"The Japanese have fired!"

When the Qing troops of the Southern Artillery Group saw the stern of a warship 4.4 kilometers away from the sea, it was suddenly hidden by thick smoke, and they immediately guessed that the Japanese warship had begun to counterattack.

All the soldiers of the Hongzi Army of the Southern Artillery Group paused slightly, and they couldn't help but look up at the sky.

"Whoa—"

Even if the Dagu artillery group roared with hundreds of cannons, it could not suppress the terrifying scream of Yoshino's 203-caliber shell.

"Boom!"

The cannon swept between the 'Wei' and 'Zhen' forts, and smashed into a forest half a mile behind, bursting into a dazzling flame and raising a small mushroom cloud in the loud noise that shook the sky.

The sunny days and warmer climate have already dried up the snow cover in the canopy, and the dead leaves of the next year will burn at a moment, not to mention the blazing temperature.

The forest was on a slope, and there was not much snow left on the slope, and when the fire burned, the whole forest burned 'hula'.

"My woods, my forests!"

In a seaside village three miles to the south, all the men, women, and children ran out and stood at the entrance of the village to watch the bustle.

A rich man suddenly saw that his woods were blown up and burned, and his fat face, which had been smiling with joy, suddenly changed his complexion, and he scolded with a sad face:

"You kill the pestilence of soldiers and ruffians these days, and you fire cannons all day long, stirring people to sleep; Now that the big ship of the Japanese soldiers is coming, why don't you show your ability, you can't even touch the bird feathers of the Japanese ship! ”

"Tsk, it's a pity, how can this bombardment still catch fire? Otherwise, when the war stops, those shrapnel are good materials for kitchen knives. ”

An old blacksmith in the village sighed and shook his head: "They are not like those soldiers and ruffians in the forts, who smash iron lumps against the sea every day,—— these are all good iron on the shore!" More than 30 years ago, it was my father who picked up foreigners' cannonballs and made kitchen knives and hoes to build a few brick houses and marry my two brothers and sisters-in-law. I just don't know if my three boys still have this blessing today? ”

"Yes, yes, I also picked up a lot of iron bullets, and bought a cow with the money from the sale!"

A white-haired old man was also awakened to his distant memory, and shouted to his own boy with an excited face: "Aren't you crying every day and shouting that you want to prepare a big gift for your brother-in-law's marriage in March?" Whether you can earn a dog or a cow now depends on your ability! ”

"Coax-"

The old people in the village were all awakened to the 'night grass' of the year, and they shouted the tips for picking up shrapnel on their backs.

And the young offspring are all eager to try.

Especially those who have not yet married a daughter-in-law, their eyes are red with excitement.

"Uncle Wa, you can hurry up and blow it up, although you can lose more!"

An old bachelor in a village's 'provoking ball' couldn't help but shout out the voices of all men, women and children in the village.

Dagu 'sea' word fort.

"What kind of shell is this, so powerful?"

Wu Hongluo turned his head to look back at the blazing woods half a mile behind him, and his cheeks twitched.

In the Battle of Keelung ten years ago, he had seen the French fleet fire flowering shells, iron shells, and even rockets, but he had never seen such ferocious shells.

Not only did he remember that he had heard an officer of the anti-Japanese army say that the cannonballs of the Japanese could burn steel, but at that time he and his subordinates laughed, thinking that the anti-Japanese army was also a deceit, how could steel burn?

Looking at this situation now, maybe it's really 'unknown'!

When the Yoshino's cannon fell, there was a brief silence in the entire Dagu South Artillery Group, and everyone was shocked.

The soldiers, in particular, were all frightened, and their faces turned pale with fright.

The more than 30 veterans who were summoned by Wu Hongluo to come to Jinmen this time had all experienced the Keelung naval battle that year and had seen French grenades, so although they were shocked, they could accept it after all.

But how could they have the time to patiently explain these things to their soldiers, so where had the nearly 3,000 Qing civilians who had only been soldiers for less than a month seen and heard of this kind of shell?

In their impression, the shells are just iron lumps, the hollow ones are called flowering bullets, the solid ones are called armor-piercing bullets, and the ones with iron chains are called chain bullets.

What is this explosion that is causing a lot of fire?

If this shell is blown up in the fort, everyone will be roasted!

"Boom, boom, boom-"

As the first gun of the Yoshino exploded, the other three ships opened fire one after another, firing at the southern artillery group.

"Fire, fire!"

The sound of artillery on the sea woke up the Qing troops of the southern artillery group, and the artillery commanders of each battery shouted and ordered their artillery to fire back. "Boom, boom, boom-"

However, before the soldiers of the southern artillery group could fire back, the effective range of the Japanese 1st guerrilla group, 9 Armstrong rapid-fire guns and 10 Krupp guns, the effective range of the 1st guerrilla group, bombarded overwhelmingly.

The three main batteries of 'Wei', 'Zhen', and 'Hai', which were heavily bombarded by the Japanese army, were immediately hit one after another by the Japanese rapid-fire guns, which were fired by Shimose shells that fired nearly every 9 seconds.

"Ahh

There was a scream from above the three forts.

"Boom, boom, boom-"

Endless bombs shot out from the ships of the Japanese First Guerrilla Force, and they bombarded the three batteries of the Qing army to death.

"Help me—"

In an instant, the three forts were littered with shattered corpses, burning and howling burning men, and groups of Qing troops were torn apart by raging flames and shrapnel, and groups of plows.

The flowing flames and yellow poisonous smoke immediately completely enveloped the three forts.

"Ahem——, I'm dripping mom! - Run! ”

In the midst of screams and cries, the soldiers of the Qing army, who had been soldiers for only a few days after surviving, looked at the shattered and burning corpses all over the ground in the huge yellow smoke and flames, and no longer had the courage to continue to stay here.

There were many Qing soldiers who were even frightened and incontinent, and they roared like they were stupid and ran down the battery desperately.

"Go back, go back!"

At this time, Wu Xuejun, who was pressing under the fort with the word 'Wei', had blood-red eyes, dancing with a bright big blade in his hand, leading a team of personal soldiers with big swords and spears in his hands, shouting to stop the deserters on the fort, trying to drive them back to the fort.

However, those soldiers who had already broken their guts, where was the presence of Wu Xuejun in their eyes, rushed straight over.

"Kill!"

Wu Xuejun slashed over an oncoming deserter with a knife, but more deserters rushed over like a tide, instantly shocking his soldiers to pieces.

"Runaways—"

"Boom!"

A missed, high-explosive shell exploded near the rout, and although it was thirty or forty meters away, six or seven unlucky people were still knocked off the ground by shrapnel and scattered in the air.

At this moment, Wu Xuejun, who had never really seen such a tragic war, also changed color timidly and softened.

"Escape—"

In the midst of the shouting, Wu Xuejun's men were also caught in the rout, and fled secretly in groups.

"Get out of the way!"

A man with five big and three thick men pushed down Wu Xuejun, who was standing stupidly, and stepped directly on him.

"Ahh You're paralyzed, ah, don't step on me—"

In Wu Xuejun's screams, more footsteps stepped past him.

Dagukou, North Artillery Group.

At this time, the Japanese main group of ships had already moved to the target position, but the four ships led by the Matsushima were driving at the top of the long radius in the south, turning inward.

It is conceivable that when the Japanese ships reached the western ellipse, it was the beginning of heavy shelling.