Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 879 Air Raid 1
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"Is this Stone Castle City?" When Hu Liang raised his head and saw the steep mountain wall in front of him, he couldn't help but take a breath. He saw towering rock walls rising from the ground. He raised his neck until he felt sore that he could see the Tibetan flag on the stone castle. This famous fortress was built on a protruding cliff, with steep and impassable cliffs on three sides. Only one side is connected to the mountain, and the accessible road is a winding path, with some artificial constructions in the middle. Now he finally knew why when he said he was going to send troops to Qinghai, every Longyou Tang army had that "Are you crazy?" expression.

"Fortunately we have hot air balloons!" Yan Liang said with a wry smile: "Look at this road, all the siege equipment is useless, we can only use human heads!"

"Yes!" Hu Liang sighed: "The mountain road is so steep, and there is no place to stand halfway. Even if there is a thunderbolt chariot, there is no place to place the ballistae. The Tubo people have chosen a good place!"

"Fortunately, my father was well prepared!" Yan Liang said with a smile: "It's better to let the people on the hot air balloon check the settings of this stone castle first. If you know yourself and the enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger!"

The topographic map was soon passed down from the hot air balloon. The lookouts on the balloon were specially trained and could skillfully draw the bird's eye view of Stone Castle City, then put it in a sealed bamboo tube and slide it down along the hanging rope. Come down. Looking at the clearly marked aerial view, Yan Liang said: "In my opinion, the easiest way is to attack with fire. Drop oil bombs from the hot air balloon and burn down the Tibetan bandit's granary. As long as there is no food in stock, no matter how dangerous the situation is, Even the mountain city cannot be defended!"

"Isn't it as easy as you said?" Hu Liang looked at the hot air balloon in the sky doubtfully: "If you want to burn down the garrison's granary like you said, you have to fly to the top of the Stone Castle City. And it can’t be too high, otherwise the thieves are not fools. They will shoot arrows when they see someone throwing oil bombs above their heads. If they are hit, the loss will be huge!”

"Hahaha, just choose a night with no wind. You can fly lower. Anyway, as long as it catches fire, you don't have to worry about throwing it incorrectly!" Yan Liang said with a smile.

"Wouldn't it be more dangerous at night when there is no wind? If it hits a mountain, wouldn't it be all over?"

"Hu Liang, you are still too soft-hearted!" Yan Liang said with a smile: "I am afraid of this and I am afraid of that. This is a war. As long as this Shibao City can be captured, the entire Hehuang Valley will be controlled by the Tang Dynasty. We can afford to lose half of those hot air balloons.”

Hearing what Yanliang said, Huliang remained silent. This Shibao City is located at the last pass of the passage from the Huang River Valley to the Qieji Grassland. This is also the outer and inner rivers, monsoon area and non-monsoon area in northwest my country. , the dividing line between the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Loess Plateau, and the dividing line between the agricultural and pastoral areas of Qinghai Province today is also here. If the Tang army could capture this place and keep troops to defend it, the border defense line would be pushed nearly a thousand miles westward, Shanzhou would become inland, and the fertile Huang River Valley would suddenly become owned by the Tang army, and a large number of Qiang would be nomadic and farming in the area. The Hu tribe also naturally became a potential source of troops for the Tang Dynasty. Under the ebb and flow of one thing and another, the situation of the war will naturally become much more favorable to the Tang army.

"Just do as I say!" Yan Liang said with a smile: "How can there be no death in a war? At least this is much better than piling heads along the mountain road!"

It was getting late, and the sun had completely sunk below the horizon, leaving only a ray of afterglow on the western horizon. A piece of flat land has been cleared in the Tang Army's rear camp as a take-off and landing site for hot-air balloons. Yuan Lin wrapped himself in a heavy fur coat, wearing gloves while nodding to the stiff and unlucky guy standing guard at the entrance to the landing field. He stepped forward, as fast as he could, across the courtyard and towards the canteen not far away. The boots broke through the ice of the cold night, the snow crunched under my feet, and my breath frosted before my eyes like a flag. He crossed his arms over his chest and walked faster, praying that he was not late and that the stew in the pot was still cold.

When Yuan Lin walked into the mess hall, dinner was almost over. Six or seven pilots gathered around the stove, drinking scalded light wine and throwing dice. As a truly aristocratic branch of the military at that time, the treatment of these balloon pilots was absolutely first-class. Even during the march, they were given wine and hot food. His friends were sitting on the bench by the door, laughing together. Liu Zhiyu is telling stories vividly. This kid has a natural ability and is good at imitating the accents of various characters. Listening to him tell stories, it is like being immersed in the scene. One moment, he imitates Sergeant Yulin, the next moment he becomes the bad boy of Chang'an, and the next moment When he became a recluse from the Daci'en Temple, and imitated the Orchid Girl in the Wine Shop or the Qiuniang in Toad Ling, his high-pitched falsetto voice often made the audience burst into tears with laughter. Yuan Lin took the meatloaf and stew from the cook, sat down next to his friends, and said with a smile, "What are you talking about today?"

"Yuan Lin, you are finally here!" Liu Zhiyu turned his head and said, "Tell me a little anecdote about Toad Tomb!"

"Toad Tomb? It sounds like you have been there, and it has a nose and eyes!" Yuan Lin laughed.

"Yuan Lin, you said that!" Liu Zhiyu retorted: "You said it as if you don't want to go, let's put it this way! When I finish fighting the Tibetan bandits this time and pass through Chang'an when I come back, I will go to Toad Tomb to broaden my horizons. !”

Everyone laughed and booed, and Yuan Lin took a sip of the stew: "Very good, if you can come back alive!"

"Why can't you go back alive?" Liu Zhiyu raised his head proudly: "The Tubo people can't fly, but we can fly!"

"Yes! We can fly!"

"Yes, no matter whether you are riding a horse or walking on foot, you can lose your head, but we can't lose a hair. At most, the northwest wind can eat as much as you want!"

The pilots proudly said that these guys have a very deep understanding of their superior position. They are almost unable to be attacked on the hot air balloon. What makes them most uncomfortable is not the Tubo sword, but The biting cold wind in the air.

"The superiors have given orders. We are going to attack Shibao City tonight, and the target is the Tibetan granary!"

"Tonight?" Liu Zhiyu was shocked: "Why at night?" "Because we have to fly very low to ensure that the oil bombs are dropped into the granary and not elsewhere. If it were daytime, we would have flown so low If you are too low, you will become a target!”

Everyone fell into silence. Of course they knew that it was not easy to drop bombs from the air to hit the target, so the targets of hot air balloon raids were usually cities. At that time, most of the buildings in the city were civil structures, and most of the roofs were simply Paved with hay, if a fire broke out, there would be no time to put it out. Although Shibao City has the word "city" in its name, it is actually just a fortress with a much smaller area and fewer buildings than in the city. If you want to burn down the granary, I am afraid that the only way is to burn it directly. It's possible with a hit. The hot air balloon itself is a very difficult flying object to control. Although there are propellers on the pod, it is still extremely inconvenient to fly. It is fine during the day, but it is really dangerous to fly over Stone Castle City at night for low-altitude bombing. very.

"But if we can't see at night, how do we know where Stone Castle is?" someone asked.

"Don't worry about this, the moonlight tonight should be good!" Yuan Lin said.

After dinner, Yuan Lin walked out of the dining hall door. His companions were still inside, digesting the shock of the news brought by Yuan Lin. The stone castle city located in the northwest reveals its outline in the rising moonlight, looking huge and mysterious. Yuan Lin couldn't help but stop and stare. Suddenly, he had strange crazy thoughts in his heart. If he kept flying westward until the end of the world, what would he see? According to the old people, the power of the world is returning to ruins, the sea water falls into the endless abyss, and then there is endless nothingness. Maybe that's where I should go, but it's a pity that I can't go because of my limited responsibilities.

Yuan Lin returned to his tent, lay on the couch, closed his eyes and rested. He could hear the people in the same tent coming back, breathing heavily. Apparently, he also knew the news about the attack at night, and his heart was heavy. Yuan Lin knew that if he said something, the other party would definitely feel better, but he didn't want to speak and just waited silently.

Finally, a sharp whistle came from outside, which was the signal to gather. Yuan Lin quickly tightened his belt, put on his fur coat, gloves, and fur boots, and walked out. There were already more than a dozen colleagues standing in the square. Yuan Lin hurriedly ran over. When he saw Mr. Yanliang standing in front of the team, he quickly straightened his chest and stood up straight.

"Is everyone here?

Yuan Lin heard Yan Liang's question. When he got a positive answer, Yan Liang took a step forward and scanned everyone present, finally stopping on Yuan Lin's face: "I won't say any more. , you should also know what you are going to do tonight! Burn down the thief’s granary and starve such a bitch to death!”

"Starve these bitches to death!" A deep shout erupted from the team, with a fierce smile on everyone's face. Yan Liang showed a satisfied smile. He took a step forward and patted everyone's cheeks in turn: "Well done! Well done to you all! Work hard and come back alive! I will celebrate your success in person!"

Yuan Lin and his two companions rolled over into the pod and began to check whether the equipment above was normal. After confirming, Yuan Lin shouted twice. Then someone else started to light the burner, and the three of them squatted down and began to wait for a long time. Until Yuan Lin thought there was something wrong with this damn balloon and it would never rise, the pod suddenly shook and began to rise.

He ascended slowly, bumpyly at first, then calming down. The ground was getting farther and farther away from Yuan Lin's feet, and the pod shook slightly. He clung to the iron handrail, and he could feel the coldness of the metal even through his gloves. He noticed that the wind was not strong, and he couldn't help but feel happy. It seemed that he had a greater chance of success tonight.

The pod was higher than the tip of the forest and continued to climb slowly higher. The Tang army's camp was at his feet, carved in the moonlight. From a high place, you realize how rigid and hollow its tents, trenches, and watchtowers are. In the distance, he saw lights in the valley to the west, two or three miles away, which should be the outpost camp. And the cold streams that rise and fall, pouring down from the mountains and running through the valleys, the water surface sparkling and the moonlight reflecting. Beyond that, as far as the eye can see is a stretch of wind-torn hills, rugged rocks and a desolate land dotted with residual snow.

"Shit, lower the fire, we are already high enough, turn the rudder, step on the propeller, and fly south!"

The rise of the hot air balloon began to stop. As the machinery creaked and groaned in pain, Yuan Lin could feel the hot air balloon beginning to move over the distant Stone Castle. Liu Zhiyu was panting and pushing the propeller hard. He wrapped his face with a towel, only his eyes were exposed. Due to the few furs on his body, he looked a lot fatter, like a hairball.

"How far is it?" Liu Zhiyu asked breathlessly.

Yuan Lin lay on the floor, looked directly below the pod through a hole directly under the pod, and replied angrily: "It's still early! Keep pedaling!"

"Shit!" Liu Zhiyu cursed and used a little more force on his feet. After a few minutes, Yuan Lin suddenly shouted: "That's enough, stop staring, lower the fire, the height is too high now!"

On the wall of Stone Castle City, the sentry was looking into the distance boredly. The weather was bitingly cold, and the wind tore his clothes like an eager lover. The city wall was quite spacious, so he didn't have to worry about losing his footing, but the ground was indeed too slippery. The melted snow water penetrates deep into the gaps between the bricks and stones during the day, and freezes into a sheet at night. If you are not careful, you will fall down.

The sentry did not think that the Tang people would attack at night. The steep mountain road was difficult to walk even during the day, let alone at night. However, military orders were military orders. He could only huddle in a wind-sheltered corner as much as possible and wait for the arrival of the changing of the guard. But you can't move still, otherwise your hands and feet will get frostbite. So every once in a while, he had to stand up and walk back and forth on the wall.

His exposed cheeks were red from the cold, and his feet had been protesting for a long time, but he ignored it. The wind roared in his ears, gravel crunched beneath his feet, and the ridgeline snaked ahead of him, gradually rising like a white bow before disappearing into the western horizon. He passed a trebuchet, its base sunk deeply into the city wall, its hurling arm having been removed for repairs but forgotten to be put back on, so that it lay there like a broken toy.

Suddenly, the sentry seemed to see something in his eyes. He rubbed his eyes to make sure it was not an illusion. Under the moonlight, a huge spherical object was suspended in the sky above Stone Castle City, slowly moving towards him. There seemed to be something hanging below the sphere, which was only twenty or thirty meters away from the ground. He wanted to scream, but his mouth was opened wide, but no sound came out. It seemed that witchcraft had controlled his throat.