On that day, Guo Ning arranged for the first batch of teams to go to Liaodong and specially selected some subordinates from northern Xinjiang ethnic origins to be handed over to Li Yun to facilitate his communication in various places. Ado is one of them.
But Ado's temperament is really not suitable for interacting with others. No matter how much he learned in the military academy, he would still be a dull and stunned person when he went to the outside world.
So in the end, Li Yun didn't expect him to really do anything. He took him with him as a follower every day, just hoping that the young man would return to Laizhou safely.
Hodor neither understood nor cared. He looked like this when he was with Guo Ning, and he still looked like this when he was with Li Yun.
When he heard Li Ting calling him, Aduo touched his head, stepped forward and said, "Are you talking about the hot air balloon?"
"Yes, it's a hot air balloon, the thing that can carry people to the sky. Bring it here, I can use it."
A Duo responded immediately, turned around and left.
Hearing his footsteps disappear, Li Yun came up with some worry and lowered his voice: "Brother, what do you want to do?"
Li Ting said sternly: "Our Commander-in-Chief sent a message and said that the four thousand households of the Mongolian army and Yelvliu Ge were all defeated and their whereabouts are unknown at this time. The soldiers and horses of Wanhu Muhuali on the left wing of the Mongolian army may also be nearby. , Therefore, we must be careful and guard the city. In addition, we just saw four or five groups of scout cavalry heading west. That is to continue to investigate the movements of the Khitan people in Guangning Mansion. The handsome guy is obviously extremely wary of this. Let me tell you, this war is not over yet!"
"Yes, but what does this matter have to do with Ado's hot air balloon?"
"Didn't you take lessons in the military academy? Think about it, the hot air balloon can carry people high and look into the distance, which is very suitable for checking the enemy's situation. Why not use it now? This Xianping City is where we are now. The important stronghold in Liaodong must not be lost. If there is an enemy nearby, we can discover it earlier and take precautions earlier. Isn't this great?"
This makes sense.
"Brother, let's do it like this." Li Yun nodded subconsciously, and then looked at his brother suspiciously: "That thing is valued by Commander Jie, and Aduo is also a close servant of Commander Jie. Don't cause any trouble. , it will be difficult to explain to Jie Shuai in the future."
With a "Peng" sound, Li Tingmeng patted the battlement, and the sheep said angrily: "Ayun, your wings are stiff? You dare to talk to me like this?"
"I don't dare, I don't dare." Li Yun smiled and bowed to his brother, then lowered his voice and said, "You really don't want to mess around!"
The two brothers were two years apart in age. When he was signed by the imperial court to go to northern Xinjiang, Li Yun had not yet matured in strength and mind, and he was just like his brother's follower. In the past two years, Li Yun has gradually matured, and the tasks he has taken on under Guo Ning are also quite important. The relationship between the two brothers is different from the past. On the contrary, Li Yun spends more time admonishing his elder brother.
"Bah! I, Li Erlang, am an important general of the Ding Navy, and I have a status! Am I the kind of person who messes around?"
Li Ting slapped Li Yun on the shoulder with considerable force.
Li Yun felt severe pain in his shoulder injury and cried out "Wow". After calling twice, Li Ting saw contempt on his face and no other reaction, so he turned around and nodded to Wang Bao'er, Zheng Rui and others, asking them to help carry it.
Li Yun is a sensible person. He naturally knew that Li Ting was overthinking it from the beginning.
Although Li Ting himself was energetic, his soldiers took great risks to attack the city tower when they captured Xianping Mansion, causing a lot of damage.
Therefore, Guo Ning deliberately left the easiest blocking task to Li Ting, and asked him to withdraw his troops and return to the city after the blocking was successful, without having to participate in the subsequent war.
If there were no accidents, there would be no need for him and his men to fight to the death until the situation in Liaodong was settled. No matter how hard he, Li Erlang, had nowhere to vent his energy, he could only hold it back.
On the other hand, it is getting dark now, and when the sun sets, even if a person is floating in the sky in a balloon, nothing can be seen. Come to think of it, even if my brother was fooling around, it would only last for half an hour.
Then let's make some noise.
On the other hand, Ado has to worry more.
The hot air balloon was extremely huge. It was transported to Liaodong that day. Just the thickly painted large balloons, which were stacked layer by layer, accounted for half the load of a large truck. In addition, special wicker baskets, stoves, oil, Ropes, etc., hundreds of kilograms of bits and pieces, could hardly fit into a large truck.
And A Duo's temperament is really a bit stunned. He hurried down to the city alone. Did he think he could pick him up with just two hands?
Sure enough, Wang Bao'er and Zheng Rui, with more than ten companions, hurried down the trail and urged their horses to go to the military camp. Halfway through, they saw A Duo driving a cart slowly coming over. When he saw everyone, he grinned and said, "I can't move it!"
Now more than ten people helped together and finally assembled the big guy and arranged it in the empty space in front of the city tower.
"Light the fire! Light the fire!" Li Ting's eyes lit up: "Let me see what it looks like!"
After a while, the huge oilcloth spread in the open space slowly expanded, forming a colorful and huge ball with pictures of divine generals on it, slowly rising.
The officers and soldiers of the Dinghai Navy had seen this thing floating in the air outside Laizhou City on weekdays, while the local soldiers and civilians in Xianping Prefecture were all horrified, and many people in the city suddenly exclaimed.
This kind of exclamation made Li Ting feel very useful, as if his face was shining with light.
He was lying next to the wicker basket, looking at Ado who was carefully putting away the fire, and asked questions again and again.
But Aduo was clumsy and tongue-tied, so he couldn't explain clearly. So while he was busy with what he was doing, he took a wooden tablet and wrote on it with charcoal for Li Ting to see.
How could Li Ting understand?
Since you don’t understand it, why don’t you just feel it for yourself?
Seeing the wicker basket gradually shaking and seeming to lift off the ground, Li Ting asked repeatedly: "How many people can be carried in this basket?"
"At most three people, but in that case, we won't be able to fly high..." Ado added half a can of kerosene into the stove through a special opening, only to hear the coals in the stove whirring wildly, with yellow paint on the top. From the gap made of copper, flames about two feet long burst into flames.
The next moment, the bamboo basket swayed and Li Ting jumped up: "Count me in!"
Zheng Rui reacted quickly and climbed into the wicker basket: "Take me with you too!"
Li Yun shouted twice and rushed down from the walking trail to the city. The balloon was already swaying and rising from the ground.
"Watch the Dingshi!" Wang Bao'er was gesticulating and shouting: "The wind is strong right now, please bring a few more people and hold on to the rope tightly!"
In the center of the bamboo basket, the specially built stove was burning fiercely, emitting huge heat. Li Ting felt that the hair on his face was about to curl up, and he quickly leaned against the edge of the bamboo basket, moving away from the stove.
Aduo was as focused as ever. He adjusted the air vents of the copper stove that could be opened and closed, while his eyes carefully observed the status of the stove and the balloon. Strangely enough, when he was concentrating, his originally stupid appearance turned out to be somewhat wise.
"I heard that Marshal Jie originally had an idea to distribute these hot air balloons to various ministries so that he could detect enemy traces in advance during field battles?" Li Ting asked: "Why has there been no news these days?"
A Duo looked confused.
Zheng Rui had been saved by this balloon before, so he made a special effort to ask about the relevant situation, and quickly explained: "The general is right, with just a carriage, the hot air balloon can follow the army, and it will be of great benefit in the field. The problem is that making balloons requires a lot of raw paint, and good paint is hard to come by. As the saying goes, 'good paint is as clear as a mirror, and the hanging thread is like a fishing hook.' Unless it is this level, it will not crack easily when applied to the cloth. Otherwise, it will be folded three or two times. , there will be holes in the cloth, and the entire balloon will be useless.”
"I see." Li Ting nodded: "The best raw lacquer must come from the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties. This can only be obtained through business contacts."
"Exactly, exactly." Zheng Rui said repeatedly.
Just after saying a few words, the hot air balloon rose high enough. The wind is strong at high places, especially when the balloon is slightly higher than the tower. Suddenly a strong wind blows from the side, causing the entire balloon to shake violently.
A Duo stumbled and almost hit his head on the copper stove. In order to avoid being burned, he twisted around and fell to the bottom of the wicker basket.
When he fell to the ground, he kept shouting: "Rope! Rope!"
The wicker basket swayed here and there, trembling violently. Zheng Rui grabbed the edge of the basket with one hand and groped around it with the other, but he couldn't find where the rope he mentioned was.
Li Ting touched it. One end of this thick hemp rope is hung from the bulge on the side of the basket. The rope itself is twisted, probably because there is a stone hanging on the other end of the rope, and it is quickly pulled away as the wicker basket swings.
Li Ting casually picked up the knot hanging on the bulge and asked, "Are you looking for this? Where to put it!"
The wicker basket was still swinging wildly, and Ado thumped it twice on the ground, still shouting to himself: "Tie it tight! Tie the rope tight! The wind is too strong!"
"ha?"
Li Ting was stunned: "You should have told me earlier. I just took off the rope. Did I do it wrong..."
Before he finished speaking, the entire coiled part of the rope had completely sagged, and the knot suddenly broke away from Li Ting's hand like a living thing.
Li Ting's arm strength is not bad and his reaction is quick, but he has been in a series of fierce battles recently and has suffered several injuries. At this time, he suddenly exerted strength, which inevitably made him a little slower.
At this moment's delay, the rope cracked open Li Ting's arm, then swept across the wicker basket and hit the copper stove with a loud clang.
The next moment, the entire rope fell to the ground, and the wicker basket suddenly stabilized.
"Look, I did it right!" The skin on the back of Li Ting's hand was torn. He didn't mind, but he laughed and said, "It's stable! It's very stable!"
Zheng Rui looked at his two companions with a grimace on his face.
A Duo sat up from the bottom of the basket, ignoring the heat. He first used his sleeves to protect his hands and steady the stove. Seeing that the stove was not damaged, he breathed a sigh of relief and then pointed at Li Ting: "You did it wrong!"
On the ground four or five feet away from the wicker basket, Wang Bao'er pointed to a high place and stammered: "Fly, it's flying."
At the same time, Li Yun and many soldiers were also stunned, both on and off the city tower, inside and outside the city wall and military camp.
The round balloon suddenly rose with the strong wind, then crossed the tower and headed west.
"Flying! Flying away!" Countless people shouted at the same time.
