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Volume One: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 492: Unexpected Conflict

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    The British naval commanders on the Woerda were stunned. Grant was a little unbelievable. The Taiping naval fleet actually dared to raise the red flag representing war?  Don't they know that the strength of the two sides is very different?

    Colonel Grant was very angry. The thick brown beard on his lips kept trembling. He was obviously extremely angry. He said loudly: "General, these yellow-skinned monkeys should be taught a lesson!" So did several other naval officers.  With angry faces, they felt angry as if they had been humiliated.

    The Far East Navy of the British Empire seems to have suffered setbacks one after another recently. Since the failure of the attack on the northern ports of Russia, the British Far East Fleet has been suffering from humiliation.  After the Nissan incident broke out, the British navy blocked the city of Guangzhou and bombarded it. They wanted to vent their anger, but they didn't expect that this time the Qing government didn't know what was wrong and actually agreed to the British and French requests and let the British and French ministers  Go north to Dagokou for negotiations.  As a result, the British navy ended the bombardment of Guangzhou and hurriedly escorted the delegation north. As a result, the negotiations broke down, the coalition fleet suffered a defeat at Dagu Pass, and the fleet was forced to withdraw to Shanghai.

    The bad luck has not dissipated. After returning to Shanghai, Britain and France finally decided to send a large-scale expeditionary force to conquer the Qing Dynasty. When Grant led the fleet back to Hong Kong, the British navy in the Far East Fleet thought that this time they would always be proud and proud.  I'm back.  Unexpectedly, before the expeditionary force reached Hong Kong, news of a major uprising broke out in India. Regardless of whether the expeditionary force could come, Grant even had to dispatch some of the Far East Fleet ships to rush to India for support.

    After its strength was severely weakened, the British fleet had no choice but to blockade the Pearl River Estuary.  However, Ye Mingchen's strange proposal of using Guangdong Province to protect itself and exchanging trade for peace was actually approved by Bao Ling, and both parties maintained great restraint.  Keep each other's activity areas, but do not attack each other across the border.  As a result, the British Far East Fleet felt even more aggrieved. They didn't even have the chance to bombard Guangzhou City to vent their anger.

    The waters outside the Pearl River Estuary have always been the area where the British fleet operates. The purpose of Grant's trip with five warships today was just to watch the Taiping Army and Navy fight against the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but he knew that this request was not approved by the Taiping Army beforehand.  But he doesn't care. The British fleet is running rampant in the Far East. Where does it need other people's approval for its actions?  His actions and unfriendly words aroused a strong backlash from the Taiping Army.  This further angered the British naval officers who had been depressed for a long time.

    When has the proud Royal Navy of the British Empire been treated like this?  Seeing the red single boats of the Taiping Army flying the red flag and seizing the upper hand, they quickly gathered at the Pearl River Estuary, with the intention of blocking the British fleet from entering the Pearl River Estuary. It was obvious that Grant, who had always been good-tempered, became angry this time.

    "Fire in the boiler. Lower the sails! All gun positions are ready to fight! At full speed, we enter the Pearl River!" Grant shouted angrily: "How can we, the Royal Navy of the British Empire, be threatened and intimidated?"

    Five British warships quickly adjusted their formation. Among them were two destroyers and three frigates, with a total of more than 300 artillery pieces. They were all modified steam-sail dual-power battleships.  The largest Woerda reached a displacement of two thousand tons.  The tonnage far exceeds that of any Taiping Army ship, but the Taiping Army has more than 40 red single ships, which is also a force that cannot be underestimated.

    In response to the forced intrusion of the British ships, the Taiping Army sent a sand ship to make final negotiations and asked the British fleet not to approach the Pearl River Estuary. However, the British fleet's reply was that they had a combat mission. To bombard the Humen Fort, they must enter the Pearl River Estuary.  !

    The sailors on both sides were nervously preparing artillery and shells.  The helmsmen and sailors worked hard to control the ship. The steam power of the British ship showed its excellent performance.  Being in the leeward position did not affect the fleet's speed at all. As the distance between the two sides got closer and closer, the atmosphere above the Pearl River Estuary became more solemn.

    With two booms, a Taiping red single ship at the forefront fired two solid projectiles. The projectiles landed half a mile in front of the British fleet. It was obvious that the Taiping Army was firing a cannon to warn them not to get closer.

    Grant was very angry, but he was still rational. This was not the time to start a war with the Taiping Army, and the two sides had an agreement in advance. Although their actions were rude, the British fleet could not take the lead in bombarding the opponent.  Just when Grant was about to give the order to slow down, the Avenger frigate on the left wing of the Volda suddenly fired three shells, and they were full-loaded explosive shells. Two of them accurately focused on the red single ship.  The poor red single ship of less than 400 tons suddenly saw sawdust flying into the air, flames shot into the sky, and two huge holes were blown open on the side of the ship!

    The navies on both sides of the British Army and the Taiping Army were stunned. Grant could no longer remain calm. He stood up and angrily pulled the cable on the side of the ship. He angrily shouted to the lookout on the observation deck: "I  Did you give the order to fire?! What is the Avenger doing?!"

    The innocent lookout hand is justHe hurriedly raised a flag and asked, but at this time, Captain Smith, the captain of the Avenger, was also gnashing his teeth and cursing, "Which bastard fired the cannon?!"

    The first mate's answer left Smith speechless, "Colonel, the shells were fired from the 18th, 19th, and 20th gun positions. The soldiers at the three gun positions were still hungover. They were betting to see who could hit the Chinese ship first!"

    Smith shouted angrily: "Arrest some of them! Ignore the military orders and wait for the military court!"

    At this time, arresting people was no longer helpful. Seeing that one's own ships were hit, the Taiping red single ships began to fire back. Although each red single ship could carry more than a dozen or twenty artillery pieces, the absolute number was  The red single ship had the upper hand.

    In the historical year of 1857, a naval battle broke out between the Manchu and British and French forces in Guangzhou. Huang Kaiguang, the commander-in-chief of Qiongzhou Town of the Qing army, recruited more than 60 red single ships, and a total of more than 100 patrol ships were stationed at Sanshan River in Pingzhou.  On the other side, prepare to launch a general attack on the British army at Dahuangjiao Fort.  In order to remove the threat from the Chinese navy, the British fleet admiral Massimo Glee had no choice but to respond and led more than 20 warships to first attack a group of Chinese division ships anchored in Dunxi in the north of Dongjiang Estuary.  After three days of continuous fighting, 28 Qing navy ships were destroyed, but the British losses were also heavy. Several ships were destroyed and there were heavy casualties.

    Massimo Geli¡¯s nephew, Seymour, who led the Eight-Power Allied Forces to invade Beijing in 1900, was intercepted and attacked by the Boxers and then defeated and returned to Tianjin, participated in that naval battle as a trainee at the time.  He said with lingering fear in the center of his memoirs: "The 'Hong Kong' leading us ran aground Many shells hit it immediately (Squadron Commander) Commodore Keppel's ship was smashed into pieces and sank I  The open-top motorboat we were traveling in was also penetrated by a shell and sank at the same time, and at the same time, an officer on the 'Goofy' was blown into two pieces by a shell, and his body was thrown over our heads."

    This shows that the red single ships at that time were not without any power to fight back against the British fleet. On the contrary, the Taiping red single ships were equipped with new artillery that had a range and shells that were not inferior to those of the British fleet. Therefore, the number of artillery was almost the same, but the number of ships  The gap is revealed.

    The Avenger was first hit by three shells. The Taiping Army fired solid shells this time. The explosive shells opened two holes on the port side of the Avenger. More than a dozen red single ships began to besiege the Avenger, and the poor  The Avenger can only fire at two or three red single ships at most.

    Grant saw the Avenger being hit by the Taiping's retaliatory artillery. He was so anxious that he didn't care whether to start a war or not. He immediately ordered the other ships to open fire on the Taiping and be sure to cover the Avenger from the battlefield.

    The shelling from both sides lasted for half an hour. Grant did not want to expand the conflict, so he ordered the British ships to retreat. The artillery on the two Taiping forts did not fire, and the red single ship had already driven away the British fleet.

    After retreating to a safe distance, Grant discovered that the Avenger had begun to sink. As a last resort, Grant ordered the officers and soldiers on the ship to abandon the ship, and the remaining four ships were also damaged to varying degrees.

    The Taiping Army sank eight red single ships. Although there were many red single ships and their firepower was not weak, their tonnage was small and they were not durable. One or two cannonballs were often enough to sink a single red ship.  .

    The conflict between the two sides that broke out at the Pearl River Estuary started very quickly and ended very quickly. After their respective fleets broke away from contact, both sides began to rescue the soldiers who fell into the water and reported what happened to their superiors.

    In this naval battle, the British army sank a battleship, killed more than 30 people, and injured more than 100 people.  The Taiping Army suffered greater losses. Eight ships sank, more than 180 people were killed, and more than 100 were injured.  Most of the Taiping soldiers died in battle. Once a red single ship was bombed and sunk, it was often difficult for the soldiers on board to escape from the whirlpool of the sunken ship and drowned.

    When Grant led the fleet back to Hong Kong, it was already evening. The Guangzhou consul Parkes quickly sent someone to send news to Bao Ling in Shanghai, and urgently summoned the British and French military and political leaders in Hong Kong to discuss countermeasures.

    The arrogant British were naturally furious. They completely ignored that this conflict was caused by the provocation of the British fleet. They clamored to pull out the entire remaining Far East ships and send all the Taiping squadrons to the bottom of the sea.

    The French, while gloating at the misfortune, reminded the British to pay attention to the current situation. It was not a wise choice to declare war on the Taiping Army. This conflict was obviously initiated by the British first, and it was under the condition of a temporary agreement with the Taiping Army.  The British cannot stand the law, so it is better not to expand the war.

    Grant had already begun to regret his decision on the way back to Hong Kong. Although the British navy had the ability to send the weak Taiping navy to the bottom of the sea, how should their huge army solve it?  Once a full-scale war breaks out, Britain will suffer heavy losses. Shanghai, Ningbo, Fuzhou, Xiamen, how to ensure the safety of the British at these treaty ports?  And the UK's trade losses will be very terrible figures.

    Under the persuasion of the French consul Deborah, the British reluctantly agreed that the French would mediate the conflict. However, the British were very demanding. They demanded punishment of the commander of the incident and compensation for the loss of 200,000 taels of silver.  Demand an apology from the Taiping Army, request the Taiping Army not to interfere with British naval operations in the future, etc.  (To be continued)
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