Chapter 683 Iron-clad ship, attack!

The sea breeze in the Pacific Ocean mixed with drizzle hit the wooden shell of the Steam Sail Cruiser "Sasquehanna". The roar of the steam paddle wheel sounded particularly harsh on this quiet night. Captain John Dalgren stood on the bridge and took out the secret letter sealed by the oil lamp. He could see the "top secret" written by the commander of the Pacific Fleet at a glance.

Three days ago, the commander of the Pacific Squadron personally handed the letter to him and instructed: "No removal shall be made before arriving outside San Francisco."

Dahlgren tore open the envelope, and the kraft paper made a slight tearing sound. The handwriting on the letter paper was sloppy but firm: "On the night of October 16, I forced myself to break into the San Francisco Bay, and before noon on the 17th, I bombarded the rebels in the Sacramento estuary, or covered the California militia across the river."

The signature is covered with the seal of the Federal Navy Pacific Squadron Command - this is a top-secret order, obviously part of a major plan!

Dahlgren took out his pocket watch, the brass cover popped open, and the pointer pointed to three in the morning. It was four days left before noon on the 17th.

He looked at the San Francisco Bay in the distance, and the coastline covered by night was blurred, with only a few lighthouses passing through the night. Less than 8 years ago, he had followed Brigadier Perry to Japan and China. At that time, China had just opened its doors carefully under the auspices of a warlord named Luo Xueyan to learn from Europe and the United States. Who would have thought that this country, which was still in civil strife at that time, had made leap progress in just seven years, and now it has become a yellow peril that can threaten the security of the west coast of the United States!

We must never let these yellow perils continue to grow and grow!

"Left rudder fifteen, keep the course" he whispered, and the sound of gear biting in the steam room responded dullly.

On the north bank of the Sacrato Gate River, there is an endless forest.

Bigler's boots were trapped in thick fallen leaves, making a "slam, slam" sound every step. Sherman squatted on a weathered piece of sandstone, boredly cutting an oak branch with a dagger, and wood chips fell down one after another.

Several fast horses galloped from Sacramento, and the sound of horse hooves flew away the passenger pigeon in the forest. The rider rolled off his saddle and took out a wrinkled letter from his arms. The fire paint had broken, as if it had been removed by more than one person.

Bigler took the letter, squinted his eyes, and the goatee trembled slightly as his lips twitched: "The 'Sasquehanna' will arrive at the mouth of the Sacramento River at noon on the 17th! That's great, the Federation finally took action..."

Sherman's dagger pierced into the trunk, and the hilt of the knife buzzed and trembled: "Thank God! Dalgren's Susquehanna has 12 9-inch smoothbore guns, 3 8-inch smoothbore guns, and 20 32-pound short-barrel guns. Once this gunboat is in place, the estuary is a meat grinder!" He stood up, and the sole of his boot crushed a pile of dead leaves. "We can turn around now and rush to the estuary of the Sacramento River, and then quickly build a pontoon bridge. The rebels leaned up to block us, and we retreated north and led them across the river.

When they cross the river, we press further south and temporarily control them on the north bank of the Sacramento River. In this way, the fire of the ‘Sasquehanna’ cannon can nail them to the river beach!”

Bigler took out his pencil and outlined the march route on a military map.

"No, not only that." His voice was hoarse, "When the main force of these yellow monkeys died on the beach of the Sacramento River, we can cross the Sacramento River under the cover of the Susquehanna, and then raid Stockton. Stockton has no city defense, so we can definitely take him down this time!"

Stockton's city defense headquarters was located in the original town hall. Kerosene lamps were hung in the dim room, and Lai Wenguang's shadow was shaking on the wall. Chen Yucheng poked Sacramento County on the map with a pencil, and then pulled out a line, extending to the three words "Napa County": "Bigler ran so far to Napa County to grab grain, and it would be difficult to transport it back if he grabbed it. It must be a lure from the mountain! The real goal is Stockton!"

Xianfeng sat on a sofa, slowly cut a roasted sweet potato with a knife and fork, and then ate the sweet potato cut into small pieces with a silver fork, and said while eating: "I want me to say that it is time to bury the bitter landmines in the city. If they come to steal the city, they will blow up their internal organs and bloom."

Mureta suddenly walked in, his wide-brimmed hat was pressed down very low, and the shadow covered half of the scar face: "Amigo (friend), the spy said that fresh footprints were found on the north bank of the Sacramento River, and horseshoe marks."

Amur squatted at the door with his arms held back. He couldn't understand English. Xianfeng arranged for him to be a translator. After listening to Mureta's words, the Mongolian man squinted his eyes and looked at the map and said, "The cavalry who seeks the enemy should not be able to run that far unless they have no plans to go to Napa County at all."

Suddenly, there was a rushing sound of horse hooves outside the door. A Mexican horse prodded his horse to break open the wooden door, and several dead leaves hung on his cloak: "Report! Twenty miles north of the estuary, a large number of state militia smoke were found!"

"The north bank of the estuary? A lot of smoke from cooking?"

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

The Mongolian man stood up straight, with silver ornaments on his leather robe jingling.

"Take three thousand squads and go to Sacramento immediately. Don't hang branches on the horse's tail this time. Be sure to get close to it quietly!" Chen Yucheng slashed the estuary with a pencil, "The rest of you follow me to the estuary of Sacramento and block Weiler's militia first!"

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

October 16th night.

It was a night with bright moon hanging high, and the visibility at the entrance to San Francisco Bay was excellent. John Dalgren stood on the bridge of the Susquehanna, clasping his fingers tightly on the telescope. The blades of the steam paddle wheel stirred the sea water, the waves rolled, and made a harsh roar.

"Speed ​​Eight Knots, stay alert." He whispered, and the lookouts on the mast widened their eyes and looked around nervously.

The watchtower of Zhenyou sent militia was standing on the headland of the Golden Gate. The kerosene lamp on the top of the tower was as yellow as beans. Sentinel King Afu 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 the steam engine. He rushed to the telescope, and a blurry black shadow appeared in the camera, riding the wind and waves, rushing into the San Francisco Bay.

"The fuck is the Union's steamship!" Wang Afu kicked the gong, and the sound of the gong broke through the night sky.

Hong Renzheng's cloak was blown by the sea breeze. Under the protection of more than a dozen personal soldiers, he hurriedly walked along the mud flats in San Francisco Bay. More than a dozen pairs of leather boots stomped on the oyster shells. The sound of iron hammers hitting the steel plates in the distance, one more and more, piercing the sound of clattering waves.

The group soon arrived at a ship repair yard surrounded by wooden fences and fences. The guards guarded outside the yard were Hong Renzheng's own personal soldiers. When they saw the archbishop coming, they all bowed to him.

Hong Renzheng asked: "How is the progress?"

"Report to the Archbishop," one of his personal soldiers replied immediately, "General Zhang is supervising the work himself, so it should be soon."

Hong Renzheng nodded and quickly walked into the shipyard.

In the dock of the shipyard, the oil lamps pulled the figure long. A small steamer was crossed on the platform, and the hull was covered with riveted iron armor. The workers were hoisting a 70mm breech gun with hemp rope. Zhang Bao, the Rear Admiral of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, was naked, his bronze spine was covered with sweat beads, and he held a wrench in his hand and tightened the bolts of the cannon seat.

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

Zhang Bao didn't look back: "I installed the last three iron plates before Mao hour (5 o'clock in the morning)."

"The federal steamship slipped into the bay." Hong In-jung said.

The sound of the hammer came to an abrupt end. When Zhang Bao turned around, nervousness and excitement appeared on his face covered in sweat: "What a big boat?"

"It's quite large, which may exceed 2,000 tons," Hong Renzheng frowned, "If you dare to rush into the San Francisco Bay alone, you can't be a small boat. Although there are no large ships in the San Francisco Bay now, there are still several steam gunboats worth three to four hundred tons.

Zhang Bao grabbed the cotton cloth soaked in engine oil and wiped his hands. The rivets on the iron armor flashed red under the oil lamp: "My 'iron turtle' is only 300 tons, and there is only one cannon - but it is better than the shallow draft." He suddenly grinned, "And this is an iron armored ship! My teacher (Luo Yaoguo) said that in the future, there will be iron armored ships all over the world!"

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves came from outside the dock, and the commander to dismount: "Article Bishop! The main force of the Bigler's civilian army suddenly turned around and came to the mouth of the Saramento River!"

Hong Renzheng narrowed his eyes: "It seems that Bigler and the Union's steamship had made an appointment. Humph, the Federation will not intervene on the surface, but must be in private with Weiler's grandson!" He turned around and looked at Zhang Bao, "Can you attack in one hour?"

"Yes!" Zhang Bao nodded without hesitation. After saying that, he climbed onto his "iron turtle" with a wrench. "Brothers, work harder. In an hour, our iron armored ship will attack!"

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

"Chief of Staff!" a staff officer of the Free Army suddenly shouted, "Beijing fires on the headland of the Golden Gate!"

Xianfeng (Zhao Si) was stunned, "Has the federal steamship entered?"

"Not afraid," Chen Yucheng sneered, "Zhang Bao's iron turtle can deal with it."

"That patch ship?" Xianfeng frowned, "It's only 200 tons?"

"Enough!" Chen Yucheng laughed: "Send an order! All artillery is pushed to the south bank highlands - when the armored ship entangles the federal ship, we will bombard the damn crossing forces!"

A string of torches suddenly lit up on the other side, and Sherman's cavalry began to gather towards the pontoon bridge. Mureta's Mexican cavalry was hidden in the willow forest, and the horses were tightened with hemp ropes, and everyone was drawing crosses on their chests.
Chapter completed!