Chapter 126 Raid on Hong Kong
Outside the city of Guangzhou, the Restoration Army camp, the central army tent.
Li Yi sat on the big chair with a gloomy face.
As soon as Guangzhou was captured, he emphasized that all units should pay attention to military discipline and not harass the people of Guangzhou.
Originally, he thought that the unorganized and undisciplined secret societies in Guangzhou would be the first to lose control and cause chaos in the city.
Therefore, he specifically ordered people to keep a close eye on the actions of those secret societies and rebel forces.
Unexpectedly, in the end nothing happened to the rebel group, but Luo Dagang got into big trouble.
As the head of the regiment, Luo Dingshan not only took the lead in violating military discipline, but even dared to attack the gendarmerie responsible for enforcing military discipline. Is he trying to rebel?
Luo Dagang knelt in front of him and began to plead guilty.
"Grand Commander, I failed to discipline my subordinates, and this happened. I hope you will punish me."
At this time, Luo Dagang couldn't help but feel worried.
He knew that what his nephew had done was extremely outrageous.
Under such circumstances, it was impossible for Li Yi to let him off easily, but he still had some luck and came to Li Yi in person to apologize.
Upon hearing this, Li Yi asked in a calm voice.
"Commander Luo, before the army entered Guangzhou, did the governor tell all units to maintain military discipline and refrain from harassing the people?"
"Otherwise, will you punish me severely?"
Luo Dagang heard this and said very nervously.
"To reply to the Grand Commander, I said...I did!"
Li Yi heard this and continued.
"Did the governor ever say that military law is as hard as iron and military discipline is as hard as a mountain and cannot be violated?"
Although Li Yi's tone did not change, Luo Dagang clearly heard the murderous intent in it, and spoke in a weak voice.
"I...I did!"
Li Yi continued.
"Did the Governor ever say that those who knowingly break the law and resist the military police will be punished more severely?"
Luo Dagang knew in his heart that his nephew was really finished this time.
Bumped into Li Yi's gun!
I could only lower my head and say.
"Said!"
Li Yi said coldly.
"Then tell me, what should be the punishment for Luo Dingshan's crime?"
Luo Dagang took a deep breath and said.
"According to law, you must be killed!"
Li Yi snorted coldly.
"It's good that you know, Brigadier General Luo. If you have nothing else to do, please leave and don't stay in front of me."
"If I don't kill him today, where is the military law? Where is the military discipline? How will I manage the army in the future?"
Upon hearing this, Luo Dagang took a deep breath and continued to plead for mercy.
"Grand Commander, I know that Dingshan's crime should be punished by death."
"But...but I...I only have this one nephew."
"I hope the Grand Commander will show mercy..."
Hearing this, Li Yi slowly exhaled a breath, his eyes still fixed on Luo Dagang, his tone turned gentle, and he spoke.
"How can there be any private affection under military law? I hope my father-in-law won't make things difficult for me..."
Li Yi changed his way of addressing Luo Dagang to the more intimate term "father-in-law".
His meaning was very clear. I know Luo Dingshan is your nephew, but I am also your son-in-law.
In this situation, you must make a decision whether to choose your daughter and son-in-law or your nephew!
As soon as Li Yi said this, Luo Dagang knew that Luo Dingshan was really dead.
Luo Dagang took a deep breath, his expression a little gloomy, but he still spoke.
"Your humble servant, I obey your command!"
……
Bao Ling and his companions rode at full speed along the Pearl River back to Hong Kong.
Then he went to the Governor's Mansion as soon as possible to ask for an audience with Minister Wenhan.
"Governor, the rebels are willing to negotiate, but the conditions they put forward are very harsh!"
As they were talking, Bao Ling relayed Li Yi's conditions to Wen Han.
Wenhan couldn't help but frown.
"One thousand taels of silver per person? Why don't they just rob them?"
"That is absolutely impossible. Not to mention that Hong Kong does not have such a large amount of silver reserves now."
"Even if there is, this Governor cannot agree to such a request."
Bao Ling heard this and asked.
"Governor, what should we do?"
"Are we going to resort to military means again?"
Before Wenhan could say anything, Fleet Commander Olson interrupted and poured cold water on him.
"Your Excellency the Governor, our army suffered a disastrous defeat in the Battle of Guangzhou. Not only was the land force annihilated, but even the navy fleet suffered heavy losses."
"Even my ship was severely damaged and unable to evacuate the battlefield, so it was captured by the rebels. The other two fourth-level sailing battleships and all the armed merchant ships were also seriously damaged."
"Now the armed merchant ships of France, the United States, the Netherlands, Portugal and other countries are clamoring for compensation from the Governor-General's Office for the loss of their ships in the Battle of Guangzhou."
"We don't have the ability to use force against the rebels again!"
Wenhan and Bao Ling couldn't help but remain silent when they heard this.
They knew there was something to what Olson said.
"Then what should we do? Should we really agree to the rebels' excessive demands?"
Bao Ling asked.
He didn't dare to imagine how Britain would deal with him in the future if he agreed to the rebels' excessive demands now.
Wenhan took a deep breath.
"Let's talk again. I'll ask you to go to Guangzhou again and tell them that we can accept three hundred taels of silver per person to redeem our British soldiers."
"But there are only soldiers from the UK."
"As for those Indians, we don't want them anymore. Let the rebels deal with them on their own!"
Upon hearing this, Bao Ling nodded to show that he understood.
……
It was dark, and the Kowloon Peninsula, which had become a wasteland due to the Qing Dynasty's relocation of borders and sea ban, fell into darkness.
Feng Zicai held a telescope in his hand, crouched in a patch of wormwood on the coast, and looked carefully into the distance.
Behind him were the shadowy soldiers of the Restoration Army, each holding a musket, with sharp eyes and murderous intent.
The Hong Kong Island in the distance was shrouded in sea fog and was blurry.
What can be vaguely seen is that there are ships moored at the port.
The mast lights hanging on the mast swayed from side to side with the surge of the waves.
After the Battle of Guangzhou, the Restoration Army responsible for fighting the British did not return to Guangzhou.
Instead, after a brief rest, they continued southward, and while recovering the forts and towns along the way, they arrived at the Kowloon Peninsula and began to prepare to cross the sea to recover Hong Kong.
"Fuck the foreign devils, they dared to occupy our Chinese land. Today, we brothers will take back Hong Kong and let these foreign devils see how powerful we Chinese are."
Feng Zicai's adjutant Yang Ke said in a low voice.
However, at this moment, there was a blazing fire hidden in his eyes. "Captain, when do we start crossing the sea?"
Yang Ke asked.
Feng Zicai just shook his head when he heard this.
"No hurry, let's wait for the navy to take action first."
"Otherwise, if we cross the sea rashly without the support of the navy, we will be a sitting duck for the British guns."
After saying this, Feng Zicai looked up at the moon and said.
"The navy will have to take action at least in the second half of the night. It's still early now. Let the brothers rest and don't stay up all night."
Upon hearing this, Yang Ke immediately turned around and went to pass on the order, while Feng Zicai continued to hold the telescope and observe Hong Kong across the strait.
There is also fire surging in his eyes!
……
Gradually, as time passed and the moon rose to the zenith, a navy of the Restoration Army quietly appeared on the vast Lingdingyang Ocean.
They paddled their sampans and, under the guidance of coastal fishermen, quietly moved towards Hong Kong and headed straight for the port.
Although most of the soldiers of the Restoration Army were from Guangxi, they were not very familiar with the hydrology of the Guangdong estuary.
However, after knowing that the Restoration Army was going to fight the foreign devils, many Guangdong people and coastal boat people and fishermen took the initiative to step forward and volunteered to lead the Restoration Army.
The Guangdong people may be a little indifferent in other places, but when it comes to opposing the Qing Dynasty and fighting the foreign devils, they are absolutely as enthusiastic as each other.
It was with the help of these coastal people that this was possible.
Therefore, the navy of the Restoration Army was able to sneak up to the vicinity of Hong Kong under the cover of night.
Therefore, the Restoration Army's army was able to march all the way south to Kowloon, separated from Hong Kong by a sea, without being noticed by the British.
Fang Haiyang stood at the bow, gazing at the distant Hong Kong port with a melancholy look in his eyes.
"Commander, the fishing boat ahead encountered a British patrol boat on the sea. If we go any further, our tracks will be untraceable."
The adjutant came to report to him.
After the Battle of Guangzhou, the British army suffered a crushing defeat and retreated all the way back to Hong Kong like a frightened bird.
But even so, after retreating back to Hong Kong, they still sent patrol boats to patrol the sea and guard against possible raids by the Restoration Army.
Fang Haiyang heard this and just spoke with a dim look in his eyes.
"Since I can't hide it, I won't hide it."
"Let our navy advance at full speed, head straight for Hong Kong Harbor, then fire rockets, capture the port, and help our army cross the sea..."
Fang Haiyang gave the military order and everyone responded in unison.
On the sea, rows of sampans rushed to the front, like sharp arrows shot from a bow, shooting straight towards the Hong Kong port.
As they no longer hid their tracks, they were soon discovered by the British patrol boats on the sea.
"Stop, don't move."
"Who are you?"
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! The Chinese are coming again!"
"..."
In the chaos, the patrol boats began to call the police.
But it was too late.
In the surprise attack on Hong Kong, the Restoration Army was prepared to attack the unprepared. In addition, the incident happened late at night, when people are most sleepy, and most of the sailors in the British fleet had gone to sleep.
Even if the patrol boat gave an alarm, it would not be able to gather troops and prepare for battle in a short period of time.
Also, the current fleet in Hong Kong is not considered elite.
The composition is quite complex!
There are two sailing battleships of the British Royal Navy, armed merchant ships of the British East India Company, and armed merchant ships of France, the United States, the Netherlands, and other countries...
A group of people, each with their own subordinates and different thoughts, cannot communicate between the upper and lower levels, and cannot form a joint force at all.
If the battle is going in their favor, these people could rush forward and perhaps demonstrate some combat effectiveness.
But if the battle is against their will, even without the enemy taking action, they may become chaotic because of their different thoughts.
Even those armed merchant ships, as useless teammates, would affect the performance of the two sailing battleships of the British Royal Navy.
That's exactly what happened.
As soon as the patrol boat sounded the warning, the fleet docked at the Hong Kong port was thrown into chaos.
Some wanted to escape, some wanted to fight, and in the chaos, several ships even collided with each other, with the ramming horns deeply embedded in each other's hulls.
The two British Royal Navy's majestic battleships were about to raise their sails to engage in battle, but they were blocked in the port by the chaotic armed mall.
Not to mention fighting, it's hard to even move.
The next moment, there was a whooshing sound on the sea. From the sampans of the Restoration Army, rockets were launched into the air and fired at the chaotic targets in the harbor.
The rocket hit the hull and an explosion sounded.
In a moment, the port of Hong Kong was shrouded in explosions and flames.
An American armed merchant ship was hit by a rocket. Amid the explosion, the flames ignited the gunpowder on the ship, and the fierce flames engulfed everything around it.
Several sailors, whose bodies were burning with flames, screamed and rushed into the sea to survive.
Phew! Whoosh!
The sound of rockets breaking through the air continued to be heard.
The explosions were continuous, and the armed shopping malls were engulfed in flames.
The sailors jumped into the sea like dumplings, trying to escape.
The British navy in the Hong Kong port was unilaterally suppressed and had no ability to fight back.
As for why the coastal defense artillery did not fire back?
Let’s put it this way, most of the gunners in Hong Kong’s coastal defense batteries were transferred to participate in the Battle of Guangzhou.
Now they are either dead bodies or sitting in rows eating fruit in the Restoration Army’s prisoner-of-war camp.
The artillery fired back?
You also need a gunner to fight back.
After all, artillery cannot fire by itself!
……
Governor's Palace, bedroom.
Wenhan was worried. He lay on the soft silk quilt, tossing and turning, but couldn't fall asleep.
Helplessly, he had to drink some red wine to help him sleep.
But he had just finished drinking and fell asleep when he was awakened by the loud explosion outside.
Wenhan jumped up from the bed, wrapped himself in clothes, opened his door, and saw Olsen walking towards him in a hurry. He asked in panic.
"Olsen, what's going on? What's going on outside?"
Olsen came up to Wenhan and said with a sad face.
"Your Excellency the Governor, something terrible has happened. The rebels have attacked Hong Kong, and the fleet in the port has been covered by the rebels' rocket fire..."
"It's over, Hong Kong is finished!"
When Wenhan heard this, he stood there in a daze, with an expression of disbelief on his face.
He felt a chill deep in his bones!
He knew that not only Hong Kong was doomed, but he was also doomed.
As the Governor of Hong Kong and the British Minister to China, he actually lost Hong Kong and Britain's first colony in the Far East.
The consequences are too serious, London will never let him go...
Wenhan's expression twitched and he yelled angrily.
"Despicable! How can the rebels be so despicable?!"
"We agreed to negotiate, but they are planning to launch a surprise attack on Hong Kong at this time. This is really despicable!"
"Olson, I grant you full authority. You must immediately organize manpower and prepare to fight the rebels to defend Hong Kong..."
(End of this chapter)