Chapter Seventy This was just an intimidation

  On the "Little Whiskers", the first mate looked at his captain, Otterman, with a worshiping gaze and flattered: "General, you are truly prescient. The Northern Fleet's more than ten ships were scared away by our three warships. The Qing people are indeed timid as mice. However, General, I have a question. If they don't give way, do we really want to collide with them?"

  Ultraman stroked his small mustache complacently and said nonchalantly, "How could I let the Imperial Warriors sacrifice in vain? In fact, I've calculated the distance and won't collide with them. It's just a pity that the Qing people don't have the guts to witness our technology."

  The deputy general suddenly enlightened and repeatedly praised, then asked: "General, are we setting sail to return now?"

  "Ah, kid, it's still early, how can we go back so soon? Pass on my orders, turn the whole fleet around and continue to follow the Beiyang Fleet. This time, we're going to humiliate them thoroughly."

  On the "Dingyuan", Ye Zhiqi and Deng Shichang went up to the bridge, their eyes fixed on the German Far East Squadron closely following, the situation looked like more than a dozen warships of the Beiyang Fleet were being chased by three German warships.

  Deng Shichang clenched his teeth, and Ye Zhiwei furrowed his brow, saying: "Brother Deng, out of sight, out of mind. I haven't had a chance to see the firepower equipment on our ships yet. Why don't you explain it to me?"

  Deng Shichang knew that Ye Zhiqi had intentionally diverted his attention, and he felt grateful in his heart. As they walked, he said: "In that case, I'll explain to you about the Chiyoda's armament. The Dingyuan has four Krupp breech-loading guns..."

  All the way, Deng Shichang gave Ye Zhiwei a detailed introduction to the weapon equipment on Dingyuan. Ye Zhiwei listened to too many professional terms and felt dizzy, only feeling that his head had grown much bigger.

  Unconsciously, the two men walked to the stern torpedo tube of the ship, and at this time, Xu Zhenpeng, the deputy captain of the "Dingyuan" warship, was angrily watching the "Little Mustache" following behind. Seeing Ye Zhikui and Deng Shichang approaching, he hastily came forward to greet them.

  Ye Zhihui returned the courtesy, then curiously asked Deng Shichang: "Brother Deng, our Dingyuan has only three torpedo tubes, isn't that too few?"

  Deng Shichang rubbed his temples, and along the way, Ye Zhikui had been asking all sorts of strange questions. He didn't want to be rude by not answering, but he didn't know how many brain cells he'd wasted thinking up answers. Luckily, he finally saw his deputy commander, so he pointed at him and said to Xu Zhenpeng: "Ji Cheng, take Lord Ye around to see some things, my head is spinning a bit, I'll just go outside for some fresh air."

  Xu Zhenpeng's eyes lit up when he heard Deng Shichang's order, and he made a fist to Ye Zhiwei: "Lord Ye, please come this way. As for why there are only three torpedo tubes, we won't discuss that for now. Come, let me show you what the torpedo tubes look like!"

  Ye Zhi Kui followed Xu Zhenpeng's guidance, and carefully observed as he approached. Xu Zhenpeng took advantage of Ye not noticing, and slightly gestured to a nearby torpedo loader, who quickly loaded a torpedo while Ye was paying attention to something else, then secretly adjusted the direction towards the German ship behind them.

  Xu Zhenpeng was secretly delighted and slightly excited, he smiled faintly at the ammunition handler, nodded in appreciation, then pulled Ye Zhikui to the control button side, patiently explaining the function of each button.

  "Ah, Lord Ye, this is our torpedo launch button. Once pressed, the torpedo will be launched, but we haven't installed one yet. You can try pressing it if you'd like."

  "Really? It's okay to press it? Then I won't be polite, let me see what it feels like." Ye Zhi Kui was like Liu Laolao entering the Grand View Garden, very curious about everything on the warship. If he wasn't afraid of touching things randomly, he would have liked to touch everything. Now that Xu Zhenpeng said it was okay, he happily put his hand on the red button and pressed down hard with force.

  With a loud noise, the torpedo tube suddenly sprang into action. Under Ye Zhenkui's stunned gaze, a torpedo was launched with a burst of speed.

  At this point, he still didn't understand that he was being ridiculed. Ye Zhi Kui's face sank, and he looked at Xu Zhen Peng with a expressionless face, his voice slightly angry: "I think I need an explanation!"

  Xu Zhenpeng stood still, his face apologetic, and quickly replied: "Sorry, sir. I really couldn't help it. The German fleet has been following us for a whole day and won't leave unless we teach them a lesson. But if I personally launch the torpedo, our Beiyang Fleet will be punished. If you accidentally fire it, all responsibility can be pushed onto me to bear. It's as if I made a mistake while teaching you, so you and others can avoid involvement."

  Ye Zhi Kui's face changed upon hearing this and he hastily said: "You're saying that the torpedo was fired at the German ship?"

  Xu Zhenpeng nodded and immediately sounded the alarm. Deng Shichang was just taking a breath outside, and as soon as he heard the alarm, he rushed in and asked loudly: "Who sounded the alarm? What's going on?" Ji Cheng.

  Xu Zhenpeng was about to respond when Ye Zhikui stepped forward and said, "Brother Deng, it's me who just accidentally launched a torpedo, which is now heading towards the German ship 'Little Beard'."

  Deng Shichang understood Ye Zhiwei's character and knew that he wouldn't act recklessly on things he didn't understand. He also saw the complexity of the situation from Xu Zhenpeng's ashamed expression, but instead of blaming him, he let out a long sigh and his gaze turned firm as he said: "Now that things have come to this, there's no use saying more. Immediately pass down my orders, the entire fleet will disperse in a line formation, prepare for battle. Ji Cheng, I'll settle accounts with you later." The fleet personnel immediately sprang into action.

  The sudden appearance of the Beiyang Fleet's combat formation startled the German sailors following behind, and the first mate on the "Little Whiskers" rushed to the captain's side and asked: "General, the Qing North Sea Navy has formed a combat formation; should we pay a bit more attention?"

  Ultraman patted the dust off his clothes, pulled out a cigar and lit it, took a puff, blew out a smoke ring, and lectured: "My young friend, after following me for so long, you're still so flustered. As an excellent naval officer of the Empire, we should always maintain our due demeanor."

  The deputy commander hastily adjusted his clothes and hat, then said: "General, you have taught us, so shall we continue to advance?"

  "Of course, this is just a small trick of Deng Shichang's to intimidate us. If we retreat like this, won't we be falling into their trap and letting them mock us?"

  Just as Ultraman was about to finish speaking, a soldier came forward with a big sweat and reported: "Sir, a suspected enemy ship Dingyuan has launched a torpedo heading towards us."

  The deputy commander picked up the telescope and took a look, then turned to scold the sailor: "What's the panic about? As an imperial soldier, you must always maintain your composure. This suspected torpedo is definitely not a torpedo, it's just another small intimidation by the Qing people towards us. If we're afraid like this, we'll be laughed at by the Qing people."

  The sailor listened and felt slightly relieved, secretly blaming himself for being too surprised. He looked at our captain, who was leisurely smoking a cigar, and the first mate, who was calmly looking up at the blue sky. No wonder I'm still just a small soldier, this is the difference.

  Ultraman nodded in approval at the vice-captain's words, puffed out a smoke ring, and seemed very pleased. He took over the binoculars and looked in that direction, when his face suddenly changed color. He hastily ordered the sailor: "Quick, quick, pass on my orders, hurry up and get out of the way, put the whole ship into combat state, this is a torpedo!"

  The originally calm vice captain and little soldier, upon hearing the words, quickly went to prepare with a pale face. Ultraman threw away the cigar he had just lit, stomped on it, and then hurriedly rushed towards the captain's quarters, where his previous demeanor still remained.

  "The Little Whiskers" was suddenly in an uproar, the sailors inside had not expected that the Dingyuan would suddenly launch a torpedo, and they were completely unprepared. Not to mention that they didn't expect it, even Deng Shichang hadn't expected it. Fortunately, Automan gave the order in time, the sailors' skills were excellent, and "The Little Whiskers" managed to dodge by turning sharply, narrowly escaping disaster. The torpedo exploded with a loud noise not far from the ship's hull, creating a massive wave that startled everyone. Automan was so scared that he broke out in cold sweat. If the torpedo had hit the ship just now, it would have been all over.

  The Otoman saw the Beiyang Fleet approaching slowly, and hastily ordered a retreat, quickly fleeing backwards. Deng Shichang merely maintained a defensive posture, seeing the German fleet flee, he also stopped his pursuit order.

  The Beiyang officers and soldiers were like they had won a big battle, all jumping onto the deck to cheer, and someone accidentally said that this torpedo was Mr. Ye's masterpiece, Ye Zhiwei was lifted by the enthusiastic sailors to the deck and thrown high into the air, Ye Zhiwei in mid-air with tears in his eyes, shouting wildly in his heart, quickly put brother down, brother has acrophobia!

  …………

  It's another weekend, brothers hurry up and collect, recommend! Collecting and recommending is a miserable sight!