Chapter 157 The Battle of Lantau Island
Could it be that there was civil strife within the gang? Zheng Bao was most afraid of internal strife. [Read the latest chapter] His subordinates have just been put together in the past few months, and they can only be regarded as a simple partnership between them. He is only regarded as the big shopkeeper because he is the strongest. It's hard to say what happened down there and there was a conflict between them.
The cronies who were outside rushed in: "Outside the big shopkeeper, outside..." His face was full of horror and he was speechless at all.
Zheng Bao cursed, knowing that the matter was serious, and quickly hung up his sword. He ran out surrounded by his cronies.
Zheng Bao saw the most terrifying sight in his life: streaks of fire dragging black smoke intertwined in the sky, falling towards Dongyongkou like meteors.
The ships in the harbor and the houses on the shore were burning. The black fire flying in the sky made a terrifying scream and fell from time to time. Flames and explosions enveloped the entire Dongchong port.
Zheng Bao thought for a moment that he was dreaming and stood still in a daze.
"Big shopkeeper, what should we do now?" Zuo Zuo asked anxiously.
Zheng Bao was startled, and then he suddenly realized: "Get on the boat quickly." He waved his hand and took the lead to run towards the dock at Dongyongkou.
Zheng Bao's business was to kill people, set fires, and harm nature. Sometimes he thought about things like "hell". He did not expect that he would see hell when he was alive - the road to Tung Chung Pier was littered with charred corpses and collapsed houses. Twisted black iron shells can be seen scattered everywhere. Not a single house was burning, and even the trestles were on fire. Everywhere you look, there are burning ships on the water in the harbor, some of which have half sunk.
Above the head, rockets made terrifying screams from time to time, and fell violently towards the ground. Every time a rocket hit the ground, Zheng Bao trembled. Some people simply fell to the ground, crawling on their hands and feet, as if they could get away from these terrible things. The god of death in the air is further away.
The group of people finally rushed to the beach. The trestle had been burned to pieces. The ships in Dongyong Port that were not on fire were pulling up anchors and sailing towards the exit. His cronies gathered around him, found a small boat, and put him on board in a hurry.
"Quick, pull up the anchor and raise the sail. Hang out my flag." As soon as Zheng Bao boarded the ship, he didn't bother to sort out his embarrassing image and gave orders repeatedly. At this time, the situation is chaotic, and everyone only wants to escape for their own lives. If they don't quickly sail the boat to the entrance to reveal their identities and stabilize people's hearts, their "big gang" will disperse in an instant.
Looking through Shi Zhiqi's telescope, the effect of rocket bombardment of the port was very effective. The burning ships in the bay provided the best demonstration of this tactic. Through the thick smoke, he could see many ships racing to escape from the mouth. Some ships were already on fire, and the pirates fled while putting out the fire.
"Report to the Commander: Most of the enemy's ships have begun to flee to the open sea." Shi Zhiqizhi said proudly, "The pirates have collapsed in Dongchong Pass."
The female communications soldier standing next to him quickly recorded his order, and then ran to the walkie-talkie operator - actually a walkie-talkie.
Shi Zhiqi ordered: "Shoot 100 more rockets." The rockets moved up the mountain could not be carried any longer, so they might as well be discharged.
The bombardment of 400 rockets turned Dongchongkou into a hell of fire and smoke. In comparison, the effect of the shells fired by several 12-pound howitzers was negligible.
The fleet led by Chen Haiyang was waiting outside Tung Chung Pass. Each secret service boat aimed its broadside at the mouth of Tung Chung Bay. The ship's gunports were all open. When the sporadic pirate ships escaped from Dongchong Pass, they were greeted by a burst of intensive artillery fire. No ship could escape the terrifying power of more than a dozen spy boats firing at the same time. Often after the smoke from intensive artillery fire dissipates, all that is left on the pirate ship is the toppled mast, broken ship planks, and corpses scattered on the deck - many corpses have no heads and limbs, and some simply have only bloody human bodies. piece.
The expected naval battle did not happen at all, only the spy boats fired their guns and adjusted their course in an orderly manner. The sailors are already very experienced. They use a combination of Chinese and Western ship-operating techniques: using sails and oars to control the navigation of the ship. The gunners, who had been trained as naval gunnery officers, used simple wooden rangefinders to measure distances and angles, observed sea currents and winds, and then quickly calculated the firing angle of the artillery on a slide rule. The gunners adjusted the angle in the smoke-filled deck and gun cabin, and then fired the guns simultaneously according to the command. A single hit from a violent broadside salvo can render a pirate ship incapacitated.
Outside the entrance of Dongyong, there are already pirate ships with downturned masts and crooked masts, raging fire, and corpses lying in disarray on the sea. It is comparable to the tragedy inside the bay.
Wang You and the dozen or so boats he pulled escaped from the bay in chaos and embarrassment - he secretly complained that the Australians started attacking without even saying hello, which almost gave him a narrow escape. But he knew that this was not the time to complain, so he ordered people to hang the white flag and flag that had been secretly agreed with Shi Shishi and others on the top of the mast. Sure enough, Australian warships would not fire if they saw a ship with a signal. Wang You's dozen or so ships arrived at the open sea without incident, and were then disarmed one by one by the spy boats that had been waiting for them.
The surrendered pirates did not complain at all. They disarmed each one obediently and sailed to Hong Kong Island under the supervision of the sailors. After seeing the powerful firepower of the Australians, no one felt that they still had the strength to bargain.
Zheng Bao's boat struggled to escape from the bay, and he managed to gather seven or eight boats. He could hear from the sound of cannons outside that there were Australian warships intercepting them, but he had no other choice but to rush out. All the way. The easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack terrain of Dongyongkou was a dead end for the fleet that was suppressed by artillery fire from the surrounding highlands.
The moment the thick smoke dissipated, he had already seen the Australian-Song fleet under the sun outside the bay - this was the first time he had seen them. Neat columns, fluttering flags, flashing cannons... A strong sense of inferiority came to his heart. A few days ago, he actually wanted to compete with the Australians.
Don't underestimate yourself. The thought just crossed his mind. Several secret service boats fired at him simultaneously. One of the rows of shells swept across the deck of Zheng Bao's ship, and one shell passed by Zheng Bao, tearing him in half.
Zheng Bao's death did not cause much reaction on the battlefield. Didn't even get anyone else's attention. In fact, before his ship was sunk, the entire pirate fleet had disintegrated. Every ship and every person is just thinking about escaping for their own lives. Just like this, one ship after another hit Chen Haiyang's gun muzzle.
At five o'clock in the afternoon, Chen Haiyang ordered to stop shooting and allowed a small number of ships to escape - they were obliged to declare the military power of the Australian and Song Dynasty. The sea outside Dongyongkou was in a mess, with burning ships everywhere, and some ships were missing. It caught fire, and the broken hull was drifting with the waves, lifeless. The sea is full of scattered pirates jumping into the sea to escape. Those ships that saw the opportunity lowered their sails and flags to express surrender.
The navy commanded by Shi Zhiqi and the Provisional 6th Squadron composed of sailors rushed down from the mountains around Tung Chung and occupied the villages and docks where pirates were entrenched by the bay. Hundreds of pirates who escaped before boarding the ship were captured, and many abandoned sampans and long queues were also seized. There are also several large ships. The marines completely occupied Tung Chung Kou without encountering any resistance.
Shi Zhiqi led the guards, orderlies and communications soldiers into the still burning Dongyongkou. He stood beside the burning trestle at Tung Chung Kou, with the flag of the navy flying behind him.
Shi Zhiqi lit a pipe--in fact, he never smoked a pipe. Huang Zhao raised the camera and clicked seven or eight photos in succession from different angles: Shi Zhiqi smoking leisurely in the sun and observing the battlefield; Shi Zhiqi with the burning ship in the background; behind him was Shi Zhiqi who had just occupied the trestle and conquered the East Shi Zhiqi from the emerging navy...
"Now you are satisfied, everything is a glorious image."
"It's a pity that Lingao Times is very harsh on photos." Shi Zhiqi coughed a few times, emptied his pipe and asked the orderly to put it away.
The overboard pirates who failed to board the ship or who swam back from the sea were rounded up in large numbers. Groups of captives tied into strings staggered to the seaside, waiting for ships to be transported to Hong Kong Island - they would be "transformed" in local decontamination camps and used as much-needed labor.
After five o'clock in the afternoon, all the battles on Hai 6 ended. The navy's total losses were only seventeen wounded - all minor injuries. However, the consumption of ammunition was very huge, and the Hale rockets originally planned to be used in the Battle of Pearl River were almost exhausted.
But the number of prisoners captured exceeded 2,000. Among the ships towed back from the sea and captured in the bay, there were 24 large ships that were intact or could be easily repaired and put into use. Although most of the sampan queues, which were very useful in inland waters, were burned, more than 50 ships were left. Intact and repairable boats.
Even those ships that could not be repaired were all towed back as long as they were not sunk and burned. Chen Haiyang plans to use them to recycle ship materials. Even the useless parts can be used as fuel. The sailors seized a large amount of supplies and money from Zheng Baolao's camp in the village. It was a windfall.
Most of the two villages in Tung Chung Kou were burned down by rockets, and almost all the fishing boats docked on the shore were destroyed. Chen Haiyang ordered all remaining villagers to be taken away and sent to Hong Kong Island for resettlement. As for other villages, no action will be taken for the time being. Lantau Island was not suitable as a military base. After the necessary sweeps were carried out, Chen Haiyang ordered the entire army to withdraw to Hong Kong Island. a! ~!
