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"Quick! Take aim and fire! Jie Shu shouted anxiously. Soon, thanks to the efforts of the Qing gunners, the artillery of each battery completed its preparations for firing and began to fire at the Mawei battleship. The muzzles of the turrets, especially the thirty-two-pounder cannons, instantly spewed out long flames, mixed with a large amount of smoke, like a giant beast roaring in anger. Seeing the cannon fire, Jie Shu's heart felt a little calm.

Dozens of shells swept across the sea like meteors, flying straight towards the ranks of the Mawei Army fleet, a shell was in the middle of a fourth-class battleship led by the Qing army gunners on the Dagukou Fort saw the Mawei Army battleship flashing with fire, and then a huge cloud of smoke came out, and they couldn't help cheering in unison.

"Damn, this Qing army's cannon has also hit so far, it's a bit of a mistake!" Although Wang Zhenbang is far away, this qiē is in his eyes.

"Pass the order and counterattack with all your might, the Qing army does not have many artillery, and they must be suppressed with absolute firepower!" Wang Zhenbang immediately ordered. The Mawei battleships were indeed enraged by the Qing artillery's attack, and just when two more 32-pounder cannons joined the firing array at the Dagukou Fort, the Mawei fleet began to fire a fierce salvo again.

"Tom Tom"

"Tom Tom"

There was a loud sound like a landslide and tsunami on the surface of the sea, and the muzzles of the Mawei warships spewed out tongues of fire, accompanied by black smoke that soared into the sky, and then the piercing whistling sound of shells came from the sky. It was as if the heavens were falling apart. I felt the earth tremble under my feet. The air was filled with the pungent smell of gunpowder smoke and a scorching heatwave. A huge current of air nearly knocked him to the ground, and he barely managed to stand on his feet, when two of his men stumbled over and took him into a shelter.

Jie Shu looked out from the shelter, and at this time, the Mawei fleet began the second round of salvo, and Jie Shu stared at the huge battleships that were spitting terrible artillery fire, and his fists couldn't help but clench tightly. Jie Shu often dealt with Kong Youde back then, and was obviously no stranger to large-caliber cannons. In the past, I had seen an eighteen-pound cannon many times in Kong Youde's Han Camp Army, and that guy was quite powerful. Now he had a thirty-two-pound cannon with him, much more powerful than eighteen. However, for him, he had only seen a small number of cannon fire on the battlefield before, and it was the first time that he had seen the power of large-caliber naval guns firing from such a close distance to watch the fleet's salvo fire on the opposite shore at such a close distance.

Several shells from the Mawei battleship hit the parapet of the fort, and the huge concussion was so close to the shelter that it was almost impossible for Jieshu to stand still, and the guns on the south bank battery had stopped firing for the time being. The sound of the guns that returned fire on the Mawei battleship fell completely silent. There were quite a few artillery pieces on the batteries on the south bank, and it was impossible to reimburse them all in such a short time. It should be in the process of reloading. However, seeing that the guns of the Mawei battleship were so sharp, there should be a lot of Qing troops and artillery that suffered. Thinking of the possible fate of those subordinates who insisted on fighting, Jie Shu's heart couldn't help but tighten.

"Damn, these Han people are indeed capable people, such a big warship can be built by themselves, and they can build so many. Why doesn't our Qing army have such a fleet! A Qing army officer said hatefully, and slammed his fist into the stone wall, oozing blood. Jie Shu understood the resentment and helplessness in the heart of this subordinate, but at this moment, he didn't have the slightest way to think about it. The Manchurians relied on the strength of the Han people to enter the pass, and with their own total population of less than one million, even if the Han army was not united, they could also be killed by numbers. It's a pity that there are too many Han troops who have defected to the Qing army, just like Geng Jingzhong's grandfather Geng Zhongming, which is just one of them.

At this time, the Qing army was frightened by the concentrated fire of the Mawei fleet. They are the army, they have never seen such a huge ship when they are so big, nor have they seen so many cannons, looking at the appearance of the Mawei Army on a rampage, it is estimated that the part of the fleet of the Tianjin Navy Division that went to sea today is in danger, but I still hope that the dozens of warships will be lucky not to meet the powerful fleet in front of them. Jie Shu was also worried in his heart at the moment, but now he felt it deeply, without the deep sense of powerlessness brought by the water master.

The artillery bombardment of the Mawei army fleet has been planned for a long time, and the artillery fire of the Mawei battleship sweeps the batteries and fortifications on the shore in an orderly manner, and the Mawei navy is really familiar with these tasks, not to mention that it has this experience before, that is, every admiral has also learned this kind of basic content in the officer training class, and what needs to be done when facing the enemy's batteries. The warships of the Seventh Detachment in front, especially the five fourth-rank battleships that were in the forefront to test and remove obstacles on the water, continued to quickly remove the iron locks on the surface under the cover of the guns of other warships.

Jie Shu felt that more large-caliber shells from the Mawei battleship fell on the fort where he was stationed, and he seemed to be able to distinguish the sound of some cannons being blown up by the shells of the Mawei soldiers. There are mainly two kinds of shells fired by the Mawei Army at this time, one is solid shells, and the other is flowering shells. These two shells beckoned to the forts on both sides like a fateful one, and the solid bullets were smashed into a pit, and they were constantly bounced up and injured many Qing soldiers. Although the flowering bomb was not bounced up and exploded as soon as it landed, as long as it exploded, it would be difficult for the Qing army to stand up again within a radius of ten meters.

"Damn! Where is our Tianjin sailor! There aren't enough cannons on this turret! Someone in the subordinates said.

"Yes! It's also good that the guys from the Tianjin Navy Division came to help, there are a lot of cannons on their warships, so we won't be so passive!! Someone said.

"Don't think about it, the Tianjin Navy Division can't be compared with the fleet on the other side, our fort is at least strong and resistant. If only those ships of the sailors came. Two or three shells will have to be reimbursed! ”

"Hmph. The position of this Dagu mouth is very dangerous, and there are still some cannons that we can't hit, and this angle is also very tricky. However, the Qing army was about to hold on, so they waved the flag and asked the commander-in-chief if he would send the marines to seize the fort now? Looking at the Dagukou Fort, which was shrouded in gunsmoke and fire, Zhang Fuyuan, the commander of the Seventh Fleet, instructed the flag officer on the battleship.

Soon, Wang Zhenbang received the signal from Zhang Fuyuan in front of him, and Wang Zhenbang did not pause at all. He immediately instructed the adjutant: "Reply to the Seventh Fleet, it's not too late yet, first clean up the Qing troops on the fort, and then send the soldiers to land, so that there will be fewer casualties." Let the battleships of their seventh fleet be careful, the artillery of the Qing army is also powerful, and the power is not weak! ”

The bombardment of the Seventh Squadron lasted about three quarters of an hour, and at this time the Dagukou fort was completely shrouded in black smoke and deathly silence.

"Give the order, the Marines can land at once, on the south bank. Rush up and occupy the battery for me! Zhang Fuyuan ordered loudly. There was the commanding heights of the South Bank, where the Marines occupied. It is a good foothold to threaten the entire estuary from a high position. A few forts in the north will also be completely exposed in front of our eyes, rush me! ”

Small boats and rafts carrying thousands of soldiers quickly approached the shore and immediately attacked the fort. There are also many obstacles on the south bank, and there is a wall to block the road, and any potholes on the ground are trivial. However, these are not difficult for the soldiers, just blow up a wall directly, but some traps and the like have indeed brought a lot of casualties to the soldiers of the Mawei Army. Although the soldiers rushed forward and had already launched an attack, on the way, they also paid thirty casualties, five of whom were killed directly, and the others were also seriously injured and directly lost their combat effectiveness.

Just as the soldiers blew open the wall and rushed up to attack the fort, at the north wall, after a straw mat was lifted, fifty or sixty small trebuchets suddenly appeared. There are also a lot of this kind of small trebuchets in Jinling City, and the projection distance is not far, but it is only two hundred meters at most, and the projected thing is not too heavy, not more than twenty catties, but at this moment, since the Qing army has prepared so many of these things, it seems that it must be confident to deal a blow to the Mawei army.

"Ignition!" A Qing soldier put a crockpot in a net pocket, and the crockpot was filled with fierce fire oil, which was extremely threatening to the sails and even the entire wooden warship. The crockpot was not sealed, and the mouth of the crockpot was plugged with cotton and firewood, and after all the crockpots were placed, a Qing commander shouted loudly with a command knife.

"Put!" The command knife swung downward, and the Qing army, who was in charge of operating the catapult, immediately launched the crockpot filled with fierce fire oil.

Suddenly, fifty or sixty black things flew towards the Mawei battleship, and the Mawei battleship also realized that something was wrong here, but it was not clear what kind of medicine the Qing army was selling in the gourd. These dozens of crockpots are not bad, although the distance is not too close, but a total of twelve crockpots fell on the three fourth-level battleships of the Mawei Army in front. Eight of them smashed directly on the deck, and when they cracked, the cotton wool ignited the splashes of fierce fire oil, and the deck was suddenly filled with fire.

Two of the crockpots smashed into the sails, which were limp and then continued to land on the deck. However, the landing point was not far from the mast, and after it burned, it quickly ignited to the mast, and then lit the sails. The soldiers on the deck had an emergency plan, and the soldiers in charge of extinguishing the fire took out the water drawer and plugged in the bamboo water pipe as a spray gun to quickly extinguish the fire on the battleship. However, the other two crockpots were indeed a little difficult to do, and these two crockpots smashed on the side of the ship, and coincidentally smashed on a cannon port, which immediately ignited the cannon port. Fortunately, the explosives were not ignited, otherwise the gunners in the vicinity would have suffered. But even so, the sudden rise of a fire still caused a lot of trouble to the Mawei army, and ten soldiers were unfortunately splashed with fierce fire oil, and then ignited by the fire on the deck, and the severe pain made several soldiers have to jump into the sea immediately, trying to extinguish the fire on their bodies by the sea.

Zhang Fuyuan also saw the actions of the Qing army, and he was furious in his heart, and immediately shouted: "The guns of each ship under twelve pounds will be immediately changed to fire grapeshot shells, and I will destroy the return artillery of the Qing army in the north, even if I can't kill them all, then I have to kill and injure the Qing army as much as possible, I estimate that this Qing army is about to be unable to hold on, and the resistance will not be so resolute." ”

At the time when the Mawei Army replaced the forts, the Qing army's more than 50 catapults were not idle for a moment, and in a short period of time, three rounds of "cannonballs" were thrown, and more than a dozen "cannonballs" hit the Mawei battleships in the next two rounds. There were also more than 30 soldiers who turned into fire men and howled in the flames. Unable to do so, the warriors had to jump from the side of the boat into the water.

"Okay, that's it, burn them!" When Jieshu saw that the catapult had achieved such a result, he immediately shouted excitedly.

And the Mawei battleship looked badly burned and miserable, but in fact it was not a big problem. The deck was on fire, but the soldiers behind were also actively extinguishing the fire, and the soldiers lifted the bags of sandbags piled on the far side of the deck, slashed open the bags, and sprinkled a whole bag of sand on the deck, and the flames of that piece would be suppressed. Fortunately, it was the time period, and the fire had not yet been brought to the sails, and the upper capital on the mast had not injured his hands.

"Grapegre load!"

"Ready!"

"Put!"

On the second deck of the fourth-class battleship in front, the muzzles of each gun had also been adjusted and replaced with grapeball shells, and the captains of each ship gave an order, and the cannons on the side of the ship on the west side of the north immediately opened fire, shooting a large number of bullets to the side where the Qing army's catapults were. The other warships of the Seventh Squadron following behind had a lot of time to watch the excitement at this time, and while firing at the cannons on the batteries, some of the cannons also adjusted their muzzles under the orders of the commander, and fired at the position of the Qing army's catapults. At this time, there were many more suitable guns than before, and twenty-five warships of various types began to fire cannons, with solid shells, flowering shells, and grapeshot shells. Just in the blink of an eye, there was a cloud of smoke on the position of the Qing army's trebuchet, and when the fog slowly dispersed, I just saw that there was no living person in sight around the Qing army's catapult. (To be continued......)

PS: I'm in a hurry today, and I'll make up for it tomorrow