January 21, 1833, Brisbane Fortress.
It is now the darkest time before dawn, and the Brisbane Fortress, which has been besieged by the Ming army for many days, has long been a scene of hell. The foundation of this fortress is actually a bastion built forty years ago. When it was built, it was already an outdated defense system.
The reason why it was built at that time was not to defend against opponents of Ming's level. The purpose of building this bastion was mainly to defend against the legendary indigenous kingdom of the Southern Continent. Because the Southern Continent is an extremely vast continent, the British who first colonized here did not know the details of this Southern Continent kingdom. I always feel that since she is a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, she may be a bit powerful.
In addition, the exiles transported from the British mainland ship after ship were also the targets of Brisbane Fortress' defense. This group of "thieves and soldiers" are the scum of British society. Who dares to believe that they will honestly become thieves and soldiers after arriving in Australia, a wild continent? And these thieves and their troops are all armed! How can we do the work of genocide without arms?
In fact, the British did not send them to Australia to reform through labor, but to do dirty work... Of course, gentlemen cannot do the dirty work, and it is best not to let the marginalized religious heretics do it. These people The fighting ability is extremely strong, and he has too many ideas and is prone to second thoughts. This is how America, the traitorous son of the British, came to be.
In contrast, the army of thieves who commit crimes in the local area are the most suitable to do dirty work... They are really bad and loyal, so bad that people can be reassured, and they can be used satisfactorily.
But you still have to be on guard...
For indigenous kingdoms and thieves to deploy troops, bastion is of course the most suitable. But against the Ming army, which had a large number of new artillery, the bastion, which was already lagging behind on the battlefield at the end of the 18th century, certainly did not have much defensive capabilities. Fortunately, the trenches, parapets, and traffic trenches outside the bastion are not too outdated. After slight modifications, a few barbed wire fences, and some bunker firepower points are built, and it can be defended for a while. It's just that the several bandit barracks that were originally planned to fight and retreat from several "criminal beaches" to the bastion were destroyed and crushed when the Ming army landed. Even the field artillery battalion of the Brisbane Fortress Headquarters was destroyed. They were exhausted, and in the end only a small number of troops retreated into the fortress before Ming army armored vehicles surrounded the Brisbane Fortress.
Fortunately, at this time, there have been many "old thieves with the army" and some "female thieves with the army" and "little thieves with the army" gathered in the fortress. In the face of the threat of extinction, these people really have no reason to love Great Britain and William's Britain. The dregs of society all bravely turned into "loyal British thieves" and took up arms to join the battle.
Although these "loyal British thieves" risked their lives to fight, their equipment, training, and organization were too weak compared to the attacking Ming army. If the Ming army hadn't deliberately let loose, holding back their strength and not attacking, but just washing the ground with artillery fire over and over again, deliberately creating the illusion that the attack was weak, they would have already explained everything.
But even so, after seven or eight days of fierce fighting, 50% to 60% of Brisbane's British loyal thieves had been "milled down", leaving only 5,000 to 6,000 old and weak soldiers and a small number of serious British soldiers (mainly operating long-range artillery). ) huddled behind the bastion wall that had been cut in half by artillery and was still collapsing everywhere... If they hadn't known that they were guilty and the Ming army didn't persuade them to surrender, this group of people would have betrayed the British motherland long ago. !
But even on the verge of collapse, there is still a sense of luck... Urgent telegrams flew to Hugh Gough like snowflakes, and he kept shouting: "For the sake of the empire, please help our brothers. Bar!"
And Hugh Gough also kept sending telegrams to the defenders of Brisbane Fortress, telling them: "If you hold on firmly, there will be hope..."
Hopefully...in any case, the defenders of Brisbane Fortress seem to be able to survive for a while. They have now been compressed into a small area, and their troops are quite concentrated. Moreover, this area is not only protected by city walls, but also a large number of trenches and anti-gun holes have been dug inside the city walls, and every building inside has been renovated. It became a fortress.
Judging from the Ming army's fighting style of sparing lives and shells, it is estimated that they will not attack with all their strength...
Starting last night, the Ming army's artillery bombardment that had lasted for many days suddenly stopped. I wonder if there were not enough artillery shells? Or could it be that Hugh Gough's main force finally broke through the Ming army's defense line at Tyboltop Mountain?
However, for the ordinary thieves who are guarding this dangerous nest-like castle and are already exhausted, haggard, and extremely frightened, they won’t think so much now... It will allow them to defeat the Ming army. When you stop attacking, you can take a breather, eat a warm meal, and find a place where you can sleep peacefully for a few hours. Then you have to thank God.
It's a pity that God doesn't seem to understand English now...
Just when the British soldiers in the Brisbane Fortress fell asleep one by one, a fire burst out in the silence of Brisbane Bay, more than 20 kilometers away from them, and then there was a roar like rolling thunder. ——The hundreds of main guns of the ten battleships belonging to the Nanyang Fleet of the Ming Navy parked in the bay suddenly opened fire.
The battleship's main gun! The smallest ones are 240 mm caliber cannons, and the largest ones are 360 mm caliber! Hundreds of large-caliber artillery shells roared across the darkness, turning into streams of fire and pouring towards the Brisbane Fortress at lightning speed... It had been bombarded by 155mm, 120mm, and 75mm artillery shells before. Where had the Brisbane garrison seen ammunition of this caliber? This was almost as powerful as the earth shattering, and it immediately blew up the defenders of Brisbane Fortress. A 360mm caliber artillery shell hits a football field with explosive power! Although the 240mm, 280mm, 305mm and 330mm main guns are not as powerful as the 360mm cannon, they are not comparable to the Army's "toothpick guns".
Hundreds of shells from the battleship's main guns smashed down, instantly turning the Brisbane Fortress into a sea of flames! The strong headquarters of the fortress was also bombed immediately. One of the heaviest 360 mm artillery shells hit the target without hesitation and directly penetrated the reinforced concrete roof. More than 700 kilograms of artillery shells hit the headquarters fortress. There was a big explosion, and the detonation of nearly 40 kilograms of picric acid explosives tore apart the thick shell of the 360 mm artillery shell, turning it into countless fragments. The shock wave swept through every corner of the fortress. No one could survive a shell explosion of this magnitude.
The radio station of the fortress was also hit by a 305mm artillery shell. Although it was not a direct hit, it still destroyed the antenna of the long-wave radio station and cut off the communication between the fortress and Hugh Gough's headquarters.
At the same time, the Ming army's forward mortars, infantry artillery, and 155mm howitzers and 120mm howitzers that had moved as close as possible to the forward position also fired at the same time. The shells were fired at the British thieves who had been stunned as if they were free. The soldiers fell down on their heads.
The thieves in the artillery fire were in a mess. Everyone noticed the power of the battleship's main gun shells, which was beyond the limit of their endurance. Everyone screamed in panic, looking for holes to get into. ...It’s good even if you just bury your head in it!
The British army's artillery counterattack was impossible, because the fortress artillery protected by solid fortifications also suffered. Although these fortifications could block the shells fired by the 155mm cannon, it was not enough to be smashed by the shells fired by the battleships.
This round of artillery bombardment came and went quickly. It took less than half an hour and ended abruptly after firing 20,000 to 30,000 shells. But for the defenders of Brisbane Fortress, this was only the beginning of destruction.
The thieves who were stunned by the shells but survived finally heard the different shouts of the enemy assault troops amid the "buzzing" echoes: "Tuzi... ...Give it!"
