Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 232 Blocking Moresby

  The mist in the bay is like a veil, looming, and the sea outside the bay has been blown away due to the strong wind and waves. The mist is not visible at all, and the line of sight can be seen far away.

Geng Baogui led three seagull-shaped warships to the entrance of the bay. He held up his binoculars to observe carefully and saw that 12 Dutch warships were arranged in a semicircle on the sea and the skyline, and the open sea had been sealed tightly, and his heart sank. .

  The Dutch attacked this time, the scale was bigger than he thought, and almost desperately dispatched all the warships, then the landing fleet...

   thought of here

  Geng Zhenzheng raised his binoculars again and searched carefully. At the end of the sea skyline, he did not find any traces of the cargo barque, which made his heart feel extremely disturbed ~ the worst possibility happened.

  The coastline at the east end of Shangri-La Island is long and tortuous. There are many islands formed by volcanic geography and coral reefs for thousands of years. There are too many islands to count. Coupled with the large number of bays, there are countless places suitable for landing.

  Only within 100 kilometers north-south of Holzby, there are no less than 7 bays suitable for landing, and the Dutch landing fleet may be in any of these.

  From the perspective of the size of the enemy's warships, the number of troops sent to the beach is definitely not a small number. This message must be transmitted to the first garrison division and the third regiment, and the militia must be mobilized to participate in resisting the invaders.

  In order to confirm his judgment, Geng Baobao ordered; “Order the flag bearer to contact the Beishan Watchtower and ask if there are other enemy ships on the sea, including transport ships.”

   "Yes, ask immediately."

  Not long after

  Through the semaphore contact, it really confirmed Geng's precious judgment. Except for 12 Dutch battleships and a small sloop, no other ships were found on the nearby sea, and no transport galleons were found.

  Checked the time, it is now 7:20 in the morning.

  The sun is shining on the sea, the sky is clear and blue, and you can see far away.

The 470-meter peak observation tower post of Beishan is equipped with a large-aperture high-power telescope from Zeiss, which can observe sea targets at a distance of 60 kilometers. As for coastline targets, because of the tortuous coastline mountains and ridges, they can observe at most 20 kilometers away. Target.

  Within this range, no enemy landing ships were found.

  The Royal Dutch Fleet led by the cruiser "Seven Provinces" blocked the bay, with the purpose of blocking the Gulf of Moresby, preventing the fleet from attacking in the harbor and launching an attack on the fragile transport fleet that was landing.

As for the assault into the harbour, Geng Guigui believes that it is impossible. With the fragile hull of the Dutch fleet, the wooden sailing warships, they simply cannot withstand the fierce fire of shore artillery. The Dutch fleet commander is not so stupid and will not take the initiative to send it. Food comes to your door.

  Almost all of the two fleets are lightly armored or unarmored, almost belonging to the sea light cavalry category.

  Netherlands sailing warships needless to say. Due to the limited displacement tonnage, the seagull-type high-speed frigate has no bulletproof armor at all. Therefore, the medium-caliber artillery will cause serious damage to the ships of both sides, and it is even more unable to withstand the bombardment of the large-caliber artillery.

The "Seven Provinces" cruiser is a typical waist gun room cruiser. It is equipped with armor protection belts on key parts such as the waist gun room and the pilot building, which can resist the frontal bombardment of large-caliber artillery fragments and 95 mm artillery. One and two tall sails assist in sailing, which can increase the speed by 2 to 3 knots in downwind conditions, and do not exceed 14 knots at full speed.

In terms of protection, the "Seven Provinces" cruiser is so much better than the two Seagull II modified warships being built at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in the United Kingdom, but it is not enough in front of heavy cruisers and steam armored battleships. It's not a level player at all.

No wonder that after the Battle of Malacca, the detailed report of the observation team on the British cruiser "Stubborn Stone" was submitted to London. The bureaucratic lords of the Admiralty didn't pay attention to it at all. They just looked at it and put it on the shelf.

  Evaluation is just kids fighting and hurting each other.

   Seeing that the bay has been blocked, Geng Baogui did not act rashly to try to break through. No matter how fast the warship is, there can be no shells. The Queensland fleet can only rely on shore artillery for protection. The two sides formed a confrontation at the entrance of the bay.

  The Royal Dutch Fleet did not dare to come in, and the Queensland Fleet was unable to jump out, resulting in a stalemate.

  On the cruiser "Seven Provinces"

   "It's a great job. I cherish the important role Mr. Sheng played in this war more and more, and I will highlight this in my report."

   Observing the gray-black mushroom cloud formed by the strong explosion of the Moresby Telegraph Office, Task Force Commander Jan Kirk Burkhov was so happy that his beard was curled up, and his eyes were full of appreciation.

   "Thank you, Commander-in-chief for your kindness."

   "You don't need to be polite, Mr. Sheng, you are our Dutch best friend. I am curious, who is your confidant lurking in Port Moresby?"

Sheng Yeyun looked quite sentimental; "Ada is my partner who grew up with me since I was a child. Although we are domestic slaves, we are like brothers. I have never regarded him as a person, this time for the royal army. Dedicating loyalty to the broken bones and completing the final entrustment, it is definitely a worthy death. I will treat his family favorably, treat his son as my son, and be compassionate."

   "Well, he is indeed a strong man."

Yang Kirk-Burkhov responded indifferently. He was not interested in spending more words on a pariah. The three warships sailing from the Moresby Bay attracted his attention, and then ordered. ; "Order the ships to retract their mainsails, keep the blockade array, and the side guns to be ready for launch and stand by at any time."

"Yes, sir."

The    command was immediately issued through the semaphore, and the subordinate sailing warships retracted their main sails and used their auxiliary vessels to slightly adjust the course and speed to maintain the highest alert state that they could fire at any time.

  Moresby Town

  Shangri-La Guardian First Division and Third Regiment Camp

Receiving a warning message from the port fleet, the three regiments immediately held an emergency combat meeting. Except for the regiment commander Fritz, the deputy regimental commander Mo Rufeng and officers above the company level of the regiment, as well as the Shangri-La chief executive Wu Xuewen, the town Captain Li Fushan and militia captain Qi Feng.

  Moresby is facing the most serious crisis since its establishment. The Shangri-La garrison, who was established less than two months ago, faced the test. All the heads and brains of the military and political parties came together to discuss the major plan.

The commander of the third regiment, Fritz, was born in the Junker family. He was a former German captain, a former deputy commander of the Tiger Cavalry, and a guardian knight entrusted by the Earl of Queensland. He was an experienced professional officer who looked at everyone with a stern look. Said

  "The situation is already very critical, and the news from the fleet indicates that;

  The main purpose of the Dutch attack was to protect the landing fleet. The opinion of the fleet was that the opponent could not attack the port. The crisis faced by Moresby Town could be temporarily relieved, and the residents did not need to retreat to safety.

  The biggest problem now is...We must determine where the enemy will land from?

The    Regiment Reconnaissance Company has sent two teams, divided into one north and south to search forward, and it is expected that news will come in the evening at the latest.

  The situation we are now facing is very severe. The Moresby Telegraph Office was attacked and damaged by enemy spies. It was unable to receive instructions from the Red River Valley through the transoceanic cable, and it was unable to convey war information.

  This means that we must fight alone, independently against the pressure of the Dutch soldiers, for at least one month.

  According to prior agreement;

  If the Red River Valley does not receive a safety telegram tonight, it will realize that we have been attacked by the Dutch. The only uncertainty is whether the telegram is faulty or the lone wolf attack or the Dutch attack.

  The Regiment Department judged that this requires the Black Guard’s foreign intelligence agencies to provide enough information so that Red River Valley can accurately judge our situation. This will take time.

  Shangfeng is aware of our predicament and will inevitably send a joint fleet stationed in Jayapura for reinforcements, which also takes time.

  Before the joint fleet establishes its maritime superiority over the Dutch, it is impossible for us to get reinforcements from the army, which will take time.

  It will take time for reinforcements to arrive in Moresby.

  Based on the above judgments, the regiment believes that no external reinforcements will be available for at least one month. We must independently support the battle. I set this time as 40 days.

  Now gentlemen can speak freely and offer advice and suggestions for our defensive war. All the forces are united to fight this battle. "

Wu Xuewen, the chief executive of Shangri-La, frowned and said after thinking about it; "It has only been more than a year since the establishment of the Moresby area, with a total population of more than 70,000, including more than 60,000 young and mature men, approximately 40,000 inhabitants. The following villages and towns are scattered in a vast area of ​​267 kilometers.

  For the present

  In accordance with the emergency war plan in advance, the population of the southernmost and northernmost villages and towns were evacuated, agricultural products and personal property materials were transferred, and the policy of solid walls and clear fields was implemented, but this would take time.

  The town will try its best to mobilize tractors and large vehicles to participate in the rush. If we can determine the direction of the enemy’s attack, we can concentrate our efforts in one place, so that the speed of the rush will be faster.

   Therefore, it is hoped that the military and militia will block the enemy for at least two days, leaving plenty of time for the organization to grab supplies. "

  After listening to the request of Wu Xuewen, the Chief Executive of Shangri-La, the third regiment commander Fritz said that the military will do everything possible to complete the task of blocking the enemy. He will personally lead the two battalions to the front line, unite with the militia to form a solid line of defense, and resolutely complete the task.

  At this time, everyone's eyes fell on Qi Feng, the militia captain.

Qi Feng is a retired veteran of the original Dragoon Guards, the helm of the Hongmen Morz scorer, and a capable middle-aged man in his 30s. He has received strict military training from German instructors and attacked the Dutch in large numbers. Don't make a mistake.

  Retired veterans similar to his experience have now become the backbone of the militia, including militia instructors, squadron leaders, and squad leaders. Most of them are the backbone of Hongmen, and they are respected by the leader Li Fushou.

  After the Red River Valley has experienced the initial stage of development, Li Fushou has already deliberately removed the Hongmen disciples from the military system, making the military more pure.

  The main destination of Hongmen disciples is the militia, so now the "Xinghua Hui" militia has Hongmen disciples as the backbone, and their strength is quite strong.

  This became the second paramilitary force in the hands of Lord Earl, which was used to check and balance the influence of the army.

  Qi Feng thought about it and said;

"Master General, Master Tuanzuo, our Xinghua Hui militia now has 3,177 people, mostly composed of new immigrants, who have received at least one and a half months of military training, and are confident that they will grow up quickly in the war against the Dutch and become the military’s Strong support.

  It’s just that our militia’s long guns are very scarce. There are currently only 400 of them, and there are not many ammunition. The main weapons are revolvers and spears. This part requires the military to provide appropriate support.

  Among the migrants from the villages, they generally received 5 to 10 days of military training.

  But for these farmers who are familiar with hoes, they can't tell the difference between the left and right in just a few days of military training. I'm afraid that they can count on the high combat effectiveness.

Now that our team is all assembled, we can follow orders at any time to go to the front line. I will personally lead the capable militia and follow the regiments to act together. There are more than 800 people in this part, all of which are led by our old brothers. The combat effectiveness is good. guarantee. "

  Hear here

The third regiment commander Fritz nodded in satisfaction, considered it for a moment, and instructed Zhao Jiaxiong, commander of the logistics battalion; “Commander Zhao, set aside 600 rifles from the regiment reserve for the militia brothers of the Xinghua Society to equip them. We have to fight side by side with strong enemies. There may not be as many enemies as there are enemies, and we can’t lose out on our weapons.”

  Speaking of which

He turned his head and patted Qi Feng on the shoulder and explained; "We can only squeeze so many long spears to equip you with a thousand people. There must be other weapons in the regiment, but considering that the war may last for a long time. Time, we must keep some inventory, but the ammunition can be adequately supplied."

   "Thank you for the regiment, so that our militia will have more confidence."

  "Well, after the meeting, you will arrange for someone to pick up the equipment. Take the time to familiarize yourself with the equipment. We will leave soon."

   "Yes."

  Qi Feng saluted a standard military salute, then sat down again, and the emergency combat meeting continued.

  The mayor Li Fushan introduces the situation of the farming villages. He is a member of the Li clan from Lijiapu, and the distant uncle brother of Lord Earl’s class. He was promoted to Mayor of Moresby because of his management ability.

  In this era, clan power is the most reliable. Li Fushou, Earl of Queensland, has never hesitated to promote his clan members, including those with some talents, and arranges them to serve in important positions.

"Today, there are 177 farming villages and farms under the town of Moresby. Among them, 121 are privately owned farms and 56 are farming villages. The town has 56 farming villages under the direct jurisdiction of the town, of which the farthest in the north. It’s Wujia Village, and the farthest one is Sandaoliang Village in the south. Wujia Village is one..."

"Mr. Mayor, considering that 80% of the enemy may attack from the south, and the emergency time is limited, please focus on Sandaoliang Village." Third regiment leader Fritz interrupted Li in a half-baked Chinese. Fukuyama's words.

  For the upright German Fritz, he spends most of his life in the barracks, and he doesn't think too much about the twists and turns of society.

  Li Fushan glanced at him with an unhappy expression. He couldn't show the chicken belly in front of his boss Wu Xuewen, so he could only change the front and introduce;

  “Sandaoliang Village is a new village that has been established in less than two months. The immigrant population is 432, mainly new immigrants from northern Zhejiang, mainly family migration.

  It mainly grows rice, cane sugar and potatoes, and raises some chickens, ducks, pigs and cattle, but the number is not large, because the time is short, most of them are breeding pigs and chickens, and they have not reproduced in groups.

  It is located about two kilometers south of Yidaoliang Village and Erdaoliang Village, about 27 kilometers away from Moresby Town, 22 kilometers of which are arterial roads, and 4 large carriages can be driven side by side.

  But starting from a Liangcun into the hilly area, it belongs to the basin terrain separated by several mountain beams, so the main traffic road was only repaired to a Liangcun, and the rest of the road is a tortuous mountain road, which can only pass a heavy carriage.

  This material outbound transportation has caused a lot of trouble. I suggest that it is not possible to burn food and other items on the spot. Chickens, ducks, pigs and cows are recruited for military use on the spot, and related items are converted into money for immigrants. This can alleviate our pressure to clear the country. "

Li Fushan’s remarks are meaningful and show good management skills. They are not the kind of wine bags and rice bags that rely solely on clan relations. They are just a little less minded. Eighty percent are unhappy that the head of Fritz is stunned in public. I wrote a small account in my heart.

  (End of this chapter)