Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 827 Leaping Over the Chasm
"Since His Highness is unwilling to accept this beast, then we should prepare to break out." Di Meng pondered. "There is a lack of food and clothing on the mountain. It will be difficult to hold out for long with only the small amount of baggage brought up by Li Dudu (Li Jinglong is the commander of the Five Military Commandery)."

"And the guide once said that when autumn comes in a few days, the whole Ryukyu will no longer be humid. If there is no rain to help, if the bandits set fire to the mountain, your safety will be in danger."

"I think we should break out from the west and go down the mountain..."

They were able to stay on the mountain because it was the tidal season on Dawan Island, and most of the mountain forests and shrubs were moist and not easy to catch fire. If the thieves wanted to start a fire, they could only rely on the power of kerosene... but kerosene could not flow to the mountains after all.

But if the tide season is over and the trees are completely dry, and Chen Zuyi and other thieves set fire to the mountain, then we will really have no choice but to sit and wait for death.

Although a forced breakout would result in huge losses, the people present were all veterans, so they naturally would not really pin their hopes on such a low-probability event as Tang He's troops coming to seek support.

Therefore, more than a thousand Ming troops chose the western road of the mountain and launched several feint attacks.

The last negotiation seemed to have irritated Chen Zuyi, the unruly bandit. When the Ming army tried to break through several times, Chen Zuyi's bandit nature broke out and he led his elite troops to block all the Ming troops regardless of the losses. Most of his followers were foreigners and Nanyang people, while the Han people were all his trusted elites.

The Ming army broke through several times and killed countless foreigners and Southeast Asians. Every time they retreated back to the mountain, the road below was covered with corpses. There were also many casualties among the Ming army, which made Zhu Su very distressed.

"Chen Zuyi's fighting style is simply exchanging lives for lives!" Chang Mao angrily took off his bloody helmet and said angrily. "He can treat these people as cattle and horses. Our men can't stand such losses... How many people did this thief bring with him?"

"I'm afraid... a lot." Li Jinglong was worried. He had been on Da Wan Island for some time, and had heard about the rules of the tribes on the island and the Da Du Kingdom. "The Da Du Kingdom is still barbaric, and the people are ignorant. Whenever there is a war between tribes, it is common for the winner to enslave the entire tribe of the loser. Chen Zuyi is powerful. After landing on the island, I'm afraid he secretly enslaved a lot of foreign tribes... In addition, he dominated the Nanyang area, and those Nanyang people were used to it. I don't know how many cannon fodders like this he has under his command."

"In addition, we have weapons like fierce fire oil, and the terrain is narrow, so we can't deploy our troops. In addition, the pass is blocked..." The more Li Jinglong spoke, the more he felt that the situation was unfavorable. He was also the son of a general, so he was good at talking about war on paper. "...If there is no brilliant plan, I'm afraid there is little hope." As he said this, he glanced at Zhu Su.

"How can we have a brilliant plan every time when our troops are divided?" Chang Mao said. "Chen Zuyi also came from Southeast Asia, and now Duke Dingguo is stationed on the sea route. His fierce fire oil may not be endless."

"We can just make a few more feint attacks, wait until their fire oil is exhausted, and then launch a general attack...Are you still worried that we won't be able to kill all these bandits and break out?"

Many generals who participated in the discussion echoed loudly. They didn't know how many foreigners Chen Zuyi had surrendered and enslaved, and they didn't know how much cannon fodder the bandits had for consumption, but they were sure that they couldn't carry too much fierce fire oil. In fact, when trying to break through now, the frequency of the bandits using fierce fire oil to block the road has greatly decreased, and it seems that the fierce fire oil is almost exhausted.

As long as there is no flaming oil, these generals are confident that they can fight their way out even if there are thousands of troops.

Zhu Su was somewhat worried. Although Chen Zuyi was a bandit, he was also as cunning as a fox. If he pretended that the flaming oil was exhausted and suddenly set fire when the Ming army and the cannon fodder were in a complete melee... what would the Ming army do?

He didn't think that Chen Zuyi would care about the lives of these cannon fodder.

When the generals were told of this concern, they all remained silent. This situation was very possible, but if they were not sure whether the flaming oil had been exhausted, how could they determine the timing of a full-scale breakout?
"It would be great if we had brought a 'hot air balloon' with us." Li Jinglong said in annoyance. "We can fly out of the cage effortlessly by riding a hot air balloon..."

"The hot air balloon is so big. If it carries that thing, how can we, more than a thousand people, chase the religious bandits?" Chang Mao said unhappily. The hot air balloon of the Ming army consists of three parts: the sphere, the basket, and the furnace. They are all very large. The thousand people are traveling light, so it is impossible for them to carry such a cumbersome thing.

"…Although we don't have a hot air balloon, maybe we can find other ways to fly across the chasm?" Zhu Su suddenly thought of something and spoke out.

When the generals heard this, they were all stunned. Li Jinglong said happily: "Fifth uncle, do you have a solution?"

"Our vision has always been limited to the roads on both sides, but we have forgotten the cliffs on the east side... If we can set up a zipline opposite the cliff, we can go down along the zipline and get behind the enemy army, right?" Zhu Su said.

Everyone thought that Zhu Su, as the inventor of hot air balloons, might be able to create something else that could fly, but he came up with such an idea, and they were disappointed. Di Meng reminded him awkwardly: "Your Highness, we have also thought about hanging a rope and climbing down the cliff... But the cliff is as smooth as a wall, even monkeys can hardly climb it, how can we climb to the other side of the cliff?"

"If we can't climb over, can't we fly over?" Zhu Su had an idea and stood up. "Although I can't fly as far as a hot air balloon, I can fly to the other side of the cliff... maybe I can do it!"

……

Even if Zhu Su had supernatural powers, there was no way to make a hot air balloon because everything was missing on the mountain. Moreover, the hot air balloon technology was complicated. Although Zhu Su was nominally the inventor, he actually just drew a design and talked about it. The real action and production, overcoming one technical difficulty after another, were actually the many skilled craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty, and Prince Zhou had nothing to do with it.

But if you want to fly, or even leap, there are more than just hot air balloons.

What Zhu Su wanted to do was hang gliding. This mountain was isolated, but it also had one advantage, that is, it towered over the surrounding mountains. The cliff on the east side was also quite a distance away from this side. Moreover, there was a mountain wind howling in the middle of the cliff, blowing from low to high, all year round, perhaps some kind of valley wind. If you glide over there, it can also have a lifting effect.

The production of hang gliders is simpler than that of hot air balloons, and the materials are easier to obtain. The lining of the military tents they use for camping can be used as the main material of hang gliders. As for the wood for making the frame, it is available everywhere in the mountains. As long as one person holds a rope and successfully flies to the other side, and after the rope is fixed, the Ming army here can naturally cross the rope and leave this desperate place.

(End of this chapter)