Seven Seas Beacon Fire

Li Zongdi's breath made his beard tremble. The old man's previous emotional appeal to his eldest son vanished instantly. The Prince of Jin stomped his foot angrily, paced back and forth twice, and then came to Li Renchi, scolding, "Do you think this old man is disregarding the country for his own reputation?! Are you the only loyal minister, good minister, and virtuous minister in the world?"

"I wouldn't dare."

Although Li Renzhi said that, his stiff neck clearly expressed his attitude.

"Don't be afraid, boss. I've realized how brave you are today. But I hope your skills are as great as your courage. I'm confident that no one in China is better at fighting than me. Do you agree with that, boss?"

"Father was a renowned general, both at home and abroad, a fact universally acknowledged."

"Then let me ask you this: I'm letting you handle the economic and domestic affairs, but who should we listen to on military matters? Do I know better than you whether we'll be fighting on two fronts, or whether we can even fight on two fronts?!"

After finishing his speech, Li Zongdi picked up the bow he had just smashed from the ground and, as if venting his anger, fired several arrows at the distant target.

For a 60-year-old man to be able to fire several arrows in rapid succession from such a powerful bow shows how good his health was. You should know that for many young people, they probably couldn't even draw such a bowstring for a single arrow.

These arrows were not carefully aimed, so they did not hit the bullseye precisely, but they all hit the target. The heavy arrows shot from the Ming bow struck the target like heavy hammers, and the successive hits split the target in half like firewood.

After venting his anger, Li Zongdi turned around and looked at his eldest son, panting slightly: "Your father has spent his whole life in the army, and he fought his entire war. A soldier knows his own goods better than his wife. How could I not know whether the country is so exhausted that it needs to compromise and compromise with the Victoria people in Singapore over a small move?"

"Your subject believes that Father has a certain degree of confidence."

"I'm very confident!"

“Perhaps so, Father.” Li Renchi replied solemnly, “In terms of military campaigns, I am naturally far inferior to you, and my second and third brothers are also better than me. I understand this very well. However, when it comes to understanding and assessing the state of this country, having served as your chief steward for so many years, I believe I have a more comprehensive understanding than you.”

"How dare you boast!" Li Zongdi paced around Li Renchi. "You dare to say you know more about the country than I do now? I only touched the bow you gave me a little while and I know it better than you. When we were shooting arrows earlier, you kept missing your target. You thought it was a problem with your aim, but actually, the bowstring of your bow was never properly adjusted from the beginning. You can't even handle an inanimate object properly, so how can you say you know more about the country than I do?"

“The son may not be as skilled as the father in how to use it, but the son understands better than the father the extent to which it is more easily damaged.” Li Renchi looked at the bow in Li Zongdi’s hand: “These two are not the same. Each has its own expertise, Father.”

"Different?" Li Zongdi snorted, picked up the bow and waved it in front of Li Renchi: "I'm asking you, how much does this bow you brought today weigh?"

"The bow maker said it weighs about 70 jin (35 catties)."

Li Zongdi nodded, then drew the bow fully and shot out another arrow like a meteor: "A 70-jin Ming bow, as long as it's not made with shoddy workmanship, if you use it normally, you can't even draw it fully like this. Today you're worried that you'll break the bow."

Although the nation is in decline today, the morale and fighting spirit of our army remain strong. They are like this bow; I know their limits. I will not knowingly attempt the impossible. So, don't try to play the role of Hai Rui in front of me today! I am not Jiajing!

"I believe Father must have a certain degree of confidence to be unwilling to compromise with them, but please forgive my bluntness, our country can no longer afford any more risks. How confident are you, Father? Seventy percent or eighty percent? Even if you are ninety percent confident, what if we really encounter that one percent of failure?"

"If we're not willing to take any risks at all, then we might as well take off our uniforms and go home to help our wives breastfeed the babies!"

"It's not that we can't take risks, but that there's no need to take too many risks right now. William Ockham, the logician of the Victorian Empire and a Franciscan friar, proposed Ockham's Razor: Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily. We must take things one step at a time. Our primary enemy right now is the Federation. We should not consider any other direction until we drive the Federation out of Silla, Yeonpyeong, Luzon and other places."

As Li Renchi spoke, he reached out and grasped the bow in Li Zongdi's hand. Under Li Zongdi's scrutinizing gaze, he took the bow from his hand, weighed it in his hand, and said, "This bow was originally intended as a birthday gift for my father this year. Indeed, as my father said, I am too weak to draw this bow fully... Naturally, I cannot break this bow like those strong men."

"It's good that you know." Li Zongdi subconsciously thought that Li Renzhi had finally realized his "mistake" and was about to apologize to him. But the next moment, Li Renzhi suddenly gritted his teeth and began to pull the bowstring hard. Li Zongdi knew his son's physical condition very well. He was the kind of person who would have trouble even lifting a bag of rice. Pulling the bow hard was like using the engine of a T34 to drive a T80.

"Save your energy, kid. Even if you used all the strength you had in your mother's womb and all the strength you had when you were breastfeeding, you still couldn't break this bow. If you're trying to prove something to me by breaking this bow, let me tell you, you're wrong!"

Li Renchi was unable to reply at this moment, because his face was flushed red, his jaw was clenched tightly, and his upper and lower teeth were chattering.

He had indeed used all his strength, but no one knows a son better than his father, and as Li Zongdi said, he could not break the bow.

Seeing Li Renzhi's ferocious expression, Li Zongdi shook his head and stormed off. He had always been a stubborn person, and many people had tried to change him throughout his life, including his former teachers, his former lovers, and his former political enemies, but in the end, no one had ever really succeeded.

He didn't want to discern whether this was arrogance or confidence; he only knew that he had never failed in his previous 60 years of life, and therefore he was certain that he was still on the path to victory.

However, just as he turned around, the sound of an arrow exploding came from behind him. He turned around again in surprise and saw Li Renchi's trembling hands still gripping the broken Ming bow. A bloody gash appeared from his cheek to his neck, obviously caused by the bowstring whipping up when the arrow broke.

The wound wasn't deep, but it was long, and bright red blood was slowly flowing out, gradually staining his clothes. Li Renchi's hands were still trembling slightly, but a smile appeared on his face: "Father, as you can see, I really couldn't break this bow, but I just let go gently, and the bow is now like this."

Li Zongdi remained silent. Li Renzhi had just used the most taboo method in archery: firing an empty string. This method causes the most damage to the bow and may even cause the bow to break instantly because the sudden release of force cannot be "consumed" by the arrow.

Li Zongdi remained silent for a long time. He was not lamenting the loss of the bow; he was simply experiencing something new from his eldest son.

This eldest son, who has always been meek and submissive to me, suddenly rebelled so fiercely for the first time. What is this all about?

A blood oath?

He slowly walked up to his eldest son, took out a handkerchief from his pocket, and gently pressed it against the wounds on his neck and cheek. He now understood the meaning that Li Renzhi had conveyed to him through that silent gesture.

Yes, in most cases, arrows are not broken by force, but simply by being gently released like this... the arrow's own strength will break it.

“Father,” Li Renchi spoke again, “leave the matter of having an affair with the Victorians to your son. Father, all you sought in this life was a good name before and after your death, and now the country truly needs a flawless hero.”

Chapter 30 Americans in the Fog of War (1)

Every time Pershing entered the Pacific Command headquarters building, the first thing that caught his eye was the huge map hanging in the lobby on the first floor.

On this map, the areas marked with light blue stripes have been expanding over the past year, and these expanding areas are those controlled by the United States Army.

If this were a coloring game, then for the Federation players, their contestants have performed well over the past year. Not only have they planted Federation flags and painted Federation colors on islands in Southeast Asia one after another, but they have even now set foot in Luzon and Yanping, the most traditional spheres of influence of the Eastern Empire at sea, and have even persuaded one of the most important vassal states of that ancient Eastern country to switch sides.

The Leitanians collapsed at the end of last year due to their internal problems, coinciding with the arrival of winter. Now, the entire Allied Powers have only this one opponent left in the world. The entire Colombian Federation firmly believes that they are the warriors who challenge the dragon. Now, the dragon in front of them is already wounded, and as warriors, they are about to reap victory, glory, and everything the dragon has to offer.

In fact, this dragon had almost given up resistance just like Letania before. Pershing had even considered asking the president to award a medal to the leaders of the Ming Empire's provisional government, especially Lord Liu, and to call him an honorary American would not be a problem.

However, at this critical juncture, the Federation's plan to dye Silla as well as Silla was forcibly interrupted while they were trying to dye it. Moreover, it can be seen from the color blocks and arrows of Silla that the United States Army's war on this peninsula is not progressing smoothly.

After all this happened, Lord Liu immediately sent them a clarification telegram, stating that the military had acted "arbitrarily" at the Pyongyang incident, and that he would definitely exercise stricter control over the troops going forward. However, some troops were beyond his control, so this matter needed to be dealt with gradually.

Unfortunately, Lord Liu, who had the opportunity to become "an old friend of the Federation people," never had the chance to realize his former vision. He was ousted by force by the leader of the ancient empire's military—a capable and valiant prince. Now, the new provisional government of this ancient Eastern country has a very clear attitude towards the war.

Fight the Federation to the bitter end!

Pershing, who had just arrived in Asia from Europe where the war had just ended, had just taken command of the United States Army in the region when he encountered this major upheaval that caught the Union people somewhat off guard.

It's like you were playing against C+ ranked opponents a few rounds before you started playing CS:GO, and suddenly the players you're playing against have changed to A+ ranked veterans.

Although the Federation can still confidently say that the overall situation on the battlefield is currently in their favor, the defeat at Pyongyang, caused by the United States Army's overconfidence and recklessness on the Silla battlefield, not only pushed the Federation's Silla expeditionary force back more than 100 kilometers to the south, but more critically, 100,000 Federation troops are now surrounded around Wonsan Port. As the Ming army's encirclement gradually tightens, Pershing needs to bring these Federation troops back home as soon as possible.

He had spoken with the Union forces inside the encirclement last night to get information. Colonel Douglas MacArthur, who was highly regarded by him on the European front, had received the Order of the Defence of Paris, and had performed well in the Battle of Meuse-Argonne, reported to him on the specific situation of the Union forces inside the encirclement, which could only be described as very pessimistic.

Because the Federation had misjudged the impact of the chaotic situation in Dongda on the army, and completely failed to anticipate that Prince Jin would lead his army across the Yalu River, the United States army concentrated all of its heavy artillery around Pyongyang in a manner exceeding the artillery manual, preparing to launch a forced siege. Then... most of these artillery pieces were captured by the Ming army after the surprise attack.

Therefore, the federal forces within the encirclement are now severely lacking in artillery, even 75mm artillery is in short supply. After all, most of the artillery and firearms equipped by the United States Army are made in Gaul or are models produced under license by the Federation. The main 75mm field gun is the classic M1897 Gallic 75, a field gun with an amazing rate of fire. It is good in every way: it fires quickly (usually 15 rounds per minute, with a maximum rate of fire of 30 rounds per minute) and has a long range (up to 12 kilometers). However, this field gun weighs a full 1.5 tons.

The United States Army, which was running and retreating through the mountains of Silla, found it difficult to take all of its 75-pounders with them. The artillery that the United States Army was using to maintain the outer line of the encirclement was not only supported by the naval guns, but also by the emergency transport of 6-pound or 12-pounder sampan guns from the warships to the shore.

However, this method can only solve the immediate problem. On the one hand, naval guns cannot cover all areas, especially in mountainous areas where many slopes are difficult for naval guns to reach. On the other hand, those sampan guns are auxiliary guns among the auxiliary guns on the naval warships themselves. They have small calibers and are old models. At present, using them can only be said to be better than having no guns at all.

If these 10 federal troops cannot be withdrawn as soon as possible, these United States soldiers will either be slaughtered by the Ming army or they will have no choice but to lay down their weapons and enter prisoner-of-war camps. Neither of these two options is acceptable to the Federation at present, especially the latter.

Yesterday, Pershing urgently promoted Douglas MacArthur to brigadier general in a telegram, and appointed him to take over the position of army group chief of staff, who had been killed in the Battle of Pyongyang, to assist General Andre Walker Brewster in stabilizing the front lines. Pershing would then find a way to get them out of the encirclement as soon as possible.

On this point, Admiral David Benson, commander of the Pacific Fleet, confidently stated that the Navy was fully capable of withdrawing the Army soldiers from the encirclement. After all, the Federation Navy now controlled the entire Western Pacific. After suffering setbacks for several years during the World War, the Federation Navy could now be considered the dominant force in the Pacific. Therefore, he was quite proud and boastful of his achievements in front of the Army.

However, when Pershing entered the headquarters building today and routinely checked whether the colors of the maps hanging on the wall had changed, he quickly noticed that many naval officers in this theater command had changed from their usual relaxed and joking demeanor. Today, their expressions were generally serious and solemn, and they were even walking faster than usual when delivering documents.

Could it be that Benson is here? Are these guys in white uniforms in headquarters going to make a good impression on their direct superior? But they didn't seem to act like this when Benson came before.

With this question in mind, Pershing walked further into the operations hall, where he indeed found David Benson, who also had a solemn expression on his face.

He was somewhat curious: given the current situation in the Pacific, what could possibly have caused the commander of the Pacific Fleet to wear such a worried expression?

"What happened?"

Benson, seeing Pershing walk in, stroked his chin and said, “Two pieces of news. First, in the early hours of this morning, our spies around Jinlan Bay noticed that two Dingyuan-class battleships of the Ming Empire Navy left the port. This is the first time since the end of the Java Sea naval battle that the main warships of the Ming Empire Navy have left Jinlan Bay.”

"Two ships?" Pershing asked, somewhat puzzled. "I thought two battleships wouldn't warrant such a serious expression, would they? Are those two ships very powerful?"

"The performance was certainly quite good, with three quadruple 330mm main guns and an estimated displacement of 33,000 tons. The thickness of the main armor is still unclear, but in the Battle of the Java Sea, the Victorian 15-inch guns did not penetrate their armor. Most importantly, they had a speed of 23 knots."

“23 knots?” Pan Xing, who didn’t know much about the navy, was a little puzzled: “This speed doesn’t even seem as fast as the cruise ship I took when I came to Yingzhou.”

"The cruise ship you took when you came to Yingzhou was the Red Ribbon of the Pacific Ocean. Although it is no longer the Red Ribbon of today, it still has a speed of over 26.5 knots. This speed is comparable to our navy's former battlecruisers. There are almost no ships on the ocean that can catch up with it during long-distance voyages."

David Benson patiently explained: "23 knots is not slow for a battleship. Our next generation of fast battleships is scheduled to run at 23 knots. The Victorian Queen Elizabeth-class battleships can only reach 25 knots under relatively light loads, and their normal speed is about 24 knots."

How far can our ship go?

"None of our battleships can reach a top speed of more than 21 knots," Benson said with a helpless shrug. "Currently, none of our capital ships are faster than these two."

"Don't we have any fast ships in our navy?" Pershing asked with some curiosity.

"Thanks to some idiots in our Naval Ordnance Department and our incompetent domestic power suppliers, not a single battlecruiser built by the Navy in the past had armor exceeding eight inches, and all of them were lost after the Battle of the Java Sea."

Because our battles with the Ming army after the start of the war revealed the weakness of our battlecruisers' armor, we cancelled the construction of subsequent battlecruisers in the first two years. The new battlecruiser designs were revised several times due to the situation at the front. In the past two years, we have only built battleships, and we have no way to replenish our battlecruiser fleet in the short term.

Pershing roughly understood where Benson's worries came from; it was like a two-legged infantryman encountering a four-legged cavalryman, who was faster than the infantryman.

The situation for the navy might be even worse. For the army, infantry can't outrun cavalry over short and medium distances, but when it comes to long-distance raids and pursuits, four-legged cavalry can't outrun two-legged infantry. But warships run on coal and oil and don't need to rest like delicate horses. If they can't catch up, they simply can't catch up.

"Perhaps we could try encirclement?"

"We can try, but without the cooperation of high-speed ships, it will be very difficult to surround them."

"Since we don't have any fast ships right now, perhaps we can ask Britain for help? They have a lot of battlecruisers."

David Benson shook his head: "That brings us to the second piece of bad news. Two hours ago, fishermen from Yingzhou spotted more than one cruiser around the Ryukyu Islands."

“Fishermen from Yingzhou?” Pan Xing hadn’t expected that naval intelligence could be obtained from Yingzhou fishermen. However, he didn’t trust the people of Yingzhou very much. After all, everyone knew that Yingzhou had been a loyal dog of the Ming Empire for the past hundred years, and almost the entire East Asia and Southeast Asia had been profoundly influenced by that Eastern Empire in terms of spirit and culture.

This influence is pervasive and all-encompassing, such as their current way of referring to their enemies—even though the Ming Empire has already been removed from the list of powers, the United States Army still refers to the army they are currently fighting as the "Ming Army," and in fact, the other side thinks so too.

To some extent, the name "Da Ming" in the East has detached itself from national and regional connotations, much like the Han and Tang dynasties in ancient China, and has acquired some special significance.

The defection of Yingzhou in this war, and its betrayal of the Ming Empire, was actually the work of young, lower-ranking samurai within Yingzhou who had been deeply influenced by Western thought in recent years and who hoped to exploit the conflict between the court nobles represented by the Emperor and the samurai represented by the shogunate for political gain.

This means that the defection in Yingzhou actually stemmed from a shift in the political line among the middle and upper classes. However, while many young people in Yingzhou might be influenced by the propaganda of the upper classes, the older generation actually identified more with the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, the Allied Powers, including the Federation, did not fully trust Yingzhou, their underling who had turned against them.

To be precise, the Federation people are willing to trust the government currently in power in Yingzhou and the Emperor who has regained power. After all, if they don't cling to the West after what they did, they'll have to face the wrath of that ancient Eastern country. However... they don't actually trust the people of Yingzhou that much.

Who knows which side they're really on? Even now, there are still some Yingzhou people within Yingzhou who "bring their own food" to pass on intelligence to Dongda University.

"The Victorian fleet only has three battlecruisers in Singapore, and these three battlecruisers are relatively early models. Using them together might be able to help us try to encircle those two Ming army capital ships, but as for the cruisers that are now rushing out from the mouth of the Yangtze River... we are afraid we can only deal with them with the cruisers we have."

"Can you handle it?"

“That depends on how we define what constitutes a successful outcome,” David Benson said gravely. “But in any case, it is a significant challenge for us, who rely heavily on sea transport. However, I am confident that our lads can handle it well.”

"Will that affect our planned evacuation operation at Wonsan Port?"

“No.” David Benson shook his head: “Although the enemy’s actions are clearly intended to tie down our and our allies’ forces, I will leave enough cover forces for the operation in Yuanshan.”

Chapter 31 Americans in the Fog of War (2)

Benson displayed ample confidence in front of Pershing. Although the relationship between the Federal Army and Navy was relatively more harmonious compared to that of other major powers, they were, after all, the heads of two different systems. Benson wanted to present a respectable image to the Army and not lose face.

After all, it's impossible for Benson, a naval commander who had fought in the Pacific for several years, not to have any thoughts about the newly established position of commander of the Pacific Command. And the fact that this position was given to Pershing, who was parachuted in from Europe, must have made him feel even more resentful.

Although David Benson was a sensible officer and had been cooperating well with Pershing lately, he still felt a pang of jealousy, like a child who had been treated unfairly. The more he felt this way, the more he wanted to prove himself to his parents and brothers.

I am the best!

But reality often doesn't go as planned; David Benson was woken up by an explosion today.

What happened? .mp3

His phone rang soon after, and the situation was quickly confirmed. The explosion was not caused by a gas explosion during the Holy Grail War (crossed out). The real reason was that a ship had entered Edo Bay and then launched a fierce bombardment on the port facilities and shipyards in Edo Bay.

They've come knocking on our door!

David Benson had no time to comfort his somewhat panicked Japanese companion. The woman seemed to think the explosions were the Ming army returning, and was probably afraid that she would be punished for serving the white general. She was now trembling and clinging to him, begging Benson not to leave her.

David Benson shoved the foolish Japanese woman aside and quickly began to put on his clothes. Just as he finished dressing, the second phone call came in. The explosions that had been ringing in the background were fading into the distance. According to the report on the phone, the four ships that had rushed into Tokyo Bay had only come to show off and then ran away. After firing a few bursts of rapid fire, they quickly made their escape.

Four ships! Four cruisers in total! With Yingzhou already under the control of the United States military, they actually managed to storm into Edo Bay to conduct a bombardment. If these four ships escape, what will become of the reputation of the United States of Colombia?!

Moreover, Benson only realized now that perhaps the Federal Navy had indeed become somewhat arrogant and complacent after the Battle of the Java Sea—because Yingzhou defected after the Battle of the Java Sea ended, at which time the main force of the Ming Dynasty Royal Navy was already trapped in the South China Sea, and the Federal Navy had completely gained control of the entire Western Pacific since then. Under such absolute superiority, the Federals did not pay much attention to the defense of Tokyo Bay.

After all, Yingzhou is not the Federation's homeland, and the Federation Navy does have a tenant's mentality. In addition, it has not been attacked before, so Tokyo Bay has not laid too many minefields, deployed more coastal defense guns and defensive forces.

But that doesn't mean the defenses of Tokyo Bay don't exist! This isn't like those brothel girls' leggings that will automatically take off when they see Lord Ming!

No, even the girls in the red-light district have to pay money to take their clothes off when they see a man named Mingren!

Although the defense system and forces in Tokyo Bay are not very dense, they have all the necessary equipment. Several cruisers forced their way in and then left without a trace. They had obviously obtained a detailed map of the minefield distribution in Tokyo Bay, which was likely leaked from the Yingzhou Navy.

Damn it! People from Yingzhou are definitely not trustworthy!

Although those Japanese troops were outwardly respectful to Victoria and Columbia, who knows which of them were actually aware of the truth!

When General Benson arrived at headquarters, Pershing was already there. Pershing's first words upon meeting him were: "The four ships fired several hundred shells of caliber 100 mm or larger within five minutes. Most of them were fired at the shipyard, and about a few dozen shells were fired at the dock. Now the dock is on fire."

Upon hearing this, Benson glanced in the direction of the port. It was nighttime, but the fire there had already lit up half the sky. When he turned back with a surprised look on his face, Pan Xing took the initiative to explain the reason: "The reason why the dock was burned like that after being hit by so few shells seems to be because those shells set fire to the bitter acid that the Yingzhou people had piled up in the dock warehouse."

"The Japanese just piled up picric acid on the docks?" Hearing this, Bensen felt relieved. It seemed that there was a deflagration but no explosion. If there had been an explosion, the docks in Tokyo Bay would probably have been destroyed.

After all, just over a year ago, the Halifax bombing shocked the world. The explosion was estimated to be equivalent to 2900 tons of TNT, making it the most powerful man-made explosion in the world before the atomic bomb.

Although the Federation doesn't care how many Japanese will be killed in the explosion in Tokyo Bay, Tokyo is currently a relatively important transit port of great significance to the Federation's war in East Asia. Moreover, there are many ships docked in the port at the moment, which are preparing for the evacuation operation from Motoyama Port. If they are damaged in the explosion, it will cause another problem.