Chapter 1, The Rescue of the Zhiyuan Ship

Lin Feigang was about to turn to the starboard torpedo compartment when he suddenly heard a loud bang coming from the stern of the ship. The vessel shook violently, causing everyone in the torpedo compartment to stumble.

The sailor said: "I am going to the starboard torpedo room..."

Lin Fei thought: "If I watch the Zhiyuan ship collide with the Yoshino ship, the Zhiyuan ship will surely be sunk by the Yoshino ship, and I will also perish in the sea. I must not allow the Zhiyuan ship to sink!"

Lin Fei immediately turned his head to look at the port side, realizing that on modern cruisers and destroyers, torpedo launchers are mostly deployed in three to five mounts on the deck. Therefore, he assumed that the torpedoes on the Zhiyuan were also located in this position. However, on the port side of the Zhiyuan, Lin Fei did not see anything resembling a torpedo launcher. He suddenly felt a surge of anxiety; if there were none on the deck, then they must certainly be below!

The burly man named Liu Daming finished speaking and drew his saber, swinging it towards Lin Fei. Lin Fei gently turned and dodged the blow. The big man raised his knife again to strike, when suddenly Deng Shichang shouted loudly from the flying bridge: "Liu Daming! Put away the knife!"

The sailor was taken aback and exclaimed, "Gunner, what did you say?"

When Lin Fei opened his eyes, everything was drastically different; the sound of booming artillery echoed in his ears, and as he looked around, smoke filled the air

The world's earliest torpedo was designed by the British inventor Whitehead in 1866. The name Whitehead translates directly to "white head," and thus this type of torpedo was referred to as the "Whitehead torpedo." Once it was introduced, it was imitated by various countries, with the German imitation being called the "Blackhead torpedo"

Lin Fei shouted loudly: "Once the shells from the Japanese warships hit here, the torpedoes will sink the Zhiyuan ship, quickly launch the torpedoes."

As soon as the words fell, Lin Fei saw a burly man, a head taller than himself, leap in front of him, shouting angrily: "Lin Fei, I didn't expect you to be a coward afraid of death. I, Liu Daming, do not recognize you as my brother. I will cut you down first!"

Lin Fei urgently exclaimed, "Where is Deputy Liu? Where has he gone?"

Lin Fei found the nearest deck entrance, leaped down the ladder, and shouted loudly at a sailor who was trying to extinguish flames with a wet blanket: "Where is the torpedo compartment?"

Liu Daming reluctantly sheathed his knife. Deng Shichang pointed into the distance and said: "The Japanese warship relies solely on the Yoshino. If our forces can sink the Yoshino in one strike, victory is assured. However, we are left with only small-caliber machine gun ammunition and no large-caliber shells. You know this better than I do. The only weapons we have to damage the Yoshino are torpedoes and ramming. The hit rate of torpedoes is too low and may not hit the enemy ship, so we can only use ramming to sink the Yoshino."

The battlefield changes rapidly, leaving no room for Lin Fei to think too much. At this moment, he crouched down and touched the shell, his brows furrowing into a "川" shape. During his time at the military academy, Lin Fei accumulated a wealth of military knowledge and was naturally familiar with artillery shells. He shook his head and said: "It cannot be further filed down, otherwise the shell casing may not withstand the chamber pressure"

Everyone turned to look at Lin Fei, who said loudly: "The Yoshino ship is equipped with twelve various types of rapid-fire guns. We are very likely to be sunk before we collide with it! We should take advantage of the fact that the Zhiyuan ship has not completely lost power and quickly change course to withdraw from the battlefield!"

Lin Fei looked down and saw a strong man with rolled-up sleeves, revealing his dark and well-defined arms. In his hand, he held a file, and beneath the file lay a copper-colored shell, its band marked with deep and shallow file marks. Many shells from the Beiyang Fleet exceeded the standard tolerance range, and they had to be processed with a file before use; otherwise, they could not fit into the cannon chamber.

The crowd shouted in unison: "Sink the Yoshino! Raise our military prestige!", "Sink the Yoshino! Raise our military prestige!"

The sailor furrowed his brow and said, "Without the order from Chief Liu, I cannot launch the torpedo"

Lin Fei was aware that the shells from the Japanese warships could strike the torpedo compartment at any moment. Without engaging in further conversation with the sailors, he issued a command in a decisive tone: "Pull the lever, launch the torpedoes, quickly!"

At this thought, Lin Fei's heart stirred. He looked up at the Yoshino ship and noticed that it was still far from the Zhiyuan ship. In this era, the maximum range of torpedoes was only 500 meters, so the Yoshino ship would not launch torpedoes just yet. What needed to be done now was to drop the torpedoes from the left side of the Zhiyuan ship. If the second scenario were true, then the Zhiyuan ship still had a glimmer of hope. Lin Fei could only take a gamble now; if the first scenario were true, then they could only leave it to fate. What needed to be done now was to drop the torpedoes from the left side of the Zhiyuan ship. If the second scenario were true, then the Zhiyuan ship still had a glimmer of hope. Lin Fei could only take a gamble now; if the first scenario were true, then they could only leave it to fate.

The gunners near the flying bridge and the officers and soldiers on the deck heard Deng Shichang's roar and gathered towards the flying bridge

Lin Fei thought of this and shouted, "Wait a moment!"

Lin Fei was born into a military family and grew up in a special forces base, where he faced numerous challenges from a young age. Later, he was admitted to the Naval Aviation Academy to study fighter jet piloting. Due to his outstanding abilities, his superiors assigned him to a naval base for training in naval vessel command, hoping that he would eventually become the captain of an aircraft carrier. At this moment, Lin Fei should have been training at the Lushun Naval Training Base, but now, his mind was in a state of confusion, not knowing where he was.

At that moment, a sudden roar came from behind: "Brothers!"

On either side of the launch tube, there is a track, with a small cart placed on each track. Each cart carries an object that is pointed at both ends and thick and round in the middle. The tail of this object is equipped with a propeller, while the head has a fuse as sharp as a knife. This is precisely the German-made black-headed torpedo equipped on the Zhiyuan ship

Deng Shichang's words resonated powerfully, and the gathered crowd erupted with deafening roars. Deng Shichang raised his sword and pointed towards the warship cutting through the waves in the distance, proclaiming loudly: "The warship ahead is the Japanese ship 'Yoshino'. This vessel is fast and heavily armed, a source of confidence for the Japanese. I command, full speed ahead, ram and sink the 'Yoshino', to uphold our military prestige!"

The sailor lifted his head and glared fiercely at a warship in the distance that was flying the Japanese military flag, forcefully throwing the file onto the deck, causing a splash of fine sand that was laid down to prevent slipping on the deck.

Deputy Liu is the strong man named Liu Daming. On the Zhiyuan ship, there is a position known as the Torpedo Deputy, who is specifically responsible for the maintenance, upkeep, and launching of torpedoes, as well as the operation of torpedo boats. Liu Daming holds that position.

The crowd no longer paid attention to Lin Fei and ran towards their respective positions. Liu Daming shot Lin Fei a fierce glare before also running away. Lin Fei sighed inwardly; Deng Shichang was notoriously stubborn, and at this moment, it was impossible to persuade him. For now, the only option was to take it one step at a time.

The sailor did not have time to salute; he pointed behind him with his hand and said, "There." Lin Fei pushed past the sailor and ran towards the back, crashing through the door of the cabin. In the center of the cabin stood a large cylindrical object, aimed at the opening on the side of the ship. On top of this large cylinder was a smaller cylinder. Lin Fei knew that the large cylinder was a torpedo launch tube, and the smaller cylinder on top was a high-pressure gas cylinder. The torpedo was propelled by the high-pressure gas inside the gas cylinder.

At this moment, Lin Fei heard a burly man anxiously exclaim: "Gunner? Gunner? The ammunition belt has been ground down by nearly 1 minute, yet it still cannot be loaded into the cannon chamber. The Japanese warship Yoshino is right in front of us. What should we do?"

The reasons for the sinking of the Zhiyuan ship have long been a subject of considerable debate in academic circles, with two explanations being the most popular. The first is that a torpedo fired by the Yoshino struck the Zhiyuan ship. The second is that a shell from the Yoshino hit the torpedo on the left side of the Zhiyuan ship, causing the torpedo to explode and leading to the sinking of the Zhiyuan ship

Lin Fei knew that the collars of the sailors in the Beiyang Fleet were embroidered with the names of their respective warships in gold thread. Therefore, he looked at the collar of a sailor and saw the words "Zhi Yuan" prominently embroidered in gold. Lin Fei's heart suddenly jolted; he was actually on the Zhi Yuan, which was about to sink!

Amidst the resounding roar of anger, Lin Fei felt a surge of panic in his heart, for he was acutely aware of what had transpired behind him: the Zhiyuan ship had been sunk by the Japanese vessel, and of the crew aboard, only seven had managed to escape by a stroke of luck, while the rest perished for their country

Lin Fei turned around and saw a stern-looking man standing on the flying bridge, holding a command sword. From the man's attire, Lin Fei recognized that this person must be Deng Shichang, the captain of the Zhiyuan ship.

Lin Fei took a few steps to the front of the torpedo launch tube, glanced at the English label on the launch tube, and immediately understood that the wrench held by the sailor was the torpedo firing mechanism, and that sailor was the launcher. He then looked at the pressure gauge behind the launch tube, where the needle was resting on the "10 MPa" mark, knowing that the torpedo launch tube was fully pressurized and that pulling the firing mechanism would enable the launch

Lin Fei still wanted to persuade, but Deng Shichang spoke loudly: "Everyone need not say much, each to their own, sink the Yoshino, and raise our military prestige!"

Only then did Deng Shichang shout loudly: "We, as soldiers, serve our country, having long set aside life and death. Today, the Beiyang Fleet is in peril; the only way to repay our country is through death. Even if we perish, we shall uphold the prestige of the Chinese Navy!"

Lin Fei looked at himself and saw that he was wearing a blue satin front-opening gown. The cuffs of the gown were adorned with a pattern of the character "寿" (longevity), and the insignia on his right arm featured a red tassel spear and a square-headed halberd. Lin Fei was immediately astonished; this outfit was clearly the uniform of the Beiyang Fleet, and he was dressed as an officer, with the insignia indicating the rank of "Gunner Chief." He had unexpectedly returned to the Beiyang Fleet and become a Gunner Chief! The soldier had just mentioned that the Japanese ship Yoshino was right ahead, so it seemed that this was the battlefield of the First Sino-Japanese War! He had unexpectedly returned to the Beiyang Fleet and become a Gunner Chief! The soldier had just mentioned that the Japanese ship Yoshino was right ahead, so it seemed that this was the battlefield of the First Sino-Japanese War! He wondered on which ship of the Beiyang Fleet he was currently stationed.

At that moment, the shooter saw Lin Fei and said to him, "Artillery Chief, what brings you here?"

Beside the torpedo launch tube stood an old sailor with long, graying braids, who was intently gazing outside the ship and shouting into a microphone: "Eight hundred meters, fifty meters to the Yoshino! Eight hundred meters..." Behind the old sailor, two young sailors were supporting the torpedo launch tube, one of them gripping a wrench at the back of the tube. They were all focused on the view outside and completely unaware of Lin Fei's arrival

Lin Fei saw in front of him the breech of a twin-barreled cannon, with the wedge-shaped breech block opened, a cleaning cloth thrown aside, and the surface covered with unburned black powder. Outside the breech was a crescent-shaped shield, behind which crouched several strong men, each with a large braid atop their heads, dressed in coarse cloth front-opening jackets, and wearing armbands adorned with a peculiar design—crossed red tassel spears and square-headed halberds.