Episode 710: The Second Battle of the Yellow Sea (8)
Deng Shulin did not make this decision solely by relying on the Two-Headed me Dragon. There was a more desperate situation than that.
He was one of the generals who barely survived thest war.
He clearly remembered the scene in which the great battleships, which were the pride of the Ming army in the war at the time, were cruelly destroyed by challenger-level battle lines that were not assault lines.
“The problem is that the Great Ship Line hasn’t improved since then! “We have to eliminate as many challenger-level battle lines as possible with the Two-Headed me Dragon!”
Up to this point, it was a reasonable decision. However, Deng Shulinter made a fatal mistake.
He did not inform anyone of his decision.
“If Joseon’s assault return ship actually only has one ship, you can deal with it with two Two-Headed me Dragons. If two ships appear, you can charge at the challenger-ss ships at top speed. Then, the assault ships will not be able to move carelessly to protect their ships. All you have to do is aim for that time and deal with the challenger level fronts first. In addition, variables that no one expected may pop up. In that case, it’s best to make a decision right away on the spot. If you make too many unnecessary ns, the confusion will only increase. “The more ns there are, the fewer people will be able to do them properly!”
It was Deng Su-lin who did not believe in the quality of the rebuilt Ming navy.
But I didn’t make up my mind just for that reason. There was another big cause: jealousy.
The most representative example was the personnel action against Jinwi.
“A guy who only recently went from a guerri general to a general! “A guy who doesn’t even know what war is is just talking nonsense!”
Teng Su-lin, who thought that there were more than one person like Jin Yu, kept his mouth shut.
And because of that decision, Deng Shulin encountered an unexpected situation.
* * *
“You idiot!”
Deng Su-lin, who saw Jin Yu’s squadron suddenly speeding up and jumping out, screamed.
“What are you going to do if you break the fabric you made the most of?”
Deng Su-lin, who hit the railing of the bridge with his fist and shouted, gave an order to his staff.
“Signal for that idiot to go back to his seat! “It’s an order!”
“ancient!”
In response to Deng Su-lin’s order, the staff quickly conveyed the order to the signalman.
However, the staff member’s face turned white when he saw the reply that came back soon after.
“refusal? Protection of themand module first?”
Deng Su-lin, who received the report through his staff, became even more angry and raised his voice.
“Order them to return to the camp! Let them know that if you refuse, you will be charged with mutiny! No, deprive Jin Yu of hismand right now!”
“ancient!”
This time, Deng Su-lin’s orders seemed to have worked as Jin Yu’s squadron slowed down and began to return to where they were supposed to be.
“The squadron is returning.”
“That’s right.”
Only then did Deng Su-lin, satisfied, begin to examine the situation on the battlefield again.
“Where are Joseon’s assault ships?”
“Both ships are charging from the right side of Abjo. No matter how you look at it, it looks like they are aiming for Abjo’s right nk.”
“Order to Abjo. “Concentrated fire on the assault return ships.”
“ancient!”
While the staff member who received the order was giving orders to the signalman, another staff member cautiously expressed concern.
“No matter how you look at it, it looks like they are aiming for Abjo’s nk. Wouldn’t it be better to order them to be careful?”
Deng Su-lin responded to the staff’s mantra by gesturing as if it was no big deal.
“It is the armor of the two-headed me dragon that can withstand the main gun of the twin-headed me dragon. “No amount of gun artillery can cause any damage!”
“But…”
“It would be better to take care of one more of those naughty Challenger-ss fronts during that time! “Have you already tested the armor problem?”
The staff in question had no choice but to keep quiet about Deng Su-lin’s progress.
* * *
As Deng Su-lin said, when the Two-Headed me Dragon was first developed, experiments on iron armor were conducted.
In fact, they built a temporary wallbining 2 inches (about 6cm) thick iron armor to surround the sides of the double-headed me dragon and a thick wooden hull to support the back, and then fired the double-headed me dragon’s main gun at it.
ording to experiments, if the range was not within 20 shots (approximately 60m), there was no significant damage even if the main gun was hit.
Based on these results, the Ming Dynasty navy and shipbuilding engineers reported the following predictions to Emperor Gyeongtae.
-In order for Joseon’s charge return ship to inflict damage, it muste within at least 10 shots (approximately 30m).
What led them to this result was the fact that the main gun mounted on the Two-Headed me Dragon had a muchrger caliber than that mounted on the Assault Return Ship, and the expectation that even if Joseon’s technology was better than Ming’s, it would be impossible to equip it with thicker iron armor.
-It is impossible to mount arger and more powerful main gun using the existing design method!
-The same goes for iron armor. It is no longer possible to add thick iron armor to existing wooden structures.
Because this was not just a prediction but a result of actual experiments, the Ming Dynasty navy and shipbuilding engineers believed in their predictions.
* * *
After receiving orders from Deng Shu-rin, Abjo poured fire on the two assault ships that were charging ording to his orders.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwak!
The fire bombs fired by Abjo created dozens of water columns in front of the assault ships.
However, the charging return ships paid no heed and continued charging. Even though the bullets fired by Abjo fell far in front of the path, they seemed to be rushing at him very aggressively.
Rather, it was Abjo’s captain and sailors who were embarrassed by this.
“What? Are you saying they aren’t even afraid of dying? Shoot! Shoot! “Shoot without stopping!”
At the captain’s order, the sailors frantically loaded gunpowder and shells into the gun ports, then inserted wicks and started a fire.
Kwakwakwak!
As the shooting continued, several shots began tond on the charge return line.
bang!
“You got it right!”
“uh?”
The crew members of the Apjo, who were cheering as they saw the shell they fired hit, froze for a moment. This was because the bullet that hit the dragon’s head bounced off in vain.
“Reload! “Reload!”
“Let’s see how long you canst!”
The moment the crew members of Apjo’s wing battery soon came to their senses and began reloading, the main guns on the two assault return ships opened fire almost simultaneously.
Kkkwang!
A huge explosion and mes poured out, and Maeng Jin-ho and Dang-ho’s dragon heads were momentarily obscured by smoke.
And soon, a hole that could not be filled appeared on the right side of the two hulls of the boat.
This was because the bullet that prated the thick hull made of iron armor and wood caused a huge explosion.
With just two attacks, the right hull of the Apjo almost lost itsbat power.
“Water ising in!”
“Stop it!”
“I can’t stop it!”
Sea water began to rush in through the hole created by the burst near the waterline. ordingly, the crew of the Abjo were desperately trying to prevent flooding, but the situation was not easy.
“Close the bulkhead!”
“Not easy with the water pressure!”
“The frame is broken!”
Junk ships of this period also had watertight bulkheads made of sliding doors. It was a structure that prevented flooding to other areas by pushing the sliding door to close the bulkhead, and this structure was also used in the Two-Headed me Dragon.
However, the problem was that the double-headed dragon’s bulkhead sliding door was toorge to be moved by one or two people.
To solve this, pulleys and ropes were to be used. However, the impact of the explosion distorted the trajectory of the sliding door, making it difficult for the bulkhead to move.
“Do whatever you have to, close it! If we don’t close it, we will die!”
“Pull! Pull!”
When the bulkheads began to close one by one through the crew’s desperate efforts, the second bombardment of the rush and fierce attacknded.
Kkkwang! Boom!
As a result of this second bombardment, Abjoho suffered irreversible and fatal injuries.
Due to the seawatering in through the hole created by the second bombardment, the right hull of the Apjo began to tilt severely.
Moment.
Kugung! bang!
“Ugh!”
“It’s hot! “It’s hot!”
“help me!”
Cold sea water rushed into the engine room and the moment it met the hot boiler, the boiler exploded.
The engine room crew nearby copsed screaming, suffering fatal injuries and burns from fragments and hot steam from the exploded boiler.
Abjoho’s tragedy began from then. As the power of the right hull was lost, only the left hull’s aberration turned, and as the right hull sank into the sea, the Apjo began to spin in arge circle.
At that time, the third bombardment of Dash and Maeng Jin struck Apjo Lake.
The shell fired in this third bombardment hit the powder magazine of Abjo’s right main gun.
Boom!
With a loud explosion, the entire bow and half of the center section of the Apjo’s right hull disappeared, and soon after, the Apjo slowly began to sink into the sea.
Dang-ho and Maeng Jin-ho, who had sunk one of the three Two-Headed me Dragons, began to turn their bows in search of their next prey.
The next prey they were aiming for was the Two-Headed me Dragon’s number one ship, ‘Jeongjo’.
* * *
“The tide sinks! “The tide sinks!”
Deng Su-lin looked in disbelief at the staff member’s report.
“That can’t be possible! “That can’t be possible!”
“It’s true!”
When the staff checked again, Teng Su-lin sat down in the chair and muttered.
“Even after chasing after them so much, Joseon is still ahead…”
“Admiral! “Order!”
When the captain of the inferior chastity ship shouted for him to give an order, Deng Su-lin gritted his teeth and stood up.
“Order the Qin Dynasty! Turn your yer right now! “We will engage in a direct confrontation with Joseon’s assault return ship!”
“ancient!”
The captain and staff immediately repeated Deng Su-lin’smand and took action.
Soon after, King Jeongjo and Jinjo began to turn in arge circle.
* * *
The movements of Jeongjo and Jinwon were captured by a self-powered flying monk floating in the sky.
Maeng Jin-ho’s vice-captain, who confirmed the light-emittingmunication sent by the self-flying aircraft, immediately reported it to Ki-nam Nam.
“They say the snake heads turned their heads. It seems like they want a head-on confrontation. What would you like to do?”
“It’s a head-to-head confrontation… I think it’s a pretty good idea…”
Ki-nam Nam, who was stroking his beard as if he was interested and pondering, soon came to a conclusion.
“There is no need to be foolish and take the difficult path instead of the easy one. Just like now, I’m tearing off the sides! “Tell it to the Dashanho too!”
“ancient!”
After a while, a reply came from the dash.
“Dol Jin-ho also says he agrees.”
“okay! “Let’s catch those messing around over there first!”
In this way, Dang-ho and Maeng Jin-ho increased their speed towards Jeongjo. Unlike the Two-Headed me Dragon, which had a water wheel installed in the center of the catamaran’s hull and was slow to change direction, the assault return ships were able to change direction very quickly. Making full use of that advantage, the assault ships rushed towards King Jeongjo’s nk.
In this way, the three two-headed me dragons disappeared into the sea one by one.
In order to avenge the humiliation suffered in thest war, the pride of the Ming people with the names of ‘conquer Joseon (征朝)’, ‘suppress Joseon (鎭朝)’, and ‘oppress Joseon (壓朝)’ sank into the sea. It was.