Volume 1: The Battleship Yitian Changes into the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 Chapter 33: The First Submarine Fleet of the Qing Dynasty
Wen Junfeng didn't understand why he was so excited. He smiled and said, "Madam has also told me about this. I am just a mediocre doctor. I failed in the imperial examinations in my early years and have no intention of fame. I just hate the Japanese pirates invading our territory. I want to meet you and do my part for the country. I am ashamed to receive such praise from you."
"Brother Wen, please don't talk like that. We will still need to rely on you to contribute to the country in the future. Let me say this first today. In the future, our Qing Dynasty will be able to sail overseas and annihilate the enemy on the waves thousands of miles away. This will all start with our navy having such underwater motorboats!" Sun Gang said loudly.
Thanks to his efforts, Wen Junfeng's underwater motorboat officially joined the Beiyang Fleet. Sun Gang named the submarine "Changjing" (because it really looks like a whale). He learned from Wen Junfeng that this submarine had a close relationship with the olive-shaped underwater motorboat that sank before, and that they were designed by the same group of people (one of whom was Xiao Yuer's grandfather).
Although the development of underwater motor vehicles came to a halt after the last shipwreck , these pioneers of modern Chinese science did not give up. Instead, they continued to explore with their own strength.
After several twists and turns, the design drawings and test data finally fell into the hands of Wen Junfeng, the eldest son of the deputy envoy of Tianjin Sea Road. This guy had no interest in imperial examinations, but was addicted to Western medicine and shipbuilding. As a doting father, he finally funded him to complete the design and manufacture of the submarine, allowing him to lead a group of friends to linger in the sea.
This submarine was built for actual combat purposes from the beginning. Not only are there two torpedo tubes installed at the bow, but there is also one at the stern!
However, Wen Junfeng and his friends used them as underwater entrances and exits, which made Sun Gang speechless. What surprised Sun Gang was that in order not to affect the underwater speed, the designer of this submarine did not install deck guns on the submarine, and adopted a boat-shaped design similar to the elongated teardrop shape of later generations!
Looking at such an advanced submarine, Sun Gang's heart was trembling. The Chinese nation has never lacked outstanding talents with imagination and creativity. It is only because of backward ideology that the country has declined! If China can always maintain this vigorous and enterprising spirit, without the interruption of a major war, there is no need to wait until the 21st century. China may rise with a brand new look!
History, now that I have already changed it to this extent, I might as well just change it to the end!
Under the coordination of Ding Ruchang, Wen Junfeng took the rank of captain of the submarine "Changjing". Most of the officers and soldiers on the submarine were his friends. Only the torpedo launchers were specially selected from the students of the mine camp. Su Xin also joined in as the captain and deputy captain of the submarine's frogman underwater special attack team. There were a total of 18 standing crew members. From then on, the Qing Dynasty not only had the first submarine dedicated to underwater combat, but also had the first batch of underwater combat personnel on the submarine, which was also unexpected by Sun Gang. Ding Ruchang let the submarine be directly under Sun Gang's personal control. On the day of the announcement of the appointment, all the captains of the ships came to visit and congratulated him for finally having a boat, which really made Sun Gang very happy. The title of commander of the first submarine force of the Qing Dynasty (Ma Yue jokingly called him "Dönitz of the Qing Dynasty") has now been given to him.
At his request, the "Changjing" was equipped with a "black-head torpedo". In order to test the submarine's actual combat effectiveness, Ding Ruchang specially arranged for two small steamships that were scrapped by the Guangdong Navy to be tested by the submarine.
Sun Gang commanded the submarine to fire torpedoes at close range, and the first shot smashed the target ship to pieces. However, it also caused a joke because the distance was too close and the shock wave generated by the explosion almost overturned the submarine out of the water. Fortunately, there was no danger.
After repeated research, he, Wen Junfeng and the torpedo soldiers determined that about 300 yards should be the best launching distance. They organized the naval officers and soldiers to conduct several trial voyages and test firings, summarizing a lot of valuable experience and data. The outstanding performance of the "Changjing" made all the fleet officers and soldiers look at it with admiration, but they were also afraid of this new weapon. Liu Buchan once joked to Sun Gang privately that if Wen Junfeng commanded the "Changjing" to attack the "Dingyuan" ship, he would have nightmares.
Since the ships of the Beiyang Fleet were seriously damaged in the Battle of the Yellow Sea, it would take some time to repair them. The Japanese fleet suffered heavy losses and was probably temporarily unable to go to sea to fight. During this period, basically nothing happened at sea, and the war was mainly concentrated on land. Sun Gang asked Ding Ruchang to take a submarine to the Korean waters to scout the enemy. Seeing that the burns on his hands had not healed, Ding Ruchang firmly disagreed, which made him depressed for many days. He had to concentrate on taking a submarine with Ma Yue in the waters around Lushun in the name of practicing long-distance sailing, but actually doing sightseeing, and by the way popularizing national defense knowledge to his beloved wife. Ma Yue listened very attentively for the first time, and even took notes, which made him very curious. He didn't know what kind of ideas she was thinking in her beautiful little head.
As this naval battle achieved a decisive victory, the whole country was jubilant, and all the officers and soldiers at all levels of the Beiyang Fleet received corresponding rewards. Sun Gang was also awarded the rank of deputy general of the central army with a flower feather because of the recommendation of Li Hongzhang and Ding Ruchang. This made the old man of the Ma family happy for a long time, but Ma Yue did not seem so happy. What made Sun Gang feel strange was the court's reward to Ding Ruchang.
Apart from rewarding him with some gold and an imperial decree as compensation, there was nothing else. Instead, on the grounds of serious injuries, Liu Buchan was made to temporarily serve as the admiral of the Beiyang Fleet. He really didn't understand why this happened, but he had no way to ask.
When he talked about this with Ma Yue on the submarine, Ma Yue rolled her eyes at him and said, "You can't even figure this out. No wonder you've gotten so far in the bank." She said, "General Ding is Li Zhongtang's fellow villager. Beiyang is guarding the imperial court's doorstep. The imperial court is afraid that Beiyang will become the second Huai Army. They have wanted to replace General Ding for a long time. How could they let go of such a good opportunity?"
Sun Gang was stunned when he heard this, and couldn't help but feel that he should look at her with new eyes after three days of absence.
"Madam is right." Wen Junfeng also said, "But the court is afraid that Li Zhongtang will be unhappy. The current situation depends on Li Zhongtang, so they played this trick." He sighed, "The court always thinks that the Han people cannot be given great military power. Those yellow belts and red belts are not competitive. They rely on the Han people to protect the world but do not trust the Han people. In fact, my Qing Dynasty is a multi-ethnic entity. If the court always thinks about the division between Manchus and Han people and ethnic views, the country will not be united and will be destroyed one day because of this."
Sun Gang nodded repeatedly after hearing this. Ma Yue looked at him and snorted, "Don't think that the peacock feather on your head is so easy to wear. You probably don't know what the deputy general of the central army is for? In wartime, it is the responsibility of protecting the commander-in-chief . Lord Deng originally held this position. You are all stubborn. Don't wait until the time comes..." She remembered that they were on a submarine and she shouldn't say these things in front of the submarine officers and soldiers. She blushed and turned away, not looking at him anymore.
Sun Gang suddenly realized why Deng Shichang did that. It turned out that he was protecting the flagship! It was the sacrifice of "Zhiyuan" that helped "Dingyuan", "Zhenyuan" and other warships to wake up from the initial panic, and finally won the final victory of this naval battle. Thinking of the moment when Deng Shichang was with him for the last time, his heart ached.
Every word Liu Buchan added to his naval battle report was filled with blood and tears!
If it weren't for that damn imperial court which always considered the Han people to be slaves and was unwilling to put real effort into the navy which was mainly composed of Han people, would Deng Shichang have died so unjustly?
"Don't worry, I promise that a scene like that will never happen again!" He said loudly like he was swearing an oath, not only to Ma Yue, but also to himself and his comrades around him.
"Silly boy." Ma Yue was startled, turned around and looked at him gently, giving him a bright smile to comfort him.
