Chapter 83

Han Mingguang watched the scene of the Beiyang Fleet's惨败, and said silently, "I will take full responsibility; it was my fault that we missed the opportunity."

Lin Yuan shook his head and said, "Let's not talk about this now. First, let's rescue the Qing soldiers in the sea."

Several ships from the Ryukyu First Fleet rushed to the area after the battle to rescue the Qing soldiers who had fallen into the water. Deng Shichang watched from the deck, his brows tightly furrowed.

Deng Shichang watched as the warships launched small boats, and several soldiers rowed them to rescue the Qing soldiers who were struggling in the water, bringing them back to the warships. One Qing soldier, upon seeing Deng Shichang, seemed to have found his savior. He broke free from the people holding him, knelt down at Deng Shichang's feet with a thud, and cried out, "Sir Deng, why are you here? You must avenge us!"

Deng Shichang took a closer look and recognized this man as Zhao Lao Si, a gunner from the Zhiyuan warship. Thinking of his own Zhiyuan, which had now sunk to the bottom of the sea, Deng Shichang felt a deep sorrow. Seeing Zhao Lao Si sobbing, he felt even more heartache.

On the Beijing warship.

Lin Yuan said to Han Mingguang, "Commissar, what should we do next? I would like to hear your opinion."

Han Mingguang said, "I think the destruction of the Beiyang Fleet is a good opportunity to change the Qing Dynasty. A country will not undergo reform unless it is in a state of crisis. To change the Qing Dynasty, we can start with soft power."

Lin Yuan asked, "Soft power?"

Han Mingguang said, "Yes, to change the semi-feudal and semi-colonial situation of today's China, we must start with soft power. We need to promote the ideas of democracy, republicanism, and science, and make them deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. During the May Fourth Movement, didn't they say that only 'Mr. Democracy and Mr. Science' can save China? We need to spread these ideas to every Qing citizen."

Lin Yuan nodded and said, "You are right, but the immediate priority is how to resolve this war."

Han Mingguang said, "What is your opinion?"

Lin Yuan said, "I believe my judgment was correct. The British want to destroy the Beiyang Fleet and then gain colonies and reparations at the negotiating table. If we can make the British withdraw without a fight, the Qing government might cede less territory and pay less silver."

Han Mingguang asked, "Do you have a plan? We should avoid revealing our identities to avoid causing trouble for Ryukyu."

Lin Yuan nodded and said, "I have a plan. We can make the British suffer a significant loss without them knowing who did it." As he spoke, Lin Yuan frowned.

Han Mingguang asked, "What's wrong?"

Lin Yuan said, "I just thought of something. We may have another opponent, Russia. They might be planning to attack Northeast China from the land."

At that moment, someone reported, "General Deng Shichang wants to see Lin Yuan."

Lin Yuan quickly said, "Please bring him in." Before he finished speaking, Deng Shichang walked in.

Deng Shichang looked worried and asked Lin Yuan, "Captain Lin, didn't you say we had a way to strike the British fleet?"

Lin Yuan, of course, understood what Deng Shichang meant. He was blaming him for not saving the Beiyang Fleet!

Deng Shichang continued, "Captain Lin, my men all say that the British are too arrogant. We can't just sit by and do nothing."

At this moment, everyone in the command room put down their work and looked at Lin Yuan with great anticipation. Lin Yuan said, "Sir Deng, we have a way to attack the British fleet. We will use your warship, and the time is tonight."

Lin Yuan decided not to use the aircraft on the Beijing warship, mainly because he didn't want to waste valuable flight hours and weapons on the British fleet. He had a better plan, which he explained to Deng Shichang in a subsequent meeting.

Night soon fell, and Deng Shichang had already renamed the Jiyuan warship to "Jingzhong." He led his men and slowly approached the British fleet with the Jingzhong.

Even under the cover of night, the sea was restless. The wind whipped up the waves, creating a loud noise. After the battle, the British fleet did not continue sailing but chose to anchor and rest.

Due to the lack of night vision equipment in this era, night battles were almost unimaginable, as it was difficult to detect distant targets in the dark.

This gave the Beijing warship and the Jingzhong an excellent opportunity. The Beijing warship was equipped with the most advanced night vision equipment, making the night as clear as day. Unmanned reconnaissance drones quickly locked onto the position of the British fleet and transmitted the coordinates in real-time to the Jingzhong.

The Jingzhong maintained a low speed to minimize noise and avoid detection. When it was 3,000 meters away from the outermost British warship, the HMS Barfleur, the Jingzhong activated its large infrared night vision device.

This infrared night vision device was powered by a large battery. The eyepiece focused the light on an image intensifier. Inside the intensifier, photons hit the photocathode, converting their energy into electrons. The electrons were accelerated in an electrostatic field and then hit a screen, where the phosphor emitted light upon impact, forming an image visible to the human eye.

Deng Shichang looked curiously at the display screen, where the outline of the HMS Barfleur appeared in green. White lines occasionally appeared on the green screen, which was the natural luminescence of the phosphor screen. This made Deng Shichang even more curious about the Beijing warship.

The night vision device was equipped with a laser rangefinder. A laser beam was emitted from the rangefinder, hit the HMS Barfleur, and reflected back. The receiving device detected the reflected light and quickly measured the exact distance. This method was much more accurate than traditional optical rangefinders.

When the Jingzhong was 1,000 meters away, Deng Shichang ordered the guns to fire.

The Jiyuan was one of the better cruisers in the world, equipped with four 150mm quick-firing guns. Two were mounted on the deck at the bow and stern, and the other two were on the side platforms. These side platforms, also known as side turrets, were protrusions on the sides of the ship where guns were installed, resembling ears, hence the name.

This configuration allowed the Jiyuan to have three 150mm guns aimed at the HMS Barfleur, and they fired simultaneously.

During the day's battle, the HMS Barfleur had been hit below the waterline by the Chao Yong's ram, and the damage was barely sealed. The exhausted crew was resting when three high-explosive shells suddenly exploded on the deck, waking the crew from their sleep in confusion.

They never expected to be attacked. Even during the day, it was difficult to find a fleet, let alone at night. Moreover, the Beiyang Fleet had been destroyed, so who would attack them?

The crew of the HMS Barfleur initially thought it was an accident with their own ammunition, but then a barrage of shells hit the ship.