Chapter 509 New World, Here We Come! (Please subscribe, please vote)
“Boom boom boom”

When the thick fog of the Alexander Archipelago was torn apart by chain bullets, Yu Dabao was using a telescope imported from Britain to observe the island shrouded in thick fog in front of him. In the haze of the telescope, three balls of orange fire suddenly burst out – that was the 12-pound cannon deployed by the Russians on Chichagof Island firing.

“Damn it, the Russians here are much more vigilant than those in Dutch Harbor!” Yu Dabao put away the telescope and tore open his mink cloak, revealing two rows of wooden-handled nitrate grenades stuck in the lining.

Ten converted small whaling ships rushed forward with the undercurrent of the ebb tide. The rams of the bows broke the undulating waves, and the chain bullets fired from the shore whistled over them. Yu Dabao half-crouched on the deck of a small whaling ship that was robbed from the Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands, holding a nitrate grenade tightly in his palm. The outline of the beach bunker a few dozen steps away gradually emerged, and the shadow of the Cossack fur hat swayed behind the breastwork built of rotten wood.

“put!”

Following his order, a swivel cannon installed on the bow of the whaling ship began to spit out flames. This whaling cannon was actually a small-caliber smoothbore cannon that could be inserted with a harpoon and then fired with gunpowder to pierce the body of the whale. However, today it was loaded with lead bullets. Ten such cannons roared together, and two hundred lead bullets created sawdust all over the wooden breastwork.

“Seize the beach. Brother Tian, ​​please bless us!”

Yu Dabao kicked open the baffle at the bow, and dozens of Taiping soldiers took advantage of the moment when the Cossacks on the shore retreated into the breastwork to avoid the bombardment, and shouted loudly and jumped into the cold knee-deep sea water, stepping on the sea water and rushing towards the beach against the bullets fired from the shore. From time to time, someone was hit by the bullets fired from the shore, and fell to the beach of America screaming and trembling.

But more Taiping warriors still rushed to the beach of Chichagov Island without hesitation. Before they left Vladivostok, the instructors who accompanied the army had told them that marching to the New World was the will of Brother Tian!
Yu Dabao took a torch from an artilleryman and lit the fuse of the grenade in his hand, then threw it at the Russian fortress on the beach with all his strength, creating a ball of fire and smoke. After throwing several grenades filled with nitrate, he also jumped into the cold sea water. After walking a few steps, he met Wang Tieniu, the platoon leader of the advance team, who was kneeling down with a red tasseled gun tied with several grenades, groaning. His left leg was cut by a sharp reef underwater, leaving a bloody wound.

“Get up, don’t just squat on the beach!” Yu Dabao helped up the old friend who had followed him all the way from Hunan. “Brother Tian asked you to come to the New World, but he didn’t ask you to be a target for the Russians!” Then he used the torch in his hand to light the fuses of several grenades tied to the red tasseled spear, and shouted again: “Kill the Russians, go to heaven!”

Wang Tieniu stood up with the help of Yu Dabao. Hearing the slogan “Kill the Maos and go to heaven”, the “Hunan old long-haired” instantly felt his blood burning. He limped forward a few steps, then roared and swung his red tasseled spear towards the breastwork on the beach. Before the several 1845-style smoothbore rifles that had just stretched out from behind the breastwork could be fired, several grenades on the red tasseled spears had already exploded, blowing five Russian soldiers into a bloody mess. However, the remaining Cossacks still fought desperately, firing their smoothbore rifles continuously.

The Taiping Army that rushed ashore were constantly shot and fell, and were buried forever on the beaches of the New World.

“Boom boom boom”

At this time, several roars of cannons came from behind Yu Dabao and Wang Tieniu – these were the 32-pound cannons on the steam troop transports Man Niu and Pondicherry on the sea showing their power!

As the sun gradually climbed up the sky, the fog covering the coast of Chichagov Island had dissipated, and the troop transports on the sea were finally able to use their huge cannons to support the Heavenly Kingdom warriors who had landed.

Although all these shells missed their target and fell behind the Russian beachhead fortress, the huge fireballs and thick smoke greatly boosted the morale of the Taiping Army soldiers who landed.

The cry of “Kill the Russians and go to heaven” instantly resounded through the sky. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom warriors surged onto the beach where only dozens of Cossacks were stationed, and in a blink of an eye, they were completely submerged.

Yu Dabao supported the limping Wang Tieniu and followed the large group of people, stepping on the craters on the beach and the bodies of the Cossacks, and rushed into the bastion built by the Russians with logs. The two suddenly heard a woman’s cry, and then followed the sound to a sturdy wooden house built with logs. Yu Dabao kicked open the pine door with one foot. In the dimly lit house, there were only a dozen Aleut women tied with ropes and wearing thin clothes, curled up on beds filled with stench and alcohol.

“What a sin.” Wang Tieniu, who knew where this place was, tore off a Russian flag and wrapped it around the body of a shivering indigenous girl who looked no older than twelve. Yu Dabao noticed that there was a portrait of Hong Xiuquan on the wall of the wooden house!

Thousands of miles away, Luo Yaoguo gently turned the brass globe, his eyes resting on the British Victoria region next to the Alexander Islands. A small “golden word” cut out of yellow paper was pasted there – not long ago, a group of Irish believers in the True Testament, under the guidance of “angel prophecy”, discovered a gold vein near a bay there!

Luo Yaoguo picked up a brush dipped in cinnabar, drew a circle on the Alexander Archipelago, and pointed directly at the Victoria area and the northwestern border of the United States: “We should really let Yang Xiuqing see what the real Heavenly Father is like.”

Kamchatka Peninsula, Pacific coastline east of Petropavlovsk, early morning of May 15. The sound of gunfire rang out sporadically, but it never stopped. The sea off Avacha Bay where the Petropavlovsk Fortress is located is a busy scene at this time. A huge fleet of 28 steamships and sailboats is floating on the water to transport supplies. Petropavlovsk is a fortress port, with Signal Hill Fortress on the south side of the port and Nikolay Hill Fortress on the north side of the port. The Russian army deployed artillery positions on both fortresses, one in the south and one in the north, forming crossfire, which can effectively block the port.

Therefore, the British, French and Chinese Allied Forces that came from afar had no way to land directly in the port, and could not even enter the Avacha Bay. They could only land on the beach along the Pacific coast outside the Avacha Bay.

Fortunately, the Russian army did not have enough troops to deploy a long line of defense, so they could only hide around the Petropavlovsk Fortress and protect the port area. As for other places, they were completely empty and unprepared.

However, Zuo Zongtang did not have much time left. The Kamchatka Peninsula close to the Arctic had such terrible weather that it only thawed in April and May, and became freezing again in September and October.

If Zuo Zongtang wanted to break through this heavily guarded Russian fortress, he could only exert his strength in just over four months, from mid-to-late May to September! If he failed to take it down, the British and French would not know how powerful the Taiping Army was.

Therefore, Luo Yaoguo had issued a strict order in his letter to Zuo Zongtang, asking him to capture the Petropavlovsk Fortress before the arrival of autumn – this was a very big bargaining chip!

The better the Taiping Army performed in the battle against the Russians, the more bargaining chips Luo Yaoguo had in his hands when dealing with the great powers, and the stronger his position became.

After all, military strength is the foundation of today’s world!

What was the benefit of industrialization in the 19th century? Wasn’t it still possible to fight?
Under Zuo Zongtang’s urging, the Taiping Army was indeed in high spirits and worked like crazy. No one rested all night on land and sea. Two regiments of infantry had already landed, and supplies were also being transported. Zuo Zongtang and Yu Wanqing were also at the landing site all night, personally directing the landing of the army.

Large groups of Taiping troops have begun to gather, and everyone is carrying an engineer shovel, ready to drive out the harassing Russian troops and dig trenches to establish a solid position. Although the Russian army did not deploy troops to defend here, they still placed a small number of Cossack sentries. They harassed and fired all night, trying to contain the Taiping troops’ landing. There is no doubt that the Russian troops here have long been prepared to fight against the British and French coalition forces.

After a night of staying up all night, Zuo Zongtang and Yu Wanqing’s eyes were red. They both sat on a pile of wooden boxes, listening to the staff report on the landing situation.

“My Lord, in five days, our two brigades, four regiments, artillery and engineers will be able to land and attack the Petropavlovsk Fortress!”

Yu Wanqing nodded with satisfaction. Transporting a landing force of more than 10,000 people in four days was already a miraculous speed. Apart from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Expeditionary Force, there was probably no other army in the whole of China that could do it.

With such elite troops, wouldn’t it be easy to capture the Petropavlovsk Fortress?

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but smile smugly.

Zuo Zongtang frowned and said, “It’s still a little uncertain.”

Yu Wanqing looked at him in surprise, and Zuo Zongtang calmly told him: “Today is the 15th, and in five days it will be the 20th. It took six days to transport more than 10,000 people ashore, and there are still a lot of baggage to go ashore! It will probably take ten days to get everyone ashore. It’s still too slow! If we want to prepare for a protracted war of several months or even more than a year, relying on beach flooding for supplies will definitely not work.”

“What? A year or more?” Yu Wanqing was shocked by Zuo Zongtang’s words, “Doesn’t that mean we have to spend the winter in this damn place?”

Zuo Zongtang smiled and nodded: “Old Yu, you are right. We must be prepared to survive the winter! Because only by preparing for a long time can we hope for a quick victory!”

(End of this chapter)