The combined fleet stayed at Hankow for three days, as the ships had run out of supplies by the time they came.Rong Lu didn't let go of this good opportunity to offer filial piety to Uncle Yang, and he had already heard the price of the British Enfield rifle from Wilson's mouth.One piece of silver was only five or six taels, and it almost didn't make Rong Lu depressed half to death.At the beginning, I always thought that I had taken advantage of Qiao Zhiqing, but who knew that I was cheated by Qiao Zhiqing again and again.The people of Hankou were looted again, and when the Hunan army was stationed here, they looted a lot of military salaries everywhere, and now they have come to Ronglu's protection, which is really worse and miserable.The Combined Fleet originally only needed two days of supplies, but Rong Lu contributed a month's worth of supplies.Wilson was pleased with the young general, and promised him that he could help if Ronglu wanted to buy arms.Three days later, the Combined Fleet pulled anchor and returned home.Rong Lu also finally left Hankou with his escort and pursued the Hunan army south.The Combined Fleet stopped and stopped all the way, admiring the lakes and mountains on both sides of the Yangtze River.Originally, there was only a two-day trip down the river, but the Combined Fleet traveled for three days to reach the territory of Nanjing City.Unbeknownst to Wilson, at this time, on the walls and high battlements of Nanjing City, there were more than 500 guns of various types adjusted their azimuth and facing the five warships of the Combined Fleet.When the warship came within range of the guns, the guns on the walls were the first to roar.After a violent explosion, the combined fleet was instantly covered with artillery nets that crossed front and back.Wilson was taken aback unprepared, and was extremely surprised by this sudden attack, and hurriedly organized the soldiers to fire back."
Blair, what's going on, isn't the Hunan army completely wiped out, where did this army come from" Wilson frowned and looked out with a telescope in the command module."
General, this is the defense area of the Qingzi Army, and these people who attacked us must have been instructed by Qiao Zhiqing.General, we are running out of ammunition, and Qiao Zhiqing has a strong force in this generation.We can't waste any more shells, so we need to get through here at full speed. ”Blair shouted at Wilson amid the rumbling artillery fire, and seeing that a black far point outside the window was getting closer and closer, he quickly dragged Wilson down and pressed him down.The glass fell, and a black iron ball smashed in, grazing the top of Blair's head and smashing into the cabin, and after hitting the board of another ship, it finally fell, smashing the iron armor of the board out of a hollow, almost making Blair cry out in fright."
I don't care who Qiao Zhiqing is, you quickly order the soldiers to fight back fiercely, I will raze this city to the ground."
Wilson stood up angrily, screamed at Blair, and glared at the artillery on the wall outside the window.Blair hesitated but complied with the order, letting the herald go to the deck and informing the other four warships with flags.Five warships lined up, all firing at the opposite wall and high ground, regardless of ammunition.Suddenly, the smoke of gunpowder rose everywhere, and the masonry cracked.After firing at each other for half an hour, the artillery fire outside Nanjing finally stopped.More than half of the artillery casualties of a brigade were exhausted, and all the ammunition was gone, but not a single one of them retreated without permission until the end.The Combined Fleet also suffered heavy casualties, and this artillery was many times more powerful than the Hunan Army.Although there were all kinds of shells, both solid and flowering, the angles of the shots were very accurate, and some even entered the cabin through the windows, almost detonating the ship's ammunition depot.Wilson's ship was in the middle command position and was the most seriously wounded.One of the two boilers was blown up, and the other could barely start, but the speed slowed down considerably.The hull of the ship was blasted out of large and small boils, and a place at the stern of the ship had begun to seep into it, but the gap was quickly blocked by the crew.Wilson finally saw the horror of this army, and hurriedly followed Blair's advice, and ordered the Combined Fleet to speed up its horsepower and return to its base in Shanghai.After replenishing the ammunition, I will come to Qiao Zhiqing's trouble.After the fleet drove to Zhenjiang, it again encountered heavy shelling.Feng Zicai had already received Qiao Zhiqing's military order to reorganize the forts in Zhenjiang Mansion and form a one-kilometer-long defensive line.Wilson did not stop and counterattack arrogantly, but let the fleet fire back while moving at full speed, and rushed out of the area covered by the artillery fire as quickly as possible.But the combined fleet seemed to have fallen into a trap set by the devil, and every time it passed a prefecture along the river, it would be shelled large and small.The crews of the combined fleet almost collapsed, since there were not many shells left on the ship.However, the fleet will soon pass through Jiangyin Mansion, and as long as it crosses Jiangyin, it will only take a cup of tea to return to the Shanghai base.As soon as the fleet entered the territory of Jiangyin Province, it was attacked by artillery on the shore as expected.Wilson almost broke down and roared at the artillery on the shore, not wanting to do anything, and ordered the soldiers to smash all the ammunition on the ship to the shore.For a time, there was smoke and dust on the shore.A kilometer in range, completely covered by gunfire from warships.After a while, there was no more noise on the shore.Wilson was still angry and asked the soldiers to smash all the shells into Jiangyin City, and when all the ammunition was gone, he let out a sullen breath and angrily went to the deck and scolded on the shore.Because beyond Jiangyin is the boundary of Shanghai, even if it is attacked again by the artillery on the shore, the fleet can hold out to the base, and Wilson has no scruples at all, just to be able to take a good breath of sulk."
Haha, why don't you open the cannon, open the cannon, I'm so afraid of you."
Wilson fell into a hysterical frenzy and yelled at the shore."
General, it's dangerous here, let's go back to the cabin" Blair followed to the deck, and quickly pulled Wilson for fear that the artillery on the shore would open fire again."
What are you afraid of, a group of them, they have long been hiding in their mother's arms and crying.Blair, when I get back and resupply my ammunition, I'm going to send it all to hell. ”Wilson's hands danced, and as soon as he finished speaking, the ship suddenly shook violently, and a huge roar rang in the ears of the two men."
No, general, climb down."
Blair reacted quickly and pulled Wilson to the deck.In just a moment, the ship shook more violently, and I don't know how many shells were hit.Suddenly, there was a scream from the cabin, and I saw a crew member running out in a panic, and the two people who rushed to the deck shouted loudly, "Oh no, General, we have been attacked by a warship of unknown origin in front." ”"What, this can't be, how can there be a warship," Wilson hissed, and despite the bombardment of the shells, straightened up and looked ahead with a telescope.Sure enough, a warship of more than 5,000 tons blocked the way a mile away, and kept firing at this direction.Next to this warship, there are more than a dozen ships of more than 1,000 tons, which are constantly firing at this side from end to end, and the Yangtze River has been completely blocked."
Herald, tell the two ships in front of you to rush over at full speed, and make sure to open a gap for me."
Wilson hurriedly shouted at the soldier on the mast, who waved his command flag.The two British battleships in front had already run out of ammunition, so they had to follow Wilson's orders and increase their horsepower to tear a rift in the small-tonnage ships.But the closer you get to the blockade, the more dense the artillery fire becomes, and it's all large-caliber artillery, and the shells are armor-piercing shells that have never been seen before.As long as it hits the ship's board, it can easily blow up the iron armor more than ten centimeters behind.The two British battleships that rushed to the front, when they were less than 500 meters away from the blockade line, were blown up by shells, and for a time they leaked on all sides, and they could no longer be blocked.However, after forcibly reaching more than 100 meters ahead of time, he completely sank in the river.Wilson's eyes widened, and his heart trembled to the extreme.He came to the Far East with his mother on his back, but he was just curious about this ancient Eastern empire, and he wanted to come and have fun.No one expected that today would end up in such a situation, and they were about to die in the belly of the fish."
General, you can't rush anymore, the artillery fire in front is too fierce, hurry up and order the fleet to dock.We are foreigners, Qiao Zhiqing doesn't dare to do anything with us, maybe we still have a chance of life. ”Covered by rumbling artillery fire, Blair finally pulled Wilson into the cabin and shouted at him."
Okay, okay, listen to you, hurry up to the shore, hurry up to the shore."
Wilson was completely unassertive at this point, and Blair was what he said.After the order was given, the three remaining battleships of the combined fleet hurriedly turned around and turned the rudder and rushed towards the shore.In the blink of an eye, the huge hull rushed into the shallow water with a huge thrust.Under the huge inertia, the silt that clinged to the water pushed dozens of meters long before stopping, and collapsed on the shore like a city wall.The artillery fire from a mile away finally stopped, and it rushed up the current at a rapid pace, outflanking the Combined Fleet.The Combine Fleet's cabin was in chaos by this time, and more than half of the soldiers were smashed into pulp by the falling artillery.Those who survived crawled out of the cabin, and the river poured into the cabin like a raging river, and the soldiers were so frightened that they couldn't even carry foreign guns.Wilson survived with Blair's escort, and the hatch was badly flooded.Wilson and Blair ate a few bites of sand before struggling to climb out of the hatch.After all the officers and men of the three warships went ashore, Wilson hurriedly counted the number of people, and there were less than 100 people left, all of whom were lying on the shore in embarrassment, gasping for breath.Before Wilson could calm down, there was another dense burst of gunfire from the shore.Bullets rained down, and one of Wilson's soldiers had just looked up to check on the situation.But as soon as his body straightened, two bloody holes were punched in his chest, and his frightened eyes were not closed, and he collapsed limply beside Wilson
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