Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 2083

"Stop shooting! Close the ammunition depot! All ships pay attention to observation! Prepare for collision and fire fighting!" Schneider issued an order.On the Pearl River, the gunners put the ammunition of the guns into the fireproof bomb box to prevent sparks from falling and igniting.

Several sailors wearing life jackets and safety ropes were holding pennies with hooks on both sides of the bow, ready to push the fireboat away.

The sound of the guns stopped completely, and the leading gunboat began to pass through the first wave of fire attack ships. Under the double devastation of shelling and burning, the density of the fire attack ships was much thinner, but the sailors on the gunboat still had to use bamboo The pole pushes away the approaching fire attack boat.Some fire attack ships have even encountered gunboats.However, the quick push of the sailors made it too late for the fire to spread over - there were no flammable items such as sails on the steam engine-powered gunboat.Some sparks burst out, and the few fires that fell were quickly extinguished by the sailors waiting in battle.

More dense fire attack ships floated down, and with the push of the sailors' pennies, one by one floated past the ships, the thick smoke and high temperature of the flames scorched the fleet.Sailors have put on activated carbon masks.

Although the smoke was lingering, he could still see through the binoculars some casually dressed natives running along the towpath. Obviously, they were spies sent by the Ming army to observe the effect of the fire attack.

That's about the trick.Schneider thought.

Fire attack ships drifted past the side of the Pearl River ship one after another. The sailors yelled and pushed the pennies vigorously. kindling.It was a bit of a mess, but it didn't do any damage.

Several gunboats were hit hard by the fire attack boat because they couldn't dodge in time, and they couldn't be separated for a while.The gunboat next to it quickly came to help drag the fire attack ship away.

Xiong Wencan listened to the sound of artillery in the distance. The sound of the artillery ten miles away was somewhat vague, but he listened very carefully, trying his best to judge the situation of the battle from the sound of the artillery.

The pond newspapers kept coming in: the navy had launched the fire attack ship of the chief Cao Bajiao;

Every time these fuzzy newspapers were delivered, the masters of the shogunate would eagerly take them after Xiong Wencan read them. Several people gathered together to discuss, as if they wanted to see bad news for the bandits from this few words.

A few people would even stroll to the side of the wooden figure, meditating, as if they still had strategies in their hearts.

Only Xiong Wencan himself is very clear that these masters are just as helpless as himself.Apart from counting on the fire attack boat to win a big victory, there is no trick to deal with the Kun thief.

He remembered that Chang Qingyun once suggested that he make "Jiangjianglong" and other mines, which can not only be used to block the river, but also float down the river.However, under the auspices of Chang Qingyun, several sea mines were trial-produced according to the pattern of "Wu Bei Zhi". It was either that the incense head caught fire - either sooner or later; , It was sealed so well, and the fire inside was simmered out.Whether it is hanging a lot of money or adding cane and sticks, the craftsmen can't make satisfactory things, and occasionally they can make a usable one. Two or three catties of gunpowder can't even explode a thicker ship plank.If more gunpowder is added, it becomes another problem to keep the mines floating on the water.

It is always said that Australians are nothing more than "extraordinary skills and ingenuity", but at this moment, he hopes that there will be a few "extraordinary skills and ingenuity" among the craftsmen!

These trash!They only know how to spend and receive money, and if they do something bad, they will kowtow and beg for mercy!Xiong Wencan once wanted to chop off the heads of a few craftsmen to make an example, but in the end, Chang Qingyun persuaded them to let it go, but everyone beat them with eighty army sticks, demanding that the county magistrate pay back the wages.

Waste is waste, there are not many craftsmen who can make firearms, so he has ordered these craftsmen and their families to be escorted on board and shipped to Wuzhou in advance.

Chang Qingyun also silently listened to the sound of the cannons. The dull ones were the Australian naval cannons, and the continuous ones were their fast cannons.Needless to say, it was the navy of the Kun thief who was attacking the ship with fire.

He is more knowledgeable than ordinary masters, knowing that fire attack boats are useless in open waters, but the Antelope Gorge is narrow and has the advantage of being smooth, so he feels that there is still hope.

As long as they can burn down a few of the Kun bandits' ships, it will show them how powerful Daming is, and they won't be so arrogant in future negotiations!At this time, Chang Qingyun didn't even think of the words "defeat the Kun thief".In his opinion, this is impossible, only if they have to pay a considerable price every time they win a battle, can the Kun Thief make peace with Daming.

"The platform, the sound of gunfire has stopped." An aide said.

Xiong Wencan nodded slightly, indicating that he knew.From the Kuixing Pavilion, you can see the black smoke in the direction of Lingyang Gorge. It is obvious that the fire is very big. Could it be that the enemy ship has been ignited?With such thoughts in mind, the staff watched nervously.

Another pond report was sent: black smoke filled the river, and the fire was soaring into the sky, all the boats of the gangsters were caught in the fireworks...

"Okay!" Xie Shiming was the first to applaud, "Congratulations to Mr. Taiwan! All the boats of the gangsters must be on fire!"

At this time, like a stone stirring up a thousand waves, the staff and generals all over the room stood up one after another, echoing with them.

"The master of Taiwan is far-sighted, chatting and laughing, and the gangsters are wiped out!"

"The resurrection of Zhou Yu and Kong Ming is nothing more than that!"

"That's wrong! Do Cao Bing have giant ships with fast guns? Zhou Yu and Kong Ming are far inferior!"

"The Kun bandit claims to have been undefeated in a hundred battles since he raised his army, but today he was finally defeated by the army!"

……

The atmosphere in Kuixing Pavilion also changed from dignified to quite relaxed, only Chang Qingyun did not speak.He is very clear: "Fireworks over the river" may not necessarily be Australian ships burning.Because the Australian warships had guns and gunpowder on board, the Tang newspaper only said "fireworks filled the river", but there was no sound of gunpowder exploding here, indicating that the warships of the thieves had not been damaged.

Xiong Wencan also had a happy expression on his face, but he is an important official in the frontier, he pays attention to not showing his emotions and anger, he only twitches his beard without saying a word, and ordered to send someone to find out the truth.

"NND," Schneider cursed, the smoke from the burning fire attack ship made him almost unable to open his eyes, the visibility became very poor, the burning straw was blown up by the wind and turned into sparks all over the sky, if it wasn't for The ammunition box had been ordered to be closed in advance, and the propellant might be ignited by sparks.

Mars ignited many cloth products on the ship. Although the canvas sails had been stowed before entering the battle, many holes were burned in the signal flags on the Pearl River.

Schneider paced on the bridge, trying to observe his surroundings.He was very worried that the thick smoke blocked his vision, which not only shortened the reaction time for ships avoiding fire, but also made him unable to see the situation of each ship clearly.

"Be careful to put out the fire!" Ruan Xiaowu gave the order while paying attention to the river. Now there are burning ships everywhere on the river. The collision will cause a large number of burning straws on the fire attack ship to be knocked off the ship, and sometimes the scattered straw fire can even fall on the whole deck.

Fortunately, although the straw fire is very prosperous, its staying power is not strong. As long as the sailors beat it in time, it will soon turn into black fly ash.

However, this was already dangerous, and beads of sweat began to appear on Ruan Xiaowu's face, and he kept shouting orders.

The emergency siren of a ship in distress came from the smoke, and Schneider was anxious for a while. Judging from the sound of the siren, there were probably 2 to 3 gunboats on fire. However, he could only know the approximate position of the ship in distress based on the sound. It is unclear which ships are in distress and what the situation is like.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew away the black smoke that shrouded the canyon. Only then did Schneider see the situation around him clearly. There were burning and floating fire attack ships all around. Some of them had already run aground on the shore. Some collided with each other and tangled together while drifting, becoming burning fires one by one.Slowly turning along the river, drifting downstream.

Schneider's heart suddenly sank. A No. 67 Daihatsu gunboat in the leading team was surrounded by several fire attack ships. The fire had already engulfed the front deck. The sailors stood on the bridge and Flames were flapping desperately on the turret.However, the flames became more and more violent, almost approaching the middle cab.

"Send a signal and tell No. 67 to abandon ship!"

Although he was reluctant, the matter had come to this point, and any further rescue efforts would only cost the lives of the sailors in vain.He secretly resented that it would be nice if these small boats also had the radios of the big warships, so that he could keep track of the situation of each ship instead of just relying on semaphore and light signals.

"Bastard!" Schneider scolded. He saw that No. 41 boat was also on fire, but he was still fighting, so he quickly ordered, "Order No. 41 to abandon ship! Quick!"

No. 41 had been pulled out of the jumble of burning ships by nearby gunboats, but she was engulfed in flames from head to toe, and her captain and sailors tried to save the boat. A small piece of the back deck was desperately beating the flames.Several gunboats nearby also leaned in, and some sailors lowered their pumps to put out the fire with water hoses.

Suddenly, a white light flashed in the middle of gunboat No. 41, and then a violent explosion sounded across the river—the ammunition exploded!The violent explosion tore the hull to pieces, and in an instant, all the parts of the gunboat above the waterline disappeared.A piece of the exploded hull slammed on the deck of the Pearl River, and white smoke was still rising.

The captain and sailors disappeared in the flames of the explosion in an instant, and an arm fell from Schneider's eyes into the river.

"Signal to the ships behind: Pay attention to salvage the remains of the martyrs!" Schneider clenched the handrails on the bridge and ordered loudly.

　PS: Section 269 of Volume [-] - Guangzhou Governance will be updated next time

　　Recently, it involves the modification of the physical book, and the update is irregular.Book friends please forgive me!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)