Section 157: Battle of Lantau Island

Could it be that there is civil strife in the gang? Zheng Bao is most afraid of infighting. His subordinates have just been put together in recent months, and they can only be regarded as a simple joint stock relationship with each other, and he is only regarded as the big treasurer by virtue of his strength. It's hard to say what's going on down there, it's a conflict.

The cronies who were outside rushed in: "The big shopkeeper ...... outside" was already full of horror and couldn't speak at all.

Zheng Bao scolded, knowing that the matter was not small, he hurriedly hung up the waist knife. Surrounded by cronies, he ran out.

Zheng Bao saw the most terrifying scene in his life: the firelight dragged the black smoke in the sky, and continued to fall towards the mouth of Tung Chung like a meteor.

The ships in the harbor and the houses on the shore are burning. The black flames flying in the sky let out a terrible scream, falling from time to time, and flames and explosions enveloped the entire port of Tung Chung.

Zheng Bao thought for a while that he was dreaming, in a trance.

"Big shopkeeper, what now?" Left and right asked anxiously.

Zheng Bao was stunned, and then he suddenly realized: "Get on the boat" He waved his hand and took the lead to run to the pier at Tung Chung Kou.

Zheng Bao did a business of murder and arson, and sometimes he thought about things like "hell". He didn't expect to see hell when he was alive - the road to Tung Chung Pier was littered with charred corpses and collapsed houses. Twisted black iron shells can be seen scattered everywhere. Not a single house was not burning, not even the trestle was burning. As far as the eye could see, the water in the harbor was full of burning ships, some of which were half-sunk.

Overhead, the rocket let out a terrifying scream from time to time, and fell violently to the ground, each rocket fell to the ground made Zheng Bao tremble for a while, and some people simply lay on the ground, crawling hand and foot as if they could stay away from these terrible air deaths.

The group finally rushed to the beach, the trestle was already burned to pieces, and the boats in the mouth of Tung Chung were pulling anchors and sailing towards the mouth without fire. His cronies surrounded him to find a dinghy and put him on the boat.

"Quick, pull the anchor and raise the sails. Hang out my big flag" As soon as Zheng Bao boarded the boat, he didn't care about tidying up his embarrassed image, and gave orders one after another. At this time, the situation is chaotic, as long as everyone has their own thoughts of fleeing for their lives, if they don't hurry up and sail the boat outside the mouth to reveal their identities and stabilize people's hearts, their "big gang" will be scattered in an instant.

Judging from Shi Zhiqi's telescope, the effect of rocket bombardment of the port was very effective. The burning ships in the bay constitute the most haode display of this tactic. Through the smoke, he could see many ships racing to escape. Some of the ships were already on fire, and the pirates fled as they put out the fires.

"Report to the commander: most of the enemy's ships are beginning to flee to the open sea." Shi Zhiqi said proudly, "The pirates have collapsed in the Tung Chung Kou. ”

The female signal soldier standing beside him quickly recorded his orders, and then ran to the walkie-talkie operator, which was actually a walkie-talkie.

Shi Zhiqi ordered: "Launch another 100" The rockets that were carried up the mountain could not be carried any longer, and they were all released.

The bombardment of 400 rockets turned Tung Chung Kou into a hell of fire and smoke, and the effect of shells fired from a few 12-pounder howitzers was insignificant in comparison.

The fleet led by Chen Haiyang was waiting outside the mouth of Tung Chung. Each spy boat aimed his side at the mouth of the bay in Tung Chung. The ship's gun doors were wide open. When the sporadic pirate ships escaped from the Tung Chung Mouth, they were greeted by a burst of intense artillery fire, and none of the ships could escape the terrifying power of a dozen spy boats firing at the same time. Often, after the smoke of a dense artillery fire had cleared, the pirate ships were left with toppled masts, broken planks, and dead bodies on the decks—many without heads or limbs, and some of them were simply fleshy human bodies.

The expected naval battle did not take place at all, only the spy boats methodically opened their guns and adjusted their course. The sailors were already very sophisticated, and they used a combination of Chinese and Western style of manoeuvring: using sails and oars to control the navigation of the ship. Naval gunnery-trained gunners measured distances and angles with simple wooden rangefinders, observed currents and wind speeds, and then quickly calculated the angle at which the guns would fire. The gunners adjusted their angles on the smoky decks and gun compartments, and then pulled their guns at the same time as they were commanded. A ferocious broadside salvo can render a pirate ship incapacitated with just one hit.

Outside the mouth of Tung Chung, there are already pirate ships with fallen masts, raging fires, and dead bodies paralyzed on the sea. It's on par with the tragic situation in the bay.

Wang You and a dozen or so boats he hauled escaped from the bay in confusion and confusion - he secretly complained that the Australians had begun to attack without even saying hello, and that he had almost died for the rest of his life. But he knew that this was not the time to complain, so he ordered someone to hang the white flag and flag that he had secretly agreed with Shi Shishi and the others on the top of the mast. Sure enough, the Australian warships did not open fire when they saw a ship with a code. Wang You's dozen or so boats arrived in the open sea safe and sound, and then were disarmed one by one by the Haode spy boats that had been waiting for a long time.

The pirates who surrendered to Shun did not complain at all, and one by one they obediently disarmed, and sailed to Hong Kong Island under the watchful eye of the sailors - no one felt that they still had the strength to bargain after seeing the powerful firepower of the Australians.

Zheng Bao's boat struggled to escape from the bay, and reluctantly gathered seven or eight boats, and he could already hear from the sound of artillery outside that there were Australian warships outside, but there was no other way but to rush out. Tung Chung Kou, an easily defensible and difficult terrain, was a dead end for the fleet that was suppressed by artillery fire from the surrounding high ground.

In a moment when the smoke cleared, he had seen the Sun-Sang fleet outside the bay - it was the first time he had seen them. Neat columns, fluttering flags, and cannons glittering with blue light...... A strong sense of inferiority came over him, and a few days ago he wanted to compete with Australians.

Overestimate one's strength or oneself. The thought had just crossed his mind. Several spy boats fired at him at the same time. One of the rows of shells swept across the deck of Zheng Baozao's ship, and one shell passed by Zheng Bao's side, tearing him in half.

Zheng Bao's death did not cause much reaction on the battlefield. Didn't even get anyone else's attention. In fact, before his ship was sunk, the entire pirate fleet had collapsed. Every ship, every person thinks about running for their lives. In this way, one after another crashed into Chen Haiyang's gun.

By five o'clock in the afternoon, Chen Haiyang ordered a halt to the shooting and allowed a small number of boats to escape—they would be volunteer propagandists for the military might of the Australian and Song armies. The sea outside the mouth of Tung Chung was a mess, full of burning ships, some of which were not on fire, and the broken hulls of the ships were no longer alive. The sea is full of sporadic pirates who have jumped into the sea to escape. The fast ships that saw the opportunity lowered their sails and flags to signify surrender.

The navy and a temporary marine corps of sailors under the command of Shi Zhiqi rushed down from the hills around Tung Chung and occupied the villages and docks where the pirates were entrenched by the bay. Hundreds of pirates who had not had time to get on board and escape were captured, and many abandoned sampans and dragons were captured. There are also several large ships. The sailors met almost no resistance and completely occupied Tung Chung Pass.

Shi Zhiqi swaggered into the still burning Tung Chung Kou with the guards, orderlies and communication soldiers. He stood by the burning trestle at the mouth of Tung Chung, with the flag of the navy flying behind him.

Shi Zhiqi lit a pipe - in fact, he never smoked a pipe. Yellow Paw raised the camera and pressed seven or eight photos from different angles: Shi Zhiqi smoking leisurely in the sun, observing the battlefield; In the background is Shi Zhiqi of a burning sea ship; Behind him was Shi Zhiqi, who had just occupied the trestle and conquered Tung Chung......

"Now you are satisfied, they are all glorious images."

"It's a pity that the Lingao Times newspaper is very harsh in publishing photos." Shi Zhiqi coughed a few times, emptied the pipe, and told the orderlies to put it away.

The overboard pirates who failed to get on board and returned from the sea were hunted down in large numbers. Groups of captives hobbled to the shore, waiting for ships to be transported to Hong Kong Island, where they would be "reformed" in local decontamination camps and used as much-needed labor.

After five o'clock in the afternoon, all the fighting on land and sea was over. The total loss of the Navy was only seventeen wounded - all lightly wounded. However, the consumption of ammunition was enormous, and the Hale rockets that were originally intended for use in the Battle of the Pearl River were almost exhausted.

But more than 2,000 prisoners were captured alone. Of the ships towed from the sea and captured in the bay, 24 large ships were intact or could have been put into service with simple repairs, and the long line of sampans, which was very useful in inland waters, was burned for the most part, but left behind more than 50 intact and repairable ships.

Even those ships that could not be repaired, as long as they were not sunk and burned, were all towed back. Chen Haiyang plans to use them to recycle ship materials. Even useless parts can be used as fuel. The sailors seized a large amount of supplies and money from Zheng Bao's old camp in the village. It's a windfall.

Most of the two villages in Tung Chung Kou were burned by rockets, and almost all the fishing boats docked on the shore were also destroyed. Chen Haiyang ordered all the remaining villagers to be taken away and sent to Hong Kong Island for resettlement. As for the other villages, there will be no treatment for the time being. Lantau was not suitable as a military base, and after the necessary sweeps, Chan ordered the entire army to withdraw to Hong Kong Island.