Rebirth of the Northern Giants

In the Governor's Mansion of Guangzhou, Guangdong and Guangxi, Tan Zhonglin held his hands behind his back, pacing back and forth non-stop, looking very nervous.

According to the news not long ago, the commander of the British Far East Fleet, Fremantle, put down his words and wanted to capture Ye Zhikui, the head of the military government, and pay for the losses suffered by the British Empire in China.

Calculating the time, the British Far East Fleet has set off from Hong Kong and headed north for several hours. I have been actively preparing for the war according to the order of the military government. Now that the British army is empty in Hong Kong, should I take the opportunity to attack and take back Hong Kong?

On the one hand, he wanted to do this very much, on the other hand, he didn't dare to have too much conflict with the British, and wanted to preserve Guangdong and Guangxi in the flames of war, not to mention that the military government did not ask him to attack Hong Kong.

"Come here" Tan Zhonglin stopped and yelled out the door.

"Governor, what are your orders?"

"Prepare the sedan chair, the old man will go to the barracks to have a look." Tan Zhonglin felt that it is better to check his own strength before making a decision.

"Yes, Governor"

Tan Zhonglin led a few staff members out of the Governor's Mansion, and saw a crowd of people in various dresses and angry parades on the street, and there were people in front of them beating gongs and drums to clear the way, at least there were more than 1 people.

These people may hold banners: fight against British imperialism, the British get out of China, boycott British goods and strongly demand that Guangdong, Guangxi and the Central Committee resist British colonial aggression.

Or shouting slogans: "Boycott British goods, give me back Hong Kong."

Or excitedly speaking to the surrounding citizens and distributing various leaflets.

The sound is so powerful that it resounds in the sky.

Tan Zhonglin said to the left and right staff with some concern: "Students, businessmen, and citizens don't do their jobs. They all ran to the street to demonstrate. They just played the piano randomly, so that the British will not be scared away by them."

The staff frowned and asked, "Sir, do you want to disperse these people?"

"It needn't be so,

A parade like this must be organized by someone. You send people to persuade them to go home and tell them that they are doing their best for the country by keeping their duty. The Guangdong and Guangxi Superintendents will not let everyone down. "

"Yes, my lord." The staff turned and left quickly.

Only then did Tan Zhonglin head for the military camp in the suburbs in a sedan chair.

More than 20 ships of the British fleet suddenly appeared on the sea level and slowly sailed towards the Pearl River. The first to discover this abnormal situation were the merchant ships coming and going in the river.

Although these merchant ships don't know what will happen next, but now that China and Britain are fighting against each other, the British fleet rushed over without notification.

The clever merchant ship quickly ran away while the warship was still far away, but the British ship did not stop it, but let it go.

Immediately, the officers and soldiers on the fort on the shore also discovered this situation, because Tan Zhonglin had taken the order of the military government to heart before, so these people probably guessed that this was the British revenge.

However, the British ship did not fire. These people did not receive orders and did not dare to fire. They just watched the British ship slowly approaching.

The Taiwan officials at Humen Shajiao and Weiyuan Fort hurriedly sent people to report to Admiral Yang Ruishan of the Guangdong Navy, while getting ready and staring nervously at the British fleet.

On the flagship of the British fleet HMS Agility, Fremantle stood in the conning tower, with cold eyes, staring fiercely at the forts along the coast. I can feel it clearly, and some places are even drawn with detailed maps.

Guangzhou is so close to Hong Kong, so there are no secrets at all, such as military ports, forts, and docks.

"Fire" Freemante didn't say much, and ordered directly.

rumbling, rumbling

The British ships that had been prepared for a long time received orders, lined up, and bombed violently.

The forts on both sides of the strait were completely caught off guard, and they would know that the British would start fighting without even saying a word.

Since the British had already figured out the defensive position of the Guangdong Navy before the battle, they went to the dead corner of the fort and ravaged the Chinese Defense Force without any effort.

On the defenders' position, there was an endless sound of violent explosions, but there were very few counterattacks.

Freemante sneered three times, and said to the chief mate: "This is the Chinese, don't go to the enemy to control the officers and soldiers on the shore, as long as their forts are blown up by us, and there is no danger to us, we will continue to move forward, today , want to bombard the city of Guangzhou, the Governor's Mansion"

Under the surprise attack of the British, after several rounds of artillery fire, the Humen Fort fell silent, and Fremantle continued to advance at a very small cost. Only a few warships were bombarded once or twice, but nothing serious happened.

Yang Ruishan, Feng Zicai's deputy general, was famous during the Sino-French war.

When the sound of the cannon came, he was leading several lieutenants waiting for the arrival of Tan Zhonglin, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, at the admiral's office of the Humen Navy. He was very worried about the enmity between China and Britain. After the governor arrives this time, he must be persuaded to let the National Defense Forces enter Guangdong and Guangxi to strengthen defense.

Bang, the sound of the explosion interrupted his thinking, what's going on, Yang Ruishan was taken aback, and looked at the lieutenants for a few times, looking at each other pale.

Why is there a noise from the fort? Could it be that the British fleet is attacking? It’s impossible. Didn’t they receive news not long ago that they would go north?

"Admiral, Admiral, it's not good. The British Far East Fleet has dispatched and has already attacked our Humen Fortress." As soon as Yang Ruishan walked out of the door, soldiers came running from afar, shouting to report.

Fortunately, Yang Ruishan didn't lose his footing, and kept asking: "How many ships did the British come?"

The soldier had already run up to him, his hair was disheveled, he was out of breath, and he couldn't even salute, so he hurriedly replied: "I'm afraid there are no less than twenty or thirty warships, including some small boats, there are about forty or so."

Yang Ruishan took a breath, and ordered again and again: "Old Yang, you take 500 people from the water camp to quickly reinforce the Shajiao Fort, Zhang Ting, you immediately lead the old man to order the navy fleet, and let the ships return to Huangpu Port , not to attack at will, and the others will follow the old man to Weiyuan Fort."

The Guangdong navy is actually a local navy. The ships have a very distinctive feature, many, small, and chaotic. They can only be used for inland river and offshore operations, and they are used to arrest smugglers and pirates.

Therefore, when Yang Ruishan heard that the main force of the British fleet had arrived, he no longer had any hope for his naval fleet.

Unfortunately, before Yang Ruishan arrived at the Humen Fort, the fort guard was carried by two soldiers and met Yang Ruishan and his party on the way.

Yang Ruishan hurried forward to check, the guard was seriously injured.

"Admiral, the enemy's firepower is too fierce, the fort is... gone." The guard murmured while crying.

"Where's the British fleet?" Yang Ruishan asked repeatedly.

"They went up the river and headed for the city of Guangzhou." As soon as the guard finished speaking, he passed out.

"Guangzhou City" Yang Ruishan was shocked.

On board the British flagship Agility, Fremantle couldn't stop laughing. From the start of the battle to the present, in just five hours, he had captured the Humen Fortress, bypassed the forts in other places in the upper reaches of the Pearl River, and approached the city of Guangzhou.

It wasn't until this time that Admiral Tan Zhonglin of Guangdong and Guangxi realized that the British fleet had arrived and dispatched troops in a hurry.

However, Fremantle did not give him this opportunity. The British fleet was completely here to vent their anger, and did not intend to capture Guangzhou.

So wait until the fleet is in place.

Slow and continuous, dull and monotonous, the cannon sounded like a funeral cannon fired every 1 minute.

The target of the British fleet was the Governor's Palace. After seeing the Governor's Palace soon turned into a sea of ​​flames, the target was transferred to the city wall, the city center, houses, and all objects in the eyes of the British army.

In the city of Guangzhou, a large number of parade people gathered together. After learning that the British fleet was attacking, although they also began to disperse, but after all, they were not as fast as the artillery fire.

This was simply a massacre, with screams everywhere, countless Chinese people were blown to pieces, it was difficult to distinguish, the houses collapsed, and the governor's mansion was left in ruins, and every roof was covered with bullet holes.

The British Far East Fleet shelled from the afternoon of the same day until the next morning.