The Flying Balloon slowly drifted back toward the grasslands.
What it left behind was a battlefield full of stunned Qing soldiers and a thoroughly panicked Abatai.
"How are we supposed to fight something like that?"
"We can't!"
"It flies so high in the sky and throws bombs down on us. What are we supposed to do?"
"General, we have absolutely no way to deal with it."
Abatai roared hoarsely.
"Send someone back immediately! Report this to the Emperor!"
While he was shouting himself hoarse, the Flying Balloon returned to the grassland base.
The balloon gradually released air and descended slowly. During the landing process, the pilot tossed down a rope so the people on the ground could grab it and stabilize the balloon's posture.
In the end, several men even pulled the rope together to drag it down.
The balloon finally landed safely.
The scout stepped out of the basket like a victorious hero returning from battle.
Instantly he was surrounded by a crowd of technicians.
"Well? How did it feel?"
The scout burst into laughter.
"Amazing! So amazing I could barely breathe!"
Zao Ying could not help but smile with delight.
"Excellent. Our first combat deployment produced such great results. We can now begin deploying it on a large scale."
Mo Li suddenly jumped out from the side and waved his hands urgently.
"Hey! Listen carefully! You must remember this. The Flying Balloon can only be used when there is no wind."
"No wind!"
"Absolutely no wind!"
"I am saying it three times because it is important!"
Everyone burst out laughing.
"Teacher Mo Li, you are starting to sound just like Xu Dafu from the Firearms Bureau."
"What happened to that fearless graduate researcher who once insisted on testing the first balloon flight himself and ended up crashing into Hou Lan's room?"
Mo Li immediately put on a serious face.
"Times change."
"When we test balloons inside Gao Family Village, I am not afraid of anything."
"But using balloons in war is different."
"If we make even the smallest mistake, we could kill our own soldiers."
"That is absolutely unacceptable."
Before he even finished speaking, the Dao Xuan Tianzun embroidery on his chest suddenly spoke.
"Mo Li is correct."
"War kills people. I do not want to see anyone die needlessly."
"Mo Li, later you will write a complete set of safety regulations for operating Flying Balloons."
"All soldiers must strictly obey them."
"Anyone who violates the regulations and uses the balloon recklessly will be punished with confinement."
"Regardless of whether an accident occurs."
"And they will be permanently banned from piloting Flying Balloons."
Once Dao Xuan Tianzun had spoken, who would dare object?
Everyone immediately accepted the order.
Dao Xuan Tianzun continued.
"Starting today, we will formally establish the Gao Family Village Air Battalion."
"Select only soldiers with excellent physical condition."
"Build our air force as quickly as possible."
"Understood!"
---
Shengjing
Inside the capital of the Qing Empire, Hong Taiji watched as several officials pushed half of a Great Iron Vehicle into the hall.
This machine had been constructed through the combined efforts of Manchu, Han, and Korean craftsmen.
Using the design blueprints brought by the traitor Bin Sheng, they had poured enormous effort into its construction.
However, only half the components had been completed so far.
Fan Wencheng had already assembled those parts together to demonstrate the progress to the Emperor.
"Your Majesty, our Great Iron Vehicle has reached halfway completion."
Hong Taiji was overjoyed.
Unfortunately, his happiness lasted less than half a stick of incense.
News from the border fortress arrived.
After hearing the messenger's report, Hong Taiji's mouth hung open for quite a long time.
"What kind of nonsense is this?"
He stared at the memorial report in his hand.
"A giant Kongming lantern flying in the sky and dropping bombs?"
"This sounds like something out of mythology."
The messenger knelt on the floor and cried.
"It is real! I was there in the fortress!"
"Several bombs exploded right beside me. I barely made it back alive."
Hong Taiji was not like Zhu Youjian.
When he heard something absurd, he did not assume his subordinate was writing fiction.
Instead he preferred verification.
He waved his hand.
"Prepare horses. I will inspect the fortress personally."
For the Emperor of the Ming dynasty, leaving the capital was difficult.
For the Emperor of the Qing dynasty, it was not.
If he wanted to go, he simply went.
Within a short time, Hong Taiji and a large group of civil and military officials rode quickly to the border fortress.
When he arrived and saw the place with his own eyes, Hong Taiji sucked in a breath of Guo Bao Rou.
The fortress had already been full of trenches and pits before.
Now those trenches had been blasted into blackened craters.
The soldiers had already cleaned up the battlefield before the Emperor arrived, but the devastation was still obvious.
Dark clotted blood could be seen everywhere.
Several burned pits were still smoking and releasing a disgusting smell.
The collapsed fortress looked miserable.
Groups of laborers were digging through the rubble, pulling out corpse after corpse and loading them onto carts.
Hong Taiji looked up at the sky.
"How high was it?"
Abatai replied.
"Our arrows could only reach halfway."
Hong Taiji asked again.
"What about firearms?"
"Still too short."
Hong Taiji inhaled sharply again.
The previous breath of Guo Bao Rou was not enough.
This time he sucked in a breath of Xi Ta cold noodles.
Even he was stunned.
"So what exactly are we supposed to do?"
At that moment, Fan Wencheng stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, please do not worry. Let us think carefully."
"If that giant Kongming lantern is truly so powerful, why did it leave after one round of bombing?"
"Why did it not continue deeper into our territory?"
Hong Taiji paused.
His mind suddenly cleared.
"Right. Let me think."
He quickly reached a conclusion.
"Abatai. There was only one soldier on the lantern?"
Abatai nodded.
"Only one."
Hong Taiji slapped his thigh.
"I understand!"
"It is not easy for a Kongming lantern to rise into the sky."
"It cannot carry much weight."
"Once it carries a man, it is already extremely heavy."
"So naturally it cannot carry many bombs."
Everyone suddenly understood.
Hong Taiji continued speaking.
"Once those few bombs were thrown, what could a single soldier do?"
"Nothing."
"So of course he had to retreat."
"This thing is powerful, yes, but its carrying capacity is limited."
"It cannot destroy too much."
Fan Wencheng nodded.
"Your Majesty's analysis is exactly the same as mine."
Hong Taiji smiled slightly.
"This weapon cannot decide the outcome of the war."
"When it appears, everyone simply take cover."
"With just one lantern and one soldier, they cannot occupy our land."
"We still have plenty of time to manufacture our Great Iron Vehicles."
"When they raise their lanterns in the distance, we will simply charge forward on the ground before they can even take off."
The officials bowed.
"Your Majesty is wise."
Hong Taiji turned his head.
"Dorgon!"
Dorgon immediately stepped forward.
"I am here."
Hong Taiji spoke coldly.
"If they harass us, we will return the favor."
"You will immediately lead a unit of roaming cavalry and ride south into Ming territory."
"Harass Northern Zhili."
"They use giant lanterns to harass us."
"We will use cavalry raids to harass them."
"Attack is the best defense."
"Disrupt the Ming court so they cannot focus all their strength on helping the Mongols."
"What we need right now is time."
"As long as our Great Iron Vehicles are completed..."
"We cannot lose."
Dorgon bowed deeply.
"Your command will be carried out."