From early in the morning until about four o'clock in the afternoon, after many tests and repeated rounds of artillery reconnaissance, the coastal defense positions at Funing Port were discovered by the East China Sea Fleet and destroyed with long-range cannons.

The Marine Corps began to show up.

Hundreds of landing craft of the Marine Corps shot towards the coast like arrows, surrounded by fire support from dozens of small battleships and gunboats.

Marine brigade commander Ding Changqiang held a telescope, half-crouched on the deck of a battleship, and kept urging:

"Send the order, the forward battalion must hurry up...hurry up, hurry up!"

From time to time, landing craft were hit by artillery shells and sank to the bottom of the sea, but more landing craft scattered above the sea and quickly approached the shore.

The navy's armored gunboats, with a displacement of 1,000 tons, are very suitable for covering landing troops in the landing zone.

At this time, they could clearly see the faces of the defenders on the shore, behind the first beachhead defense line.

After the battle lasted for more than two hours, the Marines broke through the breakwater on the coastline. In front of them was a beach several miles wide, with criss-crossing trenches covering the entire beach. Behind the chest-high ramparts, soldiers were busy running, and officers

He shouted out various orders at the top of his lungs.

At this point, everyone understood that this time the Southern Army seemed to be serious about it. Although the East China Sea Fleet had often come to attack in the past half month, this was the first time for such a large-scale forced landing operation.

Standing on the port city wall, one can clearly see that the Confederate army was wading onto the land from the transport fleet on the sea in batches, and a large number of siege equipment was also carried ashore.

It can be seen from here that the weapons industry in Jiangnan has far exceeded that of other places. Huge siege equipment has become standard equipment for the Southern Army. It has uniform sizes and split components, allowing them to be transported ashore in pieces.

, reassembled in a very short period of time.

Long Rongting stood at the top of the port city with a dull expression on his face. He didn't know if he was regretting or thinking about something else.

Choosing to fight against the Jiangnan Army, the Guangdong Army would not get any benefits. These defenders only had a very small number of elite Cantonese troops, and most of them were surrendered and were former port garrison troops of the Fujian Army.

How could they be a match against Jiangnan's elite Marine Corps?

Of the thirty-six strategies, walking is the best strategy.

Long Rongting had already asked his elite Cantonese troops to quietly prepare to retreat. They marched from the land to a small port and disembarked into the sea, and then all evacuated to the Pearl River Port in Guangdong.

While leading the main force to attack Funing Port, Yu Dapeng appointed deputy commander Ding Changdong to go to Xiamen Gulangyu Island.

…

Chongming, the mouth of the Yangtze River.

On the vast river, there are more than 70 warships parked in Black Crow Crow, ranging from the 750-ton gunboat Chu to the 2800-ton ironclad Wolf and Fei, as well as dozens of large transport ships.

Boat.

This is the main force of the Yangtze River First Fleet led by Lang Zhongping.

On the rippling blue river, the flagship of the Yangtze River Fleet, the modified ironclad Blood Wolf, was moored quietly.

The weather is excellent today. Although the wind on the river is still as cold and biting as ever, the sun in the sky is spreading a touch of warmth.

The Shanghai Army's Jiuduansha Naval Base was surrounded by the main force of Chen Tianhua's Yangtze River First Fleet.

Jiuduansha is an island near Pudong. There are six thousand-ton gunboats here, two of which were donated by the Guangdong army not long ago.

There are also five old gunboats of over 700 tons.

All these ships put together are not enough to fill Chen Tianhua's Yangtze River Fleet. It is really not enough to see.

Standing on the flagship of Shanghai Navy Commander Peng Bin, staring at the Blood Wolf and other large river ships opposite, Jiang Zunliang, deputy commander of the Shanghai Army, slowly shook his head and sighed:

"Coming to the city and offering negotiation terms is already a great deal of face. To be honest, Chen Tianhua is truly an unparalleled genius. After taking charge of Jiangnan, he can always surprise people. He not only has a powerful East China Sea Fleet, but also

We have a powerful Yangtze River Fleet and have built a 10,000-ton maritime giant. Commander Peng, if they attack the island, how many days can we hold on?" Jiang Zunliang turned to look at the gray-haired navy veteran.

The military situation of the Shanghai army led by Chen Qimei and Geng Zhongming in Fujian Province has been spread to Shanghai.

More than 27,000 men under the Zhejiang Army's Ding Jiu Division were annihilated by Chen Tianhua's Tiger Army. Two Japanese advisers were killed in the battle. Ding Jiu, who escaped, was tried by a furious Li Pinzhang and shot.

He was trying to comfort Japan.

Chen Tianhua led Zeng Xin's cavalry to Taizhou Prefecture and divided the troops into two groups. He alone led Tang Hu and Iron Leopard's special agents to take Lang Zhongping's Yangtze River First Fleet ship from Taizhou and directly arrive at Chongming Island.

A few days later, he led the Yangtze River First Fleet to approach Jiuduansha Base.

The first division of Luo Longyun's Evervictorious Army has already marched from Suzhou Prefecture to Shanghai.

It has the momentum of an approaching storm.

This time, Chen Tianhua was prepared to completely eliminate the Shanghai army first, at all costs and without leaving any room for error.

In order to avoid a war in Shanghai, with the help of Shadow Hu Ke from the Military Adjustment Department, the consulates of Britain, France, Germany and the United States in Shanghai came forward at the same time, demanding that the Shanghai Army negotiate with the South Army as soon as possible to peacefully resolve the issue of Shanghai's ownership and oppose independence.

The two sides agreed to negotiate on the river.

Peng Bin is nearly sixty years old. Under his gray hair, his bronze skin shows that he has lived on the river all year round. There is a faint layer of rust on his hands. His eyes are shining as he looks at the huge fleet on the opposite side.

As a general of the Yangtze River Navy in the late Qing Dynasty, seeing such a huge Yangtze River fleet, there is reason not to be enthusiastic.

After hearing Jiang Zunliang's question, Peng Bin thought about it seriously and replied:

"Returning to Governor Jiang, if they come to attack the island, our ships can only be parked in the port and used as forts. Combined with coastal defense artillery, I think they can last for three days at most, with no chance of winning!"

"Oh, why do you say that? I thought you would say that this is the first time we have encountered such a huge fleet, and we probably won't be able to hold on for a day."

Peng Bin smiled bitterly and said, "Returning to the deputy governor, there is an ironclad certainty in maritime operations, that is, big ships beat small ships, and many ships beat few ships. Landing operations also require cooperation between artillery and landing troops, and they need to constantly

In Ye Lian, the right time, right place, and right people, if the leader of one side is a stupid pig, then of course it’s a different story!”

Jiang Zunliang couldn't help but frowned, "There are Yu Dapeng and Ding Changdong in the East China Sea Fleet, and Lang Zhongping in the Yangtze River Fleet. They are all highly accomplished naval officers, right?"

Peng Bin nodded, "That's right, Deputy Governor. I said the war will start today, but I still have three days to persist, because their Yangtze River Navy is probably blind to the island landing battle. I believe the other side is still groping."

There was a look of pain on his face, and it was difficult to finish these words.

As a general who once commanded the country for decades, one can imagine the pain in his heart when he saw that no matter how hard he tried, he could not change the situation.

"Deputy Commander, the Confederate Army's Blood Wolf has sent a flag message, requesting you to come across the ship for an interview!" An officer ran over and reported loudly.

"What?"

Jiang Zunliang's eldest son, Jiang Rong, who is twenty years old this year, was furious, "What is Chen Tianhua's intention? How can he ask his father to meet him across the ship? It's too rude. We sent a flag and said we asked Chen Tianhua

See you on the island!"
Chapter completed!