Chapter 8 The eighth chapter raises the commander-in-chief alone, Deng Shichang fights against the Japanese navy with a lone ship

In 1868, when the newly established Fuzhou Shipbuilding Academy opened, a person walked into the classroom of the school. He was the oldest student in the school.Most of the classmates are in the age of twelve or thirteen, but he is already 19 years old. After becoming a naval officer at the captain level, he had the nickname "Deng Hanzi".I once asked the local people in Weihai what the precise meaning of "half-dagger" refers to those who are particularly serious and brave, and bravery also includes the reckless trait of being confused.Deng Shichang is such a person. During Deng Shichang's career as a captain, the warships he led can be said to have had the most accidents in the Beiyang Fleet.All sorts of strange accidents, including running aground, running aground, crashing a warship, etc., can happen to Mr. Deng.The most powerful thing is that once a warship went to sea, I don’t know whether it was because he forgot to bring coal or Mr. Deng thought that he could go to the deep sea with a little coal. As a result, the coal was exhausted, and the warship drifted at sea for half a month.

Deng Shichang is usually an introverted and quiet man, but he is extremely strict in running the army.Although his warships had frequent accidents, the assessment scores of the soldiers were the highest in the entire Beiyang Fleet, even surpassing the flagship Dingyuan. After Huashan Shiji's danger was lifted, Yuto Ito adjusted his tactics and swapped the positions and tasks of the main force and the vanguard: the main force encircled and wiped out the weak ships of the Beiyang Fleet, and the vanguard returned to entangle Dingyuan and Zhenyuan. Ito Yuheng's decision came from changes in the battlefield situation.The 320mm cannon specially used by Matsushima to deal with Dingyuan has been destroyed. Although the other two ships of the "Sanjing Ship" still have cannons, they have frequent failures in actual combat tests. As far as the range is concerned, since it is useless to deal with Dingyuan's cannons, it is better to use faster vanguards to entangle Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, so that the main force can deal with weak ships with all their strength.This is a wise choice.

Therefore, the positions of the two sides were reversed.The main team rushed to the position again, and the vanguard team, which had completed the task of sinking, encircling and annihilating Chaoyong and showing off its prestige, returned to the front of the formation and rushed to Dingyuan! The rapid-fire guns of the four killers all fired at Dingyuan, forming a dense firepower network without gaps!Although these shells could not penetrate Dingyuan's thick armor, a fire ignited on the Dingyuan ship that was hit, and the fire was very intense. In front of the huge fire water column, there was still no sign of being extinguished, and the steel plate was roasted red. Dingyuan is like being in an iron furnace.

A familiar scene appeared.This is not a general fire caused by the explosion of a shell, but a fire that can burn in steel and water. The way of burning is sticking. This is a veritable terrible fire. It has another name: the fire of hell. The secret of all this comes from an explosive used by the Japanese army, an extremely terrifying explosive. People who know explosives should be familiar with a term - TNT. TNT explosives are widely used in the field of blasting such as cutting mountains and roads and demolishing buildings. Of course, it is also indispensable for shells in war. Since its invention, it has been the most commonly used filling explosive in shells.

But the reason why TNT can get the honorary title of "King of Explosives" is not because of its great power, but because of its high safety. Its performance is very stable, and it cannot explode by itself. It needs a detonating device (such as a fuse) to detonate. If there is no detonating device, TNT can be taken home to boil water and cook.Before TNT was invented, picric acid was mainly used to make explosives. It will explode, which can be called "a kick".Therefore, since the appearance of TNT, all countries have basically given up the shells filled with picric acid explosives, and dare not use it in combat, so as not to hurt their own people.

The only exception is the Japanese. In 1891, a Japanese engineer named Shigase Yayun developed an improved version of picric acid dynamite-Shigase dynamite on the basis of the original. The lethality of Shitase dynamite is one step further than that of picric acid dynamite.After it explodes, the temperature at the center of the fire can exceed 1,000 degrees Celsius, and the flame will spread and flow like gasoline on fire, so it can burn on steel and water. But at the same time, its "sensitivity" has also increased. If the picric acid explosive is a kick, then the Shitase explosive is the legendary one-touch sound.Even if the shell hits a mast rope, it will explode, and it will also explode if it is subjected to a slight external force during the handling process.Therefore, it is very dangerous to use shells filled with Shitase explosives, and they must be handled very carefully, otherwise they will be blown up in the hands of the bomb carrier by accident.

From January 1893, the Japanese Navy began to equip this kind of shells filled with Shitose explosives-it is worth noting that only the Japanese army is equipped with this kind of shells in the world. The Beiyang Navy still uses traditional black powder, but even black powder is not filled with every shell. If you don't pack black powder, what will you pack?Dirt and sand. The shells of the Beiyang Fleet are divided into two types. One is filled with black powder and explodes after hitting the target. It relies on the explosion to generate lethality or cause a fire to hit the enemy ship. This is called a blasting shell.The other is the "solid bullet" that is not filled with gunpowder. It will not explode after hitting the target, and rely on the penetrating force generated to penetrate key parts such as the waterline of the enemy ship, causing the enemy ship to enter the water.

Obviously, explosive bullets are far more powerful than solid bullets. Since the blasting bullet is more powerful, but the solid bullet is not powerful, why use it?I think everyone has guessed the reason: money. Gunpowder is very expensive, and sand and soil are everywhere. As long as it doesn't affect the city's appearance and invite urban management, just dig a few loads at any place. And there is another important reason - technology.When the Japanese had already developed Shigase gunpowder, the explosive bombs of the Qing Dynasty had not been able to be made domestically and relied on imports. The two major military industrial enterprises-Jiangnan Machinery Manufacturing Bureau and Tianjin Machinery Bureau could only produce solid bombs.Before the war, although the Tianjin Machinery Bureau barely made some explosive shells and equipped them to the Beiyang Fleet, the shells on all warships were still mainly solid shells.

Unlike most of the advanced weapons in the Qing Dynasty, which had been bought from abroad with money, the Japanese army had a very simple idea to solve the weapon problem, that is: they must try their best to achieve domestic production. We don't engage in image engineering, and we don't blindly pursue the prosperity and strength of the surface. We pay more attention to the development of "inside".Because we know that prosperity without the participation of all citizens is not truly rich, and strength without the participation of all citizens is not truly powerful.There is a word called big but inappropriate, and there is another word called short and dainty.What can hit the opponent is not the thick armor, not the steel giant, not the gun mount with an increasing caliber, but the shell itself!So we are deliberate, strive for perfection, details determine life and death, everything starts from the actual effect!

This is the philosophy of the Japanese. The fire on the Dingyuan ship was difficult to extinguish in a short period of time.Although Lin Tai once ordered Zhenyuan to rush to Dingyuan, use the hull of the ship to block the artillery fire for Dingyuan, and wait for an opportunity to fire back, but the cunning four killers adopted a ring attack tactic, and the four warships took advantage of their speed to surround Dingyuan and Dingyuan. Zhenyuan ran around, avoiding the artillery fire while firing cannons. Zhenyuan soon fell into danger, and the situation of Dingyuan without protection was even more difficult.

Deng Shichang saw this scene. The most serious problem of the Beiyang Fleet is not just the fire of the Dingyuan middle gun, but another problem. From the previous scene of being unhelpful, the problem has already emerged-the fleet lacks a unified command, and the various warships have fallen into a situation where they are fighting on their own. All this came from Yoshino's shot at the beginning of the battle. At that time, there were no walkie-talkies or mobile phones, and communication was basically by shouting. The sea was very rough and the shouting was inaudible.Therefore, the fleet commander relied on another set of things to command the fleet at sea-the signal flag system.Different flags represent different semaphore, and when one flag is raised, everyone will understand what it means. The gun fired by Yoshino not only injured Ding Ruchang, but also destroyed Dingyuan's signal flag system.This problem, which went unnoticed at the time, is now finally having serious consequences. After being injured, Ding Ruchang sat on the deck to supervise the battle. He was not injured even if he was slightly injured, and his spirit was commendable, but he seemed to have forgotten that it was not only the soldiers on the Dingyuan ship that he needed to motivate, but the soldiers of the entire Beiyang Fleet. He was responsible for the entire Commander of the Beiyang Fleet! It is precisely because there is no unified command that when the Hiei was attacked, a scene of disservice appeared.Everyone came to fight Hiei, but no one could beat Hiei. This problem is serious, but not without solutions. The way is to rely on prior plans. Any situation on the battlefield is possible, such as a sudden gust of wind, a sudden shower of rain, accidental injuries to personnel, sudden failure of weapons, and so on. Therefore, an excellent commander must set up many plans before the battle, the most important of which is to prepare candidates for the command echelon. If the coach is accidentally injured or dies in battle, who can take over as the coach, who is the second substitute after an accident happens to the substitute, and who is the junior when the second substitute is not safe.These are all things that should come to mind. For the same reason, it is also necessary to consider which warship can be used as a substitute ship if the flagship has an accident. It's really complicated, and not enough brains.But this is war.For a war, in addition to the contest of strength, tactics, bravery, and luck, there is also a contest of mind, and then turn these into - on-the-spot command! Ding Ruchang did not formulate a plan. As a result, the Beiyang Fleet could no longer be called a fleet. Anyway, there was no unified command. Everyone could only fight according to their own ideas.In addition to allowing Hiei to escape fortunately, Chaoyong who was sunk and Yangwei who was stranded also bore the consequences. At this moment, a worsening situation appeared again. The fire burned down the handsome flag flying high on the Dingyuan ship! As the flagship, in addition to having a set of signal flag command system (also known as command flag system), there is also a high-hanging flag-the handsome flag.This is to show the existence of the commander in the army, who is the backbone of everyone. The role of this flag is very important.In many battles, protecting Shuai Qi is also a matter of life.When the flag is in command, when the flag is there, the morale of the army will be lifted, and when the flag is down, the morale of the army will be weakened.However, Dingyuan did not raise the commander's flag again after it fell, and the officers and soldiers on board Dingyuan were only focused on fighting fires and fighting, and had already forgotten about it.But Ding Ruchang didn't notice this. If the handsome flag is not raised again, everyone can only think that Ding Ruchang has died in battle, and the entire fleet has lost its supreme commander. This will have a great impact on the morale of the army! At this time, someone needs to stand up, raise the flag, and boost morale! At this time, Liu Buchan and Lin Taizeng should be the first to stand up. In terms of positions, they are the commander-in-chiefs second only to Ding Ruchang. However, both Liu Buchan and Lin Taizeng had their own considerations. The commander-in-chief flag represents the power of the highest officer on the battlefield. Without the authorization of Ding Ruchang, raising the flag without authorization is equivalent to "seizing the commander-in-chief before the army".If you win well, you will win the battle in the end. Everything is easy to say, but if you don't win well, the battle will eventually fail, and you will inevitably become a scapegoat. At this "sensitive" moment, Liu Buchan needs to avoid suspicion. He usually gives the impression that he doesn't obey Ding Ruchang very much, so he needs to avoid suspicion even more. However, Lin Taizeng has always been a low-key and gentle person, so he usually would not do this kind of thing. It seems that neither of the two chief soldiers is willing to take the blame.Then, whoever the captains on other warships can act decisively and raise the banner becomes the key again. However, everyone is waiting in silence.In fact, the Beiyang Fleet has been contaminated with a lot of officialdom. According to the rules of officialdom, everyone has been used to "seeing the officer" for many years. , or be careful, so as not to become a scapegoat in the future. But Deng Shichang knew that he couldn't wait any longer.He usually hates these stinky bureaucratic rules in the army, but he didn't expect these stinky rules to still go hand in hand in life-and-death battles.When an army no longer has the sole purpose of winning, and when each soldier is no longer pure, no matter how strong the combat effectiveness is, it will be greatly reduced. The situation at the beginning was very favorable. There were three chances to sink a Japanese warship, and there was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to kill the top officer of the opponent, but these opportunities have been lost.After turning into a downturn, when the top leader cannot be counted on, nor can other leaders be counted on, there needs to be someone who stands up!With his courage, his purity, to reverse the decline, reorganize the military order, and revive the military prestige! So what if someone attacks me afterwards?So what if someone finds me as a scapegoat?I, Deng Shichang, only know about fighting, not those rules! I was originally an impulsive and reckless "half", in order to win, let me be a half again!Even if someone joins our army to win the commander in the future, so what? "Raise the commander's flag on this ship." Fight to the death!perish together! After Zhiyuan hoisted the handsome flag, the momentum of the Beiyang Fleet was really boosted.However, the rapid-fire artillery firepower of the four Japanese ships surrounding Dingyuan was still very fierce, and Dingyuan's situation was even more critical. "It is our duty to rescue the flagship!" Deng Shichang shouted. Zhiyuan rushed to the front of the vanguard at full speed, and its purpose was to divert the Japanese ship's artillery fire.And the conspicuous handsome flag quickly became the new target of the vanguard, and the four Japanese ships turned their guns one after another, concentrating their firepower on Zhiyuan! Rapid-fire guns are deadly to Zhiyuan.Since there is no solid armor, Zhiyuan is not as self-protecting as Dingyuan and Zhenyuan. The waterline of Zhiyuan has been penetrated in many places, and sea water is about to flood into the warship. Deng Shichang decided: hit full throttle and crash into Yoshino! Yoshino has always been the most arrogant, with the fiercest firepower. It is the flagship of the vanguard. If Yoshino is destroyed, it will undoubtedly remove one of the sharpest nails from the enemy. And Deng Shichang's decision was not reckless, he made the decision in a very calm situation, because he has a great chance of winning. Zhiyuan has the highest speed of the Beiyang Fleet (18 knots), which can be said to be on par with Yoshino. In a relatively short distance, if a warship wants to hit you with desperate courage, it will be difficult to avoid it. . However, bumping into each other means that both of them will perish together, which means that the fish will die and the net will be broken.The hard part is making the decision itself. "We serve as soldiers to defend the country, and we have long put life and death aside. In today's battle, the only thing is death! Although we die, we have strengthened the reputation of the navy! Although we die, we have reported to the country!" Deng Shichang stood on the deck with his sword in his hand. Zhiyuan went straight to Yoshino at full speed. The Japanese were stunned by this desperate attack. When they finally reacted, they fired one after another, and the shells flew towards Zhiyuan like raindrops. However, Deng Shichang was not afraid, and the Zhiyuan ship moved forward with all its strength. , it has only one goal - Yoshino! And the Japanese soldiers on Yoshino seemed to have been frightened and stupid. They hurriedly prepared to turn the rudder and speed up, trying to escape the collision at Zhiyuan.But the time is too late, Zhiyuan has already headed towards Yoshino like an arrow from the string, and the scene of the two ships colliding and dying together seems to appear soon. However, tragedy happened when Zhiyuan was about to hit Yoshino, and a shell finally hit Zhiyuan again.It was a small rapid-fire shell in terms of caliber and not very powerful, but it had a deadly impact point. What's more deadly is that this is a shell of Shitase explosives. The shell hit Zhiyuan's torpedo launch tube on the broadside, and the fire caused spread everywhere, detonating a torpedo in the launch tube!Zhiyuan received a fatal second blow. A dull loud noise came from the bottom of the sea, and the entire ship of Zhiyuan burned like a huge fireball rolling down the sea. At the same time, the hull began to tilt, the stern sank, and the bow stood up high, pointing to the sky. Deng Shichang and his soldiers fell into the sea one after another. . Deliberately kill the enemy, powerless to return to heaven!Time doesn't help me, why!No way! In the waves, a servant threw a life buoy to Deng Shichang, but Deng Shichang didn't take it. The torpedo boats of the Beiyang Fleet came to rescue him, and Deng Shichang turned his head to the distance.A pet dog named Sun Dog swam over and grabbed Deng Shichang's braids with his mouth. Deng Shichang pressed the pet dog's head into the water and sank to the bottom of the sea together. He gave up his chance of survival.Perhaps in Deng Shichang's view, when more than 200 soldiers in Zhiyuan sank to the bottom of the sea, he could no longer live alone.When serving as a soldier to defend the country, life and death have long been ignored, and the first requirement must be a general. What he wants to do is to be a qualified general who is truly supported.This is his choice. Deng Shichang is usually a taciturn person, he doesn't like to express, and he leads the soldiers very strictly, even to a harsh degree, but in his heart, he must regard these soldiers as brothers in life and death. Deng Shichang is not a perfect person, he brought his pet dog on the warship, which is actually a violation of discipline.Back then, the only ship in the world that allowed dogs to be kept on board was the Russian Far East Fleet. Because the Bering Strait was perennially foggy, military dogs had to be used to navigate before radar appeared.However, Deng Shichang is a brave man. There is a kind of people in this world, they never bow their heads in the face of difficulties, they can stand up in dangerous moments, the code of conduct is for one man to guard against one man, and no man is allowed to fight, and the leader of a general in a million troops is the leader of a million troops. We call this kind of people It is courageous. And the other kind of people are very smart, know astronomy and geography, have a quick response, and have an idea when they turn their eyes, and plan a strategy to win thousands of miles away. People who have both the above two advantages are courageous and resourceful people. This kind of people is very rare and belongs to the type that can be met but not sought. Most courageous people are cute. Their actions are not only faster than their mouths, but also faster than their brains. It is normal to make a joke or two. A resourceful person is envied by others, he is very smart.But if you are too smart, you will have calculations, and if you have calculations, you will not dare to fail, and if you dare not fail, you will not dare to succeed.Most of the counselors can only help others with ideas, that's the reason. And only the combination of wisdom and courage will produce a truly powerful force-wisdom.A brave and resourceful person is the embodiment of wisdom. Deng Shichang is undoubtedly a brave man.Although in the eyes of many people, he is a reckless man who crashed into the enemy ship, but Deng Shichang's greatest courage was not to crash into Yoshino, but to stand up bravely when the whole army was in chaos and everyone was waiting to see Come out, use your actual actions to inspire the army, and take on the responsibilities that did not belong to him! Deng Shichang should be able to rest in peace, because there is a person thousands of miles away who understands him. After learning about the process of Deng Shichang's heroic sacrifice in detail, Emperor Guangxu was silent.He walked to the royal table in the palace, silently spread out a pen and paper, and wrote a couplet. Guangxu had too much dissatisfaction with the Beiyang Fleet, Ding Ruchang who was protected by Li Hongzhang, and Li Hongzhang who was protected by Cixi, but this dissatisfaction could not be vented! But amidst the gloom of bureaucratization in the military, there are still strands of light that shine through. Deng Shichang's bravery inspired others. On the Jingyuan ship, Lin Yongsheng ran up to the command platform, drew out his saber, and announced loudly: Although one enemy is four, we will advance and never retreat! After Yoshino escaped Deng Shichang's impact, Ito Youheng adjusted his tactics: the vanguard moved again interspersed, and first hit the isolated and helpless ship far away from Dingyuan Town and on the periphery of the giant ship. Therefore, Yoshino and others rushed at full speed to Jingyuan, Jiyuan and Guangjia on the left wing of the Beiyang Fleet. Jingyuan was originally on the right wing of the Beiyang Fleet, but the reason why he ran to the left wing was because of that unhelpful action.If he couldn't help, Lin Yongsheng was always in annoyance, regretting that he had lost the lives of dozens of soldiers. You can make mistakes, but you must not be timid! The rapid-fire guns of the Japanese warship flew towards the Jingyuan command platform, and Jingyuan ignited a big fire while shaking. Lin Yongsheng commanded with a saber and ordered all the artillery fire of the entire ship to concentrate on attacking Yoshino!Yoshino had to retreat a little, but the other three warships did that trick again—the ring attack. The Japanese warships consciously concentrated their artillery fire on the Jingyuan command platform. Soon, another shell flew and exploded beside Lin Yongsheng. The sharp shrapnel flew right to Lin Yongsheng's head. out. The first officer at the side picked up Lin Yongsheng's saber and silently walked to the command post.Minutes later, he was blasted into the sky, and pieces of his body fell on the deck. "Advance, no retreat!" The second officer picked up the knife again and directed!However, a rain of shrapnel also penetrated his body, and he fell. There is no longer the chief admiral on the Jingyuan ship, but all the soldiers have no intention of retreating. They only remember that sentence: There is no retreat!Fight to the death! However, after all, Jingyuan could not withstand the shells and fire, and it began to sink.In a short period of time, the Beiyang Fleet lost another warship. The fate of Jingyuan being sunk can actually be avoided, if another person can also be "courageous". He is Fang Boqian, the captain of the Jiyuan ship. When Yoshino and other warships approached, what Fang Boqian needed to do most was to cooperate with Lin Yongsheng in the battle. The three left-wing warships, Jingyuan, Jiyuan, and Guangjia, formed sister ships to support and support each other, and resisted to the death. However, Fang Boqian did not Don't think so. Because of Fang Boqian's next actions, Lin Yongsheng ended up in a situation of one against four. This behavior is - escape. Fang Boqian witnessed the whole process of Zhiyuan crashing into Yoshino and Deng Shichang's sacrifice.Deng Shichang's bravery did not inspire him, he felt a burst of fear, so he made the same decision as in the Yashan Bay naval battle: run away!Run away with all your might. Even the heavens seemed to despise these escaped people, and a greater tragedy happened during Fang Boqian's escape.But the tragedy did not happen to Fang Boqian. The Yangwei ship ran aground in the shallows of Fang Boqian's escape route, and Ji Yuan, who was only escaping, bumped into Yangwei, directly sinking Yangwei.Captain Lin Luzhong of Yangwei saw that it was his own warship that sank him. His mood can only be described as incomparable grief and indignation, and he jumped into the sea to die. Fang Boqian didn't stay for a moment, and there was no rescue. He quickly turned the rudder, fled all the way, and returned to Lushun base after a night of sailing. Someone once thought that Fang Boqian's approach was advisable: the situation was critical and a warship was preserved.But the urgency of the situation is not a reason to flee—on the contrary, it should be a reason to fight more valiantly.Deng Shichang has already answered with everything he has. In fact, Fang Boqian's behavior is neither a crisis management nor a normal retreat. A normal retreat on the battlefield requires the permission of the commander. Run away on your own.In terms of taking ten thousand steps back, even if Jiyuan had to retreat, he should hang the banner of "withdraw from the battle" and get permission before retreating. The retreat is also temporary, and he must rejoin the battle after a rest. There is only one explanation for Fang Boqian's behavior - escape from the battlefield. From the beginning of sending troops to North Korea, to the Yashan Bay naval battle, and then to the decisive battle of Dadonggou, Fang Boqian used his behavior to show that his most suitable job is a "counselor". He is a man of plan but no courage. Fang Boqian will pay a heavy price for his actions. Fleeing behind Fang Boqian's ass was the Guangjia warship.Guangjia originally followed Jiyuan. If Jiyuan didn't run away, it didn't have the guts to run away alone. Once Jiyuan ran, it seemed to be able to follow.In the end, Guangjia did not return to Lushun smoothly, and ran aground on the way to escape. The soldiers on the Guangjia ship set fire to the ship and then abandoned the ship and landed.Later, it was sunk by cannons from passing Japanese warships. It was precisely because Jiyuan and Guangjia fled successively that Lin Yongsheng fought alone, with one against four, and died heroically. The Beiyang Fleet has further declined.It originally had an excellent fighter plane that could sink Hiei, but it was not caught because the various warships were not helpful; it could have killed the supreme commander of the Japanese army in one fell swoop, but the torpedo hand Cai Tinggan always failed to launch torpedoes; it could have There is a good command, but the coach Ding Ruchang just sat on the Dingyuan deck to supervise the battle; it could have been more heroic and turned the situation around under the encouragement of Deng Shichang, but Fang Boqian showed the qualities of a master of escape at the critical moment. Chaoyong and Yangwei have sunk to the bottom of the sea, and Zhiyuan and Jingyuan have also sunk to the bottom of the sea.Huang Jianxun, Lin Luzhong, Deng Shichang, and Lin Yongsheng had already died in battle, and the Beiyang Fleet, which had lost its troops, had only four warships left to continue fighting. They were Dingyuan, Zhenyuan, Laiyuan, and Jingyuan, and they were all seriously injured.An ominous shadow began to hang over the Beiyang Fleet. At 15:05, the second half of the Dadonggou naval battle kicked off.