Inside Port Moresby

As a result of the tensions following the Battle of Malacca, ocean-going vessels sailing the Far East and Europe did not call at the port, migrant ships were temporarily suspended, and liners to and from Brisbane and the Red River Valley were suspended.

Moresby imposed wartime control, and all 27 fishing boats anchored by the distant-water fishing company stopped sailing and entered a river port about 10 kilometers north of the port to avoid the possible war.

The long trestle bridge in the harbor is deserted, with only a dozen tall steel crane towers, and three Seagull-1 high-speed cruisers and several 20-ton patrol boats parked in the harbor, reflecting the cold texture of steel in the early morning light.

The bay is shaped like a long peanut, and the entrance to the bay is unobstructed, with a width of about 3.6 kilometers and a length of about 12 kilometers from the pier.

Although it is a semi-open harbor, it does not mean that the enemy can easily attack it, and in order to deal with possible attacks, there is a defensive battery on each side of the mountainous terrain on both sides of the harbor, one south and one north.

Among them, the south side of the mountain is relatively low and open, the highest point is 116 meters, and a three-layer defense system is arranged in a ring, and the top is three German Krupp 280 mm long-barreled shore guns arranged in a zigzag shape, using a manual rotary gun mount, which can cover a maximum range of 160 degrees.

About 200 meters down the hillside from the top fort, there is a circle of arc-shaped forts set up in reinforced concrete, with a total of 7 steel helmet-shaped permanent fortifications, connected by internal passages.

Each helmet-shaped permanent fortification has a large space for one 280 mm gun, but two 95 mm Miss Australia guns are placed. All of them add up to a total of 14 doors, which can provide extremely strong fire coverage.

Further down the gentle slope of about 200~300 meters near the sea, a circular trench was built, which was only guarded by sentries in peacetime, and the garrison entered through the trench in wartime to resist the enemy from seizing important battery positions.

The northern ridge is steeper, with a maximum of about 470 meters.

There is an obvious natural step more than 270 meters in the middle of the mountain, where the Beishan Fort is located, equipped with 8 95mm Miss Australia guns, which can form a dense crossfire network with the Nanshan Fort and deal a heavy blow to the enemy.

The reason why there is no heavy artillery is because the North Mountain is so steep that it is almost a thousand miles of walls.

The heavy pulley set that was transported with great difficulty could not bear the huge weight of the heavy artillery, and the disassembled and hoisted 95 mm Miss Australia gun was barely competent, and no more could be done.

Coupled with the fact that time was in a hurry, it was not possible to build a full-fledged heavy battery.

Moresby Town

It was a quiet morning as usual, the mist in the mountains was filled, and the slightest lingering above the forest, the early morning vision was not very good, and the farthest could be seen more than 150 meters.

The town of Moresby was still asleep, with occasional militia patrols of six passing through the streets, and the sound of large roosters crowing could be heard in the distance.

Several independent wooden buildings were lit up early in the morning, and this was the fleet's officers' quarters, and Geng Guigui and the other officers got up early to wash up and go to the officers' canteen to eat.

After breakfast

The three warships in Port Moresby were to set sail for routine patrols in the surrounding waters, with the southwest and due south directions being the key search areas, and if the Dutch fleet were to attack, it would most likely enter from these two directions.

As Captain of the Queensland Coast Guard, Geng left his beloved battleship Albatross to take charge of Moresby because an experienced naval commander was needed to take charge of the situation.

Ho Fang, who had shown extraordinary command skills in the Battle of Malacca, was in charge of the Combined Fleet stationed in Jayapura, while Geng Guigui was the highest commander of the Coast Guard to take charge of security.

The two have different division of labor, one is the main attacker and the other is the main defense.

After breakfast, the officers of the fleet walked along the road to the pier, a long stone road of about 500 meters, leading to the pier pier.

As he approached the end of the stone road, a patrol of the 3rd Garrison Regiment approached with a neat stride, two squads of soldiers, carrying a shiny German Mauser 1871 rifle on his shoulder, led by a young platoon officer, who was Li Xuanzhu.

"All pay attention, stand still, and salute the naval officers!" Li Xuanzhu gave an order, and the soldiers raised their hands in salute.

"Return the gift!" Geng Guigui said in a deep voice.

A group of naval officers stood up and raised their hands to salute the soldiers.

Geng Guigui's gaze swept over Li Zhuzhu's young face, and he had a good impression of this young officer with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and asked casually; "Mr. Second Lieutenant, is everything normal on patrol?"

"Report sir, everything is normal."

"Please continue with the mission."

"Yes." Li Xuanzhu gave a military salute cleanly and ordered; "All of them are there, and ...... start"

The army patrol made its way along the stone road that the naval officers had just passed, and the sound of neat footsteps from military boots echoed through the streets, giving a sense of peace and solemnity.

That's when it happened

In the distance, on the top of the north hill at the entrance to the bay, a blazing beacon fire suddenly ignited, and the black smoke from the bonfire reached into the sky, and a melodious alarm bell faintly sounded.

"Enemy Attack ......"

The officers of the fleet were only stunned for a moment, and immediately pulled their legs and ran wildly, in the direction of the three battleships docked on the pier trestle, at this time, the officers on duty on the battleship had already ordered the fire according to the procedure, thick black smoke came out of the tall chimney of the warship, and the boiler was continuously pressurized......

At this moment when he heard the alarm bell, Geng Guigui knew that the tranquility of peace had been broken, and that Moresby would usher in the blood and fire of war, facing the severe test of a large number of enemy sieges, and that this place would become a flesh mill and experience the baptism of war and gunsmoke.

The officers rushed to their respective ships and immediately issued a series of orders; "Remove the gun jacket, inspect the gun, untie the cable, the chief engineer reports the situation, the boiler continues to increase the pressure ......"

It didn't take long

The three ships moored at the shore trestle nimbly retreated into the deep water, drawing a beautiful arc, and one by one sailed towards the exit of the bay.

meanwhile

When the North Mountain alarm came, the alarm bell of Moresby Town also rang wildly, and the piercing alarm bell echoed in this new town, instantly breaking the silence of the early morning.

The whole town seemed to wake up in an instant, and many panicked people rushed out of their homes and looked out into the distance of the bay.

But the sea was covered with mist, and it was impossible to see what was going on in the distance.

Looking further up, you can see a faint red beacon fire burning violently at the peak of Beishan at 470 meters, forming a huge black pillar that soars into the sky, and the flames disperse the surrounding mist, which is so shocking.

A sharp whistle of an emergency assembly was heard from the camp of the 3rd Garrison Regiment nearby, and the soldiers swarmed out of the barracks and entered their positions under the leadership of officers.

After the initial chaos, the residents of Moresby rushed home to pack their belongings, and if the alarm came in more serious, the residents had to evacuate to the rear and away from the town.

In the worst-case scenario, enemy ships broke through the blockade and entered the harbor and were able to turn the entire urbanization into a sea of fire with naval guns.

The Queensland fleet had already done this in the port of Medan, and it was not unusual for the Dutch to retaliate.

There were a lot of residents running around on the streets, shouting Zhang San and Li Si in a panic, and the patrol team led by Li Xuanzhu was divided into groups of two and was trying to maintain order.

Not far from the street corner

There was a two-story stone building, with a plaque on the door that read "Moresby Telegraph Office" in seven gilt letters, and a government employee dressed in youth clothes was knocking desperately on the door, shouting; "Open the door quickly, open the door quickly, there is an important telegram that needs to be sent immediately, the Dutch have called......"

At this time, no one noticed that a sturdy man walked briskly in the direction of the telegraph room, carrying a cloth bag in his left hand and holding it in his arms in his right hand.

When he saw the door of the telegraph office open, the sturdy man rushed over like an ape, drew the revolver he held in his right hand, fired several shots at the government employees and the telegraph office staff at close range, and then broke in.

Li Xuanzhu was maintaining order when he suddenly heard the sound of gunfire behind him and quickly turned around, just in time to see this sturdy man breaking into the telegraph office.

He reacted almost instantaneously and shouted; "It's not good, the enemy spy wants to destroy the telegraph office, hurry up and follow me to stop him."

He ran over like crazy with a few soldiers nearby, and could hear the sound of gunfire still coming from the building, and Li Xuanzhu was so anxious that he was the first to rush up the steps of the telegraph office, a stone's throw from the door.

At this moment, there was a "boom" explosion, and a violent wave of air surged out of the doors and windows with fire and gravel, and immediately knocked Li Xuanzhu and the two soldiers behind him to the ground, and then the gravel fell like rain.

Li Xuanzhu's ears were "buzzing" by this sudden explosion, and he shook his head laboriously and got up from the ground, his originally neat and crisp military uniform was stained by gray-white smoke and dust, even his eyebrows became gray-white, and there were faint traces of blood flowing out of his nose.

But Li Xuanzhu was most worried not about himself, but about the people in the telegraph office and the precious telegraph machine, and he staggered forward with a gun in one hand, and waved it in the other to try to clear away the thick smoke and dust.

A few minutes later

When a large number of soldiers and policemen arrived, they saw Li Chuanzhu standing in the messy telegraph office, looking stunned.

Without the telegraph to convey the war situation, Moresby became an island, and the form was even more precarious.