"Peace of fire on the port side!"

"Peace of fire on the port side!"

"Peace of fire on the port side!"

Seeing that it was caught by British battleships and acting as bait, Captain Chuansha, a frigate of the East China Sea Fleet, decisively issued a battle order......≦......≦

The Chuansha only has 28 artillery pieces, including 12 artillery pieces on the port side, which were quickly loaded and fired medicines, shells and fuses under the operation of a group of artillery soldiers.

"No. 1 gun is ready!" The No. 1 gunner reported that he was the first gunner to complete the preparation.

"The No. 8 gun is ready!" The No. 8 gunner reported that he was the second gunner to complete the preparation.

"The No. 5 gun is ready!" The No. 5 gunner is ready.

...

"The No. 2 gunner is ready!" The second gunner was the last to complete, but his speed was also very fast, but it was not as fast as other gunners.

"Report to the captain, the 12 guns on the port are ready. Please instruct whether to shoot!" The captain asked the captain for instructions.

"It's five miles away!" shouted the sentry on the mainmast lookout platform.

"It's within the range of our artillery!" The captain raised his eyebrows and ordered: "Fire me!"

"fire!"

With the order of the gunman, the six 18-pound and six 6-pound cannons on the port side of the Chuansha opened fire in turn, and the huge recoil made the Chuansha's hull tilt to the right.

Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!

The cannon roared, and black smoke was sprayed out, and shells roared at the British warship Birmingham on the port side.

Five miles apart, this is already the maximum range of naval guns of the Shanghai East China Sea Fleet, but it is 1 to 2 miles away from the British naval gun of the same caliber. Because this gun uses the latest fire # drug formula, the shells are much more powerful, much more powerful than the flowering bullets used by the Russian army in the Crimean War. It was developed by the Shanghai Army Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau according to Li Weiguo's requirements, and it incorporates a large amount of cross-era advanced knowledge and technology provided by Li Weiguo.

However, the accuracy of the front-mounted smoothbore gun was so poor that when the shells flew to a distance of five or six miles away, the spread of the bullet points exceeded one hundred meters. All the shells fell into the sea.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!

The shell exploded, stirring up huge water columns several meters high. When the water column arrived, it was only three meters away from the battleship Birmingham.

Wow!

The sea water sprinkled on the deck of the battleship Birmingham, and George, the commander of the British, French and American joint fleet, was covered in battle, was covered in a mess. He was shocked.

"What's going on? Who told me what's going on?"

Hearing George's yelling, Captain Cook beside him had a dark face. He knew what George was asking, and he was also shocked. He could not have imagined that the artillery of the Shanghai Fleet could hit seven miles away. He even judged the explosion power of the shell by observing the height and range of the water column aroused after the shell exploded.

"It's strange that the enemy ship opposite is obviously a frigate, which must be equipped with 6-pound or 18-pound cannons, but in terms of range and explosion power, it has reached the power of 12-pound or 24-pound cannons of the same type."

"What are you waiting for? Fire a gun and fight back immediately! I want them to know the power of the Royal Navy of the British Empire!" George did not hear Cook's long-winded words. At this time, he was already angry. This was a provocation to the Royal Navy of the British Empire, and he had to fight back.

Without hesitation, Cook immediately issued an attack order to the shelling officer Parker.

"Fire! Mr. Parker!"

After receiving the order, Parker turned around and shouted to all the gunners on the starboard side: "Fire the gun! Warriors! We must let the Qing people know who is the overlord of the sea!"

"fire!"

"fire!"

The British artillery soldiers shouted, and at the same time pulled the fuse and fired the artillery.

Dongdongdongdong! Dongdongdongdongdong!

The second-class battleship of the Birmingham opened fire, and the starboard side concentrated 10 12-pound cannons, 6 18-pound cannons, 4 32-pound cannons and 2 64-pound cannons, with very strong firepower.

Especially the two 64-pound cannons were extremely powerful, and the guns were sprayed out of their guns with a total length of ten meters. The sound of the cannon was earth-shaking, with a range of up to eight miles. They rushed directly to the Chuansha.

Bang bang bang bang! Bang bang bang bang bang!

I saw huge water columns rising up on the sea surface around the Chuansha frigate, causing the sea water to boil in an instant.

Although it was just the first round of artillery attacks by the British Navy, it can be seen how well the British Navy's training was. A 6-pound shell and a 32-pound shell instantly hit the frigate of the Chuansha.

After two loud bangs, the Chuansha frigate was blown up with two large holes, and the wooden hull was almost broken apart. There was even a fire on the gun deck.

Many Shanghai sailors were bombed and fell into a pool of blood. The remaining senses made them finally know how cruel the war was.

The wind blew over, the air was trembling, and the world in their eyes was bloody.

It is useless to be afraid, the battle is still going on, and it is getting more and more intense.

Dongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdong...

Dongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdong...

It was endless sound of cannons, and more and more Shanghai warships fought with British, French and American coalition warships, and both sides were instantly in a fierce battle.

The sound of cannons was deafening, and the smoke filled the sky and the sun were blocking, and even the sea breeze could not blow it away.

The Shanghai East China Sea Fleet, a bait fleet composed of forty frigates, will definitely suffer a loss in the face of the fierce attacks of powerful battleships of the British, French and American coalition forces.

If Tang Jizu had not listened to Yuan Tengfei's persuasion in time and retreated with all his might, more Shanghai warships would have been bitten by enemy ships at this moment.

Despite this, more than 20 Shanghai warships were still caught up by the warships of the British, French and American navies, and the two sides were immediately caught in a fierce naval battle.

"The Chuansha Horn has sunk!"

"The Anting No. 1 has also sunk!"

"The Huangpu has caught fire and is out of the battle sequence!"

Tang Jizu's eyes were blood red, and he wanted to lead the fleet back to the rescue.

"If you can't rescue, continue to retreat. If you retreat too late, our bait fleet will really become bait!" Yuan Tengfei stopped Tang Jizu again.

What a joke, the frigate could not defeat the battleships. It was originally thinking of using the speed and flexibility of the frigate to escape under the muzzle of the battleships of the enemy fleet and complete the bait mission. However, I never expected that the main force of the enemy fleet would be replaced with a steam engine, which would cause the frigate's speed advantage to disappear.

It's just such a miscalculation that this bait fleet might be wiped out.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

Yuan Tengfei only had the words of retreat. It doesn’t matter if he defeated it, just don’t just put the warships and people in it.

This was Li Weiguo's strict explanation at the beginning. Yuan Tengfei did not hesitate to execute it.

However, in order not to let the British-France-American joint fleet notice the encirclement plan of the East China Sea Fleet, the main force of the East China Sea Fleet is still more than 200 miles away. According to the current situation, before returning to the main fleet, the British-France-American joint fleet will be caught up and eliminated one by one by one.

Tang Jizu immediately shouted: "I miscalculated. We were bitten by the enemy fleet, so it is difficult to retreat all over! Why not turn around and fight with the enemy fleet, and fight one by one!"

"No!" Yuan Tengfei immediately objected, and he said, "Forty frigates. Even if they fight hard, they can only serve to deliver food to others! Don't forget that we are here to lure the enemy, not to deliver food to the enemy. It doesn't matter if we die, it won't affect the overall situation! Judging from the speed of both the enemy and us, we will be completely caught up by the enemy fleet if we can't walk a hundred miles. In order to complete the task of lure the enemy, I suggest changing the course and retreating in the direction of Snake Mountain."

Tang Jizu frowned and said, "Snake Mountain is only eighty miles away from here. Do you mean relying on the power of the cannons in the Snake Mountain Fortress to deal with the enemy fleet?"

"That's right!" Yuan Tengfei nodded and said, "According to the normal plan, we cannot introduce the enemy fleet into the ambush circle we had ambushed in advance. Now we can only reach Sheshan Island and rely on the artillery of the Snashan Island Fortress to offset the heavy artillery on the enemy fleet battleship. In this way, we deal with the enemy fleet around Sheshan Island and attract the enemy fleet near Sheshan Island. At the same time, we send people to quickly notify the fleet Commander Lin, asking Commander Lin to change the ambush location and ambush the enemy fleet on Sheshan Island."

Tang Jizu walked back and forth, which was a difficult decision, but he had no other better way.

Finally, Tang Jizu gritted his teeth and said, "Let's listen to you! Let's go to Snake Mountain Island!"

After Tang Jizu and Yuan Tengfei discussed it, he quickly ordered the entire fleet to advance at full speed towards the direction of Sheshan Island, and the rear team would still fight and retreat, no matter how big the sacrifice was, just to gain time.

At the same time, Tang Jizu ordered the fast sailboat to leave the fleet and quickly went to the scheduled ambush area to report the situation to the commander of the East China Sea Fleet Lin Jiyun, and conveyed the temporary decisions of Tang Jizu and Yuan Tengfei.

The fast sailing ship is a communication ship designed by Li Weiguo for the East China Sea Fleet. It is made according to the fastest racing sailing structure in later generations, with a floating double hull, one person and one sail. The fastest speed under full speed wind is as high as 25 knots, and it is considered the fastest communication ship in this era.

Somewhere in the East China Sea, the main force of the East China Sea Fleet gathered here. On the first-class sail battleship Dingyuan, Lin Jiyun was furious when he received a report from Tang Jizu and Yuan Tengfei.

"Tang Jizu! Yuan Tengfei! You two are just a big deal to me!"

Li Weijun was also calm and the sudden change caught him off guard. He did not expect things to turn out like this. The original simple plan to lure the enemy turned into a loss-making deal that was about to be eaten by the enemy.

Although forty frigates, although for the East China Sea Fleet, are not a traumatic force, they are defeated as the first battle between the East China Sea Fleet and the foreign fleet, which will affect the overall morale of the Shanghai army.

"Don't be angry. Just say that the plan cannot keep up with the changes. The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly. Is it because we have not taken into account the factors of foreign steamboats, or is it because we are immature and cannot blame others."

Li Weijun paused and continued: "It is not the time to hold Tang Jizu and the others responsible. At this moment, the bait fleet led by Tang Jizu is retreating to Sheshan Island. We should also quickly change the ambush area and change the waters around Sheshan Island into an ambush area. Perhaps with the support of the Snake Mountain Fortress artillery, it is much better than the ambush area we are now."

Lin Jiyun forced himself to calm down, took a deep breath, and said, "That's right, we can only change the ambush area to Sheshan Island at the moment!"

He paused and continued, "But, how do the steamships of the foreign fleet deal with it?"

From Tang Jizu's information, Lin Jiyun had already felt the huge advantage of foreign steamships, which could not be compensated by sail warships.

Li Weijun also had concerns in this regard. He thought for a while and said, "I think we should not think about ambushing the British, French and American joint fleet. The other side is full of steamship warships, with advanced equipment than us and richer combat experience than us. It is no longer realistic to ambush them. It is better to attack halfway and concentrate superior firepower to kill several of their main battleships. Let's save face!"

Lin Jiyun frowned and said, "Just save some face?"

Li Weijun smiled bitterly and said, "What? Don't be happy. Being able to save face is the best result. If you still plan to eat them, then I advise you not to do so. Even if you lose all forty frigates, we still have more than eighty frigates, and the main ship is still there and will not hurt the bones. The Commander-in-Chief also said that he did not expect us to win a big victory this time. It was purely for us to pay the tuition and learn experience."

Lin Jiyun remembered Li Weiguo's instructions. At the beginning, Li Weiguo also told Lin Jiyun that he did not expect the East China Sea Fleet to fight the British, French and American Combined Fleet this time. He just asked Lin Jiyun to lead the soldiers of the East China Sea Fleet to fight with the British, French and American Combined Fleet, and use war and blood to temper them, and see the huge gap between the Chinese and foreign navies. At that time, although Lin Jiyun agreed, he was unhappy and wanted to win the British, French and American Combined Fleet to show Li Weiguo.

But now, Lin Jiyun suddenly realized what a gap is. This is the gap. When facing the gap, you should face it calmly, rather than confronting head-on and not being stupid.

"Okay, give up the ambush. Let's calculate the positions of both sides of the enemy and us to see where the raid is appropriate!"

Li Weijun immediately took the chart and used a scale to draw on it.

Soon, he said: "If I did not calculate it wrong, the foreign fleet would definitely pursue Tang Jizu and the others relentlessly. According to the combat rules of the foreigners' past naval battles, they would soon give up the battle formation of attack and defense because they despise us. Foreigners were greedy. Once they disperse and try to seize our warships, they would give us the opportunity to attack suddenly!"

Lin Jiyun nodded and said, "The enemy fleet is composed of the navy of Britain, France and the United States. At that time, they will definitely act on their own due to uneven distribution of spoils. We will concentrate all the main battleships to raid one of them, kill a few of their warships and withdraw. It is completely feasible!"

After discussion, the two agreed to the plan and took action immediately.

Just as more than 40 main battleships and more than 80 frigates of the East China Sea Fleet evacuated the pre-vacuum waters and rushed to Sheshan Island at full speed, Tang Jizu's bait fleet had already arrived at the navy near Sheshan Island.

The British, French and American combined fleets were sluggish and sank eight Shanghai warships and injured eleven Shanghai frigates.

Although the Shanghai fleet suffered a lot of losses, the British-France-US joint fleet was not very good. According to the fighting spirit of the Shanghai army that would rather die than burp off several front teeth of the enemy, six warships in the British-France-US joint fleet were injured, with nearly 200 casualties.

The average altitude of Schshan Island is fifty or sixty meters. The fortifications are all made of reinforced concrete. The artillery of British warships is all direct-fired artillery. The shells cannot reach the height and are all blocked by reinforced concrete fortifications and cannot fall behind the fortification to kill and injure the defenders of the Shanghai army.

For a time, the Shanghai Army was able to confront the British, French and American fleets head-on by relying on the fortifications of the Sheshan Island Fortress, which was a big surprise.

George was very angry. He had already boasted that Haikou wanted to seize Snake Mountain Island, but after fighting for more than two hours, he still failed to destroy Snake Mountain Island Fortress. Instead, many warships were hit by the opponent's artillery fire, causing great casualties.

At this moment, a dense sound of artillery fire suddenly came from the north of the sky. It was a roar caused by hundreds of artillery fire, which was shocking the earth.
Chapter completed!