Chapter 78 of 100

Chapter 78

14 min read3,403 words

Deng Shichang led the warship *Yoshino* to the designated sea area and soon arrived at the specified location. Immediately, he fired a training shell at the simulated target, which landed within the permitted radius.

The WR-11 tactical drone quickly captured the impact point and transmitted the data, including the impact point, the speed of the *Yoshino*, and the assumed speed of the target, back to the *Beijing* through the WR-30 relay data link. The personnel on the *Beijing* used pre-programmed software to calculate the necessary adjustments for the artillery and transmitted the data back to the *Yoshino*. The *Yoshino* quickly adjusted its artillery position based on the new data, and the next shell hit the target more accurately.

This drill was successfully completed.

The use of drones for naval artillery correction seemed very successful, but Lin Yuan suddenly thought of a problem: this was just one warship. If there were multiple warships in a naval battle, there would be multiple impact points. It would not be easy to accurately determine which warship produced which impact point. Moreover, the situation on the battlefield could change rapidly during a naval battle, and it could quickly turn into a chaotic engagement, making it even more difficult to precisely target.

Before this problem was resolved, another issue came to mind: if a war broke out with the British, it would be impossible to buy coal from them. The coal they were currently using was all purchased from Britain.

At this moment, Li Kai noticed something in the photos and pointed to a target, saying, "Why is there another warship here?"

Lin Yuan asked, "What kind of warship is it?"

Li Kai said, "I'm not sure. I'm not very familiar with the warships of this era, but this warship seems much smaller than the *Hashidate*, and it appears to be using sails for power."

Lin Yuan asked, "How far is this warship from us?"

Li Kai said, "It's no more than twenty nautical miles away."

Lin Yuan asked, "Is there only one?"

Li Kai looked at the image more carefully and said, "This ship seems to be chasing another ship."

Lin Yuan nodded and ordered the WR-11 drone to fly to the area where the warship was located and also ordered the *Yoshino* to move toward the target area.

Soon, the drone transmitted a clearer image: a warship was clearly chasing a civilian ship!

Due to the light wind, both sail-powered ships were moving slowly. The *Yoshino* approached the two ships at a speed of 20 knots. Half an hour later, the *Yoshino*'s observation equipment could already see the two ships.

Deng Shichang, standing on the bridge, raised his binoculars. When he first received these binoculars, he noticed they were different from the ones he had used before. First, they were a type of binoculars he had never seen before, and the lenses seemed to have a dark film on them.

What he didn't know was that this film was not simple. It was a polarizing film that appeared in the 20th century. To enhance the visual image, a polarizing film was applied to the lenses and prisms, and military binoculars typically had multiple layers of film on all optical surfaces to achieve the best image quality.

Deng Shichang first observed the civilian ship without any cannons. He saw that the ship did not have any national flag or similar markings, but the people with braids and shiny foreheads made it clear that this was a ship from the Qing Dynasty. The people on the ship were using shovels to throw coal from the hold into the sea, and Deng Shichang understood that they were trying to reduce the ship's weight to increase its speed.

He then observed the warship with cannons. The first thing he noticed was the numerous ropes on the ship, which was not surprising, as sail-powered warships required many ropes to secure the sails. In the age of sail, cannons were typically placed on the sides of the ship. This warship was chasing the civilian ship from the bow, so it did not fire any cannons during the pursuit, which allowed the civilian ship to escape.

Could this be a pirate ship? He wondered, but he had never heard of pirates in the East China Sea with such advanced ships! He examined the warship more closely and noticed both blond, blue-eyed foreigners and black-eyed, black-haired Asians on board. The flag on the warship was predominantly red and yellow, with a complex pattern on the left side of the center!

Although he did not recognize the pattern, he recognized the shape and knew it was a Spanish warship! The Spanish navy was no longer the mighty Armada it once was, and it was unlikely that this warship had traveled all the way from Spain just to chase a civilian ship. Therefore, Deng Shichang concluded that the warship was from the Philippines, which was a Spanish colony at the time.

Deng Shichang reported this to the *Beijing*, which then ordered the rescue of the civilian ship.

A sail-powered warship was no match for a steam-powered warship in terms of maneuverability. The *Yoshino* quickly took a favorable position and fired a training shell as a warning. The warship, upon seeing the *Yoshino*, turned and fled without hesitation.

The civilian ship followed the *Yoshino* back to port. The captain was a lean middle-aged man who almost knelt when he saw Deng Shichang, saying, "I never thought I would see a brother from the Qing Dynasty here."

The Qing court had kept Deng Shichang's journey from Taiwan to Ryukyu a secret, publicly announcing that "Deng Shichang had died of a sudden illness." Lin Yuan had already secretly ordered Zhang Hua in Beijing to transport Deng Shichang's family to Ryukyu.

Therefore, Deng Shichang did not reveal his true identity. The captain introduced himself as Liu Hao and said, "We are a merchant ship from Taiwan, transporting coal. The Philippine ships always bully us. They don't just target merchant ships; they even attack fishing boats, stealing our goods and sometimes killing us! If we hadn't met you today, we would have been in grave danger!"

When Lin Yuan heard the word "coal," he was moved and said, "Why don't you transport coal for us in the future? We will not shortchange you, and we will provide naval protection!"

Liu Hao immediately promised, "Sir, you can rest assured. We will transport coal for you for free! There's still some coal left on this ship; you can take it."

Considering that the fleet was indeed short of coal, Lin Yuan did not refuse and accepted the coal.

After this incident, Deng Shichang suggested to Lin Yuan, "Our warships should no longer use their original Japanese names. We should give them new names!"

Lin Yuan nodded and said, "That's a good idea. I'll leave this task to you."

Lin Yuan suddenly thought of something and immediately found Liu Hao, asking, "Do you have any other mineral resources besides coal?"

Liu Hao was taken aback and asked, "What other mineral resources?"

Lin Yuan thought for a moment and asked, "Are there any foreigners operating mines near the mountains in your area?"

Liu Hao thought for a moment and said, "Now that you mention it, there is indeed a place where foreigners have been operating for a long time!"

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