Daoguang six years, November 11th.
In the early morning, when the first ray of sunlight dissipated the chill surrounding the camp on the south bank of the Amu Darya River, Zhuge Weidao had already put on the uniform of the Dajin Navy—a quilted blue cloth robe and a suede coat. Wearing a yellow mandarin jacket, a dog-skin hat with ear protection, and a "disposable Sibilong knife" slung around his waist, he yawned and walked out of a barracks in the Amu Darya camp.
The so-called Amu Darya Camp is a castle built in an oasis on the south bank of the Amu Darya River and several camps around the castle. Although this camp is located on the southern edge of the Samarkand Governorate, it has always been directly under the direct jurisdiction of the Jin Dynasty in Wuji Valley. The entire oasis is garrisoned by Eight Banners soldiers sent by Wuji Valley, and a large area of land around it is a military restricted area.
However, this piece of land, which was regarded as the stronghold of Dajin in the south, has been idle for many years. Since its completion, no large army has ever been stationed. It was not until three months ago that a large number of fully armed Eight Banners soldiers of Dajin suddenly arrived. Unlike the "acting" Eight Banners stationed in Kunduz, the Eight Banners soldiers stationed in the Amu Darya camp are not so comfortable. In addition to training, they are busy with construction. The "Naval Base" where Zhuge Weidao currently lives was built by the Eight Banners soldiers from the Amu Darya Camp in half a month. At the same time, an airship field, as well as various supporting warehouses and maintenance workshops were built.
The ground handling of this airship is very troublesome. Hydrogen cylinders, gasoline, ammunition, and various parts must be stored separately. In particular, cylinders filled with compressed hydrogen must be stored in small batches in multiple warehouses, around each small warehouse. Sandbags must also be used to build explosion-proof fortifications to prevent hydrogen explosions from affecting surrounding facilities.
In addition, each airship base must be equipped with a maintenance shop. Maintenance and inspection must be carried out immediately after each flight. An inspection must be conducted before flying to ensure that the cylinders, air bags and gas pipelines are in good condition before they can be released.
It is no exaggeration to say that without strong industrial strength and a reliable team of technical workers and engineers, the hundreds of airships of the Ming Navy would be more dangerous to our own people and the enemy!
Today is "Double Eleven", and it is also the time when Daikin Navy launches its first attack!
When Zhuge Weidao walked out of his barracks and arrived at the airship landing site, twelve "Flying Dragon III" rigid hydrogen airships were already lined up in the open field. Ye Wu was directing dozens of ground crewmen to push small carts and carefully load hydrogen bottles and bombs onto the airship... This could not be more dangerous! Fortunately, Ye Wu and the Ming Dynasty Navy technical advisors he brought were very professional and responsible, so in the past few months, the Daikin Navy Airship Force has not had a major safety accident (parachuting and falling to death are not included).
Seeing Zhuge Weidao appear at the airship field, Ye Wu quickly paused the work at hand, walked quickly to him, stood at attention and then gave a military salute and said: "Sir, the airship unit is conducting routine inspections and equipment before taking off. The addition is about to be completed, and ten of the twelve airships are ready!"
There were originally only ten airships that followed Zhuge Weidao to the Kingdom of Jin. However, after the Ministry of Navy and Army of the Ming Dynasty received reports from Zhuge Weidao and Zheng Guoxian, they sent three more airships. There are two colonels from the Naval Staff Training Bureau and the Army Staff Training Bureau. Although the Ming Dynasty Navy was equipped with a large number of airships, they did not think of using airships for airborne operations. They only used airships for reconnaissance, Mine laying, air raids. So now the training bureaus of the navy and the army have sent people over. They want to see with their own eyes how airship airborne is performed?
And among these two colonels there was an "old acquaintance" named Guan Tianpei! He is the deputy director of the Operations Department of the Naval Training Bureau, and is also one of the few senior officers in the Navy with civilian origins. He is also very promising to be promoted to the general level or even the lieutenant general!
Guan Tianpei got up earlier than Zhuge Weidao today. He changed into the military uniforms of the Dajin Navy an hour early (the airship might be shot down, so he couldn't wear the military uniforms of the Ming Army) and arrived at the airship field. Now he was talking to Wu Chuan, who had also woken up early, next to an airship.
Zhuge Weidao also saw the two of them, so he said to Ye Wu: "Wencheng, go ahead and remember... you must check carefully. We have to run a long distance this time. Come and go three times." It's more than a thousand miles, and we have to fly at night, so we can't make any mistakes!"
After explaining a few words, Zhuge Weidao strode towards Guan Tianpei and Wu Zhenzhen. Both of them looked like famous generals, but Wu Zhenzhen probably drank small milk as water, so he grew particularly big. Guan Tianpei is a little younger, but he can still be regarded as a sturdy man. He has a big face with a Chinese character and a beard, and he is not angry but has a strong sense of authority.
Wang Wen had told him before that this "Master Guan" was notoriously harsh and would not give anyone face when he scolded people.
In front of this "Master Guan", Zhuge Dao did not dare to make any mistakes. After walking over quickly, he stood at attention and saluted respectfully.
Guan Tianpei also returned the military salute and said calmly: "Major Daozi, can you attack on time today?"
"No problem," Zhuge Weidao said, "I just received a telegram from the No. 1 boat. The weather conditions at the western foot of the Hindu Kush Mountains are good and we can fly."
Boat No. 1 is the airship where Ling Zongjun and Wang Wen are. The crew of this airship is in the best condition and the most skilled among all the crews of the thirteen airships. It has conducted reconnaissance deep into the Hindu Kush Mountains many times before. The mission flew as far as the Khyber Valley.
They also flew out the route of this airborne operation deep behind enemy lines.
Last night, Ling Zongjun and Wang Wen took advantage of the darkness in their boat No. 1 to set off, bypassing the central and eastern peaks of the Hindu Kush Mountains, and detouring from the lower western foothills of the Hindu Kush Mountains to determine the route along the route. Whether the weather is suitable for flying.
Guan Tianpei nodded, and then asked: "Then when can we set off?"
Zhuge Weidao replied: "According to the plan, the No. 2 boat serving as the pilot will lift off on time at six o'clock. Three minutes later, the No. 1 boat serving as the command will lift off. After that, one boat will lift off every three minutes. Airships...at 6:33, all airships have taken off! In up to ten hours, we can arrive at the sky above Peshawar to perform parachute or rappel missions."
There are two options for airdrop. One is parachute - if the British and Indian troops in Peshawar find the enemy in the sky and resist, then the airship cannot fly too low, and the naval paratroopers can only parachute.
The second is rappelling - if the British and Indian troops in Peshawar are unprepared, then let the airship lower its altitude, or even fly directly to the Peshawar Fortress to perform rappelling!
Guan Tianpei asked again: "Do you know the situation in Peshawar?"
Wu Zhenfa, who was standing next to Guan Tianpei, took the question and said: "I know, of course I know! There are two infantry regiments of the British and Indian Army stationed there, and there is also a logistics headquarters. The city defense force and the logistics headquarters are headed by Major General Elston Fen. , his headquarters is in the Peshawar Fort... It is also the storage place for the British and Indian army's logistics supplies. In addition to the headquarters personnel, there are also two companies of the British and Indian troops stationed in the fort. One of the companies is mainly One company is composed of Tianfang Christians, and the other company is composed of Hindus. So the relationship between the two companies is very bad!"
Guan Tianpei was surprised, "You know that in detail?"
"Of course," Wu Zhenzhen said with a smile, "the civil affairs officials in Peshawar are all sent by Kabul...actually they are all our people!"
"That's it!" Guan Tianpei nodded.
At this moment, a "Woo-Woo" siren suddenly sounded in the airship field.
Zhuge Weidao said to Guan Tianpei: "Sir Guan, this is the signal for the naval paratroopers to board the boat... In ten minutes, we will attack!"
Wu Zhenzhen smiled and said to Guan Tianpei: "Colonel Guan, I will take the No. 4 boat as the airborne pioneer!" Then he clasped his fists again and said, "Goodbye!"
Guan Tianpei saluted again: "I wish you victory!"
