1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 537 A group of apes shine

The British and French forces have already set off, leaving little time for Liang Yao.

The only good news is that India indirectly helped Liang Yao a big favor this time.

In May 1857, an uprising broke out among the Indian Army soldiers in northern India in the Walled City (now Delhi). So far, the uprising has rapidly spread to other parts of North India, including Khanapur, Borghpur, Uttar Pradesh and Oudh. Na and other places have already started a prairie fire.

Due to the outbreak of the Indian National Revolt, the British army's plan to attack Guangzhou was postponed. The British army had to stop in India to kill the Indian rebels.

Liang Yao calculated based on intelligence that the main force of the British and French coalition forces would not arrive in Hong Kong until Christmas at the end of the year at the earliest. He still had five months to prepare.

If the British Empire's navy had not completely controlled the sea power in the Indian Ocean, Liang Yao would have wanted to give some arms to the revolting Indian soldiers and the princely states for free, to aid their anti-British cause, and to be an anti-colonial vanguard.

Liang Yao summoned two old acquaintances, Gibson and Legoff, to express his attitude.

The sending of troops by Britain and France to the Qing Dynasty was a state matter between Britain and France, and he had no right to interfere.

However, if the two countries ignore the United States, ignore the vested interests of the West Coast region in the Far East and Southeast Asia, and attempt to encroach on Xiangshan, Nagasaki, Hokkaido Island, and Borneo Island, he will never sit idly by.

Gibson and Le Goff's reactions were relatively cold. From their reactions, Liang Yao became more certain that the information Martin provided him was accurate: the British and French really wanted to get involved in his sphere of influence.

Liang Yao didn't give Gibson and Legoff a good look, and just asked them to go back and tell their British and French masters so that they could take care of themselves. Then the preparations for the upcoming war began in full swing.

He had in stock the 200 cannons ordered by the Qing court. Liang Yao had been preparing for the civil war and had as many as 260 cannons of various types in stock.

However, most of the cannons in Liang Yao's inventory were Sacramento cannons. Considering that the Qing army was too stretched, Liang Yao did not plan to sell the Sacramento cannons to the Qing Dynasty. Instead, he chose to sell the M1857 (12-pounder gun) and M1841 that had been rifled. (6-pounder cannon) and large and small Napoleon cannons were given to the Qing Dynasty.

As for larger-caliber heavy artillery, such as the 18-inch coastal defense gun, not only are they expensive, their production, installation, and personnel training are time-consuming and labor-intensive, and Liang Yao is helpless. The money given by the Qing court was only enough to buy these small cannons.

He is a capitalist but not a philanthropist. If the Qing government wants bigger heavy artillery, it can be bought with real money.

It's just that Napoleon cannons have been eliminated from active service on the west coast, and there are not many private stocks on the west coast. Liang Yao tried his best and only collected 86 retired Napoleon cannons, of which Sartre contributed 16 Napoleon cannons.

For this reason, Liang Yao could only ask for help from the Austin Arsenal in Texas. Fortunately, the main cannons produced and modified by the Austin Arsenal were Napoleon cannons. After patchwork, including those Napoleon cannons that had not yet undergone rifling modifications, they finally got it together. 200 guns.

After the Sacramento Arsenal developed the Sacramento Cannon, it had already dismantled the production lines of the Napoleon Cannon and its related ammunition. Therefore, Liang Yao also transferred all the artillery shell orders required by the Qing side to the Austin Arsenal.

Austin Arsenal never expected that its first major overseas order would be obtained in such a dramatic way.

Ron, Espy and others laughed from ear to ear and hurriedly put the 114 Napoleon cannons and ammunition required by the Qing side on the train and transported them to California through the recently completed Pacific Railway. Then it will be transported to Dagukou by merchant ships of Jardine Matheson Group and Tongfu Group.

Two Pioneer-class ironclads were under construction at the San Francisco Shipyard at the same time. In order to speed up the launch of the ironclads, Jeremiah responded to Liang Yao's request and focused on building one of the ironclads first, striving to ensure that at least 1 of them could be built around November. An ironclad ship was launched.

In this way, when the British and French forces arrive in Guangzhou, Liang Yao will have at least two usable ironclads on hand, and his maritime power will not be too thin.

This was troublesome for Sven. Due to time constraints, Sven had to train enough crew members for two ironclads on an existing Pioneer-class ironclad.

Liang Yao took stock of his assets and found out if the second Pioneer-class ironclad ship could be successfully launched around November.

At that time, the mobile forces he can mobilize include 2 Pioneer-class ironclads, 28 Bold-class frigates of various types with more than 1,000 tons, and 18 loach ships ranging from 300 to 500 tons.

These battleships, together with the Yue Yong and the Guangdong Navy's small number of monkey-version bold-class and loach ships purchased from him, although their strength is still far behind the British and French fleets, they are still capable of fighting.

What's more, Liang Yao still has three trump cards in his hand, one is an ironclad ship, one is a Sacramento gun, and one is a Thunder M60 machine gun. These cutting-edge weapons are not available in the British and French armies.

As for the army, considering that the mercenary troops of Ambre Company are stationed in various places and their strength is scattered, and that this battle requires a large amount of artillery, Liang Yao can only let the California Infantry Regiment, Oregon Infantry Regiment, and Fifth Artillery Regiment take off the U.S. Army. Military uniform, seal the American Army flag, and replace it with the uniform flag of the Umbrella Company mercenary group to go into battle.

In order to deceive others, its designation was temporarily changed to the 11th and 12th Infantry Regiments of the Umbrella Company Mercenary Corps, and the 3rd Artillery Regiment.

In addition, more than 800 retired veterans who have just retired and signed mercenary contracts will be merged with the private armed forces of Sartre and others into a regiment, designated as the 13th Infantry Regiment.

In addition to these regular army units, Liang Yao also recruited elite veterans from various infantry regiments and militia regiments to form a specially designed machine gun regiment. The machine gun regiment consisted of 15 companies, each company consisting of five machine gun squads.

Each machine gun squad is equipped with a Thunder M60 machine gun. The team's personnel structure is: 1 squad leader (responsible for commanding combat operations, coordinating fire support and maintaining troop discipline.), 1 main shooter (deputy squad leader), 3 deputy shooters, mechanical There is one division member (who is responsible for dealing with machine gun mechanical failures), and five ammunition carriers (who are responsible for carrying machine gun ammunition, spare parts, tools and other necessary equipment required for combat).

Signal officers, engineers, medical personnel, and other support units are located at company headquarters.

Except for the mechanics of the machine gun regiment, who are trained by the Volcanic Stone Repeating Weapons Company, the rest of the personnel are trained under the personal supervision of Liang Yao himself.

——————

The British and French forces were more restless than Liang Yao imagined.

Although the main force of the coalition forces was delayed for a period of time due to the Indian Uprising, and most of the Indian soldiers originally planned to be sent to the Chinese battlefield failed to make the trip, the French army still arrived in Hong Kong before the British army.

"Damn, what kind of flag is this? It's so gaudy and ugly. It looks like the tricolor flag of France? Didn't it mean that Britain and France formed a coalition to expedition to the Qing Dynasty? Where are the British ships?"

In early December 1857, in Xiangzhou Bay, Xiangshan County, Guangdong, Liang Shaoqiong saw clearly the flag on a warship through a telescope. This kind of flag was not common in the Pearl River Estuary.

The flag of the Second French Empire was based on the tricolor flag with a group of beetles and royal emblems added, so it looked a bit gaudy.

The largest number of ships plying the Pearl River Estuary are American ships flying the Citizen Flag (Stars and Stripes), the California Bear Flag, and the Umbrella Company Umbrella Flag, followed by British ships flying the Union Jack, the White Ship Flag of the Royal Navy, and the British East India Company Flag. . There are also French ships, but not many.

"The British were delayed by the Indian uprising."

Sartre looked gloomily as he watched the French warship swaggering past them.

France is a land-based country, and its strategic focus has always been on the European continent. It is strong in its army and weak in its navy.

But the weakness of the French Navy is compared to the British Royal Navy. Compared with the navies of other countries, the French Navy is still a very powerful navy.

The 13th Infantry Regiment of Sutter's Umbrella Company Mercenary Corps arrived at Xiangshan ahead of Liang Yao and signed an employment contract with Liang Shaoqiong. They are now responsible for assisting Liang Shaoqiong in guarding Xiangshan Port.

Liang Yao has not yet arrived at Xiangshan because he is waiting for the second Pioneer-class ship to be launched and train the machine gun regiment.

However, the guns, ammunition, and shells required for the Humen Fort have been shipped to Xiangshan in advance.

Furthermore, Liang Shaoqiong also has a small arsenal in Xiangshan that can produce a certain amount of Walter M1851 rifles and ammunition.

Therefore, Liang Shaoqiong and the Guangdong Navy still have relatively sufficient ammunition.

What Liang Shaoqiong and the Guangdong Navy lack most are veterans with actual combat experience.

Although Liang Shaoqiong secretly transferred the Shanzi Battalion from Yangzhou back to Xiangshan, and personally trained two battalions of more than 1,600 rural warriors in July, there are now more than 1,300 mercenaries from Sartre's 13th Infantry Regiment, who were originally stationed at Xiangshan Port. More than 360 Umbrella Company mercenaries assisted.

However, Liang Shaoqiong only had a total of just over 4,000 combat troops, and there was also a lack of field artillery. Guangdong Yong's only artillery regiment was still on the Jiangnan front line.

Liang Shaoqiong thought about transferring the artillery from the Jiangnan front line back to Xiangshan. Considering the inconvenience of artillery transportation and Pan Shicheng's opposition, Liang Shaoqiong had to give up.

Liang Shaoqiong still felt very guilty relying on this small force to fight the British and French coalition forces.

Sartre told him that the number of British and French troops on this expedition exceeded 10,000, and they were covered by 71 warships.

The only ships currently available at the Pearl River Estuary are the three French steam wooden-hulled cruisers headed by the Roland that Liang Yao had just half-sold and given to him, his own two Bold-class ships, and eight Loach ships. The Guangdong Navy also has one bold-class ship and 12 loach ships.

All these surface forces, all added up, are not enough to face the menacing British and French fleets.

Liang Shaoqiong is now very eager to hope that Liang Yao and his armored ships will arrive at Xiangshan as soon as possible. Even if Liang Yao does not participate in the war, Liang Yao's large ships, especially the huge armored ships, will stop directly at the Pearl River Estuary, which will greatly encourage the soldiers and civilians of Guangfu. Morale made him feel at ease.

Shipping administration, shipping administration, why didn’t the Qing Dynasty establish a shipping administration as soon as possible?

Liang Shaoqiong sighed in his heart.

"There are 18 various warships of the French Navy and more than 20 various troop transports and supply ships. It seems that the main force of the French army has arrived."

After taking a picture of the last ship flying the flag of the French Second Empire, Collins, the chief photographer of the California Daily News and the Washington Citizen, ordered his assistant to put away the camera and prepare to return to the inn to write an article.

Collins is now the most famous photographer in the United States. It is impossible for him to miss such big news as the war between Britain and France against China.

"There are more than 1,500 troops stationed on Hong Kong Island, and with the addition of 1,800 French troops, they now have a full brigade of troops!" Liang Shaoqiong asked Sartre worriedly.

"Mr. Sartre, when will the second ironclad ship at the San Francisco Shipyard be launched?"

"I think the second Pioneer class has been launched, and General Liang is on his way to Xiangshan now." Sartre said after guessing.

"Come here!" Liang Shaoqiong called his soldiers and ordered.

"Go to Humen Fort and tell Hong Junmen that the foreign fleet has arrived at the Pearl River Estuary. If Hong Junmen is short of anything, just ask me!"

"I obey my orders!"

The soldier took the order and was about to leave, but was stopped by Liang Shaoqiong.

"Who told you to leave?! Go into Guangzhou City again and tell Governor Ye and Governor Bai that the foreign army has arrived and let them take care of themselves. If Guangzhou City is lost, not to mention that the hats on their heads cannot be saved, even their heads may not be saved. Stay here!"

Ye Mingchen and Bai Gui are unreliable. At present, the only military force Liang Shaoqiong can count on in the Guangfu area is Hong Mingxiang's Guangdong Navy.

"Yes! Can my subordinates leave now?" the soldier asked cautiously.

"Go and come back quickly." Liang Shaoqiong waved his hand.

Sartre also instructed the soldiers in Xiangshan Port to strengthen protection, and instructed the artillerymen in charge of coastal defense artillery. If an enemy ship rashly approaches Xiangshan Port, they can fire directly without asking for instructions.

Liang Yao has operated Xiangshan for many years. Xiangshan Port is equipped with 18-inch and 9-inch (32-pound, 229mm) Sacramento heavy coastal defense guns.

The main force of the British army has not yet arrived. If the British and French fleets are forced to land and attack Xiangshan Port, they can still fight with these coastal defense artillery.

The French Far East Fleet sailed into the Hong Kong dock, the British base in China. Hong Kong was the logistics base for the British and French forces in the Second Drug War.

The four major battles launched by the British and French forces in the Second Drug War: the attack on Guangzhou and the three attacks on Dagukou all started from here after repairing supplies.

The commander of the French Far East Fleet is Vice Admiral Tromoulin, commander of the French Pacific Fleet.

The Army Commander and the Commander-in-Chief of the French Expeditionary Force are French Army Lieutenant General Montauban.

Napoleon III originally planned to choose one of General Jean-Baptiste Pardi and General Grotto to serve as the commander-in-chief of the French Expeditionary Force, and come to China for training and accumulation of practical experience.

However, after Napoleon III learned that the British army suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Humen, he finally decided to let the French veteran Charles de Montauban, who had more actual combat experience, serve as the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force.

"You must be General Montauban."

Bonham, the governor of Hong Kong Island, welcomed the French army at the Hong Kong dock. As for Bonham's position as consul to China, London had appointed James Elgin as its plenipotentiary envoy to China in July 1857. There is no need for Wen Xian to concurrently hold the post of consul to China.

Accompanying Bonham to welcome the French troops were Major General Spence, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in Hong Kong, Colonel Watson, a senior employee of the British East India Company, and translator Parkes.

Even Tsarist Russia's Governor-General of Siberia Muravyov came to Hong Kong on an old sailing warship with the title of Russian envoy to join in the fun.

Muravyov's dilapidated sailing battleship stood out among a group of advanced and well-maintained British and French warships.

It's like a poor boy who doesn't know what to do and insists on joining the circle of two rich brothers in England and France with a hot face but a cold butt.

Muravyov looked at the various new and old warships of the mighty Gundam moored at the Hong Kong pier, his eyes filled with jealousy.

He secretly cursed in his heart: It's a pity that the Russian Empire does not have such a powerful fleet. If the Russian Empire had such a powerful fleet, it would have to participate in this war with China to get a share of the pie.

Vladivostok, Qingniwa (Dalian), and Lushunkou are all excellent ports that the empire dreams of, especially Qingniwa and Lushunkou, which are not frozen all year round and have superior terrain. It would be a waste of resources for such a good port to fall into the hands of these Khitan yellow-skinned monkeys.

At this time, Hong Kong Island can be described as a shining ape, except for Elgin, the British Plenipotentiary Envoy to China, James Hope Grant, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, Commander of the East India and China Fleet, and Admiral Michael of the Royal Navy. ·Sir Seymour is no longer in place.

"When I came here, I saw that Xiangshan Port was well-defended, with complete fortifications, and heavy coastal defense artillery. It seems that the Qing army is not as vulnerable as you said." Meng Toban said as he walked away.

When the fleet passed by Hong Kong Port, Meng Toban carefully observed Xiangshan Port. The Qing army's defense did not seem empty and slack.

"Father, you think too highly of these smokers." Montauban's son Francois de Montauban said indifferently.

"I think they are just a bunch of showmen. I heard that in the first trade war with China, the British army forced the Qing Dynasty to surrender at almost no cost. What is there to worry about a group of army composed of big smokers? I heard that they Even the weapon is unsteady.

Although the gray animal is an animal, at least it is a healthy animal. A healthy animal is more powerful than a sick person. "

Little Montoban was arrogant and did not take the Qing army seriously. The French army was able to beat the Tsarist Russian army to pieces in Crimea. An army composed of a group of sick men would probably be worse than a group of peasants in Tsarist Russia.

The accompanying French officers couldn't help laughing when they heard this. The Russian Minister Muravyov on the side suddenly became very ugly when he heard little Montauban ridiculing the Russian army, but he did not dare to get angry and just did not respond.

"Watch your words! Have you forgotten what I taught you? Don't underestimate any opponent!" Mentoban scolded his son with a low face.

"Yes, father." Little Mentoban replied nonchalantly, still unconvinced.

"You don't know something. The situation in Guangdong is relatively complicated. Xiangshan is the home base of American Army Brigadier General Liang Yao and Qing Dynasty warlord Liang Shaoqiong. These two people are very rich, especially Liang Yao. It can be said that he is as rich as the enemy. He is the richest man in the United States. People. Over the years, Liang Yao has spent a lot of money to build Xiangshan Port, so Xiangshan Port looks very well-defended." Wenxian explained to Meng Toban.

"I heard about Liang Yao, and His Majesty also awarded him the title of Viscount. I heard that this man started out as a gold miner. Within a few years, he became the richest man in the United States, became a general of the United States, and also opened an arsenal and a military factory in California. The shipyard is actually a legendary figure." Mentoban nodded and said.

As a senior general of the French Army, Montoban still had some impressions of Liang Yao.

During the Crimean War, the French army purchased a large number of Walter M1851 export-type rifles and military uniforms from Liang Yao. The gun's powerful performance and high reliability deeply shocked the French Army at that time.

At the same time, it also stimulated the top brass of the French Army, forcing the proud French to immerse themselves in the development of new domestic rifles.

Although at the beginning of this year the French army had successfully developed a Chasebo rifle with more advanced performance than the Prussian Dreiser needle gun, the Chasebo rifle has not yet been mass-produced. The export model Walter M1851 rifle from the Sacramento Arsenal is still the mainstay of the French army.

"Xiangshan Port is the most important trade port and port warehouse of the United States in China.

The goods inside are worth millions of pounds, including inexhaustible kerosene, Vaseline, porcelain from Jiangxi, tea from Fujian and other in-demand commodities. "Colonel Watson, a senior employee of the British East India Company, teased.

"The most important branch of Bank of America in China is located in Xiangshan Port. This gold tycoon has stored tons of gold in the Xiangshan branch."

When they heard that there was a large amount of valuable goods stored in Xiangshan Port, the accompanying French officers were just moved. After all, the goods were bulk items and difficult to carry.

But after hearing that the Xiangshan Branch of the Bank of America had several tons of gold in reserve, not only the eyes of the French military officers around Montauban were straightened, but even Montauban himself was heart-pounding and showed greed. This is several tons of gold!

In fact, Watson guessed it right. Liang Yao did hoard a large amount of gold in Xiangshan, the most important trade node with China, but the quantity was wrong.

Watson estimated that he was being conservative. The gold that Liang Yao had stored in Xiangshan was not just a few tons, but more than fifteen tons. However, most of this gold was obtained by Umbrella in Australia and Borneo, not gold produced in the United States.

"So, as long as we capture Xiangshan Port, we can get these golds?" Little Mengtopan swallowed.

"Xiangshan Port is harder to fight than Guangzhou City. The soldiers guarding Xiangshan Port are either Liang Shaoqiong's local soldiers or the most elite mercenaries of Umbrella Company. Even our British Empire's army tried to approach Xiangshan Port several times but failed. As a result, let alone other armies." Watson said intentionally or unintentionally, trying to provoke these French generals.

Watson had a wishful thinking that the French army would take the lead, followed by the East India Company and the garrison on Hong Kong Island, to enter Xiangshan Port and loot the gold and silver treasures in Xiangshan Port.

Montauban was an officer who attached great importance to the honor of the French army and had always looked down on the British army. He knew that this was Watson's method of provoking generals, but he still jumped in.

No French Army general would admit that the French Army was inferior to the British Army. In their eyes, the French army is the most powerful army in the world and has no rivals.

"The other armies you are talking about include our French Army?" Montauban snorted coldly.

"I didn't say much, General Montauban. I have always heard that the French Army is brave and invincible, but this is just hearsay and I have never seen it." Watson smiled slyly.

Wen Xian and others did not stop Watson from stimulating these French guys.