Schneider held his hand on the bridge railing and inspected the large and small ships moored on the river to confirm that they were all ready to set off.
"Report to headquarters: Request permission to set off!"
Following his order, the signal soldiers raised flags. After a while, the signal from the direction of Longhua Temple came back.
"Signal from headquarters: permission to set off!" the observation post's report reached the bridge.
"Raise the signal flag and set off for the entire fleet!"
The signal flag was raised on the mast. Captain Ruan Xiaowu calmly issued a series of orders: "Weigh anchor!", "Left rudder 15 degrees!", "Advance one"... The chimney of the river gunboat "Pearl River" parked on the riverside suddenly rang out.
A puff of thick smoke erupted, and then the clumsy bow slowly turned and headed towards the center of the river.
As the Pearl River weighed anchor, dozens of large boats and tugboats on the river spewed out black smoke. For a moment, the river was filled with black smoke, and the machine roared. The Xijiang detachment of the Pearl River Task Force set off.
It is said to be a fleet, but in fact the only one that can be called a "ship" is the flagship Pearl River river gunboat. According to the Senate Navy's ship tonnage classification standards, the Pearl River can only be regarded as a "boat", but in inland rivers, it is not discounted.
It is truly a "giant ship". Especially the 130mm front-loading rifled gun on the exposed turret surrounded by steel armor on the bow is like a god on the river.
Surrounding this huge thing are inland river gunboats modified from large and small boats. Although the modified gunboat is far less powerful than the inland gunboat on the drawing board, the 30mm gunboat installed on the open rotating turret on the ship
The power of the Chikas five-barreled cannon and the 13mm typewriter is also terrifying in this time and space.
Behind the scenes are two armed gunboats modified from 621 paddle-wheel tugboats. One of them has an exposed turret in the middle of the hull and is equipped with a 130mm front-loading rifled gun; the other is equipped with two 30mm Hotchkiss guns.
Exposed turret with five-barreled cannon and four 13mm typewriters.
1 river gunboat, 16 armed boats, and 2 armed tugs. This is almost two-thirds of the strength of the West Detachment.
Schneider picked up his binoculars from time to time to search the river. In front of the Pearl River, several large gunboats for reconnaissance bumped forward in the rushing river. The entrance to the Antelope Gorge is 1,000 meters wide. After entering the canyon, the river gradually narrowed.
Narrow, the narrowest point is only 300 meters. The river roars in the narrow valley, and even a nearly 300-ton ship like the Pearl River is bumpy.
Fortunately, the water depth of the channel here ranges from 48 meters to 75 meters. Not to mention river gunboats with a draft of only 1.5 meters, even battleships with tens of thousands of tons will not run aground.
Antelope Gorge is five kilometers long. If you use a non-motorized boat, you have to rely on your back to get on the water here. It is not unusual to walk for a day, but now the river fleet can pass it in one hour.
For Schneider, the biggest danger is not so much the Ming Navy, but these armed boats with a displacement of only 30 tons: not only are the tonnage small, but the horsepower is also small, and their maneuverability will become very difficult in rapids.
Poor, it is easy to be washed to the shore by the current and run aground on the rocks. Just yesterday, an armed Dafa boat of the fleet lost control and ran aground on the rocks while escorting the reconnaissance team for reconnaissance. Three people drowned and one person is missing.
This was the first casualty record for the Pearl River Fleet West Detachment, which made Schneider feel ashamed. The captain of the Pearl River Fleet West Detachment was his first position after being promoted to Lieutenant Commander, and it was also the first time he independently commanded an aspect.
The detachment was responsible for independent regional operations for the first time and had to cooperate with the combat operations of the first brigade, which was commanded by veterans.
In the past, he was just a naval officer under the command of the elders. Even if he became the squadron leader of the ship squadron and the captain of the 901-class battleship, he could only listen to the elders' words during combat meetings and only take his turn to solicit opinions.
Only then did he have the opportunity to "advise".
This time it was very different. When the Army-Navy Joint Conference was held, Commander Zhu used a tone of negotiation instead of simple orders. Although there was a huge difference in military rank between them, they were equal at the command level.
.
Who else could do such a faceless thing but himself? While Schneider was proud, he also felt that he had a heavy responsibility. Winning the battle was no longer uncommon for them, but winning beautifully was even more important.
"Maintain speed." He ordered, "Every ship should pay attention!"
Because intelligence showed that the Ming army had gathered hundreds of sealed civilian ships at the junction of Dading Gorge and Antelope Gorge, all of which were loaded with firewood, tung oil and gunpowder. Once the Ming army put down these fire attack ships downstream, they would attack the detachment.
It is indeed a big threat - the width of the river here is too narrow.
"At 2 o'clock, the Ming army was spotted on the towpath!" Following the observation post's report, Schneider raised his telescope and looked over. Sure enough, on the narrow towpath that appeared and disappeared between the mountains, several Ming soldiers were walking.
They were looking here. Suddenly, as if they had received some order, two of them turned around and headed towards the mountain, leaving only one to continue looking towards the river.
On the top of the mountain, a plume of black smoke rose into the sky. This was a beacon warning Zhaoqing, warning that the Australian warships were approaching.
"Sound the battle alarm and prepare all ships for battle!"
As the rapid whistle sounded, all the officers and soldiers on the Pearl River rushed out of the cabin and took up their positions. The entire fleet continued to move forward at a cruising speed of 4 knots.
The total length of Antelope Gorge is only 5 kilometers, and at the speed of the fleet, it can be completed in about an hour. After entering Dading Gorge, the river surface is wide and the water flow slows down, which is a suitable time for the fleet to exert its maximum combat power.
If the Ming army, which is entrenched in Zhaoqing and already at a disadvantage, wants to resist Fubo's army, it can only rely on Antelope Gorge, the most favorable place at the right time and place!
Less than 4 kilometers away from them, at the mouth of the Dading Gorge, Cao Bajiao, the commander of the water sentry in Zhaoqing Town of the Navy, felt cold all over. In the past few years in Zhaoqing, he was regarded as a tyrant in the Xijiang River, killing many people in the water.
Bandits have also done things like robbing merchants and killing people. Not to mention the navy commander, even Xiong Wencan only pretended to be deaf and dumb.
Only a few months ago, in order to fight for a woman, he encountered the hard nails of the Australians on the dock in Zhaoqing, and dozens of brothers were beaten to death. Cao Bajiao only knew that the Australians had powerful firearms, but he did not expect that
so smart!
It turns out that what his cousin said was true! Cao Bajiao remembered that his cousin Cao Xiangjiao followed He Zhen to conquer the Australians, and what he said after being defeated and escaping back - he originally thought that he boasted about the Australians to cover up his own war.
defeat.
This cousin was lucky. After escaping back, he found another way and was transferred to Nanjing as an errand. This bastard is really smart! He cursed secretly in his heart.
It would be better for you to land on the fire attack ship and fight as the vanguard!
"Master, the smoke on the top of the mountain has started to rise." A soldier reported.
"I'm not blind!" Cao Bajiao was annoyed and scolded impatiently.
"The soldier lord has sent someone to urge him..." the soldier had to remind him carefully.
"If you complain again, you will go to the first boat to lead the way!"
At this time, the soldiers did not dare to speak. Cao Bajiao looked at the more than a hundred fire attack ships in front of him - they were all civilian ships that had been forcibly recruited on the Xijiang River in the past month or so. They were now filled with dry firewood.
As long as the medicine floats down the river in the narrow canyon, no matter how powerful the Australian firearms are, they may not be able to sink all the fire ships going down the river. More or less, they can always burn a few ships -
This is a good idea. The master surnamed Chang is not a fool.
But no matter how good the method is, someone has to implement it, and this matter fell on Cao Bajiao's head without hesitation - who calls him one of the commanders of the water whistle? As for the other commander, his backstage
He was tougher than Cao Bajiao, so he led the navy ships to "follow and support" him.
"I'll take care of your mb!" Cao Bajiao couldn't help but cursed again when he thought of this. The water in Antelope Gorge is deep and fast, and even a person with excellent water skills will be swept away by the river and drowned if he falls in the river. You need to light the fire before
After jumping into the river, swimming upstream for a few miles and then climbing onto the rescue ship was simply a fantasy - not to mention whether Huang Biao would come to "rescue" from behind. It was hard to tell. He and Huang Biao had never dealt with them.
Because there is a deep conflict over how to distinguish the "filial piety" of boat owners and water bandits.
He jumped out of the boat, so he would be showing loyalty if he didn't take the opportunity to knock it down with a pennies.
Most of the pilots on these more than 100 ships were temporarily recruited from among the poor households. The quota for the entire water sentry was only 240 people. In other words, most of the big soldiers in this sentry did not need to board the ship to die.
, and he, the commander of the water sentry, had to take his few soldiers to die. This made Cao Bajiao particularly unhappy.
At this time, another chess player came from the camp and yelled: "Why haven't the fire attack ships set off yet? There is an order from the town: if there is any further delay, we will kill you on the spot!"
It goes without saying that Xiong Wencan is also staring at Zhaoqing Kuixing Tower in the distance. Although the arrogant generals usually don't take Governor Xiong seriously, he is facing a powerful enemy.
The imperial court controlled the important officials of the armies of the two provinces, and killing him was just a matter of words. Cao Bajiao was forced to have no choice but to order: "Weigh the anchors of each ship and set off!"
More than a hundred civilian boats of various sizes followed the river slowly toward the mouth of the gorge. At first, the water flow was not very fast, but when the river surface shrank at the mouth of the gorge, some boats were pushed by the river water and bumped into the middle.
Fortunately, the people driving the boats were mostly Danfolk who had lived on the water for a long time and were very experienced in handling boats. They quickly took control of the boat and headed downstream together.
Upstairs in Kuixing, Xiong Wencan put away the Australian telescope in his hand and nodded slightly.
Although the fire attack fleet was delayed, it still set off. This was a good sign - the military morale was especially good, and he and the Kun bandits could still fight.