After the British, French, and American combined fleets set sail from Shanghai, they passed through the areas under the jurisdiction of the Qing Army along the way, and everywhere there were people cheering on the shore with bouquets of flowers.In charge of the joint operation was British Rear Admiral Wilson, who was born into a royal family and received the title of rear admiral at a young age."
Blair, look at the Manchu slaves on the shore, are they still quite polite?"
Wilson took the telescope and looked at the cheering people on the riverside, and spat out with a proud face."
General, all the way from Shanghai to Nanjing is the defense area of Qiao Zhiqing, the governor of Jiangsu, and as far as I know, he has never been very friendly to us.There are so many people welcoming us today, I don't know what Qiao Zhiqing's idea is" Blair stood behind him, looking at the shore with a puzzled face."
Blair, you're just being too cautious.The Qing Dynasty people were just slaves of our British Empire, and with their broadswords and spears, I am afraid that when they see our warships, they will be scared to pee their pants. ”Wilson smiled contemptuously, put away his binoculars, and headed back to the command room.Blair shook his head solemnly, and there was always a bad premonition in his heart.The combined fleet went all the way without incident, and soon passed through the city of Nanjing.Unbeknownst to Wilson, the Left Brigade of the Artillery Division, which had been stationed in Suzhou City, was galloping to Nanjing at night, carrying more than 500 artillery pieces and mortars of various calibers.Zeng Guofan and Qiao Zhiqing's defense area was to take Nanjing City as the dividing line, and after the combined fleet passed through Nanjing City, it was within the sphere of influence of the Hunan army.Because the mission of this operation was mainly to eliminate the sailors of Zeng Guofan, as well as to transfer the soldiers and horses of the Qing court on the north bank of the Yangtze River to the south bank, the combined fleet did not participate in the land attack.Because the Hunan army was shrinking on all fronts, between Nanjing and Hankou camps, only Bao Chao's Ting army was stationed in Anqing Prefecture.Since ancient times, Anqing is the west gate of Nanjing City, and as soon as Anqing is lost, Nanjing City is basically open.Zeng Guofan specially arranged heavy troops here, in order to turn around one day and recapture the Nanjing City given to Qiao Zhiqing.The Combined Fleet traveled unhindered for a day, and finally came under heavy attack from shore batteries as it passed through Anqing Province on the second day.Zeng Guofan originally built an ordnance shop in Anqing, although Xu Shou and they left, but after the Hunan army recovered Anqing, they still recruited a lot of old craftsmen in the original factory.Although the Xinanqing Ordnance Institute has lost the ability to manufacture guns, it is still more than enough to manufacture guns and shells.After Zeng Guoquan learned the news of the joint warship's attack on Hankou, he hurriedly ordered Bao Chao to arrange a tight artillery network and cooperate with Peng Yulin's sailors to block the combined fleet.Bao Chao moved out all the belongings of the Thunder Army, and a total of 100 artillery pieces were all properly deployed on the shore.After the combined fleet rushed into the firing range of the artillery without any scruples, Bao Chao decisively gave the order to open fire.Suddenly, the artillery on the shore roared, and the solid iron balls that flew out smashed into the five warships in the center of the river like dense hailstones.The results of the bombardment were not so satisfactory, and these old guns did not have accurate aiming systems.When attacking the city, it is okay to scare some of the defenders in the city, but against the warships moving quickly in the center of the river, it is not possible to aim at the target.Moreover, the power of the artillery was very limited, and finally a few shells hit the ship, but in the face of the solid iron armor, only a gravure was left, and it did not have a practical effect.The British ship at the front was the first to raise the alarm, and in a short time, the ship's large-caliber guns returned fire against the batteries on the shore.Each of the shells was like an eye, one exploding at a time.A pitiful hundred guns, firing only two rounds, were blown to pieces by the guns on the warship.Wilson stood on the deck with a telescope and laughed contemptuously.Ignoring these mosquito-like bites, their targets were mainly Peng Yulin's sailors, so after the combined fleet bombarded more than 500 shells intensively, they continued to drive forward.Bao Chao roared at the combined warship like thunder on the shore, and he had never fought with foreigners before.Seeing the power of foreign warships for the first time, I was shocked and helpless, and secretly pinched a cold sweat for Peng Yulin.Peng Yulin naturally knew the gap with the foreigners, and the largest tonnage ships under his command were only more than 1,000 tons, and he still purchased retired British warships.It uses a hybrid of sails and steam, and is not on the same level as the Combined Fleet in terms of speed and firepower.Peng Yulin had no choice but to fight to the death, and the Hunan army had no way to retreat at this time.After the combined fleet passed through Anqing City, Peng Yulin's sailors had been waiting densely upstream for a long time.This time, it was almost out of the nest, and the five 1,000-ton ironclad ships and more than 1,000 wooden boats of the sailor completely covered the river.Wilson held a telescope and looked disdainfully at the Hunan Army sailors in the distance, and after the alarm was lowered, the five warships were also neatly arranged according to their respective directions.After reaching the firing range of the gunfire, the five warships simultaneously erupted in furious flames.The Hunan army sailors on the opposite side also opened fire at the same time, and the calm river surface was splashed by the shaking water for a while, and the waves rolled."
General, how are these Chinese different from what we have seen before" Blair stood behind Wilson, unexpectedly watching the water army on the opposite side come to send him to death, and asked puzzledly.Previously, the British and French forces fought all the way from Guangzhou to Beijing, and Blair was also involved.The small Chinese boats he came across would turn around and head straight at the sound of cannons.And the naval army on the opposite side not only did not retreat, but rushed up in the face of dense artillery fire, which was really strange."
I've always heard that the Hunan army is a very fierce army, and this time I really got to see it once.They are really different from other Chinese, but unfortunately, their equipment is too backward.Our artillery could quite well cover their ship formations, but they could only reach the firing distance of the artillery with desperate assaults.I would love to meet this commander, but unfortunately we are enemies. ”Wilson was also taken aback, sighed slightly, and changed his opinion of the Chinese a lot."
Brothers, even if you die in the middle of the river in a few days, you can't let the foreign devils underestimate the sailors of our Hunan army, rush" Peng Yulin stood on the deck and drew his sword and swung it towards the combined fleet, his face without fear."
Rush, rush."
The sailors of the Hunan army suddenly let out an earth-shattering roar, and rushed forward without hesitation with their oars in the face of the continuous cannonballs fired by the combined fleet.Streams of water splashed on the surface of the river, and in just an hour, the five 1,000-ton main warships of the Hunan Army's naval division were all blown to pieces.Under the new breech-loading guns of the Combined Fleet, wooden ships are little more than living targets floating on sleep.The losses of the combined fleet were minimal, only the French warship was besieged by the Hunan naval division, one of the steam chimneys on the ship was blown up, and the rest of the ships were only scratched a little bit.There are so many people, knowing that they can't beat the enemy, but they still show their sabers without hesitation.After the destruction of the main ships of the Hunan army, the combined fleet was even more unscrupulous, and simply rushed towards the Hunan army's ship formation with full horsepower.There are more than 5,000 water division brothers in the Hunan army, and none of them flinched at this moment.used his young life and courage to prove to these foreign devils what the Hunan army is."
Dashuai, let's withdraw quickly, the sailor is over, the sailor is finished."
Peng Yulin looked at the oncoming behemoth and didn't move, and the deputy general behind him, Shilong, was already frightened and shouted out.The wooden sailing ships of the Hunan Army's naval divisions were like papier-mâché in front of the ironclad warships.Soon, the ship formation deployed on the river was torn apart.The warships of the Combined Fleet were like crashing into tofu and went on a rampage.As long as it touches the sailboat of the Hunan army, it will be crushed mercilessly.At this time, the river was full of wooden sails, and the Hunan troops who survived were still struggling to get ashore in the water, but they ushered in a dense salvo of foreign navy on the ship.The bullets went down into the river like dumplings, and the Hunan troops who fell into the water were immediately beaten into meat sauce, and the river surface was dyed red for a while."
Look, Tom.I killed another one, and these Chinese are like little shrimp. ”The soldiers on the ship showed off their achievements as if they were in a game, constantly loading bullets and shooting at the Hunan troops who fell into the water in the river.Peng Yulin, who was commanding the ship opposite, was already bloodless, although he had already expected the result in his heart, but when everything happened, all the anger was so pale."
Yu Shilong," Peng Yulin roared from his throat with a blushing face."
The end will be."
Yu Shilong hugged his fists and responded, thinking that Peng Yulin was going to give the order to retreat, and finally breathed a sigh of relief."
You have followed me from birth to death for many years, and Ben Shuai doesn't want to embarrass you.Let's go, go back and tell Zeng Dashuai, just say that I, Peng Yulin, will follow him in the next life, and our Xiangxiang children have no bad seeds" Peng Yulin swung his saber and slashed on the deck, his eyes staring resolutely ahead.Yu Shilong got the general order and hurriedly nodded in agreement.waved a small boat, glanced back at Peng Yulin, shook his head and jumped up ruthlessly."
Who else is leaving," Peng Yulin turned around and roared at the commanders."
Dashuai, we will be brothers in the next life, and our children in Xiangxiang have no bad seeds" The generals roared angrily, and they all knelt down with Peng Yulin with their fists."
Okay, my Peng Yulin didn't make friends with you in vain.Stand up for Ben Shuai, let's show the foreign devils, what is the Hunan army" Peng Yulin laughed loudly, and ordered the shipwrights to drive at full speed and charge towards the combined fleet.The command ship, which weighed more than 500 tons and was not equipped with guns, was once a British steam merchant ship, but was later converted into a command ship.Compared to other ships, the command ship was very steam-powered, and there were no heavy objects on board.After full power, the command ship shot like a bow and arrow, and rushed towards the combined fleet."
Look, General, there's a ship coming at us in front of us," Blair stood on the deck, watching the soldiers shoot the Hunan army.Suddenly, there was a whistle in the distance, and Wilson was surprised to hold up his binoculars and look at it, only to see a cargo ship in the distance rushing up, only a thousand meters away from the warship
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