Chapter 685 The Battle of the Yangtze River: Uncle and Nephew Duel

"Hurry up and change the blades!"

"It's not just the problem of the propellers, the transmission gear is broken, and the transmission has to be dismantled to replace it, how can it take two or three hours!"

"Just an hour! If we can't fix it, we'll all be finished! That's the problem with the design of your shipbuilding, and you never think about whether it's easy to ......repair if it's broken."

Mi Anping scolded the technician of Hengzhou Shipyard, and when he heard that it would take at least more than an hour, Yue Shenglin's eyes flashed for a while, and he said to Mi Anping: "Raise the white flag!" Let's learn from Xuan Gao and sacrifice cattle, pretend to be messengers, and try to delay time. ”

Mi Anping didn't think much about it, but Xu Gui, an old shipwright who didn't seem to have much knowledge, spoke, "Xuan Gao offers cattle? Let's not mention that we beat the Tartar severely, and now we are pretending to be a messenger, I'm afraid it's too late. Let's just say this cow...... Where did it come from? ”

The young Yue Shenglin scratched his head and said: "I should be able to calculate it myself, just say that it was sent by my father to contact him and persuade him to be righteous and join Yinghua." Of course, I don't expect it to happen, but I can't delay time. ”

Xu Gui sneered: "You? As long as you get on Yue Zhongqi's ship, you will become the nephew of the Yue family who understands the righteousness and the Manchu Qing Dynasty in Beitou, alas, it doesn't mean that you have this mind, you are in the hands of Yue Zhongqi, how to manipulate him with a word. ”

Yue Shenglin frowned and said, "He is a martial artist, at least he should have faith...... Back then, Governor Xiao met Shi Shibiao in person, and Shi Shibiao entrusted him to take care of his family, which was a good story spread throughout the military circles in the north and south. ”

Xu Gui continued to sneer: "Yue Zhongqi's faith? You don't know the Zeng Jing case that Yongzheng made a fuss about a few years ago? Your cousin swore a curse, and he also bowed to Zhang Xi, so he pried Zeng Jing out, and then there was a Jiangnan literary disaster......"

Mi Anping also understood, and patted Yue Shenglin on the shoulder with a smile: "You are thinking about designing to deceive him, and you still expect him to be trustworthy, don't be so greedy, let's ......"

At this moment, the Lei Gong has turned off the boiler and is floating on the lake, and the fleet like a mountain in the distance is gradually pressing, Mi Anping sighed and said: "Let's try our best, if it doesn't succeed, see if God can open it." ”

In the huge fleet to the east, Yue Zhongqi scolded the Wuchang Zhenzhong Army who fled back in a fast sentry boat on the boat, that is, the general of the Zhenbiao Zhongying Battalion, "What god is angry!?" That's just the steam locomotive ship of the Nanban, plus the navy's long guns! Even if the ships are strong, you have more than 20 ships! As soon as the Lord will die, you will blow up the nest, and you are really not afraid of the military order to pull out the team and cut it down!? ”

is different from the hillbilly of Wuchang Water Division, Yue Zhongqi has extraordinary knowledge, what "water monster", what "heavenly wrath", can't get into his ears at all. His judgment was very direct, the forward fleet was defeated by a ship of the Nanban, and the Nanban was good at weapons, and it was not unusual for him to have such a record.

However, Yue Zhongqi's judgment was slightly deviated in the details, he believed that it was Delin's death that allowed the forward fleet to collapse, and the combat power of the Nanban ship could not be higher than twenty of his own warships.

If Yue Zhongqi had put more effort into understanding the battle situation, he might have learned more about the Lei Gong, but his mind had already focused on a strategic question: Did Nanban see through his plan, so there was a blockade from this ship?

The victory or defeat of this operation, the life and death of nearly 20,000 troops, is far heavier than that of Lei Gonghao. He pondered for a moment, and then said resolutely: "The right flank escorts the warship to clean up this Nanban ship, and the brigade accelerates forward!" ”

The news he received before setting off was that only the gray-clothed soldiers of the Nanban in the direction of Changde, that is, Xiang Yong rushed to the area of Longyang and Yiyang, which showed that the Nanban was heavy and still took Xiangyin as the focus of defense.

It is estimated that this steam car ship only encountered by chance on a tour of the lake, and no matter how stupid Nanban was, he would not send a ship to meet the enemy, so the intention of the surprise attack had not yet been revealed.

But the appearance of this ship also shows that Nanban has strengthened its vigilance, and the longer it drags on, the greater the chance of the raid being discovered, and the more fully prepared Nanban is. Therefore, Yue Zhongqi's mind was full of one thought: to gain time.

"Jingzhong, you stay and command, try to surrender this ship......"

Yue Zhongqi's stuffed mind finally squeezed out a little space for this ship, the steam engine, the naval cannon, which are all heavy weapons of the military state, they are very valuable, they must be captured as much as possible, and there must be credible people in charge, he ordered his son's general.

The eldest son was nineteen years old, and he made up for the lack of guerrillas and followed him to handle military affairs. After Zeng Jing's case, Yue Zhongqi changed his son's name, and "Jingzhong" corresponded to Yue Fei's "Jingzhong......

Yue Jingzhong, who still had a childish look on his face, responded excitedly, Yue Zhongqi glanced ahead again, and could vaguely see the boat from the gap in the sails like a forest, but he didn't have the heart to look closely, and he didn't even notice that the boat was parked on the lake, without a trace of movement.

The huge group of ships followed the original route and swept over the side of the Lei Gong, and after three or four miles, the hands of the gunners who were so nervous that they were covered in sweat were trembling, and if they really wanted to pounce on them all, even if they were all targets, they would not be able to cope with them at all......

But the boat group didn't seem to pay attention to the Lei Gong at all, and sailed towards the west on their own, until the twenty or so warships formed a half-moon formation and attacked the Lei Gong, and everyone woke up, and a humiliated anger spread in their hearts, Yue Zhongqi didn't take the Lei Gong in his eyes, right? Want to flick your little finger and clean yourself up?

After anger, there is joy, God has eyes, isn't this helping yourself? Circle around these twenty or so warships for an hour, and run away as soon as they are repaired! At this time, Mi Anping and Yue Shenglin remembered their duties, and with the speed of the Lei Gong, they could return to Wuling at least one day faster than this big ship group.

Twenty or so ships surrounded on three sides and continued to stretch two or three miles away, forming a posture of siege on all sides. The main general was very cautious, and after the formation was complete, he instigated the warships and attacked from all sides, and half an hour passed like this.

The rushing ship is more agile and faster than the sand boat, and the stance coming from all sides is also larger than the previous chaotic forward fleet. In order to save shells, Mi Anping asked to wait for the other side to be within a mile before bombarding, and this group of Qing warships should be specialized in fighting against the strong enemy on the water, and there were thousands of pounds of cannons in the bow, and they would attack first a mile away, the cannon rumbled, and the water column splashed in all directions.

There was a muffled bang, solid cannonballs kept smashing on the hull, and the red-clothed soldiers had to shrink behind the paddlewheel guard, while Mi Anping, Yue Shenglin and others avoided the helm platform on the upper deck in front of the hull, which was surrounded by iron plates, that is, inside the bridge.

After a long while, the enemy ships entered within a mile, and the four guns of the Lei Gong finally spoke, and the shelling of both sides lasted two or three quarters of an hour. The flowering shells of the three-inch cannon continued to carry forward the ignition rate of less than one percent, but the huge power of the occasional explosion also made the Qing warships tremble. The two Qing warships that rushed to the front and tried to directly engage in hand-to-hand combat were even more bombarded, becoming a warning to other warships that they did not dare to get too close again.

After a long artillery battle, the Lei Gong never moved, and the main general of the Qing army finally grasped the truth, and the ship was afraid that it would break down and would not be able to run.

The Qing warships were no longer besieging on all sides, but charged at the bow and stern of the Lei Gong. According to past experience, there are always dead ends in the gunfire of warships, and those with strong gunfire on the side of the ship will inevitably have weak firepower at the head and tail.

Unexpectedly, the gun emplacement design of the Lei Gong was based on the main gun layout of the dreadnoughts of later generations, even if it was the bow and stern, it could ensure the firing of two guns. The Qing warships were drawn into a column and attacked from the front and rear, and the threat to the gunners was far less than that from all sides, and it was easier to deal with.

An hour passed, and with the Lei Gong as the center, there were four disabled Qing warships scattered on the lake, and one was holding its stern high, and the bow of the ship had been plunged into the lake. The Qing warships that retreated to a mile or two away were also wounded, and the situation was extremely miserable. ..., the artillery fire of the Qing warship also caused some damage to the Lei Gong, a two-inch gun was damaged, three gunners were killed, and more than a dozen people were injured. To make matters worse, the paddle wheel shield was badly deformed by the shells and had to be removed to allow the paddle wheel blades to spin, which in turn meant that the battle could not continue.

The opponent's main general did not abate, did not give up, he was still a shrewd man, realized that the artillery fire of the Lei Gong was too fierce, and it was a loss to continue to bombard with a big ship, and it was unrealistic to rely on hand-to-hand combat, so the big trouble that made the scalp of the Lei Gong numb appeared.

A group of sampans dragged behind the butt of the boat was dispatched, twenty or so, each carrying more than ten or twenty people, and some of the sampans also carried a tiger squat cannon, or one or two slender guns, like sharks, swarming from all directions, to take the board with the ant colony.

"The most dangerous moment has come, Xiao Yue, it's up to you. The gears are almost ready, as long as we get through this, replace the blades, and remove the shroud, we can move. ”

Mi Anping's words made Yue Shenglin's face flush, and it was finally his turn to go into battle.

A sentry led by Yue Shenglin was a regular army led by Yue Chaolong, from the Tielin Army, all of them were elite grenadiers carrying rifled guns and grenades on their backs. After being a spectator on the Lei Gong for most of the day, and was shocked by the artillery fire of the Qing soldiers, he had already held back his heart.

The sampan of the Qing soldiers was close to half a mile away, and it was less than a hundred zhang, and the eight-year-old rifled gun finally spoke. Tiny splashes of water splashed around the sampan, and human bodies were constantly planted in the lake, stained with patches of blood red.

The Qing soldiers on the sampan were also extremely brave, and few of them retreated, not only continued to rush towards the Lei Gong, but also returned fire with small cannons and raised guns.

The artillery on the Lei Gong did not stop, and with the pride of killing chickens with a knife, a cannon set fire to the sampan. Even if you can't hit it directly, the jet of water set off by a close miss can tip over a small sampan.

After paying a huge sacrifice, the Qing soldiers still rushed to the front of the Lei Gong, and at this time, not only the three-inch guns in the bow and stern could no longer hit the sampan, but even the two-inch guns on the upper deck were desperately pressing the elevation angle, and they could no longer bombard the other party.

A sampan was on the side, the gunner raised the muzzle of the small cannon, and a bombardment was made on the side of the ship, and a piece of lead bullets sprayed out, knocking down four or five redcoat soldiers at once. The morale of the Qing soldiers on the sampan was greatly boosted, and they threw out their cymbals to get ready to board the ship, and several iron bumps flew out of the ship's side, smashed on the sampan, and rolled several times before they exploded, and all the more than ten people were lifted away.

Yue Shenglin took out a grenade from his waist bag, unscrewed the iron cover at the bottom of the wooden handle, punctured the oil paper, and then stabbed a small wooden stick contained on the inside of the iron cover into the hole at the bottom. The three-pound grenade arced and landed on a sampan that was about to be on the side.

There was a roar, and a whole line of Qing soldiers on the sampan was planted in the water, Yue Shenglin said in his heart, our infantry also has artillery......

The Luofu Mountain Chemical Research Institute has made the most primitive modern matches, which are not only used as the impact fuse of the navy's flowering bombs, but also used by the Foshan Manufacturing Bureau to upgrade the grenade. In the past, grenades had to be ignited by hand, which was very cumbersome, but now small wooden sticks coated with yellow phosphorus are used to rub the sulfur in the fuse tube, thus lighting the fuse, so that the grenadiers no longer hold the fire sickle. Although the firing rate is only six or seventy percent, and if it can't be lit, it has to be re-ignited by another fuse tube, but the convenience and reliability have far surpassed the old grenade.

The explosions of platoon guns and grenades continued, and at the most critical moment, more than a dozen sampans leaned against the gunwales, and nearly 200 Qing soldiers climbed onto the Lei Gong. At this time, not only did the gunners join the battle team and shoot and drop bombs, but even Xu Gui also took the boiler workers and carried the muskets into battle. There were 120 red-clothed soldiers, about a dozen boatmen, and 60 technicians on the Lei Gong. At this time, more than a dozen shipyard technicians were repairing in the cabin, and the others were all in battle. ..., Yue Shenglin led his subordinates to kill dozens of Qing soldiers who rushed onto the boat with bayonet arrays, and looked at the surviving sampans around him and turned around in panic, he wiped the blood on his face and let out a sigh of relief.

"The gears are ready! It's just a paddle! ”

The cheers of the technicians made Mi Anping, who was trembling and playing the short gun on the bridge, almost soften on the rudder.

The sampans of the Qing soldiers were scattered like birds and beasts, and a dozen or so large ships that were still intact shrank two or three miles away, not daring to approach. At this time, the main general of the Qing army should be the six gods without the master, and when he saw a number of flags raised by a large rush, Yue Shenglin shouted to the gunner: "That's their leader's boat, hurry up and blast it away!" ”

Capture the thief and capture the king first, and the gunner is extraordinarily energetic in the matter of bombarding the general's boat. Three guns pointed at the line, and there was no suspense. Even if they were two or three miles away, three artillery shots were fired at once, and after four rounds, not only three shots were hit, but one flowering bomb exploded. The mast of the one was overturned, and one side of the ship was broken, and the water was so bad that it gradually capsized.

A terrible whistle sounded, the oars of the Lei Gong turned, stirring up the waves, the hull of the ship moved, and it was heading towards the capsized warship.

"This official is a guerrilla of the Left Association of the Chinese Army in the Wuchang Battalion, Yue Jingzhong, the son of the marshal Yue Zhongqi......"

A young soldier will be scooped up, and in front of the bayonets of the red-clothed soldiers, he will force himself to pull himself together and reveal his identity.

Yue Zhongqi has spent a long time with Zhang Hanwan and Long Xiangjun in Sichuan, and he knows the traditions of the Anglo-Chinese army, so he naturally has an explanation for his son. If you reveal your identity as soon as possible, you will be able to suffer less.

"Yue Zhongqi's son?"

Yue Shenglin looked at this young man who was only two or three years younger than himself, and his face was full of smiles, the smile of the winner.

"Then you are my nephew, why don't you salute when you see your uncle?"

He said this to his cousin very seriously.

Lei Gong came to arrest Yue Jingzhong, in order to learn more about the military situation, Yue Jingzhong still had a lot of backbone, and gritted his teeth and closed his mouth in front of his uncle. But his subordinates are not so kind, and they are not members of the Yue family, so they know that resistance must be strict, so they honestly confessed.

"Shall we hurry back, or will we attack Yue Zhongqi's army?"

Hearing that Yue Zhongqi brought more than 10,000 troops and transported more than 30 cannons, everyone felt that Changde was dangerous. Thinking that he had overturned forty or fifty boats in one boat, Yue Shenglin was full of arrogance and felt that he could do something.

Mi Anping glared at Yue Shenglin angrily: "Still fighting?" Not only are the shells almost gone, but now the oars are not covered to protect them, and they have to lie down again after being shot. ”

Xu Gui said: "It's better to hurry back and report to Yue Fangfang, this is the right thing, but you can't patronize us and be happy." ”

Yue Shenglin looked at his cousin who was being detained on the side, and said yes, he had earned enough......

At dusk, the Lei Gong carried a scar and returned victoriously in the glow of the setting sun.

But there is another story to tell about this return, because it is necessary to rush back to Changde before Yue Zhongqi's army, the sooner the better, the boiler of the Lei Gong is burning red, and the coal on the ship is like a wind and clouds, and it will soon run out.

The three responsible persons stared wide-eyed, and in the end, Xu Gui clapped: "Dismantle the ship!" The boiler can run if it has to burn! ”

So in the tears of the shipyard craftsmen, the Lei Gong was dismantled from the lower deck, all the way to the main deck, and finally even the upper deck was dismantled, leaving only a small area of the gun emplacement.

The next morning, the Lei Gong returned to Wuling, and on the Wuling wharf, the officers and soldiers who bid farewell to the Lei Gong a few days ago looked at the ship that seemed to have only one layer left and all the ships that had been hollowed out inside, and they were all stupid on the spot.

"My nephew is really here......"

Knowing that Yue Zhongqi's army was coming, Yue Chaolong frowned.

"Since the son can catch a nephew, it shouldn't be a problem for the father to deal with that nephew......"

Yue Shenglin pointed to Yue Jingzhong, who was still holding his head high and his face unyielding, and said with confidence.