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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 238: The fish is dead and the net is broken

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    When the Taiping navy warship appeared in Chen Guotai's sight, he knew that he had been fooled. The solution to the siege of Shanghai was a trap carefully laid by the Changmao thieves. The Qing army's land division was not a big deal in the eyes of the Changmao thieves.  Threat, the long-haired thief regarded the Guangdong Navy as his biggest enemy from the beginning.  The Long-haired Thief and the Pseudo King of the West took great pains to set up this trap. From the first water battle at Wusongkou, the Long-haired Thief had been hiding the strength of his navy and letting the land division fight against the Qing army's land and water army section by section. His lure  The enemy's strategy is not to defeat you in one fell swoop, but to lure you into a trap step by step. When you come back to your senses and realize that you have been fooled, it is already too late.

    If Xiao Yungui knew Chen Guotai's idea, he would be extremely ashamed. The idea of ??using the siege of Shanghai as bait to annihilate the Guangdong Navy was a good one, but there were too many uncertain factors, especially when Jiang Zhongyuan and Li Tingyu  When several lines of Qing troops rushed to help, Xiao Yungui felt very uneasy for a time. It would have been better if he had known that he could capture Shanghai City as soon as possible.  Fortunately, the West Palace Taiping Army survived the subsequent Battle of Suzhou, and they were lucky. They captured the canal water bandits Zhao Shunping and others. The strength of the Taiping Army's navy greatly increased. Xiao Yungui's attack on Wu Song was also on his way back to Shanghai from Suzhou.  The strategy formulated was not something that was thought out early on.

    In fact, throughout the history of world wars, there is no shortage of perfectly planned battles in human wars. However, no matter how smart and calculating you are, you cannot control the overall situation of the battlefield. If you do not know how to adapt to changes, you can only be like Zhao Kuo, who is talking about war on paper.  , summoning a great defeat.  Xiao Yungui's initial strategic goal was to capture southern Jiangsu, use Shanghai as bait, annihilate the Guangdong Navy, and ensure the Taiping Army's water control rights in the Yangtze River Basin. Although there were many changes later, and he also encountered unexpected events such as typhoons and plagues.  changes.  In the end, through the adaptability of Xiao Yungui, Zuo Zongtang and others, this strategic goal was generally achieved, which was enough.

    Amid the roar of cannons, Chen Delin, Lai Zhenhai and other generals gathered around Chen Guotai and asked urgently for countermeasures. Chen Guotai waved his hands feebly and said: "Order the entire army to turn around and go back to the inland river to escape. Go to the bank of the long-haired thief first and the artillery can't hit it."  Wherever we go, we¡¯ll have a showdown with the long-haired navy master!¡±

    Chen Guotai's decision is undoubtedly the most appropriate at the moment, but all naval generals understand that the naval fleet is trapped in the Huangpu River.  As long as the long-haired amphibious army cuts off the land and water routes, the Guangdong Navy fleet cannot sustain it for long. Retreating from the inland rivers can only delay for a while, and sooner or later it will end in destruction.

    Lai Zhenhai gritted his teeth and said angrily: "Rather than sit back and wait for death, it is better to fight to the death. Brother Chen, leave a boat for me. I will fight hard to find the long-haired thief!"

    Chen Guotai smiled bitterly and said: "The cannons on the shore and on the battleships of the Longhair Bandits are fierce. Even if I give you a ship, I'm afraid you won't be able to fight."

    Chen Delin suddenly whispered: "Brother Chen, why don't we surrender? Now the Changmao is strong, so let's surrender the Changmao first and keep it useful. If the army comes back in the future, we will lead the troops again."  Anyway, that¡¯s fine, there¡¯s no need to lose your life here.¡±

    Lai Zhenhai said angrily: "Chen Yazai, what the hell are you talking about? You are alone and have nothing to worry about. Our family members are all in Guangdong. If we surrender to Changmao, our family members will be executed."  ! Do you think you are still a pirate now? Pirates only rob homes, and to put it bluntly, they are not rebels. Changmao is just raising the banner of rebellion. Do rebels always have a good end? Besides, you are so fast-paced, even if you do it again in the future.  Who dares to use you in the army?"

    Chen Delin was furious and was about to retort, but Chen Guotai shouted loudly: "No need to say any more! Order the entire army to turn around and get out of danger first!"

    Lai Zhenhai and Chen Delin glared at each other. Under Chen Guotai's pressure, they had no choice but to return to their respective ships to take command.  After receiving the general's order, the remaining red single ships of the Guangdong Navy turned around and sailed back. Fifteen of the thirty-eight red single ships were sunk by Taiping Navy and Army artillery, and the remaining twenty-three were all injured.  The entire crab fleet was wiped out, but there were only twenty or thirty small boats and sampans left, but they were all of no use.  Most of the soldiers and sailors were lost, injured soldiers could be seen everywhere on the deck, most of the grain transport ships were destroyed, and countless supplies and equipment were lost.

    Arriving on the river near Dongtang, Chen Guotai looked at the remaining soldiers and supplies reported by each ship, and felt a chill in his heart. There was not much food, gunpowder, lead, and lead bullets left, especially food.  The two remaining grain ships had only enough food for five days, as well as gunpowder and lead. They were afraid that they would all be used up in one more battle.

    When Chen Guotai was worried, the lookout shouted again: "The long-haired navy navy is chasing us!"

    Chen Guotai hurriedly looked back, and sure enough, the Taiping navy warship appeared in sight again.  On the Taiping Army side, Lu Shunde and Zhao Shunping saw the Qing Navy's retreat and evacuated upstream. After hurriedly packing up Ye Changchun's remaining warships, they sent someone to notify Chen Yucheng on the shore.  Coming after me.  Now that the Taiping Navy has won its first battle and its morale is high, it is time to annihilate the remaining enemies in one go.The king sent someone to inquire about the situation of the battle, and directly issued an order that if the navy was victorious, it must eliminate all evil and strive to annihilate the Qing navy in the shortest possible time. There may be changes later.  Lu Shunde and Zhao Shunping were in the midst of a killing spree, and with the orders of the Western King, how could they let go of this opportunity to beat up a drowned dog?

    Far away, the Taiping Army began to fire artillery. The two grain ships following behind were immediately enveloped by artillery shells. The artillery shells fell on the river and stirred up water columns soaring into the sky. They were about to be hit.

    Chen Guotai was full of anger and summoned all the sailors and soldiers on the ship to gather on the deck. He stood at the stern of the ship, licked his lips, and shouted fiercely: "Order the entire army to turn around and stop escaping. The long-haired thief is determined to win, and he won't  Let us go, the whole army turns around, we fight with the long-haired bandits! Our Guangdong Navy is all over the sea, how can we take these river bandits in our eyes on ordinary days? Now that the tiger has fallen on the plains and the dragon is trapped in the shallows, even if it is dead,  We have to fight to the death! Don't lose our reputation!" All the soldiers and sailors of the Qing Navy raised their weapons high and shouted angrily.

    At this moment, Chen Guotai personally beat the war drum, and the twenty-three Qing army red single ships turned around and came back, turning sideways to seize favorable terrain to prepare for the artillery battle.

    The red single ship is a remodeled ship that transports goods by sea all year round. The hull is large and solid. Each ship can mount twenty to thirty cannons. The smallest red single ship left in Chen Guotai's hands can also be equipped with cannons.  Twenty-two or twenty-three red single ships have more than 500 artillery pieces. Once this kind of firepower is unleashed, it is extremely terrifying.  Fortunately, the Huangpu River is far less wide than the Wusongkou Yangtze River.  The red single boats can only line up at most a dozen or so on the Huangpu River, which is two to three miles wide, and the rest of the red single boats are cruising in the rear.

    Lu Shunde saw the red ship turning around and preparing to form a line. Knowing that the Qing navy was going to fight to the death, he immediately ordered the fire ship to be the leader, followed by sand ships, sampans and other small boats. All the small boats attacked together, and the big ships formed a formation at the rear to confront them.  Boom cover.

    A fierce artillery battle between the two sides began. This time, Chen Guotai's navy had escaped from the ambushes of Chen Yucheng's artillery attack on the shore. Facing the Taiping Army's grain ships and merchant ships converted into warships, the fierce firepower of the red single ship was still  been promoted.  However, the Taiping Army's warship artillery was purchased from foreigners, and it was equipped with some explosive shells. It was much more powerful than the red ship's artillery, and its range was also longer. Therefore, the Qing army was better because the ship had more guns.  The victory of the Taiping Army was due to the powerful artillery, and the artillery of the navy on both sides fought evenly.

    What made Chen Guotai uneasy were the Taiping sand ships, sampans, boats and other small warships that rushed up as if they were desperate.  There has always been a water war.  Large and small warships cooperate best with each other.  Now the Taiping Army's small boats were swarming in, including many fireships. The large red ships had to use their artillery to deal with the small boats. As a result, they gradually became unable to suppress the Taiping Army's large ship artillery. Although the Taiping Army's large ship artillery fired every time  Only fire two shots, and then fire two more shots after a while.  But their artillery fires far, and the shells are so powerful that they will explode after hitting them. No matter how strong the red single ship is, it is still made of wood.  When it explodes, it creates a big hole.

    Today, all the small boats of the Qing army were lost in the First World War, and only the large red single boats were left to support themselves. The fireboats and small boats of the Taiping Army on the river were small and nimble.  The ship rushed past.  Chen Guotai had no choice but to order the remaining Qing army sampans, boats and other ships to attack.

    The man who led the remaining sampans and small boats was the Qing general Chen Delin. After receiving the order, Chen Delin did not rush forward. Instead, he ordered the small boats to continue to escape. He knew that the twenty or thirty small boats he owned were the ones heading forward.  Even one death would not be enough for the Taiping navy, so he planned to withdraw from the battlefield first and finally find an opportunity to surrender and save his life.

    Seeing Chen Delin leading the remaining boats to escape, Chen Guotai was furious and immediately ordered several red single boats cruising behind the formation to fire cannons to stop them.  When Chen Delin saw the big ship firing, he knew that Chen Guotai was angry, but he was already riding a tiger and couldn't get off, so he had to bite the bullet and order the boat to drive to the shoal, hoping to land as soon as possible.

    So the Qing army became lively. They were firing cannons from the front and back. The front ones were bombarding the Taiping Army warships, and the back ones were beating their own people.  Chen Delin finally brought more than ten small boats to the shore. The remaining small boats were sunk by the Qing army's own ships. The river was filled with the corpses of Qing army sailors, and some still alive were struggling and calling for help, but soon  He was shot to death by the Qing army on the red ship.

    Following the upstream, dozens of burning bamboo rafts and small boats came over. It turned out that Lin Qirong arrived with his pursuers. In the morning, he had arranged many bamboo rafts and small boats on the river. No one was controlling these boats, so he could only  Go down the stream.  When Lin Qirong was chasing the Qing army, he was afraid of being intercepted by the Qing navy, so he ordered people to release all the ships. Fang Zheng chased along the river and would always encounter the Qing navy.

    So behind Chen Guotai, a large area of ??burning bamboo rafts and small boats came downstream. If the Qing army's boats were still there, they could intercept these bamboo rafts and small boats. However, Chen Delin fled without a fight, leaving the Qing army's red single  The ship will directly face the attack of these fire ships.The Qing troops on the red single boats could only use cannons to block the bamboo rafts and small boats, but many unmanned bamboo rafts and small boats still broke through.  The army's fire net and bamboo pole array were attached to the sides of the red single boats, and several red single boats began to burn.

    With the Taiping Army's frontal boat fleet approaching, the battle seemed to have been won or lost.  After the two armies fought on the river for nearly an hour, twelve of the Qing's twenty-three red single ships were sunk, five were stranded in panic, and the remaining few were rushed to the front by Taiping sand ships. After a boarding battle,  Occupied by the Taiping Army, a twists and turns of the inland water war came to an end.  Due to the desperate counterattack by the Qing army in the end, the Taiping navy was also seriously damaged. Both sides suffered losses in a life-and-death battle.  To be continued, please search Piao Tian Literature, the novels will be better and updated faster!
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