Chapter 543: The Gathering of Apes Shines
Chapter 537: The Glider
The British and French coalition forces have already set out, leaving Liang Yao with little time left.
The only good news is that India indirectly helped Liang Yao a lot this time.
In May 1857, the Indian Army soldiers in northern India revolted in the Walled City (now Delhi). As of now, the revolt has spread rapidly to other parts of northern India, including Kanapur, Borkhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, and Odna, and has spread like wildfire.
Due to the outbreak of the Indian National Uprising, the British Army's plan to attack Guangzhou was forced to be postponed. The British Army had to stop in India on the way to suppress the Indian rebels.
Based on intelligence, Liang Yao calculated that the main force of the British and French coalition forces would not arrive in Hong Kong until Christmas at the end of the year at the earliest, and he still had five months to prepare.
If it weren't for the British Empire's navy completely controlling the sea power in the Indian Ocean, Liang Yao would now be eager to give some arms to the rebellious Indian soldiers and princely states for free to assist them in their anti-British cause and be a pioneer in anti-colonialism.
Liang Yao summoned Gibson and Le Goff, two old acquaintances, and expressed his attitude.
The dispatch of troops by Britain and France to the Qing Dynasty was a state affair between Britain and France, and he had no right to interfere.
However, if the two countries ignored the United States and the vested interests of the West Coast in the Far East and Southeast Asia, and attempted to get involved in Xiangshan, Nagasaki, Hokkaido Island, and Borneo Island, he would never sit idly by.
Gibson and Le Goff's reactions were rather cold, and from their reactions, Liang Yao was more certain that the intelligence Martin provided him was accurate: the British and French did want to get involved in his sphere of influence.
Liang Yao did not give Gibson and Le Goff a good look, but just asked them to go back and tell their British and French masters to take care of themselves. Then he began to make intensive arrangements for the upcoming war.
He had the 200 cannons ordered by the Qing court center in stock. Liang Yao had been preparing for the civil war, and had as many as 260 cannons of various types in stock.
However, most of the cannons in Liang Yao's inventory were Sacramento cannons. Considering that the Qing army was too weak, Liang Yao did not intend to sell Sacramento cannons to the Qing Dynasty. Instead, he chose to sell the M1857 (12-pound cannon) and M1841 (6-pound cannon) Napoleon cannons that had been modified by rifles to the Qing Dynasty.
As for larger caliber heavy cannons, such as 18-inch coastal defense cannons, they were expensive, and production, installation, and personnel training were time-consuming and laborious. Liang Yao could not help. The money given by the Qing court was only enough to buy these small cannons.
He was a capitalist, not a philanthropist. If the Qing court wanted larger heavy cannons, it would be fine. It would be bought with real money.
However, the Napoleon cannons had been eliminated and retired from active service in the West Coast region, and there were not many civilian stocks on the West Coast. Liang Yao tried his best, but only collected 86 retired Napoleon cannons, of which Sartre contributed 16 Napoleon cannons.
For this reason, Liang Yao could only ask for help from the Austin Arsenal in Texas. Fortunately, the main cannon produced and modified by the Austin Arsenal was the Napoleon cannon. After patching together, including those Napoleon cannons that had not yet undergone rifling modification, they finally gathered 200 cannons.
After developing the Sacramento cannon, the Sacramento Arsenal had dismantled the production line of the Napoleon cannon and its related ammunition, so Liang Yao also transferred all the orders for shells needed by the Qing Dynasty to the Austin Arsenal.
The Austin Arsenal did not expect that the first large overseas order it had obtained would be obtained in such a dramatic way.
Ron, Espy and others laughed so hard that they hurriedly put the 114 Napoleon cannons and ammunition required by the Qing Dynasty on the train and transported them to California through the Pacific Railway that had just been completed. Then they were transported to Dagukou by merchant ships of the Jardine Group and Tongfu Group.
Two Pioneer-class ironclads were under construction at the San Francisco Shipyard at the same time. In order to speed up the launching of the ironclads, Jeremiah responded to Liang Yao's request and focused on building one of the ironclads first, striving to ensure that at least one ironclad was launched around November.
In this way, when the British and French coalition forces arrived in Guangzhou, Liang Yao would have at least two ironclads available, and his maritime force would not be too weak.
This made Sven suffer. Due to time constraints, Sven had to train enough crew members for two ironclads on an existing Pioneer-class ironclad.
Liang Yao counted his assets. If the second Pioneer-class ironclad could be successfully launched around November.
By then, he could mobilize two Pioneer-class ironclads, 28 Bold-class frigates of more than 1,000 tons, and 18 loach ships ranging from 300 to 500 tons.
These warships, together with the Guangdong Yong and the small number of monkey-version bold-class and loach ships purchased by the Guangdong Navy from him, are still far behind the British and French fleets, but at least they can fight.
Moreover, Liang Yao now has three trump cards in his hand, one is the ironclad ship, one is the Sacramento gun, and one is the Thunder M60 machine gun. These cutting-edge weapons are not available in the British and French armies.
In terms of the army, considering that the mercenary troops of the Umbrella Company are stationed in various places, the troops are scattered, and a large number of artillery are needed for this operation, Liang Yao can only let the California Infantry Regiment, the Oregon Infantry Regiment, and the Fifth Artillery Regiment take off the US military uniforms, seal the US Army flag, and replace them with the uniforms and flags of the Umbrella Company Mercenary Regiment.
In order to conceal their identities, their numbers were temporarily changed to the 11th and 12th Infantry Regiments and the Third Artillery Regiment of the Umbrella Company Mercenary Corps.
In addition, more than 800 retired veterans who have just retired and signed mercenary contracts will be merged with the private armed forces of Sartre and others into a regiment, designated as the 13th Infantry Regiment.
In addition to these regular army units, Liang Yao also recruited elite veterans from various infantry regiments and militia regiments to form a specially designed machine gun regiment. The machine gun regiment consisted of 15 companies, each company consisting of five machine gun squads.
Each machine gun squad is equipped with a Thunder M60 machine gun. The team's personnel structure is: 1 squad leader (responsible for commanding combat operations, coordinating fire support and maintaining troop discipline.), 1 main shooter (deputy squad leader), 3 deputy shooters, mechanical 1 division member (who is responsible for dealing with machine gun mechanical failures), and 5 ammunition carriers (who are responsible for carrying machine gun ammunition, spare parts, tools and other necessary equipment required for combat).
Signal officers, engineers, medical personnel, and other support units are located at company headquarters.
Except for the mechanics of the machine gun regiment, who are trained by the Volcanic Stone Repeating Weapons Company, the rest of the personnel are trained under the personal supervision of Liang Yao himself.
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The British and French forces were more restless than Liang Yao imagined.
Although the main force of the coalition forces was delayed for a period of time due to the Indian Uprising, and most of the Indian soldiers originally planned to be sent to the Chinese battlefield failed to make the trip, the French army still arrived in Hong Kong before the British army.
"Damn, what kind of flag is this? It's so gaudy and ugly. It looks like the tricolor flag of France? Didn't it mean that Britain and France formed a coalition to expedition to the Qing Dynasty? Where are the British ships?"
In early December 1857, in Xiangzhou Bay, Xiangshan County, Guangdong, Liang Shaoqiong saw clearly the flag on a warship through a telescope. This kind of flag was not common in the Pearl River Estuary.
The flag of the Second French Empire was based on the tricolor flag with a group of beetles and royal emblems added, so it looked a bit gaudy.
The largest number of ships plying the Pearl River Estuary are American ships flying the Citizen Flag (Stars and Stripes), the California Bear Flag, and the Umbrella Company Umbrella Flag, followed by British ships flying the Union Jack, the White Ship Flag of the Royal Navy, and the British East India Company Flag. . There are also French ships, but not many.
"The British were delayed by the Indian uprising."
Sartre looked gloomily as he watched the French warship swaggering past them.
France is a land-power country, and its strategic focus has always been on the European continent. It is strong in its army and weak in its navy.
But the weakness of the French Navy is compared to the British Royal Navy. Compared with the navies of other countries, the French Navy is still a very powerful navy.
The 13th Infantry Regiment of Sutter's Umbrella Company Mercenary Corps arrived at Xiangshan ahead of Liang Yao and signed an employment contract with Liang Shaoqiong. They are now responsible for assisting Liang Shaoqiong in guarding Xiangshan Port.
Liang Yao has not yet arrived at Xiangshan because he is waiting for the second Pioneer-class ship to be launched and train the machine gun regiment.
However, the guns, ammunition, and shells required for the Humen Fort have been shipped to Xiangshan in advance.
Furthermore, Liang Shaoqiong also has a small arsenal in Xiangshan that can produce a certain amount of Walter M1851 rifles and ammunition.
Therefore, Liang Shaoqiong and the Guangdong Navy still have relatively sufficient ammunition.
What Liang Shaoqiong and the Guangdong Navy lack most are veterans with actual combat experience.
Although Liang Shaoqiong secretly transferred the Shanzi Battalion from Yangzhou back to Xiangshan, and personally trained two battalions of more than 1,600 rural warriors in July, there are now more than 1,300 mercenaries from Sartre's 13th Infantry Regiment, who were originally stationed at Xiangshan Port. More than 360 Umbrella Company mercenaries assisted.
However, the combat troops in Liang Shaoqiong's hands were only a little over 4,000 in total, and they also lacked field artillery. Guangdong Yong's only artillery regiment was still on the Jiangnan front line.
Liang Shaoqiong thought about transferring the artillery from the Jiangnan front line back to Xiangshan. Considering the inconvenience of artillery transportation and Pan Shicheng's opposition, Liang Shaoqiong had to give up.
Liang Shaoqiong still felt very guilty relying on this small force to fight against the British and French forces.
Sartre told him that the number of British and French troops on this expedition exceeded 10,000, and they were covered by 71 warships.
The only ships currently available at the Pearl River Estuary are the three French steam wooden-hulled cruisers headed by the Roland that Liang Yao had just half-sold and half-gifted to him, his own two Bold-class ships, and eight Loach ships. The Guangdong Navy also has one bold-class ship and 12 loach ships.
All these surface forces, all added up, are not enough to face the menacing British and French fleets.
Liang Shaoqiong is now very eager to hope that Liang Yao and his armored ships will arrive at Xiangshan as soon as possible. Even if Liang Yao does not participate in the war, Liang Yao's big ships, especially the huge ironclad ships, will stop directly at the Pearl River Estuary, which can greatly encourage the soldiers and civilians of Guangfu. Morale made him feel at ease.
Shipping administration, shipping administration, why didn’t the Qing Dynasty set up shipping administration as soon as possible?
Liang Shaoqiong sighed in his heart.
"There are 18 various warships of the French Navy and more than 20 various troop transports and supply ships. It seems that the main force of the French army has arrived."
After taking photos of the last ship flying the flag of the French Second Empire, Collins, the chief photographer of the California Daily News and the Washington Citizen, ordered his assistant to put away the camera and prepare to return to the inn to write an article.
Collins is now the most famous photographer in the United States. It is impossible for him to miss such big news as the war between Britain and France against China.
"There are more than 1,500 troops stationed on Hong Kong Island, and with the addition of 1,800 French troops, they now have a full brigade of troops!" Liang Shaoqiong asked Sartre worriedly.
"Mr. Sartre, when will the second ironclad ship of the San Francisco Shipyard be launched?"
"I think the second Vanguard has been launched, and General Liang is on his way to Xiangshan now." Sartre estimated.
"Come here!" Liang Shaoqiong called his personal soldiers and ordered.
"Go to Humen Fort and tell General Hong that the foreign fleet has arrived at the mouth of the Pearl River. If General Hong needs anything, just ask me!"
"I obey your order!"
The personal soldiers were about to leave after receiving the order, but were stopped by Liang Shaoqiong.
"Who told you to leave?! Go back to Guangzhou City and tell Governor Ye and Governor Bai that the foreign army has come. Let them take care of themselves. If they lose Guangzhou City, not to mention that they can't keep their hats, they may not even be able to keep their heads!"
Ye Mingchen and Bai Gui were unreliable. At present, the only army Liang Shaoqiong could rely on in the Guangdong area was Hong Mingxiang's Guangdong Navy.
"Yes! Can I leave now?" The personal soldiers asked cautiously.
"Go and come back quickly." Liang Shaoqiong waved his hand.
Sartre also instructed the soldiers in Xiangshan Port to strengthen the protection, and instructed the artillery in charge of the coastal defense artillery to open fire directly without asking for permission if the enemy ships approached Xiangshan Port rashly.
Liang Yao had been operating Xiangshan for many years, and Xiangshan Port was equipped with 18-inch and 9-inch (32 pounds, 229mm) Sacramento heavy coastal defense guns.
The main force of the British army had not yet arrived. If the British and French fleets were forced to land and attack Xiangshan Port, they could still fight with these coastal defense guns.
The French Far East Fleet sailed into the Hong Kong dock, the British base in China. Hong Kong was the logistics base of the British and French forces in the Second Oil War.
The four major battles launched by the British and French forces in the Second Oil War: the attack on Guangzhou and the three attacks on Dagukou, all started from here after repairing and replenishing supplies.
The commander of the French Far East Fleet was Vice Admiral Tromelin, commander of the French Pacific Fleet.
The commander of the army and the commander-in-chief of the French expeditionary force was Lieutenant General Montoban of the French Army.
Napoleon III originally planned to choose one of General Jean-Baptiste Pardi and General Gros as the commander-in-chief of the French expeditionary force to come to China for training and accumulate practical experience.
But after learning that the British army suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Humen, Napoleon III finally decided to let Charles de Mentoban, a French veteran with more practical experience, serve as the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force.
"I guess you are General Mentoban."
Governor Bonham of Hong Kong Island welcomed the French army at the Hong Kong dock. As for Bonham's position as consul to China, London had appointed James Elgin as the plenipotentiary envoy to China in July 1857. Bonham did not need to serve as consul to China.
Accompanying Bonham to welcome the French army were Major General Spence, commander of the British army in Hong Kong, Colonel Watson, a senior staff member of the British East India Company, and translator Parkes.
Even the Tsarist Governor of Siberia, Muravyov, came to Hong Kong to join in the fun with the title of Russian envoy on an old sailing warship.
Muravyov's shabby sailing warship stood out among the advanced and well-maintained British and French warships.
It was like a poor boy who didn't know what was good for him and had to join the circle of the two rich British and French men.
Muravyov looked at the mighty new and old warships moored at the Hong Kong pier, his eyes full of jealousy.
He secretly complained in his heart: It's a pity that my Russian Empire does not have such a powerful fleet. If the Russian Empire had such a powerful fleet, it would have to participate in this war against China and get a share of it.
Vladivostok, Qingniwa (Dalian), and Lushunkou are all excellent ports that the empire dreams of, especially Qingniwa and Lushunkou, which are not frozen all year round and have excellent terrain. Such a good port in the hands of these Khitan yellow monkeys is really a waste of natural resources.
At this time, Hong Kong Island was full of people, except for Elgin, the British plenipotentiary envoy to China, James Hope Grant, the commander-in-chief of the British Army, and Sir Michael Seymour, the commander of the East India and China Fleet, the British Royal Navy Admiral.
"When I came here, I saw that Xiangshan Port was well defended, with complete fortifications and heavy coastal defense artillery. It seems that the Qing army is not as bad as you say." Montoban said as he walked.
When the fleet passed by Hong Kong Port, Montoban carefully observed Xiangshan Port. The Qing army's defense did not seem to be empty and slack.
"Father, you think too highly of these smokers." Francois de Montoban, Montoban's son, said indifferently.
"I think they are just a bunch of show-offs. I heard that in the first trade war with China, the British army forced the Qing Dynasty to surrender at almost no cost. What's there to worry about an army composed of heavy smokers? I heard that they can't even hold their weapons steadily.
Although the gray animals are animals, they are at least healthy animals. Healthy animals are more energetic than sick people."
Little Meng Toban is arrogant and doesn't take the Qing army seriously at all. The French army can beat the Russian army to the ground in Crimea. I'm afraid that an army composed of sick men is even worse than the farmers of the Russian Empire.
The accompanying French officer couldn't help laughing when he heard this. Muravyov, the Russian envoy on the side, heard Little Meng Toban ridicule the Russian army in this way, and his face suddenly became very ugly, but he didn't dare to get angry, just didn't respond.
"Watch your words! Have you forgotten what I taught you? Don't underestimate any opponent!" Meng Toban frowned and scolded his son.
"Yes, father." Little Meng Tuoban replied nonchalantly, but he was still not convinced in his heart.
"You don't know something. The situation in Guangdong is relatively complicated. Xiangshan is the home base of American Army Brigadier General Liang Yao and Qing Dynasty warlord Liang Shaoqiong. These two people are very rich, especially Liang Yao. It can be said that he is as rich as any other country. He is the richest man in the United States. People. Over the years, Liang Yao has spent a lot of money to build Xiangshan Port, so Xiangshan Port looks very well-defended," Wenxian explained to Meng Toban.
"I heard about Liang Yao, and His Majesty also awarded him the title of Viscount. I heard that this man started out as a gold miner. Within a few years, he became the richest man in the United States, became a general of the United States, and also opened an arsenal and a military factory in California. The shipyard is also a legend." Mentoban nodded.
As a senior general of the French Army, Montoban still had some impression of Liang Yao.
During the Crimean War, the French army purchased a large number of Walter M1851 export-type rifles and military uniforms from Liang Yao. The gun's powerful performance and high reliability deeply shocked the French Army at that time.
At the same time, it also stimulated the top brass of the French Army, forcing the proud French to immerse themselves in the development of new domestic rifles.
Although at the beginning of this year the French army had successfully developed a Chasebo rifle with more advanced performance than the Prussian Dreiser needle gun, the Chasebo rifle has not yet been mass-produced. The Walter M1851 rifle exported by the Sacramento Arsenal is still the mainstay of the French army.
"Xiangshan Port is the most important trade port and port warehouse of the United States in China.
The goods inside are worth millions of pounds, including inexhaustible kerosene, Vaseline, porcelain from Jiangxi, tea from Fujian and other in-demand commodities. "Colonel Watson, a senior employee of the British East India Company, teased.
"The most important branch of Bank of America in China is located in Xiangshan Port. This gold tycoon has stored tons of gold in the Xiangshan branch."
When they heard that there was a large amount of valuable goods stored in Xiangshan Port, the accompanying French officers were just moved. After all, the goods were bulky items and difficult to carry.
But after hearing that the Xiangshan Branch of the Bank of America had several tons of gold in reserve, not only the eyes of the French military officers around Montauban were straightened, but even Montauban himself was heart-pounding and showed greed. This is several tons of gold!
In fact, Watson guessed it right. Liang Yao did hoard a large amount of gold in Xiangshan, the most important trade node with China, but the quantity was wrong.
Watson estimated that he was being conservative. The gold that Liang Yao had stored in Xiangshan was not just a few tons, but more than fifteen tons. However, most of this gold was obtained by Umbrella in Australia and Borneo, not gold produced in the United States.
"So, as long as we capture Xiangshan Port, we can get these golds?" Little Mengtopan swallowed.
"Xiangshan Port is harder to fight than Guangzhou City. The soldiers guarding Xiangshan Port are either Liang Shaoqiong's local soldiers or the most elite mercenaries of Umbrella Company. Even our British Empire's army tried to approach Xiangshan Port several times but failed. As a result, not to mention other armies," Watson said intentionally or unintentionally, trying to provoke these French generals.
Watson had a wishful thinking that the French army would take the lead, followed by the East India Company and the garrison of Hong Kong Island, to enter Xiangshan Port and loot the gold and silver treasures in Xiangshan Port.
Montauban was an officer who attached great importance to the honor of the French army and had always looked down on the British army. He knew that this was Watson's method of provoking generals, but he still jumped in.
No French Army general would admit that the French Army was inferior to the British Army. In their eyes, the French army is the most powerful army in the world and has no rivals.
"The other armies you are talking about include our French Army?" Montauban snorted coldly.
"I didn't say much, General Montauban. I have always heard that the French Army is brave and invincible, but this is just hearsay and I have never seen it." Watson smiled slyly.
Wen Xian and others did not stop Watson from stimulating these French guys.