The First Sino-Japanese War breaks out in 1894. The navies of the two empires clash at the battles of Pungdo and the Yellow Sea. At the Yellow Sea, after an exchange of gunfire between warships from both sides over a few hours, most of the Beiyang Fleet is destroyed while not a single Japanese ship is sunk even though the Japanese ships also sustained heavy damage. Deng Shichang's ship, the "Zhiyuan", has been badly damaged. Deng gives orders for the "Zhiyuan" to ram the Japanese flagship "Yoshino", but the "Zhiyuan" is sunk before it makes contact with the "Yoshino". Deng stubbornly refuses to escape with the survivors and eventually drowns at sea with his pet dog.