Chapter 366 Our Fate Depends on This Battle

"Boom boom boom..."

The sound of the cannons spread far inland from Wusongkou. Dozens of Qing warships of all sizes blocked the entrance to the river like a protruding nail. Five large ships bravely rushed into the Huangpu River. Chen Ming no longer doubted the determination of the Qing army. Huang Zhenggang threw all the warships he could into the artillery battle.

On the river surface and the stone embankment by the river, the sound of cannons roared, and the smoke was filled from afar.

It seemed that when the Fu Han Army Navy captured Wusongkou, the artillery battle on both sides was not so fierce.

Wusongkou, a place that could not be bypassed in modern Chinese history, is now completely buried in the smoke of artillery fire.

"Boom..."

A huge firework suddenly burst out from the stone embankment position of Wusongkou, and the black smoke condensed into a mushroom shape, rising. The entire artillery group was broken into pieces in the sound of the gunpowder explosion.

Chen Ming, who was a few miles away, didn't show any expression on his face. What did a few lives mean? He had seen so many tragic things along the way. In Jingzhou, Wuchang, Taizhou, Changsha..., the piles of corpses were just soldiers, not real mountains of corpses and seas of blood, but it was almost the same. As for the millions of people who fled famine and refugees, was it strange to see them starving everywhere?

When the southward troops attacked Hangzhou, the vanguard troops fought a fierce battle with the Qing army retreating there in Zhapu, Hangzhou. One of the teams rushed too fast and was surrounded by the Qing army with superior forces in the Yiling outside the west gate. When the friendly troops came to reinforce, there were less than 20 people in the team who could still move.

The chief and deputy officers were killed, the instructor was killed, and only one of the three platoon leaders was left.

The army had already conquered Hangzhou at that time. Such a thing still happened with such a big advantage. Now the Fu Han army used the artillery positions at the river mouth and along the river to deal with the Qing army warships. It was normal for the ammunition on the positions to be triggered by the Qing army's artillery shells and exploded!

All the small cannons on the five large Ganzeng ships were unloaded, and now they were loaded with eight 2,000-jin cannons each. But these cannons are old cannons, and it is really hard to say whether they can match the three-jin cannon of the Fu Han army in terms of range.

The smallest cannon of the Fu Han army is also a five-jin cannon, and the effective range is still within the range of two miles, but it is very powerful without "effective".

The five warships of the Qing army that broke into the Huangpu River were fully armed. Each ship was equipped with eight 2,000-jin cannons, which was the limit of the large Ganzeng ships. Every round of gunfire sounded, the hull would tremble violently.

Zhang Yougui, the adjutant general of the Dengzhou Navy, shouted: "Fire!" Today, we are here to fight to the death, so Zhang Yougui is not ready to die. His family was in Shandong, and the emperor had conferred him the title of Cavalry Commandant. Even if Zhang Yougui died at Wusongkou today, his son would inherit the title, and it would not be a big deal. Even because of his desperate fight, his title could be raised a little.

Once a man had the determination to fight to the death, he was really bold and determined. Zhang Yougui commanded the warship to approach the artillery position of the Fu Han Army on the west bank of the Huangpu River. Smoke filled the hull!

"Boom!"

The 11-zhang-long hull trembled again! The bow was covered by billowing smoke, and the shells flew straight into the distance with the sound of the wind!

But it was not Zhang Yougui's ship, but the ship of Yang Wei, the deputy general of the Guangdong Qiongzhou Navy in front of him. A burning spark was blooming. His ship had just been hit by an incendiary bomb.

Yang Wei's heart was like a heavy hammer! The sailors on the ship were all nervously putting out the fire. One of the two injured sailors was already dead. The incendiary bomb hit his shoulder directly, and half of his shoulder was shot off. The white bones were stained with blood...

The other one was pierced into a hedgehog by the exploding wood, but at least he was still alive.

The dead sailors were thrown directly into the river, which had always been the case in the battle; the sailors who were still alive were dragged into the cabin. Yang Wei looked at the big rotten hole on the rear part of the hull, and Chen Liang [Susong Town General] with a broken left leg appeared in front of him again. Chen Liang's left leg was shot off by a shell, and the warship he was on also suffered heavy losses. He reluctantly withdrew from the battle group, and it was Yang Wei's ship that came in to replace him.

Yang Wei was born in Yunxiao, Fujian, and was a naval family. He was familiar with naval warfare. His ancestors had followed Shi Lang to conquer Zheng Ming. After that, the Qing Dynasty's sea borders were peaceful for a hundred years. The foreign bandits in the southeast and Nanyang were not strong enough. He was promoted to deputy general at the age of forty more because of his family background and seniority. Rather than his outstanding military achievements.

"This Fu Han Army is really difficult to deal with."

They have too many cannons. Not only are artillery deployed in the stone pond near the Wusongkou, but also a series of cannons are deployed in the river. It is also that the Fu Han Army did not think of setting up defenses and obstacles on the Huangpu River. They still have to use them themselves. The military and civilians, the floating rafts, the Dragon King Cannons and the like were all put away. Otherwise, it would be a problem whether they can enter the Huangpu River today.

Yang Wei was fortunate that the incendiary bomb did not hit the vital part of the warship. It just broke a hole in the cabin.

"Boom, boom!"

The messy shells kept falling on or around the artillery positions. It seemed that each interval passed quickly in the blink of an eye. Most of the shells fired by the Qing army were solid shells, and there were very few shrapnel shells. The Qing army's technology for making shrapnel shells was not up to standard, and they did not use wooden shells and wooden fuses. The shell walls of the shrapnel shells were too thick, so less gunpowder was loaded, and the explosive power was far less than that of the Fu Han Army.

But the falling shells still caused considerable damage to the artillery positions at Shitang in Wusongkou, Dongwu on the Huangpu River. The most important thing was the psychological pressure. There were dozens of Qing warships on the river. No matter how powerful the cannons on those warships were, there were only two or three hundred cannons on dozens of warships, and there were one or two hundred cannons facing each other. The number alone was more than the artillery positions of the Fu Han Army at the East and West Shitang artillery positions in Wusongkou. Commander Tian Yuan felt lucky that except for the gun group that was unlucky to explode, the other cannons were still intact. Only some gunners and logistics soldiers who transported ammunition were killed or injured.

Every shell that fell nearby made the people on the entire position tremble with fear! The impact of the previous explosion was far from over.

Tian Yuan gritted his teeth and his face was tight. Whenever the Fu Han Army's cannons were loaded, he kept saying in his heart: "God bless! God bless. Don't get hit, don't get hit..." And when the Fu Han Army's cannons hit the Qing Army warships on the river, Tian Yuan would jump three feet high and shout loudly: "Well done, well done..."

Artillery battles are so nerve-wracking.

The Fu Han Army had just established a foothold in Wusongkou, and the artillery forts and forts had not been built, and the latter mainly used cement. But Tian Yuan knew that if nothing unexpected happened, he would have to switch to coastal artillery in the future.

This is a very fresh word, but the meaning is very straightforward.

Yang Wei had the same expression as him. He was also praying for God's blessing, but his warship was still hit by the shells. The real gap in strength cannot be made up by a "prayer".

The Daganzang ship where Yang Wei was was entangled in the main mast by a chain bullet. The iron chain connected to the two balls was deeply cut into the mast at a speed visible to the naked eye. Then everyone on the ship heard a loud "crack". The whole ship was violently shaken by the loud noise. The main mast, like an Optimus Prime, collapsed with a crash. But it was not broken completely. There were still some iron and wood stubs connected to the broken part. Then it was dragged by the canvas and ropes. The main mast was like a big burden hanging on the left side of the Daganzang ship. The burden of the Daganzang ship suddenly increased, and the ship was immediately immobilized.

Yang Wei was knocked down on the deck. When he got up from the deck, he first told the sailors who were rolling on the ground to quickly cut off the mast and the sail ropes. But just as he finished speaking, a sharp whistling sound came from far away. Four iron bullets only hit once, and three missed, making three big splashes, but then they were hit by shrapnel shells in succession.

Yang Wei was still shouting to boost morale, when suddenly the whole warship trembled violently, and a huge explosion ignited the fallen sail. Immediately, a sailor cried out: "Ah! It's hit! The sail is on fire..." And there was more than one. The good luck of the Qing army seemed to have come to an end. Two consecutive shrapnel shells hit the same position as the big Ganzeng ship, and immediately blew a big gap in the left side of the Ganzeng ship.

The side and deck were blown to pieces, and the sails were on fire.

Hot shrapnel shuttled back and forth on the left side of the ship, cutting the cabin in front of it and the gunners on the left and right gun positions into pieces like cutting tofu. Then the gunpowder barrels piled on the gun positions exploded.

A large ball of strong fire jumped up from the middle of the big Ganzeng ship, and the mixed wood chips and water waves were lifted dozens of meters high. I don’t know how many sailors were affected. One by one, the bodies were blown up on the spot, and the broken limbs were scattered everywhere.

The whole big Ganzeng ship was like a mung bean cake that had been bitten, a hideous-looking hole, and billowing smoke gushed out!

"Extinguish the fire, put out the fire quickly..."

Yang Wei was thrown to the bow, his head hit the deck heavily, and his whole body was like being run over by a car. He didn't know how many bones were broken. He didn't wake up for a long time, but the duty officer shouted loudly for people to put out the fire. Ganzeng ships are all made of wood, and the whole ship will be finished if the fire is not extinguished.

The explosion completely destroyed the four gun positions on the left side of the ship, and it was completely without combat power. The commander was unconscious, the ship was seriously damaged, and it was difficult to even follow Chen Liang to sail out of the Huangpu River.

Then, this large ship with low health was hit one after another in a series of artillery shells. The weak defense was completely unable to resist, and the entire hull was continuously opened with fatal large holes. The duty officer and others could only jump into the river with the unconscious Yang Wei to escape. In the end, with a series of explosions, the entire ship became the first victim to sink in this artillery battle. But this is definitely not the last one...

...

An afternoon and a night passed. At dawn the next day, the sunset shone on the Yangtze River estuary, and the water surface was still dim. From here to Zhoushan, the sea water of the one or two hundred miles of sea route is mostly muddy yellow.

Chen Ming did not let Yang Shijin turn back, but ordered them to continue to rush to Zhoushan.

Zhu Fu stood on Yang Shijin's boat, and the sea breeze made his bald scalp feel cold. Compared with many people who only cut off their braids and left the hair on the back of their heads, Zhu Fu shaved his head directly. Yang Shijin's large-sized Ting ship is twelve feet long. Compared with the sea ships Zhu Fu had experienced before, this large-sized Ting ship is definitely the largest. It is sailing at the forefront of the entire fleet with full sails.

Zhu Fu is wearing the uniform of the Fu Han Army, but he has no military rank. His current identity is the pilot of the fleet. He has been the pilot of the Fu Han Army fleet for many days, not just since yesterday afternoon. However, he is still not a regular member of the navy. Zhu Fu really wants to join this force.

Soon after the navy of the Fuhan Army arrived at Wusongkou, he was sent over by Chen Jigong. Yes, Chen Jigong had already revealed his identity to him, his father, and his brother. Zhu Xun could not forget his eyes that were so shocked that they almost bulged out.

I didn't expect it, I didn't expect it at all. Who among the three fathers and sons of the Zhu family would have thought that their proprietor, who had close ties with Jiangsu and Zhejiang official circles, would actually be a member of the Fuhan Army? This is so unexpected.

But immediately afterwards, the Zhu family and his son all became excited.

When Chen Jigong identified them, Chen Ming had already surrounded Fengsheng's army in Changzhou. The Fuhan army was gaining momentum. As expected, the Zhu family and his son had little loyalty to the Qing Dynasty, so they immediately "joined the gang." !

Zhu Xun led a group of "trustworthy" people in the fleet to Nanhui first, and then transferred from Nanhui to Wusongkou. Now they all have become pilots of the fleet. His father, Zhu Zhiwei, did not come with him to Wusong. Zhu Zhiwei also assisted Chen Jigong in Dinghai to prepare for the "response". But Zhu Zhiwei attaches great importance to Zhu Xun's 'deal'. This is a God-sent opportunity!

As long as they work well, the Zhu family and his son will be able to gain a foothold in the army.

The Fuhan Army saw an unlimited future. Everyone who joined in at this time had their eyes fixed on the 'future', wasn't it?

A glittering future!

And if you want to make achievements in troubled times, what better place than the military? Especially at sea, the Zhu family has inherent advantages. Zhu Xi was not very young yet, but he had traveled far and wide. If you join the Navy, wouldn't it be easy to make a successful career?

After leaving the Yangtze River estuary, the fleet headed straight for Yangshan.

The latter is the Pinghan of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Historically, when pirates wanted to harass the coasts of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, sailing ships would anchor at Yangshan to take shelter from the wind and collect water, and then decide where to plunder depending on the direction of the wind. Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Huangyan also met here to prepare for the Northern Expedition. However, they encountered strong winds and the fleet suffered heavy losses and returned without success.

Yangshan is an important route for sea routes, and it is also the place where Manchu and Qing naval forces from Jiangsu and Zhejiang meet for sea patrols. The Manchu and Qing Dynasties also deployed heavy troops here, but now all the soldiers on Dayang Mountain have been withdrawn.

If the navy led by Chai Daji came to Chongming from Zhoushan, Yangshan would be their only choice. Moreover, most of the Fuhan Army's fleet would not reach Yangshan and would collide with Chai Daji. The distance from Zhoushan to Yangshan is half closer than the distance from Wusongkou to Yangshan by the Fuhan Navy. Chai Daji set off so early again!

The Fuhan Army's huge fleet sailed along the south bank of the Yangtze River to Nanhui. Whenever they encountered fishing boats along the way, the local people were awe-inspiring. As soon as the brigade left the Yangtze River estuary, Yang Shijin ordered a warning. After walking forward in the yellowish water for another two hours, Yang Shijin was very surprised to hear the lookout report: several masts were visible on the horizon ahead. .

Although he could not immediately confirm that it was the Qing army, he still issued the order to turn the rudder, charge the cannon, and alert the rear team. Are those boats coming from the Chai Da Ji Department from Zhoushan?

The heat in Yang Shijin's eyes could melt steel. He held the telescope in his hands, and his finger joints were so white that there was no trace of blood. The distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer, and the two huge fleets 'reunited' in the northwest waters of Yangshan.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Yang Shijin was so excited that it was definitely Chai Daji. Finally there is a war to be fought! The entire navy is eagerly awaiting this battle. "Pass the order, our generation will rise and fall in this battle. Everyone must work hard to defeat the enemy in one battle!" Yang Shijin's voice changed with excitement. He must win the battle in front of him, kill the Qing navy in Zhoushan, wipe them all out, and show Lu Gong a victory in the battle. They are not trash!

Most of the subordinates of Chai Daji Department have new ships that have just been launched, although the guns are still old.

The one at the head was a No. 1 Tong Ansuo ship. The paint had only been dried for a few days. It was seven feet two feet long and one foot nine feet wide. It was equipped with 14 large and small cannons!

Shi Xinxiong stood at the bow of the ship, holding a telescope to look at the Fuhan Army appearing in the sea ahead. The red flag made it clear which fleet it belonged to.

He issued a flag and ordered the four warships at the back to catch up and launch together with the four forward ships around him.

The course of the Chai Daji Navy was from southeast to northwest. The eight forward ships and sea-going ships were preparing for battle. While waiting for the main force, they changed to a zigzag direction of due west - due north. In this way, the cannons on both sides of the ship can always be at the firing angle, and a high speed can be maintained. At this time, the southeast wind is blowing on the sea!

Two naval lieutenants, Chen Dai and Xu Youruo, commanded the subsequent fleet to form a "flying geese" formation, forming a "big mouth" to swallow the Qing navy, so that they could give full play to their superiority in ship artillery firepower.

In maritime naval warfare, the Fuhan Navy Naval Battalion was a novice. But what they dealt with was not the main force led by Huang Zhenggang, but only a partial division of Chai Daji's Zhoushan Navy - thirty warships. There were forty or fifty main warships dispatched by the Fuhan Army, all of which were big boats like Ting boats and bird boats. Plus some fast crab boats, they were at least twice the advantage of Chai Daji, and their artillery firepower was even greater. Take advantage. Yang Shijin just wanted to eat Chai Daji forcefully.

When the Fuhan Army's follow-up fleet had just deployed half of its fleet, there were muffled sounds of more than ten cannons in succession from the eastern sea. Chen Dai and Xu Youruo were both startled when they heard the sound, thinking to themselves, isn't the fight starting too fast?

Shi Xinxiong's face was livid at this time, because Chai Daji in the rear had ordered a retreat. "He's actually going to retreat at this moment?" Shi Xinxiong's mind was confused, and before he could finish thinking, several shells had already come with a whistling sound. One of them hit a small sampan boat more than a hundred meters south of him.

This kind of small boat is used for fire attack! Because the wind was blowing from the southeast on the sea, they had the wind in their favor. When Chai Daji left Dinghai, he specially towed fifty small sampans, filled them with hay and wood, poured grease, and sprinkled gunpowder, sulfur and other ignition materials.

Now in the flames, the small sampan boat was sunk by a cannon. Only a few broken wooden boards with burning hay were left floating on the water...