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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 687: Many ants bite the elephant

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    The South China Sea Fleet under the command of Admiral Zeng Tianhao has the Laiyuan and the Black Earth, nine fast sailing ships, and more than fifty red single ships, lucky ships, and sand ships. It is the weakest fleet among the four sea fleets, and the largest among them.  The two battleships Laiyuan and Kurotsuchi are only second-class battleships of more than a thousand tons. However, precisely because the two main battleships of the South China Sea Fleet are the weakest, in the previous naval ship transformation, both battleships were  The modification of the wooden hull wrapped with steel armor, and the installation of steam power drives on both warships, barely improved the strength of the South China Sea Fleet.

    The admiral of the South China Sea Fleet Zeng Tianhao is the brother of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom general Zeng Tianyang who was killed in Jiangxi in his early years. He was originally deployed in the East Palace and admiral of the navy. Later, after the Tianjing Incident, the Western King took over Tianjing, and Zeng Tianhao was reused.  A successful example of the King of the West reusing the old people of the East Palace.

    Zeng Tianhao's personality is very different from that of his brother Zeng Tianyang. He is relatively calm, calm, and kind-hearted. He showed extraordinary talent when he was studying the navy at Jiangwu Academy, so he was later appointed as the admiral of the South China Sea Fleet.  .

    Since the four major fleets went south to look for fighters, Zeng Tianhao and his fleet have been cruising in the waters near Xiamen, the Penghu Islands, and Taiwan. Although Taiwan is still temporarily regarded as the flag of the Qing court, since Fujian was occupied by the Taiping Rebellion,  Wang Yide, the governor of Fujian, died in battle, and the new governor of Fujian, Qing Duan, the Manchu clan minister, never arrived. The Qing army in Fujian that retreated to Taiwan was temporarily led by Chong En, the inspector general of Fujian, and Wang Ziyu, the newly promoted chief envoy of Fujian.

    It is worth mentioning that although Chong'en, the Inspector-General of Fujian, was a relative of the Manchu royal family, he was fond of calligraphy and painting. He was a famous calligrapher, collector, connoisseur, epigrapher, and poet in the middle and late Qing Dynasty.  Chongen has made great achievements in calligraphy and painting.  But marching and fighting was its weakness, as early as when the Taiping Army attacked Fujian.  Wang Yide ordered him to retreat to Taiwan early and sent his aide Wang Ziyu to coordinate Taiwan affairs.

    Wang Yide¡¯s aide Wang Ziyu had previously made great contributions to the Taiping Army¡¯s withdrawal of the Xiamen Uprising Army.  Therefore, he received a Taoist title from the Qing court that year. Later, he assisted Chong'en in Taiwan and did his best to collect calligraphy and painting contributions, so he was highly regarded by Chong'en.  After Fujian was occupied by the Taiping Army, most of the civil and military officials in the province either died or surrendered. The Qing government then promoted Wang Ziyu to be the chief envoy of Fujian, following Chong'en's recommendation.  Because Fujian was occupied, the Qing troops in Fujian gathered in Taiwan to be trapped.  Moreover, the sea route was blocked, and Chongen was also obsessed with calligraphy and painting. In fact, Wang Ziyu had the final say in military and political affairs in Taiwan.

    Although Taiwan is the largest island in China, most of its people's livelihood and trade depend on the mainland, which is occupied by the Taiping Army. Therefore, Wang Ziyu had secretly communicated with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as early as last year. However, last year, the Taiping Army's naval power had to fully cope with the northward march.  The British and French coalition forces have no interest in attacking Taiwan for the time being, and at the same time, Wang Ziyu is quite willing to surrender.  Therefore, the Taiping Army has no intention of attacking Taiwan for the time being, and the two sides have not severed ties in business and civilian exchanges. On the contrary, Wang Ziyu had the foresight to sign a trade agreement with the Taiping Army, placing his treasure on the Taiping Army.

    Since the Taiping Army went to war with Britain and France.  The Qing army in Taiwan also received news that although Wang Ziyu was still a nominal official of the Qing court, some terms for the change of flag had not yet been negotiated.  But Wang Ziyu was in favor of supporting the Taiping Army to attack the British and French navies.  Therefore, all ports in the Penghu Islands and Taiwan Main Island controlled by the Qing army in Taiwan were opened to the Taiping Army.  At the same time, Wang Ziyu also sent the Taiwan Navy to respond to the Taiping Army's strangulation at sea and attack passing British and French ships.

    Zeng Tianhao was assisted by Taiwanese Wang Ziyu.  There is more room for maneuver, so they can often avoid the searches of the British and French fleets in time. At the same time, cross-strait news is constantly exchanged, and the movements of the British and French fleets can also be obtained in time.  Uncle Ho and the Xima fleet suffered a big loss in Xiamen. This was because the South China Sea Fleet took the initiative to attack after receiving the news about the Taiwanese fishing boats. The results were very good, sinking several wounded British warships.

    After the main force of the He Bo fleet returned, Zeng Tianhao took the initiative to withdraw from the battlefield, leaving the He Bo fleet nowhere to retaliate, and finally had to continue heading north.  After hearing that the British fleet continued to move north, Zeng Tianhao led the fleet to follow it quietly, constantly following it through news from the shore and from fishing boats and merchant ships at sea, preparing to look for opportunities to teach the Ho Bo fleet a lesson.  , and ended up following it all the way to the waters of Zhoushan.

    In the past few days, the He Bo fleet attacked Dinghai, and Zeng Tianhao also sent a fast sailing ship to conduct reconnaissance. However, he found that the British fleet had learned from the previous lesson. The peripheral guard ships were very vigilant, and the guarded area was very wide, making it difficult to carry out a surprise attack. Therefore, Zeng Tianhao's fleet had been  The southern waters are waiting for opportunities.

    There was heavy fog in the early morning of that day. Zeng Tianhao judged that the British fleet would definitely use the fog to raid Dinghai, so he also led the fleet on patrol. After the fog dispersed, he sent a fast sailing ship to conduct reconnaissance, and then received the news.??, the main force of the East China Sea Fleet is engaged in a decisive battle with the He Bo Fleet.

    Zeng Tianhao was shocked when he heard the news. He knew that the strength of He Bo's fleet, although it suffered heavy losses in several battles along the way, was still not comparable to the East China Sea Fleet. So Zeng Tianhao immediately made the decision to go to reinforce the East China Sea Fleet. If the East China Sea Fleet was destroyed  , that day the navy of the country will be completely passive.  Therefore, when the East China Sea Fleet was at a disadvantage, the South China Sea Fleet appeared on the battlefield.

    On their respective boats, Uncle He and Xima noticed that the Taiping Navy fleet had joined the battlefield. Although Uncle He and Xima had wanted to lure out the main force of the Taiping Navy fleet for a decisive battle, the changes at this moment greatly surprised them.  anticipation.  Although there are not many large warships in the Taiping Army, there are a lot of small red single ships, lucky ships, sand ships, etc., and these small warships of the Taiping Army are not as afraid of the enemy and avoid fighting as the Qing warships. They  They were very unafraid of death, and were very skilled in operating the ship, and the cannons on the ship were also accurate. Uncle He found that their fighting methods and habits were very similar to those of the previous pirates.  Moreover, if there are too many of these nasty small boats, the ants will bite the elephant to death. Fortunately, the Fu Chuan and the Sha Chuan are not bad. Although each boat has a few more cannons, the red single boat has more than ten cannons, and the power of these cannons is also  Not small.  If you're not careful, you might really suffer a big loss.

    Seeing this, Xima immediately ordered the flag bearer to raise a flag and tell Uncle He.  He suggested that the entire army continue to move north to quickly annihilate the current enemy's effective forces and then evacuate quickly, but He Bo hesitated after receiving the news.  Previously, the main purpose of Ho Bo's fleet heading north was to annihilate the main force of the Taiping Navy.  Obtained complete control of the sea in the Far East, but the Taiping Navy had previously adopted guerrilla tactics to avoid war, leaving He Bo with nowhere to use his power.  At this moment, two main Taiping naval fleets appeared. How tempting it would be to annihilate these two main Taiping fleets in one battle.  Although Uncle Ho also knew that too many ants kill an elephant, he still decided to give it a try and try to annihilate the two Taiping fleets with a gambling mentality and the traditional British adventurous spirit.

    So, Uncle He rejected Sima's suggestion and he raised a flag.  The British fleet was ordered to be divided into two, and more than ten warships were sent south to attack Zeng Tianhao's South China Sea Fleet. The remaining warships continued to fight the main force of Monk Tongbao.  Although Cima jumped anxiously when he saw this, the battle was at its peak at this time and there was no time to argue. Any further hesitation and wasting time would only make the fleet at a loss what to do, so he still obeyed Uncle He's order and personally led the detached fleet south to attack.

    With the British fleet divided, the pressure on the East China Sea Fleet suddenly eased.  Monk Tongbao was also a veteran in naval battles. He quickly seized this opportunity and ordered the remaining warships of the East China Sea Fleet to quickly adjust their strategy. Several or even a dozen red single ships, lucky ships, and sand ships gathered to besiege a British warship.  He began his ant-biting-elephant tactic.

    In the history of human naval warfare, there is actually no shortage of examples of decisive battles between small ships and large warships. The heroic People's Liberation Army Navy of later generations once fought this famous example in the 1986 naval battle, in which the small defeated the large and the weak defeated the strong.  Although the British navy at this time was quite elite and not a timid navy like the Kuomintang in the Taiwan Strait, the Taiping Army was better at having more ships.

    As the fierce battle between the two sides continues to unfold.  The British fleet began to feel overwhelmed, although one of their warships was able to sink many Taiping warships.  But he also had to pay a considerable price. Some warships with larger tonnage were fine, but were seriously damaged, while some smaller ones were completely sunk.

    Uncle Ho was heartbroken when he saw this scene. Every British warship in the Far East was sunk and one less ship was lost. Moreover, although the British military was the best in the world in shipbuilding, it was also very expensive. The Taiping Army used inferior red single ships.  , Fu Chuan, and Sha Chuan were exchanged for a British warship. It was obvious that the British suffered a big loss.

    The West Malaysia Squadron that went south to meet the enemy was no better. The South China Sea Fleet itself had more than fifty small warships such as red single ships, lucky ships, and sand ships. Before this expedition, Zeng Tianhao rented them according to the trade agreement with Wang Ziyu.  More than 20 warships from Taiwan's Qing navy went to battle together, and there were also many ships.  Thirteen warships in West Malaysia also encountered the same trouble as Uncle Ho. After an hour of fighting, West Malaysia had to order the remaining ten British warships to quickly move closer and form a group to guard against being divided and surrounded by smaller warships.  And sunk.

    Uncle Ho also adopted the same method. After his remaining eight warships got closer, they protected each other's flanks and chrysanthemums, which also made the small warships of the Taiping Army lose the space to intersperse and detour.

    After seeing this scene, Zeng Tianhao and Monk Tongbao unanimously ordered their warships to quickly break away from the battle and evacuate in two directions: north and south.  After the British fleet approached, it was difficult to launch a pursuit immediately, and there were still many British sailors floating on the sea, so both Hobo and Simma ordered to stop the pursuit and rescue those who fell into the water.

    It is worth mentioning the humanitarian spirit of the British Navy. They also rescued the Taiping Navy sailors who fell into the water, butThese Taiping sailors became prisoners.

    The Battle of Zhoushan ended with the Taiping Army voluntarily withdrawing from the battle. Although the Taiping Army failed to defeat the British fleet, the British fleet also failed to completely annihilate the Taiping Navy.  The British fleet lost eleven warships, while the Taiping Army lost more warships. In particular, the East China Sea Fleet lost thirty warships, and the South China Sea Fleet also lost more than ten warships, but it seemed that the Taiping Army was more cost-effective.

    So far, the Ho Bo fleet had only 18 warships left from the 36 large and small warships when it left Hong Kong, and several more were seriously injured. As for the results of the battle, they were very disappointing. They failed to capture any coastal ports.  They also failed to annihilate the Taiping Navy. In the end, after discussing with Sima, Uncle Ho could only return to Hong Kong with more than 200 Taiping Navy prisoners rescued from the sea and a ship full of wounded British soldiers to rest(  To be continued)

    Chapter 687: Many ants bite the elephant:
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