Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 322: Bombarding the Raft
At 7:00 am on the 5th, the mist on the surface of the Xijiang River gradually dissipated. Due to the heavy rain the day before, the water level of the river rose and the flow rate was faster than usual.

The sails of the Red Army navy were like snow, stretching for five or six miles. There were more than 300 warships and more than 400 various types of baggage ships. The vanguard had already arrived at the surface of the river on Beiling Mountain.

The third battalion of the Navy Association was at the back, but the warships were at the front. The deputy captain of the first battalion, the first squadron, was named Song Jian. He kept an eye on all directions and soon discovered something was wrong. He said, "Deputy battalion commander, the battalion commander is signaling with flags."

The deputy battalion commander Luo Kunyu was originally a Nanning boatman. He made great contributions in the battle to aid Guangdong last year and was promoted three levels in a row, from sentry commander to deputy battalion commander. He quickly looked at the flagship and saw two groups of flag signals, but they were not important military orders. He muttered to himself: "Advance without retreat, and win the first victory."

Song Jian graduated from the Naval Academy at the end of last year and had never experienced a major naval battle. Like most of his classmates, he aspired to join the Nanyang Fleet and ride on a large ship. Unfortunately, the assignment of students after graduation was mandatory, and Song Jian had no other options.

He was originally a student in Bobai County, Yulin Prefecture. Encouraged by the military government, he joined the army and entered the Naval Academy, graduating from a formal school. There were already too many students in the Ming Dynasty, but they were still considered educated people after all, and they could read and write.

It was a time of war, and the Red Army encouraged scholars to join the army. Scholars were quite popular in the Red Army, and a trend of giving up writing and taking up arms was formed in society.

It is very hard to be a student in the Naval Academy. In addition to learning courses such as command flags, identifying water currents, predicting weather, and determining wind direction, you also have to learn how to swim, clean warships, and study at the Naval Association.

Song Jian finally graduated, but was assigned to the Neijiang Navy, where he had to squeeze in with a bunch of sailors from Tanka families. It was really frustrating. After all, he had little experience and a low official position, so Song Jian always wanted to please the deputy battalion commander.

Although Luo Kunyu was born in Tanka, he was brave and good at fighting. There were many legends about him in the camp. In particular, in the battle to aid Guang, Luo Kunyu was the first ship of the Red Army and fought against the Red Flag pirates, burning two enemy ships and seizing a Guang pirate ship, which was fascinating.

Song Jian was the first top student to graduate from a professional class in the first battalion. Luo Kunyu was the luckiest person in the first battalion, never injured, and had the most outstanding military achievements. The battalion commander cared about Song Jian and ordered him to follow Luo Kunyu's ship.

"The deputy battalion commander is very observant and has a good grasp of flag signals."

Luo Kunyu was a man of rough but thoughtful character. He said with a smile, "Knowing flag language is nothing. Today I will show you how to use the third edition of the warship."

Each team of the Navy Association had three three-pan warships, one battalion had three teams, and the battalion headquarters had one long dragon and one three-pan. In addition, the battalion also had a baggage team with three baggage ships.

According to the organization, the battalion commander's boat is the long dragon, and in wartime he supervises the battle behind the battle line and takes charge of the entire battalion. The deputy commander's boat is the three-board boat, for example, which is the deputy battalion commander's boat, and in wartime he leads the troops in front of the battle line and takes the lead.

Luo Kunyu was the bravest of the whole battalion, and he liked to lead the way in battle and set an example for the whole battalion. However, these three ships were very flexible and had the fastest speed, but the space was small, and with the addition of Song Jian, it felt quite crowded.

Before the warships approached Beiling Mountain, Song Jian was already nervous and looked around from time to time. Luo Kunyu, however, was calm and chatted: "Song Jian, you are a top student who graduated from the Naval Academy. It is indeed a bit of a waste of your talent to be assigned to our battalion."

Song Jian said against his will, "What are you talking about, deputy battalion commander? You are a hero of the Navy Association. I am so happy that I can learn from you."

"Yes." Luo Kunyu was very satisfied and said, "You are educated, but you don't have the airs of a scholar. It's good to study. With education, you can become an assistant commander, a town commander, or a fleet commander in the future."

Song Jian felt much more relaxed, and finally smiled, saying, "The deputy battalion commander has made great achievements in the war. He will definitely be able to become a town commander or a fleet commander in the future."

Luo Kunyu was a Tanka who had learned a few words in the Red Army. He knew he had no hope of becoming a high-ranking official, so he said, "For me, I would be satisfied if I could become a battalion commander."

While the two were chatting, the helmsman reported: "Deputy Battalion Officer, we are almost at Beiling Mountain!"

Luo Kunyu looked up and saw mountains undulating on both sides of the river bank. Not far away, two peaks were sandwiched between the river surface. The Xijiang River was tightening here, and the river flow was accelerating. There were two black lines on the river surface, which were the iron chains blocking the river. Behind the iron chains, there were three large wooden rafts, and from time to time, human figures were swaying.

As the battle was imminent, Luo Kunyu stopped talking and became serious. The superior ordered that the second and third battalions would be the vanguard. The second battalion was responsible for breaking the iron chain, while the third battalion was responsible for covering the second battalion and dealing with the enemy's rafts and warships. The first battalion was the most elite and was on standby behind the formation. Once the iron chain was broken, they would rush eastward and attack Antelope Gorge.

With the wind and the current in their favour, the Red Army's warships were moving at a very high speed, and the vanguard was less than a mile away from the iron chain.

"Boom boom boom boom!" The Qing army could not hold back and fired first.

The intelligence was accurate. The Qing army lacked heavy artillery and large warships. Occasionally, there were artillery shells, but they were mainly lead bullets. Lead bullets were very different from iron bullets. Lead bullets were light, soft, and easily deformed. They were generally used for muskets and shotguns. Iron bullets were heavy and hard. They were generally used for heavy artillery, at least the Weiyuan cannon weighing hundreds of pounds.

"Hold your composure! Don't rush to fire!" Luo Kunyu ordered in a deep voice, saying, "The Tartar's lead bullets can't hurt us!"

The mission of the first battalion was to destroy the rafts on the left wing, bombard the enemy warships, and cover the first battalion of the second battalion in burning the chains.

He looked back and saw that several friendly fire ships were approaching. Each fire ship had a large pot with hot oil in it. The ancients called it fierce fire oil, which was often made of grease and petroleum. It was not afraid of water and was suitable for fire attack. The fierce fire boiled the oil, first used it to burn the iron chain, and then the big axe and giant shears were used to break the iron chain.

"Battalion Commander, aim at the raft!"

"fire!"

With a "boom" sound, the first cannon of the three-barreled cannon fired an iron bullet. The Qing army's wooden raft was only a hundred steps away, and at such a close distance, the first cannon could hit whatever it was pointed at.

Soon, the shell hit the watchtower on the raft, and immediately wood chips flew everywhere. A Tartar flew out of the building and fell into the water.

"Good fight!" Song Jian praised. Before he finished speaking, there were continuous gunshots of "boom, boom, boom!" and the Red Army's three-ship and Changlong warships opened fire one after another.

The Tatar raft was suddenly in a mess, the watchtower collapsed and was on the verge of falling, and several soldiers on it were killed by the explosion.

The situation was urgent, and the Qing navy warships also rushed over to reinforce the rafts. However, Wu Liuqi's ships could not reach the upper reaches of the Xijiang River. The warships near Zhaoqing were small boats such as Boshan boats and wheel boats, which could only be equipped with some sub-cannons and tiger squat cannons at most. This kind of light artillery could only fire lead shotguns, which were good for injuring people at close range, but had little damage to warships.

The Qing troops on Beiling Mountain also fired at the Red Army warships from a high position. The distance was more than a mile, so the power and accuracy of the Qing army's artillery could be ignored.

The only thing that could really threaten the Red Army warships were the Weiyuan guns and the falconet guns on the rafts, which could fire iron bullets. A raft was 20 feet wide, and a row could hold 20 guns, so the firepower was quite fierce.

Another burst of artillery fire was heard from the opposite side, and the Red Army soldiers crouched down subconsciously.

Luo Kunyu shouted loudly: "Brothers, follow me and concentrate your fire on the raft!"

The battlefield was in chaos, and it was useless to say more. Luo Kunyu walked from the middle of the boat to the bow and called on the oarsmen to move forward. The officers were not afraid of death, and the soldiers' fear was reduced by half. Their three-plank boat charged in the front, and the morale of the whole battalion was greatly boosted, and they rushed to get close to the iron chain.

With a "bang", Luo Kunyu's first cannon fired again and hit the raft. An enemy cannon was uprooted and the gunner was killed on the spot.

The second batch of fireboats were also in place. The soldiers hooked the iron chains with hooks and placed them in the oil pan to roast them.

(End of this chapter)