A large-scale fleet broke the tranquility of the sea and quickly approached the Vancouver coastline by riding the wind and waves, creating white waves one after another on the sea.
On the bridge of the USS Brilliant, Navy Lieutenant Colonel Joel Johnson stood next to Army Rear Admiral Douglas.
The British fleet only docked in Victoria Harbor for an hour, leaving some supply warships behind. The army soldiers did not even disembark from the warships. Douglas did not even take a break, so he impatiently ordered to come to Vancouver.
Douglas did not rely too much. He could completely use the power of the navy to find a resting place in Vancouver and then launch an attack.
"It seems that the Fenians have given up attacking us with submarines." Joel said with a somewhat proud tone. With the British's leading shipbuilding technology for more than a hundred years, if they paid attention to submarines, they would definitely be able to develop something better than Germany's.
U-shaped submarines are more advanced submarines, but they look down on these submarines. What they admire is giant ships, so at the beginning of World War I, the British were annoyed by German submarines.
Joel, like other British naval admirals, also looked down on submarines that were still a little immature, but his consistent caution made him ready to fight.
Unfortunately, the army was about to land ashore, and there was no sign of the Fenian submarine yet. This made him proud but also a little disappointed. He was unable to personally deal with the submarine that won through a despicable sneak attack. He felt that his trip was not counted.
Too perfect.
As the warship slowly approached the coast, the two stopped talking and instead raised their binoculars to observe.
"Vancouver doesn't have coastal artillery. Those Fenians don't have the ability to get those large-caliber artillery. It seems that they have given up on coastal defense." Joel quickly told what he had observed.
"It seems like it's going to be a decisive battle for the army!" Douglas agreed with Joel's opinion, but still said cautiously: "You still need your navy to bombard the shore to prevent those Fenians from hiding in the corner and firing cold shots."
"As you wish, I'll treat it as a live-fire exercise." Joel smiled.
…
As soon as the mighty British fleet appeared offshore, it was detected by scouts. After Liu Zhenming learned the news, he personally led Wei Shijie and others to choose a high ground to observe the enemy's situation. Everyone lay down on the ground. Liu Zhenming held a telescope with a
If you don't have a telescope, just use your naked eyes.
"So many ships!" Wei Shijie swallowed involuntarily. On the sea, there were nearly sixty large and small warships, destroyers, transport ships, supply ships waiting behind, battleships, and cruisers waiting in front, especially among them
The two big ships are even more eye-catching.
Not to mention Wei Shijie, even Liu Zhenming was very excited when he saw it. Is this the power of a sea power? It can dispatch such a huge fleet at will, conquer rivers and seas, gallop across the oceans, and send its troops to all parts of the world.
"The British are really rich and powerful." Liu Zhenming had no choice but to sigh when he saw the battleship squadron and cruiser squadron of the British fleet lined up, with their port sides aligned towards the shore.
Obviously, the opponent is going to start shelling, wasting the shells in the deserted port.
Just as Liu Zhenming spoke, the British fleet had changed.
Eight less powerful cruisers were on the outermost side, and a single group of four battleships were on the inner side. After turning at a small angle, all the warships faced the Vancouver port horizontally.
Boom!
It was like a dull thunder sounded on the sea, and in Liu Zhenming's telescope, a thick smoke came out of a battleship.
Boom! Boom! Boom... A few seconds later, thunder continued to sound.
The four battleships took advantage of the firepower and range of their main guns and fired at the port first. The sound of the guns ejecting and chambering rang out. The 343mm mk-2-bl main guns roared and fired several rounds of guns weighing more than 500 kilograms.
The artillery shells rushed out of the gun barrel at the same time, whizzing towards them like meteorites...
Boom, boom,…
Huge explosions resounded around the port. In an instant, the earthen wooden planks were lifted into the air seven or eight meters high by the huge explosion force, and debris flew everywhere.
The buildings in the port would be torn apart and turned into ruins with just one shot.
Gunpowder smoke enveloped the entire port, and the vibrations caused by the explosion made the ground tremble.
Immediately afterwards, the British cruiser opened fire. The shells of various calibers were like meteors from the sky, causing sharp and ear-piercing noises and exploding all over the port. Through the telescope, the situation there was completely unclear and could only be seen.
Saw the smoke rising.
People like Wei Shijie and others who saw the power of naval battleships for the first time all changed their faces. They were secretly lucky that they didn't have to fight the other side's warships. If they were still there, there would be survivors and not all of them would be reduced to ashes.
The British fleet continued the bombardment for nearly an hour before stopping. On the port coast, you could still see the shadow of any building. Huge craters appeared one after another at the explosion site, just like the surface of the moon, with pits and unevenness.
After a period of indiscriminate bombardment, its transport ships began to sail towards the port under the cover of cruisers, containing countless soldiers.
"Let's go back and get ready!" Liu Zhenming got up and left quickly. Today's scene really stimulated him. Compared with the British navy, his own Chinese self-rescue army was completely insignificant.
When the other generals saw Liu Zhenming's tightly closed lips, they lowered their heads and remained silent. The shock in their hearts was even worse than that of Liu Zhenming. No wonder foreigners were able to knock on the door of China again and again.
With such a thing, even if tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people rush forward, they will die.
The Fenians were obviously observing secretly, as there was tension and depression in the air throughout the entire defensive front.
After returning to the trenches, Liu Zhenming looked at the serious-looking generals and said with a smile: "The British would not dare to bring the warship ashore even if they had a hundred courages."
Yes, no matter how powerful the British warships are, can they reach land? In the end, don't they have to rely on the army to attack?
The generals were amused by Liu Zhenming's humorous words and all smiled.
"Okay, brothers, we have had enough of watching the show. Now, let the British watch our performance." Liu Zhenming turned to look at the heavy machine gun fortress.
On the Self-Rescue Army's not-too-long position, there were a total of five heavy machine guns with their muzzles pointed down eagerly. You must know that the four thousand Dauphinians only had six guns in total.
If the British choose to attack Liu Zhenming's position, the consequences can be imagined.
…
Douglas stood at the port pier where the smoke was still lingering, watching groups of soldiers walking ashore from the pallets, feeling very proud in his heart.
Although it was only a small expedition, being able to lead the army alone showed that the superiors valued him. He believed that as long as this war was over, his military rank would change from major general to lieutenant general. The 48-year-old lieutenant general
, should be considered young.
"Steve, let your people start moving forward to search for traces of the enemy. The children have a rest today and will attack the enemy tomorrow. I hope they don't escape, otherwise we will spend more time here." Douglas will
The task of exploration was assigned to the Canadian Brigade.
"Yes, sir!"
After Colonel Steve saluted a military salute, he turned around and left. This was the land of the Canadian Dominion, but the Fenians and Chinese were causing trouble here. What else could Steve do? He could only command the soldiers.
Punch the bullet fiercely through the enemy's chest.
…
"A British team was dispatched from Vancouver and searched everywhere." On the position, signal troops came and went frequently, delivering various messages from time to time. In addition to receiving messages from the Fenians, Liu Zhenming also sent several of his own
A scout was always watching the movements of the British.
Liu Zhenming learned about Steve's command of the British soldiers as soon as they left Vancouver.
"Did the opponent just start attacking?" Liu Zhenming was a little surprised and then ordered: "Enter the combat position and prepare for battle."
The orders were passed down from level to level. The soldiers leaned over the parapet, stretched the muzzles of their guns through the gaps between several sandbags, and held their breaths as they looked down.
At the Canadian Brigade's frontline headquarters, soldiers came and went in a hurry, constantly reporting back to Steve the news they had searched for.
"Sir, the enemy destroyed the train station!"
Steve just frowned.
"Sir, no trace of enemy troops has been found in the city, and we are searching the outside."
Steve nodded, indicating that he understood.
"Sir, an enemy defensive position was discovered five kilometers away from this city."
Steve Huo stood up and said quickly: "Report this news to General Douglas, go, take me to see it!"
"yes!"
The enemy and ourselves are slowly beginning to figure out the situation, and a war is imminent.