Chapter 164: In front of the Tiger Gate
Under the guidance of the Haitian, the fleet quickly passed Furongsha and went all the way up. [Read full text] This is the first time for most of the veterans of the fleet to enter the Pearl River Estuary and sail in the waters of the Pearl River. Chen Haiyang has sailed on the Pearl River many times in the past - when he served in the South China Sea Fleet, he commanded warships to enter Huangpu Port many times. But the Pearl River in this time and space is very different from the old time and space. The river surface is wider, and the water and sky are as vast as the sea. There are harbors, river branches and sandbars and islands everywhere. The plains where water flows on both sides give people the illusion that this is an inland sea dotted with islands. The fragmented rivers that cut the land often make it difficult to separate them from the water around the island. There are pieces of cultivated land everywhere, late rice has been grown, and the aroma of rice fills the air. Villages and market towns are scattered on the river banks. There are almost no roads, and only boats are used to travel. The rivers form a complex network of connections. of towns and villages. From time to time, several ship masts and sails can be seen faintly appearing in the depths of the rice fields.
This beautiful tropical rural scenery has almost disappeared in the Pearl River Delta in the old time and space. The elders of the fleet looked at this scene greedily. Isn't this the artistic conception of "a big river is bo1ng wide, and the wind blows the rice and fragrant on both sides"? The land of China has been so beautiful and fertile since ancient times. This beautiful scenery has aroused their strong desire - they must take it.
There are some inland river transport ships sailing on the river, as well as fishing boats. Seeing such a menacing and well-equipped fleet sailing, they all fled to the bays and river branches on both sides. Chen Haiyang ordered people to capture a few ships and inquire about the situation on the river.
According to the information provided by the captured boat people and sailors, there were no official and military division ships patrolling the Pearl River. If there were any official armed ships, there were only a few I-boats from Zini Customs on the river.
Most of the warships of the officers and soldiers are scattered in the large harbor between Xiangshan and Huangpu. There are more than a dozen warships of the officers and soldiers in Humen. In addition to the navy's ships, there are many large ships berthed in Da Huang Po, with the total number exceeding 2,000. Since the war with the "Kun Bandits", many merchant ships traveling long distances have not dared to sail, especially merchant ships heading to Vietnam and Siam, because they have to pass through the Qiongzhou Strait - which is now in the "war zone". Except for a few bold and informed Except for the well-informed ship owner, no one dares to risk it.
As for the defense of Guangzhou, it is said that the officers and soldiers have stepped up their vigilance, and many sandbag forts have been built on the river bank. The Humen's Ya Niang Shoe Fort also added gun positions and added troops.
Chen Haiyang has a general grasp of the Jiang defense situation and believes that Guangzhou has not made too complicated defenses - of course, no matter how complicated the defenses are, they are of little value according to the standards of the 17th century. The navy he commanded was at least as good as the early 19th century. If the spy boat hadn't been too big and heavy, he wouldn't have even been able to move so many ships into the Pearl River.
Chen Haiyang ordered: "Let all the captured boat people go and give each of them some souvenirs."
The arrested boat people and merchants originally thought that even if they were not captured for selling tickets, they would still lose both their ships and cargo. Unexpectedly, the thief Kun was very polite. After the questioning, he allowed them to sail away. Everyone on the boat returned an Australian washcloth - a towel as a gift. M towel is the most popular and popular product among Lingao industrial products.
The people on the boat stared blankly at the scarves in their hands - there were blood-red stitches on it with the words "The Australian and Song Dynasty Navy first entered the Pearl River to commemorate" - and then looked at the fleet that was sailing away, feeling that they were simply It was a strange dream.
The fleet directly drove the tiger men. Chen Haiyang decided to win the main pass of the Pearl River and the Menhu in Guangzhou in the first battle. Humen belonged to Dongguan County in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and in modern times. It is adjacent to the Lingding Ocean on the outside and the Lion Ocean on the inside. It is a section of the Pearl River and both sides of the Pearl River that is about 8 kilometers long. This place is the main pass of the Pearl River and the gateway to Guangzhou. Historically, the safety of the Hu Men was of great psychological significance to the security of Guangzhou. Once a foreign enemy captured the Hu Men, it would shake the entire Guangzhou. Therefore, the fortification here has been very tight in the past dynasties. Although the Humen Pass has never been able to withstand even a frontal attack by foreign enemies, not only are the ships strong and the artillery powerful, but the British and Japanese with equipment and tactical advantages have broken through this pass. Even the Chinese pirates in the Jiaqing era have easily broken through this pass. The breakthrough passed the Humen Fortress. He knew that in 1637, the Englishman Weddell destroyed and occupied Humen's Ya Niang Shoe Fort with a few ships. Judging from his military strength, it won't take much effort to capture this place.
While the Pearl River Task Force is advancing, the defenses in the Humen area have been greatly strengthened. Although He Rubin, the commander-in-chief of Guangdong, was besieged in Qiongshan, Wang Zunde was unable to do anything due to illness. However, with the efforts of Li Fengjie, local officials in Guangdong, and Ming army generals, the defense of the entire Humen area has been greatly strengthened.
Those in charge of the defense of Humen were Xu Ting, the coastal defense general in charge of Guangzhou, Chen Qian, the coastal defense guerrilla of Humenzhai, and Fan Wencai, the magistrate of Dongguan County. Humen was in Dongguan County, so Fan Wencai had no choice but to move to Taiping Town in front of Humen Village to work. Thousands of migrant workers were recruited to build fortifications in Humen.
Xu Ting was a veteran of coastal defense and knew that Humen's defense was very weak. The original earth-and-stone fort on Ya Niang Shoe Island was built gradually starting from the Wanli period, and many places collapsed and were damaged. Most of the artillery installed on the fort are old Dafolang machine guns and cannons. Not only is it not powerful enough, but it is also worn every day and is often rusty. In addition to the Ya Niang Shoe fort, there is only an earth and stone fort on the upper crossbar island opposite Ya Niang Shoe Island, with four Dafo Lang machine guns installed on it. The cross firepower formed by the Ya Niang Shoes fort is very weak. These two forts can only barely control the east waterway of Humen. The west waterway does not have any fortification measures. Only after passing through Shanghengdang Island, there is a simple Dahu fort on the south side of Dahushan Island that can barely block the passage through the west waterway. waterway boats.
These three forts have a total of only 36 artillery pieces, all of which are Franco cannons and older cannons cast during the Wanli period or even earlier. The total number of defenders in the three forts was only 120, and they simply guarded the cannons and forts.
Apart from these three forts, the only thing the Ming army could use to defend Humen was the garrison of Humen Village led by Chen Qian. Humen Village usually has 640 defenders and 10 warships. Ship gun 12o position.
This small amount of troops is enough to intercept merchants and scare the people. Therefore, if a war is really going to begin, the Ming army will send reinforcements here. The total wartime strength will be expanded to 2,000 people. Xu Ting knew that the Kun thieves were known for their strong ships and powerful guns, which were far beyond comparison with ordinary pirates. So while discussing with Fan Wencai to steam and clean the old cannons and repair the forts, they also dispatched newly minted Hongyi cannons from Foshan and other places. Expand gun positions.
The number of artillery positions on the Ya Niang Shoe Fort increased by 6o, reaching an unprecedented 72 positions. Shanghengdang Island not only renovated the original fort, but also planned to build an additional fort facing the west waterway. Place 12 cannons. Dahushan Fort also expanded its artillery. Humen Village itself has built an additional Tucheng and is preparing to install 18 more artillery pieces.
Xu Ting, Fan Wencai and others started to strengthen and build the fort, and also built a Western fort according to the shape of Sun Yuanhua's "Western Punta". In addition, a sandbag earthen fort was temporarily built in Dajiao and Shajiao. Each fort was equipped with 2 red barrage guns and 10 Dafo Langji.
According to the plan of Xu Ting and others, a fort will eventually be built along the Luwan coast to the west of Shanghengdang Island, so as to form an artillery fire trap with the west fort of Shanghengdang Island, so that the west waterway can be tightly blocked.
Such many forts require a lot of money and manpower, and they cannot be completed in more than a year, and an invasion by the Kun bandits may occur at any time and at any time. Xu Ting and others discussed that they would first build a temporary fort with sandbags and then set up the artillery. At least it can act as a deterrent.
Neither Xu Ting nor Lin Qian thought that this defensive measure could stop the Kun Thieves' large iron ships or armored clippers. However, the Kun Thieves did not seem to have many of these two types of ships, and most of them used sailboats. They fought against the sailboats in Damingshui. The division is still a little confident - the Guangdong Navy has rich experience in frequent battles with various maritime pirates over the years.
As soon as Chen Haiyang's task force passed through Dajiao, the well-formed fleet appeared in the forts in Dajiao and Shajiao. Coupled with the red flag on the mast and the large boat emitting black smoke, it was easy to tell who was coming.
At 1123 on September 20, the Hongyi artillery of Dajiao Fort fired for the first time. Subsequently, other artillery pieces from the Taijiao and Shajiao forts also sounded loudly one after another.
Chen Haiyang ordered the formation to shrink. The "Haitian" had already reported the information on these two forts: the best cannons on the two forts in Shajiao, Tai Kok were only 12-pound cannons imitating British naval guns. Their range was only 1,000 meters at best, and they could not hit the fleet at all. This is nothing more than building momentum.
He could completely turn a deaf ear to the bombardment and pass through without seeing it. However, Chen Haiyang's mission this time is to teach the local officials in Guangdong a lesson and let them fully understand the strength of the Crossing Group. Such provocative behavior will naturally require severe revenge.
He raised his telescope and observed the two forts: very crude temporary forts built with sandbags. And there are not many artillery pieces. Orders were issued to eliminate the Tai Kok and Sha Kok forts.
"First attack the cannon squadrons of the Dajiao Fort and fire freely. Follow my command to replace the caron gun squadrons in odd and even order and enter the battle."
The spy boats organized into the task force this time include squadrons equipped with cannons and carronades. Although the carronage gun is low-cost and has good close-range effects during naval battles, its effective e-range is too close. It generally has to approach about 130 meters to achieve maximum effect. a! ~!
