dhibooks Chapter 230: It seems like all the fighting was for nothing?
Chapter 230: It seems like all the fighting was for nothing?
Fuzhou Command Center.
When the Helena sent a reply, Shen Li's eyes lit up slightly.
"Young Marshal, the British-flagged cargo ship has confirmed that it will give way to us along a safe route."
"The captain replied with two words in Chinese: 'Thank you.'"
Someone in the staff room almost burst out laughing.
Chen Zijun smiled as well.
"Foreigners are all talk and no action."
"Knowing where to survive is enough."
Hans looked at the nautical chart.
"The Spring Tide has changed course again."
"The cannon swept across the stern of the merchant ship for the second time."
Shen Li immediately took the telegram from the coastal defense observation station.
"A third danger is looming."
"Witness message has been sent."
Chen Zijun's eyes turned cold.
"Secondary countermeasures."
Shen Li tightened his grip on the pen.
"Target?"
"Foredeck."
Chen Zijun said, "Avoid the ammunition compartment and the engine room."
"Destroy its forward gun emplacement and rangefinding equipment."
"Make it hurt."
"Don't let it sink."
Hans whispered, "This will leave behind living evidence."
Chen Zijun glanced at him.
"right."
"Dead people only sink."
"The paralyzed ship can talk."
Xiamen Coastal Defense Station No. 1
The telephone operator's voice was dry.
"Fuzhou orders Level Two Countermeasures!"
"Target: the non-munitions core area on the forward deck of the Chunchao."
"Objective: Deactivate the danger-directing capability!"
Commander Luo didn't waste any words.
"Change to armor-piercing rounds!"
The young loader didn't shake this time.
He pushed the shell up, beads of sweat dripping from his forehead.
Commander Luo glanced at him.
Are you scared?
The young soldier gritted his teeth.
"Afraid."
"Being afraid is the right thing to do."
Commander Luo stared at the sea.
"I'm afraid of accidentally hurting my own people, and I'm afraid of losing face if I miss."
"But don't be afraid of Japanese ships."
He raised his hand.
"Correct orientation."
"First test."
"put!"
boom!
The second cannon shot was even deeper.
The shells streaked across the gray-blue sea.
On the bridge of the Chun Chao ship, the lookout's shouts changed.
"Come on, play!"
Major Nojima suddenly looked up.
Boom!
The shell hit the right side of the foredeck.
A flash of fire.
The secondary gun emplacement was blown open.
The rangefinder bracket broke into two pieces.
The two gunners were blown away and crashed into the gun shield, their bodies covered in blood.
Black smoke billowed from the foredeck.
The Chun Chao ship suddenly lurched.
Someone fell on the bridge.
The staff officer threw himself onto the chart table, hitting his forehead and drawing blood.
"Forward gun position damaged!"
"Distance measuring equipment damaged!"
"Fire on the bow!"
Major Nojima's face turned deathly pale.
Damage control!
Damage control!
He only realized his voice was trembling after he shouted.
This is no longer a warning.
The Chinese are really brave to fight.
And the shots were incredibly accurate.
The ammunition compartment was not hit.
There was no turbine.
They only overturned his forward gun emplacement and rangefinder equipment, which were the most likely points for him to continue his blundering.
It's like telling him.
You want to act?
The stage will be dismantled for you.
Bridge of the Zhen Dong ship.
Lin Chengzhang put down the binoculars.
His voice was a little hoarse.
"The forward gun position is useless."
The first mate asked, "Captain, should we fire the main guns?"
Lin Chengzhang stared at the black smoke in the distance.
The old navy man tapped his fingers twice on the railing.
"Main guns ready."
The adjutant was taken aback.
Lin Chengzhang said, "The young marshal is right."
"Today isn't about who fires the most shots."
"Today we're letting the Japanese know that Chinese rules aren't just written on paper and pasted on walls."
He turned and shouted, "This is the final warning!"
"The Chun Chao should immediately withdraw from the merchant shipping lane warning zone."
"Otherwise, the Zhen Dong will execute a maritime pressure maneuver!"
"Main gun rangefinder maintained!"
Inside the turret, the gunner touched the breechblock.
"clear!"
"Main guns ready!"
Twenty meters underwater.
Inside the U91-class No. 3 boat, the lights were dimly red.
Shui Tingbing's voice was urgent.
"Captain, slow down the Spring Tide!"
"The propeller rhythm is messed up!"
Zhao Dezhu looked at the small sea map.
"Where will it retreat to?"
The naval officers reported the location.
Zhao Dezhu drew a line on the map.
"Escape route on the flank."
The young torpedo soldier's eyes lit up.
"Captain, we can get the firing arc!"
Zhao Dezhu shook his head.
"No torpedoes allowed."
The young soldier was taken aback.
Zhao Dezhu continued, "But, we can install training mines, turn on the ballast gas, and release a white line."
Shui Tingbing looked up.
"Scare it?"
Zhao Dezhu said coldly, "It's not about scaring."
"It's to tell it that there are people underwater who can guide it."
The torpedo soldier swallowed hard.
"Aren't you going to bite them to death today?"
Zhao Dezhu stared at the flight path.
"Let it learn the way today."
"If he dares to take this road again, I'll bite him to death."
After a while.
The Chun Chao retreated along the flank, leaving a white mark beneath the sea surface.
Unhappy.
But it was very clear.
Like a visible pen, it wrote the word "death" in front of the Spring Tide.
On the bridge of the Chun Chao ship, the lookout was so frightened that his voice cracked.
"White line on the starboard side!"
"torpedo!"
Major Nojima grabbed the railing.
"Hard to starboard!"
The staff officer shouted, "Captain, hard to starboard will move us out of the warning zone!"
Major Nojima roared.
"That's still better than being cut in half!"
The Chun Chao ship spun sharply, trailing black smoke.
Before the fire at the bow could be extinguished, a large spray of water erupted from the stern.
It finally left the merchant shipping lane warning line.
The Helena has completely turned out of the dangerous angle.
Wilson saw the white line and his back was covered in cold sweat.
He whispered, "God."
The first mate asked, "Is that a real torpedo?"
Wilson looked at the distant Zhen Dong, at the smoke from the cannons on the shore, and then at the white line on the sea.
Does it matter whether it's true or not?
"The Japanese believed it."
"I believe it now."
The flagship of the Taiwan Fleet of Japan, the Iwami.
When Shinichi Terauchi received the telegram reporting that the Harushio was damaged, the flesh on his face twitched.
"Did the Chinese open fire?"
Lieutenant Colonel Kobayashi handed over the plaintext telegram.
"Fire!"
"But it's troublesome."
Terauchi Shin's expression darkened.
"What do you mean by 'it's troublesome'?"
Lieutenant Colonel Kobayashi whispered, "Chen's army has sent the two warnings, the three dangerous turns of the Chunchao, the evasive response from the Helena, the near misses of shore artillery, and the secondary countermeasure targets to the consulates and newspapers of various countries."
"The Helena also called back to confirm that it had left the Chen family army's safe route."
"The Shanghai Press has received the news alert."
Terauchi Shinichi snatched the telegram away.
The more he looked, the worse his complexion became.
The Chinese did not give him any grounds to claim that "Chinese warships threaten international waterways".
in contrast.
They portrayed the Chun Chao as a dangerous warship that threatened merchant shipping lanes.
Chen's army only attacked the foredeck.
Only the gun emplacement was abandoned.
Just force it to quit.
Once this telegram reaches Shanghai, and then enters the telegraph offices in London and Washington, the insurance company will only ask one question first.
Who forced the merchant ships into the guns?
Lieutenant Colonel Kobayashi cautiously asked, "Commander, should the main force advance to provide support?"
Shinichi gritted his teeth.
"Pressure forward."
Lieutenant Colonel Kobayashi's expression changed.
"But the Spring Tide has already withdrawn from the course. If the main force moves forward now, Chen's army will say that we are continuing to expand dangerous maneuvers."
Shinichi Terauchi turned to look at him.
Lieutenant Colonel Kobayashi dared not hide.
"Commander, the first pretext for the Qingchao campaign has already failed."
"Pressing now is not the way to save the spring tide."
"This is to provide a second piece of evidence for the Chinese."
Only the sound of the wind could be heard in the bridge.
Shinichi Terauchi's fists clenched until they turned white.
He wanted to curse.
I can't bring myself to curse.
Because Kobayashi is right.
This is not a case of the Chinese falling into a trap.
It was the Chun Chao that brought the Japanese fleet to the forefront of Chinese etiquette.
Snapped.
The rules were drawn with a louder sound than cannonballs.
Terauchi Shinichi said in a deep voice, "The main force should spread out five nautical miles."
Lieutenant Colonel Kobayashi breathed a sigh of relief.
Shinichi Terauchi added, "But I will not retreat."
"Order the Iwami and the two light cruisers to lower their main guns to low-level combat readiness."
"I want Chen Zijun to know."
"The advance ships are not the main force."
Lieutenant Colonel Xiaolin lowered his head.
"Yes."
Fuzhou Coastal Defense Temporary Command Center.
The telegram announcing that the Chun Chao ship had withdrawn from the warning line has been delivered.
Shen Li put down his pen.
"Young Marshal, the Helena has escaped the dangerous angle."
"The forward gun position of the Chun Chao ship is damaged, the ranging equipment is damaged, and it is withdrawing from the merchant shipping lane warning zone."
"Zhao Dezhu reports that the training torpedo line has forced the enemy ship to turn hard to starboard."
Hans couldn't help but chuckle when he heard the words "training Lei".
"This is so Chinese."
Chen Zijun looked at him.
Hans said, "Use a fake torpedo to create a real escape route."
Chen Zijun said calmly, "That's true."
"If it saw it, then it's true."
Shen Li handed over the draft of the telegram to the outside world.
"Young Marshal, should we send the telegram now?"
Chen Zijun glanced at it.
The power-on period is very short.
But it's very hard.
Chen Jiajun's coastal defense forces only take limited countermeasures against armed vessels that cross the warning line, lock onto merchant ships or our shoreline, and ignore two clear warnings.
The neutral merchant shipping lanes have been restored to safety.
Xiamen Customs, consulates of various countries, and Shanghai Post Office can inspect all copies of telegrams and observation records.
Chen Zijun picked up his pen and changed a word.
Change "verifiable" to "verifiable immediately".
"hair."
"Give Yang Yanzhao another copy."
"Make him release the supplementary evidence regarding the underground radio stations in the Xiamen concession."
Shen Li nodded.
"clear."
"At sea, we talk about the red line; on land, we talk about radio."
Chen Zijun smiled.
"right."
"On one hand, they're using warships to intimidate merchant ships."
"On one hand, they used the concession area as an underground military station."
"Split both accounts together."
"Let them choose for themselves: whether to lose face first or get scolded first."
Footsteps sounded at the door.
The radio operator ran in again.
"Report!"
"New Telecommunications of the Main Fleet of Japan in the Taiwan Strait"