Now, only a dozen years later, the Chinese Navy, which was once vulnerable to the point that "a single British warship can destroy all Chinese ships", has become so fierce!

Under the fierce siege of Chinese warships, the "Monaken" soon showed signs of discouragement. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Although the "Monaken" cruiser was more than twice as large as the "East" ironclad ship and its firepower was far stronger than that of any warship on either side of China or Japan, its protection was obviously far worse than that of the "East" due to its large number of cannons. Because of its lack of armor, the shells fired by the Chinese warship could easily penetrate its hull plates, so that not long after the exchange of fire, the "Monaken" was beaten from head to toe into a world of fire and smoke.

Riddell could not help but secretly admire the courage of the American gunners when he saw that the gundoors of the "Monaken" were still spewing out tongues of fire, even though they had been hit by the Chinese warships.

"The Americans on this boat are probably all Southerners, right? Maybe Virginians. Rydell muttered to himself, and though he spoke in a small voice, it was still heard by Coles.

He understood what the commander meant by this, and couldn't help but be secretly amused.

The reason why the British say this is because they have the impression that the Americans in the South are more stubborn, especially the Virginians, as in the American Civil War, the stubbornness of the Virginians was vividly reflected in the "Pegett Charge" of the Battle of Gettysburg, so it is widely known.

But Rydell and Coles guessed wrong, there were indeed many Virginian sailors on the "Monaken", but most of the sailors on board were from South Carolina.

And the British and Americans would not have imagined what kind of storm these sailors from South Carolina would cause in the future.

At 14:45, the "Fujing," the flagship of the Chinese fleet, hit the deck of the "Monaken" with a 190-millimeter breech gun on the tail of the "Monaken," and three American officers and six sailors who were on the flybridge died on the spot. At about the same time, a 140-mm shell fired from the "Princess Peshuo" hit the command tower of the "Monaken," and Lieutenant Commander Masson, the captain of the "Monaken," who was trying to command his warship to get rid of the attack, was shattered in the head by shrapnel, and his body flew out with the shock wave caused by the explosion of the shell, fell on the deck, and died on the spot. The compass and the chart table next to him left a puddle of his blood. At the same time, the first deck of the "Monaken" was also hit by shells fired by Chinese warships one after another, and one shell easily penetrated the top deck of the first floor, destroying the bomb transport device used to lift ammunition from the main ammunition depot in the first floor, and the American soldiers who were on standby nearby to fight the fire damage at any time were killed and 4 wounded, and the last 163 mm gun on the deck of the "Monaken" lost its ammunition supply. Soon another 140-mm shell flew again, destroying the gun, and the flying shrapnel killed all six American gunners on the gun emplacement.

Seeing that the captain was killed, and the deck of the "Monaken" was in chaos, many American sailors actually came with the dream of making a fortune, where did they expect to experience such a vicious battle! Seeing this chaotic scene, the second assistant Sangis had to grit his teeth and come out to take over the command. Just as he was about to turn around and flee in the "Monaken," a shell from a Chinese warship hit the chimney of the "Monaken," breaking through the chimney and destroying the steam boiler exposed on the deck.

Although the "Monaken" was seriously wounded, it still refused to stop, and the 229-mm guns on both sides still fired very fiercely, and at the same time as the first deck was hit, a 229-mm shell fired by the "Monaken" hit the starboard side of the "Chaowu", destroying a 140-mm gun emplacement, killing two Chinese gunners on the spot and wounding four sailors transporting ammunition.

"Send a signal and order each ship to fire at the gun emplacement, machine guns to fire at the deck, and kill and injure its personnel." Seeing that the artillery fire of the "Monaken" was very fierce, Lin Yizhe held a telescope and gave an order while carefully observing the battle situation.

The reason for issuing such an operational order was due to the experience gained just now in dealing with the ironclad ship "Dong."

In the battle just now, although the "Dong" was rough-skinned and thick-skinned and it was not easy to destroy, due to the heavy artillery fire of the Chinese warships and the strafing of the "Dong" deck by the machine guns, the "Dong" not only completely destroyed its gun positions, but also suffered all the casualties among its gunners, and by the time it was finally hit, it had no strength to resist. Even if it is not sunk, it becomes a ruined ship. Therefore, when dealing with the "Monaken," Lin Yizhe decided to adopt the strategy of killing and injuring as many US ship personnel as possible, in order to end the battle as soon as possible.

After a short time, all the Chinese warships that saw the flagship's flag began to shoot at the gun doors of the "Monaken" (due to the smoke of gunpowder on the battlefield, not all Chinese warships were able to see the flagship's flag), and one after another high-explosive shells drilled into the unprotected hull of the "Monacan" and exploded, and soon most of the 229-mm guns on both sides of the "Monacan" were dumbfounded. A rain of bullets from machine guns and Lin's machine guns swept across the deck of the Monaken, turning it into a slaughterhouse.

Captain Miles, the first mate of the Monaken, who had been knocked unconscious and locked in the cabin, was awakened by the rumbling sound of cannons. He banged the locked door and yelled loudly.

"Let me out! Let me out! ”

"Captain, please be quiet! You are now a prisoner of the captain! The sailor who was guarding outside replied helplessly, "I can't let you out!" ”

Myers heard that this man was Robert Robert, a sailor from Georgetown, South Carolina, and he quickly added, "Robert! Listen to me! We can't go to war with the Chinese! This would be a disaster for the government of the United States, and for all the Americans on this ship! Do you understand? ”

"Captain! The battle has begun! ”

"The government of the United States did not authorize us to go to war with the Chinese! To do so is tantamount to rebellion! It's a rebellion! Do you understand? Robert! We are soldiers! Not bandits! You let me out! Let's stop it! ”

"Alright! Captain ...... "Robert was convinced by Miles, and just then, there was a loud bang, the hatch cracked, and a black-covered man flew in with his back against the door, and slammed into Miles's body, and the two of them flew backwards in unison and fell into the corner.

Miles felt his head "buzz", his eyes were full of flashing Venus, he shook his head vigorously to sober himself up, and after a while, he found Robert who had fallen in front of him, and quickly reached out to help him, only to find that Robert was no longer breathing.

Miles reluctantly put down Robert, got up and staggered out of the broken hatch, a cold wind blew, he looked at the huge hole in front of him, and couldn't help but gasp.

Suddenly, there was a "creaking" sound, and Monaken began to tilt to the right!

Feeling the movement of the Monaken beneath his feet, he hurried to the deck.

"Stop shelling." Seeing that all the gunfire of the "Monaken" had become dumb, Lin Yizhe put down his binoculars and gave an order in a deep voice, "Send a foreign gun team up to capture this ship!" ”

Pei Jinquan gave a loud order, and soon the "Fujing" was speeding towards the "Monaken."

All the cannon sounds stopped, and Miles came to the deck in a daze, he looked at the vague figures around him, and was about to give the order to stop the battle as the first officer, but heard a majestic Chinese shout: "Foreign guns!" Rush up! ”

Miles' stay in China with the Monacon was not too short, and he was no stranger to the Chinese language, but it was the first time he had heard such a command.

Miles shook his head, rubbed his eyes vigorously, looked in the direction from which the voice came, and saw a Chinese cruiser ("Fujing") flying the dragon flag, which was already leaning on the port side of the "Monaken"!

The same command came from the starboard side, and Miles turned his head to look and saw another Chinese cruiser (the lead ship of the three Beiyang ships, the "Weiyuan")!

With the roar, Miles saw Chinese Navy soldiers in straw hats, fiery red uniforms, rifles, and long knives at their waists, grabbing ropes and swinging towards the Monaken.

An American second lieutenant on deck howled and drew his revolver to shoot at the Chinese sailors, but Miles stepped forward and grabbed the wheel of the revolver in his hand to stop him from firing.

"Stop shedding meaningless blood!" Miles yelled at the second lieutenant.

"Get out of here! You Northerner! The lieutenant yelled at him angrily.

"It's a pointless fight! We are soldiers! Not a traitor! ”

Probably awakened by Myers's "traitor", the second lieutenant was stunned, and his hand holding the gun gradually relaxed. As Miles snatched his pistol, his arm hung limply.

"I command you! Stop shooting! Stop shooting! Miles waved his arms and shouted hoarsely.

Hearing his order, some of the American sailors who were about to fight hand-to-hand with the Chinese sailors who jumped to board the ship stopped moving.

With the sound of tuk-tuk on the ground, one after another vigorous figures landed on the deck of the "Monaken", and as soon as they stood firm on the deck, they immediately raised their rifles and aimed them at the Americans on the deck.

Miles shouted incessantly in English as he raised his hands in front of the nearest Chinese sailor, preventing him from shooting at his companions behind him.

The sailor was stunned for a moment, and looked back at a Chinese officer who had just jumped onto the deck, also in a fiery red uniform, with a gloomy face, a pistol in one hand and a command knife in the other, and walked slowly towards Miles.

Miles stepped forward and said to him in English: "I, Captain of the Navy of the United States of America, Miles, First Mate of the 'Monaken,' in the name of the commander of this warship, lead the entire crew to surrender to your navy. We hope that your navy will treat us in a proper manner in accordance with public international law. ”

As he spoke, he stepped forward and handed the revolver in his hand to the Chinese officer.

The Chinese officer, who apparently knew English, nodded, put his sword and gun back into its sheath, and took the revolver that Myers handed him.

"The Chinese are going to capture this American warship!"

On the ironclad ship "Otisha", Coles could not help but scream as he saw from a distance through the telescope the Chinese Navy's marines swinging ropes and landing on the deck of the "Monaken" one by one.

"What a great sailor!" Rydell held the binoculars and watched this scene, and unconsciously praised it, not noticing the "hint" in Coles's words.

"Although I have not witnessed the battle of the mouth of the Nile, I think that this is how Nelson and the warriors of the Marines fought the enemy, right?"

Hearing that the commander was actually reminded of the battle of the Nile Estuary, in which Nelson personally led the Marines in hand-to-hand combat, Coles's face showed a hint of frustration.

"Sir, it's no longer a fight, it's possible that there will be a massacre against the Caucasians." Coles reminded Rydel again, "I think we should take action to stop the carnage." ”

"Yes. We've got to help the poor Yankees. Reddell agreed to Coles' suggestion. Coles then gave the order, and as the signal flag was raised, the ironclad ship "Otisha" began to move towards the "Monaken", with the "Tyria" following closely behind.

But just then, the unexpected happened.

Seeing the British warship starting, the French ironclad ship "Normandy" suddenly also started, but instead of sailing to the "Monacan" like the British, it was horizontal in front of the British warship!

"Damn the French! What do they want to do? Rydel scolded with some annoyance when he saw the French ironclad blocking his way.

Coles, of course, understood the intentions of the French, and was about to speak, when he saw a series of flags rising from the mast of the French ironclad.

"They're signaling to Chinese warships." Reedel understood the meaning of the French flag, put down the telescope in a huff, and ordered to stop.

"Colonel El is really a friend enough to block the British for us, and send us a signal to remind us."

On the "Fujing", Pei Jinquan understood the flag issued by the French, and said to Lin Yizhe with a smile.

The flag that the French had just issued was "Rebels are not allowed to be treated as prisoners of war." ”

"Colonel El is a man who understands, the British are not authentic this time, let's write this account for them." Lin Yizhe nodded and put down the telescope in his hand.

At this time, the Chinese sailors had completely taken over the "Monaken", and Miles, along with a group of U.S. Navy officers and men, was escorted to a foot on the deck, and the Chinese sailors who had arrived on the "Monaken" were busy searching the various cabins below the deck, and did not deal with the bloody corpses of the American soldiers on the deck.

Miles saw that among the corpses on the deck, the head had been shattered and smashed into a "big" shape of Masson's corpse, and he couldn't help but curse him fiercely in his heart.

After escorting all the American sailors in the cabin to the deck, several Chinese sailors stepped forward and lowered the Southern Cross flag, the flag of the Confederate countries, hanging from the mast of the "Monaken," and raised a Chinese dragon flag. The Chinese sailors did not treat the large Southern Cross flag as the Americans imagined, but folded it carefully.

Seeing that the good quality displayed by the Chinese sailors was completely different from the barbaric and rude army soldiers he had seen in China's coastal treaty ports before, Myers secretly sighed in his heart.

Seeing the Chinese sailors fold the Southern Cross flag and put it in a cardboard box found in the cabin of the "Monaken", Myers thought that the Chinese sailors would return the flag to him, but what he didn't expect was that after the Chinese sailors had done all this, a Chinese officer stepped forward to take the flag away and took it to the dinghy.

Only then did Myers understand that the Chinese wanted to use this flag as their trophy!

Thinking of the possible fate of the cruiser he was on, Miles's heart tightened, and he couldn't help but secretly scold Masson and the Japanese.

"The Monaken was captured by Chinese......"

In the jungle on the shore, Li Xiande, who was hiding in the shadows, saw through the telescope that the "Monaken" was captured by the Chinese Navy, lowered the Southern Cross flag, and raised the dragon flag.

"Now they're going to deal with us!" A U.S. Army officer who was recruited by Li Xiande said in horror.

"What should we do now?" Another American asked with a trembling voice.

Li Xiande was silent, he turned his head to look at Xixiang Congdao, and saw that Xixiang Congdao's face had turned the color of pig liver.

"The Qing Army will land here soon! Checkmate! Gu Gancheng saw that Xixiang Congdao was speechless, and said a little anxiously, "We have to take action immediately!" ”

"Do you have any good suggestions?" Saigo asked in a hoarse voice, his gaze still resting on the "Monaken", which had already raised the dragon flag.

"General, we should hurry away from the coast to prevent the shelling of Qing warships." Gu Gancheng said, "The troops at the landing site should also evacuate quickly......

Before Gu Gancheng could finish speaking, he was interrupted by the rumbling sound of cannons.

Gu Gancheng raised his head and raised his binoculars to look at the beach, and when he saw the large cloud of smoke rising there, his heart sank.

He knew that the Japanese troops who were still on the landing ground and the baggage supplies unloaded on the shore were all finished.

"Landing Ground...... It's over......" Saigo muttered to himself, his eyes empty.