Chapter 13

Yamamoto Ito found it hard to believe the words of the young man before him: he was actually letting him choose the location to be bombed.

As Yamamoto Ito hesitated, Lin Yuan smiled and said, "Isn't the Imperial Japanese Navy always at odds with the Army? How about I help you bomb the Army's General Staff headquarters?"

At this moment, Shen Wanqing walked out from under the gun, sat down next to Lin Yuan, took the ring out of the jar, and gently pressed it, retracting the steel needle. She smiled and said, "Captain Lin, you're mistaken. The Army and Navy General Staffs are definitely in the same building. If you bomb the Army's, the Navy's will be bombed too."

Lin Yuan said, "You don't know this, but our precision-guided bombs can accurately enter through a window, so we can just bomb the Army's."

Yamamoto Ito found it hard to imagine such a scene: bombs entering through windows and only destroying specific targets.

Seeing Yamamoto Ito's confusion, Lin Yuan opened his communication device. The signal was relayed through the KJ-2000 early warning aircraft and directly reached the J-24 fighter jet flying over Tokyo. This was the integrated battlefield of modern warfare; as long as needed, the commander could contact any combat unit on the battlefield.

At this point, Lin Yuan didn't even use coded language, speaking openly. He said to Xu Feng, "The next target, the Japanese Army General Staff headquarters."

Since they were speaking in Chinese, Shen Wanqing took on the role of translator. Unexpectedly, Xu Feng laughed bitterly through the communication device, "You make it sound easy. Tell me, which of these buildings is the General Staff headquarters?"

The target information stored in the carrier's combat database was from the 21st century. Who would have thought the carrier would return to 1894! Therefore, the carrier's database had no coordinates for the Army General Staff headquarters. In the darkness, from several thousand meters up, finding the General Staff headquarters was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Lin Yuan said helplessly, "Then go bomb the Imperial Palace."

Yamamoto Ito knew that Lin Yuan and the person on the other end of the communication device were intentionally putting on a show for him. He sneered, "Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"

Hearing this, Lin Yuan laughed as if he had heard the funniest joke. He laughed so hard that the Japanese in the room turned pale. Finally, he said calmly, "You saw us sink the Matsushima. We can sink the Matsushima, and we can do the same to the Yoshino, the Hashidate, and even the entire Combined Fleet. If you kill us, we'll sink your fleet. The Empire of Japan has spent a lot of money on this fleet and this war, Commander Ito. Do you want to take that risk?"

Yamamoto Ito knew that Japan had almost bet all its fiscal revenue on this war and had borrowed a lot of foreign debt from European banks. To pay off the debt, they could only win the war and get a huge war indemnity from the Qing. He knew he couldn't risk the entire fleet to kill Lin Yuan and Shen Wanqing. Suddenly, a brilliant plan to turn defeat into victory formed in his mind.

Yamamoto Ito slammed his hand on the table and roared, "Enough!"

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "Commander, I'll give you one minute to think about it."

Yamamoto Ito sighed and said helplessly, "Surrender is absolutely out of the question. We can pay compensation, and our fleet can temporarily follow your orders until our government pays the compensation."

Lin Yuan said, "Alright, I agree to that."

Yamamoto Ito continued, "Our fleet has many wounded, and some ships are damaged. We need to dock. I hope the captain will consider the young lives and allow us to dock so the wounded can receive treatment."

Lin Yuan nodded and said, "Alright, no problem. Where do you want to dock?"

Yamamoto Ito thought for a moment and said, "We are now at the mouth of the Yalu River. The nearest docking points are Lüshun and Dalian, but we are at war with the Qing, so we can't dock there. If we return to our home port in Japan, you won't agree. We can only dock in Korea. We will head south to the Kalulin Bay docking point."

This location was not unfamiliar to Lin Yuan. During the Battle of the Yellow Sea, the Japanese Combined Fleet had set out from here and met the Beiyang Fleet off the Dandong Gorge.

Lin Yuan nodded and said, "Alright, let's do it."

Alfred Thayer Mahan, the founder of the theory of sea power, once said, "The easiest ships to sink are those in port." Yamamoto Ito's strategy was simple: to lure Lin Yuan's ships into his own port. He knew it would be extremely difficult to lure Lin Yuan into his port, and his suggestion was just a simple probe. There would be a series of follow-up moves, but he didn't expect Lin Yuan to agree so easily.

Thus, Yamamoto Ito ordered the fleet to head for Kalulin Bay, and Lin Yuan ordered the carrier to follow the fleet, while also commanding the carrier-based aircraft to return.

Lin Yuan said, "I will stay on the ship until the fleet reaches Kalulin Bay. It's late, so please arrange a cabin for me, Commander."

A cabin was quickly cleared on the ship. Due to the limited space, the cabin was small and had bunk beds. As soon as they entered the cabin, Shen Wanqing said anxiously, "Captain, how could you agree to Yamamoto Ito's request?"

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "Why shouldn't I agree?"

Shen Wanqing said, "It's obvious he has a plan. Once we're in their port, we'll be attacked. I know the port is equipped with large-caliber coastal defense guns. Our carrier will definitely be damaged."

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "Don't worry, they can't hurt us."

Shen Wanqing said, "Do you already have a plan to deal with it?"

Lin Yuan smiled again without speaking, the same expression he had in the helicopter. "He doesn't trust me, so he won't tell me his plan." Thinking this, she felt a pang of sadness. Suddenly, she thought, "Why did he bring me to the Japanese warship?" She wanted to ask him but found it hard to speak. Seeing Lin Yuan already lying down, she lay down on the opposite bunk, turned her back to him, and soon fell asleep.

In the darkness, Lin Yuan opened his eyes and looked at her alluring silhouette, thinking, "Could she really be a spy for the enemy country?"