The Zhiyuan has indeed reached the point where it cannot retreat without retreating. It is now 4:40, and it is already dawn at just over 5 o'clock on a summer night. By then, continuing to fight fiercely is just to cause embarrassment for oneself.
The more important point is that the Zhiyuan has just robbed a ship of supplies and must leave the port with the ship immediately. It also takes time for a sailing merchant ship to set sail.
The sunk Kunshan was a very important clipper ship in the war. It not only contained a large amount of food and water, but also the coal that the Zhiyuan needed most. Nearly half of the auxiliary coal was stored on the Kunshan. superior.
Attacking Dakar seems like an adventure, but in fact it is also a last resort. The returning fleet needs coal and supplies, a lot of coal and supplies.
And these have to be robbed in this city!
For these black uncles, we have to use a whip and a stick. Now the two clipper ships in the port have been 'forced to be requisitioned', the coal yard at the dock has been opened, and the warehouses are open. Two teams of black people are as long as ants carrying coal.
The long wattle basket can be filled with 50 kilograms of coal at a time. Under the threat of bayonets and encouraged by gold coins, these black uncles, who are usually lazy and just want to lie in the ground and sing, ran one by one as if they were following the crowd. free.
The power of carrots and sticks is indeed extraordinary. Soon more than 500 stevedores gathered at the dock. They carried the Zhiyuan's urgently needed food, fresh water and coal to the commandeered merchant ship, and then carried the precious coffee on the cargo ship. , cotton bags are thrown directly into the sea.
More than 500 people can carry more than 30,000 tons of supplies and equipment in one collective trip. With the heavy financial incentives, the two merchant ships are almost full in just one hour.
"We must order a retreat. Send nine consecutive fireworks signals to ask all the marines to withdraw... Lin Zhen, shut up. I won't listen to you anymore at this time. The military adventure has reached this level. If you persist any longer, you will be courting death..."
"Now, send the signal immediately, immediately!" Following Xiang Ying's roar, nine consecutive fireworks signals agreed in advance rose into the sky and exploded in the sky of Dakar Harbor.
Lin Zhen punched the steel plate angrily, his bones and joints were covered in blood, but he could no longer speak. He knew Xiang Ying's decision was correct.
At this moment, a panting soldier came from the burning urban area and "reported to Captain...Sun...Captain Sun Chujian has been found, and Chief Qiu Wei has successfully rescued our brothers..."
"Great!" The Zhiyuan was jubilant, and Xiang Ying shouted, "The engine unit is pressurized, the merchant ship is sailing, and it is ready to go. We will return home soon..."
At this time, the messenger swallowed hard and shouted with a dry throat, "Captain! Mr. Qiu also said that Molière had left his men and escaped on his own, and his target was the direction of the Governor's Palace... When the signal flare takes off, request the Zhiyuan to conduct a bombardment and conduct a final round of bombardment!"
While he was talking, the burning city in the distance raised signal fireworks in two directions almost at the same time. That was the approximate location of the other two groups of fleeing French officers.
"The Zhiyuan's main gun is ready...to fire one last salvo in the target direction...to fire three consecutive salvos at each target point...fire immediately!"
The heavy main gun began to move slowly again. Xiang Ying's nervous palms were full of sweat and he kept murmuring, "There is really no time, we really have no time. This is the last bombing. Can we?" Whatever the outcome of the battle, please ask the Prime Minister to bless you!"
Boom boom boom... Huge explosions resounded through the port of Dakar, and small mushroom clouds rose up in the distant urban areas. The air waves of the explosions rolled up countless burning debris and debris, and the whole city was in a state of chaos. Rain of Fire.
The black stevedores finally delivered the last supply of supplies. They grabbed the gold coins they had earned through hard work and ran away in fear. Their greed for money made them forget their fear for a while, but when they got the money in their hands, they became obsessed with these things. The fear of the water ghost soldiers and the fear of the strange blue warship took over again.
No one wanted to stay at the dock for one more second. Everyone wanted to take money and escape from the city. The heavy gold coins in their hands were enough to keep them from working for ten years. Many people laughed while running.
The Marines who retreated from the city finally showed up. They returned to the Zhiyuan with solemn faces, carrying Sun Chujian and others who were covered with bruises, injured comrades, and the bodies of their sacrificed brothers.
"Reporting to the captain, the landing commando successfully rescued the survivors of the Kunshan, but Molière was not captured and the captain was punished..." Qiu Wei's face darkened and he said with great sadness, "Of the 180 soldiers of the commando, 36 were killed and seriously injured. 25 people, 90% of the rest were slightly injured..."
Xiang Ying shook his head, "You don't have to blame yourself. It's impossible for such an arduous mission to be without casualties... Have you brought all the bodies of your brothers back?"
Qiu Wei stood at attention and saluted and said loudly, "I brought them all back, many of them!"
"Okay, okay, let's take the brothers home... The Zhiyuan sets sail!" Following Xiang Ying's order, the propellers began to rotate rapidly. After giving Dakar the last salvo, the Zhiyuan took two merchant ships with it. The loot flew away.
The entire Dakar has become a sea of flames. People in all residential areas, except for the dead, have fled out of the city. No one saw the scene of the Zhiyuan leaving. In fact, it was already a quarter past five, and the east was already bright. Zhiyuan No. can no longer hide his figure.
But fear has been deeply implanted in everyone's hearts. They don't even dare to look back at the dock. They are afraid that those terrible water ghosts will appear again.
The fire burned fiercely throughout the day, and more than 70% of the urban area of Dakar was completely burned. The high temperature even produced small fire tornadoes. No one could return to the city amid such fierce flames.
It wasn't until late that night that the bold soldiers and people cautiously returned. At this moment, the battleship was no longer in the port, and there was no sign of any water ghosts in the entire city.
Humiliation, this was the greatest humiliation that France had suffered in decades. The army that regrouped and reorganized on the edge of the desert came to a deep shame.
After carefully counting the number of people, they were surprised to find that out of the three thousand defenders, two thousand survived, while the two thousand black servants only reduced their numbers by 600. After careful questioning, people realized that only these 600 people were more powerful. Most fled rather than died fighting.
Of the 5,000 defenders, only 1,600 were lost in battle, but the entire city was destroyed like this? The last surviving officer was just a captain.
He almost cried in pain, "Oh my God, how should I report to France, how should I bear the anger of Paris... I am just a captain, I should not bear such a responsibility!"
But what else could he do? All the other officers above him had died in the battle. Compared with the casualty rate of ordinary soldiers, what the officers encountered was the most brutal massacre.
