Chapter 81: The Sweet Harbor Tempest - The Battle of Juhua Islet (Part 1)

Why the starboard side and not the port side was a question of little consequence. After several months in the navy, Le Lin understood the basic principle of being a soldier: obey orders and follow commands.

“Aim directly for the hull,” Xi Yazhou said with some regret. “It’s a pity we don’t have high-explosive shells, otherwise one shot would be enough to sink a ship.”

“We can use incendiary rounds,” Le Lin suggested.

The so-called incendiary rounds were not, of course, napalm, white phosphorus, or thermite, but a solid iron ball heated red-hot. This weapon was quite effective, but the gunners had to be extremely careful and prioritize safety, which was why neither the army nor the navy’s artillerymen were fond of this type of ammunition.

“Alright, we’ll use incendiary rounds.”

The 12-pounder cannons on board were one of the four standard artillery pieces recently manufactured by the industrial department for the army, based on Lin Shenhe’s proposal and under his direct supervision. The prototype was the American M1857 12-pounder cannon, also known as the Napoleon gun. Although it was a smoothbore cannon, with a standard 1.13 kg propellant charge, it could accurately fire a standard 12-pound shell up to 1480m at a 5-degree elevation, and an astonishing 1911m at a 10-degree elevation. Despite being a smoothbore, its accuracy was quite high for its time, capable of engaging the enemy at 1000 meters and neutralizing an entire company with just a few shots. It was a widely used artillery piece by both sides during the American Civil War.

The only drawback of this cannon was its weight, nearly half a ton. But it was perfectly suitable for mounting on a ship’s deck to bombard sea targets.

To facilitate firing at sea, the four cannons and their carriages were fixed to a simple turntable, which used a recoil-based system for repositioning the gun.

The nearest enemy ship on the starboard side was now less than a nautical mile away. With the power of the M1857, the enemy was already within range, but Xi Yazhou still didn’t give the order to fire.

Xi Yazhou’s plan was to make the first shot count. The Great Whale had to hold out for at least 20 minutes to wait for reinforcements from Detachment A, ten nautical miles away. Therefore, the first volley had to be a direct hit, inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. Otherwise, a fierce battle would ensue.

The accuracy of the M1857 was good on land, but hitting a target 1000 meters away on a rocking sea was a matter of chance. Although Xi Yazhou was not a naval enthusiast, he knew that in the age of sail, naval gunnery was only effective at ranges within 100 meters. The British even emphasized holding fire until within 50 meters.

Even if the M1857 was more powerful and accurate than those old smoothbore cannons, to ensure accuracy, it was necessary to close the distance to within 400 meters.

Ten minutes passed. Everyone was waiting. The gun captains watched the iron balls in the furnace. For safety, the furnace was surrounded by a thick layer of sand, and if necessary, it could be immediately smothered with sandbags. Behind the sandbag parapet, the naval soldiers stared out through the firing ports. The pirate ships were getting closer.

Xi Yazhou put on the Type 80 steel helmet his orderly had brought him but refused the anti-stab vest. Wearing it on deck would be like being cooked alive. He remained silent, carefully observing the enemy’s movements with his binoculars. As he had estimated, the three ships on the starboard side were advancing faster, while the four on the port side were slower.

Finally, the nearest ship closed to within 400 meters.

“Deck and gun stations, attention!” he called out.

A slight rustle on the ship, then silence again.

“Commence firing!” Xi Yazhou ordered. “Target, three o’clock.”

The order was immediately relayed to the deck. The straw mats covering the gun positions were quickly thrown off, and the straw bags obstructing the line of fire were tossed into the sea. In an instant, the black cast-iron barrels of the four cannons were exposed on the deck.

“Distance, two cables!” the rangefinder quickly reported the target’s direct distance.

The gunners, however, didn’t move. They were army artillerymen, accustomed to using meters as a unit of length. Le Lin quickly corrected, “Target, three o’clock! Distance, 360 meters!”

“Target 360 meters, load one incendiary round!”

The gunners quickly placed a damp clay disc on top of the gunpowder charge in the cannon’s bore. This was made from a mixture of straw and clay. Then, a gunner carefully used tongs to lift a red-hot iron ball from the furnace. Two gunners, using an iron cradle, worked together to load the scorching ball into the muzzle.

This demonstrated the considerable danger of the weapon. If the clay disc separating the gunpowder failed to do its job, the cannon would fire prematurely, and the gunners busy at the muzzle would surely not survive.

“Fire!” Le Lin shouted.

The four cannons fired in a well-coordinated sequence from one to four. The deck was instantly shrouded in a light smoke.

“Damn it!” Xi Yazhou cursed. The smoke from the cannon fire was extremely annoying. When would they get smokeless powder?

After the light smoke from the volley had blown past the ship, Xi Yazhou saw the effect of the attack on the enemy ship. The lead single-masted ship had been hit above the waterline and was now emitting black smoke. The men on deck were desperately bailing water, trying to extinguish the flames.

Although the effect was good, it wasn’t an instant kill. Xi Yazhou was a little disappointed.

At this moment, white smoke also rose from the three ships approaching from the front, followed by the roar of cannons. But these hastily fired shots fell into the sea far from the Great Whale. Xi Yazhou knew the enemy’s cannons were not very powerful and would be ineffective beyond 50 meters. He could safely focus on dealing with the ships on the starboard side.

In the next volley, an incendiary round pierced the sail and flew into the sea. The enemy’s sail caught fire and quickly became a torch. Another shot flew across the rear deck, and the entire aft sail collapsed in a tangled mess. The dozen or so men gathered there were all hit, their bodies torn to pieces, their flesh scorched.

“Good! A good shot!” Xi Yazhou was extremely excited by the sight. “Continue firing incendiary rounds!”

But they were out of incendiary rounds. It took a long time to heat a cold, large iron ball in the furnace. Le Lin had already ordered a switch to solid shot.

The distance between the two sides had closed to nearly 200 meters. At this range, the 12-pounder cannons were almost always on target. The lead single-masted ship on the starboard side was almost completely disabled, with a raging fire at the stern and its deck littered with mangled bodies.

The deck of the Great Whale was shrouded in smoke from the cannon fire. When a gust of wind blew the smoke away, Le Lin nearly cried out in alarm. One of the four ships on the port side, a single-masted vessel, had closed to within fifty meters. On its deck, bare-chested pirates, brandishing double-headed spears, sabers, and bamboo pikes, glared with bloodshot eyes, waiting for the moment the ships touched to jump over and fight.

Following the command of the naval infantry platoon leader, the soldiers behind the sandbags opened fire. With a neat volley, a row of pirates on the deck fell as if mown down by a scythe, tumbling into the water.

At that moment, the four cannons aimed at the starboard enemy ships also fired a beautiful salvo. Four shots, four hits. The 12-pound iron balls tore a large hole in the waterline of a two-masted ship. It began to sink, and the pirates on board jumped into the sea, clambering onto another two-masted ship behind it.

A cheer went up from the naval soldiers on deck. “One sunk, one on fire,” Le Lin reported.

“Good,” Xi Yazhou replied. “Continue firing, switch to grapeshot!”

The recent volley from the naval infantry had given him an idea. Since the distance was now less than 200 meters, using grapeshot against these unprotected ships, with their decks crowded with men, would surely be very effective. Although it wouldn’t sink the enemy, it would at least inflict heavy casualties and weaken their melee combat capability.

The 12-pounder grapeshot began to sweep the decks of the pirate ships. Each cannon shot sprayed 68 iron balls, “washing” the deck of the pirate ship like a torrential rain. Almost no one could survive such a bombardment. The last ship on the starboard side, crowded with pirates preparing to board, was hit by a single volley. After that, there were no moving figures left on its deck.

The threat from the starboard side was basically eliminated, but the three ships of Gu’s family, approaching from the front, had also reached the Great Whale. They charged at the ship, their twelve cannons, mounted at the bow, firing simultaneously, making it impossible to evade.

The Great Whale was unfortunately hit. Stones and iron shot struck the sandbags with a dull thud, and the damp straw bags began to smolder. Then another shot hit the foremast, and the sail collapsed in a tangled mess. A chorus of howls erupted from the enemy ship.

The cannon duel continued for ten minutes. Both the enemy ships and the Great Whale were obscured by the white smoke of burning gunpowder. Only when the smoke cleared could they assess the damage they had inflicted on each other. The Great Whale had suffered its first casualties: an iron ball had pierced a sandbag parapet, killing three naval soldiers and a gunner behind it instantly.

“Take cover!” Xi Yazhou shouted. Suddenly, his head was jolted, and he felt a little dizzy. A stone bounced off his steel helmet.

The pirate ships began to attack the Great Whale with all sorts of weapons. Muskets fired with a crackling sound, and the air was filled with gunfire. Stone balls, iron shot, lead pellets, feathered arrows, javelins, and torches were all thrown at the Great Whale. The deck was showered with projectiles. Despite the cover of the high sandbag parapets, more casualties occurred. Xi Yazhou was nearly hit several times. For a moment, his legs trembled, and he had an extreme urge to hide behind the parapet. But, convinced of his protagonist’s halo and an aura of invincibility, Xi Yazhou remained steadfast on the sterncastle, calmly giving orders as if he were conducting a ceremonial salute.

“Where is Detachment A?” Xi Yazhou appeared calm, but he was inwardly panicking. If Detachment A didn’t arrive soon, they would likely have to engage in close-quarters combat.

More casualties began to appear on the ship. The dead and wounded were immediately taken to the lower deck, where the injured received emergency treatment. Sailors poured sand on the blood-stained deck to prevent people from slipping as they ran back and forth.

“Fire!”

“Double grapeshot!”

“Aft mast is on fire, damage control team!”

“Medic, someone’s injured!”

…

The shouts of the sailors on deck, mixed with the sound of guns and the howls of the enemy, made Le Lin feel both endangered and thrilled. He was drenched in a cold sweat, but his whole body was immersed in an indescribable, immense pleasure. He felt so light he could almost fly. With a pistol in one hand and a naval officer’s saber in the other, he danced and shouted in Cantonese. No one understood what he was saying, but it was no longer necessary. Their training had paid off; everyone knew what to do.

The Great Whale, guns blazing and shrouded in smoke, moved slowly across the sea like a fire-breathing dragon.

Suddenly, Xi Yazhou noticed the enemy ships beginning to turn. Detachment A must have arrived! He quickly raised his binoculars. Sure enough, in a gap in the smoke, two fishing trawlers were approaching at full speed, their wakes churning white, the naval flag flying.

“Finally!” he muttered.

The arrival of the two fishing trawlers immediately ended the battle. Gu Dachun, though initially surprised by the firepower of the Great Whale, had been confident that with his superior numbers, he could still capture the ship by boarding and fighting hand-to-hand, especially since his own three ships had not suffered much damage. But the arrival of these two fast ships, with no sails or oars, made him realize immediately who his opponent was.

It was the Australians, the ones who had defeated Liu Xiang and Zhu Cai’s forces! No wonder their firepower was so strong! At this thought, Gu Dachun’s courage nearly failed him. Compared to Third Master Zhu in Leizhou, Gu Dachun, who had operated in this area for years, knew many rumors about the Australians. He had heard about their strange contraptions, especially their large iron ships and fast iron boats.

“Quick, raise the signal flag, let’s go!” Gu Dachun’s face was pale as he gave the order.

There was no need to specify the direction of escape. For years, whenever a raid went wrong, or they were surrounded by government forces or pursued by rivals, they would flee to Juhua Islet. Once they passed Maotiao Kou, they were safe. This time, with the much faster iron boats, a straight escape was certain death. Only by fleeing into the labyrinth of Juhua Islet did they have a chance of survival.

Gu’s three ships were the first to turn. Propelled by sail and oar, they fled towards Juhua Islet. The remaining ships followed suit.

On the sea, they left behind two crippled, drifting ships and one engulfed in flames. The crews of these ships had been mostly wiped out, their sails, masts, and rudders destroyed. Even if there were survivors, they couldn’t move them. The wails and curses of the abandoned pirates drifted on the sea breeze.