"Fire!"

With a loud roar, two 9-pound grenades exploded in the Pirov winter camp, and then dozens of figures jumped up and ran towards the camp from three sides at the same time.

Not long after, fierce gunshots rang out, mixed with shouts, horses neighing, and dogs barking, which could be heard very clearly at dawn.

Pirov's winter camp only had two wooden houses and a stable. Although it was surrounded by a wooden fence, there was not even a watchtower. It was said to be a camp, but in fact it had no defensive function at all, so the thirty soldiers of the White Lord

After the soldiers swarmed in, the battle ended quickly. Most of the ten Cossack cavalry died near the house, except for two who were suspected to be sentries, and they fell together with others inside the gate.

Commander Okada Nobuzhin chuckled, "We succeeded! The artillery crew fired quite accurately. When I charged, I thought, if the artillery missed the target, I would die before the victory was achieved."

Speaking of "death", he quickly said twice, "Slip of the tongue."

To be honest, Okada felt that this battle was not interesting. He rushed in and it ended without a few shots or a few grenades. It was not enjoyable at all!

According to his idea, there is no need to transport the cannon off the ship. He can definitely capture the charge camp by himself, as long as he fights like this.

Okada stood in a daze, but the soldiers were not idle. After putting out the fire, the team leader came over to ask Okada for instructions, and then sent out sentries. Then the two groups of infantry began to rest, and one group of infantry went to help the artillery team guard - two

The artillery crew still needs to move the rifled gun back to the Benzai ship.

About an hour later, four steamships towing three Bencai boats slowly sailed into the Wulong River Estuary.

Okada hurriedly led people to board the ship. Before leaving, he said to the group leader who was staying at the Perov winter camp, "Be smart and don't be as stupid as the Lucians - you don't even know the ship has docked, but you let the enemy touch it."

It's near the camp. And the horses are all left for you. If you can't beat them, just run away. There's no shame in that."

The group leader loudly said yes - but he didn't say that neither he nor the nine warriors knew how to ride a horse.

The steamboat pulled the Bencai boat north, and soon the Wulong River estuary returned to tranquility, as if nothing had happened.

Today is June 22, 1854. This time Zhixiu led his men boldly northward, preparing to attack Miaotun again.

For this operation, Naohide not only claimed to be ill and did not go to Edo to pay a pilgrimage to the new prince, but he also sent people to conduct two reconnaissances in advance last year. In order not to arouse the alertness of the Lucians, the White Navy navy spent the entire 1853

They did not attack Miaotun, but sent people twice to land near the river mouth, and then walked 80 kilometers to Miaotun for reconnaissance.

From Miaotun to the mouth of the Wulong River, there were no human settlements, let alone roads. Fortunately, the people sent were smart and capable, and the task was successfully completed, allowing Lord Bai to have a general understanding of Miaotun and the Plov Winter Camp.

In June 1852, Naohide personally led his troops to uproot the Russian strongholds at the mouth of the Wulong River - Nikolayevsk Post (Miaotun) and Perov Winter Camp. After that, the White Lord made full efforts to shrink and prepare to deal with the Russians.

revenge. As a result, no Lu warships went south that year, and the Lord Bai did not send a ship north to inspect the situation in Miaotun.

However, the results of two investigations in 1853 showed that the Lucians were really stubborn, and traces of them appeared again in the Wulong River Estuary:

There were more people coming this time, and all of them were soldiers, not civilians. It is estimated that an infantry company of 180 people and a Cossack cavalry company of 100 people were transferred, and most of them were concentrated in Miaotun.

Pyrov's winter camp at the mouth of the river was turned into an observation post, with only ten Cossack cavalry stationed there.

Two steamships also appeared - according to

It is estimated that one is a steam-sail hybrid battleship, but it is not big, only a few hundred tons, and is probably an experimental model; the other is a steamship, that is, a pure steam merchant ship.

The Lucians are really smart!

You must know that Muravyov, the governor of Eastern Siberia in Rusia, only had about a thousand standing troops in his hands. Last time, about 177 people were wiped out by the White Lord. This time, another 280 people were sent. They are not needed in other places?

But then everyone thought, Governor Muravyov must have forced some immigrants to become soldiers - Lord White himself often did this, there is nothing new under the sun.

The appearance of these two steamships is rare.

Among the major powers in Europe, Rusia has always been known for its backward technology, and Eastern Siberia is regarded as the backwaters of Rusia because it is far away from the European continent. It is estimated that Governor Muravyov worked hard to get it. These two ships.

Since the opponent attaches so much importance to it, the White Lord will definitely continue to attack. Anyway, Zhengxiu said that after the wave of 1854, the Lucians would not go south until at least 1858, and if they hit hard, they might still be able to go south. Then postpone it for a few years.

Now Bai Zhu's life is getting better, but in the past, most people were afraid of poverty and had a strong sense of crisis. They felt that since they were going to fight sooner or later, it was natural to take action first! - Those who knew that Lucia was a behemoth. Naohsiu's best friends will naturally not be afraid if they don't know. Not many people raised any objections to sending troops!

Maybe everyone is very calm. Are you a Lucian? The last time we fought, we defeated him without any effort. Moreover, the head of the family led the army himself, so he must be confident.

Therefore, Naohide successfully pulled out all the belongings. The four steamships and four Benzai ships that he finally managed to get together were not pulled out. All 180 people from the standing army came, which was regarded as an overwhelming force.

Fortunately, Pirov's winter camp was successful in the first battle, and not a single Cossack cavalry ran out. Otherwise, it would be a pity if the big fish escaped - steamships are so miserable nowadays, they are not as fast as horses in short distances. Although the reconnaissance results It shows that there is no road between the winter camp and Miaotun, but what if there is? If you meet an equestrian master, you will be blinded.

Okay now, it’s about 4 o’clock in the morning - Wulong River Estuary is at a high latitude, and the sun comes out at a little after 3 o’clock in the morning in June. It’s about 80 kilometers from Jiangkou to Miaotun, and it takes about 11 hours for a steam ship to tow the Bencai ship. Normally, we would arrive at Miaotun at around three o'clock in the afternoon to see if we can really catch a big fish.

During the voyage, none of the soldiers were interested in sightseeing - the war was about to begin, and it was impossible to say that they were not nervous. Although the scenery on both sides of the strait was good, everyone took the time to check the ordnance. However, as time went by, under the flowing water, In the sound, after lunch, most of the soldiers leaned against the cabin and fell asleep.

I don’t know how long it took, but the group leaders woke up everyone one by one. Everyone quickly washed their faces in batches, drank hot soup and ate biscuits. The more energetic they were, the less hungry they were, and the more powerful they would be in fighting - their lives are their own, who knows? Don't want anything to happen.

At this time, the speed of the ship slowed down, and three people in colorful clothes came up. They were the reconnaissance soldiers sent more than ten days ago. After they reported the situation, everyone clapped and celebrated. There were still two forts in Miaotun. The higher mounds still have wooden sheds on them, which have not changed at all.

But it was not without some bad news. The two steamships that originally docked at Miaotun were missing. The detectives said that they arrived near Miaotun ten days ago and then found that they had disappeared. It was not until they arrived two days ago that they

Haven't shown up since leaving.

Everyone is sorry to hear this, because at this time, if the steam ship is turned off and restarted, it will take at least an hour, if it is not the time of the water tube boiler

It is longer, so if the stalled steamship is attacked, the consequences can be imagined.

The big fish has run away. Just show off and squawk. What can you do? I can only accept it.

He convened the main commanders to determine the combat plan, and then the staff took the confirmed tactical plan to each ship to confirm with the team leaders. Then the team leaders announced their respective tasks to the captains. After everything was settled, all the ships speeded up and set sail again.

.

The steamship rumbled forward, and at 3:07 pm on June 22, the Miaotun Pier could finally be clearly seen in the telescope. At this time, the four steamships untied their moorings and continued to move forward, while the Bencai ship no longer

Move forward - the battle is about to begin.

The current commander of the battle is Nakahama Manjiro, the navy chief, who commands four steamships to besiege the two Lucian forts.

The White Master steamship is equipped with a 3-inch breech-loaded gun that fires 10-pound solid shells and 9-pound grenades. The model of the artillery used by the Lucian fort is unknown. It is estimated to be 6-pound and 12-pound smoothbore cannons. It may also fire only

Solid bullet.

The battle was one-sided from the beginning. The Lucian artillery could only fire about 500 to 1,000 meters away, while the steamships could launch grenades two thousand meters away. Therefore, the wooden sheds on the two earthen platforms soon caught fire.

, explosions also occurred from time to time, probably because ammunition caught fire.

Seeing that the two wooden sheds had completely collapsed, Nakahama Manjiro immediately asked the steamships to fire salvos at the dock area.

The Nikolayevsk post did not know the reason, and no serious fortifications were carried out. Soon the wooden houses everywhere caught fire. After the area around the pier turned into a sea of ​​​​fire, Nakahama asked the steamships to continue to launch

Cannons were fired, and more places began to burst into flames.

The Lucians were quite brave. At the beginning, some people ran to the shore and fired guns, but the range of the muskets was a tragedy. After the area near the dock was burned into a sea of ​​flames, these people disappeared in the thick smoke, not knowing it was a war.

Die or retreat.

In fact, the charge of the current 9-pound grenade is black powder, and the power is not as powerful as that of later generations. But after all, it comes from ordnance, and the Lucians can't change hands just after being beaten. Who can bear this? Naohide used the telescope to see that it had begun.

Someone escaped on horseback.

The entire battle took less than an hour and a half starting from the firing of the artillery fire, and the battle was basically over.

At this time, Nakahama Manjiro asked people to wave the flag in greeting, the two steamships began to tow the Benzai ship again, and the land crew began to land to clean up the mess.

According to the prior plan, they quickly opened up a safe area at the dock. After setting up simple fortifications, the artillery was quickly transported from the ship.

Although there was no enemy counterattack, the artillery crew was still fighting hard. Originally, Miaotun had been completely destroyed two years ago. There were not many new houses built this time. The steamships had already bombed it several times.

It started to go crazy again, so the fish that slipped through the net could not escape the disaster.

The navy had ceased fire, but Naoyoshi Hori, the land commander, commanded the artillery team to continue wreaking havoc until everything he could see was shrouded in smoke, and he gave the order to stop the attack.

It is very strange that the Lucians did not organize a counterattack. Is it because the military quality is not good enough or the commander is more sensible? This mystery may have to remain for a long time.

This battle that relied on advanced ordnance to "win without force" ended hastily.

However, although the Battle of Miaotun has ended, the war will continue - because the Governor of Eastern Siberia Muravyov is leading a large force down the river, including 800 infantry, 100 Cossacks and an artillery unit
Chapter completed!