Jiujiang, Jiangfang Fort.

The battery was in shambles, and the guns of the various gun positions, especially the five 120mm cannons, were all blown into a pile of scrap metal.

The corpses and stumps and severed arms of the Sichuan artillery were everywhere around the artillery position, and the afterglow of the fireworks produced by the violent explosion had not disappeared, and the billowing smoke was still pouring out from the Jiangfang fort.

Against the backdrop of such a picture, five river gunboats flying the Japanese sun flag passed through the blockade line of the former Jiujiang River defense battery one after another.

The commander-in-chief of the inland river detachment of the Third Fleet of the Japanese Navy, Kato Masaga Daisa, raised his glasses to look at the situation on the Jiujiang Battery, nodded with satisfaction and praised: "Yo Xi, the marines of the first group did a good job and destroyed the Jiujiang Fort of the people of China in one fell swoop!" ”

The captain of the fleet's flagship Yunying, Kobayashi Nobuyong, also stood aside at this time and said with a smile: "The Marines are really doing a good job, I knew that the people of China were so vulnerable, we should have attacked as soon as possible and taught the warlord of China who dared to provoke our Great Japanese Empire a hard lesson!" ”

Kato Masaga laughed and said, "Kobayashi-kun, it's not too late, I'm curious to know now, what kind of expression that arrogant and arrogant Shina warlord will have when he sees our fleet on the Yangtze River in Wuhan?" ”

Just as the two of them were laughing excitedly at the expression on which Wang Mo was frightened by their fleet, a communications soldier trotted over and reported: "Your Excellency, the Black Dragon Society contacted the radio to call, and the second group that went to Hanyang to sneak attack the Guishan Fort failed in its operation, and all the members of the team have been shattered!" ”

"What! The second group actually failed? Kato Masaka was suddenly shocked, and anxiously gave an order in a loud voice, "Order all ships to immediately fill up coal, drive the horsepower to the maximum, and rush to Wuhan at the fastest speed!" ”

Since the Hanyang Guishan Fort was not destroyed as planned, then it was necessary to rush over before the squadron reacted!

Kato Masaga planned to take advantage of the fact that the fort had not yet noticed the Japanese fleet and raided in one fell swoop, hoping to use the powerful naval guns of the five gunboats to destroy the five cannons on the Kameyama Battery.

With the order of Kato Masaga, the five Japanese gunboats drove to the maximum speed. Go straight to Wuhan.

……

Wuhan, Hanyang, Wang Mo's Mansion.

Wang Mo buttoned the button of his military uniform and walked quickly to the outside of the mansion. At the same time, he asked the signal soldier of the Sichuan Army Artillery Regiment who came to report: "How long has it been since the attack on the Guishan Fort?" ”

The communication soldier followed behind Wang Mo and replied, "Back to the young marshal, it's been almost an hour." ”

"Bastard! What does Li Xudong eat? It's been almost an hour before someone was sent to report! Wang Motie scolded angrily with a blushing face.

Hearing Wang Mo's angry scolding, the communication soldier felt a pang in his heart, and hurriedly replied: "The attack happened too suddenly, and the other party carried a lot of powerful explosive packs. We have suffered many casualties as a result. In his rush to treat the injured brothers, Commander Li did not send someone to report to him as soon as possible. After dealing with the injured brothers, Commander Li sent me over, but Hanyang was a little far away from here, so I ......"

"With a lot of powerful explosives?" Wang Mo suddenly thought of something, and immediately asked loudly, "Tell me quickly, are those attackers Japanese, and are they targeting those 5 cannons?" ”

"Yes, checked. The attackers were most likely Japanese, and they were indeed aiming for the five cannons. "It's a little strange that the young marshal can know so clearly when he is not at the scene, could someone else report first?

"Damn, little Japan is going to do a sneak attack!" Wang Mo's face changed greatly, and he immediately ordered loudly, "Come on, immediately rush to pass my order to the garrisons in the three towns of Wuhan, whether it is the Sichuan Army or the newly formed Hubei Army, immediately enter the highest level of combat readiness!" ”

Wang Mo has always had several teams of heralds on call at any time, and he heard Wang Mo's order. Soon, a group of heralds came out to receive the order, and then jumped on horseback and galloped towards the garrisons of the three towns of Wuhan.

Whether it is a sneak attack or a strong attack, the threat of the Japanese on land is basically negligible, so the biggest possibility is to send a fleet of river gunboats to attack from the Yangtze River.

Come to think of this. As soon as Wang Mo turned over and jumped on horseback, he led dozens of guards and galloped in the direction of the Hanyang Guishan Fort.

The movements of the garrisons in various places in the three towns of Wuhan quickly attracted the attention of all forces in Wuhan, and one after another the eight immortals crossed the sea to show their magical powers, asking what was going on and why the army had such a big move.

Well-informed people soon received information about the Japanese attack, such as the British, who had been egging on and supporting Japan behind their backs.

But. The British Consul General in Hankow, Mr. Graham Ford, did not seem to be too concerned about the Sino-Japanese conflict, and did not get up from the warm bed in the middle of the night, as everyone else did, but remained at home and enjoyed his sweet dreams. In his opinion, no matter how the war will be fought, the British Empire will finally come out to clean up the mess.

The Japanese, who were on the side of the war, were on the opposite side, and from the beginning of the surprise attack, Matsumura Sadao had been anxiously waiting for news of the river fleet in the Hankow consulate. Although he had confidence in the Empire's fleet, the cannons on the river defense batteries of the Khina people were not so easy to deal with. In the unlikely event that the sneak attack was unsuccessful, the fleet would change from a surprise attack to a frontal assault, and even if it could finally destroy the river defense batteries of the Chinese people, it would inevitably have to pay a huge price in casualties.

Waiting is undoubtedly a very painful thing.

Matsumura Sadao paced back and forth on the balcony on the second floor of the consulate with an anxious expression, and the movement of the garrisons in various parts of the three towns of Wuhan made him a little uneasy, for fear that the bad news of the failure of the plan would come later.

After a while, Koji Suzuki, the counselor of the consulate, walked quickly to Sadao Matsumura with a telegram on his face, and said with some excitement: "Your Excellency, it has been successful!" The Yunying called, and the river gunboat detachment had successfully broken through the blockade line of the Jiujiang Fort of the Zhinaren and was rapidly rushing towards Wuhan. There is still half an hour at most, and the fleet will be able to rush to the waters of the Yangtze River in Wuhan! With that, he handed the telegram in his hand to Sadao Matsumura.

"Good, good! Kato Masaga really did not fail His Majesty the Emperor and the Great Japanese Empire! Matsumura Sadao smiled excitedly, took the telegram and looked at it, frowned again, and said, "The five cannons of the Hanyang Guishan Fort were not destroyed, which is probably a big trouble." ”

Koji Suzuki was very optimistic about this, and said with a relaxed smile: "Although the second group of the Marine Corps failed in its operation, the people of China may not know that our imperial fleet is already on its way to Wuhan. Even if they knew. It is estimated that it will be too late to deploy defenses. I believe that with the powerful firepower of five river gunboats, it will not be a problem to destroy the Guishan Fort of the Chinese people, and Your Excellency the Minister can rest assured! ”

That's right, in front of a powerful fleet of five river gunboats. Even if the Guishan Fort of the people of China was fully prepared, it would not be able to resist it.

Thinking of this, Matsumura Sadao regained his vitality and said with a smile: "That's right, with the strong strength of the imperial fleet. It is believed that it will not be long before Wuhan, a prosperous city in China, will be prostrate under the guns of the imperial gunboats. Suzuki-kun, I can't wait to see Wang Mo's arrogant and arrogant Shina warlord's trembling expression when facing the muzzle of my imperial gunboat, haha......"

At the time when the three towns of Wuhan were in turmoil, the Hanyang Guishan Fort was not idle, and after dealing with the matters after being raided, Li Xudong did not let the artillery soldiers rest and breathe, but ordered all artillery units to immediately enter the artillery positions and be ready to fight at any time.

"Herald. Observe the balloon horse rising into the sky, and always pay attention to whether there is an inland river fleet coming over the Yangtze River waterway! Li Xudong then ordered.

In the previous Wuhan War, the Sichuan Army Artillery Regiment learned a trick from the Hubei Army and the Beiyang Army Artillery Corps, that is, to use observation balloons to observe the shelling target for the artillery and adjust the shelling Zhuyuan.

Although the moonlight tonight is not very bright, there is still a faint starlight, and with the lights on both sides of the Yangtze River, the observer hand on the observation balloon can still vaguely see the situation on the Yangtze River channel.

Most of the ships of this era were coal-burning, so there were towering chimneys on the warships, and billowing black smoke was constantly pouring out, forming columns of smoke. Very conspicuous.

Therefore, when five long columns of smoke appeared on the water-sky line, the observer on the observation balloon easily spotted it, and immediately shouted: "Five large ships suspected of being river gunboats have been found." We're rapidly approaching us! ”

"No. 1 cannon fire to warn the other side, and the rest of the cannon is ready to fire at any time!" Li Xudong gave a loud order, although most of the people who came were Japanese gunboats, but he still fired a warning first according to the rules.

The 120mm cannon had a range of 12,000 meters, which was not inferior to the 76mm guns of the Japanese river gunboats.

Boom -

There was a loud roar, and a cannonball hit the front of the unknown fleet on the Yangtze River channel in the distance. Splash a high column of water.

The captain of the Yunying, Nobuyong Kobayashi, asked Kato Masaga for instructions: "Your Excellency, the Shina River Defense Fort has fired a warning to us, do you respond?" ”

Kato Masaga smiled coldly and said: "Don't pay attention to it, order all ships to continue to speed up and rush over, as long as they enter the effective range of the main guns, all ships will immediately launch the most ferocious artillery bombardment towards the defense battery of the China River!" ”

Since the cannon warning has not stopped, Li Xudong has no need to be polite, and immediately ordered: "All cannons, immediately lock the ship in front of the opponent's fleet, and fire a salvo - open fire!" ”

Boom -

The five cannons roared in unison, the cannon body shook suddenly, the muzzle of the cannon exploded into a dazzling fire in the dark night, and the five shells broke through the air.

Five high columns of water shot up, but unfortunately, due to the low visibility, the Sichuan artillerymen were not particularly skilled in the use of cannons, and the first salvo did not make a difference.

At this time, the Japanese river gunboat fleet had also entered the effective range of the 76-mm main gun, and Kato Masawa did not hesitate to order the most intense artillery bombardment of the Kameyama shells.

Boom -

The five 76-mm guns of the five Japanese river gunboats fired a salvo at the Guishan Battery, and the five shells accurately smashed into the Guishan Battery, destroying the guns on the three gun emplacements and killing and wounding a large number of Sichuan artillery.

Thankfully, due to the low visibility, the Japanese could not tell which gun position the Sichuan army was deploying the cannon at this time, so this salvo did not hurt the five cannons.

"Quick, the cannon continues to fire back, fire quickly!" Li Xudong shouted with red eyes. (To be continued.) )