Chapter 655 [Three Updates]
Li Xi, standing by, looked bewildered: "What...is a hot air balloon?"
Liu Tan said, "This is what I asked Huo Guang to prepare. I didn't expect it to be used."
Although ships are more suitable, the problem is that ships are difficult to transport and manufacture. Instead, hot air balloons are more convenient.
The only thing we need to worry about now is the direction of the hot air balloon. This thing seems to be difficult to control, and we can only let the hot air balloon take off when the wind direction is right.
As for whether it works...how do you know if you don't try?
Liu Tan not only wants to send someone to find Xulihu on a hot air balloon, he even wants to airdrop something to Xulihu to let him know what justice from heaven means.
After hearing this, Li Xi was even more confused: "Is this... okay?"
Liu Tanxin said, "I don't know either. Isn't this just... trying it out?"
If it really doesn't work, we can only let Xilihu go away. After all, further ahead is Qushe, which is also an independent regime and has no friction with the Han Dynasty - maybe they don't even know the existence of the Han Dynasty, so where can they have any friction?
Since Longcheng fell into his hands, Liu Tan's psychological burden has been much lighter. He now only wants to drive Xuli Lake farther away, and at the same time, it would be best to weaken his men. In this way, even if the Xiongnu wants to rise, it will take a very long process.
However, it is certain that the Huns moved eastward, and then in the process of war, they gradually integrated other ethnic groups into their own tribe, and then they rose to power.
Liu Tan thought about the east...now only Fuyu Kingdom is left. Even if he wants to go to Xuli Lake, he must defeat Fuyu Kingdom first. However, according to the current situation, it is very likely that he will be annexed by Fuyu Kingdom in the east, or simply annexed by Qushe in the north.
While Liu Tan was thinking about this, the hot air balloon had been assembled.
It was the first time for many people present to see a hot air balloon. No, it should be said that except for Liu Tan and Lu Xuan, everyone else had seen a hot air balloon for the first time. When the huge hot air balloon unfolded, everyone stared in amazement.
Especially when the hot air balloon took off, there was a burst of cheers.
Li Xi stared up at the hot air balloon in a daze and couldn't help but mutter, "It's a miracle, it really is a miracle."
Liu Tan glanced at him and was too lazy to correct him. After all, he was not the only one who said that. There were many people who said that in Chang'an as well.
Some people even ran after the hot air balloon as it flew away.
Now there are only two people on the hot air balloon, Miao Rui and Bigo.
There was no other way. Apart from Lu Xuan and Liu Tan, they were the only two who had experience in hot air ballooning.
Moreover, the fighting power of these two people is not low. With the help of the two of them and a few mines, even if they cannot blow up the people and horses in Xuli Lake, they can at least cause some casualties.
Liu Tan breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the hot air balloon slowly fly away in the direction originally specified.
He was worried about the direction of the hot air balloon before, and as for landing... Liu Tan had instructed that after landing, the two of them could come back first and leave the hot air balloon there waiting to be collected.
Anyway, even if this thing is given to those foreigners, they may not know how to use it, not to mention that there is a desert to the east of Langjuxu Mountain.
However, even though he couldn't see it, Liu Tan could still see it. He watched the hot air balloon fly over the Gonglu River. After floating for a while, basically, even with a telescope, they were just a small dot at this time.
Then he heard the familiar sound of an explosion.
What surprised him was that he only heard one sound, and the second sound never came, which made him a little nervous: "Why don't you throw it away?"
Lu Xuan, who was also watching through a telescope, suddenly said, "The Xiongnu people on the other side have all run away!"
Liu Tan quickly lowered his gaze and discovered that the soldiers originally stationed on the opposite bank had indeed begun to flee in all directions.
He was a little surprised and said, "Is one so powerful?"
Lu Xuan smiled and said, "Perhaps what scares them more is the hot air balloon flying in the sky."
Liu Tan thought about it and it was true. Because humans themselves could not fly, they generally believed that only gods could fly to the sky. Compared with the gunpowder barrel that the Huns had already learned some tricks of, the hot air balloon might be more frightening to them.
Liu Tan touched his chin and said, "But we still have to be careful. Let's send someone to test the river first."
Although they didn't have boats, they still had bamboo rafts and leather rafts, and the first person to cross the river had another task, which was to build a bridge.
Li Xi asked curiously, "If everything had gone smoothly, Xulihu would have been killed by now. Even if he hadn't died, he would have been severely injured. Why did Your Highness insist on crossing the river?"
Liu Tan looked up into the distance and said, "I want to go see Wolf Mountain."
After hearing this, Li Xi stopped talking and felt a little emotional.
He had never been to Langjuxu Mountain, but for the entire Han Dynasty, this was basically a revisit to the old place.
What is reassuring is that the enemy soldiers were really scared out of their wits. They were trembling when they saw the Han people, and they didn't dare to resist when they were captured, let alone stop them from building the bridge.
When Liu Tan saw the captives, he didn't expect that the ability to fly would be a greater blow to these people.
When facing the powder keg, these people all had the desire to fight, but now they are extremely submissive.
After capturing these soldiers, Liu Tan began to send people to search for the whereabouts of Xulihu.
However, apart from a camp that had been bombed beyond recognition, there was no trace of Xuli Lake.
There were many corpses in the camp, but they were all the elderly, the weak, women and children.
After hearing this, Liu Tan sighed slightly. As long as there is war, it doesn't matter whether someone is innocent or not.
However, he didn't care whether Xulihu escaped or not, he just took his men all the way to Langjuxu Mountain.
When they reached the foot of Langjuxu Mountain, Liu Tan looked at the tents in the distance and hesitated for a moment: "Those people in front...you say..."
Before he could finish, Lu Xuan said with absolute certainty, "It's Xuli Lake."
Liu Tan's mouth twitched: "He... is really unlucky."
I didn't even plan to continue chasing him, but I still ran into him.
In fact, the camp where they were stationed before was further southeast than Langjuxu Mountain. That is to say, according to Liu Tan's prediction, the enemy should have run to the southeast or east, but... the enemy actually made a surprise attack and ran to the vicinity of Langjuxu Mountain. It was really amazing.
Obviously, Xulihu was also very surprised when he saw the Han army. He was not scared and even organized people to resist. But the problem was that there were not many people left around him, and Liu Tan... except for those who died of sudden illness along the way, there were basically no casualties. Not to mention the equipment problem, they could win just by relying on numbers.
When Xulihu was captured, he had already been shot by an arrow. With a few traces of blood at the corner of his mouth, he looked at Liu Tan with hatred and asked, "You...how did you know I was here?"
Liu Tan said, "I'm going to say it's all coincidence, do you believe it?"
Xulihu's expression was clearly one of disbelief. Liu Tan smiled, looked up at Wolf Mountain, and said, "Then let's consider it as the heroes of the Han Dynasty blessing us."
Xulihu wanted to say something, but Liu Tan didn't want to listen. He simply waved his hand and said, "Take him away and heal his injuries. I'm sure the emperor will be happy."
Considering that the Xiongnu leader Shan Yu was once on equal footing with Liu Che, but now he has become a prisoner, Liu Che should be very satisfied.
Liu Tan, who had captured Xulihu alive, was remarkably calm. He looked up at the mountain before him for a long moment, then stroked his chin and said, "This is Langjuxu Mountain! It's not what I expected."
I don’t know if it’s because of the idol halo, but in Liu Tan’s imagination, Mount Langjuxu should be particularly majestic, tall and lush.
The mountain in front of me is not very short, but it is not majestic or tall, let alone lush and green. The whole mountain is bare and there are almost no plants.
But if you think about it, this is the edge of the desert, the water source is not so abundant, and the mountains are certainly not that light.
Lu Xuan stood beside him and asked, "Finally, we've met. Are you satisfied?"
Liu Tan turned around, glanced at him, and said with a smile, "Just a quick look isn't enough. You have to climb up anyway."
Lu Xuan looked at the sky and said, "It's already late today, let's wait until tomorrow."
Liu Tan nodded and did not object.
The next day, they heard that Liu Tan was going to climb Mount Langjuxu, and Li Xi and others also wanted to follow him.
Even though Longcheng has been taken now, this mountain still has a different meaning in the hearts of the Han people.
When climbing the mountain, Lu Xuan discovered that Liu Tan had someone carry a box nearly as tall as a person. Fortunately, the mountain was relatively flat, otherwise it would have been difficult to carry it up.
He couldn't help but ask, "What is this?"
Liu Tan glanced at the box and said, "You'll know when we get to the mountain."
Everyone was curious about what Liu Tan had brought up the mountain. After reaching the top, he walked around the mountain, found the middle position, and asked someone to put the box down and open it.
The moment the box was opened, everyone felt a flash of golden light, which was so dazzling that they subconsciously closed their eyes.
When they opened their eyes again, they saw a golden statue in front of them!
The main body of the golden statue is a young general riding a horse. The horse is in a state of running hard, while the young general is drawing his bow and drawing an arrow, as if aiming at the enemy and preparing to shoot.
Li Xi stared at the statue for a long moment before whispering, "Marquis of Champion."
Liu Tan squatted down and wiped the place at the bottom of the golden statue where the name was engraved. It was stained with some dust when it was just put down.
After wiping it clean, there was only a simple inscription on it: Huo Qubing (the first year of Jianyuan - the sixth year of Yuanshou)
Liu Tan stood up and said, "I originally wanted to write something else, but... these few words are enough."
Yes, as long as this name is mentioned, no one will not know his achievements.
Li Xi came back to his senses and asked, "Your Highness...isn't this a little too...too extravagant?"
A golden statue that is as tall as a person, how much gold does it cost?
Liu Tan said nothing. He used gold not because it was precious, but because it was the metal that could best withstand the ravages of time and was not easily corroded.
Whether it is a stone statue or a bronze statue, it will be corroded one day. Liu Tan wants to leave an evidence on Langjuxu Mountain. He hopes that thousands of years later, no one will insist on the authenticity of the Yifeng Langjuxu, and as long as this land is in the hands of the Han people, he will send people to guard the golden statue.
After taking a last look at the golden statue, Liu Tan turned around and strode down the mountain.
Lu Xuan was somewhat surprised. He turned around and followed him and asked, "Aren't you also going to Fenglangjuxu?"
Liu Tan replied: "Me? Not necessary."
Li Xi also caught up and said, "Your Highness, Your Highness, you are here now."
Liu Tan's mouth twitched: "No, no, no, no one can erase my achievements."
Lu Xuan chuckled: "You are quite confident."
Liu Tan said: "Dragon City is in our hands, so Wolf Mountain is not that important anymore."
He insisted on coming here only out of selfish motives.
Lu Xuan continued, "We should leave something behind."
Liu Tan sighed, "A lot has already been left. Do you know Sima Qian?"
Lu Xuan: "Hmm? That historian?"
Liu Tan: "Yes, I received his letter before, and found that the biography he wrote for me is more pages long than the one he wrote for the prince."
Lu Xuan: "That's because you've made so many contributions."
Liu Tan: "That won't do. I'll have to have a good talk with him later and ask him to be more concise. Doesn't the prince have any dignity?"
As hearty laughter drifted in the air, the afterglow of the setting sun fell on the golden statue. The young general's arrow was aimed at the direction of Longcheng. His sharp eyes seemed to be looking at Longcheng but also at the direction of Chang'an.
—End of full text—
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