Seven Seas Beacon Fire

What's even more outrageous is that Li Che seems to be planning to use a mere four main warships to achieve this goal.

Are you sure you can do it right now?

"Right now, it's still a little short."

"What's wrong?"

Li Che did not express himself, but instead stared at the gauze hat that Zheng Guanyin had put back on.

"Why is Your Highness looking at me like that? Do I perhaps possess a detailed battle plan?"

"You're quite humorous. Of course, you don't have a detailed battle plan on you, but the one thing we're lacking right now is related to the hat you're wearing, Fourth Princess. Zhou Yu was waiting for the east wind before the Battle of Red Cliffs, and we're waiting for the wind now as well. I was originally a bit worried about the upcoming battle plan, but after your hat was blown up by the wind just before you stepped off the gangway, I felt much more at ease. The wind is indeed a bit stronger now than before."

As Li Che spoke, he gestured for her to proceed: "We have already devised a complete battle plan for this. If the Fourth Princess is interested in seeing it, we can move over and take a look."

At this point, he added, "Of course, if the Fourth Princess wishes to pay her respects to Princess Changning first, then we will do so later..."

"No, now." Zheng Guanyin didn't hesitate at all, and her actions made Li Che smile slightly.

It seems that the loyalty of the Song Prince's Mansion to the Ming Dynasty imperial family is... less important than the safety of Yanping.

-------------------------------------

Daming Nansha

A meteorological station on an island reef

In this day and age, there are no weather radars to speak of, but experienced meteorologists can still make fairly accurate judgments about weather conditions even without them.

Inside this small weather station, the only two staff members were copying down the numbers from the instruments and comparing them with the numbers from the previous few days.

The wind at sea isn't very strong yet, but the sky is starting to get increasingly cloudy. If you look southwest, you'll see that the dark clouds on the horizon are so thick they look like they could drip ink.

The changes in the most crucial air pressure data, in particular, indicate that something big is really coming!

Chapter 103 The Wind Rises (4)

After arriving at Leizhou Port, Zheng Guanyin didn't even spend any time to freshen up. Although the fourth princess had tidied her clothes when she left the submarine, she had become quite smelly after being in the submarine for so long. Zheng Guanyin herself didn't even realize that she was now a smelly girl.

Of course, even if the Fourth Princess noticed a slight odor on herself, she probably wouldn't bother to wash up. She's already quite eager for Li Che's plan to rescue Dongdu.

This princess has indeed devoted all her energy to "saving the country." In Li Che's opinion, this kind of character would usually be able to publish a two-dimensional princess saving the country with a strong cute pig-like atmosphere on a platform like "Hedgehog Cat," or be the protagonist in an anime like "Izetta, the Last Witch" in Japan.

In the closed conference room, Zheng Guanyin witnessed Xu Yueming's introduction of the entire process and most of the operational details of "Operation Bird". After Xu Yueming finished his introduction, Zheng Guanyin had a rare feeling of "sudden enlightenment".

Perhaps it was due to the character of the Song Royal Palace, or perhaps it was due to their historical experience in Borneo, that Zheng Guanyin and the entire Song Royal Palace behind her, and even the entire Yanping, Luzon region and its people, had fought tooth and nail against Western colonizers to carve out their own living space in the past. Therefore, in their minds, they believed that they should strive for progress even in adversity and greatly admired the so-called "fight to the death".

Eastern island nations may indeed differ from Western island nations in this respect. This is probably because the Victorian Empire historically placed pressure on Europe, while Eastern island nations have long been on the side of resisting pressure. Therefore, in fact, the mindset of the people in Yanping and Luzon in this era is somewhat similar to that of Yingzhou (the island nation of Japan).

Just as the people of Yingzhou always pinned their hopes on a grand, decisive battle, Yanping also preferred to fight the enemy by concentrating all its military and civilian resources. Historically, Yanping used this method to ultimately drive the Western colonists out of Borneo. Even though the battles between Yanping and the Western colonists were often quite ugly, Yanping was able to continuously organize its forces and mobilize its troops, wave after wave, like a dull knife cutting into the Western colonists.

For Western colonizers, such a tough nut to crack was truly something they could easily break. Although this way of winning might not fit the plot of a wish-fulfillment novel, it was still an undeniable victory. In this world, apart from the top superpowers, some countries, no matter how eccentric, are still respected, while others are only ridiculed. The reasons for this are as follows.

It's like how a Turkish chicken is seen as a husky by us, but if you compare it to other Arab countries, the Turkish chicken is indeed full of martial spirit, especially compared to Egypt, the former leader of the Arab world, it's like heaven and earth.

The Egyptians launched the Yom Kippur War with slogans such as "We must defeat the Jews and reclaim the Sinai Peninsula, even if it costs us a generation." However, as soon as the situation took a sharp turn for the worse, the Egyptians could not withstand the pressure and betrayed the entire Arab world by making a separate peace with the Jews. From then on, they lost all voice in the world and were forever deprived of the right to lead the Arab world.

But when the casualty figures were looked at after the war, Egypt had only suffered tens of thousands of casualties, with the death toll even being only a few thousand. With such a small number of casualties, Egypt cried out and couldn't continue fighting. No matter how foolish Turkey was in other matters, they were actually able to organize their troops to launch a fierce counterattack against the Allied landing forces in the Dardanelles Strait campaign. The voice of Kemal Atatürk, the father of modern Turkey, echoed on the beachhead—"I am not ordering you to win, I am ordering you to die!"

With such determination and such morale, no matter how well or poorly the battles are fought, such tough opponents have always been avoided by colonizers, because Western colonizers are essentially bullies who prey on the weak and fear the strong.

However, this past successful approach also has its limitations. With most of the connections with the mainland cut off, Yanping could not organize an almost unlimited manpower as before. Moreover, facing an opponent like the United States, Yanping was no less extreme and obsessed than Yanping, and its national strength and manpower far surpassed Yanping's. If it weren't for the advantage of having an opponent coming from across the ocean and waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out, Yanping would have no chance at all. But even with such an advantage, could Yanping withstand the pressure of simply holding out once or twice, and could it withstand it every time?

Because of this ingrained way of thinking, Zheng Guanyin believed that the same applied to the sea. Even if there was a disadvantage in terms of the strength of the main warships, it could be compensated for in other ways. Wasn't the performance of those torpedo boats in the Battle of Xinluo Bay in Yingzhou Sea to the north amazing? Therefore, in the eyes of many high-ranking officials and people in Yanping, the Prince of Jin's Mansion, which now held the reins of power, could use these torpedo boats to make up for the lack of main warships, and then, with the determination to avenge their defeat, launch a grand naval battle with the enemy, such as the "Bashi Channel Great Battle" or the "South China Sea Great Battle".

Even if we cannot achieve a complete victory in the end, as long as we can fight the enemy to a draw, the siege of Luoyang can basically be lifted.

But who could have predicted that after listening to people explain things to her for an hour or so, Zheng Guanyin would be told that besides this rigid method, there was another way to turn the tide without fighting the enemy.

Throughout the entire "Operation Bird-Eating" campaign, there was no plan to engage in a grand naval battle with the enemy. However, no one could deny that once the fleet besieged in Surabaya Port successfully returned to the mainland, given the current state of the country under the rule of the Prince of Jin and the Datong faction, the warships that had not suffered serious damage would be able to regain full combat capability within six months, and at the latest within 10 months, the vast majority of the navy's main warships would be able to restore their combat effectiveness.

By then, although the navy had lost many warships in the previous battles, it would still be able to recover and become the de facto second-largest navy in the world with more than 20 capital ships! (The Colombians have a larger total tonnage, and even more tonnage under construction. However, the book looks down on the Federal Navy and does not believe that the Federal Navy is superior to its own in combat power when the strength difference is not significant.)

At that time, the Federal Navy will naturally have to concentrate all its main forces to confront this naval force. Even if a decisive battle does not take place, the United States will no longer be able to spare troops to blockade the entire Borneo. At that time, supplies and aid from the mainland will naturally be able to break through the blockade line originally drawn by the United States and reach Yanping.

If just a few garrison divisions are sent up, the Federation army, which thinks it is already tough enough, will immediately know what "a little shock from the East" means.

Zheng Guanyin had already seen the modified disguised ships at the dock. When she first saw them, she hadn't thought of them as disguised battleships. She simply assumed that these cruise ships were converted auxiliary cruisers. She never expected that these ships were used to disguise capital ships.

像这样的一支有伪装船和真正的战列舰组成的诱敌舰队如果想要吸引哥伦比亚海军38舰队和39舰队的注意并不难，但是想让39舰队放弃监视泗水港的重任北上，除了要给北部的38舰队造成足够的压力逼迫39舰队不得不动身之外，让美39舰队走的安心也是很重要的。

The hurricane that the fleet is now waiting for is a reassurance to the Colombians. After all, in the general mindset, the best option for a fleet to take shelter in port when hit by a hurricane is to take shelter in port, especially since there are still many damaged ships in the fleet that have not been fully recovered. The 39th Fleet is currently stationed in Makassar, which is also within the hurricane's range. When the time comes, the 39th Fleet can go north to take shelter from the storm and support the 38th Fleet. After finishing its work, it can quickly withdraw and continue to besiege Surabaya after the hurricane passes.

After all, even a normal fleet will actively avoid a hurricane. In the minds of normal people, no one would bravely brave a hurricane with towering waves, right?

Do you really think everyone is a "Bull Admiral"?

Even the most valiant bull, its original intention was to avoid the typhoon, but it just couldn't escape it.

"So that means we have to wait until the hurricane arrives before we can take any action?"

Although Zheng Guanyin had a complete understanding of the entire operation, the hurricane played a very important role in it. What if a hurricane didn't come? Who knew which hurricane of the year would hit Java? If they didn't get one, were they just going to hold back and not move an inch?

The Eastern Capital must be a scene of carnage by now, with rivers of blood flowing and boats drenched in blood. How can the Eastern Capital just keep waiting for the wind to come?

"What if the wind doesn't come?"

Zheng Guanyin continued to press for answers.

"The operation will proceed as scheduled by the end of the month, regardless of the weather conditions," Li Che said. "At worst, the Sishui Fleet will simply abandon the damaged ships and withdraw the remaining intact vessels."

"And those who were left behind..."

"Then leave them in Sishui as floating gun emplacements." Li Che displayed a heroic spirit, showing the magnanimity of sacrificing a number of main warships for the sake of Yanping's overall war situation. This style naturally drew the attention of Zheng Guanyin and the surrounding naval staff. Several damaged main warships were simply abandoned without a second thought.

Zheng Guanyin felt even more confused about the grandson in front of her. Which one was the real him, his behavior at the dock just now or his behavior now?

Li Che could sense the gazes around him, but he had no way to explain it now—could he say that since a naval treaty would definitely be signed after the war ended, these damaged old ships might as well free up tonnage?

Chapter 104 The Wind Rises (5)

Sishui Port

Looking at himself in the mirror, Yang Yuchen almost didn't recognize himself anymore. Although he wasn't young anymore, two years ago he still had some black hair, and people said he didn't look like he was over sixty at all. In fact, because he was good at fitness and self-cultivation, he had a muscular physique, and people would believe he was just over fifty.

Looking at him now, his hair and beard are all white, and he looks very old—he says he is now seventy or eighty years old, and people who don't know him probably wouldn't believe it.

In just over a year, I've aged more than 20 years.

He experienced the crushing defeat in the Battle of the Java Sea, the sacrifice of his close friend Deng Zhengqing, the rapid decline of the navy to which he had dedicated his life, and being besieged there for more than a year without receiving any rescue from home.

As the commander of the Navy's Second Rapid Detachment, Yang Yuchen is currently the highest-ranking officer in Surabaya Port and the mainstay who has been managing the fleet since it was besieged in Surabaya Port.

Contrary to what many people might imagine, the biggest problem facing the fleet besieged in Surabaya was neither the inability to repair the damaged warships nor the fear of a strong attack by the Allied forces.

Yang Yonglin's first challenge was feeding all the officers and soldiers in the fleet.

The port of Sishui was captured by the Ming Dynasty after the war began. Since it was a deep-water port, it was repaired and troops were stationed there to control the surrounding area and support the fleet's operations in the surrounding waters.

The four battlecruisers of the Second Rapid Detachment led by Yang Yuchen have been stationed here for a long time. Therefore, although they have stockpiled a certain amount of supplies in Surabaya Port, they obviously did not consider that so many warships would stay in the port for such a long time.

At this moment, the main warships in the harbor include the super-dreadnought battlecruisers Jingyuan, Haiqi, Hairong, and Haichen; the dreadnought battlecruisers Weiyuan, Yuyuan, Suiyuan, and Guiyuan, totaling eight ships; and the dreadnought battleships Haiqin, Haitao, Haigeng, Hairen, and Haikang, totaling five ships. In total, there are 13 main warships. If we also include the cruisers and destroyers that were withdrawn with the main warships, there are more than 40 warships of more than 1,000 tons in Surabaya harbor.

What's even more critical are the sailors brought on these warships. These sailors, along with the marines, army officers and soldiers stationed around them, and various logistical personnel, total tens of thousands of people. These tens of thousands of people are tens of thousands of mouths to feed.

Therefore, after receiving no news from the country about the rescue of Surabaya Port for three consecutive months, Yang Yuchen guessed that his siege here would not last long. From then on, his daily worry was how to feed the officers and soldiers in the port. As the highest-ranking officer here, with the port's siege indefinitely postponed, his first concern was what to do after the port's food supplies ran out.

Fortunately, it wasn't too difficult for them to find something to eat in the land where they were besieged. After all, the natives of this land hadn't farmed for thousands of years because there was no need to learn. When they were hungry, they would pick bananas to eat; when they were thirsty, they would drink water; and occasionally they would hunt for a treat. That's how this land was.

The food reserves in the port have long been exhausted. Although everyone is not starving, they are eating bananas, plantain cores, or a type of yellow glutinous rice. These foods are mostly obtained by trading with the local natives. The soldiers have even cultivated a lot of land around the port. Most officers and soldiers cannot adapt to eating bananas as a staple food. It may be novel the first time, but it becomes torture after a while. However, they have no choice but to eat them now. Therefore, if they do not grow some wild vegetables that have been found to be edible to supplement their diet with seafood, they will not be able to survive a single day.

Yang Yuchen himself doubted whether the port could hold out if the Allied forces launched a full-scale attack.

After a year of struggling here in a daze, news finally came from the country—the Prince of Jin had entered the capital!

When this news reached Surabaya via radio broadcast, the naval officers and soldiers gathered around the radio were expressionless, because they felt that with such a thing happening back home, naturally no one would care about their lives.

Unexpectedly, not long after, a destroyer sailed into the harbor. This destroyer brought with it a special envoy from the country, who expressed that the Prince of Jin's mansion was willing to do everything possible to assist the Sishui fleet in breaking out of Sishui Port.

Furthermore, the envoy stated that His Highness the Crown Prince was devising a battle plan to allow the Surabaya Fleet to escape relatively safely. Yang Yuchen, of course, scoffed at this idea. As a soldier with sound judgment, he certainly didn't believe that a young man with no prior naval experience could come up with any effective battle plan. He'd seen plenty of people like that…

But then, he not only received all the details of the entire operation plan, but more importantly, shortly afterward, the torpedo night personally led by this grandson was a great success, inflicting heavy losses on the United States Navy in the Sea of ​​Yingzhou.

Given this premise and background, people naturally dared not underestimate the things he had previously proposed.

As one of only five senior officers in the naval port who knew the entire battle plan, Yang Yuchen knew very well what they were waiting for: for God to grant them a hurricane.

Yang Yuchen knew exactly what kind of ships he had. Although the two super-dreadnought battlecruisers were among the best battlecruisers in the world, even disregarding the damage already present on many of the warships, apart from these four super-dreadnoughts, the rest were all dreadnoughts equipped with 280mm guns.

The Battle of the Java Sea has already proven that 280mm naval guns are no longer sufficient for large capital ships.

Moreover, the protection of these early battleships and battlecruisers was not very good—in fact, it was only on par with the horseshoe battleships of the British. If such a fleet were to encounter the Colombians... it would probably suffer the same fate as Deng Zhengqing.

Fortunately, they now have a chance to escape the surveillance of the Federal Navy and return home. In the past few days, the barometer in the port area has reported that the air pressure is getting lower and lower, the sky is getting more and more gloomy, and the wind outside is getting stronger and stronger. All signs indicate that the day when they can escape is not far away.

Chapter 105 Return

After tidying up his long-unshaven beard in front of the mirror, Yang Yuchen turned and walked out of the house he had lived in for a year. The building, which had been requisitioned as the headquarters building in Sishui Port, was originally the customs building of this port. Of course, although it was called a building, it was actually just a three-story building.

Because of the limited buildings in the port, Yang Yuchen, as the fleet commander, was the only soldier in the entire naval port with a single room. The other fleet commanders could only live in dormitories with two people per room. Since the buildings in the port were very limited, after the command post was set up, most soldiers either had to sleep on the ship or build a batch of temporary wooden buildings on the shore.

Yang Yuchen had carved tally marks all over the walls of this single room. More than a hundred tally marks recorded the time he had been trapped here for more than a year. However, starting today, he no longer needed to carve tally marks on the walls of this room.

Yang Yuchen's residence was on the top floor of the headquarters, a location chosen so that soldiers could wake him up at any time in case of an emergency, although this preparation had hardly been used in the past year or so.

Yang Yuchen walked down the stairs. The once crowded headquarters was now empty. The nautical charts on the walls and the various tables, chairs, radios and filing cabinets that were originally placed there had all disappeared. Only a few staff officers and some sailors were carrying out the final cleaning work, moving the last remaining documents and materials outside and dismantling and packing up the remaining telephone lines.

The telephones in the headquarters are basically shipboard telephones that were removed from some warships, and now they need to be reinstalled.

This scene naturally means that the command post has now been abandoned.

To be precise, the entire Surabaya port is about to be abandoned.

Yang Yuchen stood in the hall and looked around at the command post, which he probably would never miss in his life. Then he strode out of there. The wooden houses that the officers and soldiers had built on the shore were now all open. A week ago, everyone in Sishui Port began to move things from the shore to the ships. Such actions were obviously a sign that the fleet was about to set sail.

For these officers and soldiers, this was a bittersweet piece of news. The good news was that it meant that after being besieged here for so long, they would finally leave the port and begin their journey home.

The worry, of course, lies in the uncertainty of the future. Will the enemy intercept us at sea? Will the fleet be able to return safely? Moreover, the atmosphere is tense and stormy; a tempest is clearly approaching. The waves are already at force 4-5 and are expected to increase further. Is launching an attack in such terrible sea conditions a wise choice?

Yang Yuchen himself was not entirely sure of the answers to all these questions. After walking out of the headquarters, Yang Yuchen saw several squadron commanders and some captains of capital ships who had been waiting there for a long time. Zhang Yan, the squadron commander of the First Battlecruiser Squadron, came up to him and saluted.

Among the most important bonds in life are those who have fought alongside each other and those who have shared a window. As comrades in the army, they were besieged here by the enemy for a year and a half, which naturally meant that they had both fought alongside each other and shared a window. Yang Yuchen already had a good reputation in the navy, with his sharp thinking and decisive style. After a year of getting along, he was even more loved and respected by these officers and soldiers.

After saluting, Zhang Yan immediately invited, "Sir, please come aboard the Jingyuan and make it our flagship. The Jingyuan is the largest, strongest, and best-condition ship we currently have."

As the second ship of the Zhiyuan-class battlecruisers, Jingyuan likely benefited from the fact that its sister ship, serving as the flagship in the Battle of the Java Sea, drew away and absorbed the majority of the enemy's firepower. In addition, Jingyuan was incredibly lucky. At the most critical moment of the battle, nearly a hundred near misses fell around it. However, under the captain's constantly swaying steering orders, Jingyuan miraculously only suffered two hits, and not a single shell penetrated its armor.

Of the 13 main warships currently in port, only four battlecruisers, including the Jingyuan, are super-dreadnoughts, and are also the four most valuable ships among all the warships in port.

As for why Yang Yuchen chose the Jingyuan as his flagship, it's naturally because, firstly, from a superstitious perspective... yes, that's right, that's actually the main reason. Navies all over the world are very superstitious; the navy of any country is more superstitious than its other branches of the military, without exception. (Drag out the guy who mentioned the Mongolian navy.)

The Jingyuan's outstanding performance in previous battles, or more accurately, its remarkable luck, has won over many people. Everyone believes that this battlecruiser will continue to have good luck in the future, and it is naturally most reassuring to have their highest-ranking officer on such a lucky ship.

Of course, even setting aside superstition, from a technical point of view, as the largest, most heavily armed, and best-protected battlecruiser currently in service with the Ming Dynasty Royal Navy, Yang Yuchen would indeed be safer aboard the Jingyuan.

Moreover, in fact, the Jingyuan is currently the best-protected ship in the Sishui Port.

That's right, it's even better than those battleships.

尽管从纸面上来看，在港内的那些配备280毫米舰炮的战列舰拥有280毫米或者是305毫米的主装，炮塔正面的厚度也同样有305毫米，炮座装甲分别是250毫米和280毫米，这些数据当中前者指的是那些有8门280毫米火炮的海昶级无畏舰，而后者指的就是那些有12门280毫米舰炮的“海霆”级无畏舰。

These figures, taken out of context, are quite good. Both of these battleships have better protection than the Haiqi-class battlecruisers, which are equipped with eight 330mm guns, because the Haiqi's main guns are only 250mm, and its turrets and gun mounts are also 250mm.

The Zhiyuan-class is different. Although the thickness of the main armor belt remains the same, the armor belt is arranged at an angle. The 250 mm armor at a 15-degree angle is already at the level of the Amagi-class battlecruiser. Although the protection of the Amagi-class battlecruiser was not considered very good during the naval treaty period, it is definitely the best battlecruiser under the Royal Navy's heavily armored version of the Renown-class battlecruiser in the present day.

However, Yang Yuchen declined Zhang Yan's offer, shaking his head and saying, "I will still use the Weiyuan battlecruiser as my flagship."

The Weiyuan was the third ship of the Suiyuan-class battlecruisers and the first battlecruiser of the Ming Dynasty Royal Navy. It looked like a smaller version of the Haiqi or the Derfflinger. Although its protection was not as robust as that of the early British battlecruisers, relying only on a six-inch main armor belt and four-inch ammunition magazine armor, its 210 mm side armor was by no means reliable.

Especially in this era, according to the intelligence we have now, the Britons seem to be equipped with a new type of armor-piercing shell called Greenboy, and the Federation Navy is also equipped with an armor-piercing shell called Midwell M916. In the face of these new armor-piercing shells, even Jingyuan's protection may not be as adequate as before.

"Sir, even if you have an affection for your old warships, shouldn't you choose a larger and stronger ship as your capital ship at this time?"

“It’s not that I have any emotional attachment to my old warships,” Yang Yuchen shook his head. “I just don’t want to touch the staff officers on my warships anymore.”

Yang Yuchen's statement was, of course, just an excuse. After all, the fleet hadn't even set off yet. It wasn't like the IJN in another timeline, where Kurita Takeo, a breast fetishist, set up the flagship on the Atago, only to be ambushed by a Federation submarine in the Palawan Channel. So, after the warship was hit by a torpedo, he had to hastily transfer the command post to the battleship.

Transferring staff officers like this at the dock wouldn't take much time or cause any chaos, but Yang Yuchen deliberately didn't accept the suggestion.

The others, including Zhang Yan, exchanged glances and then stopped trying to persuade him. They weren't fools; they could tell that Yang Yuchen was determined to die. It wasn't that he intended to seek death, but rather that he was prepared to use his four oldest battlecruisers as the rearguard of the entire fleet, to cover the rear at crucial moments and sacrifice themselves to buy time for the other warships to escape.

Without saying anything more, everyone saluted Yang Yuchen again, their understanding unspoken.