Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 287 Battle of the Saigon River

This fierce naval battle broke out in the wide river branch opposite Saigon Port. The French sailing fleet hastily assembled to fight, and many French merchant ships also joined in.

The Far East Fleet had three sailing battleships and eight sailing frigates, a total of 11 main sailing warships, all of which participated in the invasion of Northern China during the Second Opium War.

Leading the way was the flagship of the French Far East Fleet, the "Foubin", an iron-hulled battleship built in 1855 with a displacement of 1935 tons. It was also the only iron-hulled battleship in the Far East Fleet.

During the Second Opium War, he participated in the attacks on Dagu and Dalian.

Following it is the HMS Gunner, a five-masted sailing ship built in 1848 with a displacement of 3600 tons, a standard three-tiered gun deck, and 122 guns.

Ranked third is the "Nemesis" sailing battleship, which has two gun decks, is equipped with 106 guns, has a displacement of 2344 tons, and is also a four-masted sailing battleship.

The lower gun decks of French sailing battleships are equipped with uniform 60-pound large-caliber heavy guns with amazing destructive capabilities. France has always been famous for its artillery, and the French naval artillery is naturally not inferior.

The 60-pound large-caliber naval guns on these French sailing battleships were equipped with bombardment shells. These were iron ball-shaped shells that could explode inside the ship after breaking through the side of the ship. They were much more powerful than ordinary solid bullets.

Further back are the French sailing frigates "Daredevil", "Avalanche", "Rocket", "Isser", "Shotgun", "Marceau", "Diché" and "Dragoon", with displacement ranging from 500 to 800 tons, equipped with 22 to 50 guns, the largest caliber of which is 30-pound naval gun.

The originally bustling Saigon port suddenly became silent after two fleets came towards each other with murderous intent, and was shrouded in a thick shadow of war.

In the calm and wide river

The two oncoming fleets were not fast, with a speed of about two to three knots. They were in a single-line battle column, less than a hundred meters apart.

Behind the ironclad fleet led by the "Taishan" of the Chu Navy were the ironclad ships "Zhendong", "Zhennan", "Zhenxi" and "Zhenbei".

Further back were the sailing battleships "Zhenhai", "Zhenhu", "Zhenjiang", "Zhenhe", and the "Guangming" sailing battleship, and further back were ten sailing cruisers with the prefix "Wei".

As for the eight sailing frigates further back, they were arranged in pairs and were only used for surveillance and would not actually participate in the fierce naval battle.

These two-masted sailing clippers have small tonnage, weak firepower, and fast speed. They can bully sailing cargo ships, but if they mix in such a high-level naval battle, they will be courting death.

If a 60-pound bomb from a French Navy sailing battleship hits it, it will cause serious damage at best and sink it at worst. That is no joke.

The battle broke out a little after eleven in the morning, with the lead ships of each fleet first clashing.

楚国海军排水量高达4863吨的“泰山”号铁甲重舰上，从前到后的1~4号主炮台装备的15英寸达尔格伦大炮，8门10英寸副炮在错身之际，几乎与法国领航旗舰“富宾”号同时开火。

In an instant
The rumbling sounds of artillery fire were so dense that they merged into one, and large clouds of gray-black smoke rose into the air.

The huge muzzle flames that kept flashing away illuminated the surface of the river, almost enveloping the two ships that were fiercely fighting each other at close range, with an extremely astonishing power.

It can be clearly heard that amidst a series of deafening cannon fire,
Four cannon shots were particularly clear, like huge hammers hitting people's hearts.

That was the 15-inch Dahlgren cannon going wild, declaring to everyone its indestructible and ferocious power, which was invincible!
The effect was particularly significant. After suffering this round of heavy blows, the French flagship "Foubin" was as if hit continuously by four invisible heavy punches at sea, and the huge hull moved sideways more than 10 meters.

The bow of the "Fubin" was directly knocked off course, and the entire sailing ship rushed diagonally toward the river beach on one side. It was impossible to control it at a low speed.

Wait a moment
"Boom boom boom boom..." Four consecutive huge fireballs exploded, enveloping the iron-hulled battleship "Fubin". This was the delayed fuse igniting the black gunpowder in the iron ball, causing serious secondary damage.

The blast caused by the explosion blew away more than a dozen French sailors, who fell into the river in a disorderly manner.

Amidst the loud explosion
Broken arms and limbs flew into the air, and the torn planks and splinters from the sides and masts flew everywhere, whistling and sweeping down a group of French sailors, with shouts ringing in the ears.

This caused heavy casualties on the Fubin, with corpses lying on the devastated deck and blood flowing everywhere.

When the thick smoke dissipated a little, the four large charred holes on the side of the iron-hulled battleship "Fubin" that were hit hard were revealed to everyone, looking shocking.

It tells the story of the crazy torture it once suffered. How cruel and inhumane it was?

Then a terrifying snapping sound was heard, and the rear mast, which was closest to the explosion of the 400-pound heavyweight bombardment shell, collapsed under the heavy weight, smashing the water surface and stirring up waves tens of meters high.

Because the bow of the ship was stuck diagonally on the river beach and ran aground, with the rear mast dragged in the water, the iron-hulled warship "Fubin" was actually unable to move and was crippled by a round of artillery fire.

The iron-hulled warship "Fubin" was essentially a wooden sailing warship, covered with a two-inch thick layer of iron armor for enhanced defense.

However, under the fierce close-range bombardment of the giant 400-pound shells, the defense was still torn apart, and the round iron shells filled with explosives fell into the cabin and exploded. How could there be any good in that?

Even though the French sailors were tens of meters away, they were still killed by the shock of the violent explosion.

On the sailing battleship "Machine Gunner" behind it, the French naval officers and soldiers who witnessed this tragedy all screamed in horror, and then looked at the ironclad battleship "Tarzan" which was as black as a hill, and were suddenly horrified.

Oh my God! Is this the ocean destroyer from hell?

The "Fubin" was a wooden sailing warship wrapped in iron sheets. In an era dominated by round solid shells, it had extremely strong defense and balanced firepower configuration, and it was also a new ship.

Otherwise, she would not have been selected as the flagship of the French Far East Navy.

But in a head-on confrontation, the difference in strength became apparent.

One side was directly crippled by a round of artillery fire, while the other side was like a breeze blowing across their face, unable to break through their defense at all.

A closer look
The "Taishan" was built as an ironclad heavy ship, made of iron from the inside out, especially the 6.5-inch thick iron armor, which had amazing defensive power.

The 60-pound bombardment bomb fired by the "Fubin" hit the thick armor of the Taishan hard, leaving only a mark as big as a washbasin, but failed to break the defense at all.

Then, the shells were squeezed and deformed by the huge bombardment force and fell into the water one after another, and even the burning fuses were extinguished.

As for the smaller caliber artillery, the damage was negligible, leaving only small and large dents on the black armor, that was all.

Such a result would surely cause the French naval officers and soldiers to collectively break down their defenses, and an atmosphere of fear instantly spread.

Fortunately, the "Taishan" passed by slowly and did not fire at the second-placed sailing battleship "Machine Gunner", but left it to the ironclad ship behind to deal with it.

The 15-inch Dahlgren cannon was incredibly powerful, but its heavy shells made loading it slow, taking seven or eight minutes to load one round. It would take at least 4 minutes to load all four front and rear gun platforms.

The 10-inch secondary guns were not reloaded quickly, taking only four to five minutes to complete. The commander of the French battleship "Machine Gunner" did not order the guns to fire, perhaps knowing that firing would be useless and would only waste ammunition.

This frightened the officers and soldiers on the French sailing battleship "Nemesis", which was ranked third, and they screamed. When the two ships were about to collide, several French sailors actually jumped off the battleship and fell into the water.

"Boom boom boom boom..."

"Boom boom..."

An unprecedentedly fierce artillery battle broke out again on the river. With the addition of more warships, the sound of artillery resounded between heaven and earth. The rising cloud of smoke enveloped all the warships of both sides, making it impossible to see clearly what was happening.

All I saw was the orange-red flames flashing continuously, like lightning in a thunderstorm. The increasingly thick smoke spread along the river surface, turning the vast river surface into a gray-black fog.

At this moment, the Saigon River was completely shrouded in an atmosphere of blood and killing.

The two naval fleets were like wild beasts, fighting each other at close range on the calm river surface. There was no fancy moves, only flesh-to-flesh damage.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu's sailing battleship "Guangming" was at the end of the list. His 820-ton sailing ship was just an insignificant little character in this bloody battle on the river.

Any one of the opponent's main sailing warships can bully the "Light" sailing battleship.

After more than 40 minutes, the entire sailing fleet came to a complete standstill.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu looked out with a monocular telescope. Dozens of warships were fighting each other in front of him. The sound of cannons was rumbling, mixed with gunshots and shouts. It was covered by the thick smoke and he could not see what was happening at all.
The broad river branch opposite Saigon Harbor was only about four or five hundred meters wide, but it was completely blocked by the sudden influx of more than twenty giant warships of over a thousand tons.

The warships at the back couldn't get up, and the warships at the front couldn't escape.

After the sailing speed completely stagnated, rounds of artillery fire were exchanged, causing the warships of both sides to either be stuck in the river branches, stranded on the shore, or entangled with each other, engaging in an even more brutal and bloody hand-to-hand combat.

As the sound of artillery gradually subsided, bursts of crisp volleys of gunfire rang out again, accompanied by shouts and the sound of swords and guns clashing, one after another.

More than half an hour later

The breeze on the river surface dispersed the thick smoke, and King Zheng Guohui of Chu finally caught a glimpse of something.

The Chu navy won, and it was a great victory.

The five leading ironclad heavy ships made great achievements. The 5-inch Dahlgren cannons they were equipped with were incredibly powerful, and they destroyed the French fleet on the enemy side, causing heavy casualties.

This created excellent conditions for the subsequent four sailing battleships "Rivers, Lakes and Seas". They only needed to take advantage of the situation and add salt to the wounded casualties of most French troops.

The fleet, which was almost at a standstill, allowed these five heavy ironclad ships to thrive.

do not forget

In order to avoid damaging the precious sailing mainmasts in this close-range river confrontation, the five ironclad heavy ships all furled their mainsails and jibs and sailed using steam power.

This allowed it to maintain a certain degree of flexibility when the entire French fleet was at a standstill.

Although the speed is slow, the distance is not far.

After approaching, the sides of the two ships were tied together tightly by the sailors. A large number of armed soldiers carried by the Chu State's ironclad heavy ships seized the ships and rushed to the deck of the French warship to engage in fighting.

This is why we hear waves of gunfire and shouts.

What made King Zheng Guohui of Chu particularly happy was
The soldiers had already captured the second-ranked sailing battleship "Machine Gunner". Although the battleship had several large charred holes blown out, it was obviously not fatally damaged due to its huge hull.

This is a five-masted sailing warship built in 1848, with a displacement of 3600 tons and a standard three-layer gun deck. Just looking at it makes people drool. It is the perfect ship for the King of Chu.

My status and position are different now, and it would be a loss of face to continue using the "Light" sailing ship. The "Machine Gunner" is just the right ship for me.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu did not care about the damage. Since it was a wooden sailing warship, he could just replace the damaged parts. It was not a big deal.

As long as it is repaired, it can still be a good boat.

Unfortunately, the iron-hulled battleship "Fubin" was definitely destroyed, and its main mast was broken, so it was not worth repairing. The good planks removed could be used to repair the sailing battleship "Machine Gun", which would not be a waste.

As for the French sailing battleship "Nemesis" at the back, it was also the target of the "Taishan"'s main firepower. Its exterior was battered to pieces and looked even worse than the iron-hulled battleship "Fubin". I wonder if it is still worth repairing?

It was easy to tell at a glance which of these French fleets was the warship that was the focus of the Taishan's firepower.

The "Rocket", which had half of its side sunk into the river, and the "Marceau", which had sunk into the water with only the top of its mast left, were definitely the result of the "Taishan"'s crazy firepower and were bombarded particularly badly.

The heavily armored battleship "Taishan" is like a strong man who has no mercy on women. It hit too hard and destroyed all my spoils.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu was thinking happily as he watched his soldiers capture one French warship after another. He couldn't help but smile with joy as if he had made a fortune.

At a glance
There were a few warships whose hulls were still intact, but they were basically occupied by fully armed Chinese soldiers, so there was no suspense anymore.

In this narrow river branch, there is nowhere to escape.

Any French warship that was attacked by the 15-inch Dahlgren guns at close range lost most of its combat capability after a round of bombardment.

In addition to the sailors who were killed directly by the explosion, many were also killed or knocked unconscious by the shock.

This resulted in the French Navy's weak resistance after the fully armed Chinese attacked the deck. After adding a few more deaths, the remaining ones surrendered.

If it is a naval battle

The French Navy was not so easily subdued. This was a perfect result that was achieved by maximizing the advantages of timing, terrain and weapons.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu was very happy and satisfied with the results of the battle. He believed that the strength of the Chu navy could be greatly enhanced.

(End of this chapter)