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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 489: Wanshan Islands

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    Although the troops began targeted landing exercises at the end of last year, they were all conducted offshore Fujian. On the way south after setting off from Quanzhou, the officers and soldiers of the Third Division still experienced a baptism of strong winds and waves.  Even though these southern soldiers had the experience of taking a boat, and later experienced some training at sea, they could not withstand the bumps. In addition, the space of the ship was small, and many of them became seasick.

    After several days of sailing, the fleet arrived at the Wanshan Islands outside Lingding Ocean. The Wanshan Islands are located just south of the Pearl River Estuary and are the only places that Guangzhou must pass through when going out to sea. The Wanshan Islands are stacked with mountains and towering mountains.  Humen's frontier is like giant ships stationed on the Pearl River Estuary, becoming a natural barrier in South China and an important gateway to Guangzhou.  The waterways between the islands are criss-crossed, and they are the only place for ships entering the port from Guangzhou, Zhuhai, and Hong Kong. The Wanshan Islands are at the heart of the sea waterways, and the terrain is dangerous, which is a battleground for military strategists.

    Without the preemptive occupation by the British and French fleets, Zhang Wenxiang's third division's first landing battle would definitely have broken out here. Unfortunately, when Britain and France blocked the Pearl River Estuary last year, the Wanshan Islands had already fallen. Now the British are guarding the islands.  Soldiers of the Marine Corps, and cruising in the waters of the Wanshan Islands are the British and French fleets.

    Therefore, as the vanguard force fighting south, the Third Division was the first to land on Junwei Island among the Wanshan Islands, which is Guishan Island.  Guishan Island is located in the northwest of Wanshan Islands and east of the Pearl River Estuary. It is a strategic hub for domestic and foreign ships entering and exiting the Pearl River Estuary and is a maritime transportation hub for the Wanshan Islands.  The island runs north-south, 3 kilometers long, 1.05-2.4 kilometers wide, and has a coastline of 9.40 kilometers.  The area is 3.5125 square kilometers.  There are 13 wells on the island, and springs flow from each mountain all year round.  Enough fresh water for tens of thousands of people to drink.  The island shore is more tortuous, with rocky steep shores and pebble shores, and near-shore reefs are scattered.  There are 15 bays along the coast, mainly Bay 1 and Bay 2, both of which are sandy beaches. There are three "T"-shaped piers built by the British in the bay, and there are recommended navigation light piles.

    Zhang Wenxiang, Zheng Yantuo and other members of the Third Division Headquarters followed the second batch of sampans and boats to land on Guishan Island.  The commander of the British Marines on the island was a naval captain named Georgia. He led more than 120 British troops to garrison the island.  They were not surprised by the arrival of the Taiping fleet.  As early as a week ago, they received the order to hand over Guishan Island to the Taiping Army.

    At the end of last year, amid rounds of quarrels and compromises, British Minister Baoling and French Minister Blomble had to give up their original conditions.  The King of the West never agreed to join forces with the British and French forces to fight against the Qing army.  Conditions for opening up the country were also rejected.  The King of the West only agreed to open Nanjing, Suzhou and Quanzhou as new trade ports.  The legalization of the opium trade was rhetorically rejected, and the Western King even threatened war to reject this provision.

    The British, who are now caught in the whirlpool of the Indian war, do not have much confidence to go to war with the Taiping Army. The Taiping Army controls almost all the important towns and ports on the southern coast. The British will lose a lot of interests if they go to war with the Taiping Army. They do not think that the Taiping Army is cowardly and corrupt.  The Qing army, relying solely on its navy and two thousand marines, could achieve its goal of bringing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to its knees.

    So Britain and France temporarily chose to give in, and the three parties initialed an agreement. It was just an agreement for the Taiping Army to go south to fight in Guangzhou.  The King of the West paid the price by opening three more trading ports and allowing British and French envoys to station in Tianjing.  In exchange for the British and French fleets that blockaded the Pearl River port, they gave up the right to occupy the Wanshan Islands.  At the same time, the two sides agreed that Britain and France would withdraw to the Hong Kong anchorage when the Taiping Army marched south to Guangzhou.  Not to interfere in the war in Guangzhou, the Taiping Army promised to restore order and trade in Guangzhou as soon as possible after occupying Guangzhou.

    Although the British were very dissatisfied with the results of this negotiation, they had no choice but to do so. They could not declare war on the Taiping Army in the Far East without suppressing the uprising by the Indian side.  The opinion of Grant, the commander of the British and French combined fleets, played a crucial decisive role. According to Grant, the Taiping Army was different from the decadent Manchu Qing army. Their performance in a series of battles against Russia such as Temple Street and Sakhalin Island  It has been proved that they are not weaker than the Russian army, and they are even stronger than the Russians. If they want the Taiping Army to surrender, the British and French forces must even be prepared to fight another war on the scale of Crimea, instead of just fighting back.  The 30,000 expeditionary force that captured India can be successful.

    Grant¡¯s assessment made it difficult for both the British Prime Minister and Parliament. Coupled with the opposition of the British Chamber of Commerce and the Rothschild family, the British compromised and temporarily backed down.  The British Chamber of Commerce is more concerned about the upcoming Shanghai-Nanjing Railway and Ning-Fuzhou Railway. The railway construction from Shanghai to Ningbo to Fuzhou is such a huge cake. Today¡¯s Taiping Heavenly Kingdom imports steel, hardware, weapons, etc. every year. It is also very rich.  business profits, and the import and export tariffs of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom are also very reasonable. There are no multiple taxes like the Manchu and Qing Dynasties before. Unpleasant disputes can be resolved quickly by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom government, without the ignorant pushback and avoidance of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties.  not seen, so members of the British Chamber of Commerce are notWilling to go to war with the Taiping Rebellion.  As for those dirty opium merchants, most of them were the nouveau riche in India, and the local British businessmen looked down upon them. Although the British businessmen occasionally engaged in opium trade, they valued their own country's business more.

    The Rothschild family firmly expressed their opposition to the war between Britain and the Taiping Army. Their reason was also very simple. The civil war between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Manchu Qing Dynasty must end with the victory of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. As the largest country in the Far East in the future, British merchants and Rothschild  The interest of the De family lies in handling business relations with this country.  The ambitious Taiping Army hopes to speed up the pace of national construction, which will inevitably bring more imports of goods and exports of raw materials. China's population is 400 million, which is a very large market. The Rothschild family is even willing to lend money to  The Taiping Rebellion came to end this civil war as soon as possible.

    At the same time, people also noticed a new member of the Rothschild family, a beautiful woman from the East, a former female general of the Taiping Army, and now the wife of Clifford, the youngest son of the Rothschild family.  The name is Li Xuanji.  Since arriving in the UK and holding a grand wedding with Clifford, Li Xuanji has entered the upper social circle of the British aristocracy.  Her English was taught by Clifford, and she spoke it very well when she was in China. There was no obstacle in communicating with the ladies and ladies of the British aristocracy.

    Li Xuanji¡¯s gentle and virtuous character, coupled with her profound oriental cultural background, enabled her to conquer the ladies and ladies with her personal charm in a short period of time.  Li Xuanji showed them beautiful Chinese embroidery, carvings, cloisonn¨¦ and other exquisite works of art. Soon Li Xuanji set off a wave of Chinese style in the upper class of British society, and gradually radiated its influence to the middle and lower classes.  At the same time, Li Xuanji's emotional narration helped the British understand the enlightenment of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the decadence and cruelty of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.  The Times even opened a column to tell the story of this female general of the Taiping Army (Li Xuanji once served as an official) and to introduce the deeds of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Li Xuanji's personal testimony dispelled some of the original untrue rumors about the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.  .  The Taiping Army was no longer a rebel in the eyes of the British, but a righteous force fighting for national independence and overthrowing tyranny. Moreover, the so-called Manchu imperial power was also imposed on them by the Manchus. In the eyes of the British, the barbaric Tatars were  should be overturned.

    With the efforts of all parties, British Prime Minister Palmerston and the British Parliament agreed to Bao Ling's suggestion and agreed to sign a temporary agreement to cede the Wanshan Islands, end the blockade of Guangzhou, and let the Taiping Army complete the occupation of Guangzhou.

    But this compromise was forced. The interests of the British were not fully realized, and it also laid hidden dangers for the subsequent war between the two sides.  But at least before the British resolved the Indian incident, the two sides maintained a friendly cooperative relationship.

    Georgia met Zhang Wenxiang on the beach. Zhang Wenxiang's military rank at this time was already Major General. Captain Georgia saluted him first. After Zhang Wenxiang returned the salute, he looked at the British soldiers behind him who were preparing to evacuate. He saw that they were neatly dressed and held their heads high.  Head, that pride leaped out.

    The handover ceremony was very simple, just completed by Georgia and several British officers together with Zhang Wenxiang and other Taiping generals.  The British built simple barracks and some facilities, but these were not enough for the Taiping Army to move south. Zhang Wenxiang ordered the landing troops to unload supplies as soon as possible, and then began to build barracks on the island, expand the wharf, and clear the landing site.

    That night, the British Army and the Taiping Army held a simple party, and soldiers from both sides competed in marksmanship and fighting.  The Third Division had experienced hundreds of battles, and Zhang Wenxiang selected the best soldiers to compete. Naturally, the Taiping Army defeated the British army, even drinking.  Early the next morning, the British warship Melville picked up more than 120 drunk British soldiers.

    After seeing off the British, Zhang Wenxiang found some local fishermen as guides and began to prepare to attack the Shajiao Fort and Dajiaoshan Fort at the Pearl River Estuary.  The Wanshan Islands are the gateway to Guangzhou outside Lingding Ocean, while the Shajiao Fort and Dajiaoshan Fort are the gateways to the Pearl River Estuary. Behind them are a series of forts along the Pearl River such as Humen.  To land and capture Guangzhou, these forts must be captured, and to capture these forts, the Shajiao Fort and Dajiaoshan Fort must be captured first.

    Shajiao Fort is located on Shajiao Mountain at the mouth of the Pearl River. On the opposite bank is the Dajiao Mountain Fort. During the First Opium War, these two forts were destroyed for a time and were later rebuilt and expanded.  Suffering from the poor artillery quality of the two forts during the First Opium War, the Manchu and Qing dynasties increased their construction. Now the two forts have a total of 64 cannons, including four Manchu and Qing 10,000-jin cannons and the remaining ten 8,000-jin cannons.  , and the rest are three-thousand-jin cannons, which are enough to cover the 3,600-meter-wide Pearl River Estuary.  There were more than 2,000 Manchu and Qing green battalions and regimental training horses stationed on each fort, which can be said to have been a huge investment.

    After resting for two days on Guishan Island, while the Third Division was gradually dividing its troops to take over the Wanshan Islands, Zhang Wenxiang and Navy General Tang Zhengcai discussed and decided to take advantage of the nightAttack these two forts by surprise.  (To be continued)
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