While the cruisers in front were firing at each other, the four Tsarist Russian gunboats were also rushing towards the battlefield with all their strength.
Even though they were just gunboats, they had always frightened the Qing army on the Amur River. I don’t know how many local Qing army patrol boats and fishing boats on the river were sunk by them.
Just as they were hurrying on their way, three light cruisers inserted behind them from the west.
The light cruiser was twice as fast as these gunboats. It was like a sailfish rushing into a school of sardines, weaving in and out looking for the best fighting position, and firing a salvo from time to time.
In a short time, the four gunboats were beaten until they were unable to parry. The gunners of the Nanyang Navy used chain bombs and chipped away at the upper floors of the four gunboats.
The four gunboats lost power. Then they left one light cruiser to monitor on the spot, while the remaining two light cruisers turned back to join in the hunt for the two Tsarist Russian cruisers.
The surviving sailors on the four Russian gunboats were almost crying. This was too frustrating. They were beaten again and again, and released again and again, just letting them drift on the sea.
Even if it means approaching them and capturing them, that's fine. What does this mean now?
The final attack on the two cruisers from the front was completed, and the remaining sailors on the Tsarist Russian cruiser showed their courage. With the sound of "Ula", these remaining sailors, led by the officers, rushed towards the Nanyang Navy who came to help.
The cruiser launched a charge.
But the sailors of the Nanyang Navy were not prepared to fight with them. They roguely took out the Huai Navy's "deck sweeper" - a 17.5mm shotgun.
After a wave of shooting, there were no more Tsarist Russian soldiers standing on the opposite deck. Brzezin proved with his actions that he was a qualified Tsarist Russian general. He took his own sword and fell down on the charging road with the sailors.
The Marine Corps quickly boarded the ship and cleaned up the two Tsarist Russian cruisers. Fortunately, the Tsarist Russian officers did not order the bombing of the warships. They may still have illusions about joining gangs to fight.
After all, in the impression of the Russians, the Qing army was weak and weak. How could it withstand the impact of Tsarist Russian soldiers?
The battle is finally over.
In this battle, the Nanyang Navy captured two cruisers and four gunboats. These warships underwent simple repairs and were replaced with spare masts.
Liu Dahai mobilized some sailors to escort these dilapidated warships and a few prisoners to the port of Yating Bay.
Among the militiamen who came behind were some shipbuilders and ship repair equipment, and they were able to repair these ships.
These people were sent by the Huaihai Company to build a small shipyard. There is inexhaustible wood here. Some fishing boats, sloops and other small boats can be built nearby for the farm's own use. They can also repair passing ships.
After the Huai Navy has established a foothold here, the port in Yating Bay will be expanded. The summer route to North America can be transferred from here. This northerly route is much closer than the transfer from Japan and Hawaii to North America.
If you take out a globe, you will understand that the earth is round.
The Nanyang Navy also carried out repairs on the spot. In the naval battle just now, the Nanyang Navy also took a few shots, but it did not damage the foundation.
But necessary repairs must be carried out. Generally, wooden warships have spare planks and masts.
It is convenient for self-maintenance at sea. General sailors must learn to repair ships. Therefore, sailing warships are very conducive to training sailors. No wonder the navies of various countries in later generations also retained these sailing warships.
Maneuvering a sail warship to fight against wind and waves on the sea can not only deepen the sailor's understanding of the sea, but also enhance the sailor's courage and temper the sailor's will.
Taking advantage of this time, Liu Dahai discussed with Bao Youzhi, who had just arrived, as well as the captains of each ship, as well as Lieutenant Colonel David and other advisors, how to attack the temple street port.
The main problem now is that we don’t know the defense situation of Temple Street Port. If the forts in the port are very strong, then we should consider waiting for the Russian fleet to go to sea before seeking a decisive battle.
If Temple Street has not established many port defense measures, then it can sneak attack the port and directly block the Russian fleet in the port.
Liu Dahai has a map of Temple Street drawn by the Qing government. Although the Qing government was unable to send troops to protect this place, it did ask an American missionary to help draw a map of the sea area here. Temple Street is on this map.
Details.
Dong Shuheng asked someone from Beidaying to get this map from the capital at a huge cost.
"Commander, let's simply send people ashore to investigate." Bao Youzhi said.
There are also three companies of marines on the fleet and a 50-man special operations team. These people are infantrymen themselves, and their combat capabilities are much better than that of sailors.
"I think it's not just reconnaissance. We simply send two companies and a special force to land secretly from the southeast of Temple Street, and then sneak into the rear of Temple Street Port from the rear."
"What the commander means is that after investigating the situation, they will lurk down and wait for our naval battle, while the Marine Corps and Special Forces will launch a sneak attack from the road." Bao Youzhi interjected.
After the sneak attack by the fleet, Tsarist Russia must have turned all its attention to the sea. Who would have thought that a fleet would send people to sneak attack from land at this time?
In this era of naval warfare, there is no such thing as coordinated landing operations. Liu Dahai was taking an eccentric approach. Perhaps due to the influence of Dong Shuheng, his generals always came up with many novel tactics. Dong Shuheng always used
The battle examples of later generations were adapted and used directly to teach the generals!
"Exactly, what we call a double-sided sneak attack, blossoming at both ends." Liu Dahai said with a smile.
"The Marine Corps ensures the mission is fulfilled!"
"The special forces team guarantees to complete the mission!"
The Marine Corps officers and special forces officers who came to the meeting quickly stood up and assured. They originally thought that they would not win a war if they followed the fleet.
Now that I can fight independently, I feel so happy. The Huaihai Navy is in a period of expansion. At this time, there is a lot of room for advancement for officers, but first you must have military merit. But you can only have military merit by fighting in battles! So the Huaihai Navy's
The soldiers were all happy when they heard about the battle.
"I agree with Commander Liu's plan. Commander Liu, are you using China's "Sun Tzu's Art of War"?" At this time, David also stood up to express his position.
"Mr. David also knows "Sun Tzu's Art of War"?" Liu Dahai asked. Unexpectedly, this foreign devil is also a China expert.
"Yes, I have read the English translation of "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu. This book is very popular in the UK. And I am very interested in Chinese culture."
"Haha, okay, Mr. David, next time I will send you a few more art of war books. We in China don't just have one art of war book."
Time is running out, the nights are long and the fleet is full of dreams, and the fleet cannot wait any longer.
Liu Dahai ordered the fleet to sail west. At a shoal 40 nautical miles southeast of Temple Street, soldiers from the special operations team and the Marine Corps were sent ashore in small boats.
The troops that came ashore this time were commanded by Battalion Commander Peng Yue of the Marine Corps, because he had the highest military rank and could serve the masses.
After they landed, they quickly moved north along the coastline. The naval fleet was hiding in a bay not far away, waiting for news.
Five hours later, after an arduous trek, this marine team of more than 300 people finally arrived at the outskirts of Temple Street. Temple Street is surrounded by mountains on three sides and close to the sea on one side. It is a small plain by the sea, and the place is not large.
Lying on a hillside on the south side of Temple Street, Peng Yue could clearly see the whole of Temple Street through the moonlight in the sky and the dim lights of Temple Street.
It is more like a small village than a small town. A street several hundred meters long, lined with the kind of northern-specific pointed wooden houses on both sides, all made of logs. They look extremely strong.
You can still see drunk Russians on the street, holding wine bottles in their hands, staggering towards the military camp. The military camp is in the northernmost part of the town.
Peng Yue counted the number of barracks and estimated that there were more than 500 garrison troops. It was already a lot to maintain so many garrison troops in the Far East. After all, the conditions here were poor and supplies were difficult.
There is only a simple fort on the port with only a dozen artillery pieces. It seems that the caliber is about 150mm, and they are all old-fashioned breech-loading smoothbore cannons.
Peng Yue quickly wrote down the collected intelligence on paper with a pencil and then handed it to a messenger. He ordered the messenger to pass the information to the fleet as quickly as possible.
A communication ship of the fleet is waiting on the coast 10 kilometers away from Limiao Street. This is the place where Liu Dahai and Peng Yue agreed to hand over information.
"Order everyone to rest where they are, replenish their physical strength, and be careful to stay hidden. After the fleet starts, follow my orders before starting the attack."
Taking advantage of the moonlight, the soldiers took out the compressed biscuits and water bottles they carried with them. Some soldiers were checking their guns and ammunition.
It will take at least three hours for the messenger to deliver the message and the fleet to arrive. It is now around midnight, and there is not much time left for the soldiers to rest.
While the Marine Battalion was resting, the special operations team had sent out an elite team to conduct close reconnaissance. They would eliminate the Tsarist Russian sentries facing their side before the large force launched an attack.
…
At around three o'clock in the morning, flashes of fire suddenly lit up on the sea outside the port, and then the rumble of cannons rang out.
Pavlov was awakened by the sudden sound of shelling. He quickly summoned his adjutant.
The Okhotsk District Navy is basically at the top of the biological chain in the Far East. Not to mention warships, there are even very few merchant ships and fishing boats.
To say that the Qing army attacked them, Pavlov simply didn't believe it.
General Jilin of the Qing Dynasty governed a vast area in the eastern part of the lower reaches of Heilongjiang, but they did not even have a decent patrol ship.
So when Pavlov occupied Nikolayevsk, he didn't even build a decent fort. He just built a simple fort using decommissioned naval guns.
The sudden sound of shelling was beyond Pavlov's wildest dreams.
He really couldn't think of anyone else who would attack a small place like Nikolayevsk.