As the "Woo-Woo" siren sounded, a team of twenty-two Dajin Navy airborne swordsmen organized their teams and came out of the barracks one by one.
Due to accidents involving rifle barrels, rigging, and parachute ropes during previous airborne and rappelling training, the Daikin Navy airborne troops simply no longer equipped themselves with rifles, but replaced them with pistols, waist knives, and a few grenades. The combination. One of the pistols was a "big pistol" with a long magazine of twenty-four rounds, which looked a bit like a shell gun. This kind of pistol is the equipment of the Ming Dynasty Army cavalry. It has strong firepower when shooting at close range. However, there was no way to attach a bayonet to the pistol, so the naval airborne troops were equipped with waist knives so that they could kill people...
So what appears now at the airship field at the Amu Darya Camp is a group of paratroopers wearing long robes and mandarin jackets, wearing dog-skin hats, carrying "barrel guns" on their waists, and carrying large blades... They are also navy paratroopers !
Although it looks a bit strange - a group of paratroopers wearing "ancient costumes", isn't it strange? However, these ancient costume paratroopers are still very well-trained. Under the command of the officers leading the team, they ran into the field, quickly completed the entire team, and then very neatly completed the equipment inspection before boarding the boat. Finally, they took turns in the sound of counting. There was no delay in the whole process of boarding the boat. In less than ten minutes, more than 200 airborne weapons soldiers of the Daikin Navy had all boarded the boat.
At this time, the second round of sirens sounded again, which was the signal for the airship to take off!
The first boat to go up was the No. 2 boat, which served as the pilot. It was commanded by Zhuge Weidao's subordinate Ma Xuchen. Although Ma Xuchen had only played with hot air balloons before, he was a naval graduate, and he had basic skills in navigating the vast ocean with a compass and theodolite. The No. 2 boat commanded by Ma Xuchen had previously teamed up with the No. 1 boat to explore the route and also visited the Khyber Pass.
Boat No. 3, taken by Zhuge Weidao, Li Kezhi, Yu Yang and Guan Tianpei, was the second to ascend to the sky. Li Kezhi was the captain, Yu Yang served as Zhuge Weidao's staff officer, and Guan Tianpei was the observer.
Zheng Guoxian and the observers sent by the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty took to the air in boats No. 5 and No. 6 respectively. Wu Sangui's big descendant Wu Zhenzhen boarded the No. 4 boat - this boat was the vanguard of the entire army!
As one airship after another rose into the sky, twelve airships painted in white and looked like clouds soon appeared in the sky above the Amu Darya camp. Driven by propellers driven by gasoline engines, these airships flew towards the vast mountains in the south...
...
"Boom boom boom..."
The cabin of the airship flying high in the sky is very noisy. The sound of the motor, the sound of the propeller turning and the sound of the wind whistling in the high altitude merge into a thunderous noise.
However, this did not prevent Zhuge Weidao and Guan Tianpei from talking about this "printing operation" while looking at the scenery.
The cabin of the airship was very crowded. In addition to the ten crewmen operating the airship, there were more than 20 "yellow jacket paratroopers", but Zhuge Weidao and Guan Tianpei still got a separate small room at the rear of the cabin—— This is a lounge. The Feilong III airship was originally used to patrol the ocean. It has a large endurance and can fly for several days and nights. The crew must have a resting space so that they can take turns sleeping. .
Now this space has become a single room for Zhuge Weidao and Guan Tianpei. The two of them just had a sumptuous "airship meal" here. There was a small table placed between the two camp beds and several other things. An enamel plate and two pairs of chopsticks, with some leftover food on the plate.
Although the doors and windows of the lounge were closed, the temperature inside was still a bit low, it could be said to be bitingly cold. Zhuge Weidao and Guan Tianpei were now sitting on the camp bed, each holding a camp kettle wrapped in thick fur, drinking shochu to warm their bodies and talking.
"Daozi, do you think King Pingxi can really capture the Peshawar Fortress with more than 200 people?" Guan Tianpei took a sip of soju and asked with a frown, "Are the British and foreigners in India really that bad?"
Guan Tianpei also traveled to Europe with Zhuge Weidao's father, Zhuge Youde, and boarded Count Nelson's flagship as a liaison officer, and participated in several battles with the French Navy.
He was deeply impressed by the bravery and fearlessness of the British Royal Navy!
Of course, he was not "afraid of the British", but felt that the plan of surprise attack on Peshawar formulated by Zhuge Weidao was too risky - using 245 airborne troops in yellow jackets to occupy Peshawar, which was defended by two regiments of British and Indian troops. Wah, this is just crazy.
Even just capturing the Peshawar Fortress, which has relatively few defenders, is almost a gamble!
And if the operation fails, all these 200 people will be lost.
Even if the raid is successful, the British and Indian troops coming from all directions will surround Peshawar... and the Jin army will not be able to get through at all, and can only transport reinforcements through airships. But these twelve or thirteen airships could only transport more than two hundred people at a time.
And even if the weather conditions are good, the airship still has to spend time for maintenance, and it takes time to travel back and forth. The crew also has to rest. It is good to run once every two days. How many people can it transport?
Zhuge Weidao also took a sip of soju and said with a smile: "Sir Guan, isn't this just gambling? Emperor Daoguang dared to gamble, King Pingxi dared to gamble... Doesn't this explain the problem? Their attack on the British and Indian troops They know much better than we do. And even if they lose the bet, the Yingyi will know how powerful our airships are! As far as I know, the Yingyi warships don’t have any weapons that can deal with airships, and there are nothing in their fortresses. The artillery that can hit high-altitude targets is at most a few old-fashioned balloon cannons. If the fleet parked in the port is attacked by hundreds of our airships, the whole army might be wiped out!"
Guan Tianpei frowned when he heard this and whispered: "If there are hundreds of airships landing 2,500 people at a time, can the Singapore Fortress be captured? What a pity..."
From his tone, it seemed that the Naval Training Bureau had been formulating a plan to attack and capture the great fortress of Singapore. But it doesn't seem to matter to Zhuge Weidao, because it is impossible to start a war in recent years-it is impossible to start a war before the Ming Navy's shipbuilding plan is completed. And by the time the Ming Navy completes its war preparations, it will probably be more than ten years later. Now that bi-wing "dive" bombers (not dive bombers, just capable of diving) are out, who still uses airships? Besides, hydrogen airships are too dangerous and can be destroyed in one hit. Helium airships are too expensive and difficult to obtain. Helium is heavier than hydrogen, so it must be built very large to provide sufficient lift.
Therefore, hydrogen airships are weapons equipped for the enemy, so now it is time to show their power to the British...
"Dong dong dong..."
There was a sudden knock on the door of the lounge.
Zhuge Weidao and Guan Tianpei looked at each other, then put away the kettles and stood up. Zhuge Weidao reached out and opened the hatch. Standing outside was Yu Yang.
"Major, how are you?" Guan Tianpei asked.
Yu Yang saluted and said excitedly: "Sir Guan, you can already see the city of Peshawar!"
"Okay!" Guan Tianpei suddenly felt an inexplicable feeling of pleasure in his heart. He shouted "Okay" and quickly walked out of the cabin. Then he passed through two rows of Daikin Navy airborne troops sitting in the cabin and walked in. into the cockpit of the airship.
When the officers and airship sailors in the cockpit saw him coming in, they all gave him a military salute. The captain Li Kezhi immediately reported: "Sir, you can already see the city of Peshawar with your telescope... Peshawar." The weather conditions above the city are good, with only a few floating clouds, the wind speed is three to four meters per second, and the wind direction is due east."
"What about the British?" Guan Tianpei asked, "What's the reaction?"
"There is no movement," Li Kezhi said. "Peshawar is very peaceful."
Guan Tianpei turned to look at Zhuge Weidao and found that this man was already observing the enemy's situation with a telescope. He quickly walked to a window, raised his telescope and began to look into the distance. Soon I discovered a small gray-white city located on an open plain. The small town looked very peaceful, without any signs of preparation for war.
"Daozi," Guan Tianpei said, "The surprise attack was successful... Now it's up to King Ping Xi and his friends to see if they can fight one against ten!"
Zhuge Weidao nodded, put down the telescope, and said to Li Kezhi beside him: "Give electricity to the Amu Darya camp... and chop off the heads of the Japanese with the broadsword!"
