September 1, 1900, around nine o'clock in the morning.

In the upper reaches of Xunke County on the Heishui River, within seven or eight kilometers of the river, deafening artillery sounds suddenly erupted from both sides of the river.

In order to be able to complete the battle, and because of the windfall of 100,000 merit points, Yue Weihua spent a lot of money this time, exchanging 12 150mm howitzer heavy guns and 36 105mm field guns from the merit tower, and the number of these two types of cannons is equivalent to directly doubling.

24 150mm howitzer heavy guns, equivalent to two heavy artillery battalions, the total number of 105mm field guns reached 72, which is equivalent to four field artillery battalions, of course, this price is not small, 150mm howitzer heavy artillery is 400 merit points each, 12 is 4800 merit points, 105 mm field artillery is 200 merit points each, 36 is 7200 merit points.

In addition, the 50mm light mortar was exchanged for 150 in one go, which cost 7,500 merit points, but also made the number of mortars reach an astonishing 180, which is equivalent to the number of artillery of three more mortar battalions, even if each battalion is equipped with one mortar company, each company can be equipped with 30 guns, and six battalions can be equipped.

The three types of artillery consumed nearly 20,000 merit points, and the shells of various calibers, totaling 5,000 rounds, consumed more than 10,000 merit points, after all, each 105 mm field artillery cost 2 merit points, and the 150 mm caliber shells are 3 merit points, and the 250 mm caliber ones need 10 merit points.

The sound of artillery rumbled, as if there were artillery positions everywhere in this seven or eight kilometer section of the river, and this formation was indeed terrifying. But if you listen closely, you can see that there are actually six main artillery positions.

Because the fleet of Tsarist Russia is too big. The mighty stretch of the river lasted for nearly three kilometers, so Yue Weihua placed the main artillery positions at six points. Let's use the letters A, B, C, D, E, and F to make it easier to describe.

Among them, position A is located on the south bank of the most upstream of the Heishui River, that is, 1.5 kilometers in front of the current Tsarist fleet, while position B is 1.5 kilometers downstream of position A, but it is located on the north bank of the Heishui River, and position C is located downstream of position B, which is also about 1.5 kilometers apart, and is located on the south bank of the Heishui River like position A, so it is not far away. It is also distributed on both sides of the strait.

At the moment when the guns sounded, the position of the lead ship of the Tsarist fleet was exactly at the same level as the B position, while the tail ship of the fleet was almost at the same level as the D position, and the F position was relatively far away, three kilometers downstream of the tail ship.

Six artillery positions, each equipped with four 150-mm howitzer heavy guns, 12 105-mm field guns, and two 250-mm coastal defense guns were placed in the A and F positions.

And 180 light mortars. It is arranged within the three-kilometer distance between position B and position, so it creates the illusion that there is artillery sound everywhere and artillery positions everywhere.

So arranged. It can be said that the firepower is both concentrated and dispersed, which can not only accurately hit the enemy. It can also make the enemy fight back, and feel that there is no way to start.

In the face of such a situation. Rao is a battle-hardened Vice Admiral Grodekov, as well as many captains and captains. Almost all of them were dizzy by this sudden and extremely fierce shelling, especially the 180 mortars, although scattered, but the focus was very concentrated, and the hit rate was extremely high, although the 50 mm caliber mortars may not be able to destroy the river ship and the gunboat, but for the passengers on the river boat, the killing power is also very amazing.

"Bastard."

"Cunning Qingren."

"What should I do?"

Lieutenant General Grodekov, Chief of Staff Paparos, as well as Minovsky and Mordaw, two major generals and brigade commanders, the three of them had just gathered on a ship, and had just walked into the cabin, ready to discuss how to modify the landing plan.

"Fight back, shoot back for me."

"Damn it, flag it, order the ships, give me a hard beating."

Grodyokov rushed out of the cabin, and after a quick glance, he saw that most of the battleships were still under passive attack and had not yet begun to return fire, so he ordered in a fit of rage.

But it's easy to say, even if it's a gunboat, if you want to fight back, you need reaction time, first you have to wait for the gunner to be in place, and secondly, you have to adjust the angle, and then you have to wait for the captain's order, no matter how fast it is, for a ship that is not in a state of first-class readiness, the reaction time will be at least a few minutes, this Grodekov, completely a layman commanding an insider.

In fact, it was not only Grodekov who was in a hurry, but the captains were even more anxious, but it was useless to be anxious, first of all, it would take time to return fire, and during this time, all they could do was to constantly adjust the position of the ship and avoid some shelling, but at such a close distance, dodging shelling, do you think it is possible?

In particular, the dense small-caliber artillery shells came like locusts, and the infantry on the manned river ships suffered heavy casualties in a short period of time, although the protection of the ships is strong, the steel plates are thick, and the small-caliber artillery is difficult to penetrate, but there are too many people on the manned river ships, where can so many people hide in the cabin?

Secondly, a target is needed to fight back, but where the target is, it seems that there are targets everywhere, and it seems that the target cannot be found at all, because the opponent is hiding in the mountains and forests, especially on the six major artillery positions, Yue Weihua has used a large number of war fortresses as cover.

Of course, no matter whether the target can be found or not, after the gunner is in place, the return fire must be carried out immediately, no matter whether there are dates or not, there are always a few shots, and the gunners cannot tell where the enemy's artillery position is in a short time, but only reactively see which direction the shells are coming from, and return fire.

But sometimes, a river ship will be bombarded by shells from three or four directions, because the artillery positions of the Black Dragon Army are set up on both sides of the river, basically the entire river surface is without dead ends, and the seven or eight kilometers of river section, for field artillery of more than 105 mm caliber, it is within the range of fire, so sometimes the gunners are dizzy and do not know where to fight.

Thundered!

Thundered!

The counterattack of the Tsarist Russian fleet was very fierce, after all, the river ships and gunboats added up to nearly fifty, and the ships carried by them were more than 100 guns, if it was only about firepower, the Black Dragon Army except mortars, the Tsarist Russian artillery was not weaker than the Black Dragon Army, and even stronger, especially when the Black Dragon Army deliberately hid part of the firepower.

But war is not simply a competition of firepower, and this is not a naval battle, the two fleets are on the sea, you have one cannon, and I have one artillery to attack, you must know that this is the ambush battlefield scheduled by the other side, and the other side not only has fierce firepower, but also is fully prepared.

Although Vice Admiral Grodekov ordered the fleets to return fire fiercely, they soon found that the effect of returning fire was very poor, and firing and dodging the enemy's shelling would definitely affect the speed, which made those experienced captains, almost at the same time, give the command ship a flag, asking to turn the bow of the ship and quickly withdraw from the battlefield downstream, because it is impossible to suppress the enemy's firepower, then every minute of stay here, it is possible to lose a battleship, if it is an empty ship, But if there are hundreds or thousands of infantry on it, the consequences will be even worse.

Thundered!

The two 250 mm caliber shore defense guns in the artillery position at point A were aimed at a river ship at the same time, and two huge projectiles of more than 100 kilograms hit the target almost at the same time, one of the shells hit the stern, only to see that the stern burst open instantly, directly separated from the hull, and the other shell hit the bottom of the hull.

"Damn, is this the power of a 250mm cannon?"

When Yue Weihua saw this scene, he instantly became excited, and then fantasized about those 300 mm, 400 meter mm, and even 800 mm caliber cannons, that power, that scene, how spectacular it would be, and he also secretly made up his mind that once it stabilized, it was time to train the navy crew and make talent and technical reserves for the development of the navy, after all, a country wants to be strong, and if there is no strong navy, it is an empty word, of course, this is still a little far away for the current Black Dragon Army, but it must be prepared for a rainy day, Make all kinds of reserves in advance.

"Bastard."

When Yue Weihua saw a river ship being directly sunk, Grodekov also saw this scene, of course, the mood was completely opposite.

"Report to Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, many captains have raised flags and asked to turn the bow of the ship and quickly withdraw from the battlefield downstream."

"What, a bunch of cowards, the battle has just begun, are you going to evacuate?" Grodechoff scolded angrily.

"Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, this is a battlefield set by the enemy, and we will suffer a great loss to fight the enemy here, and I think that we should indeed evacuate, as the captains said, we should turn the bow of the ship and retreat downstream, otherwise, the longer it takes, the more unfavorable it will be for us." Chief of Staff Paparos persuaded that because Paparos was born as a ship captain and had a thorough understanding of river ship operations, Grodekov was an orthodox lieutenant general.

"Bastard." Grodekov said angrily, not knowing who he was scolding, and after scolding for a while, he continued: "Inquire about the situation of each ship, and quickly report the battle damage." ”

A few minutes later.

"Your Excellency the commander-in-chief, two river ships were sunk, three were heavily damaged, and the other river ships were also damaged to varying degrees, five gunboats were sunk, and four more were heavily damaged, and the other gunboats were not optimistic, six tugboats were lost, almost all cargo ships were sunk, and the losses of soldiers could not be accurately counted, but it is estimated that the losses will exceed two thousand people."

"What, it's only half an hour, it's impossible?" Grodekov felt incredible, and even his head was a little deprived of oxygen.

…… (To be continued.) )

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