Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 311 Bombardment of Dagukou

Duolong ran away, but Dagukou still had to be defended.

The only thing that made Zhou Zhi feel fortunate was that Dagu Association’s deputy general Long Ruyuan did not escape.

Otherwise, there would be no way to defend Dagukou!

Zhou Zhi and Long Ruyuan met, and after some negotiations, Long Ruyuan rushed to request the garrison in Tianjin City to send reinforcements.

Zhou Zhi climbed up the artillery position and began to arrange defenses while trying to calm the Qing army's gunners and soldiers who were in chaos.

"Don't panic, brothers."

"Stay still!"

"Although the Tang bandits are coming, judging from their fleet, they are mostly small boats such as red single ships and Guangchuan and Fuchuan."

"There aren't many large sailing ships like the ones the foreigners have."

"With the firepower of Dagukou, we can still deal with those small boats by firing one shot at each one."

"Everyone, don't panic. As long as we respond in an orderly manner, the Tang thieves will definitely not be able to break through our Dagukou!"

Faced with the aggressive Tang army, Zhou Zhi actually had no idea what to do.

However, no matter how unsure he was, he could not show it in front of these soldiers.

Looking around, seeing that the morale of the people below was still low, Zhou Zhi continued.

"Don't be afraid, he's just a thief. There's nothing to be afraid of."

"The foreigners all praised our Dagukou artillery, and we have many powerful foreign gunners here."

"If the Tang thieves come to attack, they will be punished!"

When everyone heard this, they still looked at each other in bewilderment.

Suddenly, someone said something in the crowd.

"But, but even the foreigners are no match for the Tang army..."

When Zhou Zhi heard this, his eyes widened immediately, he looked around at the crowd and shouted coldly.

"Who said that? Which bastard was talking just now?"

"Boosting other people's morale and destroying your own prestige?"

"Whoever said that, get out here right now!"

The crowd immediately fell silent, but no one admitted who had been speaking.

Just at this moment, Long Ruyuan walked over.

Behind him were several personal soldiers, who were carrying a box.

With a clang, the box was placed in front of everyone, and Long Ruyuan said in a clear voice.

"Brothers, I just went to report the military situation to the Zhili Governor, Lord Shi. Lord Shi has already begun to mobilize troops to reinforce Dagukou."

"In addition, a box of silver was allocated to this official to be used for rewarding the brothers."

"Have you seen the Tang pirate fleet outside Dagukou? The admiral said that if you sink an enemy ship, you will be rewarded with 1,000 taels of silver. The reward will be paid on the spot without any delay."

As he spoke, Long Ruyuan opened the box in front of him.

In an instant, white silver ingots appeared, and soon greedy and eager eyes looked over.

The Qing army gunners on the artillery platform rekindled their fighting spirit and were no longer so afraid of the invading Tang army fleet.

Many times, the greed in people's hearts can easily overwhelm fear.

……

Outside Dagukou!

The Tang fleet was still advancing.

Wu Quanmei withdrew his gaze from the direction of Dagukou Fort, narrowed his eyes, and then said.

"Dagukou is the gateway to Tianjin and the most important coastal defense town of the Qing Dynasty. If we take Dagukou, we can go straight to the capital."

"When the Dagu Fort was built, the Qing government must have put a lot of thought into it."

"If our army wants to take Dagukou in this battle, it will probably take some effort."

What Wu Quanmei said makes sense.

When the Second Opium War broke out in history, the Qing government took advantage of the Dagu Fort to inflict a heavy blow on the British and French forces.

When the British and French allied forces invaded Dagukou for the first time, Zhili Admiral Shi Rongchun, Dagu Assistant Commander Long Ruyuan and others led the way and commanded the artillery to meet the enemy.

After a fierce battle, thanks to the proper command of the Qing army and sufficient firepower, they sank ten British and French warships, killed and wounded nearly 500 enemy soldiers, and seriously injured the British fleet commander, Hobbs, achieving great results.

Although the victory in the Dagukou Battle was the only victory achieved by the Qing army during the entire Second Opium War.

But it was a win!

Successfully repelled the invading British and French forces.

This shows how powerful the Dagu Fort is.

Although in the current timeline, the Dagukou Battle did not happen and will not happen.

However, this did not prevent Wu Quanmei from being cautious about the Dagu Fort.

After all, Dagu Fort was the coastal defense gateway of the Qing Dynasty, so it was not excessive to be cautious.

Chen Guotai, who was standing by, heard this and spoke.

"Commander, let me take a look."

"In this battle, our army should try to avoid using troops and artillery to bombard each other. Instead, we should send landing troops to land and attack the artillery from behind, just like we did during the Langqi Island artillery battle, and then advance by land and sea to capture the artillery."

Upon hearing this, Wu Quanmei nodded in agreement.

Then he turned his gaze to Zhang Biao, commander of the 2nd Brigade of the Imperial Guard Division, and spoke with a smile.

"The naval battle will be handled by our navy, and the land battle will be handled by Brother Zhang."

Because Zhang Biao came from the Imperial Guard Division, Wu Quanmei was very polite to him.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Biao nodded and clasped his fists.

"Don't worry, Commander Wu. I will ensure that the mission is accomplished."

This time, the Tang army sent the navy on an expedition across the sea to Dagukou.

The main purpose was to capture Dagukou and station troops there, thereby threatening the Qing court in the capital, so as to prevent the Qing court from sending troops south while the Tang army was in Shandong to provide disaster relief. Since Dagukou was to be captured and troops stationed there, the navy alone would not be enough.

We also need a sufficiently elite marine corps that can fight and resist.

After thinking about it, Li Yi decisively sent out his guards.

In the next period of time, the Tang Dynasty's main focus will inevitably be on disaster relief and digesting the results of the war.

At most within one or two years, unless there is an unexpected event, we will not move troops to continue fighting northwards.

If this is the case, the troops attacking or even stationed in Dagukou will inevitably become an isolated force.

Even with the support and supply of its own fleet, the situation of this isolated army would probably not be very good.

In such circumstances, only the elite can withstand the pressure and stand firm.

So, Li Yi sent out his royal guards.

Li Yi's imperial guards were the best in the Tang army in terms of personnel, weapons, training, and treatment.

For example, the soldiers of Li Yi's imperial guards are all elite selected from the best of the various units of the Tang army.

As for weapons, the Guards Division has completed the replacement of all its personnel with breech-loading rifles and breech-loading artillery. Even the limited-production rotary machine guns have been successfully distributed to the battalion level, with each battalion equipped with three.

With such soldiers and weapons and equipment, the combat effectiveness of Li Yi's imperial guards is self-evident.

Li Yi could only feel at ease if he entrusted them with such a difficult task as garrisoning Dagukou.

Wu Quanmei nodded slightly, and then began to arrange the attack on Dagukou.

Immediately, the Tang army fleet split into two groups, advancing one way forward, preparing to bombard Dagukou and cover the landing of their own landing troops.

The other group was preparing to land on the beach, bypass the rear of the fort and launch an attack on it.

boom! Boom boom!

The deafening sound of artillery fire echoed across the battlefield.

Shells flew across the battlefield.

The three steam-powered ironclad ships leading the Tang army turned their flanks toward the fort and began shelling.

The breech-loading rifled cannon roared, and smoke immediately spread in the cabin.

boom! Boom boom!

Several shells cut through the air and accurately hit the position of the artillery position.

Rumbling explosions continued to sound, and shock waves surged.

A cannonball landed not far from Zhou Zhi. It exploded with a bang, and the air wave and flames spread instantly, blowing Zhou Zhi and several of his personal soldiers away.

"Bah! Bah, bah, bah!"

Zhou Zhi wiped the sand off his face, got up from the ground, and kept spitting out the sand that splashed into his mouth.

There were bursts of tinnitus in his ears, and the world before his eyes was shaking as if the heaven and earth were shaking.

After finally regaining his balance, Zhou Zhi was still seeing blackheads in front of his eyes.

"Damn it, the Tang thieves' cannon is so scary."

"The power of this shrapnel is too scary!"

Looking at the fireworks constantly blooming on the Dagukou Fort, Zhou Zhi realized the horror of the Tang army's explosive bombs and felt a chill in his heart.

I've already started to feel timid.

But not far away, Dagu Association's deputy general Long Ruyuan was still shouting at the top of his lungs, directing the battle.

"Don't panic, brothers!"

"Fight back! Fight back!"

"We are a fort, how can we be afraid of the naval guns? Hit us hard!"

boom! Boom boom! Boom boom boom!

A cloud of smoke rose from the Dagukou Fort.

The black solid shells were fired towards the Tang army fleet on the sea.

Most of the shells fell into the sea, and columns of water rose up and filled the air with mist.

But some shells successfully hit the leading steam ironclad ship.

However, the shells hit the hull of the ironclad ship, making a loud clanging sound.

But that's about it.

The heavy shells barely left a dent in the ship's armor.

It can't penetrate armor!
Seeing this scene, Wu Quanmei immediately felt confident and ordered his fleet to continue moving forward, approaching the artillery position and launching artillery fire.

Boom! Boom!
The shelling became more intense.

The Tang army's breech-loading artillery demonstrated an astonishing rate of fire and accuracy. Once a breech-loading artillery piece was fired at full strength, it could almost match the firepower of five or six muzzle-loading artillery pieces.

Amid the rumbling sound of artillery fire, explosive shells were continuously fired towards the Dagukou Fort.

The shells hit the gun platform, and only smoke and dust billowed and flames shot into the sky.

The screams of the Qing army gunners could be faintly heard.

With the support of the higher firing rate of breech-loading artillery, the three steam ironclad ships of the Tang army steadily suppressed the artillery positions of the Qing army.

If the Qing army's artillery fortifications had not been very solid, the Tang army might not have needed to land its own infantry to fight, and could have taken Dagukou with just the fleet's bombardment.

"Sir Lieutenant General, our cannons can't hit the Tang bandits' warships!"

A Qing army gunner came up to Long Ruyuan with an anxious look on his face and began to report.

Upon hearing this, Long Ruyuan did not reply, but just stared at the artillery battle on the sea with a blank expression, and there was obvious helplessness in his eyes.

After a moment, he came back to his senses and soothed her.

"Don't panic!"

"Don't panic!"

"Although our army's artillery can't hit the Tang bandit warships, can't the Tang bandit warships' artillery hit our artillery positions?"

"What's there to be afraid of?"

(End of this chapter)