Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 2081

Holding the railing of the bridge, Schneider inspected the large and small ships moored on the river, and confirmed that they were all ready to go.

"Report to Command: Request permission to depart!"

Following his command, the signalmen played the semaphore.After a while, the signal from the direction of Longhua Temple came back.

"Signal from the headquarters: permission to go!" The report from the observation post was transmitted to the bridge.

"Raise the signal flag, the whole fleet sets off!"

The signal flag was hoisted on the mast.Captain Ruan Xiaowu calmly issued a series of orders: "Anchor!", "Left rudder 15 degrees!", "Advance one"... Suddenly, a puff of thick smoke erupted from the chimney of the Pearl River gunship moored by the river. , and then the clumsy bow slowly turned, heading for the center of the river.

With the mooring of the Pearl River, dozens of large boats and tugboats on the river sprayed out black smoke. For a while, the black smoke filled the river, and the sound of the machine roared. The Xijiang Detachment of the Pearl River Task Force set off.

It is said that it is a fleet, but in fact the only one that can be called a "ship" is the flagship Pearl River gunboat. In terms of the tonnage division standards of the Senate Navy, the Pearl River can only be regarded as a "boat", but in the inner river, it is not compromised. Do not buckle the "giant ship".In particular, the 130mm front-loading rifled gun on the exposed turret surrounded by steel armor on the bow is like a god on the river.

Surrounding this majestic thing is an inland river gunboat transformed from a big boat and a small boat.Although the modified gunboat is far less powerful than the inland gunboat on the drawing board, the power of the 30mm Hatchkiss five-barreled cannon and the 13mm typewriter installed on the open rotating turret on the ship is also terrifying in this time and space.

殿后的，是2艘621明轮拖轮改装的武装炮舰，其中1艘在船体中部位置设置了露炮台，安装了一门130mm前装线膛炮；另一艘则安装了2座30mm哈乞开斯五管机炮和4座13mm打字机的露炮塔。

1 river gunboat, 16 armed boats, and 2 armed tugboats, this is almost two-thirds of the strength of the West Detachment

Schneider picked up the telescope from time to time to search the river.In front of the Pearl River, several Daihatsu gunboats were used for reconnaissance.Bumping forward in the turbulent river water.The entrance of Lingyang Gorge is as wide as 1000 meters. After entering the canyon, the river gradually narrows, and the narrowest point is only 300 meters.The river was rushing and roaring in the narrow valley, and even a ship as nearly [-] tons as the Pearl River was bumping violently.

Fortunately, the water depth of the channel here ranges from 48 meters to 75 meters. Not to mention river gunboats with a draft of less than 1.5 meters, even battleships of tens of thousands of tons will not run aground.

The entire length of Lingyang Gorge is five kilometers. If it is a non-motorized boat, it is not uncommon to walk here for a day, but now the inland river fleet can pass through it in an hour.

For Schneider, the biggest danger is not so much the navy of the Ming army, but these armed large-engine boats with a displacement of only 30 tons: not only the tonnage is small, but the horsepower is also relatively small, and the maneuverability in the rapids will become very difficult. Poor, it is easy to be washed to the shore by the current and run aground on the rocks.Just yesterday, an armed boat of the fleet lost control and hit the rocks while escorting the reconnaissance team for reconnaissance.3 people drowned and 1 person is missing.

This can be regarded as the first casualty record of the Pearl River Fleet West Detachment, which made Schneider feel ashamed.The captain of the West Detachment of the Pearl River Fleet was his first position after he was promoted to lieutenant commander, and it was also the first time that he commanded a detachment independently.It is the first time to independently undertake regional operations, but also to cooperate with the combat operations of the [-]st Brigade, and the [-]st Brigade is commanded by veterans.

In the past, he was just a naval officer under the command of the veteran. Even if he became the squadron leader of a naval squadron or the captain of a 901-class battleship, he would only listen to the veteran's speech during the battle meeting, and only ask for opinions. Only then will he have the opportunity to "speak".

This time it will be very different.When the Army-Navy Joint Conference was held, Chief Zhu used a tone of negotiation rather than simple orders.Despite the great disparity in military rank between them, they are equal at the command level.

Who else can show his face like this besides himself!While Schneider is proud, he also feels a great responsibility.It is not rare for them to win battles, and it is simply more important to win beautifully.

"Keep speed." He ordered, "All ships pay attention!"

Because intelligence shows that at the junction of Dading Gorge and Lingyang Gorge, the Ming army gathered hundreds of nailed civilian ships, all of which were loaded with firewood, tung oil and gunpowder. It is indeed a great threat-the width of the river here is too narrow.

"At 2 o'clock, the Ming army was found on the towpath!" Following the report from the observation post, Schneider raised his binoculars and looked over. Sure enough, on the narrow towpath that appeared and disappeared from time to time among the mountains, several soldiers of the Ming army were walking Looking here.Suddenly, as if they had received some order, two of them turned their heads and headed towards the mountain, leaving only one to continue looking towards the river.

On the top of the mountain, a puff of black smoke rose into the sky.This was a beacon to warn Zhaoqing that the Australian warship was approaching.

"Sound the battle alarm, all ships are ready to fight!"

With the rapid sound of the siren, all the officers and soldiers on the Pearl River rushed out of the cabin and took their positions.The whole fleet continued to move forward at a cruising speed of 4 knots.

The total length of Antelope Gorge is only 5 kilometers, and at the speed of the fleet, it can be completed in about 1 hour.After entering the Dading Gorge, the river is wide and the water flow slows down, which is the time for the fleet to exert its maximum combat power.

The Ming army, which is already at a disadvantage in Zhaoqing, can only rely on Lingyang Gorge, the most favorable place at the right time and place, to resist the Fubo army!

Less than 4 kilometers away from them, at the mouth of the Dading Gorge, Cao Bajiao, the commander of the water post in Zhaoqing Town, the navy, felt chills all over his body.In the past few years in Zhaoqing, he can be regarded as a tyrant in Xijiang. He has killed water bandits, robbed merchants, and has done things like destroying people.Not to mention the commander of the navy, even Xiong Wencan pretended to be deaf and dumb.

Only a few months ago, in order to fight for a woman, they met the hard nails of the Australians on the pier in Zhaoqing, and dozens of brothers were beaten to death.Cao Bajiao only knew that the firearms of the Australians were powerful, but he didn't expect them to be so powerful!

It turns out that what my cousin said is true!Cao Bajiao recalled what his cousin Cao Xiangjiao had said when he followed He Zhen to recruit Australians and escaped after losing the battle. He thought he was bragging about the Australians to cover up his defeat.

Fortunately, this cousin has found another way since he escaped and was transferred to Nanjing as an errand.This bastard is clever!He cursed secretly in his heart.

It's better for me to fall on the fire attack ship to play the vanguard!
"Master, the smoke on the mountain has risen." A soldier reported.

"I'm not blind!" Cao Bajiao reprimanded impatiently, bored in his heart.

"Master Bing has already sent someone to remind him..." The soldier had to remind him carefully.

"If you keep talking, go to the first boat to fight the vanguard!"

Now the guards dared not speak.Cao Bajiao looked at the more than 100 fire attack boats in front of him—they were all civilian boats that had been forcibly confiscated on the Xijiang River in the past month or so. On the narrow canyon river, no matter how powerful the Australian firearms are, they may not be able to sink all the fireboats going down the river.More or less, a few ships can always be burned-this method is not bad.That master surnamed Chang is not an idiot.

But no matter how good the solution is, someone has to implement it, and this matter fell on Cao Bajiao's head as a matter of course-who told him to be the leader of the water whistle?As for the other general, his background was tougher than Cao Bajiao, so he led the navy ships to "follow and respond" behind him.

"I took care of your MB!" Cao Bajiao couldn't help cursing again when he thought of this.The water in Lingyang Gorge is deep and the current is fast. Even a person with excellent water skills will inevitably be washed away by the river and drown if he falls into the river.After igniting the fire and jumping into the river, it is simply impossible to swim upstream for a few miles and then climb onto the escorting teacher's boat. Besides, it is hard to say whether the Huang Ba will "respond" behind.He and Huang Bazong have always been at odds, because there is a deep conflict on the issue of how to divide the "filial piety" of the boat owners and the water bandits.

If he jumped out of the boat himself, he would be showing his loyalty if he didn't take the opportunity to hit him with a penny.

Most of the sailors on these more than 100 boats were temporarily recruited from Danhu——the quota for the entire water sentry is only 240 people. But he, the Water Whistle General, had to bring his few personal soldiers to die.This made Cao Bajiao especially unhappy.

At this time, another chess player came running from the camp and shouted loudly: "Why hasn't the fire attack ship set off yet? The town has an order: If there is any delay, it will be executed immediately!"

Stretching out the head with a knife, retracting the head is also a knife.Needless to say, Xiong Wencan was also staring at Zhaoqing Kuixing Tower in the distance. Don't look at the arrogant soldiers who don't take Xiong Du seriously. The enemy is now, after all, he is an important official of the imperial court to control the troops of the two provinces. Killing him is always just a matter of one sentence.Cao Bajiao was forced to have no choice but to order: "All ships lift anchor and set off!"

More than 100 private boats of different sizes slowly headed for the mouth of the gorge along the river.At first the current was not very fast, but when the river narrowed at the mouth of the gorge, some boats were pushed and pushed towards the middle by the river.

Fortunately, most of the boat drivers are Dan people who have lived on the water for a long time, and they are very experienced in navigating boats. They quickly controlled the boat and went downstream together.

Upstairs in Kuixing, Xiong Wencan put away the Australian telescope in his hand and nodded slightly.

Although the fire attack fleet was delayed, it still set off.This is a good sign--the military spirit is especially useful, and there is still a battle between him and the Kun thief.

(End of this chapter)