Volume 1: The Battleship Yitian Changes into the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 Chapter 36: Cheng Yaojin in Nagasaki
What do the Japanese want to do?
Although the "Sankei" and "Yoshino" were gone, the Japanese fleet still had many combat ships and was fully capable of fighting another battle and providing some support to the army in Korea, right? Would they disappear just like that?
Only now did he realize that his naval business was still far from perfect.
No matter what, the first submarine underwater offensive operation since the founding of the Qing Dynasty must be carried out to the end!
"Send a signal to the Jiyuan and Guangjia to start the operation." Sun Gang ordered: "Everyone, take your positions and prepare to dive, the water mark is 3 meters."
The crew members began to operate nervously and the submarine began to dive slowly .
Wen Junfeng raised the periscope and carefully observed the sea surface.
"I say, the Japanese have laid a lot of mines." Su Xin looked at the porthole and said with a pale face, "It's so dense that we will be in trouble if we encounter one."
Sun Gang looked back and said, "It doesn't matter. These are mines controlled from the shore, not triggered." He said, "The Japanese value their ships very much, so they won't use our blind mines."
"You actually let the two of them lay mines in Haikou. Aren't you afraid that they might accidentally bomb a neutral country's ship and cause trouble?" Wen Junfeng asked with a smile, but his eyes never left the periscope. Under his command, the small submarine moved lightly through the minefield.
"Why do you say I laid the mines? Who is closer to us, the Qing or Japan? Really." Sun Gang blinked innocently and said, "We didn't bring any minelayers."
"We're in." Wen Junfeng said strangely, "They're all small boats, and few of them have guns. We're not so unlucky today, are we?"
"Who knows? You might fall off your butt as soon as you burn incense." Su Xin laughed. They were very familiar with each other now.
“You’re lucky you came to find it.” Wen Junfeng snorted, without taking his eyes off the periscope.
"This submarine has neither radar, satellite navigation, nor sonar system, not even a GPS. Just pointing and looking at it will really make your eyes go blind." Sun Gang said thoughtfully (his thoughts were dislocated in time and space again).
"What, what, what? What did you say?" Sun Gang's previous remarks on the bird-catching in Hanzhong completely confused Wen Junfeng, the captain of the Qing Dynasty's number one submarine. He looked at him in surprise and asked.
Sun Gang knew he had said something wrong and quickly covered his mouth. Su Xin looked at him strangely. Sun Gang pretended nothing had happened and quickly took the periscope. "Maintain a speed of 3 knots," he ordered, and began to observe the sea carefully.
Wen Junfeng was right. He had looked for a long time but couldn't find a "delicious" target. He couldn't waste precious torpedoes on these small boats, could he? "Left rudder 15 degrees, maintain course." He ordered again. The submarine obeyed his order and began to turn in another direction.
When the target that satisfied him finally appeared, his body couldn't help but tremble slightly, his mouth opened in surprise, and his hands began to tremble.
"What did you see?" Wen Junfeng took the periscope curiously and was slightly stunned after seeing it. "No way?"
"Let me take a look." Su Xin squeezed over to join in the fun. He didn't think anything was strange after seeing it. "What a big warship. Isn't this a big win?" He looked at Sun Gang strangely, not understanding why he was stunned. "Do you want to fight or not? Give me an answer."
Sun Gang took the periscope again and observed carefully. Yes, what came into view was a typical British armored cruiser. Its displacement should be larger than that of "Yoshino" and "Takasago", and it seemed to have stronger firepower and thicker armor! The strange thing was that this warship did not fly the flag of any country! The paint was also different from the wartime paint of Japanese warships!
What the hell is this Cheng Yaojin who showed up out of nowhere? Where did the Japanese get him from?
If it were to sail out, the "Jiyuan" and "Guangjia" that were preparing to provoke the Japanese coastal artillery outside would be in trouble!
Could they be mercenaries? No! Sun Gang quickly suppressed this absurd idea in his mind. The most likely possibility was that the British secretly supported the Japanese! Yes! Britain had long planned to use Japan to contain Russia, so when the Qing Dynasty and Japan went to war, it intentionally or unintentionally sided with Japan! Thinking of "Takasago"'s unexpected early return to China to participate in the war, he was more certain of his thoughts.
The submarine was still getting closer and closer to the enemy, and he seemed to be able to see the figures of Japanese and British sailors above through the periscope.
The anger in my heart suddenly rushed up.
"That's it." He handed the periscope to Wen Junfeng, "Kill it, and be quick."
"Just watch." He took the periscope and began to give orders to adjust the course and direction. "Torpedoes ready." He ordered: "Prepare to fire two torpedoes at once."
The crew began to operate nervously and the submarine began to turn slowly.
"You'd better hit the target accurately, or I'll have to dive over and do your work again." Su Xin said.
"I have brought three torpedoes in total. If I can't sink it today, I won't be able to stay in the Beiyang Fleet anymore." Wen Junfeng snorted and ignored him. He began to observe the target carefully and measure the distance. This thing that can be used for aiming and ranging was "temporarily borrowed" from the "Dingyuan Affiliated No. 1" torpedo boat and installed on the submarine. At that time, the garrison commander grinned for a long time.
"Distance 370 yards, No. 1 tube, No. 2 tube, get ready, fire!" Wen Junfeng stared at the periscope and ordered.
Sun Gang looked at him nervously, listening to the torpedo soldier in the front cabin shouting, "Number one, number two, torpedoes launched!" He seemed to know what was going to happen and involuntarily grabbed a handle on the bulkhead with his hand.
Not long after, two loud bangs were heard, and the entire submarine was shaken violently. Sun Gang grabbed the handle tightly to prevent himself from falling out, but Su Xin was not so lucky. He couldn't control himself and rushed to Wen Junfeng and pulled him away from the periscope. The two of them hugged each other and rolled on the ground face to face. Then they immediately jumped up as if they were stung by a scorpion, turned around and began to perform the same action "Pooh, pooh, pooh!"
The crew members finally stood up straight and began to cheer loudly.
Sun Gang rushed to the periscope in one step. The bow of the armored cruiser that came into view had sunk into the water and could no longer be seen. There were flames and billowing smoke everywhere. The stern was raised high, and the huge propeller was still turning. From time to time, sailors jumped into the water from the stern, risking falling on the propeller.
Sun Gang managed to calm himself down and said to Wen Junfeng, "Quick, let's get out of here and throw those small mines down."
