The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 683 Ironclad ships, attack!

The Pacific Ocean breeze mixed with drizzle hit the wooden hull of the Susquehanna steam-sail cruiser, and the roar of the steam paddle wheel sounded particularly harsh in the quiet night. Captain John Dahlgren stood on the bridge and took out the wax-sealed secret letter by the light of the oil lamp. He saw at a glance the "Top Secret" written by the commander of the Pacific Fleet on the envelope.

Three days ago, the commander of the Pacific Fleet personally handed him this letter and instructed: "Do not open it before arriving off the coast of San Francisco."

Dahlgren tore open the envelope, and the brown paper made a slight tearing sound. The handwriting on the letter was sloppy but firm: "On the night of October 10, force your way into San Francisco Bay. Before noon on the 16th, bombard the rebel positions at the mouth of the Sacramento River, or cover the California militia crossing the river."

The signature was stamped with the seal of the Commander of the Pacific Fleet of the Federal Navy - this was a top-secret order, and was obviously part of some big plan!

Dahlgren pulled out his pocket watch, and the brass cover popped open, showing the hands at three in the morning. There were still four days until noon on the 17th.

He looked at the San Francisco Bay in the distance. The coastline was blurred under the night, and only a few lighthouses penetrated the night. Less than eight years ago, he had followed Commodore Perry to Japan and China. At that time, China had just cautiously opened its doors to learn from Europe and the United States under the leadership of a warlord named Luo Xueyan. Who would have thought that this country, which was still in civil strife at the time, had made a leap forward in just seven years and had now become a yellow peril that could threaten the safety of the West Coast of the United States!
We must not allow these yellow perils to continue to grow and develop!
"Left rudder fifteen, maintain course," he whispered the order, and the sound of gears meshing in the steam engine room responded dully.

On the north bank of the Sacramento River, in the midst of an endless forest.

Bigler's boots sank into the thick leaves, making a "squeak, squeak" sound with every step. Sherman squatted on a piece of weathered sandstone, whittling an oak branch with a dagger, and sawdust fell down.

Several fast horses galloped from Sacramento, and the sound of their hooves startled the passenger pigeons in the forest. The rider rolled off the saddle and took out a crumpled letter from his arms. The wax had broken, as if it had been opened and read by more than one person.

Bigler took the letter, narrowed his eyes, and his goatee trembled slightly as his lips moved: "The Susquehanna will arrive at the mouth of the Sacramento River at noon on the 17th! Great, the Federation finally took action..."

Sherman's dagger stabbed into the tree trunk, and the handle vibrated. "Thank God! Dahlgren's Susquehanna has 12 9-inch smoothbore guns, 3 8-inch smoothbore guns, and 20 32-pound short-barreled guns. Once this gunboat is in place, the river mouth will be a meat grinder!" He stood up and crushed a pile of dead leaves with the soles of his boots. "We can turn south now, rush to the mouth of the Sacramento River, and then quickly build a pontoon bridge. If the rebels come up to block us, we will retreat to the north and lead them across the river.

Once they cross the river, we will push south and temporarily hold them on the north bank of the Sacramento River. Then the Susquehanna's artillery fire will be able to pin them down on the riverbank!"

Bigler took out a pencil and traced the marching route on a military map.

"No, it's more than that." His voice was hoarse. "After the main force of these yellow monkeys are killed on the beach of the Sacramento River, we can cross the Sacramento River under the cover of the Susquehanna and then raid Stockton. Stockton doesn't have any city defenses, we can definitely take it down this time!"

Stockton's city defense headquarters was located in the original city hall. A kerosene lamp hung in the dim room, and Lai Wenguang's shadow swayed on the wall. Chen Yucheng poked Sacramento County on the map with a pencil, and then drew a line that extended to the three words "Napa County": "Bigler ran so far to Napa County to grab food, but it would be difficult to transport it back even if he grabbed it. He must be trying to lure the tiger away from the mountain! The real target is still Stockton!"

Xianfeng sat on a sofa, slowly cutting a roasted sweet potato with a knife and fork, then eating the cut sweet potato bite by bite with a silver fork, saying as he ate: "If it were up to me, we should bury bitter acid mines in the city. If they come to steal the city, we'll blow them to pieces."

Murrieta suddenly walked in, his wide-brimmed hat pulled down low, the shadow covering half of his scarred face: "Amigo (friend), the spies said that fresh footprints and horse hoof prints were found on the north bank of the Sacramento River."

Amur squatted at the door with his arms folded. He did not understand English, so Emperor Xianfeng arranged a Japanese girl to be his translator. After hearing what Murrieta said, the Mongolian man squinted at the map and said, "The cavalry searching for the enemy should not be able to run that far, unless they have no intention of going to Napa County at all."

Suddenly, there was the sound of hurried horse hooves outside the door. A Mexican scout on horseback broke open the wooden door, with several dead leaves hanging on his cloak. "Report! Twenty miles north of the river mouth, a lot of smoke from the state militia was spotted!"

"North bank of the river mouth? Lots of cooking smoke?"

Chen Yucheng was stunned for a moment, then he lowered his eyes and scanned the map. Suddenly he thought of something and shouted, "Amur!"

The Mongolian man stood up straight, and the silver ornaments on his leather robe jingled.

"Take 3,000 infantrymen and rush to Sacramento immediately. Don't hang branches on your horse's tail this time. You must approach quietly!" Chen Yucheng drew a line with his pencil towards the river mouth. "The rest of you, follow me to the mouth of the Sacramento River and block Weller's militia first!"

Xianfeng swallowed the last piece of sweet potato and suddenly laughed: "Remember, if you kill more Americans, you can't vote!"

July 10th night.

It was a moonlit night, with excellent visibility at the entrance to San Francisco Bay. John Dahlgren stood on the bridge of the Susquehanna, his fingers tightly gripping the telescope. The paddles of the steam paddle wheel stirred the sea water, the waves rolled, and made a harsh roar. "Speed ​​eight knots, stay alert." He whispered an order, and the lookouts on the mast widened their eyes and looked around nervously.

The watchtower of the True York militia stood on the Golden Gate Cape, and the kerosene lamp on the top of the tower was dim. Sentinel Wang Ahfu was dozing in a blanket when he was suddenly awakened by a strange tremor - the tremor was not the waves, but the low roar of a steam engine. He rushed to the telescope, and a blurry black shadow suddenly appeared in the lens, riding the wind and waves and rushing into the San Francisco Bay.

"That's a federal steamship!" Wang Afu kicked the gong, and the sound of the gong tore through the night sky.

Hong Renzheng's cloak rustled in the sea breeze. Protected by a dozen personal soldiers, he hurried along the mudflats of San Francisco Bay, with a dozen pairs of leather boots clacking on oyster shells. In the distance came the sound of hammers hitting steel plates, each one more urgent than the last, piercing the sound of the crashing waves.

The group soon arrived at a shipyard surrounded by wooden fences and hedges on three sides. The guards outside the shipyard were Hong Renzheng's own soldiers. When they saw the archbishop coming, they all saluted him with their fists.

Hong Renzheng asked, "How's the progress?"

"Reporting to the Archbishop," one of his personal guards replied immediately, "General Zhang is personally supervising the work, it should be ready soon."

Hong Renzheng nodded and walked quickly into the shipyard.

In the dock of the shipyard, the oil lamps stretched the shadows of people. A small steamer was lying on the slipway, its hull covered with riveted iron armor, and workers were using hemp ropes to hoist a 70mm breech-loading gun. Zhang Bao, a major general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, was shirtless, with beads of sweat on his bronze back, and he was tightening the bolts of the gun mount himself with a wrench in his hand.

"When can we get into the water?" Hong Renzheng's voice was a little hoarse.

Zhang Bao didn't even turn his head: "Finish installing the last three iron plates before 5 a.m."

"The federal steamship slipped into the bay." said Hong Renzheng.

The hammering stopped abruptly. When Zhang Bao turned around, his sweaty face showed nervousness and excitement: "How big is the ship?"

"It's quite large, probably more than 2000 tons," Hong Renzheng frowned and said, "If a single ship dares to rush into San Francisco Bay, it can't be a small ship. Although there are no large ships in San Francisco Bay now, there are still a few steam gunboats of to tons.

Zhang Bao grabbed a cotton cloth soaked in engine oil and wiped his hands. The rivets on the armor flashed red under the oil lamp. "My 'Iron Turtle' weighs only 300 tons and has only one gun - but it has a shallow draft." He suddenly grinned, "And this is an ironclad ship! My teacher (Luo Yaoguo) said that in the future, ironclad ships will dominate the sea!"

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves could be heard outside the dock, and the messenger dismounted: "Archbishop! Bigler's main force of militia suddenly turned around and headed for the mouth of the Sacramento River!"

Hong Renzheng narrowed his eyes. "It seems that Bigler and the Federation steamship have agreed on a time. Humph, the Federation will not intervene openly, but it must be colluding with Weller's grandson in private!" He turned around and looked at Zhang Bao. "One hour. Can we attack?"

"Yes!" Zhang Bao nodded without hesitation, and then he climbed onto his "Iron Turtle" again with a wrench in hand. "Brothers, work harder. In an hour, our ironclad ship will attack!"

At the same time, on the north bank of the Sacramento River, Chen Yucheng squatted in the reeds, staring at the other side. On the other side of the river, the California militia was cutting trees to build a floating bridge, and the sound of axes was particularly clear in the quiet night.

"Chief of Staff!" a Free Army staff officer suddenly shouted, "There's a beacon fire on the Golden Gate Cape!"

Xianfeng (Zhao Si) was stunned. "A federal steamship broke in?"

"Don't worry," Chen Yucheng sneered, "Zhang Bao's Iron Turtle can handle it."

"That patched ship?" Xianfeng frowned. "It's only 200 tons, right?"

"Enough!" Chen Yucheng laughed. "Order! Push all the artillery to the high ground on the south bank. Once the ironclad ships entangle the federal ships, we will bombard the crossing troops!"

Suddenly, a string of torches lit up on the other side of the river, and Sherman's cavalry began to gather on the pontoon bridge. Murrieta's Mexican cavalry hid in the willow grove, their horse bits tightened with hemp ropes, and each man made the sign of the cross on his chest.
(End of this chapter)