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In 1842, Hong Kong was just a small fishing village. The British took the island from the Manchu government through the Treaty of Nanjing. At this moment, most of the British troops who invaded China also stayed on this small island. They requisitioned the houses of local Chinese as military camps, and hired these Chinese to build them military ports to moor warships.

The appearance of the Xinhua Navy at the mouth of the Pearl River caused a great shock to the British fleet. At this moment, the British Navy remaining on Hong Kong Island has only 16 warships, although it is a few more than the 4th Fleet of the Xinhua Navy, but if a war breaks out, they know that they have no chance of winning. The army has only a few more than 10,000 troops.

The British Minister Plenipotentiary immediately took a British warship to the mouth of the Pearl River and asked to see the commander of the Xinhua Army. He wanted to find out the intentions of the Xinhua Army, and at the same time communicate well, so as to avoid misunderstandings at the time.

On the afternoon of 6 October, the fifth-class warship on which Minister Portdianzha was riding sailed to the fleet of the Xinhua Navy. When they were still a few kilometers away from the Xinhua Army, their standard-bearers began to communicate with the Xinhua Army in the language of the flag, so as not to cause misunderstanding and be sunk by the Xinhua Army.

After obtaining permission from the Xinhua Army, Minister Portitaux was allowed to board the No. 41 cruiser of the Xinhua Navy and met with Vice Admiral Niu Meng, chief of the general staff of the Xinhua Army.

"Your Excellency, General. On behalf of the British Empire, I protest to you! The blockade of the Pearl River estuary by the Xinhua Army has seriously interfered with China's normal trade. It has had a serious impact on our business activities. We hope that your country will immediately end the blockade of the Pearl River Estuary. When Minister Portichard saw Lieutenant General Niu Meng, he immediately protested.

"Your Excellency, I solemnly inform you that now, Xinhua has declared war on the Manchu government! This section of the waterway from Guangzhou to the mouth of the Pearl River will become an area of engagement between the two sides. Before the blockade is lifted, we can only regret that the ships that entered this area were fired upon by mistake. Xinhuaguo will not assume any responsibility! Lieutenant General Niu Meng said. As the only treaty port between China and the outside world before the Opium War, Guangzhou had a very large number of ships entering and leaving every day. The blockade of the Pearl River estuary by the Xinhua army will undoubtedly have a serious impact on these merchant ships. Of course, Xinhuaguo has already warned in advance. If those merchant ships don't know what to do. If you are sunk at that time, you can only be considered unlucky!

"Your Excellency, this behavior of your army is quite unreasonable. The British Empire will retain the right to hold accountable! Minister Portt said angrily. The British, who had just defeated the Manchus, seemed to be a little carried away.

"Really?" Lieutenant General Niu Meng said disdainfully.

"Chief of Staff, should we get rid of the British first, and then deal with the Qing army?" Commodore Ye Feng, commander of the 4th Fleet, said suddenly.

When the translator translated this sentence to him, Minister Portland's face suddenly changed: "Your Excellency General." Our two countries are not belligerents, if Xinhua attacks us for no reason. This would be a declaration of war on the British Empire. All the consequences caused by this will be borne by Xinhuaguo! ”

Minister Pottingcha said that if a war with Xinhua broke out now, Britain would not have any chance of winning. Therefore, he tried to avoid an immediate war between the two sides.

"Your Excellency, this is our war with the Manchu government, and it is not a matter of concern to Britain. The British were better off staying on Hong Kong Island or retreating to Singapore. Should the actions of the British have an impact on our battle, we will regard it as a provocation by the British army against us, and if war is caused by this, the consequences may not be borne by His Excellency the Minister! Lieutenant General Niu Meng warned.

The Minister of Portichard was silent, and he knew that if a war with Xinhua broke out at this time, the British army had no chance of winning. Moreover, the brunt of the invasion of China by the British army will be wiped out. When the time comes, all the blame will surely be placed on him.

"Alright, General, we'll restrain our soldiers! However, we hope that the actions of the Xinhua Army will not affect the interests of Britain! "Minister Pottingcha found himself a step.

"Of course, our two countries are friendly countries!" Lieutenant General Niu Meng Ha Lu Ha Da said with a smile.

The news of the Xinhua Army's Chen Bing at the mouth of the Pearl River immediately reached the Guangdong Navy Division's battalion, and the Guangdong Navy Division's Admiral Lai Enjue ordered several thousand officers and men of the Navy Division to prepare for battle on the one hand, and ordered the fast horses to report to Guangzhou. The Xinhua army pressed the border on a large scale, which would be a huge crisis for the Manchu high-ranking officials in Guangdong, and if they didn't do it well, they would be martyred.

Shunde is not far from Guangzhou, and in the evening of the same day, the fast horse that reported the news rushed directly into the city of Guangzhou. The soldiers defending the city did not dare to stop it at all. These heralds are all about emergency military information, and even if they are killed by them, they will die in vain. For a time, on the streets of Guangzhou City, there was a burst of chickens and dogs, and pedestrians who could not avoid it were knocked away, and the stalls on both sides of the street were knocked down a lot.

"Get out of the way! Emergency military intelligence! Emergency military intelligence! The herald who reported the news, shouting, rushed directly to the governor's palace.

"The sailor urgently reports, the Xinhua Army is blocking the Pearl River Estuary!" When the herald arrived at the gate of the Governor's Palace, he turned over and dismounted, held the battle report in his hand, and ran towards the Governor's Palace.

The guards of the Governor's Mansion immediately welcomed him down, took the battle report in his hand, and sent it to Qi Gong, the governor of Liangguang.

Soon, the battle report was delivered to Qi Gong's hands.

"Dozens of big ships? At least 20,000 troops? Damn, does Xinhua really want a decisive battle with the Qing Dynasty? After reading the battle report, Qi Gong couldn't help but exclaim. The British had more than a dozen warships and more than 10,000 army troops beating the Qing army all over the ground. This time, the army sent by Xinhua is stronger than the British army, how can Guangdong hold it!

"Someone, go and invite the governor and the general immediately!" Qi Gong commanded.

In half an hour, Liang Baochang, the governor of Guangdong, and A Jing'a, the general of Guangzhou, rushed to the governor's palace. However, with the war report, there is no other way. The Xinhua army is menacing, and they can't resist it at all. You must know that the excerpt of Qi Gong, the governor of Liangguang, asking for help, has only been sent out for a few days. By the time the fold was delivered to Emperor Daoguang, perhaps the city of Guangzhou had already fallen.

"What should we do, two adults? The Xinhua Army is menacing, with dozens of large ships and more than 20,000 elite soldiers, I am afraid we will not be able to resist it! Qi Gong said with some concern. Before that, he still looked down on Xinhuaguo. But now, he has only reverence for Xinhuaguo.

"Your Excellency the Governor, Your Majesty wants us to guard Guangdong, we have the responsibility of defending the territory, I'm afraid we can only fight to the death with the Xinhua Army!" Governor Liang Baochang said. Civil officials, there has always been a kind of plot that will be remembered in history, and if you can die for the country, you may be able to leave a strong mark in the history books. However, he seems to have forgotten that history is written by the victors. After Xinhua defeated the Manchus, Liang Baochang and others could only be listed as foolish loyalists of the Manchus!

"Lord Governor, the sailor is already preparing for a big battle with the Xinhua Army. The Green Battalion was also ready for battle, and I suggested that we concentrate our forces on defending Canton and wait for reinforcements from the imperial court. Now that the Xinhua army is strong, we can only rely on the fortified city of Guangzhou to resist the Xinhua army. If we still can't resist it, then we will have to live and die with the city! Guangzhou General A Jing'a said.

"Alright, let's do it! Hope God bless you! "Qi Gong, the governor of Liangguang, can only pray to God.

On the morning of October 8, the First Fleet of the Xinhua Navy escorted the 1st Brigade, the 2nd Brigade and the 1st Heavy Artillery Brigade of the Army to the mouth of the Pearl River.

Vice Admiral Niu Meng, chief of the General Staff of the Xinhua Army, immediately issued an order that the 1st Fleet should be responsible for protecting transport ships and merchant ships, and the 4th Fleet would go upstream to clear the batteries along the Pearl River to clear the way for the offensive of the Marines and the Army. 12 'Shark-class' cruisers entered the Pearl River with great momentum.

The Guangdong Navy Division built a lot of forts on both sides of the Pearl River, many of which were advanced cannons purchased by Lin Zexu from abroad at a huge cost when smoking was banned in Guangdong. Of course, when the British army attacked Canton later, the batteries along the way were almost destroyed, and only a few of them were still usable. When the Xinhua army blockaded the mouth of the Pearl River, the Qing army's naval division was already ready for battle and prepared to resist the attack of the Xinhua army.

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the 4th Fleet of the Xinhua Navy arrived in the waters of Humen. The first attack was launched on the battery at Sha Kok. Originally, the Shajiao battery had more than 20 gun emplacements and more than 20 breech guns. However, at the moment there are less than ten artillery pieces left. When the warships of the Xinhua Army appeared on the Pearl River, the Qing generals guarding the fort ordered to open fire.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "The cannonballs fell into the Pearl River, splashing columns of water. The veterans of the Qing Army's naval division suffered heavy losses, and the remaining recruits were basically newly enlisted, and the level of artillery bombardment was quite low, and they could not hit the Xinhua warships located in the center of the river at all.

Two 'Shark-class' cruisers began firing at the Shajiao Battery, while the other ten 'Shark-class' cruisers continued to advance and prepare to attack the Weiyuan Battery.

"Boom! Rumble! "Two 'shark-class' cruisers, a total of 8 105-mm naval guns and 8 75-mm naval guns, carried out a heavy shelling of the Shajiao battery. The shells of the Xinhua Army have already used smokeless gunpowder, and both the rate of fire and the firing range are far from being comparable to the old black powder breech guns of the Qing Army.

The first round of salvo left the Shajiao Fort shrouded in gunsmoke. One cannon after another was blown into twists, and the casualties were even more heavy. After a few volleys of fire by the Xinhua army, the Qing artillery on the Shajiao Fort was silent. Those cannons were all destroyed, and almost none of the Qing troops guarding the forts survived. Those Qing troops who were far away from the fort were already stunned when they saw all this. The battleships of the Xinhua Army did not have as much artillery as the British warships, but they were much more powerful than the British Army! (To be continued......)