Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 470: The brave one wins when we meet on a narrow road
The commander of the formation was Lieutenant General Nie Tongsheng of the Royal Navy, an extremely experienced naval veteran who had originally stayed on the flagship "Manila" and did not accompany the King of Chu into the city.

Receiving the urgent order to sail, especially the "authority to make arbitrary decisions in the face of the enemy," Lieutenant General Nie Tongsheng felt immense pressure. He hurried to the King of Chu's temporary residence in Hua under cover of darkness and requested an audience with His Majesty.

After asking for permission in person, he left in a hurry.

Late at night in the early hours of the morning

The two ironclad warships, "Manila" and "Shangri-La", set sail urgently. They started the high-pressure fuel boilers, increased the temperature and pressure of the engines, and began preparations.

At about two o'clock in the morning, the two ironclad warships untied their cables, left the dock, and headed towards the dark sea.

The next morning, around seven o'clock

The two main armored warships of the Chu State sailed through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait one after the other and deployed in the open waters ahead.

The "Manila" and "Shangri-La" transformed into a queue moving side by side, more than ten kilometers apart, searching forward.

All the gunners on the battleship's gun platform were in position, with their gun covers torn off, in a state of pre-war alert as if facing a powerful enemy.

The British Royal Navy, which has been navigating the oceans for hundreds of years, would naturally understand these details and receive a clear signal of danger.

Not long after sailing forward, the lookout on the "Manila" was the first to discover the situation and immediately sounded the alarm.

The lookout post is located at the top of the sail mast. It has a half-person-high curved iron railing that can only accommodate one person, and two people would be very crowded.

When the lookout discovered the situation and issued an alarm, the officers on the ironclad ship "Manila" cruising near the coast all turned their telescopes towards the coast.

not long

Several dark dots appeared in the distance, near the Yemeni coast, and as they drew closer, they took on the silhouettes of large ships, four large and five small.

The four are obviously the two 10,000-ton cargo ships and two 10,000-ton coal carriers in the visiting European fleet. Their tall and majestic silhouettes are unmistakable.

The five small ships were warships belonging to the British Red Sea Fleet, consisting of an armored cruiser of more than 6000 tons and four armored frigates of more than 3000 tons. They were the instigators of the interception of the Chu cargo ship.

See this scene
Lieutenant General Nie Tongsheng's face turned unfriendly, and then a series of orders were issued. The Manila ironclad ship immediately became agitated, and the crew members ran to their battle positions.

"Sound the alarm bells. All ships enter level one combat readiness status and prepare for battle."

"Send the signal immediately and order the Shangri-La to come closer to me and prepare to form a team for combat without delay."

"Ride right 30 degrees, order engine room pressurization."

"Furl the sails, the rigging hands will tighten the fore and aft mainsails, furl the cables, and get ready for battle."

"Inform all gun positions and report on combat readiness."

"Order ammunition delivery. Prepare a base quantity for each battery. Complete within 10 minutes."

After the order was issued, all the officers and soldiers on the ship became busy as if they were whipped. The ammunition transporters pushed the rubber-wheeled carts and ran along the side of the ship, transporting artillery and ammunition to various gun positions.

The gunners nervously checked the ship's guns, performed rotation and elevation adjustments, and received the ammunition that had just been delivered. They used small crowbars to pry open the lids of the ammunition boxes and prepared for the shelling.

In the engine room on the bottom floor, next to the eight high-pressure fuel oil boilers, shirtless men took turns shoveling coal into the furnaces, and the sound of work calls rang out.

The pressure of the violently burning boiler rose sharply. The pressure gauge installed on the high-pressure steam pipe showed that the steam pressure continued to rise and soon reached the critical point of the pressure relief valve.

"Zizizizi" a large amount of white high-temperature steam shot out through the pressure relief raft, forming streams of white airflow visible to the naked eye, accompanied by a "zizizi" sound.

The Shangri-La, which was running parallel on the other side, received the signal and was rapidly approaching the Manila. The blood-red battle flag had been raised on the mast of the flagship Manila, which prompted the Shangri-La to start busy and orderly preparations for battle.

From a long distance, the Manila blew its whistle in a rhythmic pattern. The "three long and one short" whistle sent a tacit signal to the cargo ship anchored on the Red Sea coast.

"Set sail immediately!"

The four freighters, receiving the signal, quickly sprang into action, lowering their mainsails and heaving in their anchors. Thick black smoke billowed from their massive chimneys, indicating the pressurized heat engines were being used.

Upon seeing this, the British Red Sea Fleet immediately stepped forward to stop them. However, these Chu cargo ships ignored the call and continued to prepare for sailing in an orderly manner.

The ironclad ship, the "Manila," surged forward like a hill, its massive smokestacks billowing thick black smoke astern. The cold steel of the ship, bearing a powerful, invisible pressure, pressed down like a bull.

Rear Admiral Knorr Townsend, commander of the British Red Sea Fleet's flagship, the Edward Strip, turned pale. Seeing that the enemy was clearly using brute force to break the blockade, he immediately ordered:
"Order Perseverance to advance rapidly, block the enemy's path, and force them to turn and slow down. Execute immediately."

"As you command, sir."

The messenger of the flagship "Edward Streep" immediately carried out the order and conveyed the order to Perseverance through flag signals.

Upon receiving the order, the armored cruiser "Perseverance" immediately moved forward at high speed. After entering the opponent's forward channel, it performed an emergency U-turn on the sea, leaving a huge semicircular symbol on the blue sea.

"What a fucking bastard! These British guys are shameless hooligans." Vice Admiral Nie Tongsheng slammed his fist on the bridge desk, and the anger in his heart surged.

The British ship was clearly provoking. Given the huge and heavy hull of the "Manila", it would take seven or eight kilometers to slow down and stop the ship, and it couldn't even stop.

The current speed has reached level 13, like a heavyweight player rushing forward, and it is impossible to dodge flexibly.

"Sound the whistle to warn, all ships accelerate, and ram them." Lieutenant General Nie Tongsheng gave the order word by word, his face becoming extremely ugly.

If the British ship was really sunk, it would be a big event.

Once accountability is taken

If the State of Chu could not withstand the pressure and chose to give in, then he would become the scapegoat, and his glorious military career of many years might come to an end. He would bear enormous pressure on his shoulders.

However, the repeated provocative actions of the British warships completely enraged this iron-blooded man who had experienced countless wars, and made Lieutenant General Nie Tongsheng choose to rush forward with all his might.

We cannot give in. The fleet is safeguarding the glory of the kingdom. We must move forward bravely in the face of blatant provocation, no matter who the enemy is.
Lieutenant General Nie Tongsheng, who has experienced dozens of large and small bloody battles at sea, is very opinionated. Since Your Majesty has granted me the power to "make decisions on the spot", I will take all the responsibility.

When we meet on a narrow road, the brave wins.

At this time, the ironclad "Shangri-La" which had mixed into the formation saw thick smoke billowing from the thick chimney of the ironclad Manila in front of it, and it was obviously accelerating, which was a very dangerous move.

On the route ahead

The British ship HMS Perseverance was lying diagonally across the shipping route, with the two sides only about three or four kilometers apart. For an ultra-heavy warship like the Manila-class ironclad, it was already very close.

The Manila-class ironclad battleship has a displacement of more than 15,000 tons, and its turning radius alone requires seven or eight kilometers. This distance is right in front of us.

The Shangri-La chose to follow without hesitation. The billowing black smoke from its thick chimney became thicker and began to accelerate, sailing closely alongside the flagship.

Such an undisguised murderous act scared the captain of the "Perseverance", Lieutenant Commander Craven, to death.

Lieutenant Colonel Craven went from being complacent at first to looking gloomy and then pale with panic in just a few minutes.

He shouted madly:

"Oh, my God! What do these Orientals want?"

"Damn it, these are a bunch of lunatics."

"These Chu warships have removed their gun covers. This is ridiculous. Are they really ready for a decisive battle with the British Royal Navy? This is absolutely impossible."

"Damn it! These Orientals are really serious!"

"Turn left 60 degrees, and accelerate as fast as you can! Let's get out of here, or our battleship will be turned into a torn rag. Quick, quick!"

At the end, Lieutenant Colonel Craven showed a look of fear on his face and shouted at the top of his lungs.

From the channel occupied by the "Perseverance", facing the huge ironclad warship that was rushing towards them with murderous intent, they felt the overwhelming pressure and were so scared that their legs went weak.

In front of the world's top battleships with a displacement of up to 3242 tons, the -ton "Perseverance" armored cruiser is no more than a toy.

The British ship "Perseverance" relies on the British Royal Navy that traverses the seven seas, not the small boat under its butt. The two are not on the same level at all.

When intimidation didn't work, Commander Craven didn't dare to gamble with the lives of all 143 officers and soldiers on the ship.

The two huge ironclad ships rushing towards them were like two moving hills on the sea, cutting through the waves at a speed of 14 knots. The irresistible and powerful momentum was extremely shocking.

The British ship "Perseverance" quickly broke out at full power and sped away, making a flexible left turn in front of the blocked channel and avoiding it awkwardly. In just six or seven minutes

The swooping ironclad ships "Manila" and "Shangri-La" had already arrived. The high bow of the Manila in front was only two or three hundred meters away from the stern of the "Perseverance". The two sides almost passed each other.

If it had been two or three minutes slower, the tragedy would have been inevitable.

The ironclad ship "Manila" rushed straight forward like a mad bull, without any dodging.

It has a deep draft, and when it passes at high speed, it creates huge waves within a radius of two or three kilometers, rolling up layer by layer.

It directly pulled the course of the "Perseverance" which was fleeing at high speed to a deviation of more than 20 degrees, like a small paper boat.

The "Shangri-La" that followed repeated the same thing, which caused great harm to the "Perseverance".

This 3242-ton British ironclad cruiser was trying to escape at all costs and was originally turning to return to the fleet, but was pulled from the front and the back, and the battleship's course was completely out of control.

After finally calming down from the shock, he looked back and saw that Captain Craven's face had turned pale with fright.

At this time, the "Perseverance" was rushing towards the Red Sea coast at high speed. The tall reefs on the coast were clearly visible, and the distance was only three or four kilometers.

The Red Sea is originally a narrow and long inland sea, with a length of 2250 kilometers and a width of more than 300 kilometers at its widest point. However, this narrow sea area just outside the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is only 42 kilometers wide.

The British fleet intercepted the Chu cargo ship and anchored it on the coast near Yemen, which was not far from the coast.

The "Perseverance" avoided the greatest danger through its urgent evasion, but it was unexpectedly carried off course by two irresistible huge waves and headed straight for the coast.

"Slow down, slow down! Slow down as fast as you can, damn it, 30 degrees left."

"Drop the left anchor, and move quickly."

"Merciful God, please do not abandon us. We are your faithful lambs. May your holy light shine upon us! Praise you..."

After issuing a series of orders, Lieutenant Colonel Craven began to pray with a pale face. The British officers and soldiers on the bridge were in a panic, shouting and conveying orders.

I saw several sailors quickly running forward, unlocking the anchor winch and releasing the lock.

After all, the armored cruiser "Perseverance" has a displacement of more than 3000 tons. The weight of the anchor alone reaches more than pounds, and the weight of the chain totals more than pounds, which is far beyond the ability of human power to turn.

The ironclad ships used small steam engines, which were driven by special high-pressure steam pipes and controlled by valves.

The operation of hoisting the anchor is quite complicated and takes at least thirty to forty minutes to complete, but releasing the anchor chain is much simpler.

There are two safety locks to release the anchor chain, which requires the use of a large hammer.

In an emergency, by releasing the anchor chain to grab the mud on the river bottom, the warship can be forcibly pulled to change direction and forced to slow down.

2 minutes later

Then he heard the deafening sound of the anchor chain "clattering" into the sea, which made Lieutenant Colonel Craven feel much better, and he finally had a glimmer of hope in his heart.

He stared at the reef in front of him with a pale face. The distance was now about 2 kilometers and was still approaching at a rapid speed.

Although the order to slow down had been given, the warship weighing thousands of tons had huge inertia and still crashed into the coast uncontrollably.

"God, please save your lamb, he needs your power, your wisdom, your divine light..."

After a few seconds

With a loud "bang", the battleship "Perseverance" suddenly stopped from high speed. The officers and soldiers on the ship fell down one after another. Many of them hit the hard hull and immediately suffered bleeding heads.

It's over, we've hit the rocks.

Commander Craven's prayers had no effect, and it was too late to release the anchor chain.

As a typical naval warship, the "Perseverance" armored cruiser has an anchor chain length of about nine times the length of the ship, totaling about a thousand meters.

There is a process for releasing them into the sea.

After the anchor falls to the bottom of the sea, it is dragged forward by the hull for a distance. After all the anchor chains are released and the anchor is deeply hooked on the seabed and straightened, it will give the "Perseverance" the powerful force to change its course.

In the current emergency situation, it’s simply too late!

After a loud bang, the bow of the "Perseverance" was lifted up three and a half meters. Then, due to insufficient support force on the right side, the entire hull tilted severely to the right.

A dozen British sailors were thrown into the sea with screams, like ants shaken off a giant.

all of these

Rear Admiral Knorr Townsend, commander-in-chief of the Red Sea Squadron's flagship, Lord Edward Streep, saw it all. A trace of deep helplessness flashed in his eyes, and his face became even uglier.

He had led his fleet to participate in the Anglo-French Allied Forces' war against Chu more than a decade ago, under the command of Major General Hack Clark of the 2nd Sailing Battleship Squadron. At that time, he was still a naval lieutenant colonel.

The Second Sailing Battleship Squadron suffered a crushing defeat in the powerful confrontation with the Chu Navy. Many warships were sunk or damaged, and countless officers and soldiers were killed or wounded.

His old boss, Major General Harry Clark, was held accountable for this and retired in disgrace. He died in depression at the age of 56.

In the heart of Commodore Knorr-Townsend, there is a deep hatred for the Chu Royal Navy.

It just so happened that James Joy, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, was a hard-line conservative who disliked those Orientals who buzzed around like mosquitoes, and was deeply wary of the colonial expansion of the Chu State.

After learning about the King of Chu's visit to Europe, the two men decided to give the visiting European fleet a warning and dampen the morale of the Orientals.

Commodore Knorr-Townsend knew

Behind this, there must be instructions from London's political bigwigs. The water is very deep here, and he cannot reach a higher level.

"Sir, what should I do?"

"The mission has failed. Order them to clear the channel. I hope they will always be so lucky."

"Yes, sir, clear the channel."

Under the order of Rear Admiral Knorr-Townsend, the Red Sea Squadron turned aside and watched helplessly as the Manila and Shangri-La, along with four cargo ships that had set sail, passed by them in a swaggering manner.

After being baptized by wind and rain, these huge ships of the Chu State seem to have become even more powerful.

The humiliating feeling of failure lingered in the hearts of every British Royal Navy officer and soldier, making them extremely angry and spitting at the passing Chu warships.

Of course, there is no practical significance.

If saliva could destroy enemies, humans would not have developed so many weapons in the process of social evolution and development.

Now the British Red Sea Squadron has more important things to do, which is to rescue the "Perseverance" that has run aground. If the bottom beam of the ship is damaged, this ironclad cruiser may be ruined.

This unauthorized action has resulted in a loss of both face and dignity.

When intimidation failed, the British Red Sea Fleet, consisting of only a few big cats and small cats, was unable to stop the powerful "Manila" and "Shangri-La".

Anyone who dares to fire the first shot will be treated like a delivery boy.

It is common sense that even the 203mm main gun equipped on the British Red Sea Fleet flagship "Lord Edward Strip" could not break through the heavy armor of the main ironclad ship of the Chu State.

The only rival for the Chu State’s main ironclad battleships was the British ironclad battleships of the same level.

Rear Admiral Knorr-Townsend was not so crazy as to challenge 6000-ton ironclad battleships with two 15000-ton ironclad cruisers. He wisely chose to retreat.

The Chu State's six ships formed a regular single-column formation and sailed past one after another in a majestic manner.

The Chinese crew members on the coal and cargo ships hissed loudly and shouted wildly at the British fleet officers and soldiers to vent their uncontrollable excitement.

There was even a Chinese rigging hand who stood on a tall mast, took off his pants to expose his white buttocks, and swayed around at the British fleet officers and soldiers, mocking them madly.

"Damn you Englishman! Eat my ass."

(End of this chapter)