In fact, although the explosion power of **** is very powerful, it is also limited in use for medium and large caliber artillery, and the destructive power of the stone fortress has not been substantially improved. However, after the People's Army fleet used high-fire bombs, the fire of the fortress increased significantly. At first, the fortress only ignites a little fire, but the fire increased rapidly and became a piece of it. The flames soared to the sky to more than 20 meters high, like a mountain of flames, reflecting half of the sky red.

The French soldiers on the other three turrets could see very clearly, but they couldn't understand what the People's Army fleet used to ignite such a large fire, because the turrets were made of stone and did not have much combustible things in themselves.

However, the fire still poses a great threat to the turret. First of all, the fire will inevitably lead to high temperatures. There are a large number of shells stored in the turret. High temperatures can easily cause the shell explosion; secondly, the fire will consume oxygen, causing a local lack of oxygen, causing people to suffocate to death. Because the ventilation in the fortress is not good, it is even more likely to cause people to suffocate.

Just after the People's Army fleet replaced high-fire bombardment, it took about 15 minutes of artillery bombardment and successfully destroyed the three forts of the fortress. The resistance on the fortress was basically stopped. The main reason was that the use of high-fire bombs formed a local hypoxia area. Although not all the shells fell on the fortress, they were basically distributed around the fortress, and the effect was not much worse. In the end, most of the French artillery in the fortress suffocated and died due to lack of oxygen. Only a small part escaped from the fortress at a very extreme and saved their lives.

Finally, the first turret was successfully destroyed. It took about 40 minutes, but the high-fire bullet used about 40% of the number. Because this high-fire bullet was extremely unstable, the fleet did not dare to carry too much. This time it was the most, and it was only 1/3 of the total ammunition. However, Wang Hailong was very satisfied with this result. After all, it saved a lot of trouble in the fleet, so he ordered a part of the landing troops to be sent to the ashore to control the turret to prevent the turrets from coming back. He immediately ordered the fleet to advance and attack the second turret on the east coast.

The fleet's attack on the second turret on the east coast and the first turret were basically like a retreat. First, it used dense firepower to destroy the open-air artillery on the turret, and then used high-fire bullets to kill the artillery in the fort, or oust the artillery from the fortress, and finally sent landing troops to occupy the surroundings of the turret.

In less than an hour and a half, the People's Army fleet successfully destroyed the two forts on the east bank of the Sai Kung River. Three battleships and three armored cruisers immediately turned around and attacked the two forts on the west bank. At this time, the fire on the two forts on the east bank had gradually faded, so the artillery guarding the forts on the east bank gathered and fled, and they planned to re-battle. After all, in the battle just now, most of the forts on the two forts were still intact. If the forts were re-controlled at this time, they would still have a certain combat effectiveness. But at this time, the landing troops of the People's Army had already set up positions around the two forts, and the two sides immediately fought fiercely.

However, the landing troops of the People's Army were drawn from the personnel of the warships and were not specialized marine troops, so the number was not large. Each fort can only be assigned to about 60 guards. After all, the personnel on the warships are limited, and each fort has one company of guard soldiers. With the fleeing artillery, the total number is more than twice that of the People's Army.

Wang Hailong also immediately ordered the drone to quickly take off to detect the enemy's position, and ordered the five protective cruisers of the cruiser squadron to immediately lean towards the shore to support the landing troops in combat. Since there was no threat from the turret at this time, the cruiser could also approach the shore. Under the guidance provided by the drone, use the small and medium artillery on the ship to shoot on the shore to strike the enemy's attempt to recapture the turret.

Although the five protective cruisers only used artillery below 100 mm, it was enough for the army. After a few shots, the French counterattack troops were wiped out. They dared to hold on and retreat quickly.

At the same time, the People's Army Fleet launched an attack on the first fort on the west coast. When the People's Army Fleet attacked the East Coast, although the West Coast wanted to assist in the war, they were powerless, but they were completely prepared to fight. Therefore, at the beginning of the attack of the People's Army Fleet, the fort launched a counterattack. For a moment, the shells fell on the sea like raindrops, stirring up countless water columns. Unfortunately, it was impossible to see this spectacular scene clearly at night.

The People's Army fleet still did the same. However, after the attacks of the first two forts, less than 20% of the high-fired bombs were left. Although they were all shot out, they were not enough to form a lack of oxygen, which made the artillery in the fort suffocate and die, and at most they could only feel breathing difficulties.

However, at this point, there is no other way. It only relies on artillery to destroy the artillery. Therefore, Wang Hailong ordered the fleet to move forward 2,000 meters to shorten the attack distance to about 8,000 meters. This not only has a higher hit rate, but also makes the kinetic energy of the artillery more powerful. For 200mm artillery, the kinetic energy at 8,000 meters is much greater than the kinetic energy at 10,000 meters. But this also increases the danger of being shot. After all, 8,000 meters is not an absolutely safe distance.

The attack on the first turret on the west coast lasted for more than an hour. Although the fortress of the turret was extremely strong, it could not withstand repeated attacks. In the end, the fortress was destroyed one by one by the People's Army fleet, and the entire turret was also destroyed. Moreover, unlike the two turrets on the east coast, the turret was completely destroyed and could not be used again, so it was exempted from being invested in the landing troops. The battleships Weiyang and the armored cruiser Tuohai were all hit. Fortunately, the damage was not large and did not affect the combat effectiveness of the warships.

However, it took 1 hour and 20 minutes to destroy this turret, which was almost time to destroy two turrets on the east coast. Although it took less than 3 hours to destroy three turrets and was still within the expected time, all the high-fire bullets had been used up at this time. According to the situation of destroying the first turret on the west coast, it was definitely impossible to destroy the last turret in one hour.

Wang Hailong considered it and decided to order the battleships and armored cruisers to continue attacking the last turret on the west coast. The protective cruisers Haike, Haidi, Hainuo, and five warships with destroyer squadrons set off immediately, sailed into the entrance of the Saigon River and attacked the Saigon Port.

There is about 45 kilometers from the estuary to Sai Kung Port. Although this section of the river is wide and deep, the river is ultimately not as good as the sea surface. Warships cannot travel at a higher speed. Therefore, it will take at least 2 hours or even 3 hours to complete this section of the river. It is absolutely impossible for the fleet to complete the last fort.

However, at this time, the two turrets on the east bank had been completely destroyed. Therefore, as long as the fleet walked close to the east bank, with the cover of darkness, the battleships and armored cruisers continued to attack and restrain the turret's attention, there was still a high chance of successfully passing through the estuary of the Sai Kung River and entering the river channel.

Moreover, the battleships and armored cruisers are large in size and have deep drafts; secondly, they have to attack the turrets, so it is impossible to enter the river channel. Two warships have to be left on the east bank to prevent the French from seizing the turrets again. Therefore, the People's Army fleet can only send these 8 warships into the river channel and attack Saigon Port. Of course, after breaking through the estuary of the sea, the defense of Saigon Port is average. After all, it has reached the inland river and it is impossible to arrange any more powerful defenses. Although there are also turrets on both sides, they all use small and medium-caliber artillery below 100 mm, and in terms of firepower, they are not as good as the five warships of the destroyer squadron.

Although there are eight French warships anchored in the port, they are all small and medium-sized warships below 3,000 tons. The Haike and Haidi are medium-sized protective cruisers with a total of more than 5,000 tons. The tonnage of the Hainuo is also 3,500 tons, which is enough to deal with these 8 French warships.

So the three battleships and three armored cruisers immediately launched an attack on the last turret on the west bank. The eight warships that received the order were led by the destroyer Helong and drove along the east bank to the estuary of the Saigon River at a speed of 7-8 knots. The Helong is the warship with the smallest tonnage and the shallowest draft among the eight warships. It opened the way in front and measured while driving, mainly to protect the three cruisers. The two warships with a height of 5,000 tons, including the Haike and the Haidi, will not be stranded.

Sure enough, after the attack of the People's Army fleet was launched, the last fort on the west bank also concentrated all its firepower and launched a counterattack on the People's Army fleet. In the dark night, there was no one found that a fleet was quietly sneaking into the river and heading towards the port.

About 20 minutes later, all the fleets that sneaked into the river passed through the estuary of the Saigon River, so they turned to the middle of the river, which increased the speed to 12 knots and headed towards Saigon Port.

At this time, the battle between the People's Army fleet and the artillery had reached a heightened heat. The open-air artillery had been destroyed by the firepower of the People's Army fleet, and two 152mm artillery fortresses were destroyed. However, at this time, the artillery had two fortresses, and four large-caliber artillery fortresses could still fight. The artillery hidden in the fortress opened fire and fired at the People's Army fleet, and the Boyang was also hit by a 152mm artillery shell.

Faced with the enemy's strong fortress, the People's Army fleet also changed its tactics. Three armored cruisers adopted the gamble tactics to attract the firepower of the fortress, while the three battleships concentrated their main artillery fire. According to the guidance of the drone, they first carried out concentrated strikes on a 280mm artillery fortress. The three battleships carried out three consecutive rounds of volleys, hitting a total of 11 305mm shells for the fortress. Three rounds of shells hit the top of the fortress. The top was the weakest place in the fortress defense, and they were blown through and completely destroyed.
Chapter completed!