Fengxian Jiangshan

Thinking of this, Yang Yuting gradually thought of a possibility: "Do you think the British might want to attack the Yarmouth?"

Yang Yuting's judgment is not wrong. It is a very shameless thing to be captured by others, especially the Yarmouth is still a relatively new light cruiser in the UK. If it just falls into the hands of China, then the British will be slapped But it was too loud.

Therefore, in addition to actively wooing other powers, the United Kingdom is making plans to drag the Yarmouth out of the Yangtze River. If it cannot be pulled out, it will blow up the warship. In short, it cannot be left to China, otherwise the British Empire His face was completely lost.

For this reason, the British sent out the main force of the Far East Fleet. Rear Admiral James was still in charge of commanding this operation. Enter the Bohai Sea.

James is also very aware of the strength of Fengjun's air power, so he did not act rashly. His flagship Hawkins and two other large ironclad ships were parked outside the Yangtze River Estuary, but he secretly dispatched two frigates. I drove into the mouth of the Yangtze River at night, all the way up the river, all the way are dark mountains, very quiet.

They were getting closer and closer to the Jiangyin Fortress, and the hearts of these British people were hanging, for fear that they would alarm the defenders along the way.Gradually they are getting closer and closer to the location of the stranded warship.At this moment, several beams of extremely strong light suddenly shot over from the river, which happened to sweep across the two British warships.

searchlight!

The British suddenly felt that something was wrong. At this moment, there was a rumbling sound from the fort by the river, and the huge shells fell into the icy river water. The tall water column splashed more than ten meters high, and the river surface instantly churned. The two British warships were immediately exposed to the huge mouth of the giant beast.

Chapter 729 The Unjust Death of the Izumo

After entering the Jiangsu section of the Wanli Yangtze River, the river suddenly opened up, and the width of the Nantong area has reached 10 kilometers. However, between Nanjing and Shanghai, there is another river that is 1250 meters wide, and that is Jiangyin.

Since ancient times, Jiangyin has been regarded as the key to the Yangtze River estuary, an important military town, and the Manchu and Qing Dynasties also overhauled forts here for the defense of the river, but it has fallen into disrepair in recent years.

However, with the arrival of Fengjun, Jiangyin Fortress has been strengthened unprecedentedly, especially after the conflict between China and Britain, Fengjun mobilized more than [-] cannons.Since the south bank of the Yangtze River is still in the hands of the rebels, the Feng army can only use the forts in the north and cannot form crossfire, which is a bit of a pity.

But because of this, Fengjun spared no effort to strengthen its firepower, equipped with 240 latest 8mm shore guns, 152 12mm cannons, 9 old-fashioned howitzers of various types left over from the former Qing Dynasty.

Although these old-fashioned artillery have fallen behind, fortunately, they all have a caliber of more than 150 mm, and their lethality is still good.In addition, on the outskirts of Jiangyin, there is an independent artillery brigade of the army that can provide support. This artillery brigade also has 60 artillery pieces of various types.

After these years of accumulation, Fengjun has thoroughly integrated the cannon doctrine into the depths of his bones. If the problems that can be solved with artillery, there is absolutely no need for other things. For such an important place in Jiangyin, no amount of investment is too much.

In fact, when the British warship arrived in Zhoushan area, it was discovered by the submarine force. Although these submarines did not find an opportunity to attack, they had already notified the situation to the inland area, so that the Feng army could prepare.

Ever since the British warships entered the Yangtze River, the Feng army had been paying close attention, and only when they entered the attack range of the Jiangyin fortress did they fire their cannons.The shells were like hail, boiling the river water.

The soldiers of the two British ships were also well-trained, and they had already prepared plans for this situation, so although they were flustered, they were still able to deal with it calmly and continued to fight back to the shore.

As the shells flew back and forth, clusters of flames rose into the sky, illuminating the dark river surface at this moment.A huge shell fell into the river, setting off a huge water column. A British warship that was very close seemed to encounter a huge wave. The hull shook suddenly, and two sailors fell into the river. middle.

The bang was heard.The British are all terrified, this is definitely a heavy artillery above 200 mm.Not to mention frigates like them.Even if a heavy cruiser is hit by one, it will still have to be skinned if it is not dead.

"Damn bureaucrats, didn't they say that there are only a few old artillery here, these guys should go to hell, they are joking with the lives of soldiers!"

The face of the British commander showed full horror: "Quick, step back!"

"Sir. What about the Yarmouth?"

"Young man, now is the time to ask us what to do."

Before the captain finished his sentence, a shell just hit the starboard side of the warship, and the 152mm shell pierced a big hole in an instant.In the middle of the warship, there was a violent explosion.

"No!" Amidst the captain's desperate cry, a huge flame rose from the middle of the frigate, and the warship quickly split into two pieces and sank into the river.

When the other ship saw their companions being sunk, they were frightened out of their wits and turned around to run away, but the shells also landed on the front deck, and the violent explosion wiped out everything on the deck.The out-of-control boat slammed into the stubborn rocks on the riverside, and suddenly lost power.

The other artillery hadn't let them go, and they were hit by several shells one after another. The ship was burning like a living coffin, and almost all the British soldiers inside were turned into a pile of coke.

Seeing that the two British warships were killed, the soldiers of the Feng army didn't feel anything. They just sank the two frigates.

In fact, they didn't know that the British heavy cruiser HMS Hawkins and the ironclad cruiser HMS Shannon had rapidly increased their personnel here.

Just as the fort started shelling the two British ships, they had already reported the news to James.After James received the telegram, he immediately knew that this mission was a bit troublesome, but as a proud Royal Navy, they would never be allowed to retreat.

However, James also urgently revised the battle plan. He no longer expected to drag the Yarmouth out, but at least destroy all these warships, so as to preserve the dignity of the British Empire.

And James also knew that there was not much time left for them. If they lost the cover of night, they would be exposed to Feng Jun's planes, or they would repeat the mistakes of the Yarmouth, so James decisively ordered a total of six warships led by the Hawkins to act immediately to break through the blockade of the Feng army, destroy the Yarmouth, and then withdraw as quickly as possible.

The heavy cruiser Hawkins took the lead and rushed in along the mouth of the Yangtze River. It was already past eleven o'clock at night.However, no one in the Fengjun command took a break. When Yang Yuting got the news that the British warship had really come to commit the attack, he immediately took decisive measures.

His appetite was bigger than he imagined. It was no big deal to keep the Yarmouth, and it was no big deal to repel the British fleet. What Yang Yuting wanted was to kill the entire British fleet.

As long as these warships can be dealt with, almost all of Britain's power on the coast of China will be dealt with. If you want to continue fighting, you must mobilize the fleet from the mainland. , the troubles in Nan Province have been solved long ago.

Of course, Yang Yuting's idea of ​​attacking the British Fleet also has a trump card. Just now he has received the news that a flying squadron has already stationed in Nantong.

It looks nothing special to the outside, but this flying squadron is unique among the Fengjun. They are equipped with the first batch of torpedo planes of the Fengjun.

As the name suggests, a torpedo plane is a fighter plane that uses torpedo attack as an attack weapon. In World War II, a torpedo plane, as the main carrier-based aircraft of an aircraft carrier, was responsible for attacking the enemy's large combat ships. It played an important role in the navy. .

Feng Jun has already started to refit the Mackensen, and the torpedo planes can't be missed.However, it is not an easy task to manufacture a torpedo machine. A 533mm torpedo weighs 800 kilograms, or even 900 kilograms, and a larger torpedo weighs more than one ton.

This has exceeded the ammunition load of some of Fengjun's current bombers. It is quite difficult for China, which has a weak industrial strength, to produce qualified large torpedo aircraft. Bayuzao Wangzhu and others also struggled with their brains.The result is still a bunch of technical difficulties.

But at this moment, a torpedo plane moved to Fengtian, and there was a reference immediately, and Fengjun's research was much easier at once, just half a year ago.Feng Jun finally developed the first torpedo aircraft.In half a year, Fengjun formed the first torpedo aircraft squadron.The first pilots were trained.It is just now that the combat effectiveness has just formed, and the best opportunity to train soldiers is right in front of them.

However, it is somewhat ironic that the torpedo plane obtained by the Fengjun was still British. Britain was the first country in the world to develop torpedo planes.The torpedo plane that Feng Jun got was a Shortshell type.The biggest advantage of this aircraft is its endurance, which can fly continuously for more than six hours, which has far exceeded that of contemporary aircraft.

Being able to do this is actually related to the excellent engine of this aircraft.Equipped with a Rolls-Royce "Eagle VIII" type V1 water-cooled engine, it has reached 12 horsepower, and it is also economical and fuel-efficient. It is definitely a good thing that makes people drool.

It stands to reason that this kind of equipment has no chance for outsiders to get their hands on it, but because of the excellent performance of this aircraft, it participated in the competition to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, which gave Feng Jun a chance to start.

After buying the British officials, the aircraft was very cooperative and disintegrated due to the fall. As a result, the Fengjun successfully transported a pile of "garbage" back to China. After reassembly, a complete torpedo aircraft appeared Bayuzao in front of them.

With this finished product as a reference, everything became much easier, and through cooperation with Germany, Feng Jun also thoroughly understood the key to the British engine, and imitated a similar product. Although it was not as fuel-efficient as the original, it was still enough to make Fengjun's engine technology has taken a big step forward.

In addition, Bayuzao and the others are not satisfied with simple imitation, and have also made a lot of improvements. Some structural brackets are made of aluminum alloy, which greatly reduces the weight of the aircraft and increases the bomb load.

The modified torpedo plane was named "Mountain Eagle". This time, in order to deal with the British Navy, Zhang Tinglan sent out the only torpedo plane squadron, which also shows how much Zhang Tinglan attaches importance to.

These torpedo planes also gave Yang Yuting full confidence. With so much equipment in his hand, he would bite off a bite of Britain no matter what.

Of course, the torpedo plane will not be able to play a role until daytime. The most important thing at this time is to let the Jiangyin Fortress hold the British back.

Needless to say, Yang Yuting, the battle in the fort was at its most intense at this time. Hawkins and Shannon wanted to break through quickly, but the soldiers on the fort tried their best to stop them. Countless gravel and flying sand were splashed.

The defenders on the south bank of the river were also alarmed. Rationally speaking, they should support the British. You must know that the British helped them.But in fact, these soldiers all hoped that the Fengjun would sink the British warship, and even some soldiers were eager to use the forts in the south of the Yangtze River to bombard the British.

The Hawkins is equipped with seven 7mm main guns, which are quite powerful. In addition, the British navy is well-trained, and the shells are accurate and hateful. flame.

boom!There was a loud noise, and a shell happened to land in a culvert. The shells stored in it were detonated immediately, and the flames rose into the air. The surrounding mountains trembled, and huge rubble fell into the river with a crackling sound. More than a dozen soldiers In the explosion, lost his life forever.

It's just that these sacrifices have been ignored on the battlefield. Every Fengjun only knows to bring the shells and shoot them out.The only thought is to sink the British ship, as for the others, they are all insignificant.

"bingo!"

A soldier blurted out excitedly, a shell just landed on the stern of the iron-clad ship Shannon, and suddenly a ball of flames surged, all the dozen or so British sailors around were blown to pieces, and one of the main guns also went silent. .

Fortunately, misfortunes never come singly, another 240mm artillery shell fell on a destroyer, and the warship was blown up beyond recognition.

James, who was still in command on the Hawkins, was extremely anxious at this time, and the time passed by every minute, and it was already past twelve o'clock.The firepower of the Feng army is too strong, and they have been unable to break through for a long time. If this delay continues, they are afraid that they will be unlucky at dawn.