Chapter 550: Give It a Try

"Attack Hong Kong Island, so that the British and French forces can no longer care about each other."

Liang Yao revealed his risky move.

Hong Kong Island is the most important frontline supply point for the British and French forces and the forward base for the British and French forces in the Second Drug War.

The British and French allied forces' first attack on Guangzhou City and the third attack on Dagukou all set off from Hong Kong Island after supplies.

Once Hong Kong Island is captured, the supply line of the British and French coalition forces will be forced to extend by more than 2,000 kilometers, and they will have to use Sarawak Port and Xingzhou Island, which is far away from the Qing mainland, as their advance base.

The extension of the supply line will inevitably increase the logistics cost and difficulty of the British and French coalition forces, making them strategically passive.

At present, the British and French forces are sharpening their swords under the city of Guangzhou. The main force of the British army has not yet arrived at Hong Kong Island because it was delayed by the national uprising in India.

Today is December 24th, and tomorrow is Christmas in the West. The garrison on Hong Kong Island is celebrating the holiday, and the mental state of the garrison is bound to be relaxed.

The British troops stationed in Hong Kong and the French Expeditionary Force had just experienced a major war and were severely weakened. Hong Kong Island's defense was now at its most empty.

This is a God-given opportunity to attack Hong Kong Island. Now or never!

Of course, Liang Yao could think of this level, and the generals of the British and French allied forces could naturally think of this level as well.

Once the British and French forces learn that the Qing army is attacking Hong Kong Island, they will definitely return to Hong Kong Island with all their strength as soon as possible.

"It is indeed a very dangerous flag, but do you want to surround Wei and rescue Zhao, or do you really want to take Hong Kong Island?"

Liang Shaoqiong took a breath of cold air.

Britain has always attached great importance to Hong Kong Island, a strategic location in the Far East. It has been operating it for 16 years. Hong Kong Island has relatively advanced defense facilities. Attacking Hong Kong Island requires a huge investment.

And even if he spent a lot of money, Liang Shaoqiong was not completely sure that he could win Hong Kong Island.

"Of course we will take Hong Kong Island." Liang Yao's tone was very firm.

"I want the main force of the British and French forces to have no place to rest."

"That's the case, I'm willing to risk my fortune to make a big gamble with you. The rise and fall of the Liang family will depend on this." Liang Shaoqiong gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

"Not only must we capture Hong Kong Island, but we must also capture Macau." Liang Yao's attitude was very determined.

Macau is only more than 20 kilometers away from Xiangshan Port, which has long made him feel like a thorn in his back.

If the British and French allied forces can attack Xiangshan through Macau once, there will be a second and third time. This thorn in the back of Xiangshan Port must be removed.

"Macau? Macau is the territory of the Portuguese. The British and French forces have not been destroyed. If we provoke another Portuguese, wouldn't we create another enemy?" Liang Shaoqiong hesitated.

"Portugal is a small country and has nothing to fear." Liang Yao said contemptuously.

"It was they who used the route for the British and French forces to invade Guangdong without declaring war. The Qing Dynasty used this as an excuse to regain Macau. The troops were well-known and it was not considered a breach of contract."

"That's right." Liang Shaoqiong nodded and asked immediately.

"When do you plan to send troops to Hong Kong?"

"The earlier the better, let the soldiers have a good rest, and we can send troops tomorrow." Liang Yao turned to ask Kang Enze, "General Kang, does the Guangdong Navy have extra flags? Can I borrow them from Liang?"

"Yes, yes, if General Liang wants to use it, just send someone to get it." Kang Enze was quite happy. Now that the Guangdong Navy is almost gone, there is nothing to care about a few flags.

"I came to the Qing Dynasty as the plenipotentiary envoy of the United States. Don't call me general again, especially in front of foreigners. Just call me Special Envoy Liang." Liang Yao coughed dryly and reminded Liang Shaoqiong.

"Uncle, you also sign an employment contract with my fleet, the 11th and 12th Infantry Regiments, and the Machine Gun Regiment."

"It's just a contract. You and I are both members of the Liang family. It's just a matter of left hand and right hand." Liang Shaoqiong said with a smile.

"Since we are a family, we have to give out all our wealth this time. Don't hide it." Liang Yao also said with a smile.

The Liang family has many spies and spies on Hong Kong Island. According to the information sent back by the spies and spies, Hong Kong Island is indeed as defenseless as Liang Yao expected.

There are less than 600 garrison troops left on Hong Kong Island. Among the warships of the British and French allied fleets, except for the Pegasus and Calcutta, which were seriously injured in the daytime naval battle, and are being repaired in the ship repair yard on Hong Kong Island, there are only 600 warships left on Hong Kong Island. There are 6 ships.

Among them, the four British warships left behind on Hong Kong Island are the Doomsday Sail Battleship Scout, which was launched in 1856. It has three gun decks, 90 guns, and a displacement of 2,187 tons. This is a newer, second-class sailing battleship in good condition. It is also the flagship of the British ships remaining on Hong Kong Island.

Another large ship is the sailing battleship HMS Incitement built in 1834 with a double-decker gun deck, 40 guns, and a displacement of 1,622 tons. According to the standards of the British Royal Navy, the HMS Incitement can only be regarded as a third-class sailing battleship. .

The other two ships were the fifth-class sailing cruiser Rattlesnake, built in 1843, with 13 guns and a displacement of 888 tons, and the Shelduck gunboat, built in 1847 with 4 guns and a displacement of 455 tons.

The two French ships remaining on Hong Kong Island were the gunboat Rocket with 6 guns and the gunboat Marceau with 8 guns.

The British and French warships remaining on Hong Kong Island were either old sailing warships or small gunboats.

Liang Shaoqiong couldn't help but sigh after watching it, what a God-given opportunity.

At the same time, I couldn't help but think: How much the British and French allied forces looked down on the Qing army and were so arrogant. Hong Kong Island, such an important logistics base, only left a few broken ships to guard the gates and courtyards.

The British ships left behind were all warships stationed in Hong Kong all year round, so the data collected was very comprehensive. Not only was the year of construction clear, but even the displacement when launched was accurate to single digits.

The Liang family’s spies in Hong Kong Island did a very good job of intelligence work.

As for the two French ships, since they had just arrived in Hong Kong Island, the information collected was relatively limited, but it was harmless.

The British and French forces were so bold to drop their main battleships into the Pearl River outside Guangzhou City, and they must have expected that the Qing army would not dare to attack Hong Kong Island.

The Qing army did not dare to attack, but unfortunately I, Liang, am not a Qing army, Liang Yao sneered in his heart.

How to attack Hong Kong Island, the army of the small life during World War II had already demonstrated it once: landing from Taikoo City, and then dividing and encircling the entire Hong Kong Island.

Although the military facilities on Hong Kong Island at the end of 1857 and Hong Kong Island at the end of 1941 were not exactly the same.

But Hong Kong Island has taken shape after 16 years of operation by the British.

The earliest developed area of ​​Hong Kong Island was Victoria City, which is the Central area in later generations. Victoria City is the core business district of Hong Kong Island. The urban area of ​​Hong Kong Island is centered on Victoria City and expands horizontally along the flat land on the south bank of Victoria Harbor.

The port facilities of Hong Kong Island, including coastal defense batteries, are mostly concentrated in the docks in the north of Victoria City, and warships are also anchored here.

There are few British soldiers stationed in Hong Kong, and it is not impossible to attack from here, but the casualties will definitely be large. This plan was first ruled out by Liang Yao, who brought elite soldiers instead of cannon fodder.

Liang Yao's idea coincided with the commander of Xiao Ri Zi, and he chose Taikoo City in the eastern district of Hong Kong Island as the landing site.

Of course, this place was not called Taikoo City at that time, but Taikoo Village.

There are many advantages to choosing Taikoo Village as the landing site.

The first advantage is that there are scattered civilian docks and small docks here, where small ships can be directly moored, and it is convenient to transport military supplies.

The second advantage is that this is a gathering place for Chinese boatmen, porters, coolies and fishermen. To put it bluntly, it is a slum. Without British people living here, the resistance to landing will be much smaller.

These bitter people in the Taikoo area may not help you, but they will definitely not dare to stop you from landing.

The third advantage is that once the landing is established, the army can directly move westward along the ready-made roads along the coastal plains and directly attack the Victoria city area.

In addition, Liang Yao and Sartre also finalized another landing point: Shawan in the west of Hong Kong Island.

At this time, the Hong Kong British authorities had not yet built a fortress on Mount Davis, so it was safe to land in Shawan.

Liang Yao planned to let some artillery land in Shawan, and then carry artillery to the commanding heights of Cheqi Mountain behind Victoria City, and set up field artillery to bombard Victoria City, first to distract the British Army's attention from the attacking Marines in the direction of Taikoo Village, and second to catch the British Army in the city by surprise, forcing the British Army in Victoria City to descend quickly.

Liang Yao brought two Pioneer-class ironclad ships this time, one of which was the prototype ship Pioneer, and the other was the sister ship of the same class, Homeland, which had just been launched.

There were also 28 Bold-class frigates and 18 Loach-class gunboats.

This is all his assets at sea. The main force of the British Navy has not arrived. Facing the British and French coalition fleet that has just experienced a war, on paper, Liang Yao's Umbrella fleet is not inferior.

This is the first time that Liang Yao has fought such a rich naval battle.

Liang Yao temporarily divided the fleet into two.

The first is the Pearl River Fleet, with the flagship of the Home Ironclad, 18 Bold-class frigates and 5 Loach-class gunboats under its command, responsible for blocking the mouth of the Pearl River and blocking the British and French coalition forces and their fleets under the city of Guangzhou from returning to Hong Kong Island.

The second is the Hong Kong Island Fleet, with the flagship of the Pioneer Ironclad, 10 Bold-class frigates and 13 Loach-class gunboats under its command, responsible for clearing out the British and French warships left behind in Hong Kong Island and covering the landing troops to land and fight on the island.

Liang Shaoqiong also has a Bold-class and 6 Loach-class gunboats in Xiangshan Port, which had been suppressed in the port by the British and French coalition fleet before and had no chance to fight.

Liang Shaoqiong hoped that Liang Yao's Umbrella Fleet could bring his navy to play dungeons and accumulate some practical experience.

Liang Yao agreed and incorporated Liang Shaoqiong's navy into the Hong Kong Fleet.

After making these arrangements, Liang Yao called Liang Xi, the trainee deputy commander of the artillery regiment.

Liang Xi was Liang Shaoyu's son, Liang Yao's cousin. In 1851, Liang Yao sent him to the east for further studies. Later, he was admitted to the artillery department of the Virginia Military Academy and became the first military academy student in the West Coast region who received systematic military training.

The children of the Liang family finally had someone available. Liang Yao intended to give Liang Xi an opportunity to exercise meritorious service and accumulate qualifications, so that he could find an opportunity to make him official later.

"Your Excellency the Special Envoy, what instructions do you have?" Liang Xi saluted Liang Yao very seriously.

"Okay, okay, Xi'er has grown up so much." Liang Shaoqiong said with emotion.

"When I sent you abroad, your head could reach my chest, but now I can only reach your ears."

As he spoke, Liang Shaoqiong did not forget to come to Liang Xi and gesture. Time is like a knife, and now Liang Shaoqiong has long passed the age of forty.

"Let the artillery regiment dismantle all the 6-pound field guns they brought and load them on board for standby." Liang Yao gave an order to Liang Xi.

"Yes!" Liang Xi took the order and turned to Liang Shaoqiong with a smile.

"Uncle, I will find you to reminisce after I finish my official duties."

"Go away, is uncle that old?" Liang Shaoqiong rolled his eyes at Liang Xi in annoyance.

Watching Liang Xi leave, Liang Shaoqiong said to Liang Yao: "We have people in Hong Kong Island. Do we need them to support our operation tomorrow?"

"No need. The fewer people know about this, the better. If too many people know about it, it will inevitably leak out." Liang Yao shook his head.

"If I can't take Hong Kong Island, which is guarded by more than 600 people, I have been a general for so many years in vain."

For tomorrow's operation, Liang Yao decided to let Sven lead the Pearl River Fleet to intercept the British and French coalition forces, and he himself led the Hong Kong Fleet to coordinate the capture of Hong Kong Island.

The port facilities of Hong Kong Island are as complete as the deep-water port of Xiangshan Port, and Liang Yao has been coveting it for a long time.

Although Xiangshan Port is good, its upper limit is not as good as Hong Kong Island, and Hong Kong Island is an independent island, which is relatively easier to defend.

Liang Yao will question the character of the British, but he will never question the British vision in choosing a trading port.