Reincarnated as Napoleon II-Chapter 165: Trying out the Guns

The line of Chinese junks continued to spread across the channel.

From the bridge of the Napoleon I, Admiral Maisonneuve watched them through his telescope without speaking. The vessels were small compared to the French warships, but they were numerous enough to crowd the passage. Some were armed river craft with light cannon mounted at the bow. Others were little more than hastily gathered local patrol ships, their sails half-raised and their oars pulling hard to close the gaps between them.

They were trying to form a wall.

Behind Maisonneuve, the great battleship had finished weighing anchor. The heavy chain had disappeared into the hawsepipe, and the ship now lay under engine power alone, a low mechanical vibration running through her armored hull.

His first officer stepped beside him.

"They are holding position, Admiral."

"I can see that."

The officer glanced toward the line of junks again.

"Do you still want a warning first?"

Maisonneuve lowered the telescope.

"Yes."

He turned his head slightly.

"Have Monsieur Beauvilliers brought up."

A marine saluted at once and hurried off.

Below and behind the flagship, the rest of the French squadron continued its own preparations. The battlecruisers Austerlitz and Trafalgar were already aligned behind the Napoleon I. Farther back, the cruisers, destroyers, and merchant ships waited in formation, their funnels venting smoke into the humid southern air.

The river around them had changed.

Chinese fishing boats were fleeing toward the banks. Merchant traffic was scattering out of the main channel. Along the shoreline, crowds had gathered on docks, rooftops, and embankments to watch what would happen next.

Remy arrived a minute later, escorted by a marine.

"You wished to see me, Admiral?"

Maisonneuve pointed toward the line of junks ahead.

"Yes. We are going to give them one final warning."

Remy followed his gaze and frowned.

"They are still there."

"Yes."

The admiral turned to one of the signal officers.

"Bring the speaking horn apparatus forward."

The officer nodded and barked the order.

A crewman quickly brought up a large amplified speaking horn connected to the ship’s deck communication system. It had been one of the many pieces of modern equipment that no Chinese official or riverman had ever seen before.

Remy looked at it briefly, then back at the admiral.

"What do you want me to say?"

Maisonneuve answered without hesitation.

"Tell them this is the final warning. They are to clear the channel immediately. If they remain in place, we will open fire."

Remy nodded once.

He stepped toward the apparatus, took a breath, and waited while the officer adjusted the mechanism.

"All set, monsieur."

Remy leaned in and spoke in Chinese, his voice carrying outward across the water through the amplified horn.

"This is the final warning from the French fleet. Clear the channel at once. Move your vessels aside immediately. If you do not comply, we will fire." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

The sound carried farther than a normal human voice had any right to carry.

Across the river, the men aboard the junks visibly reacted. Several turned in confusion, looking around for the source. Others pointed toward the iron giant looming over the water.

On the shoreline, a ripple of alarm moved through the watching crowd.

Maisonneuve raised his telescope again.

The line of junks wavered slightly.

One or two vessels at the edges shifted uncertainly.

But the main line remained.

His first officer gave him a look.

"They do not believe us."

Maisonneuve did not answer.

He kept watching.

Several moments passed.

Then one of the Chinese river craft pushed slightly forward instead of back. Another raised a signal flag. A third adjusted its position to tighten the line.

Remy stepped back from the speaking horn.

"They heard me."

"Yes," Maisonneuve said calmly. "And they have chosen."

He turned toward the gunnery officer who was already waiting nearby.

"Main battery."

The man straightened immediately.

"Admiral?"

"Blank charges first. Full report."

The gunnery officer did not even blink.

"Yes, Admiral."

He turned and shouted toward the voice tube and signal line running below.

"Main battery! Blank charges! Prepare to fire!"

The order passed down through the armored barbettes into the great gun turrets mounted forward on the deck.

Inside those turrets, crews were already at readiness. Massive breech mechanisms were checked. Blank charges were loaded. Mechanical systems hummed.

From the deck, Remy watched the forward quadruple turrets begin to shift.

Heavy steel structures turning to face the line of Chinese ships ahead.

The men on the junks could see it too now.

Even at a distance, it was obvious that the cannons were aligning toward them.

One of the French officers glanced toward Remy.

"Do you think they understand?"

Remy did not answer at once.

Then he said quietly, "They are about to."

On the bridge, Maisonneuve lowered his telescope and spoke in a voice that remained almost disturbingly calm.

"Fire."

A fraction of a second later, the Napoleon I erupted.

The two forward quadruple turrets discharged in a single crashing sequence that shattered the air over the Pearl River.

The sound was beyond thunder.

It was a physical hit against the chest, a violent wall of noise that slammed across the water and rolled over the shoreline.

The very river seemed to jump.

A heavy ripple burst outward from the hull of the battleship, slapping against nearby waters and rocking every smaller vessel within sight. Windows along the waterfront shuddered. Men on the docks flinched and covered their ears. Several Chinese boatmen fell to their knees inside their own craft from pure shock.

Even aboard the French ships, sailors who had not yet grown used to the main guns stiffened at the concussion.

Smoke exploded from the muzzles in dense white clouds, briefly obscuring the entire bow of the flagship.

On the line of Chinese junks, panic spread instantly.

Men shouted.

Several sailors threw themselves flat to the deck. One junk swung sideways in the water as its helmsman lost control. Another began backing oars frantically.

"They heard that," Remy said.

Maisonneuve looked through the smoke as it drifted away.

"Yes."

But the line still held.

His first officer swore under his breath.

"They still won’t move."

Remy looked again toward the horn.

"Do you want me to repeat it?"

Maisonneuve nodded once.

"Tell them the next salvo will be live."

Remy stepped back to the speaking apparatus and raised his voice again in Chinese.

"You have been warned. The next shots will be real. Clear the channel now or you will be destroyed."

This time the response on the junks was even more chaotic.

Several vessels at the far edges of the line began to pull back.

But the center remained.

A few armed junks even seemed to steady themselves, as if their officers had decided that retreat was more dangerous than standing.

Remy stepped away from the horn slowly.

"They are not yielding."

Maisonneuve’s expression did not change.

"Then we proceed."

He turned to the gunnery officer.

"Live shells."

"Yes, Admiral."

"Target the center of the line."

The order went below.

Inside the turrets, the crews worked with machine-like precision. Massive armor-piercing shells were guided into position. Breeches locked shut. Elevation adjusted.

On the bridge, even the air felt tighter.

Maisonneuve looked ahead once more.

He had given them the warning.

He had fired the blanks.

There would be no third warning.

"Fire."

This time the thunder was followed by destruction.

The live salvo slammed into the center of the junk line with such overwhelming force that for a moment the Chinese vessels seemed to vanish inside the impacts. Great columns of water and shattered timber leapt into the air. One junk simply disappeared beneath the strike, broken apart so completely that only fragments remained. Another was split nearly in half, its stern rising before collapsing into the river.

Flaming debris rained across the water.

Men were thrown from decks.

Sails caught fire.

A third junk, struck by the edge of the blast and splinter spray, rolled sharply and capsized under the weight of panic and damage.

Onshore, the watching crowds broke into chaos.

Some ran.

Some stood frozen.

Others simply stared at the destruction with the stunned stillness of people seeing something their minds could not immediately accept.

The French officers on the bridge watched the broken line ahead.

The main battery smoke drifted back over the deck.

The center of the obstruction had ceased to exist.

Remy swallowed.

"Dear God."

Maisonneuve’s face remained unreadable.

"Status?"

The first officer raised his glass.

"Center destroyed. Several additional targets burning. Others attempting to flee."

The admiral nodded once.

"Very well."

Then he looked toward another officer.

"Torpedo section."

The man blinked.

"Admiral? Against the remaining junks?"

"Yes."

He gestured toward the wrecked and fleeing Chinese craft.

"Let the crew test them."

The torpedo officer straightened instantly.

"Yes, Admiral."

The order ran through the ship.

Farther down the hull, the launch crews and firing team prepared one of the battleship’s torpedo systems. The weapon had not yet been used in combat by most of the men aboard. Several watched with open concentration as the mechanism was readied.

Remy turned toward Maisonneuve.

"You are using torpedoes on wooden river craft?"

"I am using them," the admiral said, "because the opportunity presents itself."

Moments later, the torpedo was launched.

It cut through the river with a violent wake, fast and unnatural compared to anything the Chinese sailors had ever seen. One of the fleeing junks tried to turn away too late.

The impact hit beneath its side.

The explosion lifted the vessel half out of the water before it came apart in a shower of broken planks, sailcloth, and black smoke.

The officers on the bridge saw the result clearly.

The first officer let out a slow breath.

"Effective."

Maisonneuve nodded.

"Again."

A second torpedo went out.

Then another.

Each one ran across the river like a mechanical predator, and each one ended the same way—with another junk split, blown open, or thrown into the water in pieces.

What remained of the Chinese blocking force dissolved completely.