Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 221 Shelling of Medan Port

   early in the morning

  The officers and soldiers of the fleet stood solemnly on the side of the ship, sending off their comrades in a sad horn. The white waves swallowed the bodies of the martyrs, and the heroic souls survived.

  The battleship blew a long air whistle, cutting through the sea in the early morning.

  The ocean-going freighter "Taishan" left with injured officers and soldiers. It will take the lead to go to Singapore, where conditions are available for further treatment of officers and soldiers.

  After a night of intense rush repairs, the fleet has added 46 sailors on the Tarzan, regaining certain combat capabilities.

Since all the main commanders of the "Pelican" were sacrificed, after He Fang and Geng Baogui urgently discussed, the deputy Luo Yun was temporarily appointed as the captain of the "Pelican", and personnel were transferred from each ship to supplement the "Pelican". Navigation command capability.

  After this battle, the fleet lost 30% of its manpower.

  Although part of the Taishan round’s personnel has been added, the combat effectiveness is inevitably greatly reduced.

  "The fleet sets sail and aims at Medan Port."

  Commander He Fang gave an order, and thick smoke billowed from the tall chimneys of the four battleships, and they rushed forward in the direction of Medan Port.

  Two hours later

  Medan Port

  This is a semi-open seaport facing the Strait of Malacca. There is an obvious concave bay along the coastline. Relying on excellent deep water conditions, the Dutch set up a dual-use trading port here to maintain the security of the strait and ocean trade.

  A round of red sun hung overhead, and it was another sunny day.

  The Queensland fleet wandered outside the port, and the brand-new hull could see the marks of war everywhere. It had experienced the baptism of **** naval battles. This is already a powerful maritime force that cannot be ignored.

The Dutch remnants in the port were silent, and the shore artillery base, which reflected the cold steel luster, was ready for battle. The "Utrecht Warrior" three-masted galleon that fled back to the port was moored in the depths of the bay, with the outside parked on the outside. A cargo ship filled with sand and rocks covered most of the hull.

  The artillery on the other side of the hull was moved ashore overnight, and shore artillery positions ranging from near and far were established to strengthen the firepower against the incoming fleet.

  The layout of another three-masted galleon is similar, and there is a tragic atmosphere of silence in the entire port, ready to fight the Queensland fleet.

  On the battleship Albatross

  Commander He Fang put down the binoculars, his face was very solemn, and the difficult choice was placed in front of him.

  Through observation, there are two sailing warships in the port of Medan that are being modified and built on the slipway, two old sailing warships that cannot sail, and two fish that slipped through the net in the naval battle yesterday. There are a total of 6 sailing warships in different states.

The Dutch stayed up all night. Most of the artillery on board was unloaded to the shore overnight, forming a tight shore artillery position. Only 6 shore artillery positions can be observed. Is there any larger caliber shore artillery in the green tropical forest? unknown.

  The Port of Medan is now full of spiked hedgehogs, waiting for the Qumran fleet to come in.

Whether to break or not to break, this difficult decision lies before the commander.

  Different from naval guns that fluctuate on the sea, shore guns have a longer range, more precision, and have relatively complete earth and rock defense facilities. Both of them suffer from obvious naval guns.

  As a last resort, no fleet commander is willing to use expensive warships to attack shore artillery. This is obviously an uneconomical deal.

  Speaking again

  The Dutch still own more than a dozen sailing warships in the East Indies, as well as 6 iron-clad warships headed by the Seven Provinces, which are still capable of fighting.

   Taking advantage of the opportunity to take advantage of the absolute superiority to beat down the dog, cut off its wings, and weaken the enemy’s strength is an urgent need in front of us.

  Has been torn apart and started fighting, just giving up like this is not what Fang Fang's style is.

  Thinking for a long time

  He Fang looked solemnly and ordered; "Order the fleet to set up the artillery array and bombard the targets in the port one by one. The focus is on clearing enemy ships and preparing for shooting in 5 minutes."

  The flagship "Albatross" raised its battle flag, and the harsh battle sirens sounded. Outside the Port of Medan, four battleships lined up in a line-shaped bombardment queue.

  The thick main muzzle was raised and aimed at the target in the port.

   "Boom boom boom..."

  The sound of artillery reverberating through the world continued. The shelling of the Queensland Fleet drew a fierce counterattack from the Dutch artillery positions, and the fierce artillery battle between the two sides began.

  Rain-like cannonballs fell on the sea and exploded, splashing countless water jets.

  In fine weather, you can see the trajectories of cannonballs across the sky inside and outside Medan Port, intertwined into a dense fire net, and you come and I play quite lively.

   more than 10 minutes later

  Looking at the water column far away from the fleet, a smile appeared on the corner of He Fang’s mouth;

  Very good, very good, no large-caliber shore artillery has been found so far.

  If the Port of Medan does not have medium and large caliber shore artillery, it can only be considered bad luck for you.

  The Queensland Fleet was not frightened by the tightly defensive shore artillery nets laid out by the Port of Medan. Through the early artillery fire test, we found out the details of the inner shore artillery in the port little by little.

  The large-caliber artillery shells fired by the fleet landed on the water in the harbor, far away from the target, but no one was in a hurry.

  "Order the gun group to raise the muzzle and shoot at a fixed point with a limited range."

The    command was communicated through the semaphore, and the ships continued to raise their muzzles slowly, and then the shelling began again.

The limit range of the German-made 239 mm main gun is 8.5 nautical miles, and the limit range of the 120 mm secondary gun is 6.2 nautical miles.

  Where is the enemy’s large-caliber guns to be drawn out through artillery fire, if there is one, he immediately led the fleet to turn around.

  Lightly armored frigates simply cannot withstand the bombardment of large-caliber guns, and near misses will cause serious damage to the hull and have to be defended.

  If you don’t have large-caliber artillery, hehe...I’m welcome, I’m going to blow Medan Port into a sea of ​​flames.

  Albatross, flamingos, pelicans, and herons raised their muzzle and started bombarding Medan Port at the extreme range. The fleet remained in the open sea area 8 nautical miles away and lobbed the targets in the port without delay.

  For the German-made 239mm naval gun, the dangling degree at the extreme range is very touching, and whether it can hit or not can only be blessed by God.

  He Fang is not in a hurry, he now has time to play with his opponent.

  The counter-attack artillery fire in the Port of Medan was lively, but the maximum caliber of the shore gun was only 120 mm, but it shot a water column forest far away, and it could not even reach the Queensland fleet.

   half an hour later

  The Dutch defenders in the Port of Medan stopped their artillery fire and counterattack. Faced with a cunning opponent, the port was completely silent.

  No way, it’s too far to reach!

  See this scene

  The Queensland Fleet has more confidence and began to bombard port facilities patiently.

  The German-made 239mm main guns on each ship bombarded port facilities at a speed of every 3 minutes, and finally saw results after more than 20 minutes.

  The sailing warship being built and reformed in the dock was hit hard by a 239mm gunfire, and what was exploded was sawdust flying in a mess.

  A huge flame enveloped the sailing battleship, which quickly ignited the canvas and oil stains, and the blazing fire on the berth burned more and more fierce.

   After twenty minutes of violent burning

  The tall mast of the sailing warship collapsed and hit another sailing warship on the nearby berth. In an instant, sparks splashed and flames flew, and the sailing warship was enveloped in the sea of ​​flames.

  Two violently burning large torches on the slipway were blown by the sea breeze, and dots of flames fluttered, igniting the nearby wooden houses, bushes, workshops and cargo ships, and almost half of Medan Port was plunged into the sea of ​​flames.

  The burning spread to the artillery positions. Many Dutch defenders fled like rabbits, and no one wanted to be burned alive, and could not take into account the artillery.

  In a moment

  The raging flames in the bushes caused the artillery position to explode. The sound of earth-shaking explosions continued, and the soil and grass scraps were lifted into the air by the violent explosion, forming a huge gray-black mushroom cloud.

  The two sailing warships moored at the port were also killed. They were hit by artillery fire one after another. The Dutch sailors ran around like flies without their heads. Many people jumped into the sea in a panic. It was a doomsday scene.

  Facing this disastrous scene

  To rush out is to die, and not to rush out is to die.

  The Dutch defenders in the port were unable to resist at all. The sailors on the "Utrecht Warriors" barque evacuated quickly. The same was true for the other still intact barque. They chose to give up resistance.

The shelling lasted for nearly three hours, and finally destroyed the "Utrecht Warrior" three-masted galleon hiding behind the steel freighter and set ablaze. The last intact three-masted galleon was also destroyed, and the entire Medan was destroyed. The port has been plunged into a sea of ​​flames, and from time to time, violent ammunition explosions can be heard, and billowing smoke can be heard.

  After the shelling is over

  The Queensland fleet did not enter the port, but turned around and headed southeast. The four warships lined up in a long array. The warships that experienced the war were remembered for their glory and feats, and they moved forward through the waves.

this moment

  The noon sun shining on the battleship, putting on a golden suit for the triumphant battleship, it was so dazzling.

  British Cruiser Hard Rock

  A group of officers of the Royal Navy of the British Empire looked at the Port of Medan with some sluggish eyes. The eye is a fiery red color. The violent fire has spread from the port and ignited the lush tropical jungle nearby.

  The large amount of ash and sparks produced by the burning fly up like black fog, falling on the sea and among the hills. This is a burning port, a **** of death with flames.

   "Uh...Mr. Captain, the fire is so big, are the Dutch crew members we rescued still sent to the port?" Major Spencer was shocked by the scene before him, and said subconsciously.

   heard this

  Captain George and Colonel Joe Howard rolled their eyes together, too lazy to pay attention to him.

Is not this nonsensical?

  "It’s been a long time since I saw such a big flame, it’s really spectacular!"

   "Well, yeah, what a big fire!"

   "It was so cruel, the Port of Medan was completely destroyed."

"Yeah yeah."

   "This fire will definitely not be extinguished within a few days. The Dutchman has kicked the iron plate this time. I am afraid that the foot bones have been kicked and broken."

"Yeah yeah."

   "So... shall we keep watching?"

  Silence...

  This tragic scene of the war caused the officers of the Royal Navy to lose their ability to express their past talk and talk, and their words seemed so pale.

  　 There is one more change in the afternoon, and it is hitting.

  (End of this chapter)