Chapter 2, Launching the Torpedo

Liu Daming's eyes narrowed, and he became furious, saying: "I understand now, you are a spy for the little devils, worried that our Zhiyuan ship will approach you to launch torpedoes, which is why you want to throw all our torpedoes into the sea..."

The sailor turned around and said, "Gunner, what did you say?"

Liu Daming was already stunned by Lin Fei's move of "empty-handedly seizing the gun". He did not respond to Lin Fei's words, but instead stared blankly and said: "You... how did you take the gun over?"

Lin Fei did not have time to think much, he reached out and gave the launcher a heavy push on the shoulder, causing the launcher to stagger back a few steps. Lin Yuan seized the launch lever and exerted all his strength to push it down. The high-pressure air valve was immediately opened, and with a loud "boom," high-pressure air rushed into the launch tube, propelling the torpedo free from the constraints of the restrainer, plunging into the water like a nimble flying fish, creating a large splash.

As the finger of the gunner was already on the trigger, ready to pull it and turn Lin Fei into a sieve with a barrage of bullets, at that critical moment, a piercing sound of artillery shells tearing through the air was heard from outside the cabin, with shells heading straight for the torpedo compartment! Lin Fei shouted at the top of his lungs: "Get down!" He then lunged and fell to the ground. Although Liu Daming and the other sailors were not as quick to react as Lin Fei, they were not slow either; upon hearing Lin Fei's command, they also dropped to the ground.

Liu Daming was left speechless at this scene, while Lin Fei let out a sigh of relief, cold sweat streaming down his face, thinking: "That was close, the danger in the torpedo compartment has been resolved, the urgent task now is to guard against the torpedoes from the little devils"

In this era, the destructive power of nitrocellulose explosives does not match that of black powder and TNT mixed explosives of its own time. However, the torpedo compartment is located near the waterline of the Zhiyuan ship. Once an explosion occurs, a large amount of seawater will rush into the Zhiyuan ship. At this point, the Zhiyuan ship has already been hit in multiple places, with several watertight compartments taking on water. If struck by three torpedoes, it is inevitable that it will sink

Lin Fei was also enraged, thinking to himself that he had risked his life to save the Zhiyuan ship, yet not only did you not appreciate it, but you also regarded him as a spy! Let's just throw you into the sea first!

Accompanied by the sound of explosions, shouts of "Hurry, put out the fire!" came from outside the cabin. The shells of the Japanese warship contained incendiary agents, which would ignite upon hitting the target. Lin Fei's heart sank; it was a race against time. The Japanese shells had already reached the stern of the ship, and the next shell might directly hit the torpedo compartment. These three black-headed torpedoes each contained twenty-five kilograms of nitrocellulose explosives, totaling seventy-five kilograms of explosives among the three torpedoes.

Lin Fei thought to himself: "If I continue to waste words with you, the shells from the Japanese ship will truly arrive. Modern warships are equipped with emergency torpedo ejection ports to prevent internal accidents from torpedo explosions harming themselves, allowing torpedoes to be ejected outside the ship in an instant. I wonder if the Zhiyuan has such a feature."

Lin Fei glanced at the launcher and said, "I can't worry about that anymore. If you want to survive, listen to me and come help me launch the next torpedo!" After saying this, Lin Fei paid no attention to the stunned Qing navy sailors, and with a swift movement, he rushed to the torpedo track vehicle, released the brake, and pushed the vehicle closer to the launch tube

Lin Fei said while climbing the stairs: "The torpedoes of the little devils are equipped neither with gyroscopes nor with pendulum accelerometers, so the heading control system can be disregarded. Without a heading control system, even the slightest external disturbance is enough to cause them to veer off course! I will use a water gun to make the torpedo veer off course!"

At this moment, the deck was filled with bright red flames, the scorching fire made it painful for people, and the thick black smoke made it impossible to open their eyes. Amidst the dense smoke, several sailors were holding water guns, aiming at the flames on the deck. The water guns sprayed bright white jets of water, dousing the flames with a hissing sound.

Liu Daming exclaimed in surprise, "What did you say? What are the things called 'Tuo Yi' and 'Bai Ji'?"

Lin Fei understood that Deng Shichang's command of "turn the helm fifteen degrees to the right" meant to turn the helm fifteen degrees to the right, enabling the Zhiyuan ship to turn and evade the torpedo. However, the Zhiyuan ship showed no inclination to turn at all and continued on its original course towards the Yoshino ship. As Lin Fei was pondering the situation, he suddenly saw Deng Shichang running towards him with several sailors.

Lin Fei snatched the pistol and pointed it at Liu Daming, shouting: "The Japanese artillery shells will soon hit this place, have your men launch the torpedoes immediately, hurry!"

Although Liu Daming's voice was loud, the deck was simply too noisy, and no one heard his words. Therefore, Liu Daming stopped shouting, rushed a few steps to Lin Fei, and reached out to grab Lin Fei's collar. Lin Fei was completely focused on the torpedo and was caught off guard by Liu Daming's grip.

Liu Daming stared with eyes as big as copper bells and said: "How do we deal with the torpedoes of the little devils?"

The old sailor looked bewildered, seemingly not understanding Lin Fei's words. It was then that Lin Fei remembered that in the Beiyang Fleet, all discussions related to ship operations were conducted in English. Therefore, Lin Fei switched his words to English. The old sailor nodded dumbly and moved slightly at the hatch, causing a large opening to appear in the hull. Lin Fei then adjusted the switch, aligning the direction of the railcar with the hatch, and then kicked the railcar hard. The railcar emitted a clattering sound as it fell into the sea from the hatch. The old sailor nodded dumbly and moved slightly at the hatch, causing a large opening to appear in the hull. Lin Fei then adjusted the switch, aligning the direction of the railcar with the hatch, and then kicked the railcar hard. The railcar emitted a clattering sound as it fell into the sea from the hatch

Quick, hand me the water gun, there is a torpedo

The four men in the torpedo compartment were stunned. The launcher trembled as he said to Lin Fei: "You launched the torpedo without Lord Liu's order; those who act on their own and disobey military orders shall be executed! Gunner, you will be beheaded..."

At that moment, Liu Daming emerged from beneath the deck, pointing at Lin Fei and shouting loudly: "He is a spy! Hurry and capture him."

Lin Fei turned around and saw that Liu Daming was holding a revolver, the muzzle pointed directly at him. The technique of "disarming an opponent with empty hands" flashed through his mind in an instant. Lin Fei acted with lightning speed, and before Liu Daming could comprehend what was happening, the revolver was already in Lin Fei's hands

Lin Fei shouted as he rushed out of the cabin: "Use the water gun!"

Lin Fei suddenly jumped up and shouted loudly: "Hurry up, get up, come with me to the deck, and fight against the little devils' torpedoes!"

Lin Fei shouted sternly: "Hurry up and throw out the torpedo, it will be too late if you delay!"

Lin Fei turned his head and saw several sailors armed with rifles rushing into the torpedo compartment, aiming their guns at him. These sailors harbored a deep-seated hatred for the Japanese, and upon hearing that Lin Fei was a spy, they disregarded his position as the artillery officer and were ready to open fire.

Lin Feigang wanted to seize Liu Daming's hand to counterattack when suddenly the voice of Deng Shichang came from the ship: "I have detected a torpedo on the port side of the ship, hard to starboard fifteen!"

Lin Fei thought to himself: "If I explain, the Zhiyuan ship will be sunk!" Lin Fei ignored him and rushed up to the deck. At this moment, the Japanese ship had realized the threat posed by the Zhiyuan ship and concentrated its firepower to launch an attack. The Japanese army's rapid-fire cannons were numerous, with a firing rate of up to five shells per minute. The area around the Zhiyuan ship was suddenly filled with the sounds of "whoosh" as shells flew by and the "splashing" of water columns. Lin Fei looked up at the distant Yoshino ship and quickly measured the distance using the jump-eye method—three hundred and fifty meters. Considering the relative speed of the two ships, it was the perfect moment for the Japanese ship to launch torpedoes.

Liu Daming clearly did not understand Lin Fei's words, and while following Lin Fei out of the cabin, he shouted loudly: "How can you use a water gun to shoot a torpedo?"

Lin Fei was deep in thought as he looked towards the end of the track. Sure enough, he saw a branch line leading to the bulkhead, where there was something resembling a hatch with the words "EMERGENCY EJECTION" written in English. Lin Fei turned and aimed his gun at the old sailor, saying fiercely: "Open the emergency ejection door!"

From a distance, Deng Shichang shouted loudly: "Liu Daming, Lin Fei, what are you doing? Hurry up and come help us with the helm!" It turned out that the Zhiyuan ship had two steering systems. One was a hydraulic steering system, located near the command tower at the bow of the Zhiyuan ship. When Deng Shichang issued steering commands, the helmsman could steer, and the commands were transmitted through a hydraulic transmission amplification device to the rudder at the stern of the ship. The other was a manual steering system, located at the stern, which was what Deng Shichang referred to as the "helm." One hydraulic steering system was located near the command tower at the bow of the Zhiyuan ship. When Deng Shichang issued steering commands, the helmsman could steer, and the commands were transmitted through a hydraulic transmission amplification device to the rudder at the stern of the ship. The other was a manual steering system, located at the stern, which was what Deng Shichang referred to as the "helm."

The white long stripe clearly indicated the torpedo's trajectory, and Lin Fei could completely detect the underwater torpedo based on this long stripe. At that moment, a white long stripe appeared on the surface of the sea to the port side of the Zhiyuan ship. In a critical moment, Lin Fei rushed frantically towards a sailor holding a water gun

Lin Fei pointed at the sea with his hand and shouted sternly, "Don't you see the torpedo over there? Hurry up and give me the water gun!"

A loud "bang" was heard, but there was no sound of an explosion. Everyone looked up and saw two large holes suddenly appear in the left bulkhead and the lower deck. It turned out that this shell was an armor-piercing round that would not explode, having directly penetrated the torpedo bulkhead and the lower deck of the torpedo compartment. If Lin Fei had not pushed the torpedo out, this shell would have struck the torpedo directly, and the violent impact would have inevitably triggered the torpedo's explosion

The sailor turned back to glance at the surface of the sea, but unfortunately, he did not understand the principles of torpedoes and failed to recognize that the white streak on the water's surface was the wake of a torpedo. Thus, he turned his head back and continued to extinguish the fire with the water gun

Lin Fei had just pushed the railcar when he heard Liu Daming's voice behind him: "Lin Fei, I saw you launch the torpedo! What are you going to do? Let go of the railcar, or I will shoot you dead!"

Lin Fei knelt on the deck, lowering his body to evade the splattering shrapnel and thick black smoke, his eyes fixed intently on the surface of the sea. In this era, torpedoes are propelled by high-pressure air, which creates bubbles in the water. When these bubbles rise to the surface, they form a long white streak, particularly striking against the azure sea.

Lin Fei pointed with his eyes at another railcar, and the old sailor understood, opening the hatch. Lin Fei walked over and kicked the railcar out. Watching the railcar, along with the torpedo, fall into the sea, Lin Fei let out a sigh of relief. But at that moment, he suddenly heard Liu Daming shouting from behind: "Fire! Open fire! Shoot that traitor Lin Fei dead!"