Chapter 542 The fierce battle of the sandbar fortress
These cheering Burmese gunners still opened their mouths and shouted happily.
Wang Youjun saw a burst of smoke rising from the British fleet opposite.
Immediately afterwards, a black and round solid bullet flew towards the fort.
Wang Youjun originally wanted to go out and remind the Burmese gunners instinctively.
But the moment he reacted to stress, he stopped again.
It's still your own life that matters.
"Boom, boom, boom..." A burst of earth and rocks flew across the sky. The huge rocks were barely able to withstand such an impact under the buffer of the soil behind them.
However, a large amount of debris was still blown away on the surface.
These gravels are flying everywhere like bullets.
It even penetrated into the gunner's flesh and blood.
Waves of wailing sounds came from the Burmese gunner camp, which was still in excitement just now.
Fortunately, the fort was well prepared for such a situation.
On the one hand, they prepared many bunkers built with sandbags for the gunners to take shelter.
On the other hand, there are a large number of spare gunners on the fort.
These people are hiding in the anti-gun caves below. If there is damage above, someone will come up to fill their positions.
This system was also set up by the instructors of the Renaissance Army.
From the beginning, everyone knew that this war was destined to suffer heavy casualties.
Since we are going to turn this place into a millstone of British flesh and blood, we must first be prepared to make sacrifices.
Galloya doesn't care how many of his men die.
As long as the British are equally damaged.
There are also nearly 100,000 Burmese troops in Dhaka today.
Shi Dakai's two legions were also waiting in formation in the north of Dhaka, making a gesture of supporting Dhaka.
The British concentrated their efforts on attacking Dhaka, which also surprised Shi Dakai.
However, the pressure on Chen Yucheng's side on the western front was not light.
Because the 40,000 fresh troops in Brown's hands are not too many, but not too few.
If we attack the northern front, it can be said that Chen Yucheng has no chance.
But Chen Yucheng's road to the west was not completely blocked. The British forgot about Nepal, which they had always bullied in the north.
But Shi Dakai did not let Chen Yucheng attack rashly.
Now that the war has just begun, Shi Dakai feels that he must calm down first.
Although he made a gesture of support in the north, he did not attack rashly.
What if the British resorted to the tactic of besieging the city and calling for reinforcements?
Galloya knew that the strongholds outside Dhaka could not be defended and there was no danger to defend them.
After the arrival of the British expeditionary force, the area occupied in the north was abandoned.
Materials and manpower were withdrawn into Dhaka, leaving only the retreat road to the east.
There is also a Burmese army stationed at Noor Sindi in the east.
They held the road heading east from Dhaka.
When the defense is no longer possible, Galloya's army can pass through there and retreat to Myanmar from the northeast.
Along the way, you can pass through the Aizawl and Imphal areas controlled by the Holy Army.
As for the southern seaport, Galloya really has no confidence that he can hold it.
The British's huge fleet was not just a boast.
The British troops at sea were almost invincible, but after landing ashore, especially after entering the jungle, Galloya was no longer afraid of them.
In terms of financial resources, the Kingdom of Myanmar could not compete with the British Empire, but in terms of human lives, Garoya would not be afraid of them.
The battle on the river is by far the most intense.
The British Army outside the city is building a fort, but has not yet launched a siege.
The 40,000 British troops in the north of the city even built a defense line facing north. Apparently they were also aware of the threat from the north.
Robert took the remaining 30,000 troops to garrison in the Hexi area.
The entire Hexi area is still under the control of the British army.
At this time, Robert was standing on a high ground on the river bank, observing the battle on the river.
I have to say that the locations chosen for these two fortresses are very clever.
If it is not removed, the British army will have no way to attack the city of Dhaka.
A frigate exploded on the river, which made Robert couldn't help but curse.
Excellent soldiers of the British Empire should not die in such a war with the indigenous people.
But this was just the beginning. Robert underestimated these armed natives.
The offensive and defensive battle for the fortress continues.
The forts on the sandbank received the most severe shelling.
The British noticed that this fortress could only be destroyed with naval guns, and the army had no foothold on the sandbank.
Although two frigates have been lost, the British Navy still has no intention of retreating.
"Bah..." Wang Youjun spat out a mouthful of dust that floated into his mouth. Just now, a solid bullet fired from a British warship hit the observation post where Wang Youjun was hiding.
There was a violent vibration, and a cloud of dust was stirred up on the sandbags inside the bunker.
The shelling has been going on for more than an hour, and there have been hundreds of casualties on the fort side.
Compared to the more than 3,000 troops in the fortress, these casualties were nothing.
Wang Youjun doesn't care how many Burmese people die.
He only cared about British losses.
These young officers who graduated from the military academy are very clear about the history of the Opium War that lasted more than ten years.
Many of these battle cases have been brought to the classroom.
Whenever we read about the British using their superiority in weapons to humiliate the Chinese, everyone gnashes their teeth in hatred.
Therefore, almost all the generals of the Renaissance Army hated the British.
"Boom, boom, boom..." Another British warship was sunk.
But the British didn't seem to give up. A battleship came up from behind at this time.
The battleship parked behind these frigates because its range was longer.
"Increase the firing angle by five degrees and concentrate your firepower on the enemy's battleships." Wang Youjun shouted to the Burmese artillery officer.
The target of the enemy battleship is larger, and the artillery on it is more threatening to the fortress.
The Burmese officer quickly sent a message, and the gunners quickly picked up their tools and raised the muzzle.
These Burmese artillerymen were not skilled in gunnery.
They wasted several minutes on such a simple task as raising the muzzle.
"Hidden!" Wang Youjun counted the time silently in his heart, and then yelled at the gunners.
Now, after hundreds of people died, these Burmese gunners have finally become cautious.
Hearing the shouts of Wang Youjun, he quickly hid in the sandbag bunker regardless of his own officers' orders.
The reason why Wang Youjun was able to estimate the time for the British to fire artillery was because he had a friend who was an officer in the navy.
That friend had told him about the artillery drills on British warships.
After all, the British are the teachers of the Renaissance Army and Navy, and the Renaissance Army naturally understands the habits of the British Navy very well.
The British Navy's operating procedures are very strict. There is a fixed time point for how long it takes for a warship to fire its gun after it corrects its position.
"Boom, boom, boom..." After all, this bombardment was fired from a battleship.
Those battleship heavy guns are not comparable to those of frigates.
Suddenly, the entire fortress was shaken, and huge rocks in some places were completely smashed from the middle.
The parapet on the fort was also smashed with many holes.
Some timid Burmese soldiers were so frightened that they lay on the ground trembling.
Even after the enemy's shelling ended, he was still lying on the ground.
"Get up, you cowards, get up." Knowing that the enemy's shelling was over, the Burmese artillery officer got out of the bunker and punched and kicked the Burmese soldiers.
Finally, these people were allowed to return to their gun positions.
"fight back!"
The artillery's firing angle has been adjusted just now, and now it's just a matter of firing.
"Boom, boom, boom..." The artillery on the fort finally fired.
Round cannonballs flew towards the enemy battleship.
Wang Youjun discovered that an artillery piece on the fort had been hit and fell to the ground, with a Burmese artilleryman pressed underneath.
The British battleships were so powerful.
When designing this fortress, the British fleet firepower was underestimated.
Obviously, the British cannon-casting technology has improved. The charge capacity of their cannons must have increased, otherwise the power of naval guns would not have increased so much.
Wang Youjun held up a telescope to observe the impact point of the artillery shell.
There are a total of 156 artillery pieces on this sandbank fortress. This time, a total of nearly 50 artillery pieces fired at the same time.
Most of the shells fell into the sea, and one shell accidentally hit the enemy's frigate, flattening the frigate's chimney. The warship was immediately filled with smoke and dust.
Only two shells landed on the battleship, sending up a cloud of wood chips.
But it didn't seem to cause serious damage to the battleship.
"Hidden!" Wang Youjun shouted again.
The people on the fort took cover again. Sure enough, the enemy ship opened fire again.
There was another loud noise.
This time, these Burmese soldiers reacted much faster. As soon as the enemy's shelling stopped, they began to load ammunition for the artillery on the fort and get ready to fire.
By observing the artillery battle on the river, Robert had been assessing the Burmese artillery.
To be honest, Robert felt that these artillery pieces were certainly not made in Myanmar.
There is no doubt that the Renaissance Army must have sold it to them. It seems that the Renaissance Army really chose to become an enemy of the British Empire.
Robert knew that the Renaissance Army was still competing with the British for Canadian land in North America.
In Central Asia, they also had conflicts with Britain.
Robert really wanted to know more about this enemy.
Now it can be determined that this enemy is not weaker than Britain in terms of hot weapons or cold weapons.
The guns on these forts are all good front-loading guns.
Just judging from the speed of shooting, it seems that the quality of the Burmese artillery on the fort is really not very good.
At least, in Britain, these people are not considered competent artillerymen.
From the performance of these Burmese artillery, Robert was considering how to use infantry to attack on land.
We cannot rely solely on the navy to attack.
The Navy had lost three frigates just now. Now this battleship has also begun to be injured.
When will the army start attacking? With such an important decision, even if he is as calm as Robert, he will inevitably have some hesitation in his heart.
One of your decisions may be related to the success or failure of the matter. You have to deal with it carefully.