Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 272 Naval Battle (Part 2)

The Tang army soldier on the opposite side grinned, pulled the bolt of the rifle in his hand, and loaded it again.

After loading, continue charging.

"The squad leader is right. Why should I fight with a bayonet against an enemy who can be killed with one shot?"

There were shouts and cries of killing all around. Miller looked around in a daze, feeling somewhat desperate.

"how so!"

"how so!"

"How could Daying lose? How could he lose to a bunch of damn yellow monkeys?"

"I do not believe!"

Miller couldn't accept his defeat.

Especially when the defeat was against a force with superior military strength.

You know, in the past, when Britain dealt with indigenous peoples around the world, it never lost the battle despite having an advantage in military strength...

However, facing the British army's crushing defeat on the current battlefield, Miller was really powerless.

He lost this battle so miserably!
……

On the other hand, the naval battle between the Tang army and the allied fleet also entered a white-hot stage.

boom! Boom boom!

There was fierce artillery bombardment between the two sides.

From time to time, warships were hit by shells, leaving large holes on the sides or decks of the ships.

But it was very obvious that the Tang navy was at a disadvantage and was severely suppressed.

Although the Tang army's naval fleet was already equipped with a considerable number of breech-loading rifled cannons, these breech-loading rifled cannons had absolute advantages in both quality and performance compared to the muzzle-loading smoothbore cannons that were equipped in large quantities by the Eight-Nation Alliance.

But even so, the fleet of the Eight-Nation Alliance still firmly held the upper hand in the naval battle.

Because they have an absolute numerical advantage.

In this battle, the Tang army had only a dozen sailing battleships participating, but the opposing coalition forces had nearly sixty sailing battleships.

In addition, the coalition fleet also has a considerable number of armed merchant ships to assist in the battle.

Given the absolute numerical advantage, it was only natural that the Tang army was suppressed.

Facts have proved that quality is important, but if the quantity reaches a certain level, the quality gap can be made up.

Shells were fired one after another, and Fang Haiyang's ship was hit by several shells in succession.

Although his ship was a semi-ironclad ship with armor installed in key parts, it was still in trouble under the enemy's concentrated fire.

There were several large holes on the side of the ship that were not covered by armor. One of the holes was even near the gun port, causing a chain reaction.

Fortunately, the warship's hull structure was solid, and important parts had been reinforced with iron. Plus, the sailors rescued it in time, so nothing serious happened.

Several masts on the deck had been cut off by chain bullets.

If the ship had not been equipped with steam turbines and propellers as auxiliary power, Fang Haiyang's flagship would have almost been grounded.

However, among the current Tang Navy, only Fang Haiyang's ship has been equipped with iron armor to enhance protection.

The rest of the ships were just ordinary wooden ships.

In the series of fierce battles, the Tang army had sunk three sailing battleships alone, and many other types of ships were sunk or damaged.

Fang Haiyang stood on the deck of his flagship, roaring loudly amid the hail of bullets.

"Adjust the shooting parameters and shoot again!"

"Hit me hard!"

There were bursts of gunfire one after another, and the artillery spewed out smoke.

The Tang army's counterattack was equally sharp.

Although they had fewer artillery pieces, some of them were breech-loading rifled guns that used explosive shells.

Not only does it have a long range and high accuracy, its artillery power is also considerable.

Several shells were fired in succession, explosions were heard, and an armed merchant ship was completely sunk.

Another sailing battleship also began to sink slowly.

"Commander, our rocket sampan ammunition has been replenished and we can attack again!"

A Tang Navy soldier came to Fang Haiyang with a happy face and reported. Fang Haiyang's eyes lit up when he heard it, and he immediately gave an order.

"Pass on my commander's order. Let our rocket boats launch another attack and show those foreign devils how powerful we are!"

It was obvious that the Tang army's rocket sampan had already attacked.

However, the results of the battle were few and far between.

Although the Eight-Nation Alliance fleet was afraid of the Tang army's rocket salvos, they were not without ways to deal with it.

Faced with the wolf pack tactics of the Tang army's rocket sampans, the coalition fleet chose to send sailors in small boats to block them.

Under the obstruction of the coalition boats, the Tang army's rocket sampans found it difficult to get close to the coalition fleet.

Although they fired a round of salvos, the effect was not great. They only destroyed the small boat sent by the coalition forces to stop them, and then they withdrew when their ammunition ran out.

Of course, the Allied Fleet wasn’t having an easy time either.

Because the small boats they sent out to attack and block the Tang army's rocket sampans were shot down by the Tang army.

This also meant that they lost the effective means of blocking the Tang army's rocket sampans.

Once the Tang army's rocket sampans attacked again, they could only retreat.

Following Fang Haiyang's order, the Tang army's rocket sampan attacked again.

Hundreds of densely packed sampans were spread out on the broad river surface. The oarsmen on the boats paddled desperately, and the small boats rushed rapidly towards the direction of the Allied fleet.

"Brothers, kill!"

"Charge forward, just charge forward, let these foreigners see how powerful our brothers are."

"..."

……

When Seymour saw the Tang army's rocket sampans attacking again, he was visibly panicked.

He subconsciously turned his gaze to Elgin standing beside him and asked.

"My Lord Earl, the Tang army's rocket boats are coming again."

"what should we do?"

The Tang army's rocket sampans had just come up once. If they had not sent out small boats accompanying the ships to intercept them, the consequences would have been disastrous.

However, in the previous ambush, their small boats were almost completely destroyed.

Now seeing the Tang army's rocket sampans coming back, Seymour couldn't help but feel a little panicked.

Elgin took a deep breath and spoke as if he had made up his mind.

"retreat!"

"Order the fleet to retreat immediately!"

"As long as we retreat to the open sea, the Tang army's rocket sampans will no longer be a threat."

Seymour, who was standing by, said hesitantly after hearing this.

"What about Miller and the others who landed?"

Upon hearing this, Elgin just shook his head.

"Miller and his men have already been defeated. Don't worry about them."

Just now, Seymour focused his main attention on the naval battle, so he did not notice the changes in the situation on land.

However, Elgin always kept his eyes on the war situation on land.

He has now received news of Miller's disastrous defeat in the land battle.

Therefore, Elgin was able to make a quick decision and order a withdrawal.

Upon hearing this, Seymour immediately agreed and then went to pass the order.

Elgin looked to the north, towards the direction of Guangzhou city.

"The war has reached this point and we can no longer fight!"

"Perhaps, it's time to send someone to talk to the Tang Kingdom..."

……

PS: This chapter is the second chapter that is still to come, there are still two chapters to go!
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(End of this chapter)