Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 710

710. The Second Battle of the Yellow Sea (8)

Deung Su-rin’s decision wasn’t solely based on his faith in the Twin Flame Dragons. There was a more pressing reason.

He was one of the few generals who had barely survived the previous war.

He vividly remembered the scene from that war where the Ming fleet’s pride, the Daebokseons [large, armored warships], were being brutally destroyed by Challenger-class battleships, let alone the Assault Turtle Ships.

“The problem is that the Daebokseons haven’t improved since then! We need to use the Twin Flame Dragons to eliminate as many Challenger-class battleships as possible!”

So far, his decision was reasonable. However, Deung Su-rin then made a fatal mistake.

He didn’t inform anyone of his decision.

“If there’s only one Joseon Assault Turtle Ship, we can deal with it using two Twin Flame Dragons. If two appear, we charge at the Challenger-class battleships at full speed. That way, the Assault Turtle Ships won’t be able to move recklessly to protect their own ships. We can then target the Challenger-class battleships. Besides, unexpected variables might arise. In that case, it’s best to make decisions on the spot. Creating too many plans will only lead to confusion. With too many plans, there won’t be many who can execute them properly!”

Deung Su-rin didn’t trust the rebuilt Ming navy’s capabilities.

However, that wasn’t the only reason he made this decision. Another major factor was jealousy.

Jinwi’s personnel appointment was a prime example.

“He was just promoted from Yugyeok Janggun [a junior military rank] to Chamjang [a higher military rank] a short while ago! He doesn’t even know what war is, yet he’s just spouting nonsense!”

Deung Su-rin believed that Jinwi wasn’t the only one like that, so he simply kept his mouth shut.

And because of that decision, Deung Su-rin faced an unexpected situation.

* * *

“That idiot!”

Deung Su-rin shouted as he saw Jinwi’s detached fleet suddenly speeding up.

“What’s he doing, breaking the formation we painstakingly created!”

Deung Su-rin slammed his fist on the bridge’s railing and shouted at his adjutant.

“Send a signal to that idiot to return to his position! That’s an order!”

“Yes!”

At Deung Su-rin’s furious command, the adjutant quickly relayed the order to the signalman.

However, the adjutant’s face turned pale when he saw the reply that came back shortly after.

“Refusal? Priority to protecting the flagship?”

Deung Su-rin, who received the report through the adjutant, raised his voice in even greater anger.

“Order him to return to the formation immediately! Tell him he’ll be charged with insubordination if he refuses! No, strip Jinwi of his command right now!”

“Yes!”

This time, Deung Su-rin’s order seemed to work, as Jinwi’s detached fleet slowed down and began to return to its designated position.

“The detached fleet is returning.”

“Good.”

Only then satisfied, Deung Su-rin began to reassess the battlefield situation.

“Where are the Joseon Assault Turtle Ships?”

“Both are charging from the right side of the Apjo. It seems they’re aiming for the Apjo’s right flank.”

“Order the Apjo to concentrate fire on the Assault Turtle Ships.”

“Yes!”

As the adjutant who received the order was giving instructions to the signalman, another adjutant cautiously expressed his concern.

“It really looks like they’re aiming for the Apjo’s flank. Shouldn’t we order them to be careful?”

Deung Su-rin waved his hand dismissively at the adjutant’s advice.

“Even the Twin Flame Dragon’s main cannons could withstand the Twin Flame Dragon’s armor. Ordinary cannons won’t be able to inflict much damage!”

“But….”

“It’s better to take out one more of those pesky Challenger-class battleships in that time! Haven’t we already tested the armor issue!”

At Deung Su-rin’s rebuke, the concerned adjutant had no choice but to remain silent.

* * *

As Deung Su-rin said, when the Twin Flame Dragon was first developed, experiments were conducted on its armor.

A mock-up was created, combining a 2-chi (approximately 6cm) thick iron plate, which would cover the sides of the Twin Flame Dragon, with a thick wooden hull behind it. Then, the Twin Flame Dragon’s main cannons were fired at it.

According to the experiment, it showed little damage even when hit by the main cannons, unless the range was within 20 jang (approximately 60m).

Based on these results, the Ming navy and Joseon engineers reported the following predictions to Emperor Kyungtae.

-The Joseon Assault Turtle Ship must come within at least 10 jang (approximately 30m) to inflict damage.

The reason they came to this conclusion was that the main cannons mounted on the Twin Flame Dragon were slightly larger in caliber than those on the Assault Turtle Ship, and they assumed that even if Joseon’s technology was better than Ming’s, it would be impossible to have thicker armor.

-It is impossible to mount larger and more powerful main cannons with the existing design!

-The same goes for armor. It is impossible to add thicker armor to the existing wooden structure.

These were not just mere predictions, but results obtained from actual experiments, so the Ming navy and Joseon engineers believed in their predictions.

* * *

Upon receiving Deung Su-rin’s order, the Apjo followed the command and bombarded the two approaching Assault Turtle Ships.

쾅쾅쾅!

The fireballs fired by the Apjo created dozens of water columns in front of the Assault Turtle Ships.

However, the Assault Turtle Ships continued their charge without paying any attention. Even though the fireballs fired by the Apjo fell far ahead of their path, they were charging in so aggressively.

It was the Apjo’s captain and sailors who were rather taken aback by this.

“What is it? Aren’t those guys afraid of dying! Fire! Fire! Keep firing!”

At the captain’s command, the sailors frantically reloaded gunpowder and cannonballs into the gunports, lit the fuses, and fired.

쾅쾅!

As the firing continued, several shots began to hit the Assault Turtle Ships.

쾅!

“Hit!”

“Huh?”

The crew of the Apjo, who were cheering as they saw their cannonballs hit, suddenly froze. The fireball that hit the dragon’s head of the Assault Turtle Ship bounced off harmlessly.

“Reload! Reload!”

“Let’s see how long they can last!”

The crew of the Apjo’s broadside cannons, who soon regained their senses, began to reload, and at that moment, the main cannons on the two Assault Turtle Ships fired almost simultaneously.

꽈광!

A huge explosion and flames erupted, momentarily obscuring the dragon heads of the Maengjin and Doljin.

And shortly after, an irreparable hole appeared in the right hull of the Apjo’s two hulls.

This was because the fireball that penetrated the thick hull, reinforced with iron armor and wood, caused a massive explosion.

With just two shots, the Apjo’s right hull almost lost its combat power.

“Water’s coming in!”

“Stop it!”

“We can’t stop it!”

Seawater began to rush in through the hole created by the explosion near the waterline. The crew of the Apjo were desperately trying to prevent the flooding, but the situation was not easy.

“Close the bulkheads!”

“It’s not easy with the water pressure!”

“The frame is broken!”

At this time, junk ships also had watertight bulkheads made in the form of sliding doors. The structure was designed to prevent flooding to other areas by closing the sliding doors, and this structure was also adopted in the Twin Flame Dragon.

However, the problem was that the Twin Flame Dragon’s bulkhead sliding doors were too large to be moved by the strength of one or two people.

To solve this, pulleys and ropes were used. However, the shock of the explosion distorted the track of the sliding doors, making it difficult to move the bulkheads easily.

“Close it no matter what! If we can’t close it, we’ll die!”

“Pull! Pull!”

As the crew desperately tried to close the bulkheads one by one, the second barrage from the Doljin and Maengjin hit.

꽈광! 꽝!

With this second barrage, the Apjo suffered an irreversible fatal wound.

The seawater entering through the holes created by the second barrage caused the Apjo’s right hull to tilt severely.

Instantly.

꾸궁! 쾅!

“Aaaagh!”

“It’s hot! It’s hot!”

“Save me!”

The cold seawater rushed into the engine room, and the boiler exploded the moment it met the heated boiler.

The engine room crew members who were nearby screamed and collapsed, suffering fatal injuries and burns from the fragments of the exploded boiler and the hot steam.

The tragedy of the Apjo began from that moment. Losing power on the right hull meant that only the waterwheel on the left hull was turning, and with the right hull sinking into the sea, the Apjo began to spin in a large circle.

At that moment, the third barrage from the Doljin and Maengjin struck the Apjo.

The cannonball fired in this third barrage struck the Apjo’s right main cannon powder magazine.

꽝!

With a loud explosion, the entire bow of the Apjo’s right hull and nearly half of the central part disappeared, and shortly after, the Apjo slowly began to sink into the sea.

The Doljin and Maengjin, which had sunk one of the three Twin Flame Dragons, began to turn their bows in search of their next prey.

The next prey they were aiming for was the Twin Flame Dragon’s flagship, ‘Jeongjo (征朝) [Conquer Joseon].’

* * *

“Apjo sinking! Apjo sinking!”

At the adjutant’s report, Deung Su-rin wore an expression of disbelief.

“That can’t be! That can’t be happening!”

“It’s true!”

When the adjutant confirmed again, Deung Su-rin slumped into his chair and muttered.

“Even after chasing so hard, is Joseon still ahead….”

“Admiral! Orders!”

When the captain of the Jeongjo, unable to watch any longer, shouted for orders, Deung Su-rin gritted his teeth and stood up from his seat.

“Order the Jinjo (鎭朝) [Suppress Joseon] to turn its bow immediately! We will engage in a head-on battle with the Joseon Assault Turtle Ships!”

“Yes!”

At Deung Su-rin’s command, the captain and adjutants immediately repeated the order and began to act.

Shortly after, the Jeongjo and Jinjo began to turn in a large circle.

* * *

The movements of the Jeongjo and Jinjo were captured by the self-propelled flying airship in the sky.

The vice-captain of the Maengjin, after confirming the light communication sent by the self-propelled flying airship, immediately reported to Nam Gi-nam.

“The snake heads are turning their heads. It seems they want a head-on confrontation. What should we do?”

“A head-on confrontation… that sounds like a pretty good idea….”

Nam Gi-nam, stroking his beard as if tempted, soon came to a conclusion.

“There’s no need to take the difficult path when there’s an easy one. We’ll continue to eat away at their flanks like we’re doing now! Let the Doljin know too!”

“Yes!”

Shortly after, a reply came from the Doljin.

“The Doljin agrees.”

“Good! Let’s catch those guys dawdling over there first!”

Thus, the Doljin and Maengjin increased their speed towards the Jeongjo. Unlike the Twin Flame Dragons, which had waterwheels in the center of the twin hulls and were slow to change direction, the Assault Turtle Ships were very quick to change direction. Making the most of this advantage, the Assault Turtle Ships charged at the Jeongjo’s flank.

In this way, the three Twin Flame Dragons were sunk one by one into the sea.

The Ming’s pride, named ‘Conquer Joseon (征朝)’, ‘Suppress Joseon (鎭朝)’, and ‘Oppress Joseon (壓朝)’ to repay the humiliation suffered in the previous war, sank into the sea.