Su He supervised the camp in Dadu and convened a meeting of all the chief officers of the four armies. The command of the army was temporarily handed over to his deputy.
As soon as Wu Jie entered the camp, he immediately said: "Your Majesty, it's not that our army is not working hard to attack the city.
The Ming army in the direction of Kaifeng discovered something unusual here in Mengjin County.
More than 8,000 Ming troops wanted to come over to support Mengjin County. I sent troops to surround these Ming troops and annihilate them all.
Only a small part of the Ming army fled when the battle began. They ran back to Kaifeng.
It took some time to process these Ming army reinforcements, and the progress of the siege became very slow."
Su He waved his hand, signaling Wu Jie to stop.
"I'm calling you here this time not to ask for guilt.
The difficulty of attacking Mengjin County is obvious to all.
Using conventional methods, we can only slowly consume the Ming army.
This is very detrimental to our army. Our attack on Ming Dynasty this time is to catch Ming Dynasty by surprise.
Try to capture as many places as possible before the Ming Dynasty reverses course.
The better the start, the smoother the subsequent war will be."
Su Hu asked with surprise on his face: "Your Majesty, you called everyone here this time because you have already thought of a way to capture Mengjin County."
With a smile on his face, Su He asked them: "Compared with before, what did you find unusual today?"
Su Hu thought carefully and did not expect that today was different from usual.
Qi Gangyi said in surprise: "Mengjin County is as usual, the Ming army saw that we had nothing to do against Mengjin County.
Their morale has always been at its peak, and the Ming troops defending the city are also very alert. Once we get close to the city wall, these Ming troops will fire back with artillery.
To say that today is different from the past, it is that the northwest wind was very strong some time ago.
The breeze is gentle today, which is a relatively good weather.”
When many generals heard what Qi Gangyi said, their eyes lit up.
Su Hu was the first to ask: "Your Majesty, we are preparing to attack the city with hot air balloons.
I never thought before that hot air balloons could perfectly suit the conditions here in Mengjin County.
From Jianmenguan to Rongcheng and then to Wuzhou, hot air balloons perfectly demonstrated their strength.
As long as the weather is suitable, the hot-air balloon troops can be dispatched."
Li Dazhuang said happily: "We can use hot air balloon bombing to kill all the Ming troops in the city of Mengjin County and on the city walls.
If we take the opportunity to launch an attack, Mengjin County will definitely not be able to defend it."
Su He heard their thoughts, shook his head and said: "Today is different from the past.
The Ming army is now also equipped with a large number of muskets, and the hot air balloon troops have no way to drop bombs at low altitude.
Now that the hot air balloon troops are dispatched, the soldiers on the hot air balloon will also be in great danger.
When the hot-air balloon troops were flying at low altitude, the air bag was hit by a musket.
If the air bag is too damaged, the hot air balloon troops will land in the city, and the soldiers on top will be captured by the Ming army.
The method of bombing this time must be high-altitude bombing, and the accuracy is not as high as low-altitude bombing.
The hot air balloon troops can now only attack targets within a general range, and cannot accurately reach the Ming army on the city wall."
During this period of time in Su He, he was also discussing with his staff and finally reached a consensus.
Hot air balloon troops cannot be used as consumables.
They can display their great strength when given the right opportunity.
It takes a very long time to train a skilled hot air balloon soldier.
Li Dazhuang asked anxiously: "Your Majesty, how can we use hot air balloons to achieve better results?
You must have thought about detailed tactics during this period, otherwise you wouldn't have summoned us all."
"Let Chief of Staff Wang Shiyuan introduce you to the hot air balloon bombing plan."
When Wang Shiyuan heard Su He's order, he stood directly next to the sand table in the middle of the camp.
"My generals, we took advantage of the weakening winds to use hot air balloon troops on a large scale.
The hot air balloon bombing of Mengjin County was divided into two stages.
In the first stage, bombs were used to bomb Mengjin County and at the same time find important locations for the Ming army.
Verify whether the granary pointed out by Gao Jie is accurate.
The purpose of the first stage is to alert the enemy.
Let the Ming army expose its key targets.
After discovering most of the key targets of the Ming army, we immediately carried out the second phase and used heavy fire bombs to destroy the key targets of the Ming army.
Especially the Ming army's granary, the Ming army's granary was destroyed, even if only part of it was destroyed.
Including the Ming army and the people, there were more than 100,000 people in the city.
Once we burn down the food and grass, these people will starve.
The hungry Ming army has no way of defending Mengjin County."
Wang Shiyuan finished introducing the strategy that the hot air balloon force was preparing to achieve.
The senior officers present applauded, relying on their experience.
They could see that as long as the weather was favorable, this plan had a high chance of success.
At least this plan is successful and can greatly shorten the time for Mengjin County to be captured by them.
Wu Jie asked doubtfully: "Why do I feel that it is unnecessary to directly send hot-air balloon troops to use bombs to bombard Mengjin County City.
After large-scale and frequent bombings, how could the defenders in Mengjin County block our attack?"
When Wang Shiyuan heard what Wu Jie said, he spread his hands.
"Commander Wu, I actually like to use this method more than you do.
It doesn't take any thinking at all, just bomb the enemy indiscriminately.
The enemy was not knocked down by the bombing, so they launched another indiscriminate bombing.
As long as there is enough ammunition, even a pig can lead the war and win the war.
After hearing this, I think you should also understand.
It's not that we don't want to use hot air balloon troops to bomb with high intensity and frequency.
But the bomb was too big to transport, the demand was very small, and the cost was too high.
As a result, the current logistics warehouse is extremely short of bombs.
The bombs we currently have in stock are only enough to attack Mengjin County for one round.
Mainly attack key targets in Mengjin County, and at the same time, alert the enemy.
We have a large inventory of fire bombs, but we only have one chance to attack.
Once the Ming army realizes that our target is the granary.
They focused on protecting the granaries, and even distributed the stored grains directly to every soldier, and distributed grains to the people.
Store food in a dispersed manner.
If we attack at that time, it is basically impossible to burn a large amount of food and grass."
After Wang Shiyuan finished telling the story, the senior officers all understood the plan.
Su He looked at them and said: "Call all soldiers from all armies who can operate hot-air balloons, and ask them to bring the hot-air balloons to gather here at the Chinese Army."
When Li Dazhuang heard what Su He had said, he immediately said: "Your Majesty, Su Cheng, the commander of the artillery regiment of our hot air balloon unit.
He has rich experience in commanding hot-air balloon operations, which allows him to command other hot-air balloon operations."
When the other officers heard this, they knew that Li Dazhuang was trying to gain credit for his subordinates.
Li Dazhuang raised his head, and other generals also did not let go, and they all promoted the capable men in their own army.
"Stop fighting!"
Su He's face turned red when he saw them arguing. He also understood these officers.
This hot air balloon battle plan is obviously capable of achieving great results.
If you don't fight for your subordinates, how can you serve the people in the army?
"The hot air balloon combat plan is commanded by the guard regiment Zhu Shi Ding Degui.
He is one of the first veterans to operate hot air balloons. He has also been studying hot air balloon tactics over the years and is very familiar with hot air balloon operations."
Su He saw that they were arguing unclearly, so he stopped these unnecessary arguments and let him personally decide who would command the battle.
These people are about the same strength. You can choose any one, but it is not good to choose any one.
Su He confirmed the candidate, and everyone who was still fighting for it immediately returned to normal.
The hot-air balloon combat plan was recognized by everyone. Senior officers from each army returned to their own armies. They assembled the best teams in the army to operate hot-air balloons.
Su He also called Ding Degui and specifically told Ding Degui the real purpose of this hot air balloon operation plan.
"The first stage is to alert the snakes, and they must be beaten painfully, so that these people will reveal what they are hiding.
Verify that the location of the granary pointed out by Gao Jie is correct.
The second phase focuses on bombing the granary. Choose between the granary and the military camp, and give priority to bombing the granary.
The more Ming soldiers live, the faster they consume food.
The food itself is insufficient and cannot be replenished, so the Ming army will only be destroyed."
The Qin army began to be busy, and Su He also closely observed whether there was any sign of wind.
Everything is ready now. If God is not kind, I will wait for the next opportunity. I don't know how long it will take.
It might be tomorrow, or it might be three months later and winter is over.
I quickly took a few days to prepare, and there was no strong wind during this period.
All senior officers of the Qin Army came to an open space in the northwest of Mengjin County.
The wind is not strong today, it is no longer howling.
But the direction of the wind has not changed, it is still northwest.
The open space is filled with thousands of hot air balloons.
Su He looked at these hot air balloons and issued combat orders.
"Lift off."
Ding Degui served as the commander of this hot air balloon combat plan.
He boarded a special hot air balloon with no blocking devices and only a few telescopes.
This hot air balloon is a reconnaissance hot air balloon.
In this operation, including Ding Degui's reconnaissance balloon, there were ten reconnaissance balloons to observe the main targets such as the granary in the city.
During this launch into the air, all the hot air balloon soldiers had solemn expressions.
They have written a suicide note. If the hot air balloon is destroyed, they will directly fire the glory bomb and die together with the Ming army.
When Ding Degui saw that everyone was ready, he turned on the hot air balloon's blowtorch.
With the development of the textile industry, the air bags used in hot air balloons are also specially produced.
The material has been specially treated to make it airtight and fireproof.
The blowtorch continues to burn, producing a large amount of hot air, which quickly inflates the balloon's airbag.
The hot air balloon took off slowly, riding on the moderate northwest wind, and flew towards Mengjin County.
The first wave of operations was mainly exploratory, exploring key places such as the granary in the city.
All hot air balloons are free to drop bombs along their flying routes.
The hot air balloon that Ding Degui was riding in had already arrived above Mengjin County.
The soldiers controlled the height of the hot air balloon by constantly adjusting the size of the flame.
The wind direction at high altitude is chaotic. At low altitude it is northwest wind, and at high altitude it may change to other wind directions.
Switching to different heights allows the hot air balloon to stay above Mengjin County for more time.
Ding Degui and other staff officers on the hot air balloon constantly observed the Ming army's movements in Mengjin County through high-power telescopes.
…………………………
Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting stood at the west end of Mengjin County. They looked at the Chinese army camp of the Qin army not far away.
Lu Xiangsheng said in a relaxed tone: "The yellow-clothed thieves have weakened their siege force during this period, and they found that their soldiers could not rush to the city wall.
The thieves in yellow can only choose to encircle us rather than attack us, and prepare to wear us out through a war of attrition."
Sun Chuanting said confidently: "This is the best. We are not afraid of a war of attrition, but we are afraid that the thieves in yellow don't care about the lives of the soldiers.
They are prepared to use the lives of their soldiers to gain victory.
Our army is surrounded in Mengjin County, and every soldier who dies is one less.
However, the thieves in yellow can continuously receive a steady supply of troops from the rear.
The rebel Su He doesn't care about the hearts of the soldiers. Just like the rebel Li Zicheng, they exchanged five or even ten soldiers for one of our soldiers.
If the thieves in yellow do this, we will be in trouble.
With what the thieves in yellow are doing now, we still have hope that we can keep it for another year or two."
"Sir, look at the camp of the thieves in yellow. There are many things flying."
Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting heard a soldier yelling in terror.
They looked toward the northwest sky.
All I saw were densely packed little red dots rising from the camp of the thief in yellow.
Lu Xiangsheng's expression changed drastically after seeing it.
"This is the hot-air balloon unit of the thieves in yellow. They can drop exploding and igniting shells directly at us in the air.
This is how Jianmen Pass and Wuzhou City were captured by thieves in yellow.
Now he has used this tactic in Mengjin County."
Sun Chuanting also looked a little anxious, and he forced himself to calm down.
"We must act now to spread out our soldiers and not to gather together.
We seized many long-range muskets from the rebels in Mengjin County.
Use these muskets to attack the hot air balloons in the sky.
At the same time, prepare the heavy crossbow to attack these hot air balloons.
I've studied hot air balloons, and the lower they fly, the more damage they cause.
If we take these countermeasures well, even if we cannot prevent the thieves in yellow from attacking from the sky, we can at least reduce some casualties."
Lu Xiangsheng said calmly:
"I have studied the hot air balloons of the thieves in yellow, and have been thinking about what I should do if I encounter them.
I specially prepared rocket troops to attack these hot air balloons.
I will arrange rocket troops to protect key areas such as granaries, weapons depots, and military camps."
Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting immediately arranged for the Ming army in the city to take action.
They led their own soldiers and elites, hid in the fortress built by the rebels, and directed the battle.
As soon as they entered the fortress, they felt bursts of roaring sounds coming from outside.
The hot air balloon troops of the thieves in yellow have launched an attack on them.
…………………………
Ding Degui looked at the hot air balloon troops, which had already launched an attack on the Ming army in Mengjin County.
He carefully observed the movements of the Ming army. They seemed to be well prepared and dispersed to avoid the attack.
The high-explosive bombs carried on the hot air balloon would cause a wave of air every time they exploded, killing all the surrounding Ming troops.
With the bombing of hot air balloons, there were explosion points all over Mengjin County. The Ming troops in the city were extremely panicked and fled in all directions.
But the Ming army in some places was vigorously resisting the hot air balloon attack.
Ding Degui saw rifled guns and crossbows, and some hot air balloons flying lower. They were hit by rifled guns and crossbows.
There are only one or two holes in the hot air balloon bag, and it can still stagger and fly out of the city.
There were too many holes in the hot air balloon, and it fell uncontrollably toward Mengjin County.
When Ding Degui saw the hot air balloon falling into the city, they immediately detonated the bomb on the hot air balloon and died together with the enemy.
These two weapons only caused minimal casualties.
The weapon that causes the most damage to balloon troops.
It is a firearm with a large cylinder tied to the arrow shaft.
The arrow shaft is coated with kerosene, ignited and then flew into the air through gunpowder.
The rocket flies very slowly, but the height it flies can reach the height of a hot air balloon.
The hot air balloon bladder is made of fire-resistant linen material, but when it burns, it will not burn out completely.
When a hot air balloon encounters an open flame, a big hole will be burned out wherever it comes into contact with the flame.
Many hot air balloons were shot down by the Ming army using this method.
Ding Degui saw that there were very few places to deploy rockets, and he carefully observed these camps.
All the granaries pointed out by Gao Jie are equipped with rockets.
Ding Degui did not need to search carefully, the Ming army directly exposed their important locations.
