Ten hot air balloons circled relentlessly above the Turkic encampment.
After hearing Zhang Tian's words, the other soldiers erupted in laughter and began hurling jars from the gondolas.
*Bang!*
*Bang!*
Jars plummeted from the sky.
Some landed on open ground, shattering upon impact, splattering the black liquid everywhere!
Others landed near bonfires, the splashed oil igniting instantly, sparks flying and flames spreading wherever the oil flowed.
"Not good! It's incendiary oil!"
After firing his arrow, Jie Li felt a twinge, ready to boast when the sounds of shattering pottery echoed from the camp.
Just as he heard a soldier cry out about incendiary oil, a jar landed squarely at his feet.
The hot air balloons had no tethers; their altitude was adjusted solely by controlling the heat, and their movement dictated by utilizing different air currents at varying heights.
The balloons weren't particularly high at this moment, only a hundred meters or so. Otherwise, Jie Li wouldn't have had the skill to shoot Zhang Tian in the rear.
But a falling jar from even this height was no joke!
Never mind a jar, even an egg dropped from this height could kill someone!
Jie Li's entire left foot was flattened like paper, and he cried out in pain, rolling back and forth on the ground clutching his foot.
"Ah! Ah~~ Damn it! My foot!"
"Shoot! All of you, shoot! Shoot down those accursed things above!"
The searing pain in his foot made him completely oblivious to how the black oil had coated his entire body as he rolled on the ground!
Had he been closer to a fire, he might have perished before even getting a chance to fight!
In the pitch-black night sky, the falling jars were invisible. Without the light from the hot air balloons, they wouldn't have been spotted at all.
Aside from the splashed oil, the jars didn't inflict much harm on the Turkic soldiers; they were quite fortunate.
Except for Jie Li.
Only those who witnessed the jars landing before their eyes knew what had happened.
For example, Jie Li!
Jie Li's personal guards were baffled by their leader suddenly becoming a rolling ball of agony.
Fortunately, they understood Jie Li's command: shoot, shoot at the sky!
Thus, the entire Jie Li encampment mobilized. Thousands of archers and eagle hunters grabbed their bows and arrows, aiming at the glowing objects in the sky and releasing their projectiles.
The numerous bonfires in the Turkic camp allowed the soldiers in the hot air balloons to clearly see their actions through their telescopes.
"Increase the heat, ascend quickly! They're going to shoot again!"
Seeing the arrows flying from below, a soldier immediately thought of Zhang Tian, who had been shot in the rear. Not wanting an arrow in his own backside, he quickly grabbed his walkie-talkie and yelled to his companions.
Zhang Tian was alarmed. "What the hell, is one time not enough? They want more?"
He immediately cranked up the fuel burner to its maximum, and the hot air balloon began to ascend from its current altitude.
Whether shot horizontally or thrown, arrows could reach a hundred paces, but they couldn't reach a target a hundred meters high in the sky.
Only Jie Li's specially made large bow possessed such power.
The Turkic archers and eagle hunters soon fell into despair!
It wasn't for any other reason than their arrows, upon losing their upward momentum, were immediately pulled back down by gravity!
An egg dropped from a hundred meters could kill someone; let alone a sharp arrow.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
In an instant, countless arrows rained back down into the Turkic camp. Seeing their comrades fall one by one, struck by arrows, some bewildered Turkic soldiers cried out, believing the Tang army had attacked.
Jie Li, still on the ground, could no longer speak. His left foot had been smashed into a bloody mess, and blood flowed out uncontrollably!
Leaders from various tribes rushed over. Yi Nan casually picked up an arrow that had fallen from the sky and clearly saw the markings of the "Medes Yin Turk" tribe.
He directly slapped the head of a soldier who was shouting about an enemy attack.
"You idiot! Those were shot by yourselves! Those are your own arrows!"
Still feeling indignant after the scolding, he kicked the archer to the ground and rushed towards Jie Li.
In this single exchange, hundreds of Turkic soldiers were casualties from their own arrows. The "players" in the sky watched in stunned silence, finding it utterly unexpected!
"Brothers, should we lure them into shooting again?"
A soldier in the second hot air balloon asked his companions via walkie-talkie.
"Lure them into shooting again? Do you think these fellows are all idiots? We're running low on fuel. Let's quickly deliver the gifts and head back to sleep. Let the next shift of brothers come and have some fun!"
Zhang Tian retorted weakly.
"Damn it, my butt hurts like hell! I can't pull out the arrow, or the blood will gush out!"
So, the "players" picked up the last item in the gondolas: satchel charges!
After igniting the fuses with the fuel burner, they casually tossed them down.
The impact from a hundred meters up caused the satchel charges to rupture the moment they hit the ground, and the gunpowder within was instantly ignited by the fuses.
*Boom!*
The explosion flared several meters high. Although the satchel charges didn't injure anyone, they ignited the oil on the ground!
While only a few jars had previously landed near bonfires and ignited, this single explosion set fire to the oil from almost all the jars that had been dropped earlier.
Jie Li, covered in dark, flammable oil, saw a flame rapidly approaching him from nearby.
His personal guards finally reacted, two of them grabbing Jie Li and rushing him away from the approaching flames. Yi Nan and Ashina Shibie, who had rushed over, showed a hint of disappointment on their faces.
"This damned fellow has too much luck!"
And in the center of the entire encampment, the scene was now ablaze!
The ignited oil quickly spread the flames to everywhere it reached.
Tents were set ablaze, and Turkic soldiers with oil splashed on their bodies watched in despair as the flames on them refused to be extinguished, even by jumping into the Nuozhen River!
Zhang Tian and his group didn't bother observing the results. They simply piloted the hot air balloons, found a suitable wind direction, and retreated to the Tang army camp.
The hot air balloons landed, crew changed, refueled, and then ascended again.
Zhang Tian was left with a look of shame and indignation, an arrow still stuck in his backside, being gawked at by everyone.
ps: Five chapters.