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On the afternoon of 13 March, 12 'Shark-class' cruisers of the 1st Fleet of the Xinhua Navy appeared on the Yangtze River near Jiangning. Jiangning is located south of the Yangtze River, built on the water, and the entire city is completely within the range of the naval guns of the Xinhua Navy.

The appearance of the warships of the Xinhua Navy caused panic among the Qing troops in Jiangning City. Niu Jian, the governor of Liangjiang, Dezhubu, the general of Jiangning, Sun Shanbao, the governor of Jiangsu, Qiying, the general of Hangzhou, and Liu Yunke, the governor of Zhejiang, all hurried to the city wall north of Jiangning. They were all very concerned about the actions of the Xinhua Army. Although the army units of the Xinhua Army were still on the way, the 12 huge warships on the river still caused them great pressure. Most of the naval warships of the Manchu Qing Dynasty were just small ships, and there were no such large warships at all.

"Your Excellency the Governor, the navy of the Xinhua Army is here, and the army will be able to arrive tomorrow at the most. From now on, Jiangning will enter the most dangerous moment. Jiangning General Dezhubu said. At present, there are only more than 50,000 regular soldiers in Jiangning City, and more than 50,000 villagers have been recruited. But even so, he was not sure that he would be able to hold Jiangning under the attack of the Xinhua army.

"The memorabilia to the imperial court has been sent, and I hope the imperial court can send reinforcements as soon as possible." The governor of Liangjiang, Niu Jianqing, was a little depressed, and he felt that this time, it was estimated that he was in a catastrophe.

"Lord Niu, we have 100,000 people. It may be difficult to defeat the Xinhua army, but the city of Jiangning is high and deep, and there is plenty of food and grass. If you want to hold on for a while, there is no problem. Perhaps, by then, the reinforcements of the imperial court will have already arrived. When the time comes, our crisis will be lifted. Hangzhou General Qi Ying said. He is the one who abandoned the city and fled, if Jiang Ning can't stand it, even if he is a Manchu clan, it is estimated that it will definitely not end well. Only to hold Jiangning. Maybe you can redeem the credit.

"That's right, Lord Niu, Jiangning is the first fortified city in the south. The Xinhua Army will definitely bleed when it touches its head in Jiangning. Jiangsu Governor Sun Shanbao also said. It was not a glorious thing for him to abandon Suzhou and flee back to Jiangning.

Now, these Manchu officials have prepared for the worst. They have gathered all the troops in the vicinity of Jiangning. If it is not able to withstand the attack of the Xinhua army. They had no choice but to take a desperate gamble and resign themselves to fate.

On the river, Rear Admiral Wei Yong, commander of the 1st Fleet of the Xinhua Navy, was watching Jiangning City with a telescope. The Yangtze River near Jiangning is only one kilometer wide. In order to avoid being attacked by the Qing army, the warships of the 1st Fleet of the Xinhua Navy were scattered very widely. At the same time, all the naval guns were also aimed at Jiangning City. As soon as the Qing artillery fired, they would immediately counterattack.

"Have you found the artillery positions of the Qing army?" Major General Wei Yong asked. Find out the artillery positions of the Qing army. Then it will be completely destroyed, so that the threat posed by the Qing army to the 1st Fleet will be removed.

"General, most of the artillery of the Qing army is placed on the city wall of Jiangning, and according to preliminary calculations, those cannons exceed fifty. In addition, there are also some cannons on Zhongshan and Shogunate Mountain to the east of Gangning. However, Zhongshan is too far away from the Yangtze River to threaten us, but it will pose a serious threat to the army. A staff officer of the 1st Fleet of the Xinhua Navy said. As the most important city in the southern Manchu Dynasty, Jiangning was also very well defended, which is why the British attacked Jiangning in the Opium War, but they did not break through Jiangning. However, it is very difficult to say whether the Qing army will have such good luck when the Xinhua army attacks Jiangning this time.

"Zhong Shan's cannon, hand it over to the army. Although the heavy artillery brigade did not disembark, the brigade artillery battalions of several infantry brigades were enough to destroy those cannons. Major General Wei Yong said. Besides, if necessary, the heavy artillery brigade on board the transport ship can disembark at any time and rush to Jiangning. The road facilities from Jiangning to Zhenjiang are very good, and the 105mm howitzer is fully passable.

"Order all ships to prepare to destroy the Qing army battery on the Shogunate Mountain. Then destroy the cannons on the city of Jiangning. Major General Wei Yong ordered. Destroy the Qing army's batteries first to clear the way for the subsequent army attack.

"Yes, General!" The herald immediately went to deliver the order.

Soon, the 12 'Shark-class' cruisers of the 1st Fleet of the Xinhua Navy began to move one after another. The naval guns on the side began to adjust their orientation and aimed at the Qing battery, which was located on the Shogunate Mountain. The Shogunate Mountain was on the Yangtze River, and the 1st Fleet was ready to concentrate its firepower first, after destroying the batteries on the Shogunate Mountain, and then dealing with the artillery on the Gangning Castle.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "The four 105-mm naval guns in the front and rear of the cruiser 'Xinhua' and the four 75-mm naval guns on the port side opened fire in turn. One by one, the shells crossed a shocking arc and smashed towards the Qing army fort on the shogunate mountain.

Subsequently, 11 other 'Shark-class' cruisers of the 1st Fleet also opened fire. Dense shells smashed into the Qing artillery shells on the Shogunate Mountain. Shells exploded around the battery, enveloping the entire battery in smoke.

"Ahh The Xinhua army began to attack. My lord, this is dangerous, get out of here. Niu Jian, the governor of Liangjiang, Sun Shanbao, the governor of Jiangsu, and Liu Yunke, the governor of Zhejiang, were all civilian officials, so it was indeed a little difficult for them to face the battlefield of artillery fire. Even the two generals, Jiangning General Dezhubu and Hangzhou General Qiying, couldn't help but turn a little pale when they saw the 12 cruisers of the Xinhua Army bombarding the shells of the Shogunate Mountain. Although the two were born in the army, they had never experienced such a scene except in the Opium War. Moreover, even the British did not have such a big battle!

"Fight back, fight back for me right away." Jiangning General Dezhubu yelled. Then, after explaining a few words to the general guarding the city, he hurriedly left the city wall with Niu Jian, the governor of Liangjiang, and others. A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, the battlefield is so dangerous, the shells do not have eyes, and if they are killed, how unjust it must be. Besides, they are all very noble, and they are different from the rotten lives of those ordinary soldiers.

"Boom! Rumble! "The Qing army's cannonballs on the Shogunate Mountain and the cannons on the walls of Jiangning began to counterattack. The old iron cannon and the solid projectiles fired smashed at the battleships of the Xinhua Army. However, almost all of the shells fell into the Yangtze River, splashing water columns one after another.

On the Shogunate Hill Fort, there were only more than twenty cannons, distributed on three batteries. When the warships of the Xinhua Army appeared on the Yangtze River, the Qing troops on these batteries were ready for battle. It's just that they didn't attack without the order to open fire.

"Boom!" A 105-mm shell fell next to one of the cannons of the Qing army's Shogunate Mountain shell. After the 12.5-kilogram shell exploded, the heavy iron cannon was directly lifted away, and the shock wave generated by the explosion shook the nearby Qing artillery a lot.

The artillery of the Qing army was mostly breech-loading guns, and the loading of this kind of cannon was more troublesome, and it took almost a few minutes to fire a shell, which was completely incomparable with the naval guns of the Xinhua army. It can be said that the Qing army's Shogunate Mountain Fort was completely suppressed from the very beginning. Constantly artillery was destroyed, artillery was killed. If this continues, it won't be long before the fort on Shogunate Hill will be wiped out by the 1st Fleet of the Xinhua Navy.

"Boom!" Suddenly, the cruiser 'Xinhua' trembled violently, and the commander of the fleet, Rear Admiral Wei Yong, was unsteady on his feet, stumbled, and almost fell. Fortunately, he grabbed the table on the bridge in time. However, his face was a little ugly, and the previous tremor clearly meant that the cruiser 'Xinhua' had been hit.

"How's our loss?" Major General Wei Yong shouted loudly.

"General, the foredeck was hit. However, the Qing army used solid shells, which only blew a large hole in the foredeck. An officer reported to Major General Wei Yong.

This made Rear Admiral Wei Yong very happy, fortunately the Qing army used solid shells, otherwise the cruiser 'Xinhua' would have been severely damaged this time. The 'Shark-class' cruiser has strong firepower, but the disadvantage is also very obvious, that is, the defense is too low. In the Battle of the Java Sea, the reason why the Xinhua Navy was able to defeat the Spanish expeditionary fleet was to use the range advantage of naval guns to attack the enemy. But now it is in the narrow Yangtze River, which is only a little more than a kilometer, and it is completely within the artillery range of the Qing army. If the Qing army used a powerful new cannon, the 1st Fleet would probably have to pay a lot of price this time. In fact, such a task would be more appropriate to be entrusted to the 5th Fleet, which was wrapped in ironclad armor, and the 'Xia-class' cruisers could effectively deal with such an attack. However, the 'Xia-class' cruisers are still under strict secrecy, and have now been transferred to the waters near Mindanao for training, in order not to let the outside world know that the Xinhua Army has such advanced warships. In addition, the Xinhua Navy Shipyard has also begun to build more advanced 'Shang-class' cruisers. Rear Admiral Wei Yong hoped that this time he would be able to become the commander of a fleet of 'Shang-class' cruisers.

In less than half an hour, the 1st Fleet of the Xinhua Navy destroyed the Qing army battery located on the Shogunate Mountain. After that, the fleet adjusted its target and began to strike at the Qing artillery on the walls of Jiangning. Before sunset, the artillery of the Qing army was destroyed by the Xinhua army, and the 1st fleet of the Xinhua Navy suffered slight losses, only a few battleships were hit, and a few large holes were smashed in the deck. There were also very few casualties, only two people were killed in the battle, and only a dozen or so were wounded. (To be continued......)