Chapter 54 Overseas Righteous Citizens

  The steam-powered torpedo, at a speed of 45 knots, made a direct hit on the Akitsushima, a 3,000-ton protected cruiser. The Japanese on board went mad, using all available weapons to attack the water surface, but nothing could stop the white trail line underwater. In an instant, it struck the Akitsushima's waterline like a sharp sword.

  The detonator ignited the 180 kilograms of TNT in an instant, a massive fireball burst open, and almost simultaneously, the giant ship was thrown out of the water like a toy, followed by a thunderous crash. But just as it fell, the steel hull broke in two like a rotten wooden stick, carrying smoke and flames as it sank at its fastest speed.

  Everyone on the surface was stunned, and both sides of the fierce battle almost simultaneously stopped firing, staring blankly at the scene in front of them until the stern of the Akitsushima had already begun to rise, before suddenly coming back to their senses. The Naniwa, which was surrounding the Jiyuan, quickly turned around and rushed towards the Guangyi.

  "Come on, one more time!" Lin Guoxiang excitedly shouted, this torpedo was too ruthless, three kilometers away and a single hit killed instantly, the 3,000-ton Akitsushima didn't even have a chance to escape, and was sent straight to the bottom of the sea.

  Anderson nodded in satisfaction, just about to calculate the shooting angle for the waves, when suddenly a strange breaking sound came from beside him. Lin Guoxiang instinctively pulled him and plunged out of the ship's side, just as the two fell onto the sea surface, a huge fireball exploded at the torpedo, and the remaining steam gas torpedo was immediately blown into scattered debris.

  This 152mm shell not only destroyed their last remaining torpedo, but also thoroughly destroyed the Kohei Maru. It's almost a miracle that this iron-hulled wooden ship has been able to withstand the acid shells so far. The shell blew one side of the hull to smithereens, and as water began pouring in, the sailors on board jumped into the sea to escape.

  O'Connor, with his back on fire, grabbed a life ring and jumped into the water beside Lin Guoxiang, shouting. At this time, Fulong No. 5 quickly approached under the cover of Guangyi's obstruction, then stretched out its hook to pull the three of them and the fallen crew members onto the deck.

  "Lao Cai, give Guang Er a torpedo, don't let it fall into the hands of the Japanese." Lin Guoxiang looked at his beloved ship, helplessly saying to Fu Long number boat captain Cai Tinggan.

  "Ma de, Ji yuan ran away!" Cai Tinggan didn't respond to him, but stared ahead and shouted. The destruction of the Guangyi made the Ji yuan completely lose its courage to fight, and under the current circumstances, it would be a dead end if it stayed behind. This cruiser, which had been hit multiple times, was taking advantage of the opportunity created by the departure of the waves to escape south from the battlefield.

  Tsai Ting-kan, a US-educated officer, showed his technical skills at this time. The 120-ton small torpedo boat had enough steam and managed to run out of 19 knots. Under the dense cannonballs of Ransui, it desperately twisted its body on the sea surface, slowly opening up the distance between the two sides. Fortunately, there was a Guangyi that was starting to sink in between, which was battered all over and still managed to shake off Ransui at high speed.

  But just at this moment, Lin Guoxiang saw in the distance that the bow of the Yoshino, which was chasing after Jiyuan, suddenly flashed with a string of firelight, and then this cruiser with 23 knots of speed suddenly slowed down. Just like before, the Yoshino, which was chasing after Jiyuan, was suddenly attacked by the tail gun of Jiyuan. However, unlike in history, it was not the old-fashioned 150mm Krupp cannon and black explosive shell that attacked it this time, but the latest 152mm Armstrong quick-firing gun.

  Although the shells were not bitter acid, the power of the shells filled with nitrocellulose was no less, and it was too lightly armed. In less than a minute, it was hit by four shells, and the intense explosion blew its bow into a mess. The command cabin even caught fire. The sudden and fierce attack made the pursuing Yoshino stop immediately. After all, this warship was the hope of the Japanese Navy, and taking risks in this situation was not worth it.

  The escaped Jingyuan fled south, and Yoshino did not continue to pursue, it was clear that she was also injured. The Naniwa also did not continue the pursuit, as it had to go back to rescue the surviving sailors of the Autumn Island. The Fujing soon caught up with the Jingyuan, and after heading south for a short distance, it caught up with the Caojiang, which had turned around and fled south after receiving news of the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War. The two ships were elevated. Unlike history, at this time, all the warships of the Beiyang Fleet were equipped with wireless telegraph machines from General Electric. When Yoshino's three ships were discovered, Fang Boqian, as the commander of the escort fleet, immediately sent a telegram to Liu Gong Island.

  Ding Ruchang was not a fool, in this situation, why would he let the two ships go north to die? Not only did he send a telegram to Jiangsu, ordering it to escort Gaosheng back, but also ordered the Beiyang Fleet's main force to set sail northward, and then encountered the four Jiyuan ships that had escaped.

  "The Qing navy was defeated at the Battle of Chongqing, and the Japanese army suffered heavy casualties in Yoshino?" Ding Ruchang was stunned by this news. To be honest, he had already been surprised that Fang Boqian and others could return safely, after all, the gap between the two sides was too great, and the total tonnage of the two warships was not even close to that of a single Japanese battleship.

  "It's all thanks to Boguofu's new-style torpedo, which hit and killed Akitsushima 3,000 yards away. Our army retreated with only the upper part of the ship still afloat, but unfortunately, it was later destroyed by the gunfire from Nagatsuki, leaving only one torpedo behind. Otherwise, even Nagatsuki would have been hard to escape death this time." Lin Guoxiang said, O'Connor was indeed seriously injured, and this guy who had been living a life of luxury in Shanghai not only got hit by shrapnel on his arm but also suffered burns on his back, and is now groaning on the stretcher.

  "It's all right, I will report to the imperial court for your merits." Ding Ruchang said, of course, it was not that O'Connor's injury was good, and there was such a big victory at the beginning of the war. As the Admiral of the Navy, he also gained face. As for O'Connor, he knew how to comfort this cunning merchant.

  "Mr. O'Connor, this victory is all thanks to your help, I will report to the Emperor and I'm sure you will be rewarded handsomely. Please return to Shanghai to recover from your injuries, and as for the Bofors torpedo, it's so effective that our navy will definitely purchase a large quantity." Ding Ruchang said as he walked up to the stretcher.

  O'Connor's eyes, which had been dull and lifeless, suddenly lit up, and if Anderson hadn't held him down, he might have sat up straight.

  "Leave everything to me!" The guy said with a full breath.

  Ding Ruchang smiled and quickly nodded, waving his hand for someone to carry this guy away.

  Yang Feng received news of the Battle of Pungdo on the evening of July 25. He had high-power wireless telegraph machines in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Perth. After Anderson landed, he immediately sent a wired telegram to Shanghai detailing the battle, and the big boss's concerns were naturally not delayed, so it was sent to Perth at the fastest speed.

  "A tiny dwarf pirate, how dare you offend the heavenly authority! Although I am a humble citizen of a small country, I am also a descendant of the Yan and Huang emperors. I cannot sit idly by and watch its arrogance, so I have decided to send troops to Japan to share the country's worries!" He handed the telegram to Xue Fucheng and Zhang Quan, then said with great righteousness.

  Zhang Quan, who was already very familiar with his style, was stunned for a moment before speaking cautiously: "Feng Sheng, are you planning to take Japan by force?"

  "What's called plundering, that's what pirates do, I'm a law-abiding citizen, this is called naval guerrilla warfare, you don't understand, in modern Western warfare, these are all indispensable tactics. Think about it, when the British defeated the Spanish and French, even during the American Civil War, hiring armed merchant ships to attack enemies at sea was a very common thing, even pirates were hired. The British defeated the Invincible Armada entirely thanks to the help of pirates, in order to win over the pirate leader Drake, Queen Elizabeth didn't even mind sleeping with him, and finally established her dominance over the seas." Yang Feng said.

  "Didn't you guess that our imperial court and the Japanese would go to war?" Xue Fucheng said, looking at the telegram. This old fox thought that Yang Feng had been preparing for this for years, bringing in warships and soldiers, making such a big fuss about these money-losing things, how could he not have guessed this point?

  "Hey, hey, Lord Xue, I'm afraid this point is obvious to anyone with a bit of sense, not just our court," Yang Feng said.

  "How did you guess they would make their move this year?"

  "It's simple, I have the intelligence that Japanese people also like money, spending some money to buy what I need is not easy? Just like our imperial court, as long as there's money, it's likely that the Japanese can also buy what they need. Otherwise, do you think Jinou would be so lucky? When our warships went out, they ran to Peng Island to wait?" Yang Feng said.

  "In that case, you'll need an identity. I can help you send a report to the imperial court, saying that overseas righteous citizens are willing to return and assist in the war effort. You're building docks and shipyards at Dog Island, preparing it as a base, right? This way, the imperial court can grant you a position like Taiwan General or Vice-General. The rank of General is too high, requiring more money; this can be handled by your employees in Shanghai, or if there's no suitable connection, just have Li Zhongtang or Zhang Xianggong make an appearance."

  "It's all up to you now," said Yang Feng.

  "You don't have any plans for this trip back, do you? Otherwise, I'll chip in some more money and we can just buy the position of Taiwan Circuit Intendant for you. After all, you're currently a third-rank official, and after these few years in Britain, it's about time for a promotion - advancing one rank is completely reasonable." He continued, "The current Taiwan Circuit Intendant, Shao Youlian, is an old pedant, playing Yang Feng with him would be frustrating to death. If we swap him out for Xue Fucheng, cooperation will be much more pleasant."

  "Alright, but don't cause too much trouble in Taiwan, I don't want to have to bail you out every day." Xue Fu Cheng said, he was quite farsighted.

  "What can I do about it, you say? At most, we can just blockade the sea transportation for the Japanese and make a landing in Osaka at an appropriate time." Yang Feng said with a sly smile.