescope, which reduces the weight and lengthens the transport type of the gondola, which can transport 12 people or the same weight of goods at a time.

One is a bombing type, and the telescope in front of the gondola is not mounted on the upper edge of the gondola, but an observation hole is opened in the gondola, so that the telescope can look down. Rails were installed on both sides of the basket to drop small fire oil bombs and the like. To be able to increase accuracy, there are even small bombing sights. Naturally, the accuracy of this primary sight is very unreliable, relying on an airspeed tube and an adjustment knob to adjust the effect of wind speed on the launch, and then throw it down. Due to the tight schedule, the sight has not even been measured in detail, but in any case, it is better to have an aim than to throw it casually. According to more modern terms, this thing can also be regarded as having the ability to shoot downward. However, since larger airships are still being developed, the current bombing type, with its rather limited bomb load, may really be a deterrent than a practical significance.

Now the airship doesn't have to think about air combat, but it really can't fly too low in battle, at least it has to be outside the range of the opponent's archers. At the beginning of the development of the airship, Ye's workshop took precautions to come up with an anti-aircraft weapon: a lightweight divine arm bow, which was mounted on the kind of frame of the three-person artillery crew in triple, and changed the high and low firing angle of the divine arm bow from no more than 30 degrees to a firing angle of up to about 65 degrees. They also installed this kind of thing on a carriage and became an out-and-out self-propelled triple anti-aircraft gun in this time and space......

The two heaters started together, and the airship was filled with airbags in just a few minutes and began to fly. The dignitaries of Yunzhou gathered together, while watching the airship in the air with binoculars, carrying out various items tested today. Obviously, Ye Tao has done a full psychological construction for everyone, although everyone is extremely surprised that they can really fly, but since what they see is already the fact presented in front of them, everyone is thinking about another thing: what does it mean to be able to fly.

"Zhou Rui, what do you think?" Ye Tao asked.

Zhou Rui, who was following him, smiled strangely and said, "My lord, where do you want us to go?" ”

Ye Tao didn't speak, listening to Zhou Rui's reaction, Ye Tao knew that Zhou Rui understood what he meant. On the territorial boundaries of Yunzhou, with the strong individual combat ability, sophisticated equipment, and special team training of the special battalion, there is no need to fly at all for work such as rushing and sabotage. Especially now airships are not necessarily faster than horses. However, if you want to fight behind enemy lines, such as going to Beiliao or Xiling, you need to rush through the blockade in a short time, then the function that the airship can play is different. The number of people in the special battalion is relatively small, and although it has been assessed and expanded again, it has only reached more than 600 people now, which is still a huge distance from the ideal establishment of 1,500 people in Ye Tao's mind. But the special battalion is now the size of both a team and a team B, and it can rely on airships to maneuver the whole team. After Zhou Rui and Zhang Wei took Team A to follow Ye Tao back and forth to the South Pole of Spring for a mission, Team B had quietly infiltrated Xiling to carry out another rhapsodic mission of Ye Tao, and the job of Team A now under repair is to quickly familiarize themselves with the airship and be able to use the airship for combat as soon as possible.

"My lord, I want twenty airships." After a while, Chi Lei rushed up and said with a big grin. Although the two armies of the Frost Wolf Silver Wing add up to only 10,000 people, and under the control of Chi Lei, they are easily not exposed to others, and they have always maintained a state of one army staying behind and one army going out for training, but everyone knows that the two armies under Chi Lei's command are no longer the scout cavalry battalions they used to be, but light cavalry units with considerable combat effectiveness. However, Chi Lei's emphasis on reconnaissance and intelligence analysis has not declined because of the need to enhance combat effectiveness, but has increased more and more to the point of no return. Seeing the reconnaissance-type airship, Chi Lei immediately realized the value of the airship. It doesn't matter if the airship is slower now, the key thing is that the airship is completely free from the shackles of the terrain in relatively passable weather, and no one can stop the airship from conducting reconnaissance and sending the intelligence back, and the blockade on the ground and the search and killing work have become completely meaningless. The field of vision in the air can expand the reconnaissance work to camps, towns, cities, and mountains, forests, and plains, so that the enemy has nothing to hide.

"Twenty?" Ye Tao pursed his lips and said, "Now I can't change it, and even if I give it to you, you won't have time to train enough." ”

Chi Lei numbled his mouth and said, "A few months, it's too late." "Everyone understands that it is a battle against Xiling.

"Do you dare to make a military warrant?" Ye Tao said with a smile.

"Dare." Chi Lei also smiled, "However, in our Yunzhou, the military order is not in accordance with the military order." This is a system that you have personally deleted. ”

Ye Tao was not angry, after thinking about it, he said, "Now I really can't allocate twenty airships. I'll give you ten airships and twenty airship mechanics in two months. ”

Chi Lei's glasses lit up and said, "That's good." ”

Ye Tao then said: "Listen to me, you have to use these things with Zhou Rui." When the time comes, if I can use it, if it delays my business, hehe, you can do it yourself. ”

"Yes!" Chi Lei and Zhou Rui led the order in unison. There were a lot of restrictions, but they couldn't ask for more. Flying, what a luxury it is.