Chapter 549: American Plenipotentiary Envoy

Chapter 542 United States Plenipotentiary Envoy

Hong Mingxiang led the Biao battalion to fight red-eyed, and with his passion, he briefly drove the exhausted British Marines off the Shajiao Fort.

But God did not favor them. Seeing that the British Marines were unable to attack the fort for a long time, the French army sent reinforcements ashore to support the British army.

"Military Gate! Fa Yi is also coming! Brothers have cut off the rear for you. You can withdraw! The Guangdong Navy cannot live without you! As long as you are here, the Guangdong Navy will be there!"

The battalion officer of the Navy's Admiral Biao Battalion saw the French troops rushing towards the Shajiao Fort like a tide, and knew that it was only a matter of time before the Shajiao Fort fell. He knelt down on one knee, with tears in his eyes, and begged Hong Mingxiang to withdraw the fort. He was willing to cut off the rear.

Hong Mingxiang stood up, looked around at the more than two hundred loyal and bloody men on the Shajiao Fort, and smiled happily: "I have spent my life in the army, and having soldiers like you is a comfort to me throughout my life."

"I am willing to die with the army!"

More than two hundred remaining soldiers of the Biao Battalion let out an earth-shattering cry.

Looking at the pacesetters who died generously in front of them, at the dilapidated Shajiao Fort, and at the corpses of sailors everywhere, Hong Mingxiang could no longer control his emotions.

He looked up to the sky and screamed, asking God: "Ah! Why! Why! Close the army gate! Why on earth is this!"

16 years ago, our cannons could not reach the British warships, and they could only be beaten. The Humen Fort could not hold it, I admit it!

Today, we have the best cannons, and the British ships are all within the range of our cannons. Why? Why? Why can't the fort still be defended? ! "

All the pacesetters also burst into tears and choked with sobs. They were just as unwilling as Hong Mingxiang. Why, why couldn't the Humen Fort be defended? !

More than ten years ago, they could still comfort themselves by using tools as inferior to people?

Now their artillery is more advanced than the British army, and their ammunition tubes are sufficient. However, they still failed to hold the Humen Fort.

Yes, why can't we defend the Humen Fort? This was the unwillingness of the two admirals of the Guangdong Navy before their deaths.

Hong Mingxiang stroked the still-warm Sacrament cannon and sighed: "What a good cannon, what a good fort! Why did God allow me to lose so miserably?! To be defeated so cowardly?! The defeat made my heart bleed. ?”

"Hong Junmen!"

The remnants of the Dubiao Battalion hugged each other and cried. No one wanted to lose so miserably and in such a useless way. Why did they lose the battle that they obviously couldn't lose?

Hong Mingxiang picked up his sleeve and wiped his old face, which was full of vicissitudes of life, and told the battalion officer: "You are right, we need to leave a seed for our Guangdong Navy. From now on, this fort must be guarded by someone." .

You go, send the flag to ask Kang Shen to withdraw from the Dajiao Fort. Don't go back to Guangzhou City. Go to Xiangshan Port to find Liang Shilang. Only Liang Shilang can clean up the mess in Guangzhou! For now, please listen to the command of Mr. Liang. "

"If the military gate doesn't leave! We won't leave!"

The tone of the pacesetters was decisive.

"This is my last military order! Do you still want to disobey me?! Do you want me to die in peace?!" Hong Mingxiang shouted in a deep voice.

"The Humen Fort is my life's hard work, and it is also the life's work of Guan Junmen. It was here that Guan Junmen died for his country. Even if I die, I want to die here."

The battalion officer had no choice but to let some young pacesetters who had not been injured withdraw from the fort with Hong Mingxiang's orders, and he led the remaining brothers of the battalion to follow Hong Mingxiang and prepare for the final battle.

There was a burst of thunder, heavy rain fell on Shajiao Fort, strong winds howled, and angry waves rolled.

In the rain, the British and French forces once again rushed to the Shajiao Fort with guns in hand.

Hong Mingxiang, who had long disregarded life and death, smiled calmly and commanded the last battle of his life with his sword in hand.

"Ready! Release!"

The muzzles of 103 rifles sprayed hot metal projectiles at the British and French troops in the rain. Dozens of British and French troops fell down.

After a burst of gunfire, Yu Yong on the Shajiao Fort and the British and French allied forces who were three or four times their own number fought together.

"Keep your mouth alive!"

Major General Spence saw the old and familiar figure of Hong Mingxiang in the telescope and ordered him to be captured alive.

But it was too late. By the time Spence and Mentoban arrived at the Shajiao Fort, all the Guangdong Navy's Gu Zhong and Yu Yong on the Shajiao Fort had died for their country.

Hong Mingxiang knelt on the fort, like a sculpture that refused to rest in silence. His two hands only held the handle of the knife, and under the knife was a British captain who stabbed Hong Mingxiang's chest with the general's sword.

At the last moment before his death, this seventy-year-old veteran still tried his best to kill the enemy bravely.

The officers and soldiers of the British and French allied forces stood in the rain, standing in awe of this veteran with graying hair and a shirt soaked in blood.

Spence and Montauban could not help but give a military salute to the late veteran.

They could not deny that although Hong Mingxiang lost, he showed unparalleled courage and tenacity in this battle and was a respectable soldier.

"Destroy the battery, but do not destroy the Admiral's body."

This was the last order given by Spence before leaving the fort.

"In order to repel the Guangdong Navy fleet and capture the Humen Fort, we have already suffered a lot of casualties."

Montaban, who returned to the battleship, was worried.

After a whole day of fierce fighting, the losses of the British and French coalition forces were not small. In the naval battle, the British army lost a cruiser HMS Pearl, a gunboat HMS Barracuda, and the Pegasus and Calcutta were seriously injured.

The British lost a total of 216 soldiers in the naval battle. In order to capture Shajiao Fort and Dajiao Fort, the British Marines paid a total of 185 casualties. Although the French casualties were light, they also lost 37 people.

This was not the first time that the British attacked Guangzhou, but this time the casualties were the greatest. It was the first time that a battleship was directly sunk by the Qing army.

You should know that in the first trade war against China, the British casualties were only 523 (of which only 69 were killed). At that time, the British army fought all the way from Dajiao Shajiao Fort to Humen Town and then to the Guangzhou Inland River. The death toll was almost negligible, and only a few soldiers were slightly injured.

"General Meng Toban, don't worry. After removing the obstacle of the Guangdong Navy, we will be greeted by a smooth journey."

Spence smiled faintly, as if Guangzhou City was already in his pocket.

That night, the British and French allied forces sent out the scout company, the engineering company, and the blasting company to successively occupy the Weiyuan platform, the Zhenyuan fort, the Jingyuan fort, and the empty Erweisha to seize a foothold for attacking Guangzhou City.

During this period, the British and French allied forces only encountered sporadic resistance from the remnants of the navy on the fort. Apart from that, the British and French allied forces never encountered organized resistance from the Qing army.

At this point, the Humen fort group was completely lost, and the defense of Guangzhou City was completely lost. The warships of the British and French allied forces were unimpeded on the Pearl River and came and went freely.

In the early morning of that day, the British and French allied fleets anchored on the surface of the Pearl River outside the Wuxian Gate of Guangzhou City and bombarded Guangzhou City. For a time, the people of Guangzhou City were in panic.

Knowing that the allied forces had taken down the Humen fort group and were approaching Guangzhou City, the late British plenipotentiary Elgin and the French plenipotentiary Grofen arrived from Hong Kong by gunboat.

The commanders and envoys of the two countries held a combat meeting on the French naval flagship, the Courageous, and decided to notify Ye Mingchen again at noon on the same day, requiring him to surrender Guangzhou City within 48 hours, otherwise the Allied Forces would attack Guangzhou City.

Guangdong Governor Bai Gui and Guangzhou General Mutten, two prominent bannermen, did not disappoint as usual. They led their troops to flee in a hurry overnight while the British and French Allied Forces had not yet attacked the city.

Among the senior officials in Guangzhou City, only Ye Mingchen remained in the city.

US President Buchanan appointed Liang Yao as the plenipotentiary envoy to China to handle US affairs in China.

After receiving Buchanan's commission and arranging the graduating West Point Military Academy and Virginia Military Academy cadets to come to China for internship, Liang Yao set off for Xiangshan Port with a mighty army.

When Liang Yao's fleet arrived at Xiangshan Port with the 11th, 12th and machine gun regiments of the Umbrella Company mercenary group, the British and French coalition forces had already taken over the Humen Fort.

Liang Yao, who had just landed and came to Liang Shaoqiong's command post, met Kang Enze, the adjutant of Hong Mingxiang, who was covered in blood and tears and came to Xiangshan Port with six or seven hundred Guangdong Navy remnants.

Liang Yao had met Kang Enze several times before, so although Kang Enze looked embarrassed, he still recognized him.

"Liang Shilang!"

Kang Enze burst into tears and choked when he saw Liang Shaoqiong.

"Hong Junmen he Hong Junmen he"

"What happened to Hong Junmen?"

Liang Shaoqiong had a vague premonition of foreboding.

"Hong Junmen died for his country at Shajiao Fort!"

Kang Enze said with snot and tears.

"The Green Camp soldiers of Humen Town fled, and we were alone and failed to defend the Humen Fort. The Humen Fort has now fallen into the hands of foreigners!"

"Damn it! The Green Camp is a bunch of bastards!" Liang Shaoqiong said angrily.

When Liang Shaoqiong fought against the Taiping Army, he was also betrayed by the Green Camp soldiers of the two major camps in Jiangnan and Jiangbei. He could empathize with this feeling.

"General Hong left us a will, ordering us to come to Xiangshan Port and obey the orders of Minister Liang. Minister Liang is now our superior." Kang Enze clasped his fists and said.

Kang Enze also didn't want to return to Guangzhou City to obey Ye Mingchen's orders.

Ye Mingchen was not unrelated to Hong Mingxiang's death.

As a governor, Ye Mingchen had the military and political power of Guangdong. As long as Ye Mingchen did something, he would actively dispatch troops to guard Humen instead of hiding in Guangzhou City like a turtle with a large army and dying. Why did Hong Mingxiang fight alone at the Shajiao Fort in Humen?

The Guangdong Navy followed Liang Shaoqiong's orders and did not follow the rules, but Liang Shaoqiong was not a pedantic person. He also wanted to save the last blood of the Guangdong Navy for Hong Mingxiang and fulfill the last wish of this old friend.

If these remnants of the Guangdong Navy were driven into Guangzhou City, God knows what kind of tricks Ye Mingchen, this weirdo, would come up with.

Liang Yao was also very moved when he learned that Hong Mingxiang had died in the battle.

He had also fought side by side with Hong Mingxiang, and they were considered comrades-in-arms. The two fought against the Dutch in Nanyang together. Hong Mingxiang was also one of the few officials in Guangdong and even the whole country who was doing practical things.

If it weren't for Hong Mingxiang's many years of operation, I'm afraid the Qing authorities would not even have the fig leaf of the Battle of Humen.

Although the Humen Fort was not defended, the performance of the Guangdong Navy was much better than in history.

Liang Yao's business in Xiangshan was going so smoothly, and Hong Mingxiang also contributed a lot, but he didn't expect that such a good admiral of the navy would be gone.

"Has Guangzhou fallen?"

This is the issue that Liang Yao is most concerned about now, which is related to his next deployment of troops.

"When we came, the foreign soldiers only attacked the artillery outside Guangzhou. I heard from the people who fled that although the foreign warships were bombarding Guangzhou, they did not start to attack the city." Kang Enze said.

"There are at least 20,000 to 30,000 banner soldiers and green camp soldiers in Guangzhou, plus the governors' and governors' camps, which can hold out for a few days."

"The Eight Banners soldiers are even weaker than the Green Camp soldiers. Once the British and French forces attack the city, I'm afraid they won't be able to hold out for a day." Liang Yao shook his head and had no hope for the Eight Banners of the Green Camp.

"News came from Borneo that the British army's main force has arrived at Xingzhou Island (Singapore). If Guangzhou is lost, once the main force of the British army arrives, they will join forces to attack Xiangshan Port from both land and sea. At that time, Xiangshan Port will be unable to support itself." Liang Shaoqiong thought for a long time and sighed helplessly.

"Ah~ Guangzhou City should not be lost."

"The British and French forces have occupied the Humen Fort. Even if we want to save Guangzhou City, we are powerless." Liang Yao said after a moment of silence.

"Returning to Guangzhou City is a bad move and a bad strategy."

"Does my nephew have a good plan?" Liang Shaoqiong asked.

He knew that Liang Yao had many ideas, so he might as well listen to Liang Yao's opinions.

"It's not a good strategy, but it's a risky move, a risky move that requires us to risk everything we have." Liang Yao said.

"Tell me about it." Liang Shaoqiong listened attentively.