Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 309 Going straight to Huanglong
Starting from the fifth day

The attacking British and French forces seemed to have let out the breath they had been holding in their hearts. They no longer launched attacks early every day, but instead fired a round of artillery at nine or ten o'clock in the morning, and another round of artillery at two or three o'clock in the afternoon, and then hurriedly called it a day.

This went on for two days.

I believe Lieutenant General Connor has also figured out that Bandar Seri Begawan is a tough nut to crack.

After four days of fierce attacks, countless artillery fire was consumed, tens of thousands of officers and soldiers of the Allied Forces were killed or wounded, and one third of the total force was lost, but they still failed to break through the hard bone of the heavily defended Chu army.

If we continue to fight, how many more troops will be lost?
Even if they were to defeat the Allied Forces in the end, they would probably suffer heavy casualties and their combat effectiveness would be greatly reduced. It was really not worth it.

On the other hand, the Malayan Expeditionary Force
Lieutenant Colonel Zheng Jiayu, commander of the newly formed 10th Regiment of the Chu State Royal Army, who was defending the earthen city wall, had survived the past two days without any danger. He finally breathed a sigh of relief, his heart at ease.

The British and French forces did not repeat the frenzy of their previous attack. If it happened again, it is still unclear whether the 10th Regiment could withstand it.

Taking advantage of the two days of leisure, the newly formed 10th Regiment filled the vacancies with more than a thousand reinforcements, distributed weapons and equipment, and soon recovered to full strength.

These replacement soldiers are carefully selected elite Chinese militiamen.

He is young and in good health, with a high level of training. He has been following the army for training. The only thing he lacks is incomplete weapons and equipment.

The situations of other regiments were mostly similar. After suffering heavy losses, they all used reinforcements to recover.

this week time
The Malayan Expeditionary Force had nearly 4,000 reinforcements left, which basically filled the army with all the previously accumulated resources.

The next step is to continue recruiting more people from the militia and train more supplementary soldiers.

A lot of spoils have been captured in the bloody battles these days, so it shouldn't be a problem to equip three to four thousand reinforcements.

at the same time
The British and French allied forces were also not idle. They sent out three detachments in succession, each with about one or two thousand people, to wreak havoc and sweep through the countryside to the left of Bandar Seri Begawan, burning down more than a dozen villages in succession.

When they wanted to go deeper, they always found earthen cities and bunker defense lines ahead, either in the valley pass or on the main traffic routes, and there were Chu troops stationed there in varying numbers to defend them.

After several attacks, both sides suffered casualties.

Seeing that they could not gain any benefits, the three armies withdrew unwillingly.

Actually

There are many towns and villages near Bandar Seri Begawan, but most of the local indigenous population has been exterminated. Boatloads of indigenous women have been transported to the three islands of the Chu mainland, while the indigenous men have been thrown into labor camps and are working hard to build bridges and roads in the inland hinterland.

Who are the people in these towns?

These rural towns were basically empty, with no new Chinese immigrants moving in. All the oxen and mules that could be seized, as well as the pigs, sheep, and poultry raised by the indigenous people, as well as the food and farm tools, had already been looted.

Apart from finding some old and moldy cassava and rice, the British and French forces could only vent their anger on the thatched houses and set them on fire.

Occasionally, some indigenous chiefs who escaped would cry bitterly and point their fingers to the sky, expressing their grief at the brutal acts of the Malayan Expeditionary Force.

Compared with the British colonial period, it is like heaven and earth.

This time, Lieutenant General Connor was completely helpless.

It turns out that the Chu State's Malayan Expeditionary Force is much more brutal than himself, and is even more cruel to these local indigenous people. They are directly aiming to eradicate their race. Wouldn't it be helping them if they carried out a rural sweep?
Not long
The British and French allied forces withdrew the three armies and stationed them at the bay dock for repairs, resting and waiting for news.

As early as the fifth day, Vice Admiral Calvin Phillips, commander-in-chief of the British and French allied forces, led the fleet away. The first target of attack was the very close Zamboanga Peninsula.

On the sea near Zamboanga

The powerful coalition sailing fleet covered the entire sea, and all that could be seen were the sails of a forest of ships. This gave people a great sense of oppression, and a chill ran down their spines.

But that's all
No matter how powerful the fleet is, it cannot reach the shore. The pagoda fortress at the top of the Zamboanga Peninsula is like a monster entrenched on the top of a hill. The 9-story pagoda that has been under construction for several years is already 7 stories high, revealing its majestic figure.

The Pagoda Fortress had defensive capabilities earlier, encompassing the surrounding ports and, together with the fortress sub-forts on several nearby hills, forming a relatively complete coastal defense system.

Even with the strength of the Anglo-French fleet, they did not dare to easily take advantage of the situation.

After bombarding the coast from a distance and making several tentative attacks, two or three sailing ships in the fleet suffered minor damage.

Vice Admiral Calvin Phillips gave up the idea of ​​continuing the attack and led the fleet to withdraw from the Zamboanga Peninsula and head towards Davao Province.

along the way
When encountering coastal cities, the Allied sailing fleet would approach and bombard them fiercely, picking on the weak ones. They destroyed many urban buildings along the way and caused fires in some areas.

The purpose of the Anglo-French fleet was to regain ground. These unknown small coastal cities obviously could not satisfy the appetite of Vice Admiral Calvin Phillips.

September 19th, 2025

The British and French fleets arrived at the Bay of Vauxhall with murderous intent. First, the fleets braved the coastal artillery fire and launched a fierce bombardment on some urban buildings near the coast.

More than 100 houses collapsed and a large fire was started, which spread to nearby blocks and set fire to some old wooden houses.

Looking at the thick smoke caused by the city fire and the people rushing to put out the fire from afar, the white officers and soldiers on the British and French fleet laughed, feeling that they had finally gotten rid of their anger.

Vice Admiral Calvin Phillips also had a smug look on his face. He had been holding it in for a long time, and finally he was able to hold his head high in front of these cunning Orientals. It was not easy!

But there are some shortcomings
After all, the range of naval guns is limited. The maximum firing distance is between 1500 and 1800 meters, and the optimal firing distance is between 150 and 600 meters. The shells at this distance have the greatest lethality.

Therefore, the shelling destroyed only the buildings along the coast, and for such a large city, the damage was only superficial.

intelligence display
Davao Province is the largest city in the Tongzhou Islands. It has a population of more than 37 and its land defense capabilities are not weak.

With only more than 10,000 sailors in the Anglo-French fleet, they could not bite off such a big piece of meat.

After being taught a lesson many times, the senior commanders of the British and French forces have now learned their lesson.

He knew that the officers and soldiers of the Chu State were not weaklings, and their combat effectiveness was quite strong, not inferior to the white officers and soldiers of the British and French forces, and much stronger than the colonial troops to which they belonged.

In the officers' mess of the flagship "Pearl of Calcutta", a fleet military meeting is being held to study the next military strategy.

The large map placed on the dining table in the middle contains military information collected by the British and French forces through various channels.

Most of the forts at the river mouth of Davao Province, the fort at Zamboanga Pagoda, the strait forts in Cebu Islands, the fort at Corregidor in Manila, the fort at Cavite, the fort at Fubomen, etc. are clearly marked on it.

There were also some unknown forts and batteries, and the related straits were marked with question marks. These were unexplored areas that the Anglo-French fleet would have to venture into. Looking at the densely packed forts and batteries on the map, all the officers of the Anglo-French fleet felt extremely daunted and remained silent with solemn expressions.

Although the sailing fleet is powerful, taking the initiative to challenge the fortress artillery is itself a disadvantageous thing.

We suffered a setback in Singapore and a minor setback in Zamboanga City. Now we are in Davao City. I feel unwilling to just destroy some coastal buildings and leave.

why?

Whether it is Bandar Seri Begawan, Zamboanga or Davao, these once busy port cities have all been fortified and all ships have been evacuated.

To date
The mighty Anglo-French expeditionary fleets only destroyed a few small fish and shrimps, and did not even encounter a few decent sailing cargo ships, causing minimal damage to Chu's maritime transportation.

It's like using a cannon to kill a mosquito. I almost sprained my back.

The State of Chu was founded on industry and commerce, with thousands of sailing cargo ships of all sizes, so of course its assets were more than just this.

What is now known about the British and French fleets

In the Davao River, there were hundreds of ships densely anchored, all of which were evacuated from the port to escape the war. They were all a large group of fat sheep.

If I could go in and burn, kill and loot, the evil feeling in my heart would dissipate a lot.

But the problem is

The estuary fortress guarding the river mouth in Davao Province is no joke. There are three coastal artillery fortresses, one main and two secondary, equipped with powerful 15-inch Dahlgren bombardments, which are life-threatening.

why?
Unlike ordinary coastal fortresses, estuary fortresses are located at the mouth of the sea and are located upstream of the estuary, which is very troublesome.

The estuary of the Davao River is six or seven hundred meters wide, but it is just a trumpet-shaped mouth. After two or three kilometers, the width of the estuary shrinks sharply to more than four hundred meters.

The main blockage at the river mouth is located here, which is equivalent to blocking the throat.

The two secondary fortresses are located five or six kilometers further upstream, where the river channel is narrower and there is no room to maneuver, so the threat posed by coastal heavy artillery is even greater.

With the painful lesson of the sinking of the French Far East Fleet's armored battleship "Foubin" in the past, even with the powerful "Pearl of Calcutta", it did not dare to take the risk lightly.

The logic here is simple

The naval guns of today generally have short and rough sounds, and pursue great power within a short distance, especially the optimal fleet engagement distance of about 150 to 600 meters, which can maximize the power of the naval guns.

Taking the largest-caliber 68-pound heavy gun equipped by the British Royal Navy as an example, within a distance of 300 meters, there is a certain degree of certainty that it can penetrate the side of a warship covered with armor about two inches thick, send the shells into the cabin of the enemy ship and explode, causing maximum lethal power.

The closer the distance, the greater the power.

If the distance is extended to 500 meters, then the side of the enemy warship equipped with about two inches of armor can only be damaged but not penetrated.

If the distance is extended to 800 meters, the potential energy of the shell will decline sharply, and it may only be able to create a shelling mark as big as a small round table on the side of the enemy ship.

If the distance is extended to more than 1,200 meters, the potential energy of the shell will be almost exhausted, and the damage caused, which is a shell wound the size of a washbasin, can be completely ignored.

because of this

The fortress at the river mouth was stuck in this critical position, which made the senior officers of the powerful Anglo-French fleet feel frightened, envious but also full of concerns.

When the British and French fleets were patrolling the bay, they looked through telescopes along the river mouth and could see densely packed masts like a forest, all anchored deep in the Davao River.

Whenever they saw this, the senior officers of the British and French forces would feel their eyes burn with excitement.

But when he turned around and saw the huge fortress entrenched at the river mouth like a monster, its sturdy and cold figure was like a basin of cold water poured over his head, and he instantly entered the sage state.

The fleet military meeting lasted for a long time, and the final conclusion was still to be cautious and not to attack the river mouth fortress.

The 15-inch Dahlgren bombardment gun is a life-threatening weapon. Once it enters the estuary channel, there is nowhere to hide or dodge, and you can only advance under the artillery fire.

Even if you pass the main fortress, there are still two secondary fortresses behind it.

The only difference is

The main fort was equipped with 7 15-inch Dahlgren bombardments and 16 10-inch rifled guns, and its firepower was extremely terrifying.

The two secondary fortresses were each equipped with three 15-inch Dahlgren bombardments and 5 to 6 10-inch rifled guns, and their firepower configuration was much weaker.

But the problem is that the river channel controlled by the secondary fortress is also narrower, with an average width of only more than 240 meters.

The British and French fleets normally sailed in the center of the river, only about 100 meters away from the river bank. That was simply dancing on the line of death and was too dangerous.

Decisions made at military meetings

The senior officers of the Allied Fleet were also not inclined to break through the defense line of the Cebu Strait Fortress. There were many islands in that sea area, the straits were generally narrow, the information about the defensive artillery batteries on both sides of the strait was unclear, and there were too many unpredictable factors.

In that kind of place

Just setting up a few cannons on the shore can pose a great threat to the fleet.

The strait is only one or two kilometers wide, but its length can be tens, dozens, or even hundreds of kilometers. It would kill a lot of brain cells if you tried to cross it in fear.

There are straits nested within straits, which makes people dizzy just looking at them.

The final military meeting unanimously decided

Head north to Manila, capture the Corregidor Fortress at all costs, enter the Manila Bay, and bombard the city of Manila. This will boost the morale of the army to the greatest extent and restore lost face.

This will pave the way for the final landing in Manila. At that time, the British and French allied forces' army troops will arrive continuously, attack Huanglong directly, and capture the biggest culprit of this war, King Chu, so as to avenge the previous humiliation and win the final victory in the war.

To achieve this ultimate goal, there is no need to waste the fleet's precious strength elsewhere.

If you have to say so, it does make sense.

Although the defense of the Coroxido Fortress is stronger, more complete and more terrifying, the main channel of the strait is 3 kilometers wide, not 300 meters wide. The Anglo-French Allied Fleet is still confident that it can break through.

(End of this chapter)