Time passed minute by minute, and both sides were silently preparing for the war, but on the one hand, they were nervous, and on the other hand, they were full of confidence. With the assistance of the villagers, the Liberation Army dug two trenches 500 meters from the beach and built two machine-gun bunkers. Ma Angelica was confident that under the existing conditions the British would not be able to cross the minepool.

At noon, reinforcements also arrived on time. A total of two platoons of troops, and two mortars were also brought. The reason why they came so quickly was that they did not choose to go over the mountains and mountains, but chose a way that was more in line with the geographical conditions of southern China, and came by boat from the waterway.

After coming to the new time and space, because of the many enemies to face, the Qing army, the British, the French, the pirates, and the Taiping army, the Hunan army, the Huai army, and the Japanese who need to face in the future, the army alone is far from enough. Therefore, the Liberation Army, while having a standing army of twelve platoons, began to develop its own navy. This time, the reinforcements were transported by the main ship of the Liberation Army Navy, the "Xiangmihu" landing gunboat. This is a multi-functional ship transformed from the domestically produced Type 2713 Yulian-class landing craft, which integrates landing, transportation, patrol, and coastal defense. In 1966, on the basis of the development of 067 and 068 small landing craft, the PLA Army proposed to design and build a universal landing craft with a loading capacity of 100 tons and capable of navigating in the 2nd class navigation area (sixth-class wind and wave sea area), codenamed 271. The mission of the boat is: to carry out logistics and transportation tasks in peacetime, to transport various materials and equipment for the troops, and to carry out fresh water supply to the islands; In offshore landing operations, infantry, tanks, artillery, and vehicles are transported to land directly on the beachhead.

In August 1968, the construction of the first boat was started at Qingdao Shipyard and completed in June 1970. Tests were conducted in Qingdao in September and the performance was found to be suboptimal, and improvements were made. The design of the Type 2712 was completed in 1971, and the construction started at the Qingdao Shipyard in December 1972, was launched in September 1975 and delivered on November 30. In 1976, the boat carried out landing and beach retreat tests, and the performance indicators met the design requirements, and after passing the appraisal in 1978, it was built in batches. Type 2712 is 54.0 meters long, 9.2 meters wide, 1.7 meters draft, 400 tons of unladen displacement, 507 tons of normal displacement, 100 tons of carrying capacity, and 150 tons of overload. It can carry 3 medium tanks or 7 trucks, or diesel engines, with a power of 2x600 hp, a maximum speed of 13 knots, a cruising range of 1000 nautical miles / 10 knots, a self-sustaining power of 20 days, and a crew of 36 people. The self-defense armament is 4 Type 69 Sea 14.5 mm double-barreled machine guns.

In 1985, the Type 2713 landing craft was designed, and the first boat was started at Changsha Shipyard in March 1987 and delivered in December 1989. The modification of the boat was similar to the evolution of small landing ships from 074 to 079, that is, from flat hatches to V-shaped folio doors, the tonnage was increased. The landing ship of this type is 58.4 meters long, 10.4 meters wide, 2.28 meters draft, 61 AN8L20/27 diesel engine with normal displacement, 2x600 horsepower, speed 16 knots, endurance 1000 nautical miles; Wind resistance level 8, self-sustaining power for 15 days, 25 crew members, self-defense weapons equipped with 1 Type 61 25 mm double-barreled gun, 14.5 mm double-barreled anti-aircraft machine guns 2. The self-defense armament consisted of four twin 14.5 mm heavy machine guns, mounted in the same position as the four cannons on the Type 079. The boat is equipped with advanced navigation equipment.

The Type 2713 Yulian-class landing craft has a carrying capacity of 150 tons and can carry 1 Type 59 medium tank platoon (3 vehicles) and 1 infantry reinforced platoon (70 people); or 2 platoons of Type 62 light tanks (7 units); or 2 platoons of Type 63 amphibious tanks (6 units). The 271 series landing craft has a large loading capacity, a long range, and a strong ability to resist wind and waves, and is the main equipment for the logistics and transportation tasks of the Chinese army's boat units, and has made contributions to the construction, construction, and logistics support of the islands, especially the 271 boats can supply fresh water to the islands, which has played an important role in the livelihood support of the island-defending troops.

The Type 2755 Yulian-class landing craft with the port number 0755 is a retired ship that was purchased by a ship club in Shenzhen's Baoan District as a tool for naval enthusiasts to go to sea to hold events. Now, of course, it has become the property of the Liberation Army. It turned out that all the weapons on the ship were dismantled, but the power equipment was still very well maintained, and there was no problem at all in running up to 15 knots. On the front deck of the landing craft, where the Type 61 25mm double-barreled gun was originally installed, there is now a Type 55 anti-aircraft gun, that is, one of the two guns found by the material collection team from the meteorological station. All four wheels of the gun carriage were removed and then fixed to the foredeck by electric welding. The front of the gun carriage is made of 10mm steel plate to form a shield, but it can only block lead bullets. Six gunners, who had only been trained for five days, maneuvered the muzzles of the guns, close to the sea of Victoria Bay, ready to teach the rising British a lesson at any time. Although there are no real shells, it is believed that high-explosive rain bombs can also impress them with a deep image, and the muzzle velocity of grenades 866 m/s, armor-piercing shells 868 m/s, and the rate of fire of 320-360 rounds / min, the maximum range will make all the British naval guns sigh. The original two machine gun emplacements were re-installed with two Type 89 12.7mm high-level dual-purpose machine guns, which are the main weapons of the landing gunboats at present. The Type 89 Gaoping dual-purpose machine gun has a gun length of 1640mm, an effective firing range of 1500 meters, and a theoretical rate of fire of 450~600 rounds per minute, which is indestructible against soft targets without armor protection. Modern automatic weapons, combined with high speed and unmatched draught of British warships, made the "Honey Lake" capable of fighting even against thousand-ton steam-sailed or pure sail ships - large-caliber machine guns and cannons could ignore the protection of the oak hull. In this regard, the Qing artillery that used stone shells in the first Opium War could not do it, and "bullets rained down" could not hurt the British warships in the slightest.

Zhang Anbang was born with a round face and a long-term smile, giving people a very kind image. He is 179 cm tall and has a strong physique. After graduating from the Maritime College, he has been engaged in inland waterway shipping for four years, from sailor to first mate. At this time, he was wearing a white Type 87 naval officer, with the rank of lieutenant, and as the captain of the "Xiangmi Lake", he stood in the cockpit of the landing gunboat, observing the British transport ships in the bay with binoculars. The landing craft docked on a sandy beach not far from the western entrance to Victoria Bay, and the two platoons of infantry began to disembark in an orderly manner, and the various supplies brought with the ship also began to be unloaded, and some villagers were led by soldiers to carry these supplies to the newly established positions.

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At the same time, General Charles Stobinzi, who was standing on the lookout of the barracks, was also watching the strange ships that appeared in the bay with a telescope. "Davis, how much displacement do you think that patrol boat has?" The general sent an inquiry to the adjutant beside him.

"I think there should be more than 500 tons. However, judging by its shallow draft, I am not very sure about this data. "Adjutant Davis was a young man in his twenties, born in Pusmouth, who joined the Army as the son of a fisherman. Originally, I wanted to come to the East to gain honor and wealth, but I didn't expect that now I can only stay with my boss on this small island where birds don't. Not to mention those colleagues who went to the Chinese capital, even those who were spending their days drinking in Guangzhou, it was enough to make him envious, jealous and hateful. Originally, he still wanted to go with Lieutenant Winters today, after all, he had been in the East for a few months, and he had not seen more than thirty Chinese. The Chinese on Hong Kong Island are either hired servants or fishermen, all crooked and malnourished, which does not disappoint Mr. Adjutant, who is bent on finding an exotic relationship.

"Oh! God, how did it rush to the shore at such a fast speed, could it drive to land? In the eyes of General Stobinzi, the beach-grabbing landing operation of the "Xiangmi Lake" could be described as crazy, "Look! Look! The bow of the ship opened, and someone came out. Oh, God! These are actually using such a large ship as a landing craft! ”

"It seems like a good idea, but the question is how does the boat get back into the water? Waiting for the high tide? "Most of the ships Davis has seen in his life are sailboats, and the steamship of the steam engine is nothing more than a toy in his eyes." Without sails, it should have been a steam-engine steamer. But why didn't I see its chimney? ”

"What a strange ship." The general sighed again, "It turned out to be iron." ”

"Iron?" Davis was also a little surprised, even incredulous. "The Chinese will also have such advanced things?" Although he is an army man, he still has a certain understanding of the development of the world's navies. Modern ironclads were first proposed by General Bessan, a French gunnery expert. He believed that in the face of horizontal fire from armor-piercing shells, it was possible to consider covering the battleship with a layer of iron armor of 180-200 mm. In 1834, French engineers removed the guns on the upper deck in order to prevent the increase in the ship's center of gravity caused by the addition of ironclad on the side of the ship. Such designs have gradually been improved with the development of science and technology and the shipbuilding industry. In 1849, France built the world's first battleship with a steam engine as an auxiliary power plant, the "Napoleon", which became the pioneer of steam-powered battleships in the Navy. The Crimean War of 1853-1856 established the dominance of steam-armored battleships in the modern naval fleet. So he didn't feel strange when he saw iron-hulled ships, but thought it strange that "are the Chinese also starting to build ironclad ships?" ”

What he did not know was that in this space-time, just the next year, in 1859, France built battleships with a displacement of 56 ) ). A year later, in 1860, the British built battleships with a displacement of 91 ) ). The two warships were covered with iron armor and are considered to be the first two steam-armored ships in the world.

By the time of the American Civil War, the USS Monitor (US**onitor), a small armored gunboat of the U.S. Northern Navy, had its first enclosed swing turret. It fought the first naval artillery battle in the modern sense between it and the Confederacy Navy's armored ship CSSVIRGINIA, the Battle of Hampton in 1862.

In 1873, France built the battleship "Ravage", which had abolished the tradition of using sails and became the first purely steam-powered battleship in the history of the world's navies. By the 70s of the 19th century, the steam-armored battleships of the naval powers of the world had reached a high level. The steam engine not only provided propulsion power for warships, but it was also used to control rudder systems, anchor systems, turn armor systems, load ammunition, pump water, and lift shipboard boats. Large steam armored battleships had a displacement of 8000 to 9000 tons and a propulsion power of 6000 to 8000 horsepower. At this time, the battleships were equipped with armored turrets that could rotate 360 degrees in all directions on the central axis of the main deck or on both sides of the hull, and the naval guns also generally used spiral rifling, which further enhanced the attack power.

The content after 1859 was unknown to Adjutant Davis, of course, most of the survivors did not know or knew part of it, but in South China in 1858, seeing such an advanced ship, and it was owned by the Chinese, had to surprise the generals and adjutants who were prejudiced against the Chinese. One day in May 1858, the Liberation Army Navy officially stepped onto the stage of history.