Transmigrating to the Three Kingdoms as Lu Bu: I Have a Pseudo-Apocalypse System

The wicker basket landed steadily on the ground. Lü Bu stepped out, dusted himself off, and said to Ma Jun, "Good, very good. I am very satisfied. Issue an order to continue building, build bigger ones. What I want are hot air balloons that can carry ten people and fly 300 meters high."

Ma Jun cupped his hands and said, "Your subject obeys the decree."

Jia Xu stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Your Majesty, I was watching from below with trepidation. Although this hot air balloon can fly, what if a strong wind blows the airbag away?"

Lü Bu laughed and said, "That's why I said we should fly in windless weather. Besides, the hot air balloon is tethered by ropes, so it can't fly very high or very far. Once the technology is more advanced, I want to make hot air balloons fly hundreds of kilometers away."

Jia Xu exclaimed in surprise, "Hundreds of kilometers? Your Majesty, how is that possible?"

Lü Bu said, "Why is it impossible? I'll have someone install propellers on hot air balloons, and then we can control the direction by manpower. We can also load a few bombs on them and drop them from the sky, leaving the enemy nowhere to hide."

Jia Xu, Chen Gong, Zhang Liao, and the others exchanged bewildered glances, all seeing shock in each other's eyes.

This was the first time they had ever seen a war fought this way.

After the successful test flight of the hot air balloon, Lü Bu ordered the Military Equipment Bureau and the Navy to jointly establish a new department—the Aviation Research Institute.

This department specializes in the improvement and application of hot air balloons.

Ma Jun was transferred to be the director, leading more than twenty craftsmen and a dozen young people who had graduated from the Imperial Academy.

Their mission was singular: to turn hot air balloons into real weapons.

Lu Bu gave them several directions.

First, improve the airbag material. While airtight fabric is usable, it's too heavy, limiting its altitude. Ma Jun needs to find a lighter, stronger, and more heat-resistant material.

Second, improve the heating device. The airbag heats up too slowly, so we could consider adding a blower.

Third, add a control device. Hot air balloons can only drift with the wind and cannot be steered, so they are not very useful. Ma Jun wants to design a propeller that can be manually controlled to allow the hot air balloon to fly against the wind.

Fourth, add bomb-dropping devices. Bombs should be loaded onto the hot air balloons and dropped from the sky. The bombs should be heavy and powerful enough to destroy a city gate with a single blast.

Ma Jun received the order and led his men to work diligently.

Improving the airbag material was the most difficult part. Ma Jun tried dozens of fabrics, but none of them were satisfactory. Some were too heavy, some were too thin, and some were not heat-resistant.

Finally, he came up with a solution: use silk to make air bladders and coat the outside with a layer of raw lacquer.

Silk is light, tough, and becomes airtight after being coated with raw lacquer, and it can also withstand high temperatures.

Ma Jun used this new material to make an airbag, which increased the altitude to 300 meters.

With Lü Bu's suggestion, setting up the heating device with a blower became very convenient, allowing the charcoal fire to heat up quickly and the airbag to heat up much faster.

Improving the control mechanism is the most difficult part.

Ma Jun designed a propeller, carved from wood and shaped like a windmill. The propeller was attached to the back of a wicker basket and connected to a foot pedal via a gear mechanism. A person sat inside the basket and stepped on the foot pedal, which turned the propeller and generated thrust.

He made a model, put it in water to test, and found that it could indeed propel the boat forward. But when placed in air, the effect was much less.

Ma Jun pondered for a long time, and finally widened and lengthened the propeller blades, and changed the angle of the blades, before it could be used with difficulty.

One person can pedal the hot air balloon to make it fly against the wind at a speed of 2.5 kilometers per hour.

Although it's slow, at least we can control the direction now.

Improvements to the bombing device are relatively simple.

Ma Jun made a wooden frame on which the bomb was hung. The bomb was round, with an iron casing, filled with gunpowder, and weighed 5 kilograms. A fuse was inserted into the bomb. Before dropping it, the fuse was lit with a flint, and then the hook was released, and the bomb fell down.

Ma Jun tested the bomb several times at the test site. The bomb exploded after landing, creating a large crater in the ground.

He ran to report to Lü Bu, who, after reviewing the experimental results, said, "A 5-kilogram bomb is too small and lacks power. What I need are large bombs weighing 10, 20, or even 50 kilograms. Continue to improve them."

Ma Jun cupped his hands and said, "Your subject obeys the decree."

In June of the 407th year of the Han calendar, the first military hot air balloon was officially finalized.

The airbag, made of silk and coated with raw lacquer, is 6 meters in diameter and 7.5 meters high, capable of reaching an altitude of 300 meters. The wicker basket, woven from bamboo strips, is 3.6 meters in diameter and 1.05 meters deep, and can carry three people. A blower is added to the heating system for faster heating of the airbag. The control system is a propeller, manually operated, allowing the hot air balloon to fly at a speed of 2.5 kilometers per hour. Weapons include 10-kilogram bombs, with each balloon capable of carrying ten.

After reading the report, Lü Bu wrote a few words: "Mass production, at least one hundred."

Upon receiving the imperial decree, Ma Jun led his men to work day and night, and by the end of the year, they had built thirty aircraft.

Meanwhile, the navy was also busy.

Huang Zhong received an order from Lü Bu to free up deck space on the newly built large ironclad warship for hot air balloons to take off and dock.

Although Huang Zhong didn't quite understand Lü Bu's intentions, he still did as he was told.

He brought in shipbuilders to redesign the deck of the ironclad warship. A space was left in the middle of the deck, which was covered with wooden planks and surrounded by railings. Hot air balloons could be placed in this space. When the balloons took off, the soldiers on the deck would hold them with ropes, and then release the ropes once the balloons had inflated.

Huang Zhong also specially trained a group of soldiers to be responsible for the launch, landing and maintenance of hot air balloons.

At the end of 407 AD (according to the Han calendar), the first ironclad warship capable of carrying hot air balloons was completed and launched.

This ironclad warship is 90 meters long, 18 meters wide, and has a displacement of 3000 tons. Six hot air balloons can be parked on the deck simultaneously, with four more available for standby inside. The ship is armed with thirty cannons, ten of which are new rifled guns with a range of up to 5 kilometers.

Lü Bu personally boarded the ship to inspect it and gave the ironclad warship a name: "Yellow River".

Huang Zhong bowed and said, "Your Majesty, although the Yellow River can carry hot air balloons, its deck is still too small, and the balloons are prone to interfering with each other when they take off. I suggest building a larger one specifically for carrying hot air balloons."

Lü Bu nodded: "That's what I think too. Issue an imperial decree that the navy must build a giant ship with a displacement of over 5000 tons, with a large deck capable of simultaneously launching and deploying eight hot air balloons. The interior must also have enough space to store spare hot air balloons and bombs. I will call this ship an aircraft carrier, and name it Yanhuang."

Huang Zhong cupped his hands and said, "Your subject obeys the decree."

For a whole year in the year 408 of the Han calendar, the shipbuilding craftsmen were busy building the Yanhuang.

The shipyard was located in Liaocheng, Qingzhou, with over a thousand craftsmen working in shifts day and night.

The hull was constructed from imported ironwood from Southeast Asia, making it sturdy and durable. The hull was covered with a thick layer of iron armor, reaching a thickness of 0.15 meters at its thickest point. The deck was made of hardwood planks coated with a non-slip paint. A large open area, 60 meters long and 15 meters wide, was located in the middle of the deck, capable of accommodating eight hot air balloons simultaneously. Below deck was a massive warehouse capable of storing twenty spare hot air balloons and thousands of bombs.

The ship was equipped with fifty cannons, twenty of which were new rifled guns with a range of up to 7.5 kilometers. A giant main gun with a caliber of 0.3 meters was also mounted on the bow, capable of firing 50-kilogram shells with a range of 10 kilometers.

The propulsion system consisted of two large steam engines driving two propellers, enabling a speed of up to 15 kilometers per hour. Three masts were also erected on the ship, with sails hoisted as auxiliary power.

At the end of 408 AD (according to the Han calendar), the Yanhuang was completed and launched.

Lü Bu personally went to Liaocheng to preside over the induction ceremony.