What is special about Baili Island that deserves the new Chinese navy to use it as one of the three major sea bases?

It's not about how good the location of Baili Island is. There are many small islands like this in the Pearl River Estuary. Rather, Baili Island is a natural deep-water pier. Except for the northern part of the island, where the water depth is less than 10 meters, the water depth of the rest of the bays is more than 10 meters, and the water depth in the southeast is more than 23 meters. And the island is rich in fresh water resources. Just these two points will kill all other options.

When the British built Baili Island by the Qin army, they also made a special protest to Liu Xian. It's just that Liu Xian ignored it!

At present, there is a reinforced coastal defense brigade stationed on Baili Island, and two docks, seven forts, three living quarters, and a freshwater reservoir that can store 10,000 cubic meters are built on the island. And there are three floating batteries built by the Chinnan shipyard. The total strength reached a thousand! This is not counting the Guizhou fort arranged on the attached island of Guizhou.

Fang Boqian drove the seriously injured Jiyuan ship and went straight to Bodhi Bay on Baili Island.

This is one of the two wharves on Baili Island, which is an excellent harbor with a depth of 400 meters and a mouth width of just over 100 meters. On the left and right are the Qingboding Fort and the Shishiding Fort, two of the seven forts on Baili Island. What is even more commendable is that it is only three miles away from the mouth of Bodhi Bay in the direction of the direction, that is, Guizhou.

A small island with an area of only about one square kilometer. An uninhabited island lacking fresh water resources.

But its existence is to provide a natural barrier to Bodhi Bay.

After the completion of the Guizhou Fort, it has become the most reliable line of defense for the Bodhi Bay Pier.

The iron-ribbed wood-hulled cruiser Jiyuan sounded its whistle and slowly sailed into the empty Bodhi Bay. The sound of the whistle disappeared into the surprised gaze of the soldiers of the coastal defense brigade at the pier. And on the entire Baili Island, there are alarm bells one after another. The sound was intense.

The Guizhou Fort was filled with a tense atmosphere, and black smoke could be seen in the distance. It represents the warships and the fierce battle they are about to encounter.

The supreme commander of the battery, squadron leader Deng Guo, was silent. He couldn't forget the scars on the Jiyuan ship that he had just passed, the shocking holes in the side of the ship, the complete twisting of the front main turret, and the huge holes on the deck......

These all made Deng Guo's heart heavy.

But fortunately, the people on the Guizhou Fort did not see the scene behind the docking of the Jiyuan ship at the Bodhi Bend pier. A group of unkempt sailors, bandaged or on iron bars, limped their wounded companions or lifted them off the ship.

The war belonging to the Jiyuan ship was won. But the fallen companions, everyone must not forget.

A silent, oppressive atmosphere permeated the entire dock. The bodies of fallen soldiers, wrapped in shrouds or covered with only a small tarpaulin, were carried off the ships and stacked on the silent docks.

Finding tools from the dock, the twisted front main turret of the Jiyuan ship was finally opened. Inside, the bodies of Major William and eight gunners fell to the ground in unison, stacked on top of each other. Each of them had no major wounds, but the death was horrific. Blood covered their bodies, and if they looked closely, they could see that not only did the blood vessels burst on the surface of the skin of the nine people, but countless pores also turned into blood pores. Bulging eyes. Both gunners' eyes bulged out of their sockets. With William together, all nine of them had their internal organs spewed out, and the bodies were like meat patties that had been beaten by a forging hammer, and their bones were all shattered!

……

Fang Boqian met the supreme commander of the island for the first time. Lieutenant Colonel of the Haiphong Battalion.

"Fang Boqian, captain of the iron-ribbed wood-hulled cruiser Jiyuan on the left wing of the Nanyang Naval Division."

"Wu Kunping, Captain of the First Brigade of the First Battalion of Haiphong!"

"From 8:12 a.m. to 10:20 a.m. today, our ship sank the French ships Destan and Ferrers off the coast of Guangzhou. The results have been confirmed! ”

Wu Kun's expression immediately changed one hundred and eighty degrees. He first saw the miserable appearance of the Jiyuan. I also knew that the Jiyuan was followed by a bunch of French warships, and I didn't think of the word 'victory' in my head at all. I only thought that the Jiyuan ship was beaten into this miserable scene. But now I hear Fang Boqian say this. That's called never expected!

"Good, good! Captain Fang worked hard. Toiled! ”

This is also the first time that the Chinese Navy has used a warship to kill a foreigner warship face-to-face after more than 30 years of being opened to the country by strong ships and artillery. Fang Boqian won not only the first place in the Qin army today, but also the first place in China.

……

"Attack, attack—"

"Destroy the Chinese, destroy the Chinese—"

Both of Kiningmond's eyes were blood-red. Two French warships were actually sent to the bottom of the sea by a Chinese warship in a head-to-head confrontation, and if this shame is not washed away, the face of the French Navy will be lost!

And the entire French naval fleet was also united in hatred and indignation at this time.

"Boom, boom, boom......"

Shells of various calibers rained down on Guizhou. Smoke billowed and enveloped the small island at breakneck speed.

Deng Guo put down the telescope in his hand, his vision was gray, and he couldn't see the warships at sea at all.

"Such dense artillery fire, even if there is a sea breeze, has a great impact on our line of sight. The King of Qin was prescient......"

The deputy's words rang in Deng Guo's ears. The tone was full of emotion.

But this sentence was suspicious of sycophancy, and Deng Guo was not half disgusted.

The view of the Guizhou Fort was blocked, but behind them there was the tall watchtower erected on Baili Island. The height of the mountaintop, coupled with the 40-meter-high 11-story lighthouse built at the cost of more than 100 casualties, can overlook the 50 nautical miles of Baili Island. You can closely monitor every move on the surface of the sea within 10 nautical miles!

The main thing is the limitation of optical instruments. Whether it is a high-powered telescope or a measuring instrument, it is still in a preliminary stage, otherwise this distance will expand much.

The Guizhou Fort and the Bailiding Lighthouse were directly connected to the wire, and soon the number and location of the French warships were sent to the battery by the lighthouse.

"Boom ......"

The Guizhou Fort, which had been sunk for a while, finally let out its own roar.

"The azimuth is 44.7, the distance is 2800 meters, and the enemy's capital ship is confirmed...... Triumph! ”

Deng Guo held a telegram from the lighthouse in his hand, and the muzzle of the main gun was aimed at the target. Wait quietly!

The French fleet has a total of eight warships, and it is wishful thinking to rely on eight warships to gnaw down Baili Island. However, when dealing with Guizhou Island alone, it is absolutely necessary to be cautious.

Two of the three floating batteries on Baili Island have already sailed towards Beiwan of Guizhou. When necessary, they will also join the battlefield. This kind of stupid guy with a five-inch thick steel plate wrapped in a shell is very slow, and it can't withstand the blows of strong winds and waves. But they can be rough and thick-skinned, and they can endure it. And the muzzle is thick enough, all of them are 260mm Krupp cannons. The cannon alone weighs 22 tons, 25 times the caliber, and the shell weighs up to 275kg. Loading and transporting bombs all rely on winches and bomb lifters.

Ideally, these 260mm heavy guns can fire two rounds a minute. But in actual combat, it is already commendable to be able to shoot once a minute. Of course, that's not counting aiming time!

The Guizhou fort is equipped with one 260mm heavy gun, two 220mm heavy guns, and two 150mm heavy guns. At most, this kind of firepower can be compared to a French capital ship, and the only thing it can compete with the French army is the iron wall that has been tempered and tough.

Kinimmond's mind was only momentarily overwhelmed by the heat. Twenty minutes after the artillery battle began, the passion and anger had almost exploded, and Keningmond was sober. He listened carefully to the return fire of the Guizhou battery. The sound of the cannons always maintained a rhythm, and in the twenty minutes of the artillery battle, one of the French battleships had already suffered a near-miss, and the dense water compartment at the bottom of the ship had cracked in two.

If the Chinese can still maintain a constant rhythm in their return fire, it shows that the indiscriminate bombardment of their fleet did not pose a substantial threat to the batteries at all.

"Order Lieutenant Colonel Farcher, it's time for their marines to play!"

The most effective way to capture the battery was not to annihilate it with shells from the sea, but to capture it with bayonets from land.

The Marine Corps of France is a traditional French unit with a long history. As early as 1622, the French Cardinal Richelieu ordered the formation of the French Naval Company. This is the first Marine Corps in the world. Even the British, who now dominate the seven seas, have to admit it.

During the Napoleonic period, the French god of war established a battalion of marines in the Royal Guard. During an expedition to Great Britain in December 1804, Napoleon personally awarded a flag to the Marine Battalion. On the front of the flag is written: "The Emperor of France personally awarded the Guards Marine Battalion", and on the back is the battalion emblem, and on both sides of the battalion emblem is the motto of the Marine Battalion: "Brave, disciplined".

In today's era, the French ship-based landing party has become an important tool for French colonial expansion.

This unit led by Lieutenant Colonel Fachel is such a team. When the French took Da Nang lightly, the Ficher regiment was almost useless, and the Vietnamese completely abandoned Da Nang. But today, France's marines are facing the first real test of their war in the Far East.

"Report!"

The correspondent interrupted Deng Guo's thoughts as he focused on the battlefield. "The lighthouse called, and the French warships lowered a number of small boats, suspected of organizing the landing of marines."

"Has our army achieved substantial results?"

The line of sight of the Guizhou Fort was filled with gunsmoke, and Deng Guo still couldn't see the sea clearly.

"There are no tangible results. The lighthouse demanded that we continue to be patient, so that the shelling of the French army could not last long. ”

Deng Guo nodded, on a ship, each gun position is about a hundred rounds of storage shells. The French could not have been fighting like this forever. Because when the shells are finished, they can only be beaten passively. The Qin army still has a fleet of good strength in the palm of his hand. And the supply base of the French is far away in Da Nang!

Therefore, what kind of bullets are raining down, it will be good for a while, but they can't afford it after a long time. (To be continued......) R1292