Chapter 1 The Search

Although the Yulin Army conducted a carpet search of the area near the test site, several spies from the Dongping Intelligence Bureau managed to hide. However, the Yulin Army's search was not too serious. The area used for the airship test was too large, and this was originally a semi-public test to boost the morale of the people, so a large number of commoners, officials, scholars, and their families flocked to watch the airships. In Yunzhou, this type of public test would often designate an area for these people to gather and watch, which also made it easier to discuss. However, Northern Liao had less experience in this area, and no one made such a suggestion. Many people rushed to several locations with good views, spread out mats, and placed food and wine, as if they were on a picnic. In this situation, two well-dressed spies from the Dongping Intelligence Bureau, carrying binoculars, were not conspicuous at all. The binoculars in their hands aroused the curiosity of a Yulin Army officer who came to investigate. In Northern Liao, binoculars were rare items. Apart from the military, only a few wealthy families or those engaged in smuggling had them. However, since these two young men each had a pair of high-precision binoculars, the Yulin Army officer was even more afraid of offending them.

The test was originally scheduled to begin after the morning court session, when the King arrived at the test site, but because something happened during the court session today, disharmonious discussions broke out in court about the Western Route Army and Gao Senqi, which was almost an hour later than usual. By the time the King arrived at the test site, it was already noon. After a little preparation, the test began.

Amidst the flurry of activity of the ground crew, the first to slowly ascend into the air were four airships assembled entirely using airship components from Chunnan, occupying the four corners of the test area. The shape of these airships was slightly different from the prototypes in Chunnan. The gondolas of the airships in Chunnan were made of iron frames and wood, while Northern Liao, for some reason, used woven rattan frames with a skin covering on the outside. It was obvious that the skin was something like leather armor. Northern Liao's leather-making technology was indeed relatively mature, but this would cause the airship's gondola to be insufficiently weighted and have poor stability. Chunnan used iron frames and wooden shells not because they didn't want to reduce weight, but because they couldn't solve the stability problem. Northern Liao, on the other hand, was probably still quite immature in design and hadn't encountered such problems at all.

Then, looking down from the hillside at the Ministry of Works test site in the valley, one could see a large number of soldiers and craftsmen pushing a huge airship out of a warehouse on one side. Then, they began to heat it up and inflate it. As the airship's gasbag swelled up, the two spies couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

This self-developed airship in Northern Liao was quite interesting. The airship's gasbag did not use the more conservative elliptical mushroom shape that was initially used when Yunzhou developed airships, nor the cigar shape that pursued speed, nor the teardrop shape used by the very mature Snow Owl, but a complex geometric shape that was difficult to describe, with very clear lines. The front was wider, and the tail had four tail fins. What was even more surprising was the gondola below, which was also geometric in shape and integrated with the overall shape of the airship, looking very coordinated. The airship's size from head to tail was very large, and in comparison, the gondola was a bit small, but this airship was still much larger than Chunnan's airship. It looked like the load capacity was quite considerable.

"Xiao Yu, it looks like they're doing a good job," the older spy muttered.

"Look there… the power section of the airship. I really don't know what they were thinking…" Xiao Yu's observation seemed to be more detailed. The power system of the Northern Liao airship was actually so large that it occupied a quarter of the entire gondola's space. It naturally included parts such as fuel tanks, but there was no classic design like a jet nozzle. "It looks like this thing can fly very far. Lao Xu, they're doing a good job."

"What's the use of flying far… can people stay in such a gondola?" Lao Xu muttered. They were both very experienced in airships, otherwise they wouldn't have been assigned to do this kind of reconnaissance. The power and control devices of the airship were the most critical parts of the entire airship. It was not only necessary to make the airship fly far and high, but also to consider the comfort of the crew. Ye Tao's airships, from the first model to the present, had always done very well in this regard. The airships had always been easy to control and maintain, and the crew could always work in relatively comfortable conditions. But looking at this type of airship in Northern Liao, it seemed to be different. The power unit, which occupied such a large area of the gondola, generated enough heat to drive the crew crazy, and it was also not convenient to carry things like kerosene bombs, which was too unsafe. The obvious advantage was that this type of airship was clearly very convenient to produce. The geometric shape of the gasbag was much more convenient than the teardrop shape created in Yunzhou. As long as the process at the joints was qualified.

The airship slowly ascended into the air, and the posture was controlled very well. It was a very classic posture of the tail warping up first, and then slowly ascending in a straight line. The ground crew pulling the ropes looked like they were not struggling to control it. Lao Xu and Xiao Yu could see that there were now five people in the airship's gondola, which looked like a standard flight crew configuration. They were communicating with the ground using signal flags. On the one hand, it was daytime, and on the other hand, the communication light box technology was one of Dongping's secrets. The highly focused but extremely light metal cover inside was currently only produced by a small workshop in the Yunzhou branch of the Ye Family Workshop, and there were no other branches. Only electric lights could generate the intensity of light needed for daytime communication. Northern Liao wanted to learn the entire technology system related to electricity, but it was probably beyond their capabilities.

The airship ascended to a height of about one hundred and fifty meters and performed some horizontal movements before climbing again, and then made different movements at several heights of two hundred and fifty meters, four hundred meters, and five hundred meters. Looking carefully at these aerial maneuvers, Xiao Yu couldn't help but curl his lips in disdain. "Lao Xu, could it be that they can't make sharp ascents and descents?"

Lao Xu smiled, and didn't move his eyes from the binoculars, not taking it seriously. Sharp ascents and descents were quite difficult even in Yunzhou. This was determined by the mechanism of heating the air. In the beginning, the flame nozzle used was a single-port, and the flame was relatively high. Once a sharp ascent or descent was made, the flame could easily burn the edge of the gasbag, causing a fire. It wasn't until the third batch of airships that Ye Tao changed the single-port nozzle to a multi-port nozzle, with a very low flame height and a special protective device on the outside. Moreover, multi-port injection could also determine which nozzles to ignite according to the specific situation, making the airship more flexible. However, this technology was only used in the Dongping military's airships. Even the Postal Service and the two major logistics companies didn't use such high-end technology. Of course, those airships used for postal services didn't need sharp ascents and descents, as long as they could fly at a relatively safe angle.

"Let's go, seeing this is enough," Lao Xu said to Xiao Yu. They left quickly. Experts knew what to look for, and they had no reason to stay any longer. They would truthfully report what they observed, and they didn't need to risk understanding the specific data of other information, that wasn't their job. After all, Kong Xinhua was still underneath.

Unlike those intelligence bureau spies, Kong Xinhua could not know what the performance of the airship might be like through general observation. Although he had also ridden in airships, even Snow Owls, he was not a professional expert in engineering technology. His mind rarely went in this direction, but seeing the officials of the Ministry of Works and Situ Lian describing the performance and manufacturing of the entire airship to the King and other important ministers in the court, he still had some confidence in his heart. This type of airship was stronger than the Chunnan airship, regardless of flight altitude, speed, or load capacity. However, compared to the Chunnan airship, this type of airship had worse seaworthiness, and the cost was even higher.

"Mr. Kong, can you see how much of the things on this list can still be found?" Situ Lian handed Kong Xinhua a very exaggerated list, covering a series of things such as metal materials, processing tools, precision blades, craftsmen, and training tutorials. Northern Liao was too far behind other countries in terms of craftsmanship, and airships were really difficult for them.

Kong Xinhua only had to ask Ye Tao, and he could get all of these things, but he hesitated. He asked, "Master Situ, do you mean that, except for the leather-making process, the entire manufacturing process has to rely on external forces to find people? This kind of cost…"

Situ Lian sighed and said, "His Majesty has made a decision to manufacture at least thirty airships within a year, but with the current strength of the Ministry of Works, producing more than one airship a month is already the limit. It is absolutely impossible to complete such a task, and it cannot afford such expenses. Although it is a little stronger than the Chunnan airship in terms of performance, the cost is almost three times higher. Moreover, this thing can't be used by just anyone who gets on it. How to use it and how to cooperate in combat is really a long way to go. However, these things later on are not something I can control."

Kong Xinhua hesitated a little, but still had his attendant bring up a package. He said, "Master Situ, this was originally what I prepared to congratulate you on the successful test flight of this airship. You see, maybe it can provide some inspiration. I'll take this list, but I really can't guarantee what can be done. Materials and tools, maybe I can still find a way, as for craftsmen… I really don't have that kind of connection. However, I'll think of a way. If this airship is so expensive and I don't know how to use it, it's better not to have it… A year, Master Situ, I dare to ask, can Ye Tao really give my Northern Liao a year?"

Situ Lian sighed and opened the package. Inside was a thick "Snow Owl Airship Operation Manual", the kind placed in the cabin for pilots to check how to operate in various situations, with detailed illustrations, including detailed diagrams of many parts, with accuracy comparable to blueprints. Situ Lian's eyes lit up, but soon dimmed, and said, "Snow Owl… it's really too strong, it can't be compared…"