Master Yuan, start!

This naval battle off the coast of Zhejiang ended with the French ship La Galizonta being hit, the stern of the French ship Bashar being damaged, the speed being reduced, and the Qing army being completely annihilated except for the Nanchen which escaped.

Courbet did not expect that this victory would come so easily. He even felt that it was easier than annihilating the Qing Dynasty's Fujian Navy at Mawei last year.

After all, the Fujian Navy of the Qing Dynasty was all anchored in the port, making them almost sitting ducks.

The three warships in front of us that were slowly sinking were fighting back while running, but why were they so weak?

However, the leading general still had some courage from the Age of Discovery and dared to use the broken hull to directly collide with the enemy.

"What a pity. The way sailing ships fought in the Age of Discovery has long since changed. Now is the era of ironclad ships and steam boilers." Courbet took off his military cap and observed a moment of silence for the naval commander who committed suicide.

In the end, due to Wu Ankang's erroneous escape order, nearly half of the Nanyang Navy's few main warships were destroyed.

The remaining half of the fleet was also isolated along the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang due to the previous order to patrol out of the port. They were unable to communicate with each other in time and could not pose a deterrent to the French Navy.

However, it is not surprising that Wu Ankang had such an idea at the beginning. Although the warships of the Nanyang Navy were all funded by the court, the navy was still influenced by the militia model of the Qing army where soldiers served as commanders.

Er always felt that the ships and soldiers under his command were his own life and property. If he killed all his men, he would be dismissed from his post and sent home by the court at best, or imprisoned at worst.

This kind of thinking also existed during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 ten years later in the original time and space. Did Li Hongzhang really not know that the Beiyang Navy neglected exercises and lacked daily artillery drills?

He just turned a blind eye. If they really investigated thoroughly, how much of the money in his hands would be clean?

Why was he so afraid of fighting at the beginning, and later could not withstand the pressure and let the Beiyang Fleet attack, and after the Battle of the Yellow Sea, he ordered the Beiyang Fleet, which still had the ability to fight, to retreat to Weihaiwei.

0Because the Beiyang Navy was his foundation, his roots, and the basis on which he, a Han official who started out as a militiaman, could gain a foothold in the court.

In Wu Yuan's time and space, Li Hongzhang tolerated the annexation of Ryukyu, tolerated the annexation of Vietnam by China and France, and tolerated Japan's bullying of Korea.

This is indeed the case. He has endured for half his life and is still the Lord Li Zhongtang, who has been in the central government for more than ten years.

Finally, he couldn't hold back and failed in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. He was branded as a traitor and was stripped of his posts as Governor-General of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang, leaving him idle.

h is a classic example of doing less and making fewer mistakes, and doing nothing and making fewer mistakes.

In his later years, he firmly believed in the bureaucratic philosophy of preferring to do nothing rather than make mistakes.

It was just that he couldn't hold it together the last time and failed. Of course, it could also be said that the Japanese felt that the Qing Dynasty's tiger skin was no longer suitable and they were eager to tear it off.

But the result was that Li Hongzhang lost during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895.

By the time Courbet met the Nanrui's deputy captain, Xu Changshun, he had confessed everything about the defense of Zhejiang Zhenhai Port under duress.

Because Wu Ankang ordered the ships to return to the port for supplies every day, the Zhenhai garrison did not strictly block the port or lay mines.

N only brought a few hundred troops to garrison the Zhaobaoshan Fort on the north bank of the Yongjiang River, and did not guard the Jinjishan Fort further south on the Yongjiang River carefully.

: Compared with the more than 6000 people defending the two sides of the Yongjiang River in the original time and space, Zhenhai at this time was undoubtedly a time when the defense was empty.

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Taking out the Zhenhai defense map obtained from Japan, Courbet looked at the lonely Zhenhai County in the center of the map and came up with a plan in his mind.

He waved to the Chinese interpreter from Hong Kong and asked him to discuss something with Xu Changshun, the temporary captain of the Nanchen.

The view turns to the west side of the ocean.

At this time, the sun was shining brightly in Zhenhai City. Zhejiang Admiral Ouyang Lijian couldn't help but get furious when he saw Zeng Zhaolin, the captain of the Nanchen, kneeling alone in front of him.

"How did you become a captain when you ran away without even seeing how many warships the French had?"

Five warships went out together, and one of them was the flagship of the admiral of the Nanyang Navy, but now there is no sign of anyone on them, and only the Nanchen has returned.

How could he explain this to his superiors? The accusation of poor defense had already been put on his head.

The only thing he could do now was to pray for the Kaiji fleet, hoping they could escape.

"Zeng Zhaolin, I'll give you a chance to make amends."

"I am here, but I don't know what you are talking about."

"Go and mine the mouth of the Yong River to keep the French out of the port."

"Sir, there are still more than ten warships that have not returned to the port. Lay mines now."

"You're so stupid! Doesn't your navy have a minefield map? Just leave a path!"

"Sir, what if the French attack when the warship enters the port, and the warship deviates from the course in a hurry, wouldn't it be desperate?"

Ouyang Lijian was stunned. He didn't expect that the order Wu Ankang gave before would leave such a big hidden danger.

However, the plan could no longer be changed unless the ships that had left the port returned one after another, and then the previous instructions could be changed.

He could only wave his hand and let Zeng Zhaolin retreat, and wait for the remaining warships of the Nanyang Navy to return to port.

But they waited and waited, from noon until the sun was setting, and then until the sunset, until the red glow faded and night fell, but not a single warship returned to the port.

Just as Zeng Zhaolin and Ouyang Lijian were waiting anxiously.

A lone, slow-moving warship appeared in the distant horizon. Seeing the familiar flag, Zeng Zhaolin excitedly shouted to Ouyang Lijian:

"Sir, it's the Nanrui, the Nanrui is back!"

"beep!"

A few melodious whistles indicated that the approaching ship was a friendly force, and the artillery on Zhaobao Mountain also relaxed its vigilance.

The incoming ship only had a few lights inside the cabin, and the specific situation of the hull could not be seen under the cover of night, but Zeng Zhaolin could judge from the outline that it was the Nanrui.

Just as Ouyang Li was about to send a small boat to approach and pick up people, the two 8-inch Armstrong guns on the Nanrui, taking advantage of the cover of night, quietly aimed at the Zhaobaoshan Fort.

"Sir Xu, the Qing Dynasty has been tyrannical and oppressed us Han people for hundreds of years. The right thing to do is to rebel against this damned court as soon as possible." On the deck, the French interpreter put a dagger against the waist of Xu Changshun, the temporary captain of the Nanrui, and said slowly.

"Translator Bai, the imperial court is guilty, but the people are innocent. The people on the ship have all been replaced by French as you ordered. Why do you still insist on attacking Zhenhai Port at night? The city is full of civilians." Xu Changshun was not sure whether he was afraid of death or was really merciful, but he rarely cared about the safety of the people in Zhenhai City.

"Don't worry, Lord Xu. General France has promised that he will not enter the city and kill innocent people. We just need to capture the artillery batteries and destroy the defenses of Zhenhai Port." Bai Tongyi ignored Xu Changshun's words.

While calling on the French people on the boat to steer carefully in French, he asked them to try to get closer to Zhaobao Mountain.

Just as Ouyang Li saw the small boat he had sent out was approaching the Nanrui, Xu Changshun on the deck suddenly shouted, "It's a trick, it's a trick, the French are attacking!"

"Damn your mother! You still dare to leak information even after this!" Bai Tongyi raised his knife and stabbed Xu Changshun fiercely several times, then kicked him into the cold sea.

The shouting caused the French troops on the deck of the Nanrui to panic, but fortunately the French troops were of high quality and they quickly asked Bai Tongyi what had happened.

Before the small boat beside the Nanrui could react, the two cannons on the Nanrui burst into flames and fired powerful 2-inch shells at the Zhaobaoshan Fort.

"boom!"

The French army was afraid that their firepower was insufficient, so they operated four 4-inch Armstrong guns to fire several rounds in succession.

After the first artillery fire, all the torches on the Zhaobaoshan Fort were extinguished in an emergency.

But unfortunately, the artillery position that had been targeted long ago still suffered continuous artillery fire.

After a series of muffled sounds, the artillery defense area built of mud and stones collapsed.

Without the protection of the artillery fort, the fall of Zhenhai was inevitable.

Chapter 49 I ask you where are the people?

Night gradually enveloped the entire land. A large amount of fire was seen erupting from the distant mountains. The French fleet lurking in the night began to approach Zhaobao Mountain.

With the destruction of the Zhaobaoshan Fort, the French army successfully landed on the beach north of Zhaobaoshan with almost no hindrance.

Only a few dozen Qing soldiers crawled out from the ruins near the artillery position. When the barracks south of Zhaobao Mountain heard the noise, they didn't know what was going on and hurriedly ran up the mountain under the leadership of the battalion officer Xue Fucheng.

Once the two forces merged, the Qing soldiers at the foot of the mountain realized that the loud noise was an explosion from Zhaobao Mountain, and the artillery position had been attacked by artillery shells.

"Where is Lord Ouyang?" Xue Fucheng, who ran up the mountain, asked anxiously.

"It's over, it's all over!" A Qing soldier who ran down the mountain cried out in despair without having time to clean the blood from his face.

"Where are the people? I'm asking you, where are the people?"

"I don't know!" The Qing soldier was so confused by the explosion that he was incoherent for a while.

"Lord Ouyang and Lord Zeng were both on guard in the gun tower. As soon as the cannons on the Nanrui fired, the gun tower collapsed, and Lord Ouyang and Lord Zeng disappeared." A few people with clear heads explained the situation.

"Then why are you still coming down? Don't just stand there, hurry up the mountain and save people!"

Ningbo Military Governor Xue Fucheng didn't care about anything else and led everyone who had gathered together up the mountain.

At this time, a warning sound came from the direction of the beach:

"It's the French, the French have come ashore!"

"Damn it, you guys, take the brothers who just came down from the mountain and go up to rescue people, and the rest of you, take your guns and follow me!" Spitting on the ground, Xue Fucheng wrapped his braid around his neck and rushed towards the beach.

Xue Fucheng led the Qing army all the way north and soon encountered the French troops that had landed first. After a battle, it was obvious that the hundreds of soldiers in the battalion were no match for the French army.

Some of the Qing soldiers had already forgotten the combat skills they had learned in their daily training, and they just fired "bang" and "bang" at the light of the French torches from a distance.

This gave the French army, which was originally unprepared, a warning and quickly formed a defensive formation.

Under the sharp musket fire of the French army, Xue Fucheng retreated in a panic, leaving behind more than a dozen corpses. If it weren't for the fear of accidentally injuring friendly troops during the night, the French army even planned to use the cannons on the ship to bombard the Qing soldiers.

It was obvious that the few hundred men in Xue Fucheng's hands were not enough to resist the French army that had already landed.

Following the warning sound of the French warships' cannon fire, Xue Fucheng led the Qing troops of Zhaobaoshan to retreat quickly, intending to retreat to Zhenhai City for further discussions.

On the way to escape, they encountered Qing soldiers who were driving a small boat to meet the Nanrui. After some understanding, they learned that the Nanrui had been captured. At the last moment, the captain shouted that the French army was attacking by surprise, and was kicked off the boat and his life and death were unknown.

However, Xue Fucheng didn't have time to think so much, and could only cover his head and run for his life in a hurry.

The one who stayed behind in Zhenhai City was the titular admiral Yang Qizhen. The loud noise coming from Zhaobao Mountain woke him up from his sleep. Before the person sent to gather intelligence returned, he received news that the Ningbo military governor had brought people knocking on the door.

After Xue Fucheng entered the city and gave some explanations, Yang Qizhen finally understood what had happened.

Yang Qizhen didn't care about the position at this moment, because Xue Fucheng was a local tyrant in Zhejiang, so Yang Qizhen, who was an official from another place, humbly asked:

Dad: "Master Xue, the French have landed. What will the Zhenhai City General do?"

Xue Fucheng let go of the braid wrapped around his neck and sighed, "Lord Yang, we can't hold Zhenhai City for much longer. We should quickly report the news to Hangzhou and retreat overnight."

"Ah, why is this?"

"Zhenhai City is only a few miles from the north bank. As soon as tomorrow morning dawns, the French warships and cannons will easily bring down the northern city wall. Furthermore, they have already landed north of Zhaobao Mountain. With a dual-pronged attack from land and sea, it's impossible to hold!"

Lu: "Will the incident of the British army stationing in the sea be repeated?"

Yang Qizhen was talking about the British army's capture of Zhenhai during the second Anglo-French invasion of China.

Late at night, Yang Qizhen and Xue Fucheng discussed and finally decided to abandon Zhenhai City and retreat to the Jinji Mountain Fortress on the south bank of the Yongjiang River under the cover of night.

Fortunately, the French had not yet rested and did not rashly advance into the land. They just kept carrying supplies from the ship ashore and set up a temporary camp.

At the same time, he sent people to the nearest ruins of Zhaobao Mountain to search for remaining personnel and arrested more than a dozen Qing soldiers who were rescuing people.