Chapter 57: Your Majesty, he's playing you

At 3 p. m., latitude 16° N, longitude 68° E.

On the bridge of the Restoration Ship, Li Te was receiving an encrypted telegram. The telegram came from Dubai, and it was personally sent by Chen Feng.

Reading your yesterday's report, I am greatly reassured. The display has been sufficient; you may appropriately increase pressure. Having obtained intelligence, the London Cabinet's debate is fierce, the war faction weakening. You may seize the opportunity to carry out the 'Extreme Display', forcing them to completely abandon the thought of armed conflict. But remember, do not initiate fire, do not cause casualties. The extent is up to you to decide. —Chen

Li Te lowered the telegram, pondering the meaning of the 'Extreme Display'.

"Lin Hai."

"Present!"

"What is the current speed?"

"18 knots, distance to the Yingguo fleet is one and a half nautical miles."

"Accelerate to 28 knots, maintain for ten minutes. Then make an emergency stop and turn, simulating a torpedo evasion maneuver. Finally, at a speed of 30 knots, circle their fleet once, radius…… one kilometer."

Lin Hai widened his eyes: "One kilometer? That's too close! Moreover, an emergency stop and turn causes great damage to the propulsion system……"

"Carry out the order." Li Te's voice left no room for doubt: "We want them to see just what this ship is capable of. We also want those old gentlemen in London to understand that if war breaks out, they won't even be able to lay a hand on our shadow."

"Yes!"

The order was quickly passed on. In the engine room, the duty officer pushed the throttle lever to the max. The fuel injection of the oil-burning boiler instantly increased, and the steam pressure surged sharply. The four steam turbines emitted a low roar, and the tachometer needle swung wildly to the right.

The hull of the Restoration Ship trembled slightly, then, as if a giant had shoved it hard from behind, it began to accelerate madly.

Fearless Ship bridge

"They're accelerating!" the lookout's voice trembled with fear: "Speed…… speed 25 knots! 27 knots! Good heavens, they're still accelerating!"

Abasinuote rushed to the observation window. All he saw was the gray giant ship's stern ahead, its white wake suddenly widening and rising, like a wall of water plowing across the sea. The distance between the two ships rapidly increased, from one and a half nautical miles to two, to three, to four……

In less than five minutes, the Restoration Ship became a tiny dot on the horizon.

"Full speed! Full speed pursue!" Abasinuote roared.

"Sir, the propulsion can't hold up……"

"I said full speed!"

The Fearless Ship's funnel belched thicker black smoke, its speed laboriously climbing to 22 knots before stalling. Meanwhile, ahead, the Restoration Ship was already about to vanish from sight.

The bridge fell into dead silence. Everyone knew that if that had been actual combat, the opponent would have easily shaken off their firing range and could freely choose the angle and time of attack.

But ten minutes later, the lookout shouted again: "They're back! They're back! From…… from the port side!"

Abasinuote turned his head and saw the gray giant ship approaching from astern on the port side at an unbelievable speed. Its wake was almost perfectly straight, lacking the slight serpentine common in warships at full speed—this indicated its rudder effectiveness and stability were abnormal.

Even more terrifying, when it closed to a distance of one nautical mile, it suddenly performed a maneuver.

Emergency stop and turn.

The massive hull lurched sideways across the water, the bow snapping hard to starboard, carving an arc of less than eight hundred meters in diameter on the sea. This maneuver made every British naval officer suck in a breath of cold air—such tonnage of a battleship, such a small turning radius, meaning that in the face of torpedo attack it would be nearly impossible to hit.

After completing the turn, the Restoration Ship did not reduce speed; instead, it continued accelerating to 30 knots and began to circle the Yingguo fleet.

Yes, circling.

Centering on the Yingguo fleet, with a radius of one thousand kilometers and a speed of thirty knots, it looped around them like a stunt performance.

Fearless Ship starboard deck

Tom Harris and several gun crew members were permitted to go up on deck for fresh air, and they happened to witness this scene.

They watched the gray giant ship sweep past at 30 knots from the starboard side, so close they could make out the weld seams on the hull, the tiny observation ports on the turrets, and even the face of the officer on the bridge looking at them through binoculars.

Then it turned, sweeping past from the stern, and the kicked-up waves made the Fearless Ship sway slightly.

Next was the port side.

Finally, it returned to the front.

The entire circling maneuver took less than eight minutes. At thirty knots speed and a one-kilometer radius, it traced a perfect circular track.

"This is impossible……" Harris muttered, "It violates the laws of physics……"

"No, it doesn't." said the gunnery chief Jack Robinson beside him, his voice dry: "We just can't do it. Our ship is too heavy, its rudder response too poor, its turning radius at least three times theirs. If this were in actual combat……"

He didn't finish, but everyone understood.

If this were in actual combat, the opponent could easily loop around to your beam, where your guns have a blind spot. Then their 380mm heavy guns would, at a distance you cannot return fire from, rip open your armor one salvo after another.

"Back to the turrets." Robinson turned around, "There's nothing left to see. We've already lost—we lost before they even fired their first shot."

The sailors silently walked back below deck. No one objected, because everyone had seen that insurmountable gap.

After completing the circling demonstration, the Restoration Ship returned to a position ahead of the Yingguo fleet, reducing speed to twenty knots.

On the bridge, Li Te looked at the data recorded in the navigation log and nodded with satisfaction.

"Extreme maneuver test completed. Turning radius eight hundred eighty meters, twenty meters less than the design value. How is the propulsion?"

Lin Hai checked the instruments: "Everything normal. The four steam turbines' temperatures are all within the safe range, fuel consumption…… is five percent higher than expected, but within acceptable limits."

"Very good." Li Te set down the log, "Now, let's give the British one final demonstration."

He activated the shipwide broadcast:

"All hands, pay attention: next we will conduct a full main-gun salvo simulation. Note, this is a simulation, no live ammunition loaded. Each turret shall follow combat procedures, from loading to aiming to firing, going through the whole process. I want to see a salvo rhythm of one round every two minutes."

The order was passed to the four turrets.

Inside B turret

Chen Ah-ming heard the order and immediately stepped up to the ammunition hoist. Zhou Tie-zhu patted his shoulder: "Don't be nervous, just like in training."

"Yes!"

The indicator light came on. Ah-ming moved the handle, and the ammunition hoist began to run. The simulated shell (a solid steel weight block) was lifted up from the lower magazine, smoothly sliding into the loading tray. The rammer engaged, pushing the "shell" into the breech.

The whole process took only twenty-five seconds.

"Loading complete!" Ah-ming reported.

"Lock!" Zhou Tie-zhu ordered.

The breech block closed, emitting a crisp metallic clang.

"Aim!"

The turret began to rotate, and the gun barrel adjusted its angle according to the data sent from the fire control room. The electric drive system emitted a faint hum, smooth and precise.

"Ready!"