Public international law is just a piece of paper, or just a few pieces of paper.
Who would comply? Not only would they not comply, but the fort's answer completely angered Rezas, who said to Davis with an angry look on his face.
"Mr. Douglas, as you have seen, they have rejected us!"
"Um……"
Pursing his lips, Davis stared at the fort above the cliff and said.
"Colonel, what if we fly the merchant flag and enter?"
"Sir, you are a diplomat. You should know that once we raise the merchant flag, it is equivalent to recognizing the identity of the other party! Then the basis for negotiation will no longer exist!"
For a moment, Ressas even wanted to question Mitre face to face, "Have you never studied public international law?"
You actually sent a fleet here, and now the other party shuts you out. You must be dumbfounded now!
Now it’s hard to ride a tiger!
"Now they have shut us out, sir, as long as you agree, I will immediately blast open their door and force them to admit that this is Argentine land!"
Hearing this, Davis frowned and said.
"Colonel, are you sure?"
"Sir, you must know that gunboats are the passport to the world, and the confidence of diplomats is given by the fleet!"
Rezas, who had studied in the United Kingdom, learned all about the British. Although Argentina did not have the strength of the British navy, it did not prevent him from learning the British methods.
Although he didn't want to admit it, Davis had to admit that what he said was the truth.
"That……"
After thinking for a moment, Davis shrugged his shoulders and said.
"Let them face reality!"
face the reality!
Reality is an ultimatum!
"Your company is ordered to open the port within 24 hours and raise the Argentine flag, otherwise you will be responsible for the consequences."
Faced with the Argentinian ultimatum, Zhu Xianhai responded simply and neatly.
"Tell them that America Corporation will never make any concessions on issues of principle!"
Negotiations broke down before they even started.
After making this response, the fort and fleet immediately became busy,
"Okay, gentlemen, let's teach them what reality is!"
The cruiser "General Belgrano" immediately started boiling, and the sailors shouted and stuffed heavy shells into the muzzles.
The sea breeze blowing from the Atlantic Ocean blew the fort on the peninsula. Although the temperature at this time was quite pleasant, the atmosphere on the fort seemed a bit tense. The gunners stood at the end of the wooden mount of the Armstrong cannon.
, they were either squatting or standing, occasionally looking at the commander not far away, while the fort commander Ding Wentao stood there waiting for orders.
Standing behind the protective wall of the fort, Zhu Xianhai looked at the blue Atlantic Ocean and stared at the three warships. No, they were three targets.
"Are you ready?"
"Report to the commander, preparations are complete."
"Then let's begin!"
"Ready to launch!"
Following the order, the gunner behind the gun emplacement immediately rushed to the gun emplacement. The gunner on the left used a wooden hammer to hit the bolt at the rear of the gun. Then the two quickly tightened the bolt. That is known as the "Armstrong screw"
"The bolt, that is, its breech bolt, after twisting the bolt, pull out the vertical air lock bolt, load the ammunition, and then twist the bolt. The so-called breech bolt, to put it bluntly, is a large hollow screw. This
That's why it's called a "screw cannon".
Seeing the gunners twisting the tail of the cannon, Zhu Xianhai just pursed his lips slightly. This cannon was too cumbersome to operate.
When the gunners lifted up the shells to load, his eyes narrowed slightly. The shells they loaded had a completely different shape from the commonly used shells. The half of the cylindrical shell had a sharp streamline, and it was longer and heavier.
Whether it is the original British Armstrong 110-pound cannon or the Nanhua imitation, the caliber is 7 inches. This cannon, which was finalized in 1859, can be installed on a land-based gun mount or a naval gun mount. The gun mounts are both
It is a mixed structure of wood and iron. Its metric caliber is 177.8 mm. The weight of the launched warhead is 90 to 109 pounds, which is 40 to 50 kilograms.
Regarding its performance, Zhu Xianhai was very fond of it. After all, it was once the master cannon of Nanhua and was used to guard the gate. He even had two of them shipped to him during the expedition to Araucania. It turned out that
It was intended to be used as a siege gun, and was later used to strengthen the defense of the seaside fortress.
However, now it uses a new type of artillery shell designed by Zhu Xianhai - a 100 kilogram artillery shell, which has doubled its weight. The reason why this kind of artillery shell is designed is to tap the potential of the Armstrong cannon - its caliber is about the same
It has 180mm and can fire 50kg shells, which is really overkill.
100 kilograms is just right. As for the range, because the new shell has a streamlined shape, the range has not been shortened and it still maintains a range of 3200 meters!
Zhu Xianhai smiled slightly.
This is his secret weapon - a more powerful cannonball!
The gunners' shouts rang out one after another from the fort.
"No. 3 gun position is ready."
"No. 4 gun position is ready"
…
As the twelve Armstrong cannons on the fort were ready to fire, Wang Sanwei, who was standing next to the wooden gun mount, stuffed the draw tube into the rear of the gun, buckled the draw cord, and then stared at the target on the sea. Everyone
They were all waiting, waiting for the Argentinians to fire.
The gunners on the cruiser "General Belgrano" had just finished loading. When they pushed the nine-inch Dahlgren cannon out of the gun window, the gunners on the starboard side shouted "Done."
"Get ready", Rezas nodded enthusiastically.
"Fire!"
Following the order, the gunners on the cruiser "General Belgrano" pulled the match one after another, and instantly, clouds of smoke and flames erupted from the side of the ship.
Almost as soon as Argentina opened fire, Ding Wentao shouted.
"Fire!"
At the moment when Wang Sanwei pulled the match rope hard, with a loud noise, the Armstrong cannon on the gun mount rushed to the back along the wooden shells, and the gunfire and gunpowder smoke ejected from the muzzle instantly enveloped it.
Covered the entire fort.
As a cannon shell roared out, another cannon also opened fire. For a while, the fort was filled with the sound of continuous cannons.
When the deafening sound of gunfire came, Zhu Xianhai, who was in the bunker, looked at the sea with a relaxed expression.
There is no suspense in this conflict at all, after all, the Argentinian wooden-hulled boats are simply vulnerable.
As if to confirm his speculation, when several huge water columns were exploded near the Argentinian warship, a huge explosion of flames was seen from the topmast of the cruiser "General Belgrano"...
This chapter has been completed!