The 340th Pearl River Estuary artillery battle repelled the enemy

"Turn the rudder right! Flank shelling! ”

Jumping over the Shajiao Fort, the British battleships split into two, and a small part of them left to the right, rushed to Xinwan, and headed for the center of the Taiping (Humen) market town from the Taiping Waterway. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoIf you take Taiping and block the Taiping waterway, you can isolate Weiyuan Island.

The British army, which had fought the Weiyuan Fort twice, was familiar with this aspect, and at the same time understood better that the New People's Army would definitely build a new fort at the Weiyuan Fort to blockade the river.

Therefore, at the same time as attacking head-on, a small unit was sent to the flank to blockade the island, just like beating Deng Tingfen and Guan Tianpei back then, so that the garrison on the island had no support, and finally let the fort fall.

Forts on Heyi Mountain!

"Everyone is in place, the foreign ghosts are rushing over, a wipe of the cannon! Fire! ”

The New People's Army, which had just crossed Xinwan and was responsible for blocking the Taiping Waterway, opened fire, and the shells smashed directly into the ten meters of the British troops at the forefront.

"Turn the rudder right! On the left, the bombardment of Heyi Mountain! ”

Not to be outdone, the British adjusted their gun positions and prepared to remove this obstacle.

"Two-shot reloading! Fire! ”

"Three rounds of reloading! Fire! ”

The Taiping Waterway is less than 500 meters wide and can be completely covered and blocked by the Heyi Fort.

One shell after another fell, and the British battleships that bore the brunt of the attack were quickly damaged, one was sunk and two were damaged, and they did not expect that the small Heyi Fort would have dozens of medium-caliber cannons and four or five ten-caliber guns.

"Fake, retreat temporarily, Jenny, you take a few warships to bypass from the right side of Xinwan, and then we attract them in the front, you are attacking at the same time on the right side, this kind of small battery, the angle is dead, I don't believe it can't be taken." The captain of the detachment gave the command order in frustration.

But soon the British were wrong again, because on the high ground of Mumian Mountain on the island in the middle of the waterway, there were artillery observers who monitored their movements, and used the flagpole to raise the flag and tell the new Nationalist army on the hill on the opposite bank.

Therefore, the artillery of the Heyi Fort quickly adjusted the direction of the muzzle, and the shelling was extended, and the British army had just come around from Hexin Island, and soon received a lot of attention, sinking two ships and wounding two ships.

"Bastard! Where did the New People's Army get so much artillery, no, it can't be attacking, there will definitely be more artillery on the side of the Weiyuan Battery, I want to tell the general, let him be careful, don't fall for the weak enemy of the New People's Army! The captain of the detachment reacted and immediately asked him to retreat, he understood that this time it was not the rotten Manchu Qing that was fighting, and the New People's Army was actually ready, and in just a few months the batteries on Weiyuan Island were built.

"Not good Colonel! Look! Battleships appeared on our right! ”

"What?"

"Damn! The sailors of the New People's Army, they actually hid the sailor battleship in the Xinwan River Fence, damn it, why is there so much straw there, the water is rising and floating this season, it is indeed possible! ”

"Evacuate, evacuate, evacuate..."

The British warships were still on the river, which was narrow, and if the boats of the New People's Army rushed over, they would die in droves and quickly withdraw to the mouth of the Pearl River.

However, at this time, his back road was blocked by the Baisha Fort.

"The foreign ghosts have retreated, open fire!"

"Goal 700! Fire! ”

Rumble! The Baisha Fort roared with a roar of over 200 mm caliber cannons, emitting a roar.

In the first round of shelling, a shell hit the British ship directly, instantly piercing the outside, scattering shattered wood chips, and then the interior caught fire and exploded, killing or wounding dozens of British sailors in an instant.

"No! This bunch of liars! The Baisha Fort was not destroyed, hurry up and fill the rudder to the left, otherwise in the rear, our ass will be kicked to pieces. ”

"Haha, bullshit New People's Army, ignoring my British Empire, this is the price!"

At the same time that the British army in the Taiping Waterway was suffering heavy losses, the huge British warships at the mouth of the Pearl River had broken through the lower rung, and the batteries arranged here were basically destroyed.

"First concentrate on killing the forts on Jiangxin Island in the upper rung, and clean up Weiyuan Island for me." Bahrain ordered according to the predetermined plan, and the main force of the British army went up to the rung, and the island was heavily shelled.

If you want to break the artillery blockade of the Pearl River Estuary, you must first break through the upper and lower rungs Jiangxin Island, especially the upper rung. Because it was four or five times larger than the lower rung, and its position was exactly the center of the estuary, in a straight line with the Weiyuan Battery.

Take down the open-air batteries that he can bombard on both sides, and the various batteries that sit between the mountains.

"Captain! The improvised batteries in the lower rungs have been destroyed, and the British are storming the upper rungs, is it time to show our true strength. ”

In fact, the Weiyuan battery had already counterattacked together with the upper and lower rungs, so it was better to keep hitting the open-air batteries, and in order to show the enemy's weakness, they did not use large calibers, in order to let the British attack the upper rungs without scruples.

Seeing that the opportunity was ripe, the deputy division commander in charge of commanding here immediately said: "Order!" Zhenyuan Fort Group, Jingyuan Fort Group, Shetouwan Fort Group, and various hidden batteries opened fire. Prepare the Spratly battery group to attack the enemy's left flank as soon as the British turn their guns to bombard us or retreat! ”

"Boom, boom, boom.!"

The British Navy battleship, which was originally proud, was suddenly caught in the bombardment of countless cannons, only to see that the entire Weiyuan Fort was full of gunsmoke rising and countless shells were flying.

There was a turmoil in the level of the surface, several warships were hit by shells, and countless rivers poured in.

"Fack! Take down the upper rungs as soon as possible! The New People's Army turned out to have so many 200 mm caliber cannons! They actually repaired all the batteries on that mountain, especially the two on the top of the mountain, which were too large, definitely more than 240 mm. ”

In the rumbling cannon, the smoke of gunpowder rushed to the sky, the surface of the river, the riverbank, and the top of the mountain, all like an earthquake, and the two sides came and went, and soon most of the batteries on the rung stalls were lost, and the coastal open-air batteries on Prestige Island were also lost as much as two-thirds.

However, the New People's Army still fought bloodily and was wounded in the line of fire, especially the large-caliber guns on the top of the hill continued to roar, constantly sinking British warships, and the losses of the British army continued to increase.

"General! The New People's Army is building a cement fort in the upper rung, and I am afraid it will not be able to conquer it for a while! ”

Countless shells hit the past, and there were still cannons to fight back in the upper rung, and Bahrain also saw that there was a problem, but this kind of thing, how could the Orientals have it, and they were willing to use it here, did they have guessed that we would come to fight, and they were ready early.

"General! Oh no, the battlefleet that entered the Taiping waterway was heavily damaged, and the battleships, which lost two-thirds of their warships, had already withdrawn, and they were not only attacked by the naval division of the New People's Army, but also threatened by the Baisha Battery. ”

"What?" Bahrain took out his binoculars and looked to the right rear, and sure enough, several smoking British warships were retreating to this side, seeking refuge, and the Baisha Fort in the distance was smoking, probably firing cannons.

"Command! All withdraw from the Pearl River Estuary! ”

There is no point in fighting, this attack suffered such great losses, once the battle is scorched, the ammunition is gone, and the Baisha battery blocks the exit, once all the sailors of the New People's Army rush out, it is bound to suffer more losses.

Bahrain was unwilling to order a retreat! If you can't get into Guangzhou, can you go to Jiangnan! This time I came to the East to take revenge on the New People's Army, but also to support the Qing State, so there is no need to waste too many troops and ammunition here.

Expedition, this is a shortcoming.

The horn blew and the British battleships began to withdraw towards the mouth of the river.

This gave the Nansha Fort a chance to wait for a long time, and the soldiers who had long been itching to watch this artillery battle were unbearable.

"Lift the straw and load it! Give me all the shelling! ”

"Yes!"

Soon the retreating British battleships were able to withdraw from the range of the Weiyuan Battery, glad that the war was over, fortunately when they were still alive, the left flew shells, and one accidentally another battleship was hit along the edge, and several were damaged.

"Fack! How can there be a New People's Army battery here! Withdraw... Hurry up. Here are also large-caliber guns ..! ”

Bahrain withdrew from the Pearl River Estuary with the fleet in a panic, and here he understood that they had been fooled from the beginning, and there were two defensive lines in the entire Pearl River Estuary, not only Weiyuan Island and the upper and lower rungs could block them, but also the batteries in Nansha and Baisha could block them.

This was something they didn't expect, because the Qing State didn't have such a large caliber and no artillery with such a long range before, so they broke in carelessly, but fortunately they retreated in time, otherwise they would be completely wiped out at the mouth of the Pearl River.

So this time they completely cut off the idea of attacking Guangzhou City again.

In the evening, the artillery fire stopped, and all the British fleet was defeated, 22 British warships were sunk, 23 were damaged, and more than 4,000 officers and men were killed, most of whom drowned.

More than 30 artillery batteries were damaged, more than 50 cannons were destroyed, one battleship was lost, two were wounded, two officers above the battalion level were killed, and more than 800 soldiers were killed or wounded.

The news soon spread back to Guangzhou, and for a while the whole city was boiling, and the whole people celebrated with bullets, firecrackers, and dragons and lions dancing together to celebrate.

You must know that seven or eight years ago, the Qing army did not hold the city of Guangzhou, was captured by Britain and France, and then what happened, no one can forget it. (To be continued.) )