Volume 1: The Battleship Yitian Changes into the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 Chapter 9: Underwater Ambush at Fengdao
On June 3, 1894, the Korean government was unable to quell the Donghak Rebellion and asked Yuan Shikai to forward a telegram to Li Hongzhang, Minister of Beiyang, requesting the Qing army to go to Korea to quell the rebellion on its behalf.
On June 4, the Beiyang Fleet's three ships, Jiyuan, Pingyuan and Yangwei, rushed to Incheon and Seoul, Korea to protect overseas Chinese businessmen.
On June 5, 400 Japanese Marines entered Korea.
On June 6, 900 Qing troops under Nie Shicheng went to Korea. The Qing government notified Japan of the old practice of "protecting a vassal state".
On June 7, Japan continued to increase its troops and notified the Qing government that it did not recognize Korea as a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty.
On June 9, 1,500 Qing troops under Ye Zhichao arrived at Asan and joined Nie Shicheng's troops. On the same day, the Japanese advance team also landed in Incheon.
On June 11, the Korean "Donghak Province" peasant army withdrew from Jeonju, and the civil unrest was gradually settled.
On June 12, Japan continued to increase its troops, and Oshima Yoshimasa's mixed brigade landed in Incheon.
On June 16, the number of invading Japanese troops increased to 10,000, and the number of Japanese warships increased to 6, namely, "Matsushima", "Yaeyama", "Chiyoda", "Yamato" (this ship name is so familiar, I heard that the Japanese have now made a fake 10,000-ton thing from World War II), "Akagi" (this name is even more familiar, haha), and "Chikushi".
For a time, the sky was filled with war clouds.
Ding Ruchang had already gone to Weihaiwei with the fleet, and as a trainee councilor, he stayed in Lushun to move freely under the pretext of going out to collect intelligence. Now, it was time to consider his personal action plan.
"We have contacted a boat, it is easy to operate, it is an old Beiyang small motor sailboat, the four of us can take it away, no need to hire anyone else." Su Xin said to him, "But the guy said he was afraid of accidents, so he withheld my ten taels of silver deposit, damn it is a shady thing."
"Are the diving equipment and underwater propulsion devices all right?" Sun Gang asked again.
"I have made some improvements to the diving helmet and air tank. The air in the air tank is enough for half an hour. There is no problem with the thruster. However, the diving suit is not very warm." Su Xin replied: "Fortunately, it is June now, and the sea water should not be too cold during the day."
"What about those two girls? How are they doing with their underwater discus practice?" Sun Gang was still a little worried.
"She's definitely better than you." Su Xin said with a smile, "Ling'er said that she's tired of practicing. She can do it without the thrusters."
"Damn it! Don't get scared when you find out that we are bombing Japanese warships." Sun Gang said , "Besides, we don't know how far away the Japanese warships are."
"Don't worry, they are both very calm and are not afraid of sharks underwater." Su Xin glanced at him, "But you, think carefully about how to get past your wife. What if she doesn't let you go?"
"Women, what do they know about military and national affairs? When the husband is away, the wife is !" Sun Gang said, glancing outside the door, as if afraid that Ma Yue would suddenly come in at this time. "It's okay, she is not at home these days anyway." He said as if nothing had happened.
"You haven't even gotten married yet, and look at how little you've achieved." Su Xin looked down on him a little.
On the morning of July 25, 1894, the dull sound of artillery fire woke everyone in the boat.
After making all the preparations, they set out from Lushun half a month in advance. The reason they set out so early was that they were afraid of missing the time. However, Xiao Yuer and Linger looked indifferent after hearing about the destination. They had been here many times before and were very familiar with the place. Chinese and North Korean fishing boats often come here to fish in this area. Led by two "female navigators", they arrived here early and watched the sea view for five whole days. If it weren't for the purpose of their trip, people who didn't know would think that these were two young couples who were having a romantic honeymoon here.
"You are amazing, you know history so well." Su Xin looked at Sun Gang with some admiration, "I was afraid you might remember the date wrong."
He looked at the place where the black smoke was coming out in the distance and said that he had also heard that it was definitely not someone setting off fireworks for a wedding at sea.
Sun Gang looked at the flashing red light in the distance, followed by the thunder-like sound of artillery fire, and felt a little dazed for some reason.
He knew clearly that in the distance, three Japanese fast cruisers "Yoshino", "Naniwa" and "Akitsuzu" were launching a pirate-like surprise attack on the Chinese escort ships "Jiyuan" (armored cruiser) and "Guang Yi" (torpedo cruiser). The Battle of Tsushima had begun!
Can history really be changed starting today?
"I say, how do we do it? Give me an idea." Su Xin asked, "Should we sink the Yoshino first?"
"Come on, do you think you are a torpedo? How can you catch up with a warship traveling at 23 knots in the water?" Sun Gang looked at him with some frustration. No wonder, if there were any professional soldiers present, they would have laughed their teeth off when they heard this.
"Why do the Japanese want to attack us?" Xiao Yuer asked, looking at the black smoke in the distance with her eyes wide open. At this time, the sound of artillery became louder and louder.
It's time to give these two girls a political lesson, Sun Gang thought. As soon as he opened his mouth, Su Xin puffed out his chest and wanted to say something, but after seeing Sun Gang's suspicious eyes, he closed his mouth and made a gesture to invite you to speak first.
"Not only do they want to attack us, they also want to occupy our land, steal our things, and turn us into their slaves for generations. The men will work hard for them until they die, and the women will be abused by them. When they have enough fun, they will kill them and eat their meat..." Sun Gang looked at the two girls and said, "If we let them occupy Lushunkou, they will kill everyone in the city and only leave a few people to carry the bodies..." (He is quite good at scaring the little girl. I don't know how he figured it out.)
Su Xin looked at him with frustration. The two girls' faces turned pale. Sun Gang clearly saw that tears were welling up in the eyes of the two girls.
Sun Gang stared at them and pointed at the sea. "Now, their warships are attacking our warships of the Qing Navy. In a little while, one of our transport ships will pass by here with more than a thousand people on board. The Japanese warships will attack them and kill them all in the sea." He said word by word, "If you want to save them, we have to rely on you. This is the purpose of our coming here today. What do you think? Should we watch them all die in the sea, die under the guns of the Japanese, or should we save them with our actions?"
"I will listen to you, sir." Ling'er shook her head and said proudly. The timid Xiao Yu'er also wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, straightened her chest, and her expression became firm.
"...Then the three of us will go down. Xiao Yu'er will drive the boat to the island. Don't let the Japanese see us." Sun Gang looked at Su Xin and Ling'er and said, "There are two magnetic mines on each propeller. The Japanese warships will not open fire immediately after intercepting our transport ships. They will stop the warships and ask us to go on the transport ships for inspection and follow them. If the transport ships do not agree to be prisoners, they will open fire. We will swim over first, and as soon as the Japanese warships stop, we will approach and stick the magnetic mines to the bottom of their ships. Then, turn the timing knob to the end, and the mines will explode after half an hour, just like what we practiced in the past few days. After sticking them, we will use the propellers to return at full speed. Do you understand?"
The two of them nodded, and the three of them began to prepare for action.
"When will the transport ship appear?" Su Xin asked, his expression both nervous and excited.
"About 9 o'clock." Sun Gang replied.
"What will be the outcome over there?" Su Xin asked again, pointing to the battlefield in the distance. The thick black smoke had obscured the battlefield, and only the red light of the artillery firing could be seen flashing.
"The firepower of any Japanese warship is stronger than the two Chinese warships combined. What do you think will happen?" Sun Gang sighed, but immediately seemed to remember something and became firm again. "However, if these two escort ships bring new shells, the result is still hard to say."
"It's all my turn now! I'm going to bomb the Japanese so hard that they won't know what to do!" Su Xin laughed strangely, which made the two girls feel a chill.
