My Italian Chapter 482

Remember [New] for a second,! While Japan was actively preparing for the war, there were two factions in Russia on the issue of the war against Japan.

One faction is represented by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Witte and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ramsdorf. They saw Russia's difficulties both domestically and internationally (including in Europe and the Far East) and suggested not to start a war against Japan lightly, but to make some concessions. At the same time, strengthen economic plundering and war preparations for the Northeast. When the Trans-Siberian Railway is fully opened to traffic, the transportation capacity is improved, and the construction of Lushun and its peripheral fortresses is completed, and then wait for the opportunity to fight.

The other faction was represented by former Minister Alexander Bezobrazov, Minister of Internal Affairs Vyacheslav Previ, Governor of the Far East Alekseyev and others.

This is a group of fanatical chauvinists, imperialist adventurers. They despised Japan's power very much, believing that it was the smallest state, vulnerable to a single blow.

"Throwing a hat can overwhelm it", "Russia needs a small victorious war in order to stop the revolution", "Only make Japan unequivocally aware that Russia is prepared to defend its interests in Manchuria, if necessary, i.e. Only by resorting to force can we count on the success of the negotiation.” He therefore advocated being tough on Japan.

In addition, the closer the upsurge of the revolution in Russia was, the more this group of people wanted to find a way out of the war.

As for Tsar Nicholas II himself, he hated Japan very much. Because he was assassinated during a visit to Japan when he was the crown prince, for this reason, he even cursed in Russian angrily in the hospital: Damn Japanese ape, savage dwarf!

Of course, the assassination alone made Nikolai unforgettable, not to mention that the Japanese dwarf now dares to compete with the great Russia for the Northeast region.

However, although Nicholas II was dissatisfied with Japan, he had two views on the timing of launching the war.

He knew that Russia was ill-prepared and wanted to delay the war, believing that "time is Russia's best ally" and that "every year strengthens us." However, he was convinced that the best way to delay the war was to adopt a hard-line policy, and that "concessions always lead to new concessions". His ideas are actually supporting the hard-line claims of Bezobrazov's faction.

Before this, Russia was not actually ready for war, because it only had more than 98,000 regular army troops (148 guns, 8 machine guns) in the Far East. At the same time, the Russian Navy had more than 200 warships, including the Pacific Squadron. It has more than 60 combat ships (more than 192,000 tons).

As for its opponents, the Japanese Navy has about 80 warships (more than 260,000 tons), and most of the main warships are new-type ships built in the United Kingdom with good performance and uniform specifications. The total strength of the army is 245,000 people (1170 guns), of which 210,000 people can be used for operations outside Japan.

From the data on paper, the Russian army in the Far East was completely at a disadvantage, but the arrogant Russian government believed that the Japanese would not dare to offend the great Russian Empire.

As for the Japanese side, on May 2, 1903, Japan decided to cut off diplomatic relations with Russia, and at the same time the Japanese government instructed that military operations could begin. Heihachiro Togo, commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, summoned his subordinate commanders on May 3 to convey the government's instructions and ordered the entire fleet to go to the Yellow Sea to attack the Russian ships anchored in Port Arthur and Inchon respectively.

At this critical moment, the Russian officers and soldiers are still in a state of peaceful paralysis. The Pacific Squadron is anchored in Port Lushun, and the ship's vigilance is still in accordance with the usual regulations. It has been decided to take supplementary measures to strengthen the vigilance, but it has not yet been implemented. At night, the lightning protection net is not turned on, but the searchlights on the warships illuminate the entrances and exits of the inner harbour.

Governor Alekseev and his cronies were aware of the breakdown of the Japan-Russia talks, but did not take contingency measures. Until a few hours before the Japanese attacked Lushun, the fleet chief of staff, General Wittheft, said that "the war will not start."

At this time, the Russian Pacific Fleet was divided into three parts. The main force was anchored at Port Arthur under the command of Admiral Stark. In addition, there is a squadron in Vladivostok under the command of Rear Admiral Essen, with two cruisers "Diana" and "Baucadil" and several destroyers. In North Korea's Incheon port, the Russian cruisers "Varyag" and "Koryoin" are moored.

Togo Heihachiro sent Vice-Admiral Uemura Hikinoichi to lead the second detachment north to prepare for the attack of the Russian Vladivostok Fleet, and sent Lieutenant General Yu Shigeyuan to lead the third detachment to be responsible for the response near the Korean coast. Incheon attacked "Varyag" and "Korean", and the rest of the combined fleet's main force was personally commanded by Togo Heihachiro and went to Lushunkou for a sneak attack.

At 9:30 p.m. on May 4, the Japanese fleet arrived outside the Port of Port Arthur. At this point, the Russian Pacific Fleet was defenseless. In fact, the diplomatic negotiations between Japan and Russia have officially collapsed, and the Japanese have begun to evacuate their citizens from Lushun.

In the face of so many obvious signs of war, Russian Far East Governor Alekseev and Pacific Fleet Commander Stark turned a blind eye, did not take it to heart, and did not take any measures to strengthen combat readiness.

At midnight, a group of Japanese torpedo boats sneaked into Port Arthur. The battleship Perthwaite, which was moored outside the port, first noticed that something was wrong, and immediately turned on the searchlight to search. When the Japanese torpedo boat saw that it had been discovered, it immediately fired the torpedo. As a result, the battleship Perthwaite and the nearby cruiser Parada were both hit. The flagship of the fleet, the Dauphin, was also hit by a torpedo.

The roar of the torpedoes and the random fire of the Russian warships reached the shore. General Stark and other monks were puzzled. Some people said that the warships were firing salutes, while others said it was the warships. During the exercise, everyone was shocked until someone came to report the Japanese ship's attack, and General Stark was dumbfounded.

After dawn, Togo Heihachiro commanded the main force of the fleet in an attempt to enter and wipe out the Russian fleet in one fell swoop, but the fortress of Lushunkou has been repaired by the Qing Dynasty and Russia, and after all, it is extremely strong. The battery on the shore opened fire quickly, and the Russian warships also opened fire to meet them.

The battle in Inchon, North Korea, was an overwhelming victory. The two Russian warships were no match for the Japanese warships at all. They were finally forced to sink to the bottom of the sea.

For the news that their fleet was attacked by the Japanese, many high-ranking officials in Russia were quite angry, especially Nicholas II.

As for Foreign Minister Ramsdorf, the next day was as uncomfortable as eating flies, when he received a declaration of war from the Japanese ambassador Kazuo Iwase. For Iwase Kazuo's remarks that it was because the telegraph machine was broken that delayed the delivery of the declaration of war, Ramsdorf said with a look of contempt. Your country's shameless remarks are quite disgusting, and our country will make your country pay.

At this point, the Russo-Japanese War broke out.

Chapter end