Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 475: Battle of the Bay of Bengal (8K Return)

On the vast surface of the Bay of Bengal, two fleets, one large and one small, were sailing towards each other.

The sun was high in the sky and the sea breeze blew across the sea, leaving ripples.

The fish jumped out of the water from time to time, then splashed into the water.

The splashing water reflects a crystal luster under the sunlight.

boom!
The roar of naval gun firing marked the beginning of the war.

The 270mm naval gun on Fang Haiyang's ship opened fire, the air was filled with smoke, and the shells whizzed towards the direction of the British fleet.

Rumble!
With a loud bang, the shells landed on the sea.

An explosion suddenly sounded, and a column of water shot up on the sea surface. With the point where the shell landed as the center, huge waves tens of meters high surged in all directions.

In the blink of an eye, several sailing battleships around were all tossed by the waves caused by the explosion of the shells falling into the water, and they were rising and falling, swaying left and right on the sea.

Boom! Boom!
After several consecutive gunshots, the Tang army fleet, relying on the advantage of its own naval guns in range, took the lead in launching an artillery attack on the British fleet on the sea.

Cade was a senior gunner in the British Navy. Not long ago, he followed the British fleet on the battlefield in Crimea and taught those ignorant Slavs a lesson.

Let the Slavs know who is the master of the sea!

Having just returned from the Crimean battlefield, he is now full of ambition.

Faced with the Tang State, which dared to take the initiative to provoke Britain, he was filled with anger and disdain.

He believed that what the Tang State had done was an extreme disrespect for Great Britain, which was something he absolutely could not accept.

In his mind, Britain, with its invincible fleet, was the world hegemon and no one should be able to challenge it.

He will definitely make those arrogant Tang people pay the price for their actions.

Rumble!
Rumble!
Amidst loud bangs, shells fell one after another around the steam ironclad ship where Cade was.

The surging waves hit the hull one after another, causing the warship under him to sway violently from side to side.

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

"Fight back immediately!"

Cade yelled at the top of his lungs.

A face that was obviously red due to sun exposure became even redder than before.

His already ugly complexion became even more hideous due to his anger.

Boom! Boom!
The loud noise of artillery firing echoed throughout the stuffy cabin.

A huge amount of gun smoke spread out from the muzzle and spread throughout the cabin.

In an instant, the gunners' vision in the cabin was completely obscured by the smoke.

All they could see before their eyes was thick white smoke, so thick that they couldn't even see their hand in front of them.

A gust of sea breeze blew away some of the thick smoke.

Cade and others in the cabin were finally able to see the specific battle situation on the sea.

On the vast blue sea, the British and Tang fleets were firing at each other.

As the artillery of both sides continued to roar, flames and smoke billowed, shells were fired at each other.

But it is obvious that the range of the Tang army's artillery is far greater than that of the British army's artillery.

Although not all the shells fired by the Tang army's naval guns could hit their targets.

But it can roughly ensure that the entire British fleet is within their effective range.

However, most of the shells fired by the British fleet only flew halfway before falling into the sea.

It was at least two miles away from the Tang army fleet.

Apart from causing some trouble to the fish in the sea, it posed no threat to the Tang army at all.

At the current distance, the British army only has a small number of the latest breech-loading rifled cannons that can pose a threat to the Tang army fleet.

But the problem was that the British fleet was equipped with too few breech-loading rifled guns.

Even if they opened fire, they would not be able to suppress the firepower of the Tang army.

On the battlefield, artillery bombardment continued from both sides.

As time passed, the distance between the Tang fleet and the British fleet gradually narrowed.

The distance was shortened to such that the Tang army's naval guns could effectively fire at the British fleet, but the British fleet still could not reach the Tang fleet.

To put it bluntly, the Tang army was bullying the British army by relying on the high mobility of its own fleet.

Well, there's nothing we can do about it.

Who says that the performance of Datang’s steam turbines is better than that of Britain’s?
Amid the sound of artillery fire, shells flew across the battlefield.

A shell hit the side of the warship where Cade was, and the next moment, a loud explosion sounded.

A cloud of yellow smoke suddenly erupted on the side of the warship where Cade was, and the shock wave spread and raged instantly, tearing the side armor of the warship apart and blowing open the wooden hull covered with armor.

In the blink of an eye, steel fragments mixed with wood chips flew everywhere, and a big hole appeared on the side of the warship.

The air was filled with acrid yellow smoke.

The violent vibration made Cade almost unable to stand steadily. After a while of shaking, he fell directly to the ground.

His head hit the cabin wall hard, leaving a bloody wound that oozed out.

"what……"

Cade let out a shrill scream, his face full of pain.

After a long while, he finally got up from the ground, covering his wound. Blood was all over his face, making him look particularly hideous.

"Shit, damn those Tang people!"

Cade couldn't help but curse, but when he came to his senses, he found that there was a big hole in the cabin wall not far away.

As the warship swayed left and right under the influence of the waves, seawater continued to pour into the cabin.

"Shit, shit!"

"Seawater is pouring in!"

"Where are the sailors? Go and find a way to block the cabin. Oh, my God, this is terrible news!"

"..."

Amid Cade's cursing, the British sailors were in chaos, and a group of them rushed forward, trying to block the gap in the cabin made by the cannonball.

Boom! Boom!
However, at this moment, a burst of artillery fire was heard again on the sea.

The Tang army's naval guns aimed at the British fleet and launched an artillery attack again.

The shells whistled in, making a low sound of breaking through the air.

Amidst a loud bang, another shell hit the battleship where Cade was.

However, this time the shell did not hit the side armor, but the deck of the ship.

Amid the loud explosion, Cade was once again blown away and couldn't stand steadily.

The whole person fell directly to the ground, and bits of wood chips fell from the top of his head and landed on his body.

Cade subconsciously looked up and saw that a deck in front of him had been blown open, and sunlight shone into the cabin through the large hole in the deck.

Cade was so shaken that he couldn't help but cover his eyes!
Just at this moment, a series of crackling sounds of wood breaking were heard.

The warship where Cade was located was hit by two artillery shells from the Tang army in succession, and the explosion greatly damaged the overall structure of the ship.

As the waves surged and hit the hull, the hull even began to disintegrate...

Boom! Boom!
On the battlefield, the shelling continued.

The two fleets exchanged fierce bombardments, firing shells back and forth.

It is very obvious that the British army is being severely suppressed.

This is because there is a huge gap in the quality of artillery between the two sides.

Most of the Tang army's naval guns were breech-loading rifled guns, especially those 270-ton battleships, which were equipped with large-caliber mm main guns.

The Tang army's naval guns were no match for the British army in terms of effective range, power, accuracy, and firing rate.

And what about the British Army?

At this time, the fleet's main artillery was still the old muzzle-loading smoothbore gun.

The range, power, and accuracy of the previous smoothbore cannons made it difficult to pose any threat to the Tang army's fleet.

Among the British army, only a small number of breech-loading artillery posed a real threat to the Tang army.

Therefore, although the British fleet is much larger than that of the Tang army, when it comes to firepower density, the Tang army is actually the dominant side.

After a fierce battle, the British fleet on the sea suffered heavy damage.

A total of two steam ironclad ships, three sailing battleships, and nearly ten armed merchant ships were directly sunk and buried in the sea.

As for those who were hit by artillery shells and suffered varying degrees of injuries, their number is countless.

Boom! Boom!
Rumble!
The shelling on the battlefield continued.

British commander Earl Elgin looked at the situation on the battlefield with a heavy heart.

"No, this can't go on!"

"We can't go on like this! Absolutely not!"

Elgin was already very keenly aware of one thing.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that the naval battle between the two sides seems to be very fierce on the surface.

But in fact, it was just the British army that was passively beaten throughout the whole process!
The British artillery could hardly pose a threat to the Tang army's warships, but the Tang army's naval guns were able to achieve actual results every time they fired.

The scene is shocking!

If this continues, the British fleet will be finished.

They won't last long!
He must do something to change all this!
Taking a deep breath, Elgin made a quick decision.

"Pass the order down, order our fleet to split into two parts."

"The sailing battleships and armed merchant ships immediately left the battlefield and headed to the mouth of the Ganges River to launch a fire attack on the coastal defense artillery batteries deployed by the Tang army at the mouth of the Ganges River."

"Try to invade the Ganges River Basin and help our army capture Dhaka!"

"The remaining steam ironclad ships, go full steam ahead, close the distance between us and the Tang army, and hit them hard!"

Elgin knew that in a battle between steam ironclad ships, the sailing battleships' maneuverability would make them passive opponents.

It simply could not keep up with the speed of a steam-powered ironclad ship powered by a steam turbine.

In this case, he would naturally not continue to let the sailing battleship stay on the battlefield and give away lives.

In addition, sending a fleet of sailing battleships to attack the mouth of the Ganges was also intended to divert the attention of the Tang fleet.

In Elgin's view, this move was a two-pronged approach!
We can definitely turn the tide in today's battle.

Soon, as Elgin's military orders were issued, the situation on the battlefield changed rapidly.

The huge British fleet was divided into two parts.

The fleet of sailing battleships, with sails hoisted, sailed towards the mouth of the Ganges in a mighty force.

The steam-clad ships deployed in battle formation and advanced towards the location of the Tang army fleet.

White marks appeared at the sterns of these steam-powered ironclad ships.

boom! Boom boom!

On the battlefield, the sound of artillery fire continued.

Fang Haiyang put down the telescope in his hand.

Seeing that the British fleet was divided into two and launched offensives separately, he made arrangements and responded in an orderly manner.

"Order the fleet to maneuver immediately."

"Maintain the distance between our fleet and the enemy fleet, and continue to deliver firepower."

As for the mouth of the Ganges?

There are coastal defense artillery batteries over there. Fang Haiyang has absolute confidence in the coastal defense artillery batteries of the Tang Dynasty. He believes that the British fleet will definitely not be able to do anything to the Tang Dynasty artillery batteries.

……

The situation on the battlefield continued to change.

As the British fleet approached, the Tang fleet began to continue maneuvering.

Then, Elgin discovered that his own steam-powered ironclad fleet could not keep up with the speed of the Tang army.

As time passed, the boilermen in charge of burning the boilers in the cabin of the British steam ironclad ship were almost smoking with their shovels.

But the distance between the British fleet and the Tang fleet remained almost the same.

It just so happened that the Tang army's fleet was able to hit the British army, but the British army could never reach the Tang army.

boom! Boom boom!

On the battlefield, artillery is still roaring.

Shells fell one after another around Earl Elgin's ship, and explosions continued to sound.

The waves caused by the explosion surged one after another, causing Earl Elgin's ship to sway left and right on the sea.

Even Earl Elgin, who had extensive experience in naval battles, was forced to sway with the swaying of the ship.

Now the only thing that made him feel lucky was that at this distance, the hit rate of the Tang army's naval guns was also very touching.

Given the current distance between the two sides, the hit rate of a round of salvo fire by the Tang army would be at most 5% to 8%, less than %.

To put it bluntly, in this naval battle, most of the shells were fired into the sea.

But even so, it still posed a great threat to the British army.

After a period of entanglement, three more steam ironclad ships in the British fleet were sunk in battle.

The number of injured is countless!

There were a lot of broken wood pieces floating on the sea, wounded British soldiers were bobbing in the water, and bright red blood was spreading in the sea.

The screams kept ringing!

As Elgin saw the situation on the battlefield becoming increasingly worse, his emotions became increasingly urgent.

However, no matter how urgent he was, it was of no use.

Because it is a fact that the British fleet cannot keep up with the maneuvering pace of the Tang fleet.

But the fact will not change because of his emotions.

Boom! Boom!
The deafening bombardment rang out again.

Shells were fired one after another and explosions occurred one after another.

The 270mm caliber battleship main gun shell hit the bow of Elgin's ship.

With a loud bang, the bow of Elgin's ship was directly blown up.

The shock wave mixed with smoke spread out instantly.

Elgin, standing on the deck of the ship like a javelin, was suddenly blown away by the oncoming shock wave.

A wave of heat hit him, and Elgin felt his body lose balance instantly, and he hit the cabin wall behind him heavily. His eyes went dark, and he almost lost consciousness.

As for his ship, it was severely damaged and seawater poured into the cabin from the destroyed bow.

As the amount of seawater in the cabin increased, the ship began to sink slowly.

The British sailors on the ship began to jump into the water one after another.

The scene of Earl Elgin's ship being hit by the Tang army's naval guns was seen by countless people on the battlefield.

After seeing this scene, the British fleet, which had been fighting, fell into panic.

"Oh, my God!"

"Shit, Earl Elgin's ship sank."

"It's over, we are finished, this is such sad news..."

However, although Earl Elgin's ship was sunk in battle, the British fleet on the battlefield did not disperse or fight on its own.

Instead, he spontaneously transferred command to the fleet's deputy commander, Sir Carter.

The fierce battle between the two sides continues!
At the same time, the war reignited at the mouth of the Ganges.

The Tang army's coastal defense artillery was engaged in a fierce bombardment with the British fleet.

At the mouth of the wide Ganges, the sound of cannons rumbled.

Shells were flying back and forth, and a large number of broken ships were floating on the river.

Consistent with the result of the naval battle, the British fleet was unable to gain any advantage after encountering the Tang army's artillery.

The Tang army's coastal defense artillery firmly suppressed the British sailing fleet!
The situation on the battlefield changed rapidly, and the British army was increasingly suppressed.

As the sun set, the British army finally could not hold on.

As Sir Carter's ship raised the flag of retreat, the British fleet finally held on and began to slowly withdraw from the battlefield.

In the afterglow of the setting sun, the British fleet slowly sailed away from the battlefield.

Under the red setting sun, the white sails of the British fleet were almost dyed blood red.

A large amount of broken wood and dead bodies were floating on the vast sea.

However, if the British army wanted to retreat, would the Tang army let them leave easily?

Do they really think that the Bay of Bengal belongs to them, the Ansar people, and that they can come and go as they please?
The flags on Fang Haiyang's ship changed, and the Tang army fleet launched a mighty pursuit of the fleeing British army.

At this time, the gap between the two sides in steam turbine power systems became apparent again.

The British fleet's power system was obviously inferior to that of the Tang army, and they could not escape the Tang army's pursuit at all.

As time passed, the distance between the two sides did not widen, but instead became closer.

Faced with the British fleet that was bent on escaping, the Tang army was obviously less cautious and no longer deliberately maintained distance between the two sides. Instead, they began to close the distance in order to achieve a higher hit rate for their naval guns.

boom! Boom boom!

As the distance got closer, the hit rate of the Tang army's naval guns increased significantly. Amid the roar of the naval guns, British warships were constantly hit.

And every time the British warships were hit, they were severely damaged.

The protective armor on the British steam ironclad ships was no different from paper in front of the Tang army's naval guns.

At the same time, the British fleet that was bombarding the Tang army's artillery at the mouth of the Ganges also received news of the withdrawal of its own steam ironclad fleet.

Suddenly, they were in chaos.

After the chaos, the British army had no choice but to withdraw from the battlefield in disgrace and prepare to retreat back to Kolkata first.

On the artillery platform, cheers came from the Tang army defenders.

……

On the vast surface of the Bay of Bengal, the British and Tang fleets were chasing each other and fleeing in a constant tug of war.

The British army suffered heavy losses along the way, and more than a dozen steam ironclad ships and even more sailing battleships were sunk.

Along the way from Dhaka to Kolkata, the wreckage of the British fleet and the corpses of British soldiers floating on the sea can be seen everywhere.

Finally, after a fierce chase between the two sides, the British fleet withdrew to the mouth of the Hooghly River.

Driving inland along the estuary of the Hooghly River, not far away is Kolkata, the British base in India.

The British fleet rushed into the mouth of the Hooghly River in a panic, and the Tang army, after holding out for a while, also anchored its fleet outside the estuary.

They were in a stalemate with the British fleet and the artillery batteries stationed at the river mouth.

"Commander, the British troops have retreated to the mouth of the Hooghly River. Should we continue to pursue them?"

Seeing the British fleet parked in the estuary and right in front of him, Fang Haiyang's deputy came to him and asked.

Upon hearing this, Fang Haiyang just stared at the British fleet in the estuary without saying a word. After a moment, he shook his head with a look of disappointment and said.

"No need for that. Pass the order down, withdraw the troops and return to Dhaka!"

The reason why Fang Haiyang did not continue the pursuit was certainly not because he did not want to pursue and completely annihilate the British fleet.

But it was because the Tang army fleet was now unable to continue the pursuit!

One is that after today's tough battle, the steam turbine power systems on all the warships of the Tang Army fleet have been running at full capacity for a day, and some problems have occurred to varying degrees, and they are in urgent need of maintenance.

Otherwise, it might break down halfway!

If a 10,000-ton battleship broke down in the Hooghly River while pursuing the British fleet and was then counterattacked by the British fleet, the consequences would be serious.

The second reason was that the Tang army had consumed a lot of artillery shells in this battle, and the ammunition in the warships' ammunition compartments were almost empty.

Must return to port for replenishment!
Before completing the replenishment of ammunition, even if the Tang army chased into the river mouth, it would be of no use and would not pose any threat to the British fleet.

The third reason is that Kolkata was the British base in India and the capital of the British Indian colony.

At the mouth of the Hooghly River, the British army built a battery and deployed considerable firepower to defend Kolkata.

If the Tang army wanted to enter the mouth of the Hooghly River to pursue the British fleet, the first thing they would have to face was the British artillery built at the mouth of the Hooghly River and the double attack of the British fleet.

However, the Tang army now did not have enough ammunition reserves to take out the British artillery and then annihilate the British fleet.

Therefore, to be on the safe side, giving up pursuit, expanding the victory and withdrawing troops is the best option for the Tang fleet at present.

After issuing the order to withdraw troops, Fang Haiyang continued to make arrangements.

"Immediately send someone to count our army's achievements in this battle, and then report the victory to the court..."

It's different after all!

Fang Haiyang was somewhat anxious to send the news of the great victory in the Bangladesh naval battle back to the court.

Let the emperor, the civil and military officials in the court, and the people of the world, all be happy together!
Then, he can get promoted and make money, right?

……

At the mouth of the Hooghly River.

On the deck of a British steam ironclad ship.

Earl Elgin and Sir Carter, who were rescued from the sea, stood together and watched the Tang army fleet give up the pursuit and slowly sail away from the estuary.

The two looked at each other and let out a breath at the same time.

"God bless!"

"God bless Daying!"

"The damn Tang people finally withdrew..."

There were cheers coming from all around, and many people breathed a sigh of relief.

The pursuit that began from the waters off Dhaka has really left the Tang army with a huge psychological shadow!

Earl Elgin said with a grim expression.

"Our army has been defeated in this battle. It may be impossible to clear the Tang forces out of India..."

Elgin was full of anxiety because he didn't know how to explain his defeat in this battle to the British mainland.

You know, people in Britain have high hopes for this war.

It was urgently hoped that Britain could, through this war, completely quell the Indian rebellion, expel the Tang forces, and gain back a point in the dispute with the Tang.

It took a lot of effort and connections to get the position of fleet commander-in-chief.

Now that the naval battle had been lost and the British fleet had suffered heavy losses, he didn't know how he should explain this to his homeland.

If Her Majesty the Queen knew that she had lost this battle, she would probably send herself to the gallows in anger, right?
Now the only thing Elgin could hope for was progress in the land warfare that was in charge of Governor Canning and Lieutenant General Koffman.

If the British could win this land battle and successfully recapture Dhaka, then the impact of their defeat in this naval battle would be minimized.

This is because, without a stable home port for supplies, a naval fleet, no matter how powerful it is, will not be able to survive.

By then, Britain may be able to turn the tables.

But if the land battle fails to achieve results, then this battle will probably be truly irreversible.

Elgin prayed silently in his heart, asking for God's blessing.

On the other hand, his deputy, Sir Carter, commander of the Indian fleet, was also feeling quite solemn.

Because, after today's fierce battle, Sir Carter suddenly realized.

Times have changed!

Today is no longer the era when Britain could dominate the oceans and be invincible with its sailing battleships.

The Tang army’s new 10,000-ton battleships directly brought naval warfare into a new era.

However, in this new era, Britain has not been able to come to the forefront.

It even doesn't have the qualifications to run parallel to the Tang Dynasty.

This was because the Tang Dynasty had already mass-produced a new type of 10,000-ton battleship. In the Battle of Bengal alone, the Tang army deployed four of these ships to participate.

I believe there must be more 10,000-ton battleships on their homeland.

This means that the Tang army’s 10,000-ton battleships should be mass-produced.

And what about the British Army?

At present, the main force of the fleet has simply changed from sailing battleships to steam ironclad ships.

Even many steam ironclad ships still retain the sail design.

The main battleships of the two fleets are not at the same level, or even from the same era.

This means that after defeating the Spanish Armada, Britain gained and maintained maritime superiority and even maritime hegemony for two and a half centuries.

All will be shaken!
This is a real shake to the foundation of the UK.

The impact is even greater and worse than that caused by the Tang Dynasty's interference in India.

Carter and Elgin looked at each other again, and the expressions on their faces were quite solemn.

Although the two people are not thinking about the same thing at the moment, their moods are equally solemn.

They couldn't help but worry, is Britain's global hegemony going to be shaken?

……

At the same time, outside the Singail Fortress east of Dhaka City.

The sun sets in the west, and the day's fighting ends.

The atmosphere in the British camp was also solemn!
Walking in the camp, the screams and wails of the wounded soldiers could be heard continuously, and the air was filled with the smell of blood and medicinal herbs.

It made everyone feel heavy-hearted.

After a day of hard fighting today, the British army paid the price of thousands of soldiers' lives, but still failed to achieve any results.

Singail Fortress still stands there, like an unshakable sacred mountain.

All this made the British army feel discouraged.

In the central military tent, the senior generals of the British army gathered together and a fierce argument broke out.

"Hey, guys, listen to me, this won't work. The despicable Tang army used barbed wire to block the soldiers' offensive and even turned the soldiers into living targets in front of the machine guns."

"If we continue to attack, we will only suffer more casualties and will not achieve any results. We must think of other ways..."

Lieutenant General Kofman slammed the table and said excitedly.

In the battle during the day today, the British army suffered too many casualties, which was something that the general Kofman did not want to see.

On the other side, the cavalry commander, Major General Ryan, commander of the 12th Cavalry Brigade of the British Army, retorted.

"So, Commander, do you have any other ideas?"

"If not, we can only continue to launch a strong attack on the Tang army fortress."

"The Prime Minister has called Calcutta several times, asking us to speed up our advance and put down the Indian rebellion as soon as possible?"

A strong attack is certainly not a good option, but the local side is too impatient, and they really have no better choice except a strong attack.

Seeing this, Kofman couldn't help but slap the table and said.

"Ryan, don't stand and talk without any back pain."

"Just because the soldiers who died in the battle were not your own, you can't ignore the casualties of your soldiers."

When Ryan heard this, he immediately refuted it.

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, that's not what I meant."

"I'm just saying that the mainland is very concerned about the war situation and we need to speed up the process of suppressing the rebellion."

Governor Canning was sitting in the main seat, and seeing the two people arguing, his face was full of helplessness.

After a while, seeing that Kofman and Ryan were about to get angry with each other, Governor Canning finally spoke.

"Okay, okay, stop talking!"

"For God's sake!"

Seeing Canning speak, the two glared at each other and finally stopped arguing.

Canning began to speak.

"We have to attack Singail Fortress. The mainland is pushing us too hard."

"But, blindly attacking is not a solution..."

But at this moment, a soldier rushed into Governor Canning's tent.

"Your Excellency, Governor, something terrible has happened!"

"Our fleet led by Earl Elgin lost the naval battle..."

"The army suffered heavy losses!"

When Canning heard this, the expression on his face changed drastically.

"what?!"

"What did you say?!"

"Our fleet lost the naval battle? How is this possible?!"

"Oh my God! What on earth is happening?!"

……

PS: This chapter is 8,000 words long, and I will start paying off my debt from today!
Last month, I owed five chapters due to the extra chapters for the monthly tickets, and I owed another chapter because I took a day off on the first day of the Lunar New Year, making a total of six chapters. Add to that the extra chapters for the two hundred monthly tickets this month, and I owe a total of seven chapters. This chapter is the first one, and after paying off this chapter, I still owe six chapters.

(End of this chapter)