Chapter 1 Triangular Arrow Formation, Tactic Number Four

"Triangular arrow formation, tactic number four." Yao Beiwu didn't rush to give orders. Instead, after observing for a moment, he calmly told the signalman his command. The Northern Liao airships' flight ceiling seemed to be higher than their own, by at least one hundred and fifty chi. In combat, the enemy couldn't possibly fight directly at their maximum ceiling; they would leave some margin. Conservatively, their maximum ceiling was about two hundred and fifty chi higher than theirs. However, their airships were much smaller and their structure was a more basic, open design. Maintaining stable flight at that altitude would be more difficult for them, making it hard to guarantee shooting accuracy. A more conservative commander would probably have the formation scatter, each ship bombing on its own. The enemy could attack at will, basically a blind cat finding a dead mouse. Although there would be some losses, it was acceptable. But Yao Beiwu wasn't that kind of commander. Since the central army command had already notified him to pay attention to aerial warfare, he still had ways to deal with it, even at a height disadvantage.

Airships were indeed not suitable for attacking upwards, the firing arc being very limited. But they still had some arc; if not in the front, the side arc was better. Tactic number four was specifically designed for targets flying higher than them. Six airships formed a group, targeting only one enemy, ignoring other attacks and harassment. As they approached the extreme range, the six airships would form three groups and turn sharply in three directions, facing the target with their sides. Relying on the airship's tilting during the turn, they could further raise the firing arc. That way, as long as the crossbows and Shenbi crossbows (divine arms crossbows) could reach the target, they could form a crossfire. The airship team's gunners were confident in their artillery skills. If such a crossfire couldn't destroy a target, they wouldn't be able to live with themselves. Not to mention that their airships were now equipped with longer-range, more powerful rockets specifically designed for aerial targets.

The airship team quickly formed several arrowheads, each locking onto a target and charging straight ahead. The speed of the airships relative to the marching army on the ground was naturally fast, but in the air, this tense situation, this intense battle, could only be felt by those on the ground as having a leisurely atmosphere.

Relying on their superior altitude, the Northern Liao airship team opened fire first. At that altitude, the range of their crossbows and Shenbi crossbows (divine arms crossbows) was much greater than usual, so they could fearlessly attack from a distance that the enemy couldn't reach. Thick crossbow bolts flew through the air in arcs, diagonally passing through the Yun Province airship team's formation. In the Northern Liao airship team's first volley, only one bolt grazed an airship.

"Notify number fourteen, withdraw from combat!" Yao Beiwu didn't have time to assess the damaged airship's situation, but for safety, he immediately issued the order.

"Number fourteen replies: minor damage, slightly affecting maneuverability. Requests to continue fighting." Before the signalman could finish sending Yao Beiwu's order, he directly read the signal from airship fourteen.

"Agreed. Attack the ground, maintain altitude, don't give them a chance," Yao Beiwu instructed.

The Northern Liao airship team watched in surprise as the Yun Province airship team approached them with strange speed and formation. When the Yun Province airships turned sharply, instantly turning their sides towards them and unleashing a volley, they suddenly realized that this was an extremely clever tactic. Yun Province's skill in airships was far superior to what they had imagined. In this first engagement, without a doubt, five Northern Liao airships were shot down directly. Two of them were hit by two rockets each, exploding in mid-air and falling to the ground as balls of fire. For these still somewhat inexperienced Northern Liao airship crew members, this was a truly terrifying prospect.

"Don't worry, once we're in a melee, our higher altitude will give us the advantage," some in the Northern Liao airship team thought. This was their obvious advantage. No matter how good Yun Province's tactics were, they couldn't change the inherent capabilities of the airships in battle.

After the initial assault, the two airship teams became entangled. The Northern Liao airships, occupying the higher altitude, constantly fired, freely choosing the most suitable targets. Although the hit rate was very low, they continued to inflict casualties. The Yun Province airships could only constantly use sharp turns to try and raise their firing arcs to reach the Northern Liao airships. However, compared to the Northern Liao airships' still-immature tactics and control skills, Yao Beiwu's well-trained airship team constantly used tactical coordination between two or three airships, forming mutual cover and creating deadly situations in local areas. Once two or more Yun Province airships unleashed a volley, it was extremely lucky to even be able to withdraw from combat with serious injuries. The two airship teams, entangled in the air, actually seemed evenly matched.

Once a Yun Province airship was damaged, as long as it wasn't too serious, it would descend and join the ground bombardment. Although the Northern Liao airship team seemed to have the advantage, they had only destroyed three Yun Province airships in total; most were only damaged. The insufficient power of the Northern Liao's anti-aircraft weapons was one factor, but the safety principles that Yun Province consistently implemented in airship development played a more crucial role.

Although they were hot air airships, the huge balloons of Yun Province's military airships used lightweight leather or other materials to form compartments, turning the entire balloon into several relatively independent spaces. Even if they were damaged, as long as the hot air generator was still intact, they could still maintain some power, at least enough to descend slowly and land, making it easy to wait for their troops to recover them. While the aerial combat was taking place, the Yun Province army had already approached Tanli and entered the Tanli garrison's line of sight. The Tanli garrison fully retreated back into the city. As long as the airships didn't crash-land inside Tanli city, they were safe. Although the airship team suffered unprecedented heavy losses, the actual personnel losses were minimal.

When the aerial dogfight had been going on for about half an hour, the ground siege began. The several battalions attacking Tanli gave Tanli only the time it takes to burn an incense stick to decide whether to fight or surrender. They had been looking forward to this battle for too long and didn't want to give the enemy many other options. While waiting for the reply, they had already set up crossbows on the ground and prepared various siege weapons. Squads of infantry prepared, shouting slogans. The longbowmen inspected their bows, wiping the shiny compound bow bodies, and finally tightening the bowstrings. Their fingers picked up white fletched arrows from the quivers, eager to try…

This atmosphere finally became unbearable for the Tanli garrison. A bowman, tense and on alert, accidentally slipped, and an arrow slid out and fell in front of the heavy infantry at the forefront of the Yun Province army. This was the "provocation" that the Yun Province commanders had been waiting for. They didn't hesitate to order a full-scale attack.

"Within five minutes… I want to see my soldiers standing on the city walls," said a captain of the light infantry battalion.

On the three hundred chi wide section of the city wall attacked by his battalion, two airships accurately dropped a series of kerosene bombs. This extravagant pinpoint bombing filled the entire section of the wall with orange-red flames. This was followed by a constant stream of feathered arrows, mercilessly piercing through the flames and smoke, delivering a second strike. Under these two continuous waves of attack, the light infantry had charged to the city walls at top speed, encountering almost negligible resistance. At a distance of less than eighty chi from the city walls, some elite archers wearing more thorough light armor stopped. They raised their bows, nocked arrows, and picked off the enemy soldiers who appeared on the city walls one by one: soldiers trying to push away the ladders, strongmen trying to pour down boiling oil, archers trying to lean out and shoot arrows, and the officers who were shouting and pushing the soldiers to resist—these were all their priority targets. The enemy's attention to them was not within their consideration. In front of each elite archer, there was a heavy infantryman specifically protecting them, holding a tower shield horizontally, waving a round shield in his hand, blocking enemy arrows for the elite archers, and even using his body to block those arrows… Standing at the forefront of blood and fire, hovering on the edge of life and death, entrusting one's life to comrades, and using the weapons in one's hand to take away the lives of enemy soldiers, while the distance allowed you to see clearly the despair before their deaths… Being an elite archer was undoubtedly the most exciting job in the longbow battalion.

In fact, in less than four minutes, a small group of light infantry had already stood on the city walls. They inevitably had some minor and major wounds, and even more unavoidable were the marks of smoke and fire, but they had planted the Yun Province military flag on the Tanli city walls in an unbelievably short time. Subsequently, their comrades climbed up on sets of ladders and began fighting on the city walls. And when a small team of heavy infantry climbed onto the city walls, the outcome was almost certain. The heavy infantry advanced rumbling towards both sides. Having lost the protection of the city walls and being caught off guard by the enemy's lightning-fast ascent, their morale was lost, and the battle was almost one-sided. From the start of the attack until the Yun Province army captured the city gates and began sweeping through the city, until a portion of the Tanli garrison fled out of the city, the Yun Province army captured the entire city of Tanli in less than two hours.

Only then did the aerial combat become insignificant. The Northern Liao airship team could only escape westward, unable to care about their facilities and equipment on the ground… Yao Beiwu coldly ordered the pursuit. The two sides gradually disengaged, and this first aerial battle in history came to an end.