Volume 1: The Battleship Yitian Changes into the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 Chapter 39: Going to Tianjin on a Warship
A few days later, the court formally appointed Ding Ruchang as the president of the Beiyang Army, unified the control of the Beiyang Navy and Army, and ordered him to rush to the Liaodong front to command all troops. Ding Ruchang also served as the admiral of the Beiyang Navy. The foreign aid fleet from Chile was incorporated into the Beiyang Navy to form the "Beiyang Foreign Navy". Chilean Rear Admiral Juan Ediaco was named the Beiyang Navy's Flower Feather General, awarded the title of admiral, and commanded this Beiyang squadron. Liu Buchan commanded the original Beiyang main fleet, called the "Beiyang Main Fleet". The two fleets were unified under the control of Beiyang Navy Admiral Ding Ruchang.
Originally, he was a little worried that Ding Ruchang would be punished for the attack on Lushun Port, but he didn't expect such a result. He now became more and more suspicious of the court's "clear rewards and punishments". Later, he learned that the admiral had done some tricks in the time when reporting to the higher-ups, saying that "the Japanese attacked our seaport with torpedo boats and wanted to sink our Ding and Zhen ships. It was really a desperate move. They resorted to this cunning scheme out of desperation. They only sank four of our training and transport boats. Our naval officers and soldiers were angry at their roguery. It happened that the Chilean navy After sending the ships here, our navy joined forces to attack Nagasaki, sinking many of their ships and destroying countless of their artillery and buildings. The Japanese ships retreated into the harbor and no one dared to leave. In addition, our naval officers Sun Gang and Wen Junfeng drove underwater motorboats into the harbor and sank one of their large ships with torpedoes. The Chilean naval officers saw this and all praised their tactics. This was the first time that our Celestial Empire had attacked the Japanese mainland in hundreds of years since the Yuan Dynasty's cross-sea expedition to the east. After this battle, the Japanese were so frightened that no one dared to attack our ports again. Our navy's military power was able to be greatly expanded overseas. If we can win a little by land, the overall situation will be settled. "
The Chinese are the best at word games in the world. Once this report is submitted, it would be unreasonable for the court not to commend them.
So Sun Gang also got 5,000 taels of silver, Wen Junfeng got 3,000 taels, and even the submarine soldiers got a share.
This money comes really fast!
But Ma Yue disagreed. In her words, it was paid with one's life. If he couldn't come back, what would be the use of the reward? "The court rewarded Mr. Deng's mother with a large plaque made of pure gold with the words 'Good Parenting' and 100,000 taels of silver. But for the old lady, no matter how much reward she received, could it offset the pain of losing her son?" She said beside him confidently, "If you don't want me to cry and feel sorry for me, be careful in the future."
Sun Gang smiled and hugged her, "I'm not going anywhere else but just here to accompany you, right?" The strange thing is that today she actually changed into clothes of this era. Different from her youthful beauty in the past, she was less charming but more elegant and mature.
"What are you looking at! Haven't you seen a beautiful woman before?" She felt a little embarrassed by his stare and pinched his nose.
"It's strange to see you wearing this outfit all of a sudden, but it really looks good on you." He smiled and asked, "Why are you dressed like this?"
"I have to accompany you to meet someone." She smiled slyly and kept him in suspense.
Sun Gang did find it strange. Ding Ruchang had already left Lushun and brought 500 Beiyang guards and guns to the Liaodong front under the escort of the main force of the Beiyang Fleet led by Liu Buchan. After replenishing ammunition, the Beiyang Navy's overseas fleet also set out for the Sea of Japan to attack Sasebo. Before leaving, they also requested four torpedo boats and Wen Junfeng's submarine for help. Sun Gang sent them the location map of the last mine laying to prevent these foreign idiots from "getting hit" when passing through the Korean waters, but he did not hear about any arrangements for himself. Ding Ruchang just told him to stay in the Navy Office to take care of his hand (in fact, it was almost healed) and not to go to sea to fight with Wen Junfeng's submarine. He didn't say anything else, which made him really depressed. Did he do something wrong?
"Are you two secretly hiding something from me?" Sun Gang looked at her suspiciously and said, "Tell me now! If you don't, be careful of the family punishment!" As he spoke, he had already put his hand under her armpit, ready to tickle her.
"Ah! No! Please!" She smiled tenderly and dodged his movements in his arms. "You don't know, how can I know where to go?" She begged, "I just listened to what my father said, telling me to dress formally and not too fancy so that I can go out with you. As for where to go and who to meet, I don't know either."
What does it mean? These two old guys are the same, both disrespectful to their elders. Telling them in advance could kill someone! Sun Gang thought bitterly.
He did not feel surprised for long, because early in the morning, he received a telegram from the Beiyang Minister Zhongtang in Tianjin, ordering him to report to Tianjin immediately and arranging for the "Pingyuan" ship to escort him there.
Sun Gang then understood why the "Pingyuan" ship did not follow Liu Buchan's main force. So this was the reason. He immediately packed up with Ma Yue and brought a few servants to the dock. The "Pingyuan" ship had been waiting there, ready to set sail.
After getting on the ship, the captain Li He came over to greet them warmly and arranged for them to stay in the best cabin on the ship. He was very familiar with Li He. Like Deng Shichang, this man was also from Guangdong. During the Battle of the Yellow Sea, he commanded the "Pingyuan" ship to approach the "Matsushima" and "Iwashima" twice under hail of bullets, and used the 260mm main gun to inflict heavy damage on the Japanese ships, eventually sinking the "Iwashima". The performance of the Pingyuan in the naval battle surprised the Zhongtang, who had always looked down upon domestically-built ships. Li He was promoted from garrison commander to lieutenant general. This man was just like his name, very easy-going. He had never been reused in the Beiyang Fleet, although it had something to do with the Chinese-made armored cruiser he commanded. But he did not complain and had always been doing his job well. Therefore, his performance in the naval battle impressed the captains of those large ships. He always respected Sun Gang, who was the first to propose replacing yellow gunpowder for the Beiyang Fleet. He once said privately that it would be difficult to win this naval battle without these powerful shells. Sun Gang was very happy in his heart to get the affirmation of such a captain.
The "Pingyuan" ship, whose original name was "Longwei", was the first Chinese offshore defense armored cruiser built by the Fujian Shipyard. It had a full load displacement of 2,650 tons, was 59.99 meters long and 12.19 meters wide, but had a deep draft, with a bow of 4.19 meters and a stern of 4.40 meters. The power system used two triple-expansion reciprocating steam engines manufactured by the Fujian Shipyard, with a turbine speed of 80 rpm, and was equipped with four round high-type coal-fired boilers, each with two furnace doors. The main engine had a power of 2,400 horsepower, dual-shaft propulsion, a daunting 260mm main gun and two 150mm secondary guns, and a speed of 11 knots, representing the highest level of China's shipbuilding industry at the time. During the Battle of the Yellow Sea, it was hit by Japanese ships and caught fire twice, but the main turret was still able to rotate and fire, which was enough to prove that its performance was still quite good. Although Li Hongzhang did not like this child of his own family very much because of the dispute over "shipbuilding" and "ship purchasing" at that time, and did not use her as good steel, Sun Gang was standing on her deck with his beloved wife at this time. In addition to pride, he also felt more of a sense of intimacy.
Will China, in the future, build its own armored fleet and dominate the world from then on?
