The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 113 Burning Liverpool

1725, August 8, Liverpool.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!..."

On the Mersey River, more than ten Qi warships lined up in a column, anchored in the middle of the river, and began to pour endless cannonballs at the forts, warehouses, docks on the docks on the other side of the river, and the slave ships on the shore.

Although the more than ten artillery pieces arranged in the dock turret have fixed gun positions, are relatively stable when firing, and have a large arc of fire. The gunners have shown their perseverance in combat, but in the face of the Qi State The bombardment of hundreds of artillery pieces from the expedition fleet seemed so inadequate.The Qi fleet, with its well-trained naval officers and soldiers, and the help of wind direction, overcame many adverse conditions.

When the Qi fleet arrived in the waters near Liverpool, more than a dozen sail warships rushed into the river mouth at extremely fast speeds, entered the harbor, and boldly anchored in front of the fort, then launched a large-scale artillery attack.

Perhaps it was Mazu's blessing that the light wind blowing from the sea blew all the smoke towards the opponent, making it easier for the Qi warships to launch an attack.This may be one of the few times in the history of naval warfare that ship-based artillery was used to suppress a shore-based artillery group that had absolutely favorable natural conditions.After a small confrontation, although many Qi warships were hit by numerous bullets, the counterattack from the fort became increasingly weak.The huge solid shells bombarded the fort bunker to pieces, flying rubble, and the continuously exploding shells caused billowing fire and thick smoke to rise on the pier. The fallen bodies were all horrible to see.

The English on the shore may also realize that with Qi's absolute firepower advantage, it is unrealistic to deploy too many armed forces on the shore to prevent the Qi navy's landing operations.They blew up the few remaining shore guns, abandoned the docks, and evacuated everyone to the city of Liverpool.

The city of Liverpool first originated in August 1207, when King John issued an edict to establish the town of Liverpool. However, until the middle of the 8th century, Liverpool was only a small town with a population of only more than 16 people.During the British Civil War, it also experienced a brutal siege that lasted for eighteen days. Most of the residents were killed or injured, and the town was severely damaged.It was not until after the English Civil War in the 1650s that Liverpool's trade and resident numbers began to slowly grow.

By 1699, Liverpool became a parish.In this year, the first slave-catching ship of the Liverpool merchants went to Africa and began to engage in the sinful slave trade.By the eighteenth century, Liverpool's trade with the West Indies had exceeded its trade with Ireland and other European countries, and the city's population had begun to grow significantly.The city has also prospered rapidly because of the slave trade. As of now, Liverpool controls 20% of the slave trade in Europe and 60% of the UK, and its urban population exceeds 5.

After Qi State declared war on the Kingdom of England, Liverpool, as a coastal port, was also worried that it would be attacked by Qi State's expeditionary fleet. For this reason, it made some necessary defense preparations for the entire city, adding several coastal defense forts, and emergency training A group of artillerymen were recruited, a large number of militiamen were recruited and trained, and corresponding protective walls and simple fortresses were built around the city.

But to be honest, the Liverpool municipal authorities still took chances when the Chinese attacked.London, the wealthy and politically significant capital, Portsmouth, the Royal Navy base, Swansea, an important coal-producing area, and even Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, all seem to have a higher attack value than Liverpool. They should not Are you interested in this small town that prospered due to the slave trade?
However, what is sad is that the Qi people really came to attack Liverpool.When densely packed warships appeared at the mouth of the Mersey, the entire city immediately fell into panic.

A few months ago, didn't our Royal Navy gather more than a hundred warships and sail out of the port in a mighty manner, preparing to meet the upcoming Qi expedition fleet?Newspapers also reported that the Royal Navy had achieved brilliant early victories in Gibraltar, Canary and other waters, blocking the Qi people in the port of Ceuta and Tenerife, and that it was just around the corner to conquer their fortresses.

How come in the blink of an eye, the Qi Navy arrived in England and blocked their doorstep in Liverpool!

Shouldn't they go to Gibraltar, the Royal Navy's preset battlefield, to engage in a huge naval decisive battle with the English Navy?
That's right, after the Qi Navy expedition fleet arrived in Tangier, Morocco on July 7, some ships entered the port to replenish a large amount of food and fresh water, stayed for only one day, and then all left the port and headed straight towards the strait. It seemed that Coming to Gibraltar.

But who would have expected that after the Qi expedition fleet sailed to the middle of the strait, with a false shot, it turned the ship's bow and sailed toward the northwest, and soon disappeared into the depths of the vast North Atlantic.

A bit confused, the Royal Navy Task Force of England waited in Gibraltar for two days. After various investigations, it was finally confirmed that the Qi Expedition Fleet was really heading for the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.After leaving more than ten ships behind, the main fleet immediately pulled anchor and set sail, pursuing Qi in the direction it left.

The damn Qi people wouldn't be so arrogant as to kill us directly in England!
"When will the English main fleet arrive soon?"

In the combat command room on the flagship "Xingtian", more than a dozen senior generals of the expedition fleet and many staff officers gathered here to discuss the upcoming Liverpool landing battle.The commander-in-chief of the fleet and the naval hussar general (admiral) Wan Botai stood in front of a huge map with his arms folded, looking at the entire North Atlantic. "General, our expedition fleet arrived here at the highest speed throughout the entire journey, with almost no delays on the way. Therefore, based on the normal schedule, the English main fleet will be at least 5-6 days later than us in catching up to the sea area." 3 An intelligence staff officer stretched out his hand to draw the distance between Gibraltar and England, and said confidently: "But the English navy, which is pursuing all the way, does not know the real attack target of my expedition fleet. There is a high probability that they will sail to Park first." Cismaus military port or near London, and then send a large number of search ships to detect our position. In this way, if the English fleet hears the news about our attack on Liverpool and then gathers ships to intercept us, it will be delayed by at least 5- 7 days. Based on the most conservative estimate, we have 8-[-] days to attack Liverpool."

"What if the defenders of Liverpool reported to London by land the news of our expedition fleet's attack there?"

"Liverpool is about three hundred kilometers away from London. With the speed of a fast horse, the news here should be reported within two days. London will then respond accordingly, notify and assemble the fleet to attack our expedition fleet, which will take at least 3-4 days. Time, plus the travel time, it will ultimately take 5-7 days.”

"You also missed some of the most deadly estimates." Wanbotai shook his head, took two steps forward, walked to the map, and pointed to the eastern coast of Ireland, "...Dublin. According to the intelligence of the black guards. It shows that more than 300 years ago, the English controlled Dublin and nearby areas, becoming an important support point for their colonization of Ireland. The city has tens of thousands of people and a considerable garrison, and the area is also the main distribution center for grain and wool in Ireland. , enough to provide sufficient supplies for a large fleet. Therefore, the main English fleet may also sail into the port, waiting for news about our expedition fleet. In addition, Swansea in Bristol Bay is also a good place The anchorage of the Grand Fleet is only two or three days' sail from Liverpool. We must take this into consideration."

"If we go by the commander-in-chief's worst estimate, then our landing force only has 5-6 days to attack." Qi Hengbo, commander-in-chief of the landing force and Army Zhenguo General (Lieutenant General), frowned and said, "This time It’s a little tight.”

"Actually, we don't need to occupy this port city." Wan Botai smiled slightly and said: "There is nothing we need here. If we launch a landing operation rashly, it will cost a lot of precious army troops."

"We are attacking the English mainland first. If we don't occupy it, how can we frighten England?"

"If we destroy this city, we can still scare the English."

"Destroy the whole city?"

"Yes, it will destroy the city."

"The Commander-in-Chief is planning to cover the entire Liverpool with rockets?" Qi Hengbo's lips twitched, "There are tens of thousands of English civilians in the city."

"The purpose is to let the ordinary people of England know the cruelty of this war, thereby weakening their determination to support the Royal Government of England in the war." Wanbotai said nonchalantly: "There are certainly many civilians in the city, but the heinous slave traders There must be a lot of unscrupulous pirates. Besides, we don't have much time to delay here. Blowing up this city will anger the English navy to some extent, so that they will be forced to follow us in circles. It would be best if we could induce their main fleet to divide their forces, thereby creating opportunities for us to annihilate their effective maritime forces."

The generals present heard the words and nodded in agreement.The battle strategy of this expedition to England is to try to avoid a decisive battle between the fleets. By constantly harassing and plundering England's coastal towns and maritime trade routes, it will accelerate its consumption, eventually causing domestic turmoil, disintegrating their will to fight bit by bit, and finally forcing England surrendered.

In the next two days, the Qi Expeditionary Fleet launched a continuous bombardment of Liverpool. During this period, it also fired 400 rockets into the city, triggering a fire in the city that almost razed the entire city's buildings to the ground and killed more than [-] people. Many citizens.

While the residents of Liverpool were crying and mourning, the Qi expedition fleet gradually withdrew from the Mersey River, then turned around and sailed toward the north.

(End of this chapter)