Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1298
The South Fort of Algiers was covered by the fierce artillery of the United Fleet. About every 2 minutes, hundreds of shells fell on the fort, making the city wall where the fort was located tremble!

The iron-clad ship General Fubo was driven as close as possible to the fort, and fired close to the coastline!
If it weren't for the fear of being stranded, the ironclad ship could even bombard it face-to-face!
The cannons on the Algiers fort could not penetrate the armor of the iron-clad ship. Often, even if the shells hit the iron-hull of the iron-clad ship, it would only shock the iron-clad ship and leave a small dent in the armor layer.

"Damn, what kind of devil is that! I counted carefully, we have at least six shells hit it! But now it is still unscathed!" The pirate leader in charge of observation and command on the fort saw the front The ironclad ships basically ignored the artillery and carried out shelling suppression, and they couldn't help but feel their scalps tingling.

Under the cover of the dense artillery of the United Fleet, soldiers from the Far West Dispatch Army and the Marine Corps took advantage of the high tide to storm the fort in shallow water gunboats!

The loading of artillery requires cumbersome and complicated operations. Skilled artillerymen and unskilled artillerymen can make a significant difference in the firing speed of artillery, and the difference can even be doubled.Even for skilled artillerymen, it took a while to reload the gunpowder and shells, which gave the opportunity to land on the beach.

The closer the shallow water gunboat is to the sea, the higher the probability of being hit by the fort. One ship was hit by artillery and ran aground on the shoal. The soldiers on it jumped into the water and moved towards the beach with their muskets raised.

The two sides fought fiercely around the South Fort, and the sound of gunfire echoed on the beach.

The only time to seize the fort is when the tide is high. If they miss the high tide, they will be left on the beach and cannot be evacuated.

There was constant musket fire on the beach, and pirates and beachgoing soldiers were killed from time to time!
"Our soldiers have not experienced such a fierce battle for a long time. The war in the east has gradually subsided. Among the infantry, only the No.12 regiment in Nanyang has been fighting for a long time. The indigenous kingdoms they are facing are not even as good as the artillery of these pirates. Ferocious." Zheng Zhibao said to Sun Xu while observing the battle on the beach with a telescope.

"For our officers and soldiers, this is a sharpening, to sharpen the edges and corners of our officers and soldiers." Sun Xu was also observing the situation of the beach landing.

The pirates' turrets were used to attack the shallow water gunboats, while the large warships of the United Fleet were not attacked.

In order to avoid hitting their own soldiers on the beach, the warships of the United Fleet also slowed down their artillery suppression on the fort.

Next, let's look at the contention between the two sides on the beach.

On the deck of the Sea Monarch, Prince Rupert looked at the Far West Expeditionary Army and the Marine Corps who were desperately fighting for the fort, and said to the Earl of Stratford beside him: "Their soldiers have strong discipline and combat effectiveness, even the Swedish The mercenaries may not be able to compare with them, maybe they can successfully capture the South Fort, so that we can continuously transport soldiers to land."

"No, it's too difficult to capture the South Fort. Our shallow water gunboats are too small to suppress the artillery on the fort. Moreover, the Barbary pirates are the most effective force in North Africa. Ships. Now we have only about [-] troops ashore, and the time for high tide is so short..." Sir Pennington was not very optimistic about capturing the South Fort.

"Are the Barbary pirates really that powerful?" Prince Rupert from the Holy Roman Empire had only heard about the Barbary pirates, and hadn't really fought them.

"They say they are pirates, but they are actually an independent maritime kingdom. More than 20000 pirates have been blocked in Algiers. Our attack is going to cut them off. Do you think they will go all out?" Sir Pennington said. He explained, "The pirates in Algiers and Morocco are much closer to the Spanish Empire than the Ottoman Empire. Why don't the Spaniards want to provoke them? Because these pirates bought and robbed a large number of artillery and guns from various countries, and they have their own Ships, many with lives lost, are desperadoes."

Sir Pennington's judgment was not much wrong. Algiers was regarded by the pirates as an important stronghold for them. The militia recruited temporarily must also be well-trained, second only to the standing army.

After Murat Pasha learned that the South Fort was being attacked by the United Fleet, he personally led a 500-man guard to support the South Fort. He even took out one-tenth of his property and hired a large number of pirates to defend the South Fort together. .

The number of pirates in the South Fort reached an astonishing 2000, more than ten times the number of troops who landed on the beach!
In order to plunder armed merchant ships, these pirates usually have their own muskets, and those with poor equipment also have bows and arrows. Some pirates even brought small artillery over to strengthen the defense of the South Fort.

After Murat personally sat in the South Fort to supervise the battle, the morale of the pirates was high!

The pirate general Amur led the pirate galley fleet in the harbor to support the South Fort from the sea, and the artillery on the pirate Arabian dhows and the Calais ship fired at the shallow water gunboats rushing to the beach.

This fleet of pirate galleys continued to suffer losses due to bombardment by the United Fleet, but it still wanted to eat the shallow water gunboats that grabbed the beach.

Sun Xu and Zheng Zhibao didn't expect the Barbary pirates to be so ferocious, and the troops who rushed to the beach were unable to capture the fort, but were in danger of being eaten by the pirate fleet and the fort defenders.

"It would be great if the armored ship could run on land with long legs. With the armor and artillery of the iron-clad ship, it can easily capture the fort..." Zheng Zhibao couldn't help but sigh with emotion when he saw the deteriorating battle situation.

The importance of the navy is self-evident, but it is still unable to play a decisive role in the battlefield.

When encountering forts and fortresses, infantry are still required to go up and attack.

This is also where the confidence of the Barbary pirates in Algiers lies.

No matter how many large warships the United Fleet has, if they can't get ashore, they still have nothing to do with them, a group of pirates.

Moreover, the United Fleet needs to consume a lot of supplies every day it stays, and the approaching winter makes the storm more difficult.

As long as the combined fleet leaves, Murat is still the supreme pasha here, and the pirates can still traverse the Mediterranean.

"The high tide is about to pass, and the soldiers attacking the fort are ordered to retreat, so that they cannot be trapped on the beach." Sun Xu said helplessly.

Sun Chuanting, who was commanding the soldiers to fight at the South Fort, saw the combined fleet signal to retreat, so he had no choice but to retreat to the shallow water gunboat with the soldiers who began to fight with the pirates at the South Fort.

Soldiers who used breech-loading muskets retreated in squads to cover the retreat, and even killed many pirates during the retreat.

(End of this chapter)