At about noon, a French warship appeared on the wide Majiang River, and Shang Hu could see it in the telescope. The flagship, the Volitai, was a wooden sail battleship, one of which was a large ironclad battleship called Triumph, next to the cruiser Eiffel, the cruiser Goddess, several gunboats, and two torpedo boats. Shang Hu carefully inspected a total of 8 large and small warships. "Brothers, prepare to fight and let the French taste our awe." Shang Hu gave the battle order, and the gunners quickly loaded the shells and formulated the firing Zhuyuan.

The atmosphere of the battle was tense, the soldiers were nervous, and Shang Hu was even more nervous. Whether the first battle can be fought well and whether it can block the French warships from entering the Min River is the most important thing. Seeing the huge battleship, Shang Hu is frankly not sure at all, everything is unknown.

Several gunboats of the French fleet opened the way in front, two torpedo boats stood guard on both sides, ironclads and sail cruisers were in the center, and the rear of the flagship was slaughtered. In the naval battle, the French battleships killed three battleships in one go, and the losses were almost negligible. At present, in the eyes of the French army, the Qing Navy is a lamb to the slaughter.

"Brethren shoot freely, open fire!" Seeing the French battleship enter the firing range, Shang Hushou trembled a little and gave the order to shoot, and suddenly the artillery rang out in unison, and the shells flew towards the French battleship. Probably a little nervous, the shell impact point is a little messy. But after a round of shelling, the soldiers became skilled.

The huge size of the ironclad cruiser Triumph became the preferred target, and the gunners invariably aimed their guns at the big guy. The Triumph cruiser had a displacement of 4,100 tons, 17 heavy guns, and more than 300 personnel. In the roar of artillery, dense shells burst out on the deck of the battleship, and a cloud of smoke exploded in an instant. After all, the power of infantry artillery is limited, and it is not a big threat to the rough-skinned and thick-skinned Triumph, but the flowering shell is fatal to the personnel on board. At this time, most of the French sailors were gathered on the deck of the battleship, seemingly unprepared.

At this time, the commander of the French army on the flagship, An Ye, was standing in the command cabin and looking forward with great ambition, completely eradicating the Nanyang naval base of the Qing Dynasty, and now it was his bounden duty to do so. Fang Cai's naval battle tested the ability of the Qing Navy, sinking three of the opponent's warships in just one round, and Commander An Ye thought that the Qing Navy was simply vulnerable. Therefore, he ordered to advance to the Mawei military port and destroy all the warships in the military port in one fell swoop.

The sudden sound of cannon fire startled him, and he hurriedly observed that a cloud of smoke appeared on the right bank, and he couldn't see what was going on. Soon he saw clearly what was going on on the deck of the cruiser Triumph. The continuous explosions took him by surprise, and he immediately judged that this was the opponent's hidden fortress cannon. Commander Anye immediately ordered the halt of the advance and retreat. However, it was not easy for the warship on the narrow river to turn its bow around, so it had to reverse and retreat.

At this time, the right-hand guns of the French battleships began to return fire, because the French heavy naval guns were all shooting from a distance, and they could not hit the nearby riverbank fortifications. The French gunboats were good and began to bombard the riverbank fortifications. The Philip sail cruiser was hit by several shells, and the middle mast was blown down, causing the sail to catch fire. The bow of the cruiser Goddess was blown away by a cannonball in an instant, and flying wooden blocks appeared in the air. The flagship battleship Wolitai was the first to withdraw from the range of artillery fire due to the rear of the palace. The two torpedo boats also ran to safety nimbly, and the gunboats in front of them, with their small tonnage, also got rid of the artillery bombardment.

However, the two wooden cruisers were equally unlucky, moving slowly and constantly withstanding the bombardment of artillery fire. In particular, the Triumphant Ironclad Ships, which were slow to move, suffered the most from artillery bombardment. An Ye saw that the deck of the Triumph was in a mess and filled with smoke, and the anger was full of smoke. The bow cannon of the flagship ship was ordered to shell the shore fortifications, but the side shelling did not help the strong shore fortifications.

After about half an hour, all the battleships retreated to safety. French sailors began to extinguish the fire and rescue the wounded. At this time, the angry French warships lined up and used the bow cannon to bombard the shore fortifications. Shang Hu and his brothers hid in their bunkers, enduring the deafening roar and the dust that fell. The bombardment from the side was far worse than the front. Only then did the French gunboats bombard head-on, destroying 5 guns and killing 12 brothers.

The French battleships carried out a full hour of bombardment before they stopped, and after Commander Anye stopped the shelling, he held a telescope to observe the artillery positions on the riverbank, and he knew that the enemy's artillery positions were in underground bunkers, and the shore was blown up in a mess, and he could not see the real situation at all. Anye ordered the two gunboats, which had suffered minor losses, to go to find out the truth. As soon as the two gunboats entered the artillery fire area, a dense number of shells were fired from the shore, and the two gunboats hurriedly retreated.

Anye knew that the fierce shelling just now did not work at all. This shows that the other party has been prepared. Anye had no choice but to order the fleet to withdraw to the high seas, knowing that the opponent's artillery was not powerful and could not cause fatal damage to the battleship, but he could restrict the activities of the battleship, and the enemy's purpose was to prevent you from entering the depths. Thinking of the fortress fort on the shore of the Qing army, An Ye reluctantly canceled the idea of attacking Mawei Military Port.

The losses were reported, and the commander An Ye was even more depressed. The deck of the Triumph was blown to pieces, and although it didn't hurt its muscles and bones, it needed to be repaired. The point is that the ship's sailors suffered more than 60 casualties. The mast and sail of the cruiser Philip were burned, and the entire mast needed to be repaired, and the sailors on the ship suffered more than 20 casualties, and the other warships were damaged to varying degrees.

Returning to the sea, Commander An Ye was so angry that he immediately ordered the fleet to be divided into three, and ordered a detachment to go south to Quanzhou and Xiamen to search for and sink the warships of the Nanyang Fleet. An Ye himself led the main fleet to Taiwan, and he wanted to occupy the southern port of Kaohsiung as a temporary base for the Far East Fleet. In addition, the wounded Triumph, Philip, Goddess and two gunboats were ordered to go to the British and French concessions in Shanghai Port for repairs.

When night came, Shang Hu received a report from the coastal lookout post that all the French warships had withdrawn to the high seas and there was no movement, so he knew that the French warships had been successfully blocked. Later, Shang Hu decided to go to the military port to explore the truth and truth, and instructed the artillery captain to be vigilant and guard against the attack of French warships at any time. After the arrangements were made, Shang Hu led two retinues to ride straight to the military port.

It is said that Lu Tao led three warships into the Mawei Military Port, which immediately caused a riot on the military port. In fact, a group of men and horses arranged by Shang Hu on the dock were already on standby, waiting for the withdrawn warships to dock before acting.

On the way to retreat, the battleships Feiyun and Jining, the sailors had already taken control of the battleships according to Fan Tao's will, and the pipe belts on the ships were detained. However, when entering the port, the Feiyun pipe belt took advantage of the lax defense and jumped into the river to escape. As soon as the battleship approached the dock, Fan Tao ordered the members of the ambush in the dock to suspend their actions, and then pretended to pass on the holy decree and asked all the battleships on the dock to take the battleship Yang Wei to a meeting in the name of Liu Buzhan.

During the call, Fan Tao sent a signal to order the team members on the dock to take action. And take advantage of the fact that the various ship management bands came to the meeting and immediately took control of the warships and the military port. Soon, the warship pipes on the dock gathered in a panic on the battleship Yang Wei, and as soon as everyone entered the command cabin and sat down, a group of sailors with guns and nuclear bombs poured in. Immediately afterwards, Fan Tao and Liu Buzhan walked in. Liu Buzhan was depressed and silent, everyone didn't know what was going on.

"The military situation is very critical now, and the French fleet will attack me at any time. I decided to temporarily take over the command of Liu Guandao and take over all the warships and military ports. At the moment, I need to be unanimous with the outside world, so I have to grieve everyone. "First Officer Fan, you're going to rebel!" One of the pipe bands said angrily. At this time, a sailor stepped forward and smashed the pipe strap to the ground with the butt of a gun. "! What about rebellion, Lao Tzu has long wanted to rebel. ”

"As the saying goes, those who know the times are handsome, as long as everyone cooperates, I will not hurt your lives." After speaking, Fan Tao walked out. A team with steel guns appeared on the dock, and they moved very quickly and quickly dispersed to all corners of the dock. There was no danger, the vast majority of sailors did not know what was happening, they thought it was a unified operation, so the takeover went smoothly. Soon his men were issued steel guns, and he sent a group of men to take over the fort batteries along the coast.

Fan Tao's easy success is not accidental, it is directly related to his extensive and meticulous preparation over the past few years. He was both a man of Shen Baozhen and a wealthy man, so his prestige was very well connected among middle and lower-ranking officers and sailors. In addition, each ship has his people, including the people who are developed under him, so it is natural to get twice the result with half the effort and come naturally. Moreover, the vast majority of sailors did not know the real situation, and Shang Hu also sent a team of men and horses to help, so it was naturally easy for the military port to succeed.

"Report! Captain Shang is here! A subordinate reported. In a room at the military port wharf, Fan Tao was discussing with his subordinates, and heard that Shang Hu was overjoyed. "Brother Fan, you're moving so fast! I didn't expect the military port to be easily controlled by you! "As soon as he came in, Shang Hu said happily." I couldn't have done it without your help. How are you doing on your side, and what are the results? Fan Tao asked urgently. Damn, the artillery was too powerful, and not a single battleship was sunk. However, it played a role in blocking the French warships from coming in, and the purpose was still achieved! Shang Hu said.

"I'm relieved that the artillery team is blocking in front, and the fortress artillery is the backing, and we succeeded in the first step. However, the Feiyun pipe belt escaped, and it is estimated that Fuzhou will soon know what happened here, whether Fuzhou City will also take action. Fan Tao was a little worried. It's too late, I'm afraid that Fuzhou City has already been martial law. We had to prepare and stick to the ponytail. You immediately send men to the small fishing village to bring weapons and ammunition, and prepare to meet the enemy tomorrow. Only by luring the snake out of the hole can the brothers in Fuzhou do it. Shang Hu's face was grim.

"There is no news from the lord's side, it is really anxious, I didn't expect the French to declare war on us, which caught us off guard and forced us to rebel." Fan Tao said depressedly. Shang Hu analyzed: "Maybe this is a good thing, it means that the lord beat the French in Annan, otherwise it would be impossible for the French to go to war without declaring it." Now you and I have a great responsibility, we have to resist the French and deal with the officers and soldiers, we have no choice. ”

"Brother Shang! It's a matter of success or failure! "The two of them held hands together." Come! Shang Hu shouted loudly, and a subordinate hurried in. You immediately enter the city and tell the brothers in the city that tomorrow as soon as the officers and troops leave the city, they will immediately start moving, and they must control Fuzhou City as quickly as possible! "Yes!" The subordinate turned and left. At midnight, 300 rifles and ammunition and grenades arrived at the military port. Soon the sailors formed a military port guard force, plus Shang Hu's original 100 people, 400 people had steel guns in their hands.

Late at night, the brothers still couldn't sleep, "Brother Shang, tomorrow I will send two warships to guard in the direction of Fuzhou at any time." Once the officers and soldiers come to attack, how about I let the warships join the warband? "I think two battleships are too few, two more should be added.!" "But there's not enough staff!" Lu Tao spread his hands to express helplessness. A subordinate of this kung fu came in and reported: "Report, more than 50 people have escaped from the battleships Hui'an, Dingyuan, and Wuwei, and they have arrived at the dock. ”

"Great, I'm worried that there aren't enough people!" Fan Tao and Shang Hu Daxi immediately walked out.