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Volume 3: The Wind Rises in the South Chapter 81 Attack

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    Two days later, the leading soldiers of the Shun army alerted Batu to the approaching British army. Batu issued a full alert order and shipped the last batch of hostages and unnecessary materials back to Mandalay.  In the letter between Zao Guoquan and Chen Zaixing, he expressed his decision to stick to the camp and proposed to strengthen Mandalay's defense as much as possible to prevent the British troops from bypassing the camp and attacking Mandalay.  At four o'clock in the morning on the third day, it was the darkest time of the day. The river water lapped at the wooden piles under the trestle, making a rhythmic sound. The sentinels of the Shun Army shrank their necks and tried their best to make themselves feel warmer. Although they were near Bagan,  The temperature in Japan is much higher than that in China, but in November, the sharp river wind blowing from the Irrawaddy River on people is still very unpleasant, but this is also a good thing, at least they will not doze off.  At this time, there was a sound of footsteps on the shore. The sentry cautiously took off the rifle from his shoulder, pulled the bolt of the gun, and shouted: "Banchao, the password?" "Thirty-six heroes!" A familiar voice came from the shore.  : "I am Batu!" "It turns out to be your Excellency!" The sentry quickly put the rifle back on his shoulder and saluted the figure walking in the darkness: "Greetings, Your Excellency!" "That's it!" Batu made a gesture to others.  He gestured to get up, looked at the boats on both sides of the pier, and asked in a low voice: "Is there nothing going on tonight?" "It's not bad!" "Well, don't be careless. If it weren't for these boats, we would be dead here.  !¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± It turns out that although the British troops have surrounded Shunjun¡¯s camp on land, the water surface cannot be blocked, and Shunjun can sneak out at night.  The British fleet had eight shallow-water gunboats and nearly twenty temporarily modified gunboats. The number of Shunjun troops was much smaller. There were only three shallow-water gunboats captured by the British army and six or seven temporarily modified rowing boats.  , so the Shun army chose to hide the ships in the river bend protected by forts to avoid a battle with great disparity in strength.  Right next to the trestle are all the navy ships owned by Shunjun.  Batu inspected the trestle for a while, and after confirming that there was no problem, he was about to return. Suddenly he felt something was wrong. He stopped again, listened for a while, and asked in a low voice to his followers: "Do you feel anything?  What's wrong?" Everyone listened for a while, with blank expressions on their faces, obviously not hearing anything.  Batu thought he was nervous, and was about to go back when the sentry said: "It's a bit strange indeed. It seems that the waterfowl on the opposite side of the river bend are a little louder!" "Yes, it's the waterfowl!" Batu immediately realized that it was not him.  Just then he felt that he was wrong, and he quickly ordered in a low voice: "The British must have come over. Quick, order the sailors to get on the ship, start the boilers, prepare to fire, and notify the forts on the top of the mountain to prepare for battle. All the muzzles of the guns should be pointed at  Over there in the river bend!" "Yes, sir!" On the opposite side of the river bend, six gunboats converted from dhows were driving slowly along the river bank. The trees and highlands on the river bank cast shadows on the water.  Hidden in the shadows, barely visible.  Like their British cousins, these shallow-water sailing ships are agile and high-speed, and have very low wind direction requirements. Even if the wind direction is unfavorable, they can move forward through a "zig-zag" route, which is very suitable for short-distance coastal shipping in changing wind directions.  And anti-smuggling, even at the end of the 19th century when steam engines were already available, there were many such ships in Yangon.  This time the British army recruited many such ships and installed small-caliber artillery or Hale rockets on the deck for patrols and ground attacks.  This time, the six gunboats were equipped with a large number of Hale rockets on the rear deck. After preparing to sneak into the river bend, they first used rockets to attack the shun army ships docked at the dock and the dock area, causing chaos, and then launched attacks from both land and water directions at the same time.  Attack the military camp and capture it in one fell swoop.  The British commander stood on the bow deck, trying his best to keep his eyes open and clearly see the shadow of the military ship near the pier in the distance. To be honest, it is not a good job to sail in the dark nearshore water. You must always be careful not to run aground or be hit.  When you go to the trees by the water, the chirping of birds and animals from the trees on the shore is also creepy. What¡¯s even worse is that in Bagan, there is a kind of venomous snake that likes to live on the trees by the water. These cunning hunters  They often hang on branches that extend into the water. In the dark, they look like sections of dead branches. But if any unlucky guy is bitten, he may not see the sun the next day.  When he thought of this, the commander couldn't help but cross himself.  "Thomson, please calculate how far we are from the trestle now!" the commander whispered to the lookout men on the side.  "Yes, Lieutenant!" The lookout took out his monocular telescope and examined it carefully for a while before replying in an uncertain tone: "The trestle is about 1,200 yards away from us, but sir, please forgive me, I can't be too sure.  "Absolutely!" "Well, I understand, it would be good to have one under these conditions!"He patted the lookout man on the shoulder tolerantly: "You go and signal the following ships to drop anchor, prepare to launch rockets at the pier, and wait for my signal. Attack the trestle first, and then attack the dock area!" "Yes!  "Yes, Lieutenant!" Thomson quickly ran to the stern of the ship, picked up a kerosene lamp wrapped in a towel, took off the towel, and circled three times behind the ship. After a while, one after another appeared behind him.  A bright spot circles around.  After confirming that all the ships behind had received the signal, the British commander issued the order to drop anchor and prepare to launch rockets.  "Quick, lazy fellows, take out the rockets from the bottom compartment and prepare to launch!" The British officer whispered to the soldiers and sailors, and the British sailors began to take the rockets out of the bottom compartment. It took about a try.  A black metal cylinder a foot and a half long and as thin as a calf, the Hale Rocket was a rotating rocket without a guide rod that Hale developed and patented in 1844.  Hale installed three inclined stable spiral plates on the tail of the rocket. The gunpowder gas ejected from the tail of the rocket causes the rocket to spin during flight and achieve stability. Compared with the balance rod used in the past, the flight trajectory of the Hale rocket is longer.  Much more stable.  The British Navy often uses it to attack larger fixed targets such as cities and fixed warships.  At this time, there was a rhythmic sound on the water. The experienced British officers and sailors immediately recognized that it was the sound of a steam engine running.  There is only one possibility for hearing this sound at this time. Shunjun has discovered his sneak attack for some reason. The sneak attack is no longer possible. After all, weapons with a high dispersion rate such as Hale rockets are very effective against launched warships.  The threat of moving targets is already minimal, and once the British army launches rockets, the huge tail flames will immediately reveal their location and become a living target for the army's gunboats.  "Adjust immediately, aim at the dock area and fire! After launching the rocket, abandon the ship and go ashore!" The British commander immediately issued an order.  Since the dock area and trestle of the Shun Army were built behind the hill where the fort is located, it was difficult for the British surface ships to attack there with artillery fire and rockets from the river. Since they finally managed to sneak in, after the Shun Army gunboats were launched, they wanted to  It is no longer possible to escape from the river mouth again. It is better to destroy the enemy's dock area first and then escape out of breath.  The British ship was only twenty or thirty meters away from the river bend. This distance made it very possible for British sailors to escape.  The British soldiers quickly carried out the officer's order. They roughly adjusted the direction and angle of the launcher, and lit the fuses of the rockets. With a piercing scream, the first row of rockets jumped up from the rails.  Thick tail flames cut through the dark sky and flew towards Shunjun Pier.  British soldiers hurriedly put the second rocket on the rail and prepared for the next launch.  "Discovered the enemy's position, 1,100 meters away!" The sailors on the "Pharaoh" responded immediately. The Pharaoh turned the bow and sailed towards the British ship. The Gatling gun on the bow immediately opened fire, continuously  The sound of cannons broke the silence of the night sky, and then a flash of fire flashed from the fort on the top of the mountain. It was a six-inch cannon shooting at British ships.  "Quick, move fast!" the British commander shouted loudly. Almost at the same time, a column of water rose up from the side and rear of the sailboat. That was the impact point of the six-inch cannon shell from the fort. The splashing shrapnel was mixed with water spray.  On the deck of the sailboat, the commander's body shook, and a large stain of blood quickly appeared on his chest.  "Lieutenant, you've been hit!" The first mate rushed to support the lieutenant and shouted back: "Medic, medic! Come here quickly!" "That's enough, first mate!" The lieutenant said with a dying breath: "Don't waste it.  It¡¯s time, I¡¯m done. Now tell me, have the rockets been launched?¡± The first mate¡¯s rough face was covered with water, not just sweat but tears. He looked back at the corpses scattered on the back deck and gritted his teeth.  He replied: "Lieutenant, it has been launched. All the rockets have been launched!" The lieutenant's eyes were scattered, and it was obvious that he did not have much time: "Very good, I have finally completed my responsibility. Now, you  You can order the soldiers to abandon the ship and put my body in the bottom cabin. I want to be with the ship!" "Yes, Lieutenant!" The first mate was already sobbing, and the lieutenant in his arms closed his eyes.  With no sign of life, the first mate tied the lieutenant's body to himself, shouted: "Everyone, abandon ship!" and then jumped to the water.  The two gunboats "Pharaoh" and "Thebes" have approached this section of the river. At this time, the distance between them and the British clipper has been shortened to only 600 meters. At this distance, the eight-pounder cannon and Gatling gun on the ship  The hit rate was very high. Although the British sailors on the sailing ship tried their best to fight back with the additional artillery and rifles, they were unable to compete with the "Pharaoh" and "Bottom" which were specially designed for water warfare in terms of firepower and armor.  Compared with the "Bisse", these fast sailing ships were hit by bullets and caught fire under fierce gunfire, and the British sailors jumped into the water one after another.??Éú.  At this time, there were also bursts of gunfire from the river. This was the British gunboat on the Irrawaddy River. After hearing the sound of the gunfire, it began to fire at the Shunjun fort. The Shunjun on the fort immediately turned their guns to attack the British troops on the river.  After hearing the return fire, the two sides began a fierce artillery battle.  The sun rose from the horizon on November 13, 1885, accompanied by the sound of cannon.  "Major, all six clippers that our army penetrated into the river bend have been lost. Lieutenant Montaigne, the commander, was killed in the battle. In addition, sixty-five soldiers and seven officers were lost! The remaining soldiers escaped from the shore,  There were no losses to the navy on the river. According to the soldiers' reports, the Chinese dock area was also heavily bombarded. As they left, fires could be seen rising from the dock area - "Author's words: Readers familiar with Weber know this.  I am a person who only focuses on writing books and rarely asks for votes, but online writers must have performance pressure. This is fate!  So if possible, please vote for more recommendations. The clicks are already very weak, otherwise I would be too embarrassed to meet the editor!
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