The siege of Port Arthur made the Far Eastern War slide in a direction unfavorable to Russia.
Because Port Arthur is so important, it is not only a military port, but also a strategic fulcrum for Russia in the Northeast. As long as Port Arthur is still in the hands of the Russians, the Japanese army and navy will need to leave a large number of troops and warships to guard it.
And more importantly, the task of annihilating the main force of the Russian Pacific Fleet will be difficult to achieve. As an island country, if Japan wants to win this war, it must ensure that it has sea control, otherwise it will be the same as the Sino-Japanese War. After losing sea control, the army
No matter how hard you try, it's useless. No matter how many battles you win, your supply line will be cut off and you will be eaten alive.
So after surrounding Lushun, the Japanese army began to prepare to attack it. To this end, Japan formed the Third Army, with 50,000 troops and more than 400 artillery pieces, which was the force Japan prepared to attack Lushun. On the Lushun side, the garrison
The Russian army has 38,000 people and 113 artillery pieces. However, because Lushun is a fortress, many of the Russian artillery are large-caliber coastal defense artillery, and they are also new coastal defense artillery that can turn 360 degrees.
In addition, the Russian army still has 51 Maxim machine guns in Lushun, and the fortress defenders are also equipped with such murderous weapons.
Of course, when the Japanese and Russian armies were preparing to fight around Lushun, the Russian fleet was not idle. After more than half a month of work, Lushun Port dredged a channel that could barely pass at high tide.
However, at this time, as the naval commander, Makarov was also clearly aware of the danger of the fleet in Port Arthur.
At this time, the armies of the two countries started a fierce fighting around Lushun. Lao Maozi, who had no retreat, relied on the Lushun Fortress and inflicted huge damage on the attacking Japanese army. In just two days, the Japanese army suffered 3,000 casualties.
Although the Japanese suffered a lot of casualties, in order to remove the nail in Lushun, the Japanese army continued to be ruthless. Under the command of the Third Army Commander Nogi Nogi Nogi, the Japanese army launched successive attacks on Lushun.
When the Battle of Port Arthur was in full swing, Makarov also sneaked out with his fleet. Unfortunately, he was not lucky this time and was discovered by the Japanese.
After receiving the news that the Russian fleet had come out, Togo Heihachiro immediately rushed over with the main force of the combined fleet. This time, in addition to bringing six battleships, he also took the risk of taking out two Garibaldi-class cruisers Kasuga and Japan.
Enter number.
On September 17, the two parties met unexpectedly on the Yellow Sea 80 kilometers away from Port Arthur. At this time, Makarov only had six battleships in his hands, as well as some other auxiliary battleships (the Victory was too seriously damaged,
The shipyard in Port Arthur estimates that it will take at least five months to repair). Among them, the Crown Prince and the Perthwaite still have some safety hazards. After they were hit by torpedoes and urgently repaired, they also brought some hidden dangers.
On the Combined Fleet side, there were six battleships plus two Combined Fleets led by Garibaldi. After seeing the Russian fleet, the officers and soldiers cheered even more.
Because the combined fleet at this time was basically new ships, their speed was relatively fast.
On the other hand, Russia, affected by the three Petropavlovsk-class battleships, can only reach a speed of 16 knots. Faced with this dilemma, even a famous general like Makarov can only bite the bullet and fight first.
After all, there is no way to escape.
So the two fleets were in the Yellow Sea, and a large-scale naval battle began. This naval battle started at around 13:30 and lasted until around 16:45.
After a fierce battle between the two naval officers, the combined fleet finally lost the two battleships Fuji and Yashima, leaving behind the Russian fleet's Persvet, Petropavlovsk, and Sevastopol.
Three battleships. Of course, in addition, the small battleships on both sides also suffered damage.
Makarov deserves to be called a famous general. He was able to take away two of the opponent's battleships at the cost of three battleships despite being at a disadvantage. This is already a great display of skill.
It is worth mentioning that in this naval battle, the two Garibaldi-class ships performed well. In addition to suppressing their opponents in the duel with the two Perthwaite-class battleships, they also held back the opponents in the subsequent pursuit battle.
made an outstanding contribution to the sinking of the Sevastopol.
Lieutenant General Makarov, who was defeated and returned to Lushun, now only has three battleships left at his disposal, and each of them is injured. Among them, the Crown Prince suffered the most serious injuries, because it bore most of the battleships in the naval battle.
All firepower strikes. According to the news from the shipyard, it will take at least four or five months to repair the Crown Prince. At this time, Makarov has no choice but to have two usable warships left.
, can only ask for help from St. Petersburg.
Of course, it was not a good feeling for the Combined Fleet to lose two Fuji-class battleships in this naval battle, so Commander Togo Heihachiro also asked for help from Tokyo after returning. However, Togo Heihachiro's request for help was a little different. He hoped that the army could conquer Port Arthur as soon as possible and defeat Russia.
The main force of the Pacific Fleet was annihilated. The second was to prevent the Russians from acquiring the Italian fleet.
Faced with Makarov's request for help, Tsar Nicholas II immediately convened a royal meeting, bringing together his ministers to discuss countermeasures. It was said that they were discussing countermeasures, but in fact they were more interested in seeking the batch of warships sold by Italy.
Because the Russian Navy currently does not have many battleships in Europe, and only five Borodino-class battleships can be used. However, only two Borodino-class battleships have been launched so far. Borodino is better than Alexander III.
, as for the other three ships, Prince Suvorov, Eagle, and Glory have not yet been completed.
This Borodino-class battleship is a new type of battleship independently developed by Russia after combining Italian and French battleship technology.
This class of warship is a forecastle ship with dimensions of 114.6 meters (full length), 23.2 meters (breadth), and 8 meters (draft). The standard displacement is 13,500 tons. It is equipped with 4 twin-mounted 305mm main guns and 12 twin-guns.
Equipped with 152mm secondary guns and 20 75mm guns.
The steam from 20 coal-fired boilers drives two steam engines. The maximum power output of the main engine can reach 16,500 horsepower, so the maximum speed is 18 knots. At the same time, because it is designed to load 2,000 tons of coal, it has a long range when sailing at a speed of 10 knots.
8,500 nautical miles. Such a huge range has never been seen among Russian self-built warships in the past. From this point alone, we can see the Russian Empire's great ambitions for the distant seas.
"Your Majesty, after our contact, the Italians asked for a very high price. They offered 110 million rubles (300 million lire) to sell all the warships in a package. However, according to my understanding, there is currently competition from Japan, and our country wants to take Italy away at this price.
A human battleship is simply impossible."
The speaker was Russian Foreign Minister Ramsdorf, who was entirely responsible for the purchase of Italian warships.
After listening to the words of the Foreign Minister, Nicholas II looked at Prime Minister and Finance Minister Sergei Vitte.
Witte, who was attracted by the Tsar, certainly knew what this person meant, so he spoke. "I have already discussed with the French ambassador. France is willing to provide our country with a loan of 150 million rubles, but he conveyed the attitude of Paris.
This is the last war loan provided by France to our country. Because the French government is under great pressure, its people do not understand the loan to our country for the Far East War."
The Prime Minister's words made Nicholas II frown, because this war would have been very difficult without French loans. You must know that Russia's finances are not in good shape. There have been many civil commotions over tax issues in recent years.
If France no longer contributes, how should we fight this costly battle?
Bezobrazov, the imperial minister, had already figured out the Tsar's thoughts. Seeing His Majesty's silence, he knew what he was thinking. He immediately said, "Your Majesty, our country cannot afford to fail in this war. If we lose,
If we give monkeys to Japan, other countries will look down upon our country, which is very detrimental to our country’s prestige in the world.”
Well, Bezobrazov’s words immediately woke up Nicholas II. Russia really couldn’t afford to lose this war against the Japanese. If it lost, I don’t know how the monarchs in Europe would view his rule.
of the Russian Empire.
"The purchase of warships must proceed. I think everyone has seen the telegram sent by Lieutenant General Makarov. As long as the navy wins, our family can choke the Japanese."
Now that the Tsar has spoken, what else is there to say? The next step is to compete for warships for sale in Italy.
It's annoying to say that the Italians don't just sell ships, they sell them in bundles, either buy them all or not. Moreover, the warships are sold at very high prices, which is simply a clear-cut robbery.
