Chapter 571: The roar of the cannon spreads its fame (4000 words long chapter, second update!)
When the telegram asking for help was sent from Los Angeles, the people in Los Angeles didn't know what was happening.
Many of them just stood there blankly, looking at the sea and the fleet on the sea.
Compared to ordinary people, Major Storm's mood was complicated. Looking at the ironclad ships on the sea, his heart was full of helplessness and even bitterness.
He was a fort commander, but God knows, he was also a naval officer. But the post-war disarmament made him lose his warships. In the past few years, the once huge fleet disappeared. The United States did not even have a real ironclad ship. What about the Ming Empire?
Their ironclad ships were there showing off their power, and they even pointed their naval guns at American land, threatening the United States to agree to their conditions.
“Have the mayor and his men made a decision?”
While Storm was thinking about this question somewhat nervously, a small boat sailed towards the "Alliance". The American officials on the boat were holding white flags. After he arrived at the "Alliance", he first expressed his greetings to His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
It has nothing to do with etiquette, it’s simply because... Americans are born to lick the nobles, especially the emperor?
Then Horace Bell, the city lawyer, looked at the fleet commander, Colonel Meng Qingen, and said.
"Your Excellency, although what happened that day has caused a lot of controversy, we can guarantee that similar incidents will never happen again. The city government has agreed to provide $150,000 in compensation to the Chinese in Chinatown. In addition, the compensation for the 18 victims is $5,000 per person, which will be paid to their families."
So generous!
Meng Qingen's expression was cold, and then he asked.
"We need to discuss the issue of compensation, but what we need now are 578 suspects. When are you going to hand them over to us?"
"Your Excellency, I beg your forgiveness. No matter what happens, any responsible government will not hand its people over to a foreign country for trial! Moreover, this incident happened in Los Angeles, and the Ming Empire has no judicial power over them! In addition..."
Said attorney Reese Bell.
"I personally despise those thugs. They are barbaric and crazy. They brutally killed many innocent Chinese. I also believe that the incident is completely opposite to what they claimed, and they covered up the truth. But Your Excellency, as a lawyer, I think we should solve the problem through legal means. This incident can be handed over to the International Court of Arbitration for handling!"
In response to the lawyer's advice, Meng Qingen looked at Reese Bell with a solemn expression, then looked towards the city of Los Angeles and said.
"Mr. Bell, do you know why my country sent me all the way here?"
"Your Excellency the Admiral..."
Without waiting for Reese Bell to answer, Meng Qingen spoke.
"It's for justice! I remember that in almost all courts in the United States it was written: 'Fiat justitia, ruat coelum'... to achieve justice, even if the sky falls!"
Meng Qingen's tone seemed very calm, and his eyes even had a hint of compassion.
"But your court has turned this sentence into a joke. Since your law has become a joke, we can only achieve justice in our own way. Mr. Bell, please go back."
"Your Excellency, Your Excellency, please do not fire. There are many ordinary people in the city, including women and children. They are innocent..."
When Reese Bell was stopped by the sailors, he was still shouting loudly. In response to his shouting, Meng Qingen said.
"There are women and children among our expatriates. They are innocent too!"
There was no negotiation, or even excessive discussion. As Reese Bell sat in the small steamer in despair and headed towards the harbor, he saw the guns on the side of the ironclad ship "Alliance" slowly turning.
"Oh, God, what have we done!"
"Damn it, they're about to fire, gentlemen, get ready for battle!"
Major Storm put away his telescope and shouted loudly.
"Cannonballs, load the shells quickly!"
At the major's shout, the American soldiers on the artillery position began to get busy. They pushed the ammunition carts to the muzzles, first stuffed the gunpowder bags into the muzzles, and then stuffed the cylindrical shells in. Although their artillery was the old Rodman cannon, it had been converted into a rifled cannon a few years ago, which meant that a layer of rifled barrel was stuffed into the barrel.
After the American soldiers on the fort finished their firing preparations, they all looked nervously at the fleet on the sea. This was a fleet, but they only had four old-fashioned cannons. On the West Coast, they had never worried about foreign invasions.
"Sir, will they fire?"
The soldiers looked at the major and asked.
"I'm afraid this can only be..."
Suddenly, Major Storm stopped talking. He saw the smoke and the flashes - the Ming Empire fired!
When the 280mm naval gun was fired, the "Alliance", with a displacement of more than 7,000 tons, even retreated one or two meters. The sea surface on the side was impacted by large ripples. The fierce gunfire swept the entire warship and even blew off the sailors' sailor caps.
Fire!
The orange-red flames and gushing black smoke completely enveloped the entire warship.
When the 280mm main gun fired, the two 210mm and three 150mm secondary guns on the port side also fired simultaneously.
Target - Santa Monica Coast Battery!
“Buzz…”
The sound of the 280mm shells tearing through the sky was like a train whistle. The long whistle was heart-shaking. The 240-kilogram shells flew in a parabola towards the distant coastal artillery.
"put!"
The American artillery on the battery fired back!
Despite the sharp sound of breaking air, they still fought back against the Ming fleet diligently!
As they fought back, the shells came!
The falling shells were not just 280mm shells. According to the order, the "Alliance", "Tianlong" and "Qinglong" concentrated all their firepower to attack the shells. After all, the artillery positions were their biggest threat.
The ending was doomed from the beginning!
After all, this coastal artillery was just a simple artillery battery. At the moment the shell exploded, the battery was completely shrouded in a dense column of smoke. The violent explosion engulfed the entire battery. The explosive power of the heavy shells was astonishing. Even the Americans in the city were stunned by the violent explosion. They all stared in amazement at the battery engulfed by smoke.
"Oh my God!"
Amid people's screams of terror, they saw in the smoke of the explosion that it seemed as if a cannon was blown into the air. In the huge cloud of smoke, two thick black shadows that were blown into the air fell heavily down in front of people's dumbfounded gazes, and one of them even fell into the sea.
This simple artillery battery did not even survive the first round of bombardment. Its four cannons were destroyed and the battery was littered with dead and wounded.
After confirming that the artillery had lost its combat effectiveness, Meng Qingen looked at the city of Los Angeles and gave orders calmly.
"Target - Los Angeles city, carry out indiscriminate bombardment!"
Meng Qingen put down the telescope and turned around and gave the order.
"Drive closer to the coastline and launch close-range bombardment!"
The order from His Majesty is to raze Los Angeles to the ground!
…
"Reload!"
Although the sustained firing rate of the 280mm main gun of the Alliance ironclad ship was only one round per minute, the gunners fired at the maximum firing rate of three rounds in just two minutes.
"Blow them all up!"
The loaders shouted excitedly as they loaded the heavy shells into the cannon using a crane. The faces of the gunners on the gun positions were all covered in smoke, and the sweat and smoke made their faces white and black, but everyone's expression was the same - they were all excited as never before.
In front of them the city was already boiling!
“Swoosh…”
With a whistling sound like a whistle, heavy artillery shells roared into the city of Los Angeles. The high-explosive shells they carried blew up sparks in the city. The violent explosion threw the blasting debris of brick and stone houses into the air, and mixed with the smoke, it turned into black clouds. Iron and steel fragments whistled and flew around, and the air was filled with flying dust and hot metal fragments.
The flames of the explosion directly ignited the wooden houses in the city. The wooden buildings were shattered into pieces like children's toys in the shock wave, and then burned. As the flames burned, people on the streets fell under the bombardment.
The people who had cheered and shouted "Kill the Chinese" were blown into the sky in the violent explosion, and their bodies were torn into pieces in the explosion.
At the same time, the fleet finally approached the coast. Less than three kilometers away from the coast, dozens of 150mm mortars were lined up on the side decks of the warships.
Close bombardment!
This was after the shelling of the Sultanate of Kedah. In view of the fact that the naval guns had a slow firing rate and were unable to cause devastating damage to targets on shore, the navy developed a new tactic - using mortars on board ships.
In fact, it is just taking advantage of the firing rate of the mortar.
"put!"
With the roar of the gunners, the 12 150mm mortars on the "Alliance" cheered up, and the moment the 32kg shells were ejected from the muzzles, they whistled into the distance. Compared with the slow firing rate of the recoil guns, the firing rate of the 150mm mortars was as high as 15 rounds, and the gunners, who were working harder and harder, kept speeding up their pace.
Shell after shell flew from the mortar towards Los Angeles. In just one minute, hundreds of shells fell into the city.
Amid the rapid bombardment of the mortars, the battleship's guns were also firing continuously. The guns and mortars were like two drummers, playing a concerto with their own rhythm. The 280mm cannon played the most refreshing high notes with its roar.
The moment the shells fell, large craters were created on the ground. In the violent explosion, stones and bricks were blown into the sky, and then fell like raindrops, and then were blown up by the next shell, and then people were thrown into the air.
For the next half hour, the fleet's bombardment continued.
Los Angeles, Los Angeles as a city has been destroyed!
The prolonged bombardment caused some of the ship's gun barrels to overheat. Under the order of the gunnery commander, some of the fleet's artillery stopped firing, and the originally intensive bombardment stopped.
However, the mortar was still firing. When it was about to overheat, the gunners would use a bucket to scoop up a bucket of sea water from the sea and pour it directly onto the gun barrel. Amid the rising steam, the shelling continued!
The city is being destroyed!
The city is burning!
On the coast, the smoke from the explosion mixed with the smoke from the flames to form a thick black wall of smoke that obscured the entire Los Angeles.
But the shelling did not stop!
The shelling continued. During the shelling, the Americans kept running. Tom, who had killed Dr. Tong with his own hands, was horrified to see his bar destroyed in the explosion. He even watched his wife being swallowed by the smoke of the explosion.
"No, Annie!"
The next moment, an arm fell in front of him. It was his wife's arm. He recognized that hand, no, he recognized the ring on the finger. That diamond ring was the one he had snatched from Dr. Tong after killing him, and he gave it to his wife as a gift.
But what about now?
His wife was dead. Even only this arm was left, and the ring on the arm seemed to remind him why she died!
She didn't die from illness or time, but from artillery fire, because of their greed!
This is the punishment for greed.
“This scene is truly spectacular!”
Li Huian, standing on the mountain, looked at the burning city. He was an official sent by the Beihai Governor's Office. He brought everyone out before the shelling began.
Behind him were more than 150 overseas Chinese who had survived the disaster, all of them looking at the city in amazement.
The city was destroyed.
"Mr. Li, you really, really fired the cannon..."
The one who spoke was Yu Xing. As a Hongmen boss in Chinatown, he couldn't believe that the Ming fleet had directly fired. Before he could finish his words, Li Huian pulled out his pistol and pointed it at his head.
"S-Sir..."
Gunshots rang out, and Yu Xing, the Hongmen leader, fell down with a bloody hole on his forehead.
“Brother!”
The ten overseas Chinese strong men around were all staring at this scene in amazement.
What's going on?
After watching their boss being killed, these gang members all looked at Lord Li in confusion.
"Yu Xing is a Chinese, but he colluded with foreigners and harmed his compatriots. This is against the law of the country and he deserves death. From now on, all our compatriots must support each other, not fight among themselves, and not kill each other. Anyone who violates this will be killed without hesitation."
He said this to the overseas Chinese around him. In Chinatown, ordinary overseas Chinese seek protection from gangs, but they also allow themselves to be bullied by gangs.
But from now on, these rules must be changed. Those gangs that once bullied fellow countrymen must be eradicated! And now is the opportunity, the opportunity for the government to establish WeChat.
Li Hoian muttered to himself after taking a look at the corpse on the ground.
"After this time, no one in the United States will dare to bully the Chinese again!"
(End of this chapter)
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