At dawn the next day, seeing that there was no response to the persuasion, Wei Jun ordered an attack!

Wei Jun led 12 main warships to carry out a brutal artillery bombardment on Fort St. George and the British troops hiding behind the fortifications, while Yang Zaifu personally led 5,000 marines to approach Fort St. George from the north, set up artillery on a low slope 2.5 kilometers northeast of Fort St. George, and began to bombard Fort St. George.

The main artillery of Fort St. George and the fortifications were oriented towards the estuary, in both the east and south directions, and could only be hurriedly fired back at the main forces of the Indian Ocean Fleet to the southeast. But for the Marines north of Fort St. George, there was little more that could be done. Although the British commander Wolseley had ordered a row of wooden piles to be erected north of Fort St. George the previous night and a trench to be dug to erect artillery, there was no time for the artillery to be erected in one night, only a small section of stakes and a shallow ditch were set.

At this time, the power of a total of 25 siege guns of 3 artillery battalions was revealed, although the caliber was not very large, but the ultra-long effective range of the Krupp breech-loading rifled guns, at a position of 2.5 kilometers, was surprisingly accurate. More than half of the shells hit the fort wall of Fort St. George, and the stakes and artillery that the British had set up last night were razed in pieces after two rounds of shells.

Compared with the overwhelming bombardment of the Marines to the north, the attack of the main warships of the Indian Ocean Fleet at the mouth of the river to the south was much more difficult, but the firepower was much more powerful than that of the Marines to the north.

Wei Jun ruthlessly dispatched more than a dozen merchant fishing boats, which were originally intended to be used as landing ships, to attract firepower in front. Then, the 12 main warships were divided into two oblique formations, all of which were aimed at the British positions in the direction of the greatest flank fire, covering the British fortifications with the most intense firepower.

Seeing this, Buchanan said with some concern: "Commander, if you tilt your firepower like this, I'm afraid that our shells will soon run out!" ”

Wei Jun asked, "But without such dense fire coverage, it will be difficult for the British army to pull out those fortifications when they hide behind them." Moreover, the castle could not be destroyed. By the way, with such a frequency of artillery fire, how long can it be shelled? ”

"Up to 2 hours!" Buchanan frowned: "And, Commander, it's impossible to blow up all the shells." If you encounter an enemy warship at sea, or if you encounter a fleet sent by Europe to support you, it will be troublesome. Supply ships and supporting infantry divisions were supposed to arrive, but they rushed to Calcutta first. ”

Wei Junyi gritted his teeth: "Pass the order, leave 10 shells for each warship, and put the rest into battle." At the same time, people were immediately sent to Calcutta to request reinforcements. In any case, take Madras as best you can! ”

With the determination of the commander of the fleet, Wei Jun, it was the 12 main warships that were more ferocious shells.

Immediately behind those fishing boats and merchant ships as daring ships, the "Dingyuan No. 1" ironclad battleship floating on the water like a mountain peak, although the number of artillery doors is not much, there are only 4 Krupp 260mm front-loading rifled guns and 15 Krupp 150mm rear-loading rifled guns on one side plus the two rotatable cannons on the bow of the ship, but the power of only 4 Krupp 260mm front-loading rifled giant guns is enough to rival more than ten large guns!

Solid and flowering shells weighing 210 kg weigh 62.5 kg of ammunition, while shotguns weigh slightly less and medicine kits are heavier. Such a cannonball did not fire a single shot, which made Buchanan feel distressed for a while, but the power was also surprisingly good.

Buchanan saw through his telescope that a shotgun had exploded behind the British fortifications, and the thirty or forty British soldiers hiding behind the fortifications were blown to pieces on the spot, and the fortifications were also blown down to pieces.

The "Dingyuan-2" ironclad battleship and 10 other capital warships also poured firepower. A round of artillery was more than 190 powerful medium and large-caliber shells, which turned Fort St. George and the one-kilometer-long fortifications around it upside down.

The wooden houses in the port of Madras behind the fortifications had no resistance in the face of the powerful flowering bombs, and the violent explosion set fire to the wooden houses, watchtowers, and military camps next to the pier, making Wei Jun, who was holding a telescope, look elated and jumped to his feet.

However, the British army also fought back unceremoniously, but unfortunately, their artillery range is limited, even if the nearest two ironclad battleships, Dingyuan No. 1 and Dingyuan No. 2, It is also 2.5 kilometers away from their fortifications, if Wei Jun didn't want to test the power and performance of the ironclad, plus the limited shells, he wanted to hit the target without shells, so let the ironclad ship be as close to the target as possible, otherwise, I am afraid that these warships equipped with Krupp cannons are only 3 kilometers away from the British army, then the British army can only be beaten passively. Of course, in that case, with the accuracy of the guns of surface warships, it would be difficult for the capture army to hit the British target. The artillery of the British army hiding behind the fortifications and the artillery on Fort St. George can only be hollowed out in the air, and they can't do anything about the warships behind, and although the two ironclad ships that are a little closer in front of them can often hit, they find that they can't be broken at all, and then I understand that these two battleships are the legendary ironclad ships that have always been in Europe.

In desperation, the enraged British could only aim part of their fire at the Tamil fishing boats and merchant ships that were attracting firepower in front of them. Suddenly, two "dead ships" were hit, one capsized into the water, and the other caught fire, which frightened the rest of the dead ships to retreat and dodge, but when they remembered that there were more fierce enemies behind them, their own families and their lives were in their hands, so they had to hover back and forth on the middle of the water, and perform hard.

As the battle raged, Buchanan noticed that two of his cruisers had gotten carried away and slowly rushed over, overstepping the hull of the ironclad ship. He was just about to give the order to let the cruiser back a little, when a sudden fire broke out on the river bank less than 1.5 kilometers from the cruiser, and four shells hit, two of which accurately hit the same cruiser, piercing the ship's side plank, and killing and wounding six gunners and one gunner.

It turned out that the cunning British army also set up two batteries on the hidden river bank, a total of four large-caliber guns.

The two cruisers also realized that they had rushed too far and hurriedly turned back, but even so, they still received a few shots. Fortunately, the location was not too fatal, but it also caused more than a dozen casualties.

Wei Jun was furious and immediately ordered to concentrate fire to eliminate the two batteries that were exposed. In fact, before he could give the order, the two wooden-hulled battleships behind him, "Dingyin III" and "Dingyin IV", had already opened fire on them. More than 300 rounds of shells from two rounds of artillery poured down on the hidden batteries on the riverbank, and in an instant, the two batteries were completely concealed - after a long flight of dirt, they disappeared completely.

The 12 main warships in the south fired a volley of side guns, and the 25 guns of the Krupp battalion in the north also fired a continuous salvo in succession, flanking from both sides.

After the bombardment lasted for more than half an hour, the infantry of the Marine Corps in the north, under the leadership of Yang Zaifu, approached the British position under the cover of artillery fire, preparing to rush directly to the British defensive position as soon as the artillery fire was over.

Artillery fire from the north and south continued to bombard the British troops in Madras for more than an hour. Since its establishment, the Indian Ocean Fleet has never carried out such a hearty bombardment, and all the officers and men have fallen into a frenzy.

Buchanan remained awake. He was the specific commander of the battle, and he had to order the halt of the bombardment of the fleet after the shelling effect had been achieved. And this is also a signal to inform the Marines in the north to charge.

At this moment, he could no longer count the exact number of shells fired by the fleet, and he could only know that the total number of shells on each ship was less than 70 through the flags sent by the heralds of each ship.

You must know that the original reserve of shells on each warship was prepared according to an average of 40 shells per warship, because a quarter was consumed before, but the 12 main warships still had a total of 11,000 rounds left, but now there are only 800 rounds in total, so to speak, just over an hour, the entire 12 main warships poured 10,000 rounds of shells, and among the guns on the side that can fire, each gun fires an average of more than 50 shells in more than an hour. It's crazy.

Buchanan hurriedly ordered the fleet to stop the bombardment.

He regretted that these tens of thousands of shells, but a huge fortune, poured on the British defensive positions in Madras, but there was no due response, and even the Fort St. George seemed to be crumbling and riddled by bombardment, but it still failed to collapse.

As for the British fortifications, after being ploughed twice by the pouring artillery fire, they were completely out of shape. The broken wooden stakes and flying fences around the fortifications were mixed with the severed limbs of the enemy who had been blown away by the shells, and the viscoscope could still be seen in the mud with blood everywhere. Buchanan estimated that there were few unscathed British soldiers left.

"Hateful! This Fort St. George is really strong, worthy of the fortress operated by the British for more than 200 years! Wei Jun was a little disappointed as Buchanan, and said helplessly: "I can only hope that the artillery will also play a role against the British troops in the castle and can kill some." Next, it's up to Yang Zaifu and their marines! ”

Buchanan was also a little frustrated. He was confident in the power of the fleet's artillery, believing that it was the most powerful firepower in the world, and no port could resist it, but what he didn't expect was that the enemy army did not react.

But what Wei Jun and Buchanan didn't expect was that as soon as the main warship stopped firing, a white cloth rose on the top of Fort St. George: Madras's British army has surrendered!