Chapter 223: Precision Airdrop

Another day has passed.

Failing to take Cheshi for two consecutive days is, for the greatest fierce general of Dayuan, Jiulong, an absolute and extreme humiliation!

These Longyan, how are they able to hold out so well?

It looked as though they were on the verge of successfully taking the city several times.

Yet, they were forcibly blocked back!

The casualties on both sides were very heavy.

But relatively speaking, the Yanqi Army suffered more deaths and injuries. After all, they were the ones attacking the city, while the others were defending!

"Whose responsibility is it today?"

"Well? Who will tell me?"

Jiulong bellowed.

The generals were as silent as cicadas in winter, looking at one another.

No one had expected this.

The Longyan Han people, whom they had always viewed as weak, were actually so full of mettle.

Jiao Zhe, meanwhile, was smiling coldly.

A few days ago, you were still laughing at me?

What about today?

Can you win? Do you know now what kind of tiger-and-wolf army the opposition is?

Luo Quan pondered for a moment, then said: "Great General, logically speaking, the Han people coming to the Western Regions should not be this valiant. From the attacks of these two days, it can be seen that they are still very fearful of that Quelehuoduo."

Jiulong said arrogantly: "That is natural; these Han people, where have they ever seen such things!"

Luo Quan smiled: "So why not..."

Jiulong finally realized, his whole body jolted, and he laughed aloud: "Lord Luo truly has a brilliant plan! Jiao Zhe!"

"Great General!"

"Go immediately and bring more Quelehuoduo; the more, the better. The more the merrier."

"If we do not take it by tomorrow!"

"We will not use them for burning... but for blowing them up!"

Everyone was overjoyed.

Xiao Qi.

He was a small man who had followed the scattered commoners of Cheshi and infiltrated Jiao Zhe's ranks.

He had grown up in Yinzhou since he was a child.

Both his parents died when he was young, and he subsequently became a beggar on the streets.

Because he lacked proper nutrition as a child, his stature was slightly short, and he was thin as a rail.

That day.

He nearly froze to death on the street; it was Jiang Xuan who saved him, gave him food, gave him drink, helped him treat his illness, and pulled him back from the gates of hell.

Once upon a time.

He was filled with an innate hatred for the Longyan Dynasty.

And later.

He became fiercely loyal to Jiang Xuan and the Yinzhou Prefect, Young Master Liu.

The two of them had treated him with the kindness of a second birth.

They helped him take a wife and have children. They gave him a prosperous and peaceful life.

Since ancient times, a scholar dies for one who understands him.

Xiao Qi grew up listening to the story of Yu Rang.

He had always been looking for an opportunity to give his all for Jiang Xuan and Young Master Liu.

Last time, when he came to Loulan, he was in the ranks; Jiang Xuan arranged for him to stay in the Western Regions, with the goal of having him learn the languages of the Western Regions—the Loulan language and the Yanqi language.

Xiao Qi was very talented.

He soon blended in with the people of the Western Regions, and whether in terms of lifestyle or attire, he looked exactly like a person of the Western Regions.

But.

He knew that his heart belonged to Yinzhou!

Yes, not to Longyan, but to Yinzhou!

This time, in the chaos, he used half his life to rescue that Jiao Zhe from Cheshi; Jiao Zhe looked at him with new eyes and gave him the position of a small squad leader.

Xiao Qi was the person responsible for intelligence contact with Jiao Ming...

Today.

He finally received Jiang Xuan's order.

"In three days and nights, expose the location of their Quelehuoduo."

A simple sentence that made Xiao Qi gasp.

He knew where the Yanqi Army kept the Quelehuoduo, but that place was guarded by Jiulong's elite private soldiers; let alone him not being able to get in, even someone of Jiao Zhe's level could not touch that Quelehuoduo.

It was very difficult for Xiao Qi to create chaos on his own.

Expose its location?

Xiao Qi clenched his fists tightly.

These past few days, he had seen the tragic losses of the Yinzhou Army with his own eyes and felt the pain in his heart.

Those are all his own compatriots...

If this war can end sooner, less blood will be shed.

Xiao Qi understands.

The time has come for the Young Master and Jiang Xuan to be of use.

The third day.

Early in the morning.

Cheshi was met with a fierce assault by the Yanqi Army.

After three consecutive days of defense, the Yinzhou Army was, in truth, already an exhausted force.

Especially the Loulan Army led by Reguli.

This time, she had brought out fifty thousand Loulan troops; by now, they had been depleted until only twenty thousand remained!

Yet they still stood firm within the defensive fortifications of Sanlinpo.

This stubborn attitude.

Even made the Yanqi Army responsible for capturing Sanlinpo feel weary.

Time, and time again.

War is the squandering of endless wealth.

On this day, who knows how many arrows were fired; covering the mountains and plains, on the fortifications, on people's bodies, on the trees—who would have thought that despite such an attack, Sanlinpo would actually hold firm and not retreat!

There were a few times.

Even Liu Zheng on the watchtower felt his heart tighten.

Precarious.

Watching the usually lazy and naive Reguli from Loulan fighting in a bloodbath, it would be a lie to say he didn't feel distressed. He had almost been unable to hold back, wanting to simply let Reguli retreat, welcome the Yanqi main force in, and conduct the urban warfare he had long since planned.

However, a single sentence from Qingyang Shuo made him hold back.

"Does the Young Master want the Yanqi to retreat, or for Cheshi to be worry-free for ten years?"

This sentence meant: do you want a small victory, or a great one? Do you want to consume a few tens of thousands of the enemy's troops, or consume all two hundred thousand of them?

Was there even a need to choose?

Endure!

Hold on!

Several times when Sanlinpo was about to fall, Liu Zheng sent Qin Zhangfeng to assist, stubbornly holding the battle situation of this third day until nightfall.

The day's fighting ended once again with Jiulong in a state of exasperation.

On Liu Zheng's side, things were actually not easy either.

The losses on this third day rose directly to twenty thousand!

In three days' time.

The loss of troops reached fifty thousand!

Among them, twenty thousand Loulan troops and thirty thousand Yinzhou troops.

Cruel.

Bloody.

Just the mountains of corpses alone—he didn't know how they would be cleared after the war.

"Finally, it is night..."

Liu Zheng looked at the twinkling stars in the sky and smiled wearily.

Compared to the exhaustion of the Yanqi main force today, the Yinzhou Army, even though night had fallen, was still not preparing to rest.

Everyone.

Was gathered together at this moment.

Their eyes were fixed on those few things placed in the city—what should they be called?

Big balls?

That's right.

This was the secret weapon Liu Zheng had prepared to raid the Yanqi military camp tonight—Hot Air Balloons!

Last night, under his guidance, the craftsmen in the army had worked through the night to rush the production of three large Hot Air Balloons; although relatively simple, they could drift in the light breeze toward the Yanqi military camp one hundred miles away.

Not only that.

The Yinzhou Army had also worked through the night to rush the production of a batch of Kongming Lanterns to cover these three Hot Air Balloons.

At this time, the three barrels of Quelehuoduo discovered in Cheshi City had been placed onto these three Hot Air Balloons respectively.

Qingyang Shuo said it well.

Fire can harm people, and it can also harm armies!

For three days, the Yinzhou Army had been tormented by this Quelehuoduo for three days.

Then tonight, let you people of the Western Regions taste the flavor of this Quelehuoduo!

Liu Zheng smiled and said: "Whether it succeeds or not depends on tonight."

Qingyang Shuo looked at the Hot Air Balloons, his eyes shining: "Young Master, is this the principle of the Kongming Lantern?"

Liu Zheng smiled and nodded.

In the Three Kingdoms period, there was Zhuge's Kongming Lantern.

Today, there is his, Liu Zheng's, Hot Air Balloon.

And...

It's an airdrop!

A precision airdrop!

He turned his head and glanced at Qin Zhangfeng: "Zhangfeng, are you ready?"

Qin Zhangfeng held a bow in one hand and laughed toward the sky: "Rest assured, Viscount, to shoot the ropes of the three large spheres with Rockets, I alone am enough!"

Jiang Xuan asked curiously: "Viscount, can these large spheres really fly?"

Liu Zheng laughed heartily.

He lit them himself.

"Release!"

Over a hundred thousand Yinzhou troops watched eagerly.

Can such a huge thing really fly?

Slowly.

The Hot Air Balloon began to lift off, began to drift, began to ascend into the sky.

"It's flying, it's flying!"

"Look quickly!"

"The Viscount is divine and martial!"

The Yinzhou troops shouted in unison.

Liu Zheng watched with a smile.

In truth, his heart was also incredibly nervous...

According to Qingyang Shuo's observation of the stars at night, there was no wind tonight, and when Liu Zheng designed the Hot Air Balloon, he set the direction to head straight for the Yanqi main camp...

But if even the slightest deviation occurred, then all the efforts of tonight would be ruined.

Qin Zhangfeng vaulted onto his horse, carrying his bow and arrows, and laughed heartily: "Viscount, Zhangfeng is off!"