Firecrackers are ringing, gongs and drums are noisy, the most important festival of the Chinese throughout the year is the Spring Festival, Lin Haijiang listened to at least three or four old overseas Chinese in Nanyang dictation, so that he felt greatly increased his knowledge, as for the Prussian technology in the old port has been artillery, ordnance, shipbuilding engineers are also mostly integrated into this atmosphere.

As the actual owner of the old port, Lin Haijiang sent a year-end dividend and celebrated the New Year happily! Let everyone be happy, looking at the happy technicians, Lin Haijiang looked around, and the most painful thing at the moment was probably himself.

The common people could celebrate the New Year with joy, but the armies of the old port and Mawei were at the highest level of combat readiness, four of the nine armored cruisers were cruising within the range of the fortress guns outside the port, while the remaining five were fully prepared in the harbor, and the commander and crew of the ships were on duty at all times.

After the New Year's bell rang, Lin Haijiang immediately went to the dock with condolences to his parents, boarded the ship to visit the naval officers and men who were waiting for the end, and then visited the fortress forts.

The mountain battalion and all the officers and assistants of the Fujian Naval Division who studied and trained in the old port were not included in the combat readiness sequence, and they could drink alcohol in moderation and participate in civilian activities.

Yanjing City is gloomy at the moment, although the palace is full of lights, but the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty are the same as Xianfeng, one by one listless, from the opium war in 1840 to the suppression of the Tianping Heavenly Kingdom bandits, in the previous period to the silver and treaties paid to Britain, France, Russia, the United States and other countries, the imperial court is already out of money.

As the saying goes, if you are poor, you think about change, and the Chinese can be said to be the most flexible nation in the world, and Xianfeng ordered the courtiers below to open up their financial resources, but all the new measures formulated were all competing with the people for profit, coupled with the rampant opium, not only the country was poor, but even the common people became poor, but the makers of these new measures were all in a pot.

The chaotic situation seems to be getting more and more chaotic, the Qing Dynasty has become crumbling, but the recent proposal of the British and French ministers to send troops to participate in the suppression of bandits made Xianfeng very tempted, but this proposal was also resisted by the Qingliu in the DPRK, and Xianfeng did not intend to accept the goodwill of Britain and France before the new border with Tsarist Russia was not specifically surveyed, and Russia did not fulfill its previous commitments.

On March 20, 1857, James. William, Baurang, Elgin, Shabali, Gro, Plimpton. Admiral Arthur and others gathered on the second class battleship Dragoon, and the large conference room of the second class battleship was shining with gold at this moment, and the generals of the British and French forces were showing their golden ribbons representing honor.

However, Bao Lingde's face was not very good-looking at this moment, and he still clearly remembered that on the evening of December 25, 1856, he ordered Ergin to assist Major General Reis in commanding 5,000 army soldiers to attack the city of Guangzhou, although they had made very adequate preparations, but they had been ambushed by Lin Haijiang's troops, and Lin Haijiang's strength was not the 10,000 estimated before, but nearly 20,000.

The end result is predictable, he spent almost all the money that the British Empire could raise in East Asia to ransom back more than 4,000 captives, including Ergin and Reis.

As soon as he thought of Lin Haijiang's vampire face, Bao Ling wanted to smash the cup!

At that time, the empire was busy with the aftermath of the Crimean War, and now everything is fine, new breech rifles, a large number of reinforcements, a strengthened Far East fleet, and French allies, Bao Ling is determined to let Lin Haijiang, the hillbilly admiral, see what the power of the imperial navy is! Selling all his women to Africa, when he thought of Lin Haijiang's painful appearance, Bao Ling suddenly realized that he was very evil.

But the fleet is ready to set sail? Why haven't the French reinforcements and the home fleet arrived yet? Something strange about Bao Ling?

With the current one second-class battleship, twenty-eight third-class battleships, ten fourth-class battleships, and twenty-two fifth-class battleships, there are already 34 cruisers, 15,000 British Army, 7,000 French Army, and 220 new breech guns, which are enough for them to capture Dagukou and attack the capital of the Qing Dynasty.

When it comes to the capital of the Great Qing Kingdom, Ergin's eyes shine like a beast, especially the Old Summer Palace, which is known as the Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens!

"If you go in and walk ten steps, you will be richer than the Spanish royal family!" Elgin's rhetoric impressed almost everyone, and even though his mouth was dry, Ergin continued to describe and depict treasures he had never seen.

"Do we have to wait for reinforcements? Let them catch up with us! The words of a British Army colonel were widely echoed.

Gro was still a little worried, and said: "The Qing army's army is fighting against the rebels, and their most capable army is nesting in the city of Guangzhou, and now Lin Haijiang is digging ditches every day, he never imagined that our target is their imperial city!" ”

Xia Bali on the side echoed: "Lin Haijiang, the admiral of the navy, can only dig in the mud in Guangzhou City now, it is said that he is very good at doing this, I really hope that there will be another muddy pond, so that he can be useful." ”

Hahaha! Ha ha! After a burst of arrogant laughter, a simple drinking party turned into a swearing-in meeting of the Anglo-French forces!

In the soft moonlight, the coalition fleet in Victoria Bay lifted anchor, and on the second floor of a small building on the shore, a man released two carrier pigeons.

As the flagship of the fleet, the Marignam was carried on board two big names, Ergin and Shabali, but the captain of the ship, Meggett, was very dismissive of the so-called big shots, a son of eight people and a tomb robber who vandalized cultural relics.

Out of anger at the last capture, and perhaps out of their own emboldening, Erjin and Shabali have been chattering about Lin Haijiang, who can no longer be degraded.

Suddenly, Captain Meggett interjected: "This Lin Haijiang is said to be a cadet who graduated from the Imperial Dartmouth Naval School as a first corporal?" ”

Ergin pursed his lips and said, "So what?" What kind of talent can a broken school like Dartmouth's Naval School teach? ”

As soon as Elgin's words came out, he realized that he had lost his words, because almost all the eyes in the bridge were glaring at him, and the captain of the ship, Meggett, said with a blank and lukewarm face: "I am also the first corporal who graduated from the Dartmouth Naval School, Admiral Matt, the Minister of the Navy, and the commander of the Allied Fleet, Commander James. The same goes for Admiral William, Mr. Ergin, you have drunk too much, come and send him back to the cabin to rest! ”

"Yes, yes! I drank too much! Ergin was embarrassed and left the bridge with the help of Shabali.

Captain Meggott then said coldly: "In the future, without my order, the guards will not let them board the bridge!" ”

The news of the arrival of the British and French fleet outside the mouth of Dagu made the entire Yanjing feel as if it had been hit by a ten-magnitude earthquake.

And in the Qianqing Palace, Xianfeng, who was pale, looked at the loyal ministers and righteous men who knelt on the ground below and shouted: "I won't leave!" I want to gather the world's soldiers and horses to escort the king of Qin, I still have the 30,000 iron cavalry of Monk Greenqin, and I also have Lin Aiqing's Nanyang sailors! ”

Su Shun, who was kneeling below, said helplessly: "Your Majesty, Lin Haijiang has been taken off by you for more than a month because he started a war against foreigners in Guangzhou without authorization, and the new Guangdong Navy Admiral Shaoqing has not yet arrived!" ”

"Huh? I picked Lin Haijiang's top? Xianfeng had an extremely surprised expression on his face.

Su Shun didn't know which tendon was wrong with this master today, so he had to continue: "It was after Admiral Lin's victory in Guangzhou, Lord Jingshou and others jointly participated in his reckless military rebellion, and the emperor ordered to stop his errand and take off his top. ”

Xianfeng was stunned and turned to Jing Shou and said, "How is the new Guangdong Navy Admiral Shaoqing?" Can you take on the heavy responsibility, if there is a matter of Longwei and Longsheng, I will be punished together with those of you who recommended it! ”

Su Shun heard Xianfeng's angry words, and hurriedly said: "Since it was recommended by Lord Jingshou, it must not be wrong!" Lord Shaoqing will be able to turn the tide. ”

Jing Shou was already soaked with sweat, and the eighteenth generation of Su Shun's ancestors had been scolded by him several times, he was really a good hand at falling into the well, and he had no choice but to say: "This Guangdong sailor is an elite soldier trained by Lin Haijiang himself, although Lin Haijiang is reckless and unruly, but he is still very good at training soldiers and fighting, and when Shaoqing Road is more needed, the emperor might as well send a telegram to let Lin Haijiang make meritorious service and regain control of the sailor?" ”

Jing Shou finally became quieter the more he spoke, lowering his head and feeling uneasy, Xianfeng shook his head helplessly and said, "My world is just for you to mistaken!" Self-destruction of the Great Wall! ”

"Spread my will, the former commander of the Nanyang Naval Division, Lin Haijiang, was reinstated, and the commander-in-chief of the Fujian and Guangdong Naval Divisions was said to raise troops to cut off the back road of his British and French armies and enter the king of Beijing Qin." After Xianfeng finished speaking, he seemed to be out of strength.

After the ministers retreated in panic, Xianfeng suddenly realized that Su Shun had not retreated? So he was surprised: "Aiqing is still okay?" ”

Su Shun coughed embarrassedly and said: "That Lin clan can be described as rich in the world in the Nanyang area, but the heart of serving the imperial court is eager, and its self-raising source purchase of ships is enough to show its loyalty to serve the imperial court. The secret report from Guangzhou is that Jing Shou and others colluded with the former Guangdong Navy to sell opium wantonly, Lin Haijiang cut off his financial route, he naturally spared no effort to bring down Lin Haijiang, Admiral Lin was resented, and since then he has returned to the imperial court with only one official to reinstate his post, I am afraid it is difficult to convince the public! ”

Xianfeng was slightly stunned, he knew that Su Shun didn't take care of his face when he brought it up in person, so he patted Su Shun's shoulder gratefully and said, "Aiqing, take a charter!" I'm all right! ”

James, who has been promoted to admiral. William stood on the bridge of the flagship Dragoon, looking around at the huge fleet on the left and right, which made him extremely proud and confident, as if there was no force between heaven and earth that could resist the edge of the Royal Navy of the Invincible Empire.

Looking at the French flagship Warrior not far away, James . A smug smile appeared on the corner of William's mouth. William thought of Plimpton. Admiral Arthur's painful and depressed expression was very happy, and it was James who made the self-righteous French big-nosed old man deflated. William was most willing to do it.

As for the Old Port, James. William was no longer worried at this moment, because Vice Admiral Gnanding, who had succeeded him, had already commanded the main force of the 2nd Detachment of the Home Fleet to complete the interdiction mission in the Strait of Malacca.

Once the combat mission is completed, the coalition fleet under his command will join up with the second detachment of the mainland to completely destroy and annihilate the forces of the old port.

Thanks to Wang Faren's excellent work, Lin Haijiang obtained this vital information, and Lin Haijiang originally thought that the British would not send reinforcements until at least after the failure of the attack on Dagukou, or simply sit down to negotiate, but he never expected that the Empress Victoria, who was far away in London, would send reinforcements four months earlier.

That means that he captured Major General Reis and others in the siege of the city, and then when he bargained with Bao Ling about the ransom, in fact, the British had already decided to expand the scale of the war and send the powerful second detachment of the home fleet.

Lin Haijiang gasped, he finally realized his so-called misunderstanding, since history has changed, then the historical events and evolution process that he is familiar with in the future are likely not to happen, or become another process? It can be said that nothing is immutable, and that the law of balance of matter itself determines the material origin of everything, and we should also be alert to the unknown changes that have occurred in history.

If it weren't for Wang Faren's timely and accurate intelligence sources, then Lin Haijiang would probably be caught off guard by the British, because Lin Haijiang believed that the British had already targeted the old port, and if the British Royal Navy concentrated on holding the old port, then his fleet would be forced to fight a decisive battle with the British fleet, lacking logistical supplies, maintenance and replenishment, and defeat was only a matter of time.

Lin Haijiang was most worried about the 3,000 marines and more than 1,000 field artillery troops under Zhang Zhengsuo's command who landed from Shandong, and their task was to sacrifice everything possible to defend the Old Summer Palace, but at the moment the worries were of no avail.

"Pass my order, the whole fleet will be fired, and the fleet midship's midship's chief of staff and the headquarters and the captains of each ship will hold a meeting!" Lin Haijiang didn't look back and ordered.

Soon, Luo Jianping, midshipman chief of staff of the fleet, Yu Huiying, Yuan Peng, staff officers of the staff headquarters, Tang Zhiqiang, Guan Chao, Ma Tao, Qin Shuige, and other nine captains, as well as political training officers of each ship, gathered in the war room of the Zhiyuan ship.

Lin Haijiang looked around at the captain and the political training officer, Luo Jianping, Yu Huiying, Yuan Peng and others, and then looked at Liu Fo, the chief military medical officer, and said in a deep voice: "This time, the British and French forces have broken through our Dagukou fort, and their soldiers are pointing to Yanjing!" ”

The officers present can be said to be Lin Haijiang's iron team, especially these political trainers who are in charge of the ship's marines and gendarmes on the ship, and they are all the incarnations of Lin Haijiang, so even when they heard that Yanjing City was in danger, they all stood up and sat without whispering.

Lin Haijiang nodded with great satisfaction and said: "Our 3,000 marines have rushed to Yanjing Qinwang, and there are Xu Dawei, Liu Quansi, and Wang Faren in Guangzhou, and now what we have to do is to completely defeat the native fleet that the British came to reinforce, and capture or eliminate the 20,000 troops reinforced from India." ”

Lin Haijiang paused and said: "I can tell you the truth, the scale of the British fleet coming to aid this time will not be too small, because of the lack of specific intelligence, so it is very risky for us to take the initiative to attack this time, but for the crystallization of those civilizations that belong to the entire Chinese nation in Yanjing City, I can tell you that we are the first line of defense against foreign invasion, and at the same time, we are also the last line of defense, even if one day the Great Qing Kingdom is gone, I don't care at all, but what belongs to the entire Chinese nation cannot be less!" For the sake of our suffering nation, I want to give it a go today! My life is up to me! ”

Lin Haijiang waved his fist violently, and all the captains, political trainers and staff officers present immediately stood up and said in unison: "I am willing to serve the great cause of the lord and rejuvenate the great cause of the nation, and then die!" ”

Lin Haijiang put his baton on the chart and said: "We are going to ambush the British home fleet carrying Indian reinforcements in the Strait of Malacca, and before that, we will first use the Marines to seize the British lighthouse and artillery position on Bamile Island, which has about 300 British soldiers on the island. ”

Lin Haijiang looked at Yu Huiying and Yuan Peng and said, "How is the supply ship prepared?" ”

Yu Huiying smiled slightly and said: "It's the Duowen cargo ship that usually transports supplies to the British, and if we attack it unprepared, our chances of winning are very great." ”

Lin Haijiang looked at the chart again and said: "The British are very cautious, you must be careful, don't show flaws, only by luring the British fleet into the Strait of Malacca, can we inflict heavy losses on them." ”

Lin Haijiang took a deep breath, his only secret weapon in this battle is the newly developed mine, although the reliable surname is not high, but it is completely enough to block the shipping lane, Lin Haijiang knows that the mine is not terrible when it explodes, the terrible thing is the mine that has not exploded, and the most frightening thing is that no one knows when the mine will explode, because of the relationship between industrial technology and processing, the reliable surname of the mine is not high, and Lin Haijiang is also very helpless.

"Announce the battle sequence below!" Lin Haijiang looked around at the crowd: "Feng Guohua's Zhenyuan ship, Qin Shuige's Pingyuan ship, Guan Chaoji's Yuan's ship, Ma Taojing's Yuan's ship, and Majiang's Zhiyuan ship are the first strike formation, which I personally commanded. After the battle began, our first strike formation seized the T-shaped prefix at the speed of battle, formed an artillery battle line, interspersed in the British fleet, disrupted and cut off the battle sequence and formation of the British fleet, and the second strike formation drove the British transport ships into its battleship sequence, quickly interspersed and sank the British flagship, forcing the British to surrender. ”

"We only have this one chance! Each ship lifts anchor and departs! Lin Haijiang watched the young captains salute and leave.

Lawrence, who had not said a word since the beginning of the meeting, suddenly said to Lin Haijiang: "There will always be a day when the chicks will spread their wings and fly!" But is it all worth it? Every deployment, operation, and game after returning from the Mediterranean, these are all your hard work! ”

Lin Haijiang looked at the seagulls flying outside the porthole and said with a solemn expression: "Everything before is for today, maybe history cannot be changed, but I firmly believe that history can be created!" ”

Lin Haijiang's words made Lawrence a little baffled? However, Lin Haijiang's creation of history made him excited, as the commander of the Second Strike Fleet, a former naval soldier, if he can leave such a mark in the history of world naval warfare, it seems to be a good choice.

On April 12, 1857, the British garrison on Bmiller Island finally arrived in the early hours of the morning with their long-awaited supply ship, the familiar light signal, and after the light signal contact, it was learned that the Duowen had run aground slightly, so it was a few days late.

Then a marine commando of more than 500 people controlled the British troops at the dock, and then forcibly landed and assaulted, and the sleeping British troops were all inexplicably taken prisoner except for a few battery guards who were killed?

(To be continued)