Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 2082 On Antelope Canyon
What Xiong Wencan is most worried about is that the army is "fearful like a tiger".He has felt this way since he came to Zhaoqing to take over the seal, especially the remnant soldiers who fled and redeemed from Qiongzhou couldn't hear the word "kun thief".If the word "beat" is said, everyone will shake their heads.Speaking of thieves, it's nothing more than the clichés of "the ship is strong and the guns are powerful", "the brave is not afraid of death", "the equipment is excellent"... these, Xiong Wencan has almost heard calluses in his ears since he took office.

At first he thought it was just an excuse for the defeated general to hide his defeat—it has been the same since ancient times.However, as time passed, especially after Chang Qingyun came to his screen, he realized that what he said was true.In particular, the Kun bandits made a surprise attack on the Zhongzuo Office and defeated the imperial court in one fell swoop. The Zheng Zhilong Group, the most prosperous navy and army in the southeast, not only razed the Zhongzuo Office to the ground, but also beheaded Zheng Zhilong.Only then did Xiong Wencan have a clear understanding of the strength of the Australians.

So he never really considered how to fight against the bandits militarily, but more about "appeasing".

Xiong Wencan made his fortune by recruiting Zheng Zhilong, but was ruined by recruiting Zhang Xianzhong.Encouragement has always been the "panacea" for dealing with all kinds of rebels.Therefore, shortly after he reorganized the Guangdong Ming Army, he began to appease the Kun bandits.

However, a few months ago, Chang Qingyun negotiated with Zhen Kun who sneaked into Zhaoqing, but was flatly rejected by the other party.

Not only that, but the other party also clearly reminded him that the Senate is about to enter Guangzhou, if he wants to keep his official position, he should be transferred early and leave.

Naturally, Xiong Wencan would not run away just because of Kun thief's words.He knew that the Australians were by no means menacing people, but according to the speed at which the officers and soldiers were fighting, if he were to mobilize two large armies to suppress Qiongzhou, it would take at least eight months to a year to prepare; It is absolutely impossible to rely on thousands of elite soldiers to set off from Hainan. It is absolutely necessary to "sweep the ground and become soldiers" in Qiongzhou, coerce the people, and then organize and train them into an army. It will never be less than half a year.

So he made some preparations: many cannons were cast in Foshan; many firearms were newly made-many of which were newly made according to military books and atlases presented to the court by literati and generals from various places; post.An additional 5000 people were hired in Danhu to supplement the navy in and around the Pearl River Estuary.

Including the safety of Zhaoqing itself, he did not forget: the first batch of Hongyi cannons with new mopan cannon mounts were installed at the mouth of Lingyang Gorge.Not only a fort was set up at the east entrance, but also according to the suggestion of a general who was defeated in Humen that year, a sentry guard was stationed beside the fort.

Lingyang Gorge not only has a fort at the east entrance, but also set up a fort and a sentry battalion at the west entrance near Zhaoqing Fucheng. Originally, he planned to set up two more forts at Jiajiang in the middle of the canyon. However, people who sent people to see it said that the project is huge. .Although the mountains on both sides of Lingyang Gorge are not cliffs, it will take a few years to transport the Hongyi cannon weighing several thousand catties to the top of the mountain where there is no road, and then build it into a fort.

In order to guard against the possibility that the thieves might not take the waterway but the dry road, he set up a new camp on Beiling Mountain in the northwest of Zhaoqing City, and sent a sentry to guard the canyon and mountain roads.

Unexpectedly, they came so quickly!And the armaments at the Pearl River Estuary that he invested a lot of money and food to rebuild were completely useless: the defenders surrendered all the way, not only the Humen Fortress was not fired, but even the city of Guangzhou was opened without blood.The more than 1000 horsemen under his guerrilla training team that he had painstakingly rebuilt, went directly to Kun.The guerrilla training took only a dozen soldiers and servants to escape.

Xiong Wencan secretly regretted it.My own so-called strategy of "calmly arrange and resist step by step" turned out to be a painting!
It is useless to regret now.Now that Guangzhou has been lost, Zhaoqing has waited for the place that must be defended.

However, it was no longer possible for him to prepare calmly at this moment.Facts have proved that his estimate of the advancing speed of the Fubo Army was also wrong.After the Fubo army entered Guangzhou, they hardly stopped at all, that is, they did not "rest for a whole day", nor did they "sweep for three days". They passed through the city almost non-stop, and came straight to Zhaoqing.From the mouth of the official Jinshen who fled from Guangzhou, he learned that the Fubo army was traveling up the river by boat without stopping. It took only three days for the Fubo army to arrive at Lingyang Gorge.

However, Zhaoqing's troops were not large, and Luo Ding's two mountain ginseng could not be mobilized in a hurry to help defend in the future.Only the Zhaoqing Naval Battalion has been established.Even the personal servants of himself and the generals and officials who fled from Guangzhou and other places, and the local guards who can use it... all add up to only more than 2000 people.There are also 1000 Danjia Shuiyong people.

According to Tang Bao, the Kun army gathered in Lingyang Gorge was no more than 3000 people, and there were hundreds of naval ships of all sizes.Several of the large ships have "big cannons". Obviously, letting the navy fight on the river will undoubtedly fail.So the idea of ​​"fire attacking the ship" once again became the consensus of the generals of the Ming army.

Xiong Wencan could not help but let out a sigh of relief as he watched the Huogong fleet set off in a mighty manner.Whether Zhaoqing can hold on, success or failure depends on it.

According to his order, part of the navy's fleet followed the fire attack ship. Once the fire attack ship disrupted the thieves' navy, they took the opportunity to cover up and kill them down the current. Attacking ships cannot break through the enemy's last line of defense on the river.

"Master Taiwan, it is useless for these division ships to stay on the river," Chang Qingyun remonstrated in a low voice, "If the fire attack ships cannot destroy the enemy, these division ships will be as vulnerable as chickens and dogs. Why not the whole army Press on, take advantage of the momentum of the fire attacking the ship, and fight with the current, maybe there is a chance of winning..."

Xiong Wencan only twirled his beard and smiled, but said nothing.Chang Qingyun couldn't figure it out.I had no choice but to step aside.

Only Xiong Wencan's generals in the Chinese army know the mystery. These ships are to buy time for Governor Xiong to escape.As soon as the Kun bandits approached the city, he immediately abandoned the city and boarded a boat for Wuzhou.However, although the prepared boat has three squads of strong oarsmen to replace it in turn, it is going upstream, and the movement is inevitably slow. If there is no naval warship to block such a block, I am afraid that if you cannot get out of the Dading Gorge, you will be caught by the bandits. Captured alive.

"Enemy ship found! Bearing 265, distance 4 chains, heading 75, speed 7 knots!" the lookout post reported loudly.

In fact, even if he didn't report it, Schneider had already seen the exposed mast in the telescope.

"It's really coming out to fight!" He muttered to himself, his body tensed up just like every time he was about to enter a battle.He raised the binoculars and adjusted the focus: the first boat appeared in the eyepiece, a small rice boat that is common on the Xijiang River, with bamboo bundles on the bow and covered with mud.The water line is kept low.

Then, a second ship, a third ship, and a fourth ship appeared beside it... Countless ships rushed over, and instantly the river was full of big and small boats.Hanging the sails and paddling the oars, they went down the current and crashed into the fleet.

Schneider's scalp was slightly numb.The river here is narrow, and he is in the upstream, so there is very little room for maneuver.Only catch the difference in distance, and destroy the enemy ship as much as possible at a long distance.

Schneider ordered: "Formation heading 270. Speed ​​5 knots, ready to fight."

Ruan Xiaowu issued a shooting command: "Grenade, reload!" The gunners loaded the shells and silk powder packages into the chambers with push rods.The gunners turned their handwheels, and steam burst from the cracks in the pipes, and the huge wine bottle-shaped barrel was raised.

"Filled!"

The rangefinders kept reporting the distance to the enemy ship: "3.5 chains! 3 chains!"

The distance was reduced to 3 chains, and Schneider ordered: "Shoot!"

The battle flag of the Pearl River was hoisted to the top of the mast, the main gun on the Pearl River shook violently, and a ball of flames was ejected from the muzzle. Due to the extremely small tonnage of the Pearl River, the recoil of the artillery and the vibration caused the gunboat to retreat violently. , aroused a huge splash.

The cannonball roared in the air and drew an arc. Ruan Xiaowu held a stopwatch in his hand and observed the landing point with a telescope.

There was almost no need to aim, and the grenade landed accurately among the densely packed fire boats on the river. There was a flash of red light, and a jet of water dyed yellow rose into the air.

Ruan Xiaowu immediately corrected the impact point data.

"Based on the Pearl River, Suijiang fires. Grape bombs!"

在编队尾的1艘621改装武装明轮船上的130mm主炮以大仰角状态跨射，炮弹掠过舰队，130mm葡萄弹带着呼啸声凌空而至。随后在半空中爆裂开，将每个1磅总计27个铁制弹丸向江面无差别的喷射出去。

In an instant, iron bullets swept across the hull. Where the bullets passed, shattered planks, masts, sails, and sailors' heads and bodies flew around, and the scorching shells ignited and covered with tung oil and gunpowder. straw, the cabin ignited a fire, and then sank due to the influx of river water...

"What the hell is this..." Cao Bajiao, who was standing on the deck of the last ship, saw it clearly, and couldn't help but secretly startled.He shrank his neck involuntarily.However, the second cannon shot followed, this time the shells landed closer, and the roaring bullets swept across the river again.The whistling projectiles shot down from the air, once again harvesting the ships on the river.At this time, Cao Bajiao's heart was broken, and he no longer had the intention to "command in the middle". He took his men down to the small boat at the stern, cut off the cable, and fled towards the bank of the river—he dared not go in the direction of Zhaoqing. , If caught, they will be beheaded.

"The distance is 2 chains!" With the sound of the observation post, Schneider ordered: "All ships are free to fire!"

At a distance of less than 400 meters, it is already an effective range for a 30mm rapid-fire gun or a 13mm typewriter, let alone a surface target, and it does not matter how large the spread of the projectile is when it is shot at a high elevation angle.

Dense lead bullets rained down on the Huogong ship in an instant, instantly tore the bamboo handle shield arranged on the bow, and ignited the straw in the cabin. , The out-of-control fireboats collided with each other and drifted along the river all the way to the fleet.

(End of this chapter)