strongly-reinforced and far-protruding ram, determined to try whether he
could not do more wholesale execution with it than with his guns alone;
for he could already see that the superior number of the Japanese ships
and their consequent heavier weight of metal were beginning to tell
severely upon the Chinese fleet. He therefore singled out as his prey
the _Surawa_, one of the smaller protected cruisers, determining to
experiment upon her before charging blindly into one of the
heavily-armoured ships; for the loss of the _Chih' Yuen_, or indeed of
any more of the Chinese ships, at this juncture would be fatal to their
hopes of gaining a victory.
Accordingly he telegraphed down to the engine-room for full steam, and
passed the word "Prepare to ram". Then, sweeping round in a circle that
caused the cruiser to heel at a considerable angle, he set her going at
full speed in the direction of his intended victim, firing his fore
barbette and machine guns as he went, so as to demoralise her crew and,
if possible, prevent them from escaping the blow. A perfect hurricane
of lead and steel descended on the _Chih' Yuen's_ decks and sides as the
ships of the Japanese squadron awoke to what was intended, and in a few
seconds her fore-deck was swept bare, as though by a gigantic plane.
But the cruiser was well into her stride, and as long as no shot
penetrated to her boilers she was bound to carry out her design.
The captain of the _Surawa_ rang frenziedly for full steam ahead, but
although the Japanese craft certainly did gather more way, the menacing
stem of the _Chih' Yuen_ followed her, relentless as fate. Then,
suddenly, the _Surawa_ plumped into the stern of the _Nagasaki_, cutting
her down to the water-line, and rebounded under the impact, to find the
bows of the Chinese ship on the point of cutting into her. The _Chih'
Yuen's_ men flung themselves to the decks in preparation for the shock,
and many of the _Surawa's_ crew leaped overboard to avoid it.
A second later it came. The _Chih' Yuen_ sank her iron ram into the
side of the smaller craft as irresistibly as a knife sinks into butter,
and although the shock was terrific the Chinaman took no harm. The
_Surawa_, on the contrary, heeled over until the sea lapped over the
edge of her deck, both her masts snapped like matchwood, and the funnel
guys broke, letting the smoke-stack topple into the sea.
"Full speed astern!" roared Frobisher down the speaking-tube, forgetting
that the order was in English. The engineers understood--perhaps the
command was expected--and slowly the _Chih' Yuen's_ destroying ram
withdrew itself from the gash in the other cruiser's side. In less than
a minute, so deadly was the wound, the _Surawa_ rolled heavily to port,
settled sluggishly on an even keel once more, and then suddenly heeled
over again and capsized, her boilers exploding as she did so, and down
she went, carrying with her over three hundred of Japan's bravest
hearts.
Frobisher, emboldened by success, looked round for more prey. The
_Nagasaki_, wounded to death by her sunken sister, was slowly settling
down; she could be left. Ha! why not try for bigger game--why not try
for the flagship, the _Yoshino_ herself? If the _Chih' Yuen's_ ram
crumpled--well, she would surely destroy the _Yoshino_ as well, and the
sacrifice would be worth the gain. By Jove, he would try it! The name
of Captain Frobisher should be on men's lips that day, or he would know
the reason why.
A hideous wreck above her gun-deck, with funnel pierced, both masts
tottering to their fall, guns dismounted, and planks stained red with
the life-blood of many a gallant Chinaman, the _Chih' Yuen_ quickly
gathered sternway, piling the water up in a white, foaming mass under
her round counter, while the vengeful guns of the Japanese squadron
never ceased to thunder their hatred of the destroyer of two of their
ships. Frobisher himself was obliged to relinquish the command to Drake
for a few minutes, while the surgeon bound up a bad scalp wound which
was blinding him with blood, this having been received from a fragment
of flying shell that had managed to penetrate through the observation
slit of the conning-tower.
Then, quite by accident, the cruiser added another success to her roll
of destruction that day. The enemy's destroyers had for some time past
been hovering round, in the hope of getting home a torpedo which would
send a Chinese ship to the bottom, and one of these had considered the
opportunity favourable when the _Chih' Yuen_ was entangled in the wreck
of the _Surawa_. She had stolen up astern, and had come to a standstill
a few hundred yards away from the cruiser, intending to send a Whitehead
into Frobisher's stern; but the air-chamber proved to have been leaking,
and it became necessary to pump some more air in before the torpedo
could be discharged. Her men were so busy attending to this that they
did not observe the _Chih' Yuen_ gathering sternway until it was too
late, and they only awoke to their danger as the cruiser's stern crashed
into them, rolled them over, and sent them headlong to the bottom in a
wreck of bursting steam-pipes, spilling furnaces, and crumpling
machinery.
With a fierce laugh Frobisher pushed away the surgeon, who had finished,
and himself seized the spokes of the steering-wheel and spun them over
until the cruiser's bows headed for the _Yoshino_. Then he rang for
full speed ahead.
But the pause between the checking of the _Chih' Yuen's_ sternway and
her gathering speed ahead would have been fatal had it not been for
Drake. Another of those stinging little wasps, the destroyers, had
dashed past at full speed, and, although severely punished by the
cruiser's machine-guns, had managed to discharge a torpedo full at her
side. The cruiser was helpless, unable to move until her engines had
overcome the inertia, and for a few seconds it looked as though nothing
could save her. But with a hoarse cry Drake dashed out of the
conning-tower, where he was of course assisting Frobisher, ready to take
charge if the latter were killed, and without a moment's hesitation
leaped overboard, swimming powerfully toward the rapidly-approaching
torpedo.
"Come back, you madman!" shouted Frobisher. "What are you about?" But
Drake either could not or would not hear; he kept on his way, regardless
of the hail of rifle and machine-gun bullets which flicked the water
into foam all round him.
Then Frobisher and his crew saw what the gallant Englishman was about.
As the deadly missile approached, hissing its way along the surface of
the water, Drake stopped swimming and awaited it, and, as it swept past,
flung his arm round the smooth, glistening machine. His arm was nearly
torn from its socket, but he managed to get a grip upon the thing just
forward of its greatest diameter; and, once he had secured his hold, he
was not going to let go again. Then with fierce, strong strokes Drake
began to kick out with his feet, pushing strongly at the nose of the
torpedo as he did so; and, wonder of wonders! the menacing head
gradually swung away from the _Chih' Yuen's_ side. She was saved!
But that was not enough for Drake. The torpedo might hit some other
Chinese craft, so, encouraged by his first success, he did not cease his
efforts until he had turned the Whitehead completely round and got it
headed direct for a cluster of three Japanese cruisers. Then he struck
out for the _Chih' Yuen_, and was hauled aboard just as the cruiser was
beginning to forge ahead once more. The torpedo, unnoticed, plugged
into the side of the unsuspecting _Soya_, and a huge column of white
water, upon which the ship appeared to rise bodily, announced the fact
that it had done its deadly work effectively. And so it had, for before
another five minutes had elapsed that unit of the Japanese Navy had also
capsized and disappeared!
But while the _Chih' Yuen_ had been piling up successes for herself, and
earning laurels for her brave young skipper's brow--laurels with which
the Chinese Government was afterwards only too proud to crown him--and
while the gallant Englishman who captained the battleship _Chen Yuen_
had been engaging no fewer than five Japanese ships at one and the same
time, ay, and beating them off, too, matters had been going badly for
the rest of the Chinese fleet. It is no exaggeration to say that if all
the Chinese captains had fought as stubbornly as did the Englishmen, and
if the ammunition had not proved, as it did in so many instances, to be
faulty, the Chinese fleet would undoubtedly, in spite of the superior
numbers of the enemy, have utterly destroyed the latter, and obtained
full command of the sea. Japan would have been put back twenty-five
years, there could have been no Russo-Japanese war, and China, instead
of being, as she now is, a third-rate Power, might have held the premier
position in Asia, as Japan so splendidly and skilfully does now. But,
as so often happens, greed and dishonesty, self-seeking and cowardice on
the part of high officials, nullified the efforts of the brave seamen
who unavailingly gave their lives for their beloved country.
When Frobisher, intending to ram the _Yoshino_, came to look about him,
his heart sank as he saw the havoc that had been wrought among the rest
of the Chinese squadron. But, alas! worse by far was yet to come.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note. The term "echelon" means, literally, "steps", or a zig-zag
formation of columns, such as is shown in sketch Number 2, where the
Japanese formation has been altered from "line ahead", as in sketch
Number 1, to "echelon."
CHAPTER NINETEEN.
CAUGHT AT LAST.
The _Yen-fu_ and the _Tung-yen_ were mere motionless hulks, lying inert
upon the bosom of the sunlit, shot-torn sea, the one with her rudder and
propeller blown away by a torpedo that had all but sent her to the
bottom, the other with her engines badly broken down, the result of
Chinese officials having stolen and disposed of many parts, which had
had to be roughly replaced at the last moment. They were both fighting
fiercely, however, like tough old wolves at bay, and, although hemmed in
by several Japanese cruisers, were as yet giving back almost as good as
they got. The game was up for them, though, as they were quite unable
to manoeuvre, and only the thickness of their armour and the light
calibre of the guns of the ships opposed to them had prevented them from
going down long before. Frequently, too, Frobisher noticed, there were
long pauses between the discharges of the _Yen-fu's_ and the
_Tung-yen's_ great guns, as well as those of others of the Chinese
ships; and he made a shrewd guess that these were the occasions when the
faulty, charcoal-filled cartridges failed to explode. The _Shan-si_,
with Captain James in command, was practically the only entirely
undamaged ship still possessed by the Chinese--not because she had not
been in the thickest of the fight, for she had, but just through one of
those curious chances of warfare which are constantly occurring. She
was doing sovereign service, rushing here, there, and everywhere,
planting her shells coolly and accurately, and sweeping the Japanese
decks with rifle and machine-gun fire; and many were the attempts made
by the enemy's destroyers to torpedo her and put her safely out of
harm's way. But, thanks to her captain's skill and his personal care of
everything pertaining to his ship, neither was she badly hit, nor did
her machinery break down at a critical moment; and she went her
relentless way, dealing death and destruction about her unchecked.
The _Yung-chau_ and _Kau-ling_ were being engaged by the _Hiroshima,
Naniwa_ (a ship afterwards celebrated in the Russo-Japanese war), and
the _Okinoshima_--each of which was much larger than either of the
Chinese ships--and were getting a terrible punishing. Although still
moving, and more or less under control, they were leaking steam and
smoke from every crevice and opening, and ominous spirals of smoke were
filtering up through the _Yung-chau's_ decks. She had been set on fire
close to her bunkers by a Japanese shell, and, almost in less time than
it takes to write it, was a mass of roaring, spouting flame, for she was
old, and blazed like a volcano. Her men--such of them as could reach
the decks--jumped overboard, and were hauled by ropes up the sides of
whichever ships happened to be nearest; for the Japanese, like their
opponents, had discarded all their boats and pontoons before going into
action.
The _Chen Yuen_ and _Ting Yuen_ were busily engaged in hammering away at
the biggest of the enemy, the _Yoshino_, the _Shikishima, Fuji_, and
_Niitaka_, and it was to relieve the two battleships, which were being
somewhat severely handled, that Frobisher determined to charge the
_Yoshino_ with his ship.
Signalling once more for full steam, and firing as he went, according to
his former tactics, he drove the _Chih' Yuen_ at her utmost speed toward
the Japanese flagship, which by this time had lost one of her military
masts and her forward funnel, from whose torn base smoke and flame were
pouring voluminously, wrapping the conning-tower round as though with a
black mantle, and utterly preventing her skipper from seeing what was
going on. He, poor man, was obliged to rely entirely upon the
discretion of the gunnery-lieutenant in her forward turret; and that
this individual was doing his duty well was proved by the frequency with
which his guns boomed out, sending shell and solid shot spattering
against the heavily-armoured sides of the Chinese battleships, where
they splintered and burst, cracking and starring the thick steel, but
very seldom penetrating to their vitals, close though the range was.
As the _Chih' Yuen_ clove her way through the water, one of the Japanese
destroyers discharged a torpedo at her, which missed her by inches only.
It was not wasted, however, for it struck the disabled _Yen-fu_, which
heeled over as though pressed by some gigantic hand, and a few minutes
later went down, taking her crew with her.
The _Hiroshima_ also tried to ram in her turn, leaving the stricken
_Kau-ling_ for that purpose; but she also was too late. The _Naniwa_
and the _Shikishima_ saw the _Chih' Yuen_ approaching, like the
messenger of death she was, and backed away from their opponents; the
_Fuji_ turned her guns on the approaching vessel; but the _Yoshino's_
captain, blinded by smoke from the wrecked funnel, did not see what was
coming until it was too late, and a moment later the Chinese ship
crashed into his stern, unfortunately striking a glancing blow instead
of a direct one, as Frobisher had intended.
It was severe enough, however, to make the _Yoshino_ shiver from stem to
stern, from truck to keelson; and as the _Chih' Yuen_ drove past,
Frobisher saw that he had sliced a great gash in her port quarter nearly
down to the water-line, and dismounted both the guns in her after
turret. The attempt had not entirely succeeded, but it had done a great
deal of damage, and with that he had to be content.
Then, as Frobisher circled his ship round to come into action again, he
saw something that made him gasp with astonishment and apprehension.
There was a fight of some sort going on upon the deck of the Chinese
flagship herself! What on earth could it mean? She had not been close
enough to any of the enemy's ships to enable them to board her, and,
moreover, they were Chinese sailors, not Japanese, who were fighting.
What could possibly have happened? The seamen on board were entirely
devoted to their admiral, and if any mutiny had arisen it must be
through the machinations of some other person, some traitor who had
seized this opportunity to--
By Jove, he had it! All his old suspicions came thronging into his mind
in an instant, and in that same instant he believed he could make a very
good guess at what had occurred. Of course it was that scoundrel,
Prince Hsi, who was at the bottom of the mischief; Frobisher seemed to
know it instinctively. He also recollected the numerous occasions on
which his Highness had acted in an extremely suspicious manner, to say
the least; and it did not take him long to guess that he was now
beholding the consummation of a plot up to which Hsi had been leading
for some considerable time past. But what had happened to Admiral Ting,
he wondered, that Prince Hsi should have matters all in his own hands?
Frobisher knew that so long as the gallant admiral was alive, or
conscious, he would never permit his command to be taken from him thus;
and his heart fell, for he feared that the traitor, to attain his
detestable ends, must first have killed the brave old man.
Well, Frobisher vowed to himself, the traitor should not succeed in his
scheme, whatever it might be, even though he had to board the _Ting
Yuen_ himself, and slay Prince Hsi with his own hands, to avenge the
death of the admiral.
And then he saw what it was that the traitor prince intended. The
commotion on the deck of the flagship had ceased, the mutineers having
either slain or driven overboard all those who opposed them, and, while
Frobisher's ship was still some distance away, he saw the Chinese flag
flutter down from the _Ting Yuen's_ peak, to be immediately replaced by
the Japanese naval ensign; and the ship herself swung round in the
direction of the enemy's squadron and began to forge ahead toward it,
Prince Hsi having evidently determined to turn his guns against his own
countrymen.
As the Japanese ensign fluttered aloft there fell a sudden silence over
both fleets. As though by mutual consent every gun was hushed for a few
moments, and hoarse, stern, and menacing above the strange stillness
rose a roar of execration from the throats of the Chinese, as they at
last realised the meaning of the extraordinary scene that had just taken
place aboard the flagship.
Defiantly her captain trained his guns on the nearest Chinese ships and
fired; but whether his gunners could not bring themselves to the actual
point of firing on their country's flag, or whether it was due to the
excitement of the moment, every shot missed, and a shout of derision
went up from the Chinese squadron.
But Captain Frobisher knew that curses and shouts of execration would
not bring back the _Ting Yuen_. If she was to be saved to the Chinese
Navy she must not be allowed to gain the shelter of the Japanese main
body. If she reached that, she would be lost for ever, and the day
would be lost beyond hope of redemption for the Chinese. To lose one
powerful battleship, and to find another suddenly arrayed against them--
for that is what it would of course amount to--would so weaken the
already enfeebled Chinese strength that success would be out of the
question; and the Englishman determined that, come what might, he would
prevent the traitor prince from carrying out his foul intentions.
He shouted a few brief commands to Drake, who vanished like a puff of
smoke from the conning-tower; issued an order to the quartermaster at
the wheel; and rang to the engine-room the two short calls that
signified that he required all the power the engines could develop, for
a sudden emergency. Then he looked to see that his sword was loose in
its scabbard and his revolver fully charged, and waited for Drake to
reappear, while the _Chih' Yuen_, bounding forward under the full power
of her engines, turned her nose toward the stern of the _Ting Yuen_ and
kept it fixed there, relentless as fate.
By this time the cannonade had again become general throughout the
fleet, but ringing high above the crashing roar of the guns could be
heard the wild cheering of the Chinamen as they realised the gallant
exploit that the English captain was about to attempt.
Prince Hsi realised it also, and put on full steam to escape, but he was
a few minutes too late. Before the unwieldy battleship could get into
her stride the more nimble cruiser would be upon her, and, knowing that
he could not hope to reach safety before he was overtaken, the Prince
determined to wait and fight the matter out with the Englishman whom he
had already learnt to hate so intensely. He therefore reversed his
engines, trained every available gun upon the advancing _Chih' Yuen_,
and opened fire.
The cruiser reeled and quivered as the hurricane of shot and shell
struck her, but she received no injury to her vital parts, and was
checked not a moment in her headlong course. Frobisher had given orders
that his fire was to be reserved until he himself gave the word, and he
now watched for that moment as a tiger watches its prey.
A few seconds later the time arrived. Frobisher pressed the button that
let loose the storm of death upon the flagship, rang off his engines,
handed over the command to Drake, who had just reappeared, and then left
the conning-tower.
On the port side of the deck, behind the steel citadel, he found that
Drake had already drawn up the fifty volunteers he had called for, fully
armed, and ready to follow their captain wherever he might choose to
lead.
A second later there arose from the _Ting Yuen_ a chorus of yells of
astonishment and fury as the _Chih' Yuen_, instead of lying off and
fighting with her guns, as Prince Hsi had expected, ground her sides
against those of the flagship, and came to a standstill right alongside.
Frobisher shouted a word of command to the expectant sailors, and led
them round the citadel, across the cruiser's decks, and up on to those
of the battleship, before the _Ting Yuen's_ men realised what was
happening. Most of the latter had thrown off their cutlasses, the
better to handle their guns, and it was on their unpreparedness that
Frobisher relied when he led his fifty boarders to the attack.
Like a whirlwind he swept down upon the rebel seamen, who stood
petrified with alarm and astonishment beside the now useless guns, and
the broad-bladed cutlasses rose and fell for a few seconds to the
accompaniment of shrieks and yells for mercy. But Frobisher, with his
small force, could not afford to give quarter until it was certain that
there would be no more resistance; and, much as he detested the
butchery, he simply dared not stay his hand. Forward and upward he and
his men cut their way; they encountered more and more opposition every
minute, as the mutineers found time to recover their wits and secure
their weapons, but his men would take no denial. Their blades, now dyed
a deep red, swept through the smoky air, and their revolvers crackled
and blazed merrily, as the Englishman led them forward; and presently,
after a stern and stubborn five minutes' fighting, the rebels broke and
fled below--overboard--anywhere to escape the avenging swords of their
outraged countrymen.
So far, Frobisher had seen nothing of Prince Hsi; but the moment the
mutineers were broken and he had released the remnant of the loyal
Chinese sailors, he went in search of the arch-traitor himself, having
first headed both ships back toward the Chinese squadron.
The Prince was not in the conning-tower, as Frobisher discovered when he
went there with one of his own helmsmen to send the necessary orders to
the engine-room, nor was he in his own cabin, which was the next most
likely place to look for him; and diligently as Frobisher searched, the
man was not to be found. He appeared to have vanished completely.
Perhaps, Frobisher decided, the traitor had seen that his shameful plot
had failed, and had thrown himself overboard to avoid the consequences
of his act. That, however, did not seem quite like Hsi; he was more
likely to be up to some deeper villainy still; and as this thought
occurred to the _Chih' Yuen's_ captain his blood ran cold, for some
sixth sense or instinct seemed to warn him what Hsi was about.
With every nerve tingling, Frobisher darted below and began to search
for the magazine, for it was thither he guessed the traitor had betaken
himself; and it was indeed fortunate that he found it just where he had
expected it to be.
The door of the magazine was open, and a man was to be seen inside, with
his back to the entrance, engaged upon his diabolical work by the aid of
a carefully-shaded lantern. Another few seconds and Frobisher would
have been too late, and the ship would have been blown into the air with
all her crew; for the Prince was even then applying a light to the end
of the fuse which he had already cut, the other extremity of which was
concealed from view.