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After the bodyguards of the Governor of Huguang escorted the representative sent by the Liberation Army out, Hu Linyi stood up and said, "Your Excellency Guanwen, since the war must be fought, I'll go and prepare now."
"Inspector Hu, please win!" The Governor of Huguang, Guan Wen, immediately replied. Although Guan Wen was infuriated, he did not lose his mind. As long as Wuchang was still in the hands of the imperial army, Guan Wen could continue to be the Governor of Huguang. If the Liberation Army won, even if Guan Wen escaped with his life, he would not be forgiven by the Emperor. If he fell into the hands of the Liberation Army, even if he really wouldn't be killed, as a prisoner, what was the point of living?
Therefore, not only did he ask Hu Lin Yi to hurry up and prepare for the war, he also said seriously, "I will wait here for the good news from Imperial Inspector Hu!"
Hu Lin Yi did not like official documents, but he looked forward to them from the bottom of his heart. Hu Lin Yi nodded, "Thank you for your kind words."
After arriving outside the city and giving orders to the navy to fight, Hu Lin Yi asked his subordinates, "Where did the Liberation Army go?"
With a slightly fearful expression, the subordinate said, "They have already crossed the river and gone upstream."
"He crossed the river upstream?" Hu Linyi couldn't understand this at all. He and the representative of the Liberation Army had come out less than two hours apart. Even if the representative of the Liberation Army had been chased out of the city, it was impossible for them to come and go as they pleased. Under the surveillance of the Qing Army, it was impossible for them to have boarded the ship for more than an hour. If it was an hour, it would still be fine if they went downstream, but how far could they go upstream? Hu Linyi couldn't see any more upstream …
When Hu Linyi looked upstream, he saw some strange smoke in the distance. Hu Lin Yi didn't have time to ask any more questions. He ordered, "Fight! I will personally watch the battle from the top of the city wall. "
The Xiang Army Navy anchored in Wuchang consists of three large ships, ten medium-sized ships and more than twenty small ships. The large ships were anchored deep in the middle of the river, the medium-sized ships were near the shore, and the small ships formed a warning line. Hearing Hu Lin Yi's order, the large ships raised their flags and sails, while the medium-sized ships retracted their gangplanks and began to advance towards the middle of the river.
When Hu Linyi went to the top of the city wall to watch the battle, he saw that the ships were ready. Completing these preparations in ten minutes was the normal speed of the Xiang Army Navy who had undergone strict training. But according to what the Xiang army said, the Liberation Army went upstream in less than an hour and disappeared without a trace; this was a bit too nonsensical. However, this was not the time to pursue this trivial matter. Hu Linyi focused on watching the battle.
At this time, other than the Liberation Army and the Xiang Army Navy, there were no other ships on the river. In winter, the river was much narrower than in summer, so it did not seem very spacious. The Xiang Army's fleet worked hard to go against the current. Forty ships occupied more than half of the river.
The navy of the Liberation Army had finally appeared. Hu Linyi originally thought that Guan Wen was talking nonsense, but after seeing the Liberation Army warship with his own eyes, he realized that Guan Wen was not exaggerating. The Liberation Army's ship was not particularly large. The bow of the ship was very pointed. Not only did it not have sails, but there were also no sailors rowing. There was a chimney emitting smoke in the center of the hull, and the red flag on the high mast fluttered in the wind.
It was just that the distance was relatively far, so Hu Linyi could not see it clearly. When the two fleets were about one mile apart, the Liberation Army's warship took the lead to fire. Only large ships could install cannons, and the caliber of the cannons could not be too large. Otherwise, the recoil would cause the warship to capsize. With such restrictions, the range of the cannons was a big problem. The Liberation Army set up a cannon position on the front deck of each ship, and the two cannons on the gun position fired continuously. After each shot, the Liberation Army's warship only trembled slightly. The Liberation Army's four ships were parallel on the river, and eight cannons with a range of more than one mile swept across the Xiang Army Navy downstream.
Hu Linyi was already dumbfounded. It was not only the Liberation Army's ships that could move on their own in the river. These ships were now only moving forward slowly, and did not move as fast as the wind as rumored. However, the fierce artillery fire on the ships was something he had never seen before. Hu Linyi was very familiar with the navy. Not to mention that the Xiang Army Navy could not fire such dense artillery fire even if they used all their strength, even the cannons imported from the foreigners by the army could not fire at such a speed.
Of course, what was even more terrifying was the accuracy of the Liberation Army's cannons. The Xiang Army's navy ship was in the lead, and there was a medium-sized military ship in the front left. The large ship's attack power was more powerful, and they were the main force in water battles. Then, Hu Linyi watched helplessly as the Liberation Army's cannons focused on the medium-sized military ship in front of the large ship. In the violent explosion, the military ship broke into pieces and sank.
The Liberation Army's cannons continued to hit the back. The eight cannons concentrated their firepower, and the cannons hit the Xiang Army's ship at the front like rain. In just a few minutes, the Xiang Army's ship was hit by five or six cannons in a row. In the violent explosion inside, the ship burned in flames and sank to the river surface.
Hu Linyi was dumbfounded. What he had heard was already shocking enough, and what he saw in reality was even more beyond what he had heard. Even though he was shocked, Hu Lin Yi noticed something strange about the Restoration Army. Many heavy sacks were hung on the ship with ropes, protecting the ship's sides and hull. But this kind of doubt was nothing. The Xiang Army Navy was indeed the army that Hu Linyi had personally built. In the face of a strong enemy, the navy officers and soldiers were still fighting ceaselessly.
The Xiang Army also had their own experience in dealing with the Liberation Army's ships with such heavy tonnage and fierce firepower. The small ships flanked and attacked from different directions. The navy on the ships carried oil bottles and torches, and when they got close, they raised fire and burned the enemy's ships. The brave sailors on the Xiang Army's small ships rowed with all their might, trying to get close to the Liberation Army's fleet as soon as possible.
Seeing the Xiang Army's response measures, many figures appeared on the Liberation Army's ships. They hid behind the hull, raised their rifles and began to shoot at the Xiang Army. The Liberation Army's cannons fired fiercely at the Xiang Army's large and medium-sized ships, while these sailors used their rifles to fire fiercely at the Xiang Army's small ships.
When the Xiang Army's small ships were more than 100 meters away from the Liberation Army, people began to be shot. When they were more than 50 meters away, there were less than half of the people left on these approaching ships. The small ships that relied on human power were missing half of the people, so they were even slower. The cannons on the Liberation Army's military ships temporarily stopped bombarding the Xiang Army's large and medium-sized ships. At a distance of more than 50 meters, they easily used the cannons to smash the Xiang Army's small ships one by one.
In the face of such a desperate situation, the navy on the Xiang Army's small ships were still loyal and brave. They also tried to fight back with their rifles. But those sacks were filled with wet sand, and the bullets had no effect at all. After using all the skills they could use, they still could not cause any damage to the Liberation Army. The Xiang Army's navy had no choice but to choose to jump off the ship and escape.
Hu Linyi wished he could jump into the Yangtze River and drive the Xiang Army back to the ships. They were less than 50 meters away from the Liberation Army's military ships, and it was very likely that a random shot could kill a Liberation Army navy on the ship. The Liberation Army's ships were fewer than the Xiang Army's, and the navy was also fewer than the Xiang Army's. If it was a life for a life, it was only the Liberation Army that could not withstand it.
But what happened next made Hu Linyi extremely disappointed. After the Xiang Army's brave attack of more than 20 small ships was smashed, the navy on the remaining small ships collectively jumped off the ship to escape. And five of the 10 medium-sized military ships had been sunk. The Xiang Army's large ships were still moving forward. It seemed that they wanted to use the cannons on the large ships to deal with the Liberation Army's military ships when they got closer.
At this moment, the smoke coming out of the Liberation Army's military ships' chimneys became thicker. A moment later, the Liberation Army's military ships sailed faster, and during the voyage, the military ships that were originally in a horizontal line became a column. The Xiang Army's navy unconsciously sailed in the Yangtze River near Wuchang City, while the Liberation Army's military ships sailed in the Yangtze River far away from Wuchang City's city wall.
After the Liberation Army's military ships accelerated, Hu Linyi estimated the speed of these ships. He had thought that these ships would be a little faster than ordinary ships sailing along the river. He did not expect that the Liberation Army's military ships would not stop after accelerating. These four ships went downstream at a speed that was much faster than a galloping horse. In the blink of an eye, they had passed the Xiang Army's fleet and reached the downstream of the Xiang Army's navy.
Then these ships quickly slowed down. Just when Hu Linyi thought that the Liberation Army's military ships might only be so capable, the four ships had already fallen into the river in a large arc, turning their bows and heading upstream toward the Xiang Army. At this time, upstream of the Xiang Army, the other three Liberation Army's military ships had formed a line and pressed down. The four Liberation Army's military ships behind them also changed from a column to a horizontal line and pushed upstream.
Under the attack from both sides, the Xiang Army's remaining large and medium-sized military ships were eventually sunk. From the beginning to the end, the battle lasted less than an hour. From the first shot to the last shot, the Xiang Army's navy was silent. Only then did the Xiang Army's small boats hit the Liberation Army's military ships with the rifles in their hands. The cannons and guns on the other ships did not have any effect.
After the Liberation Army's military ships wiped out the Xiang Army's navy, they formed a column and sailed downstream. After they ran out for a while, the fleet turned back. At this time, the Xiang Army's navy in the river left a sunken ship. When it sank, the damage was not strong enough. After the wreckage disappeared, it sat at the bottom of the river, leaving only the top of the mast above the water surface. But at this time, under the impact of the river, the mast was tilting more and more. The Liberation Army's column nimbly bypassed the sunken ship and sailed upstream.
Without sails and oarsmen, the fleet sailed at high speed in the river as if it was under a spell, approaching Hankou.
Hu Linyi's mind was in a mess. In fact, he did not understand the battle from beginning to end. Everything was beyond his imagination. Warships that could move automatically, the Liberation Army that could build such warships in the Yangtze River, the fall of Changsha, the fall of Yue Shou, the whole world seemed to have changed overnight. However, Hu Lin Yi didn't know what was going on at all.
But now Hu Linyi could finally be sure of one thing. Manchu Qing would really lose to Vézé. Last night, Hu Linyi had thought that if the Manchurian Qing were to be defeated, he would become a genuine traitor to the Chinese people. Facing such a situation, thinking of the future, Hu Linyi felt his blood boil and his chest tighten.
"I am not a traitor! I am not a thief! I am not a dog! I am not a cheap wretch! "Hu Linyi shouted in his heart.
As if he had to spit it out, the acting Hubei Inspector opened his mouth and a mouthful of blood gushed out, spraying all over the bricks of Wuchang's city wall.
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