Chapter 451: The San Raimundo

Just then, a telegram arrived.

Hearing it was from the Feiyun, everyone’s spirits lifted, and they quickly passed it around.

“…Nongchao capsized, heavily damaged. Feiyun intact. Six sailors and marines dead or missing. Currently camped on the northern tip of Samar Island awaiting rescue. Position: East longitude…”

Hearing this news, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The elders were the most precious asset, and now, unlike in the past, the rights of the elders were being touted to the heavens. If one were to die, it would undoubtedly be another good opportunity for certain political factions in the Senate to make a big fuss.

“The loss of a Type 901 gunboat is a heavy price,” Ma Qianzhu said with a straight face. “Fortunately, the spoils of war are very rich.”

“I’m afraid someone will make a mountain out of a molehill again,” Qian Shuiting thought with mixed feelings. He had proposed this operation, and Zhou Weisen was in the formation, so it was closely related to his interests. Just after experiencing the joy of a great victory, he now received the news of the total loss of a gunboat. It was like being on a roller coaster. Fortunately, Zhou Weisen and his wife were safe and sound.

Chen Haiyang said, “Although the loss of a gunboat is regrettable, since it was an operation, there was always the possibility of loss.” He stood up and said, “Actually, I think that with our technical conditions, this kind of loss is unavoidable and shouldn’t be exaggerated. We must oppose this unhealthy trend of making a big fuss over every little thing! If we really want to avoid typhoons, then the navy should just stay out of the sea in summer and autumn. This robbery operation itself was a risky venture. If the typhoon had come before we caught the Spanish ship, would all the elders who voted in favor of this operation have to be dragged out for a struggle session? Which seafaring nation in history wasn’t forged in the storms? Every country has lost many ships in bad weather. This is an unavoidable fate. No one wants to see the Senate’s navy and merchant fleet become hothouse flowers and ducks in a pond, right?!”

Chen Haiyang rarely gave such an emotional long speech. Obviously, he had long been displeased with the current “unhealthy trend” and was taking this opportunity to vent.

Wen Desi said, “I also think there’s no need to make a mountain out of a molehill over this. We lost a ship and a few natives died. That’s all. We can build more ships, and we can train new people. We are people who are going to do great things. How can we be so timid and fearful, worrying about our little pots and pans all day long?” He waved his arm. “I am most disgusted with certain comrades who, as soon as something happens, immediately think of holding some hearing or forming some committee, as if that is the value of their existence.”

With these few words, the Executive Committee had unified its thinking.

That morning, the relevant units all received telegrams. The Haitian immediately ordered the cancellation of leave. Everyone boarded the ship, preparing to set sail. Li Ziping, the captain of the Lichun, who was on leave in Hong Kong, was also recalled to serve as the temporary captain.

Bei Wei, who was training on the Kowloon Peninsula, was urgently recalled to report to Li Di’s small formation and board the ship. By the time Bei Wei’s team rushed back to the base and boarded the ship, another day had passed. Li Ziping impatiently urged for immediate departure. On the same day, Lü Yang, the captain of the Daishuang, received a telegram instructing him to return at full speed, without needing to go back for a rescue.

The Haitian set sail on its southward course. At this time, the typhoon had turned to the northeast. With the northwest wind at the rear of the typhoon, they were able to sail south quickly. However, in strict compliance with the Executive Committee’s order to seek shelter on shore in winds of force six or higher, they were forced to delay for a day in the Babuyan Islands.

When they were sailing again on the same route they had taken less than a month ago, it was again a gentle southeast wind, with a few wisps of cirrus clouds in the azure sky. Everything seemed to be the same as before. The Haitian sailed south along the Philippine coast, heading for the sheltered camp location reported in the Feiyun’s last telegram: the west coast of the northern cape of Samar Island.

“Zhou, Lingao has replied!” Mendoza joyfully climbed down from the Feiyun, waving a piece of paper. “They have sent a ship to pick us up!”

“Great.” Zhou Weisen was grilling fish and lobster he had caught from the coral reef on the Feiyun’s barbecue grill. For the past few days, they had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of rescue. Life as Robinson Crusoe here wasn’t too hard. After all, it wasn’t cold, and the natural resources were abundant. With the rations they had brought and the food collected from the shipwreck, as well as the fish and shrimp from the sea and coconuts from the trees, they not only had enough to eat every day, but the variety was also quite good. But after being accustomed to a life of strict planning and logistical support, these uncertain and anxious days were really hard to bear.

To maintain discipline and relieve boredom, the sailors and marines on shore continued their regular drills and training every day. The special reconnaissance team also conducted some short-distance wilderness reconnaissance. The entire investigation yielded little. There were no Spanish strongholds in this area, and not many natives, only a few small fishing villages nearby. On the contrary, the mosquitoes here were large and numerous, which was daunting. The thought of malaria and yellow fever was even more chilling. Fortunately, the camp was near the sea, so there were few mosquitoes. But the frequent downpours were also a headache. The humidity, combined with the tropical sun, made it unbearably hot and stuffy. Mendoza often walked around the camp wearing only a three-point bikini and a straw hat. This bikini was the only piece of clothing she had when she was tricked onto the ship by Zhou Weisen. After three years of use, it had a few small holes, which attracted even more scorching gazes. Zhou Weisen had to remind her to be mindful of her influence. So Ms. Mendoza made herself a grass skirt from coconut leaves.

“It’s good to go back, but they’ll definitely drag us to a struggle session,” Lin Chuanqing said with a smile.

“There’s nothing we can do about it. We have to give an account,” Zhou Weisen was also troubled by this. “Old Lin, if only I had listened to you back then…”

“Let’s not talk about that anymore,” Lin Chuanqing was a smoker, but he had no cigarettes now, so he was chewing on a twig. “But I am responsible for the loss of the ship.”

“A typhoon is an act of God. What responsibility do you have?”

“Let’s put it this way, a ‘large ship’ like the 901 should try to go to the open sea after encountering a storm, otherwise it’s easy for the big waves to smash it onto the shore or reefs,” Lin Chuanqing said. “That’s what happened to the Nongchao.”

“But don’t they usually tell ships to return to port to seek shelter when a typhoon comes?”

“That’s a port. This is just an open anchorage,” Lin Chuanqing said. “This is called ‘saving the people, not the ship.’ If it were a civilian ship, it would be absolutely no problem. But for a warship, if they get serious, I could be court-martialed.”

“Nonsense, which bastard would dare to say that the value of an elder’s life is lower than a warship?” Zhou Weisen sneered. “I think that sentence alone would be enough to make him never be able to stand up in the Senate again!”

Lin Chuanqing was not thinking about this, but about this bizarre system of elder consensus. If he were the sole commander, he could have returned in time and avoided this inexplicable incident.

This went on for several days. On the morning of July 21st, the sailors on lookout spotted a sailing ship sailing along the strait.

“Something’s up!” Lin Chuanqing and Zhou Weisen quickly grabbed their telescopes and scrambled up the temporary lookout tower.

Through the telescope, they could clearly see that it was a smaller galleon. The ship also seemed to have been battered by the typhoon. Its deck was in a mess, and two of its masts were gone. It was struggling to sail with only one mast, looking very clumsy. Although it was downwind, its speed was less than 2 knots.

“The San Raimundo!” Zhou Weisen shouted excitedly.

“How do you know?”

“Who else could it be!” Zhou Weisen said. “Look at its condition. It’s clearly been through a storm. The timing is also right!”

“That makes sense. The Castilian royal flag, and it’s heavily loaded! That’s it!”

The two looked at each other, and sparks flew. If they could capture the San Raimundo, the negative impact of losing a gunboat could be greatly reduced.

But how to capture this big fish was a problem. They no longer had the Type 901 gunboat. Of course, the Feiyun was enough to catch up with the San Raimundo, but the problem was that the Feiyun had no heavy firepower to suppress the enemy. As for boarding, they had all heard of the common pirate tactic of approaching quickly from the stern and then boarding. But the Feiyun’s freeboard was very low, making it impossible to quickly deploy troops onto the deck for a boarding action. As for releasing chlorine gas—the canister of chlorine gas had been unloaded beforehand, but now they had lost the technical means to use it. It was as good as not having it.

“This is hopeless.” The two of them racked their brains for a long time but couldn’t come up with a solution. During this time, Zhou Weisen suggested using Mendoza as a decoy, disguising the Feiyun as a shipwrecked vessel—this was also a common pirate tactic. But they had no disguise materials on hand—the Feiyun was too different from the ships of this time-space.

The San Raimundo sailed slowly under their noses for several hours. Zhou Weisen calculated that the San Raimundo was less than ten nautical miles from their camp. The Feiyun could easily catch up with it using its sails, let alone its engine.

If only I had brought that anti-tank missile, he thought with regret. Machine guns alone couldn’t inflict serious damage on such a galleon.

“If only this ship could run aground…”

“Running aground is the same thing,” Lin Chuanqing said. “We’d have to wade through the water from the shore to the ship. The Spanish could fire at us at their leisure—and we’d still have to climb the freeboard.”

“At least we could launch a night raid.”

“A night raid—” Lin Chuanqing touched his hair again. “Actually, at its current speed, it’s not much different from being aground… Does the special reconnaissance team have night vision goggles?”

“We have a few pairs,” Zhou Weisen understood. “They’re enough.” He looked at the sky. “But the weather is too good. The visibility on the sea at night probably won’t be bad.”