Chapter 1016: The Russo-Japanese War breaks out

December 27, 1903.

"The Russians have not responded to our reasonable demands. The Russian diplomats are stalling for time. This will only become more and more beneficial to Russia's war preparations. Russian troops are continuously coming from Europe to Asia. If we don't If we react, we will not only be unable to penetrate into the Far East Empire, but we will even lose the Korean colony. After returning, I will state Russia's attitude to His Majesty the Japanese Emperor. War is inevitable. "

At the end of 1903, after the negotiations between Japan and Russia broke down again, Ito Hirobumi said angrily to his entourage.

In the face of Russia's aggressiveness, in fact, the current Japanese government mainly adopts a tolerant attitude. After all, anyone with a discerning eye knows that Japan and Russia are not countries of the same size. Even if Russia's power in the Far East is relatively weak, it is only for Russia itself. , in the eyes of neighboring countries, Russia's military power in the Far East is very powerful.

Although the Japanese government likes to be gamblers, they are not stupid, so their attitude towards launching a war with Russia is relatively positive.

Therefore, in the early diplomatic negotiations with Russia, Japan did not expect to expel Russian forces in a short time. Instead, it hoped that Russia would guarantee Japan's interests and status in North Korea. However, Russia not only rejected the "reasonable" demands of the Japanese government, but also opposed Japan's move The requirement that Korean territory be used for military purposes is obviously unacceptable to the Japanese government.

Negotiations between the two countries began at the end of last year. After a year-long negotiation, the Japanese government's patience was exhausted. Of course, Japan's weak performance in the negotiations does not mean that Japan loves peace. The reason is simple. , Russia needs time, and the same goes for Japan.

After a year of delayed negotiations, it is difficult to say whether Russia is ready or not. Japan's navy expansion has basically been completed.

After the negotiations broke down in December, the Japanese imperial government finally made up its mind to strike first.

…

Lushun.

Time flies to 1904. Port Arthur, the most important port in the northeastern region of the Far Eastern Empire, is now illegally occupied by the Russians.

Now it is one of the important bases of the Russian Navy in the Pacific region. The number of warships has remained at more than 40 all year round, and the supporting Lushun Fortress has been built. While tens of thousands of troops are stationed, it is equipped with more than 100 shore defense artillery. This Port Arthur under its specifications should be considered impregnable to Russia.

On the night of January 3rd, Lushun was extremely calm tonight. The Russian sailors were sleeping, and the warships were parked in the port without any warning, but they did not know that the disaster was quietly approaching.

"It is now 12:30 at midnight, and the Russian warships are in front of us. Whether the empire can rise depends on this battle. We will definitely annihilate the Russian Far East Navy here!" Hataro Kodaira said to his subordinates.

As a rare year-round ice-free port in the northern Far East, Port Arthur's geographical location is very favorable, which also allows the Japanese Navy to achieve its goals and take risky night voyages to reach nearby waters. This also illustrates Japan's adequate preparations.

At 1:13 in the morning, the Japanese troops were basically in position. The mine commander of the "Baiyun" heard a banging sound coming from the receiver.

"Dang Dang, Dang Dang Dang", two short intervals, three short intervals, this is a combat preparation order sent by the captain. "Prepare the torpedoes!" the mine leader shouted in a low voice.

The torpedo crew immediately started to move. They skillfully unscrewed the tail bolt of the launch tube, filled the powder bag and connected the firing circuit. Then they turned off the safety of the torpedo head, while the mine commander himself worked hard to adjust the sight and estimated with the help of the flickering light. The distance between the surrounding Russian ships.

At this time, Russian patrols identified at least seven Japanese warships on the dark sea and quickly reported them. During this gap, the Japanese navy launched an attack.

"boom……"

"?" Lyles, an intelligence officer of the East African Defense and Security Agency lurking in Lushun, was awakened by the sound of artillery.

The sound of artillery did not stop, but continued to sound. Lyles quickly got up and came to the window. Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw that there was already a blazing fire in Port Arthur.

"Has it started yet?"

At this time, Lyles didn't dare to confirm his guess. He picked up the telescope on the window sill and began to observe carefully. With the faint light, he could vaguely see the body of the warship floating on the sea, and the source of the cannonballs was these. It is not yet certain which country it belongs to.

However, thinking of the instructions from his superiors, Lyles did not dare to neglect, did not bother to get dressed, turned on the light, and started to operate the telegraph machine in the room.

Lyles checked the time and then began to report: "At 1:20 a.m. on January 4, 1904, the Russian Port of Port Arthur was attacked by unknown armed warships. Many Russian warships in Port Arthur were bombed. The specific casualties are unknown……"

Soon the people in East Africa also received the news and called back: "Continue to investigate the specific situation and feedback information in a timely manner."

…

Rhine city.

With the East African government paying close attention to it, news of Japan's surprise attack on Port Arthur was quickly reported to the East African mainland, and Ernst convened a special meeting for this purpose.

"According to the intelligence department, just yesterday afternoon (East African time), Japan launched an attack on Russia in an undeclared war. The Russian Far East Fleet suffered heavy losses, and Japan blocked Port Arthur. Now it is basically certain that Japan The Russian war has officially broken out.”

Ernst's news can be said to have stirred up a thousand waves with one stone. Although the East African government had long predicted it, the sudden outbreak of war and Japan's ungrateful war methods still aroused heated discussions among East African government officials.

The Russian Far East Navy cannot be underestimated, and its strength can even be said to be very powerful. This Far East fleet owns the "Crown Prince", "Petropavlovsk", "Letvizan", "Peresve" There are seven battleships in total, including "Special", "Victory", "Poltava", and "Sevastopol", all with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons, as well as a large number of cruisers and other combat ships.

Even the East African Navy did not dare to say that it was 100% sure in front of the Russian Far East Fleet. As a result, this huge Russian Far East Fleet lost its combat effectiveness overnight, which is simply unimaginable.

I have to lament that the Russian Navy has a strong family background. Although the Russian Navy's combat effectiveness is easily questioned, before the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian Navy ranked third in the world in terms of scale, second only to the British Royal Navy and the French Navy.

The total tonnage of the Russian Navy is as high as 500,000 tons, while the British Royal Navy was only about one million tons at this time. From this point alone, the Russian Navy is nearly three times the size of the East African Navy.

Although the East African Navy has not participated in the naval military competition, its current total tonnage has reached a level of nearly 200,000 tons. This is mainly due to the construction of more battleships and submarines in recent years, which is similar to the lightly armed Japanese Navy.

The total tonnage of the Japanese Navy is about 200,000 tons, which is slightly higher than that of the East African Navy. After all, Japan has been desperately expanding its navy. Most of the national funds are invested in the bottomless pit of naval construction, while East Africa has fully entered the stage of economic development.

"Now keep an eye on the Russian government's actions. They are bound to ask for help from us. At this time, if Russia wants not to lose the war, it can only deploy troops from the Baltic Sea or Black Sea Fleet to participate in the war in the Far East. The Black Sea Fleet can be excluded. After all, the British It was impossible to allow Russian warships to pass through the Dardanelles, which was under Ottoman control.”

"Even if Russia takes the risk of crossing the Dardanelles Strait, it will be blocked by Britain in the Suez Canal. Therefore, the only thing Russia can mobilize is the Baltic Fleet, and the Baltic Fleet will most likely pass through the east and west coasts of our country. This is our further negotiation with Russia. chips.”

"At the same time, we will definitely not be able to participate in the war between the two countries in the Far East. We will only do the first half of the preparations and provide certain services to the Russian Navy. As for the direction of the war, it is impossible to change because of this slight change."