Chapter 18

After a long voyage of twelve weeks, the German battleship "Brandenburg" finally arrived at the anchorage of the Beiyang Fleet of the Qing Empire, the port of Weihaiwei in Shandong.

It was early morning, with a thin mist covering the Bohai Sea, the sky high and the clouds light. A few snow-white seabirds spread their wings and sang clearly, drawing graceful and elegant curves in the sky. The deep blue sea gently swayed, shimmering with a faint light under the morning sun.

Qing Ying stood at the bow of the ship, his clothes fluttering in the wind. He gazed at the ancient and weathered land not far away, his heart surging with emotion. It had been three years since his last life, and he had not set foot on this land that had nurtured him, except in his dreams. At this moment, the hardships and torments of nearly three months at sea had transformed into a cool, refreshing spring, flowing gently through his heart.

"In half an hour, we will enter the Qing Navy base, Your Highness. Please prepare to disembark," said Captain Claude, who emerged from the command tower in his deep blue naval uniform. The black eagle emblem on his cap seemed ready to take flight. Seeing this old sailor step onto the forward deck, the young sailors around him all looked at him with admiration and longing.

Qing Ying nodded and turned to say a few polite words to the stern and meticulous middle-aged man, but suddenly a deafening roar of wind and thunder rang in his ears. He quickly covered his ears and looked around to see that the ship's whistle, with a full displacement of over 12,000 tons, had begun to howl, spewing steam nearly 10 meters high, like a rainbow arching across the sky, dazzling and radiant!

After about half a minute, the scorching steam and wind from the whistle finally subsided. Qing Ying, still shaken, lowered his hands and stared at Claude, his face expressionless but his eyes burning. Claude shrugged and smiled, "That's just the way the round boilers are. They accumulate a lot of steam over long periods of use. We haven't resupplied since leaving India, and we've traveled over 2,000 nautical miles."

"Fortunately, the next generation of the Imperial Navy's main battleships will all be equipped with water-tube boilers!" Qing Ying muttered to himself, giving Claude a sidelong glance. As the first class of main battleships for the German Navy to venture into the open sea, the Brandenburg class was not very successful. Although they were groundbreaking in placing three twin 283mm main gun turrets on the ship's centerline, the middle turret had only a 35-caliber barrel, shorter than the 40-caliber barrels at the bow and stern, and was not designed for unified ballistic firing. Due to the weight and space occupied by the midship turret, the Brandenburg class had only 8 105mm secondary guns and 8 88mm quick-firing guns, which were sufficient to deal with torpedo boats but not powerful enough to combat cruisers.

"Nevertheless, the Brandenburg is a first-class warship in the Far East!" Claude seemed to sense Qing Ying's skepticism and added, "The Qing Empire's two largest ironclads were built by the Vulkan shipyard 11 years ago. Their maximum displacement is only 8,000 tons, and their top speed is just 15 knots. Their 25-caliber short-barreled guns have a limited range..." His eyes lit up as if he saw something, and he pointed behind Qing Ying, "Look, Your Highness, there they are!"

Hearing this, Qing Ying suddenly leaned over the bow railing and saw a majestic gray-white battleship slowly cutting through the waves a few miles away. Its massive black and gold guns pointed skyward, gleaming with a dark purple and cold light in the morning sun. A red and yellow dragon flag fluttered fiercely on the mast, which was over ten meters high, and the two ancient and weighty characters on the ship's side proclaimed its unique status in the Beiyang Fleet!

"Dingyuan!"

On the forward deck of the Brandenburg, Qing Ying had already involuntarily called out the name of the Beiyang Fleet's flagship. It was not just because this heroic and tragic name was deeply etched in his mind, but also because he had finally seen the real thing in this timeline! At a distance of a kilometer, the main gun turrets, lifeboats, and air intakes were clearly visible. Focusing his gaze, he could even make out the figures moving on the deck. In the historical Battle of the Yalu River, this ship had withstood a great deal of damage from enemy shells. The Beiyang Fleet did not collapse under the rapid fire of the Japanese fleet, thanks to the Dingyuan and its sister ship, the Zhenyuan. Due to the high combat skills of the Beiyang Fleet's officers and men, the 305mm guns of the Dingyuan hit Japanese ships multiple times. If not for the poor quality of the shells, at least three Japanese warships would have been sunk!

Following the Dingyuan, another ironclad, almost identical in appearance, broke through the waves to greet them. Compared to the Dingyuan, it had fewer complicated and strange command flags and a more graceful appearance. Since it was launched a year later than the Dingyuan, the Zhenyuan had more advanced propulsion, with a maximum speed of 15.4 knots during trials, a full knot faster than the Dingyuan. Although the Zhenyuan's performance was superior, for political reasons, the Dingyuan remained the flagship of the Beiyang Fleet.

Captain Claude, clearly recognizing these two pillars of the Qing Navy, nodded in satisfaction and said, "The Qing people are still courteous and did not treat us from the German Empire lightly. Pass my order: reduce speed to 5 knots, fire a salute, and raise the ceremonial flag!"

Following Captain Claude's order, the Brandenburg began to slow down, and the splashing water at the bow gradually decreased. The doors opened and closed with a screech, and several small-caliber bronze guns were pushed onto the deck and securely locked in place. As the land of his homeland drew closer, Qing Ying could not help but spread his arms and shout in somewhat rusty Chinese, "I will change the history of the Battle of the Yalu River!"

"Boom!" A salute shell splashed into the sea, sending up a wave several feet high. From a bird's-eye view, the three ironclads, all from the same lineage, slowly approached each other, and soon they were almost within reach. The ships' sides touched, and cheers echoed. The sailors of both countries leaned over the railings, curiously examining each other, and any unusual sight would elicit a burst of laughter.

Compared to their TV images, the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan were even more substantial and imposing. However, after spending nearly three months on the more powerful Brandenburg, Qing Ying had developed a certain immunity to large warships, and these two 7,000-ton ironclads did not leave him with a sense of awe. When they were first completed, they were among the best warships in the world, but with the passage of time, they had fallen from the ranks of the main ironclads and could only play a supporting role in the navies of second-rate naval powers. If they were to face the latest British Majestic-class battleships, they would likely not last an hour.

Qing Ying poked Claude in the waist with his index finger, and the naval captain turned around, puzzled, and asked, "Your Highness, is there something you need?"

Qing Ying nodded toward the Dingyuan, which was several dozen yards away, and said, "These two central battery ironclads were built by German shipyards, right?"

"Of course!" Claude nodded, a hint of pride in his eyes. "From the 305mm main guns to the 5mm rivets, every part is the result of the hard work of German workers! Back then, the Vulkan shipyard spared no expense to secure this order, selling each ship for just 370,000 pounds, less than 1.5 times the normal price of an armored cruiser!"

Qing Ying, who had learned about the history of the Vulkan shipyard's willingness to forgo profit to secure the Qing court's order and learn shipbuilding technology, as well as to open the German warship export market, from online forums in his previous life, did not need to hear it again from people of this era. He raised his right hand and pointed straight at the massive main gun turret on the side of the Dingyuan and asked, "As early as 1882, the German Navy had entered the 305mm main gun club. Why did the Brandenburg class, which began construction in 1890, have a main gun caliber of only 283mm?"

Claude looked at him in surprise, seemingly puzzled as to why an 11-year-old child would be familiar with the history of naval gun development. Impressed, he regarded Qing Ying with new respect. He explained, "To be honest, the 305mm naval guns produced by Krupp at the time were not as good as imagined. The thick gun barrels and slow rate of fire were significant drawbacks. Our new 40-caliber 283mm guns have twice the muzzle energy of their 25-caliber 305mm guns, and their armor-piercing capability is at least four to five levels higher. In terms of firepower, although our 283mm shells are lighter, they carry more explosives, so their explosive power is also superior!" Fearing that Qing Ying might not understand these naval terms, Claude gave a few simple analogies.

"In other words, these two central battery ironclads were experimental products of the Vulkan shipyard and Krupp's military industry?" Qing Ying's eyes widened in surprise.

"From a certain perspective, Your Highness's statement is not wrong," the naval captain resumed his serious and earnest demeanor, turned around, and his gaze was like a knife. The sailors who had stopped working to secretly observe the bow were immediately startled, and the whispers ceased. The sound of rapid footsteps echoed on the deck and disappeared in less than ten seconds. Claude grunted and continued, "However, it was later proven that the performance of these two experimental ships was very good. If it weren't for the Iron Chancellor's deliberate restriction of the navy's size, Germany might have also purchased two of them."

Qing Ying nodded and did not ask any more questions. He quietly leaned on the railing, gazing at the Dingyuan, his eyes calm, as if trying to forever engrave the image of this ship, which carried the glory and sorrow of China, in his heart.

There were less than ten days left before the outbreak of war.