Deng Shulin’s decision wasn’t based solely on his faith in the Twin-Headed Flame Dragons. There was an even more pressing reason behind it.
He was among the few generals who had barely survived the previous war.
He vividly remembered watching the Ming’s pride, their Great Blessed Ships, being shattered not even by assault ghost ships but by mere Challenger-class vessels during that conflict.
“The problem is that the Great Blessed Ships haven’t been improved since then! We need to eliminate as many Challenger-class vessels as possible with the Twin-Headed Flame Dragons!”
Up to this point, his decision was somewhat reasonable. But Deng Shulin then made a fatal mistake.
He told no one about his decision.
“If Joseon actually has only one assault ghost ship, we can handle it with two Twin-Headed Flame Dragons. If they deploy two, we’ll charge at full speed toward their Challenger-class vessels. Then their assault ghost ships won’t be able to move freely because they’ll need to protect their own ships. That’s when we’ll deal with the Challenger-class vessels first. Besides, unexpected variables could emerge that no one anticipated. In that case, making immediate decisions on the battlefield is best. Creating too many contingency plans only leads to confusion. When there are too many plans, few people can execute them properly!”
Deng Shulin didn’t trust the quality of Ming’s reconstructed navy.
But that wasn’t the only reason for his resolve. Another major factor was jealousy.
The personnel action regarding Jin Wei was the most representative example.
“A fellow who was only recently promoted from Mobile Corps General to Lieutenant General! A man who knows nothing about war, just spouting pretty words!”
Believing there were many others like Jin Wei, Deng Shulin had chosen to keep his mouth shut.
And because of that decision, Deng Shulin encountered a situation he hadn’t anticipated.
***
“What a fool!”
Seeing Jin Wei’s sub-fleet suddenly increase speed and rush forward, Deng Shulin shouted angrily.
“What does he think he’s doing, breaking our formation!”
Pounding the bridge railing with his fist as he shouted, Deng Shulin ordered his staff officer:
“Signal that idiot to return to his position! Tell him it’s an order!”
“Yes, sir!”
At the enraged Deng Shulin’s command, the staff officer hurriedly relayed the order to the signalman.
However, not long after, the staff officer’s face turned pale upon seeing the reply.
“Refusal? Protecting the command ships is the priority?”
Upon receiving the report through his staff officer, Deng Shulin grew even more furious and raised his voice:
“Order them to return to formation immediately! Tell them they’ll be charged with insubordination if they refuse! No, strip Jin Wei of his command authority right now!”
“Yes, sir!”
This time, Deng Shulin’s order seemed to work, as Jin Wei’s sub-fleet slowed down and began returning to their designated position.
“The sub-fleet is returning to position.”
“As they should.”
Finally satisfied, Deng Shulin resumed surveying the battlefield.
“Where are Joseon’s assault ghost ships?”
“Both are charging from the starboard side of the Yazhao. They appear to be targeting its right flank.”
“Order the Yazhao to concentrate fire on the assault ghost ships.”
“Yes, sir!”
While the staff officer who received the order was relaying it to the signalman, another staff officer cautiously expressed concern:
“They really do seem to be targeting the Yazhao’s flank. Wouldn’t it be better to order them to exercise caution?”
In response to the staff officer’s suggestion, Deng Shulin dismissively waved his hand:
“The Twin-Headed Flame Dragon’s armor has withstood even the main guns of another Twin-Headed Flame Dragon. Ordinary cannons can’t harm it!”
“But…”
“Better to use that time to take out one more of those pesky Challenger-class vessels! Didn’t we already test the armor issue?”
Faced with Deng Shulin’s irritation, the concerned staff officer had no choice but to close his mouth.
***
As Deng Shulin mentioned, when the Twin-Headed Flame Dragon was first developed, experiments were conducted on its armor.
They had erected a test wall combining actual 2-chi (about 6cm) thick iron armor that would cover the Twin-Headed Flame Dragon’s sides with thick wooden hull backing, and then fired the Twin-Headed Flame Dragon’s main guns at it.
According to the experiments, unless the firing distance was within 20 zhang (about 60m), hits from the main guns caused little damage.
Based on these results, the Ming navy and Joseon technicians reported the following prediction to Jingtai Emperor:
-For Joseon’s assault ghost ships to inflict damage, they would need to approach within at least 10 zhang (about 30m).
They reached this conclusion because the main guns mounted on the Twin-Headed Flame Dragons were slightly larger in caliber than those on the assault ghost ships, and because they assumed that no matter how superior Joseon’s technology might be compared to Ming’s, it would be impossible to fit thicker armor.
-With the existing design methods, it’s impossible to mount larger and more powerful main guns!
-The same goes for armor. It’s unreasonable to fit thicker iron armor on the existing wooden structure.
Since these weren’t mere assumptions but results obtained from actual experiments, the Ming navy and Joseon technicians believed in their predictions.
***
Following Deng Shulin’s orders, the Yazhao poured fire at the two approaching assault ghost ships.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The shells fired by the Yazhao created dozens of water columns in front of the assault ghost ships.
However, the assault ghost ships continued their charge, undeterred. Even though the Yazhao’s shells fell well ahead of their path, they advanced with reckless determination.
This actually confused the Yazhao’s captain and crew.
“What’s going on? Aren’t those bastards afraid of dying? Fire! Keep firing! Don’t stop!”
At the captain’s command, the sailors frantically loaded powder and shells into the gun barrels, inserted fuses, and ignited them.
BOOM BOOM!
As the continuous barrage continued, several shots began to hit the assault ghost ships.
BANG!
“Hit them!”
“Huh?”
The Yazhao’s crew members, who had been cheering as they saw their shells hit, suddenly froze. The shell that struck the dragon head of the assault ghost ship had bounced off harmlessly.
“Reload! Reload!”
“Let’s see how long they can hold out!”
Just as the Yazhao’s broadside gun crews regained their composure and began reloading, the main guns mounted on the two assault ghost ships fired almost simultaneously.
BOOM!
With a tremendous explosion and flame, the dragon heads of the Mengzhen and Dolzhin were momentarily obscured by smoke.
Not long after, an unbridgeable gap appeared in the right hull of the Yazhao’s two hulls.
The shell that penetrated the thick hull reinforced with iron armor and timber caused a massive explosion.
With just two attacks, the Yazhao’s right hull had lost almost all its combat effectiveness.
“Water’s coming in!”
“Stop it!”
“We can’t stop it!”
Seawater began flooding in through the hole created by the explosion near the waterline. The Yazhao’s crew desperately tried to prevent the flooding, but the situation was far from manageable.
“Close the bulkhead!”
“The water pressure makes it difficult!”
“The frame is broken!”
Even junks of this era had watertight bulkheads designed as sliding doors. Closing these bulkheads by pushing the sliding doors would prevent flooding from spreading to other compartments, and this structure had been adopted in the Twin-Headed Flame Dragons as well.
However, the problem was that the Twin-Headed Flame Dragon’s bulkhead doors were too large to be moved by the strength of just one or two people.
To solve this issue, pulleys and ropes were meant to be used. But the explosion’s impact had misaligned the sliding door’s track, making it difficult to move the bulkhead.
“Close it by any means necessary! If we can’t close it, we’re dead!”
“Pull! Pull!”
Just as the bulkheads began to close one by one thanks to the crew’s desperate efforts, the Dolzhin and Mengzhen’s second barrage hit.
BOOM! BANG!
With this second attack, the Yazhao suffered irreversible fatal damage.
Due to the seawater pouring in through the breach created by the second barrage, the Yazhao’s right hull began to tilt severely.
Suddenly.
BOOM! BANG!
“AAAARGH!”
“It’s hot! It’s hot!”
“Help me!”
Cold seawater rushed into the engine room and, upon meeting the heated boilers, caused them to explode.
The engine room crew nearby collapsed, screaming in agony from critical injuries and burns caused by boiler fragments and scalding steam.
The Yazhao’s tragedy had just begun. Having lost power to its right hull, only the paddle wheel on the left hull continued to turn, and as the right hull sank into the sea, the Yazhao began to turn in a large circle.
At that moment, the Dolzhin and Mengzhen’s third barrage struck the Yazhao.
The shells fired in this third attack hit the Yazhao’s right-side main gun powder magazine.
BOOM!
With a deafening explosion, nearly the entire bow section of the Yazhao’s right hull and almost half of the central section disappeared, and soon after, the Yazhao began slowly sinking beneath the waves.
Having sent one of the three Twin-Headed Flame Dragons to the bottom of the sea, the Dolzhin and Mengzhen began turning their bows in search of their next prey.
Their next target was the Twin-Headed Flame Dragon’s flagship, “Jeongjo” (Conquest of Joseon).
***
“The Yazhao is sinking! The Yazhao is sinking!”
Hearing his staff officer’s report, Deng Shulin wore an expression of disbelief.
“That’s impossible! That’s absolutely impossible!”
“It’s true, sir!”
As the staff officer confirmed again, Deng Shulin slumped into his chair and muttered:
“After all our efforts to catch up, Joseon is still ahead of us…”
“Admiral! Your orders!”
Unable to wait any longer, the Jeongjo’s captain shouted for instructions, prompting Deng Shulin to grit his teeth and rise from his seat.
“Order the Jinzhao! Turn the bow immediately! We’ll engage Joseon’s assault ghost ships head-on!”
“Yes, sir!”
At Deng Shulin’s command, the captain and staff officers immediately echoed the order and took action.
Before long, the Jeongjo and Jinzhao began turning in wide circles to change their direction.
***
The movements of the Jeongjo and Jinzhao were captured by the self-propelled balloons hovering in the sky.
After confirming the light signal sent by the self-propelled balloon, the Mengzhen’s vice-captain immediately reported to Nam Gi-nam:
“The snake heads have turned their heads. It seems they want a frontal confrontation. What shall we do?”
“A frontal confrontation… That actually sounds quite appealing…”
Stroking his chin beard as if tempted, Nam Gi-nam soon reached a decision.
“No need to take the difficult path when an easy one is available. We’ll continue tearing at their flanks! Inform the Dolzhin!”
“Yes, sir!”
Shortly after, a reply came from the Dolzhin.
“The Dolzhin agrees.”
“Excellent! We’ll take down those struggling ones first!”
And so, the Dolzhin and Mengzhen increased their speed toward the Jeongjo. Unlike the Twin-Headed Flame Dragons, which had paddle wheels attached to the center of their double hulls making their turns slow, the assault ghost ships could change direction very quickly. Maximizing this advantage, the assault ghost ships charged, targeting the Jeongjo’s flank.
In this manner, each of the three Twin-Headed Flame Dragons disappeared beneath the sea one by one.
The pride of Ming, named with the intent to “Conquer Joseon (Jeongjo),” “Suppress Joseon (Jinzhao),” and “Oppress Joseon (Yazhao)” to avenge the humiliation suffered in the previous war, had sunk to the bottom of the ocean.