Chapter 895 The Sky Collapsed (4600 chapters, please subscribe)
October 11, the seventh year of Shengde.
In the early morning, when the sun shone on the west bank of the Uruguay River and dispelled the fairy-like river mist on the river, Ma Guangming, the commander of the Fifth Floating Wing, had already put on a flight jacket - a dark brown horsehide jacket, a boneless military cap on his head, and a revolver on his waist. After walking out of the tent, he looked around the airship field.
The so-called airship field is actually a large wilderness on the grassland on the west bank of the Uruguay River. A few months ago, this wilderness was selected by the airship troops as a temporary airship field. The airship troops are stationed nearby, and the surrounding grassland is a military restricted area.
It was just a temporary airship field. After the troops moved in, they were busy with construction. All the facilities in the airship field were built by the soldiers in one and a half months. The most important thing in the airship field was the mooring tower and the supporting warehouses and maintenance workshops.
Compared to officers' quarters and dormitories, these are the most important, so officers including Ma Guangming all live in tents.
The most important facilities at the airship field are the ground support facilities. In addition to the mooring tower, various warehouses need to be built - hydrogen cylinders and hydrogen recovery machines, gasoline, ammunition and spare parts of various parts must be stored separately. Not only that, they also need to be placed in a dispersed manner to ensure that even if an accident occurs, it will not affect the combat effectiveness of the troops.
Among all the equipment, hydrogen cylinders seem to be the most dangerous, but in fact, their degree of danger is almost the same as that of ammunition. After all, cylinders are basically safe unless they are hit by bullets or artillery shells. However, in order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the troops, all spare parts are stored in batches in multiple warehouses, and each small warehouse has to be surrounded by an explosion-proof wall with sandbags to prevent the explosion from affecting the surrounding facilities.
Besides that, what is the most important thing?
It is the maintenance plant that looks similar to a stadium - every time the airship completes a flight mission, it needs to be maintained and inspected immediately. The steps that look like seats are the area where ground staff check airbags, engines and other equipment.
One thing that can be confirmed is that in the past few years, the Ming Dynasty's airship force not only has six powerful floating squadrons on the surface, but more importantly, it has formed a scientific operation and management system.
In fact, the manufacturing and operating costs of airships seem to be lower than those of warships, but without strong industrial strength, reliable technicians and engineers, airships filled with flammable gases may be more dangerous to our own people than to the enemy!
Today is the day for the floating troops to attack!
Ma Guangming walked out of the tent and looked at the airships in front of him. In the take-off and landing field with only twenty mooring towers, the seventy-two hydrogen airships were not arranged in a cross shape around the mooring towers as usual, but were lined up in a row in the open field.
Under each airship, there were trucks driven by ground crew members carefully loading bombs onto the airships... This was probably the most dangerous thing. Although the safety of the bombs had not been released, no one could afford any accidents.
After Ma Guangming arrived at the airship take-off and landing area by car, Deputy Commander Wu Chengyang quickly paused the work at hand and asked without waiting for him to salute.
"How long will it take before we can set off?"
Wu Chengyang quickly reported:
"Sir, the troops have completed the routine inspection before takeoff, and the loading of ammunition is basically complete. Fifty-six of the seventy-two airships in the team are ready! The troops can set off in twenty minutes at most!"
Ma Guangming nodded slightly and said.
"Let's go when you're ready! This time, we're going to teach them a good lesson."
Although the Ming Dynasty's airships made their debut during the Franco-Prussian War and dazzled the military forces of countries around the world, although the army and navy of Britain, France, Russia, Austria and other countries were equipped with a large number of airships, their use of airship warfare was greatly limited. They only used airships for reconnaissance, bombing, and otherwise like throwing aerial darts.
In a word, there is absolutely no innovation at all.
The army is also a place that requires an innovative spirit, especially in war. Only an army with an innovative spirit can win the war.
In this regard, it is no surprise that the Ming army was innovative.
The reason why France and Russia both asked the Ming Dynasty to send military advisers after the war broke out was that they wanted to learn more about airship warfare technology from the Ming Dynasty.
Even now, after the outbreak of the war, many countries, including Britain and the United States, have sent their observation teams here, just to see with their own eyes how the Ming Dynasty's airships are operated.
Just like now, the British observer in the Fifth Regiment is an old acquaintance of the Imperial Security Bureau - Major Bryan. As early as last year, Bryan was on the Imperial Security Bureau's surveillance list.
Of course, as a "friendly country", the Ming Dynasty would certainly not refuse the request to send observers during the war, just like French observers could go south with the Brazilian fleet. As long as there was no declaration of war, they were friendly countries.
In addition to Bryan, there was also Captain Arthur MacArthur from the United States. Although he had just arrived in Ming Dynasty as a military attaché, he still requested to observe with the army. As an army officer, he did not accompany the army, but took the initiative to request to watch the battle with the airship troops.
"Will they allow us to go aboard, Major?"
Once again, MacArthur looked at Colonel Ma Guangming with some concern.
“Do they have any reason to refuse?”
Brian said as he looked at the huge airships.
"We are all friendly nations after all!"
Yes, as long as there is no declaration of war, they are all friendly countries... MacArthur thought so in his heart. He stared at the airship and had only one thought in his mind. He wanted to see for himself how powerful the airship was!
After all, the United States may very likely go to war with the Ming Dynasty in the future, and the enemy always needs to be understood first!
As they were talking, they walked towards Ma Guangming. Seeing these two friendly people coming over, Ma Guangming smiled and said.
"Hello, Major Bryan, Captain MacArthur! What can I do for you?"
"Sir, we know your troops are preparing to set off, and we hope to be able to act with you!"
"Yes, sir. The reason we came here is to witness the power of your country's airship force with our own eyes!"
Compared to Bryan, MacArthur was being polite.
"I see!"
Ma Guangming nodded and did not refuse after receiving the instructions.
"Okay, but you can't go into other cabins!"
I definitely won't refuse. After all, this is related to the strategic deception plan of the Ming Dynasty. The key to whether this strategic deception plan can be successfully implemented is whether the European and American powers can see the powerful combat effectiveness of the airship. Visiting and accompanying is of course the most effective way.
Of course, a certain sense of mystery must be maintained. The more mysterious it is, the more they desire it.
"Please rest assured, sir. We will only operate within the scope you specify."
Just then, an alarm sounded in the airship field.
Ma Guangming looked at the two of them and said.
"You two, this is the signal for the crew to board the boat... In ten minutes, we will launch an attack!"
Then Ma Guangming smiled at MacArthur and said:
"Captain, you will follow me on boat number one. My boat will serve as the vanguard!"
Then he said to Brian,
"Major, you can take boat No. 53 and observe the bombing effect from the rear!"
…
As one airship after another rose into the sky, 72 airships that were white and looked like clouds soon appeared above the airship field. These airships were driven by propellers driven by gasoline engines and flew northeastward to Brazil.
After the airship took off, it quickly flew to an altitude of 2,500 meters.
The 12-cylinder engine makes a lot of noise when running, so the airship cabin naturally seems extremely noisy. The roar of the engine and the roar of the propeller all merge into a thunderous roar in the air.
However, this did not affect Ma Guangming and Brian from enjoying the scenery while drinking coffee.
If there were no noise around, their behavior would only make people think they were in a cafe. In fact, the cabin of the airship is not spacious, and it can even be said to be a bit crowded. There are as many as ten crew members operating the airship, but there is a separate small room at the tail of each cabin - this is a lounge. The Kunpeng airship is the latest airship of the Ming Dynasty. Unlike ordinary soft airships, it is a semi-rigid structure with a large number of light wood structural trusses, which greatly increases its structure. Compared with the original soft airship, it is larger and more wind-resistant, and is more suitable for patrolling in the ocean. Because of its long endurance, it can fly continuously for several days and nights. The crew naturally needs a rest room so that they can take turns to rest.
Now this is Brian's cabin.
"Major, you can observe the ground directly from here. You see, the sight line here is very good. It can be said that it is second only to the cockpit..."
Looking at the closed cabin, Brian, who was wearing a flight jacket, felt helpless. He originally thought that he could enter the airship to find out what was going on, but now he was trapped in this rest room like a prisoner. But what could he say?
"Captain Ma, may I know where our target is?"
“Brazilian boot camp!”
Ma Guangming answered directly.
"Our goal is to bomb the recruit camp, and we expect..."
Ma Guangming said after looking at his watch.
"We'll be there in an hour! By then, you can see from here how we fight very clearly."
Can you see it from here too?
Brian was skeptical, but what could he say?
After Ma Guangming left, Brian looked around the cabin. Apart from a small table and six folding beds, it looked very simple. Airship soldiers have never been a comfortable branch of the military. Just like now, he was at high altitude and felt that the cabin was very cold. Even his leather jacket was cold.
"I'm afraid this trip will be in vain!"
Bryan was not the only one who felt this way. MacArthur felt the same way. Trapped in the lounge like a prisoner, he could only lie on a folding bed and observe the sky and clouds outside the cabin, as well as the rivers, grasslands and forests on the ground through the porthole.
After an unknown amount of time, MacArthur felt some changes in the cabin. The originally noisy roar suddenly became much quieter. Looking outside the cabin, he could see that the two engines in front had been shut down, and only the tail cabin engine was still running.
"The speed seems to have slowed down a lot. What are they doing?"
When MacArthur looked outside the cabin in confusion, Brian in the guide boat also noticed it. With a confused face, he just looked outside the cabin a little dazedly. Ma Guangming in the cockpit gave orders to the deputy cabin captain.
"Once we reach the vicinity of the target, shut down the engine and use the wind to fly over the target."
The noise from airship engines is very loud, which can easily expose the target. In order to hide their whereabouts as much as possible, the Ming Dynasty's airship unit developed a "silent approach" tactic as early as two years ago. This tactic is very simple, which is to shut down some engines in advance, use the wind to move, and then shut down all engines when reaching the target area.
The sound of the engine is the biggest weakness of the airship. After turning off the engine, the airship is almost a "floating cloud" in the sky.
After more than ten minutes, the sound of the engine disappeared, and both Blair and MacArthur looked outside the cabin in surprise.
Why did they shut down the engine!
Suddenly, both of them seemed to understand - because of the sound!
“The Brazilians can’t even find them!”
Although it was far away, Brian still saw the Brazilian military camp on the ground - the so-called military camp was a camping area covering tens of thousands of acres, where Brazilians from all over the world were training. Most of them lived in straw huts, but not all of them, at least for Noah, Roger and others, these foreign volunteers lived in wooden houses.
"Oh, damn, I didn't expect there were so many niggers!"
"Yes, and he is in the same army as us."
As usual, Noah and Roger stood under the balcony of the corridor and looked at the black slave soldiers in the straw hut. Like other volunteers from the United States, most of them looked confused.
"We are here to defend the white people, but we have to fight with the black people. God is really playing a joke on us..."
Who are the people at the bottom of the social ladder in America today?
Of course it was the black people. The defeat in the Civil War and the division of the United States made many Americans blame the black people for the division. If it weren't for the damned black people, how could the United States be divided? How could millions of people die?
All the faults are the niggers' fault. Before the war, there was a market in the northern United States for supporting the freedom of blacks. But after the war, blacks became the target of anger from all walks of life. There were even many riots (tu) (sa) against blacks in many places, including New York.
As members of the Native American Association, Noah, Roger and others were hostile to black people. Now they were in an army with a group of black slaves, so of course they felt a little uncomfortable.
"They are just a bunch of cannon fodder."
Several white soldiers who were playing cards turned to Noah and the others and said that while they were playing cards, there were two black soldiers standing next to them, like servants, ready to listen to their orders at any time.
For these black slaves who had just left the plantation, they were already accustomed to all of this.
More black soldiers were busy on the training grounds, learning how to march and line up. The empty training grounds were filled with new recruits...
As Dalsiwa, carrying a rifle, marched in accordance with the white officer's commands, his eyes occasionally looked up at the distant sky.
The sky seemed different than usual.
Those clouds were moving, definitely caused by the wind. Whenever he felt upset on the plantation, he would look at the clouds in the sky. However, he did not yearn for freedom. Freedom was not a good thing. Just as his masters said, blacks in the northern United States even fled to the south because in the north they were killed at will like wild dogs. In the south, at least they had masters who would protect them.
No, the clouds seem to be moving?
No, the cloud fell!
Staring at the rapidly falling clouds in the sky, a thought suddenly popped up in Dalsiwa's mind - God, the sky is falling!
The sky is falling!
What is collapsing is not just a cloud, but the sky. Many clouds in the sky are collapsing!
Dalsiwa, who was walking, stared blankly at the sky. As soon as he stopped, he almost tripped over the soldier behind him.
"Dalcivar, you idiot, what are you doing?"
"Master, my god, my god..."
Pointing his finger at the sky, Dalshiva said in horror.
“The sky is falling!”
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
