Chapter 166: The Battle of Upper Hengdang Island
Splashing water rushed onto the ship from the bow from time to time, and the big boat was crowded with soldiers from the Marine Corps and the 6th Mariner Corps. [No pop-up novel website] They sat silently on the deck at the bottom of the ship one by one, holding rifles in their arms - according to regulations, they were all covered with disposable protective bags made of oil paper. The steam engine made a loud vibration. Shi Zhiqi stood at the stern of a large boat. As I looked at the upper rung island getting closer and closer, I felt so nervous that I kept licking my lips - I thought it would be nice to have something like chewing gum to chew on.
Several small boats serving as fire support walked at the front of the queue with black smoke. These small boats are equipped with typewriters with shields, and their bodies are covered with iron sheets. They are specially used to approach the coast and strafe and cover the troops. The shooter on the ship wore a steel helmet and
Wearing protective clothing with front and rear steel shields, everyone nervously held the balance bar of the typewriter waiting for the order to fire.
As the boat approached the shoreline, the loud roar of the typewriter filled the air, but it was unnecessary. The unfinished west fort position was already empty. The lead shot fired by the typewriter did nothing more than break many branches of vegetation.
Shi Zhiqi took the lead and was the first to jump off the boat. The water was very shallow. He waved his command knife forward and shouted: "Attack"
A trumpeter blew the charge horn in the sea. Ship after ship of marines and armed sailors quickly jumped into the knee-deep water and waded ashore. Soon, Shi Zhiqi sent two companies and two 12-pound mountain howitzers to the west coast of Shanghengdang Island. All remaining Ming troops were wiped out. About 5o people were captured. Shi Zhiqi ordered the troops to immediately advance to the east side of the island.
According to the intelligence, there are 800 officers and soldiers on Shanghengdang Island, and there are 12 new Hongyi cannons in the East Fort of Shanghengdang Island. The fort was also built during the Wanli Dynasty and is relatively strong. There are 500 soldiers guarding the platform. If you attack from the front, you will not only have to withstand the artillery fire from the East Fort, but also be bombarded by side fire from the Ya Niang Shoe Fort.
Since all the muzzles of this fort are pointing eastward, the back of the fort has no defense capability at all. So when Shi Zhiqi commanded two naval companies to appear from the side and the shells fired by the two mountain howitzers fell into the fort, the morale of the entire fort collapsed. The heavy Hongyi cannon could not be easily moved, and the enemy came from behind. The soldiers armed with broadswords, spears, and three-eyed blunderbuss were of course unable and unwilling to resist. Only the general soldiers at the garrison stage conducted a brave hand-to-hand battle, resulting in the death of one sailor and the injury of three others. This was also the only casualty of the navy in the entire battle on Shanghengdang Island.
The marines quickly defeated the officers and soldiers who were twice their size. The repeated bombardment by volley guns and mountain grenades turned the battle into a one-sided massacre. A few people took small boats and fled to the other side of Ya Niang Shoe Island. The remaining officers and soldiers scattered in all directions, and soon they surrendered in large numbers and became prisoners.
Shi Zhiqi, surrounded by guards, orderlies and communications soldiers, entered the fort that was filled with gunpowder smoke and covered with corpses. Climbed to the highest point. The fort itself did not suffer any damage and seemed to be built quite solidly. The 12 Hongyi cannons were placed on the emplacements without firing a shot, aiming at the sea where the enemy ships were supposed to arrive.
Shi Zhiqi observed it and found that the design of the fort was very strange. The so-called fort was just a circular pier made of earth and stone. The outside is covered with bricks and stones, and 12 Hongyi cannons are placed on the platform, all facing the sea. The side and back of the pier is only surrounded by a simple brick wall, without any defensive facilities, not even a trench. It seems that the defenders did not consider the possibility of the enemy attacking from the side and behind.
Even if the attack is launched from the front, since there are no auxiliary defenses around the pier, as long as the attacker reaches the close range of the pier, he will enter the blind spot of the pier's firepower and can calmly climb up the pier to fight. Shi Zhiqi estimated that it would take less than half an hour for a naval company to attack from the front and capture the fort - of course there would be some casualties.
"Dian" Shi Zhiqizhi proudly stepped on the crenel of the fort, looked at Wushan across the East Waterway, and slashed the command knife, "The key to the Humen is already in the hands of our 6th Marine Team."
While fighting to seize Dahengdang Island, another unit landed at the Luwan Fort position on the river bank to the west of Shanghengdang Island. All the 100 local soldiers guarding the fort fled without engaging in combat. The half-built fort and many building materials were left behind. At this point, Humen's second line of defense, which is also the main line of defense, has been broken through, even without attacking Ya Niang Shoe Mountain and destroying the fort above. The Pearl River has also been opened wide.
However, Chen Haiyang wanted to completely capture Humen, so he immediately ordered the artillery boat to be towed by a large boat into the Humen East Waterway and prepare to bombard the Ya Niang Shoe Fort. Large boats and artillery boats with shallow drafts sailed along the coast of Shanghengdang Island. Because they were out of range, the forts on the opposite Ya Niang Shoe Island could only watch the boats and sigh.
The camp on Wushan Mountain was already in a panic. No one expected that the defense system they had spent so much effort to build would be so vulnerable. Fan Wencai trembled and said: "Fort, how come the fort was lost so quickly..."
"The thieves actually boarded the city from the other side and attacked from behind. It's really despicable." Li Xijue, who came from Zhaoqing to Humen to inspect Humen's defense, was "lucky" to be there. At this time, his face looked gloomy, although Although he said he was despicable, he finally understood in his heart what kind of mood Lu Yizhong was in when he wrote that letter.
"It doesn't matter. Not many people came to the island, only two to three hundred people." Xu Tingqiang said calmly. In fact, when the Australian red flag and blue and white flag were fluttering on Shanghengdang Island, Xu Ting's heart had sunk to the bottom. Once the upper rung is lost, the entire Humen Pass has lost its blocking effect. To rebuild the defenses, Upper Rung Island must be recaptured.
He called a partial general: "Immediately recruit 300 dead soldiers, each of whom will be rewarded with five taels of silver, and prepare to cross the sea to counterattack on Hengdang Island. After this is completed, each person will be rewarded with ten taels of silver. The injured will be rewarded with an additional five taels of silver, and the dead will be rewarded with twenty taels of silver." "
"It's clear under the mark" The general left immediately. Here he also ordered people to prepare sampans and boats to prepare for a counterattack across the East Waterway.
Just when he was mobilizing his troops to prepare for a counterattack. 10 artillery boats that had anchored at the east fort of Shanghengdang Island began to bombard.
As the 28mm mortar made a thunderous bombardment, black iron balls rose into the sky from the thick smoke. It landed on the fort with a burning tail. Xu Ting, Fan Wencai and others worked hard, spent thousands of people's energy, and tens of thousands of money to expand and renovate the Ya Niang Shoes fort, which trembled and collapsed under the fire of the 28mm mortar. Go down. Broken bricks and rocks were thrown into the sky, dull explosions came one after another, and the entire fort seemed completely shrouded in smoke.
The counterattack plan planned by Xu Ting was completely disrupted. Under such fierce artillery, no fool would run to the beach to "counterattack" for five taels of silver.
Li Xijue saw that the fort was being fired by the Kun bandits, causing smoke and fire everywhere. The walls collapsed, but there was no sign of a single cannon being fired. He asked anxiously: "Why don't our army's Hongyi artillery fire?"
"You can't hit it," Xu Ting said impatiently, "It's so far away, you can only fall into the water."
"What? The Hongyi Cannon..." Li Xijue's face turned pale - he had always regarded the Hongyi Cannon as an unprecedented military weapon, but now there is a cannon that can shoot further and be more powerful than it. In addition, since watching the battle so far, the officers and soldiers have only been beaten without any effective counterattack. The more they watched, the more they were holding their breath. At this time, their eyesight went dark and they actually fainted.
Xu Ting no longer cares about Mr. Li from the Governor's Yamen. Not only was it difficult for him to launch his counterattack plan, but the Kun thief's fleet had actually entered the East Waterway at this time.
If Shanghengdang Island had not been lost, the Australian ships could have been "severely wiped out", Xu Ting thought with regret. He also held on to a little hope: the forts suppressed by artillery fire would brave the artillery fire and fire when they saw the enemy ships entering the range.
Shi Shishi's Fifth Squadron was ordered to use the suppression and smoke effects produced by the grenades fired from the artillery boat. The Fifth Squadron approached until it was 38o meters away from the front of the fort and dropped an anchor to fix the ship's position, and then joined the bombardment with broadside artillery.
The Hongyi cannon on the fort at a distance of 380 meters was capable of inflicting heavy damage on these spy boats. However, after being bombarded by the mortar for thirty minutes, all the soldiers on the fort were either dead or able to escape. The open gun positions There are no more soldiers firing cannons. I saw that the fort fortifications collapsed in pieces under the gunfire, like a castle in the sand. Occasionally the gunpowder magazine on the fort was detonated, setting off a ball of black fire that shot straight into the sky.
Then two more squadrons entered the East Waterway and approached for shelling. After one hour and twenty-five minutes of shelling, all the forts on Ya Niang Shoe Island lost their combat effectiveness. 300 people from the Marine Corps and Sailor Team 6 took a sampan to board 6, and from the rubble Walls all over the place enter the fort. At 17o7 in the afternoon, all forts fell. In addition to the 200 corpses left by the officers and soldiers guarding the platform, about 400 people were taken as prisoners.
Xu Ting and others' faces turned pale. Seeing the fort fall, let alone counterattack, they might not even be able to protect themselves if they continue to stay in Wushan. The only option now is to return to Humen Village immediately and defend to the death. Xu Ting was about to dispatch his troops and generals to arrange the retreat, when he heard someone shouting in his ear: "Oh no, the Kun bandits are attacking up the mountain."
Suddenly, the entire Chinese army camp on the top of Wushan Mountain exploded. The officers and soldiers who had been watching the battle all afternoon had no fighting spirit and fled in all directions like birds and animals. Except for a few soldiers of Xu Ting, they remained calm and guarded the Chinese army. Outside, the entire Chinese army camp was in chaos.
"Sir, let's go quickly." Several generals couldn't help but rush Xu Ting and others onto their horses and fled down the mountain.
