At step 1), if the pencil is magnetically attached to the iPad, turning bluetooth off changes the warning box "Apple Pencil" to "Apple Pencil; touch to connect". Touching this box apparently does the same thing as turning bluetooth on.
This curiously gives the impression that there is some battery left after all in the Pencil... but it might also be a software feature in the iPad. I suppose the detection of the dead pencil goes through some passive circuit in the pencil, like the one found in many access card systems.
But for me, no, steps 1-2-3 didn't work. I suppose my lithium battery is plain dead...