I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 79

The Black Devil

“So, if we get close and fire the cannons, their ships will be smashed to pieces!”

“We can’t get close because their ships are too fast!”

“You frustrating bastards! When their ships fire, the sides will inevitably face us, so close the distance then!”

In naval warfare, a difference in cannon range means the initiative always lies with the opponent.

But everyone already knew that the English cannons were superior, so it wasn’t particularly surprising.

That’s why they brought more than twice the force.

No matter how long the range, a ship can’t retreat while firing, so if we keep closing the distance, we’ll eventually get within firing range.

We’ll take quite a bit of damage, but the commanders knew from the start that they couldn’t sink all the English ships here.

It’s enough to sink only about two of their ships by sacrificing ten of ours.

Unlike them, who would need at least a few months to send new warships, we can mobilize additional forces as much as we want.

“Don’t be afraid! Their cannons aren’t infinite!”

“If we try to approach by force, our casualties will be too great!”

“Retreating here would be a waste of our comrades’ sacrifices! Don’t waste the opportunity they’ve created!”

That’s what they said, but in reality, neither Governor-General Lin Zexu nor the generals in charge of this operation had much experience in naval battles.

The Qing navy often had a disorganized command system, and when battles occurred, they were usually commanded by local government military officials.

But how many real battles using cannons had there been until now?

Especially against those strange black ships spewing smoke, they had never even considered such a battle, let alone trained for it.

They had seen ships that just spewed smoke before, but they had never known of the existence of such bizarrely shaped warships, so it couldn’t be helped.

Still, in the end, they’re all just ships floating on the sea, so if they get hit by cannonballs, they’ll get holes, and if they get holes, they’ll sink, right?

We just need to shove the cannons within range somehow.

But this infinitely naive thought was shattered miserably in less than half an hour.

Boom!

Kaboom! Crack!

“They’re coming again!”

“One ship heavily damaged!”

“What are our guys doing! Are we still out of range!”

“Aaaaaagh!”

I don’t know what they’re doing, but the English cannons not only have a long range but also seem to have far better accuracy than ours.

Our ships are exploding as soon as they fire, and I’m even worried that our numbers will be halved before we even get close.

But no matter how I look at it, it’s strange that the distance isn’t closing like this.

No matter how much the range differs, it can’t be five or ten times the difference, so why can’t we shoot those guys yet?

Even if their ships are faster than ours, they have to turn to fire, so the distance should be closing.

Come to think of it, it doesn’t seem like they’ve turned their ships much during the shelling so far.

“Could it be that they have cannons mounted on the stern [rear] of their ships?”

But that would drastically reduce the number of gunports they could deploy, which would be a significant loss in firepower.

Fortunately… no, unfortunately, as I watched the English black warship, which was continuously sinking our ships with its telescope, such questions were easily resolved.

“The cannons… are turning?”

Bang!

Unlike us, who have most of our cannons fixed on both sides, the cannons on that black monster ship move this way and rotate that way, spewing fire.

This means that they are faster, have a longer range, and are firing unilaterally from angles where they can’t be hit.

Fortunately, it didn’t seem that all the English warships were equipped with those moving cannons, but the Qing navy was having a nightmare just from that one black ship.

Free firing that is not restricted by the movement of the ship.

Shrapnel erupting from our ships every time a roar echoes.

It wouldn’t be so frustrating if we could at least fire a cannon, but what kind of battle is it when we’re just getting hit unilaterally?

“Aaaaaagh! You damn English bastards! If you’re not cowards, don’t run away and fight properly!”

Bang!

Of course, unless they’ve all gone collectively insane, there’s no way they’d come out to a place where they’d get hit.

Should we change our strategy now by retreating our ships and launching a defensive battle together with the artillery batteries deployed on the coast?

But I’ve already made such a big noise to the governor-general, and it’s too obvious what will happen if I go back without even firing a cannon properly and only sacrificing our troops.

If we’re already on a tiger’s back [committed to a dangerous course of action], we have to go to the end and sink at least one or two of their ships.

Fortunately, whether it was luck or their mistake of being overconfident in their technology, the distance between the black monster ship and our ships began to narrow little by little.

“Good! We’re in range! Let’s get that bastard!”

“Aim straight! We have to hit it no matter what!”

The distance was a bit precarious, but it was still within effective range.

With all the resentment we’ve suffered so far and the grudges of our sacrificed comrades.

Bang!

The Qing junk ship’s cannon spewed fire at the goddess of revenge, Nemesis.

Even if the accuracy is low, the ship will inevitably be damaged if it is hit by at least one shot.

If the speed drops even a little, we can surround it with our ships and shower it with cannon fire.

Just as one cannonball that flew properly collided nicely with the black monster ship, scattering fragments of the enemy ship into the air with a crackling sound…

…It failed to do so and fell into the sea, leaving only a loud collision sound.

“…Did we miss?”

“B, but it definitely hit?”

“C, could it be that it bounced off…?”

At someone’s murmur, the soldiers’ faces were filled with fear.

It was already hard enough to approach within range, but to think that even if we hit it with a cannon, it wouldn’t penetrate the enemy’s armor, what kind of bad joke is this?

“D, don’t panic! Their iron plates aren’t infinitely strong. If we get closer and fire, we can penetrate them enough! Reload…”

Kaboom!

“Aaaaaagh!”

“S, save me!”

“I don’t want to dieee!”

Unfortunately, the desperate shouts of the generals were buried in the screams of the soldiers, whose morale had already hit rock bottom, and did not spread at all.

And the Nemesis’s subsequent shelling covered the Qing soldiers’ screams with eternal silence.

One ship, and then another.

The Qing ships disappeared from the sea off Guangdong Province, and the sea, stained with cannons, screams, and shrieks, regained its peace after only a few hours.

The first official naval battle between the British Empire and the Qing Dynasty in history ended with a shocking result of 34 Qing junk ships completely destroyed, 1,600 casualties, 0 British soldiers killed, and 7 injured.

No fatalities, so the exchange ratio could not be measured.

The gap in power between the two countries was so great that it could not even be expressed numerically.

* * *

After all, the most important thing in war is morale.

And what continuously maintains that morale is overwhelming victory.

The first naval battle, or rather, the British Empire’s firepower demonstration show, which was embarrassing to even call a battle, brought tremendous shock to both countries.

The Qing Dynasty was horrified by the overwhelming power of the British Empire, and the British Empire was amazed that they were really this weak, even though they had been half-expecting it.

“My goodness, is this real…? Haha, it’s good that we won a great victory, but I’m very bewildered.”

“Didn’t I keep emphasizing it? If we’re fighting on the sea, it’s simply physically impossible for them to sink our warships.”

In order for the Qing Dynasty to sink our ships, they must borrow the power of ground batteries.

From the moment they abandoned their defense and brought their ships out on the offensive, this disastrous result was a predetermined future.

“But I can’t understand. Why on earth did they bring those wooden ships out here, and what were they believing in?”

“Could it be that they thought we might run away, and they wouldn’t be able to hit us with ground batteries?”

“Well, yeah… If they came out so confidently, they must have really thought they could win, but we’re just grateful.”

“Still, they’ve had a real taste of it this time, so they won’t do anything stupid like facing us head-on at sea in the future.”

Looking only at the battle results, it was a victory that would go down in history, but George Elliot still seemed unconvinced about something.

“But isn’t the Qing Dynasty the strongest power in Asia that everyone was wary of? Could this battle have been bait to test our strength, and is there a possibility that the real force is waiting above?”

“More than 30 ships were destroyed this time, and if that was thrown as bait, that would be amazing in its own right. That’s not possible.”

“But then what were Europeans wary of until now…?”

What else could it be?

They were just scared of the size and reputation and were just shadowboxing on their own.

“Anyway, now that the Admiral knows for sure how much the Qing army and our forces differ, it will be easier to establish detailed strategies. May I ask what your plans are for the future?”

“If they can make a judgment on the situation, wouldn’t they contact us to negotiate first? The Minister said that he would be in charge of negotiations with them, so when that happens, I will be firmly behind him.”

“Well, Lin Zexu is likely to propose negotiations. But even so, the war will have to be resumed immediately, so you should be prepared.”

“Are you saying that the negotiations will break down?”

“Of course. We are thinking of demanding the cession of territory, but there is no way they will accept that.”

This is also an area that cannot be understood with European sensibilities, but the Central Plains dynasty [referring to China] will never cede territory on its own.

They have paid countless indemnities since ancient times, but in fact, giving money somehow allowed for mental victory.

They could just say that they threw it to them to use as travel expenses on the way home, or that they gave it to them as consolation money.

But giving away territory is something that mental victory is impossible with any logic.

Abandoning their territory was nothing but a result of surrender, no matter how they put it.

Therefore, Qing had no choice but to desperately oppose the cession of territory, which could crack the Sinocentrism [belief in the superiority of Chinese culture] itself.

In fact, even in the original history, they did not even think of ceding territory until it was concluded that resistance was impossible, so it will be the same now.

The Qing’s will is not broken by just destroying 30 ships.

“Then there is no choice but to continue the war. Since they will no longer give us an all-out war, it seems that we can use the method of blockading the sea and starving the big cities to death. If we drag on like that, they will be the only ones who will die, so the Minister can use that as a basis for negotiations.”

“Yes. Militarily, that seems to be the perfect method. But diplomatic means should also be added to make it more effective, so I’ll help you a little.”

“If it’s a diplomatic method?”

“The reason why the Qing Dynasty is trying so hard not to cede territory is because the tributary system [system of trade and diplomacy with other countries] may be shaken. Then, if we continue to shake the order that they want to protect so much, they will have no choice but to come to the negotiating table. By the way, didn’t we get a really good result to advertise at this large-scale naval battle this time?”

The overwhelming difference in power between the two countries and the result of the naval battle.

And if we record all of this, completely paralyze the Qing cities along the coastline, and block supplies, it will also be good propaganda.

“We can widely inform the surrounding tributary states that the Qing Dynasty is just a paper tiger and that its past glory has long since disappeared. By the way, we have friends who are eager to record and spread the news everywhere.”

“You’re talking about the Netherlands.”

“Yes. If we give them information and ask them to spread it around, they will eagerly spread the news.”

-The Qing Dynasty is being completely crushed by the British Empire.

So you should also quickly open the country, accept advanced civilization, and prepare hard. As a start, how about establishing diplomatic relations with our Netherlands first?

It was an opportunity to persuade all kinds of countries in this way, so there is no possibility that they would refuse our request.

Originally, it would have ended with just spreading the news to Japan, but if we encourage this trend, it will not end with just that this time.

To Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Ryukyu, and even Joseon [ancient Korean kingdom].

If they all know the details of this war, what kind of reaction will they show? Shall we take our time and watch?