Volume 1 Tigers in Southeast Asia Chapter 73: New Sneak Attack Plan
As soon as Lin Fei said this, Yu Zhe's face changed, his brows frowned, and the look in his eyes when he looked at Lin Fei also changed. Lin Fei saw the change in Yu Zhe's expression and smiled: "Brother Yu, do you think I'm too cruel?"
Yu Zhe hesitated for a moment before saying, "Hero Lin, I am a straightforward person and I say whatever I think. I will speak frankly. Although these Spaniards are hateful, we can just kill them with a single blow. I'm afraid torturing them like this is not what heroes do."
Lin Fei smiled and said, "If you knew what this guy had done, you would never say such things again."
Yu Zhe was stunned and said, "I have heard of the bad deeds of the Spanish, nothing more than murder and arson. I wonder what other evil things this guy has done?"
Lin Fei's expression darkened, and he said, "On our way here, we found a Chinese merchant ship that had been looted by the Spanish. All the property on the merchant ship was robbed, all the men were killed, and all the women were raped to death. There was a little girl who was less than fifteen years old, and they didn't even let her go! That little girl died on our ship. We all saw it with our own eyes."
Yu Zhe took a deep breath and said, "If that's the case, these Spaniards should really suffer."
At this time, two sniper team members came in from outside, dragged the Spanish navigator and walked out. Lin Fei ordered: "Don't castrate him on the deck, take him to the cargo hold and do it in front of those Spaniards."
The sniper team nodded in agreement. Yu Zhe thought to himself, "This guy named Lin Fei is really ruthless. He is a hero who can accomplish great things. In this world, being soft-hearted will not accomplish great things."
Lin Fei watched the two sniper team members drag the Spanish navigator out, then turned to Yu Zhe and said, "Now that the Spanish navigator's problem has been solved, let's talk about the sneak attack on the Spanish warship."
Yu Zhe said: "To be honest, Sultan Yagurul's plan is to concentrate the main forces near Lurk. Lurk is the second largest city on the island and the place where the Spanish, Chinese and Filipinos are most concentrated. Sultan Yagurul will launch an attack on Lurk after the troops are assembled. At that time, the Spanish will not dare not come to rescue."
"Currently, the main force of the Spanish army is in Jolo, the largest city on Hele Island. There are several large mountains between Jolo and Lurk, and transportation is extremely inconvenient. In addition, there are harassments from Sultan Yagurul's troops, so it is difficult to mobilize the main force of the Spanish army from Jolo to Lurk. If we want to mobilize, the fastest way is to go by sea, and the transport ships will stop at the seaside."
"The waters near Lurk are very shallow. In such shallow waters, the rudders of warships are not very effective and the steering is not flexible. Instead, they are worse than rowing boats. Therefore, Yagurul decided to send out rowing warships to attack the Spanish transport ships anchored in the waters near Lurk."
After listening to this, Lin Fei pondered for a while and said, "Isn't Yagurul's plan a bit risky?"
Yu Zhe was stunned and asked, "Adventure? What's so adventurous about this?"
Lin Fei said: "The Spanish have suffered losses from rowing warships, as you just mentioned. They will definitely be more cautious against rowing warships. Will they let you attack them easily?"
Yu Zhe shook his head and said, "It should be fine. They set out in the dark, so it should be difficult for the Spanish warships to spot them."
Lin Fei nodded and said, "I hope so."
Yu Zhe said, "How about you also go and assist Yagur's men in the sneak attack?"
Lin Fei shook his head and said, "That won't work. We have never had any contact with Yagurul. If we rashly conduct a joint operation, it will definitely bring problems in command and coordination."
Yu Zhe nodded and said no more. Lin Fei said, "Brother Yu, your men have dispersed and you have nowhere to go. Why don't you come to me? I'm eager for shipbuilding talents!"
Yu Zhe thought for a moment and said, "You saved my life, and if you can let me continue to build ships, I will go to you!"
Lin Fei said a few words of welcome and asked Yu Zhe to go back and rest first. At this time, Zhang Chuang captured more than 20 Spanish sailors. Lin Fei took a look and found that there were no officers among them. Knowing that these people were of little value, he asked someone to send them to the cargo hold.
After cleaning up the battlefield, Lin Fei ordered each artillery position to check the consumption of artillery shells. Soon, each artillery position sent a report that a total of 26 high-explosive shells and 57 armor-piercing shells were consumed in tonight's battle. Lin Fei thought that not many shells were used, and the current reserves were more than enough to cope with future battles.
Lin Fei ordered the Nuwa ship to return to the temporary anchorage and meet up with the Pangu ship, then ordered the entire ship to rest and discuss the next step of the operation tomorrow.
After a night of fighting, the sailors on the Nuwa ship quickly fell asleep, but Lin Fei tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep, because today's naval battle reminded him of the Zhiyuan ship and the Beiyang Fleet, as well as the ongoing Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, which had caused great trauma to the Chinese nation.
Lin Fei thought to himself, I wonder what impact my helping the Zhiyuan to sink the Yoshino had on the subsequent Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895? When Chen Fu goes to Taiwan again, I must ask him to find out the news of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895.
The Qing Dynasty was defeated in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, and Japan occupied Taiwan Island and extorted 200 million taels of silver. I must not let this happen again. Japan's occupation of Taiwan Island took place in May 1895, which is only about six months ago. At my current speed of development, can I prevent Japan from occupying Taiwan Island?
As Lin Fei was thinking, he fell asleep in a daze. The next morning, as soon as Lin Fei got up, Zhang Chuang came to report: "Captain, the Spanish navigator yesterday is dead."
Lin Fei laughed and said, "Do we need to report such a small matter? Just throw the body into the sea to feed the turtles."
Zhang Chuang agreed and turned to leave. Lin Fei inspected each cabin and finally came to the command room and asked someone to invite Yu Zhe.
After Yu Zhe arrived, Lin Fei asked, "Brother Yu, when will Yagurul mobilize troops to besiege Lurk?"
Yu Zhe said: "It is estimated that on December 19th of the Western calendar, in three days, the Spanish army will land on the coast of Lurk."
Lin Fei said: "Well, let's set off for Luerke and wait for the opportunity."
Lin Fei led the Nuwa and Pangu ships towards Lurk, which was located more than 50 nautical miles east of Tipdepont. It took Nuwa and Pangu several hours to reach Lurk. Lin Fei first scouted the waters near Lurk, and then found an island reef called "Ackled" on the nautical chart and let the Pangu and Nuwa ships stay here temporarily.
Lin Fei had the Pangu ship disguised as a fishing boat and scouting the waters near Lurk. At 4 p.m. on December 22, Bifang suddenly led the Pangu ship back to the Ackley Island Reef and asked Lin Fei to report: "The Spanish fleet has been discovered!"
Lin Fei became excited when he heard this and asked, "How many warships does the Spanish fleet have?"
Bifang replied: "There is a protected cruiser, four gunboats! And ten troop transports."
Lin Fei laughed out loud: " Great, they are really here!" Then he asked Yu Zhe: "Brother Yu, when will Sultan Yagurul launch a sneak attack?"
Yu Zhe said: "After the Spanish warships arrive in the waters near Lurk, Sultan Yagurul will need about a day to conduct reconnaissance. Once the reconnaissance is completed, he will launch a surprise attack, which will be around tomorrow night."
Lin Fei nodded and said, "Okay, we'll take action tomorrow night."
Before Lin Fei finished speaking, Bi Fang suddenly said, "Captain, please wait a moment!"
Lin Fei was stunned, turned to look at Bifang, and asked: "What's wrong? Is there anything you want to do?"
Bi Fang said: "Captain, are we really going to attack the Spanish fleet?"
Lin Fei was surprised and said, "Why do you ask? Our strategy before we set out was to attack the Spanish fleet. Now that the Spanish fleet is right before our eyes, how can we let them go?"
Bi Fang said: "Captain, that cruiser is as big as two Nuwa ships. I see its turret is also very big, and the caliber of its guns is definitely larger than that of the Nuwa ship. Can we be their opponent?"
Lin Fei smiled and said, "I can tell you responsibly that the cruiser is definitely not our opponent."
At this time, Yu Zhe said, "Lin Yingxiong, it's not that I don't believe in your strength, but I have fought against Spanish warships many times and have a certain understanding of Spanish warships. Excuse me, your battleship may not be a match for that cruiser."
Lin Fei laughed and said, "How dare you say that my Nuwa ship is no match for that cruiser."
Yu Zhe said: "There are two types of weapons for warships, one is artillery and the other is torpedoes. Torpedoes have great explosive power, but their range is too short to be of much use, so the only weapon for victory is artillery. The cruiser is called 'Casillas', equipped with four 150mm guns and two 120mm guns, which are stronger than the 120mm guns equipped on the Nuwa ship. Therefore, the Nuwa ship may not be a match for the Casillas ship."
Lin Fei laughed loudly and said, "Brother Yu, do you know in which year the Casillas was launched?"
Yu Zhe looked confused and shook his head. Lin Fei smiled and said, "It was launched in 1882. This year is 1894, which means it has been in service for 12 years. When a warship is in service for 12 years, many parts of the ship will age, and its combat effectiveness and survivability will be greatly reduced. How can it be a match for the Nuwa ship?"
Yu Zhe wanted to say more, but Lin Fei waved his hand and said, "Okay, no need to say more, let's get ready and go to battle tomorrow night!"
Lin Fei passed the order down, and everyone on the Nuwa ship began to prepare, transporting ammunition, calibrating rangefinders, and cleaning gun barrels. Yu Zhe was very surprised to see that everyone had an excited and excited look on their faces, without any panic or fear.
