On May 25, Emperor Meiji ordered the appointment of Lieutenant General Nogi Noshinori as the commander of the 3rd Army, and went to Liaodong to attack the Battle of Lushun, because in the First Sino-Japanese War 10 years ago, it was Nogi Noshinori who was still the brigade commander at that time to lead the army to land at Huayuankou on the Liaodong Peninsula, conquer Jinzhou, occupy the Dalian Bay Fort, and then occupy Lushun, and connived at the Japanese army to cause the Lushun Massacre, with more than 20,000 casualties.

After the First Sino-Japanese War, Nogi Noshinori also served as the governor of Taiwan for a term, and then he has been on a state of absence, and now Japan has opened Nogi Noshinori again, and also put him in charge of attacking Lushun, of course, hoping to take advantage of the fact that he once captured Lushun.

On June 1, Nogi Noshinori set off from Japan, and the day before, Nogi Noshinori received a letter from his home in Tokyo, learning that the eldest son Nogi Katsunori had died in Jinshu City, and at this time, the second son Nogi Honori was also fighting on the Liaodong front, so Nogi Noshinori bought three coffins to accompany him, in order to show his determination to die in battle with his second son, in order to serve the emperor and serve Japan.

On June 6, Nogi Noshinori landed in Yim Tai O and received a telegram from him about his promotion. It turned out that on the same day, the army attendant military attache Seiki Okazawa, the commander of the Guards Division, Hasegawa Yoshimichi, the commander of the 2nd Division, the commander of the 2nd Division, the deputy chief of staff Kodama Gentaro, the commander of the Combined Fleet, Heihachiro Togo, the head of the sea Yamamoto Gonbei and Nogi Noshinori a total of 7 people, and at the same time promoted to general (admiral).

And just the day before, the commander of the Russian Far East, Kuropatkin, ordered the 1st Siberian Army and the 2nd Brigade of the 35th Division to assemble at Deli Temple, and the 3rd Division to advance to Haicheng, Yingkou, and Gaiping. Rescue Lushun. The Japanese army was responsible for encircling Lushun by the 3rd Army, and the 2nd Army went north to meet the Russian army, and the two sides met at Deli Temple on June 14, and a fierce battle began, and on June 15, the Russian army was defeated and evacuated. The Japanese army was unable to advance north for a while, so the two sides temporarily held each other.

On June 20, the Japanese army established the "Manchurian Army General Headquarters", with Field Marshal Dashanyan as the commander-in-chief, and unified command of all Japanese forces. Prior to this, the East China government urged Japan to decide to hold consultations again, but the Japanese government postponed it under the pretext of doing so.

However, at this moment, the Russian Vladivostok detachment attacked again, and the commander of the Vladivostok detachment, Rear Admiral Jessen, led the armored cruisers Grombowie and Rurik, the protective cruisers Pokatsli and Reiner, and 10 speedboats, went south, and actually passed through the Tsushima Strait, sank the cargo ship Izumi Maru near Shimonoseki on June 15, and sank the troop carrier Hitachi Maru near the Tsushima Strait, and 1,215 Japanese officers and men on board were buried at the bottom of the sea. In order to prevent capture, the captain of the brigade must know that Nakasa and others committed suicide by disembowelment after burning the military flag, and lost 18 280mm siege guns sent to the front line of Lushun. Later, he wounded the Sado Maru. By the time the 2nd team arrived in the nearby waters, the Russian ships had already disappeared, and the smoke of gunpowder on the sea had not yet dispersed, and countless dead bodies were floating.

On June 16, the Vladivostok squadron captured a British coal carrier, the Aranton, sank the Quiet Maru and the Hachiman Maru, captured the Hiroto Maru, and sacked the Hotoku Maru, the Bakang Maru, the Shinminato Maru, and the 9th Ore Maru before returning to Vladivostok on the 19th.

This time, the Vladivostok detachment sank a total of 4 ships, captured 2 ships, looted 4 raids, and the Japanese lost a total of more than 36,000 tons of ships and wounded more than 2,500 people. The Japanese government could not hide the loss this time, so public opinion in the country was in an uproar, criticizing the navy for failing to fulfill its responsibilities, which led to the attack of the transport ship by the Russian ship, and the commander of the 2nd Sentai Uemura Hikonojo became the object of the people's anger, and the private residence was destroyed by the angry people.

At this moment, news came from Europe that Russia planned to transfer the Baltic Fleet to the Far East to increase the strength of the Far East Fleet. If the Baltic Fleet does reach the Far East and join the Pacific Fleet, then the Russian Navy will be far superior to the Combined Fleet, which has already lost two battleships.

Although Japan had ordered two more powerful battleships in Britain before the war, the Katori and Kashima, these two warships would not be completed until mid-1906, and they would not quench their thirst.

At this time, the Japanese government realized that this war was not so easy, and although Japan still had a certain advantage, this advantage was not stable and could be reversed at any time, so it could not completely reject the East China government at this time.

Sure enough, at this time, the East China government expressed a solemn protest to Japan, believing that Japan was completely deliberately prevaricating and had no sincerity in cooperating, so it refused to provide any more supplies to Japan.

The Japanese Government hastened to hold consultations, believing that although it cannot completely reject the East China Government at present, it does have a certain advantage on the battlefield for the time being, and there is no need for the East China Government to send troops, and it is not a way to drag it out like this, so it is better to make it clear to the East China Government. Therefore, the Japanese government explained to the East China government through the Qingdao consulate that it was not that Japan intended to prevaricate, but that it was too busy with the current war to spare time. It was also proposed to the East China Government that Japan could still support the present war situation, and that there was no need for the East China Government to immediately enter the war, so that the East China Government would not participate in the war for the time being, but would make all-out preparations, and wait until 1905, when the preparations were sufficient, and then send troops to participate in the war, and then the East China Government would be able to determine the number of troops that could be invested, so that the two sides could negotiate a way of making a concerted effort. At the same time, it is also hoped that the East China government can continue to provide supplies.

After consultations, the East China Government held that this proposal of the Japanese Government was acceptable, and that it could use this excuse to make all-out preparations for war, so it agreed, and also promised to continue to provide supplies to Japan, but demanded that Japan fulfill the agreement reached between the two sides before the war, protect the rights and interests of overseas Chinese in Liaodong before the two sides failed to negotiate a joint operation, and notify the East China Government in advance before there was a major military operation. Japan has also agreed to come down in its entirety.

In July, the Vladivostok detachment attacked again and sank several transport ships, and the Japanese War Department set up the 4th Army, which was put into the Liaodong battlefield, and prepared to divide the north and south lines, and simultaneously launched an offensive operation in Lushun and an attack on Liaoyang, trying to annihilate the main force of the Russian army in one fell swoop.

The navy is in a dilemma, on the one hand, it has to blockade the Pacific Fleet in Arthur, on the other hand, it has to deal with the Vladivostok detachment, and there is also a huge shadow of the Baltic Fleet, although Togo Heihachiro and others also understand, and the Baltic Sea is nearly 20,000 kilometers away from the Far East, even if it sets off immediately, it will take at least 2 or 3 months to arrive, not to mention that a fleet is not said to move, it is necessary to sail far, at least 1 or 2 months of preparation time, but this is always a heart disease.

For the Combined Fleet, it would be better to annihilate the Pacific ships before the Baltic Fleet arrives, and then meet the Baltic Fleet, but now the Pacific Fleet is hiding in Port Arthur and will not come out, it seems that it is bent on waiting for the arrival of the Baltic Fleet. And the Combined Fleet now has nowhere to start at all, it can't be blocked if it wants to, and it can't attack if it wants to, so even Akiyama Mayuki has nothing to do. If it is really dragged to the Baltic Fleet, I am afraid that it can only really ask the East China government to send troops.

However, Heihachiro Togo and Shinnoto Akiyama did not expect that the Pacific Fleet would take the initiative to sail Port Arthur, which was also the second time that the Japanese Navy won the jackpot after Makarov's death.

On the one hand, the disappointment of all strata in the country about the war has triggered dissatisfaction with the tsarist government, and the huge expenditure of the war and the rapid deterioration of the economy have had a huge impact on the lives of the Russian people. On the other hand, due to the unfavorable fighting of the Russian army, Russia's public debt fell on the Paris Stock Exchange, and no one cared about it. The failure to raise money from the bonds further exacerbated the deterioration of the domestic economy, forming a vicious circle.

In a series of defeats of the Russian army, only the Vladivostok detachment became the only bright spot, but it is a pity that the scale of the Vladivostok detachment is too small, the main force is only two large armored cruisers, and the results achieved are also difficult. Therefore, Tsar Nicholas II highlighted the whimsical idea that if the fleet in Port Arthur broke through and joined the Vladivostok detachment, the Pacific Fleet would be able to get out of trouble, and secondly, it would increase the strength of the war to break the diplomatic relations and expand the results of the war. Moreover, if the Russian fleet could cut off Japan's maritime supply line, it would also be a strong support for the battle on land.

So Nicholas II immediately sent a telegram to Alekseev asking him to give the order for the Pacific Fleet to break through and return to Vladivostok. The tsar spoke, and Alekseev naturally did not dare to slack off, and immediately issued an order to Lushun.

In fact, when the Vladivostok detachment attacked, Alekseev ordered the Pacific Fleet to attack, but the acting commander Vitgeft summoned the captains of all ships to discuss, and 9 of the 11 captains did not approve of the attack, after all, hiding in the harbor can at least ensure temporary safety, and once attacked, the outcome is unpredictable.

But on August 7, the Japanese launched the Lushun operation, first launched an artillery bombardment on Arthur, a few shells fell into the port, and even one shell hit the Letvizan, and then the navy was also nervous, because it was not safe to hide in the port, just at this time Alekseev ordered the Pacific Fleet to break through, and on the 8th, Vitgeft held a meeting of captains again, this time the participants unanimously decided to break through, and discussed the tactical problems in the event of an encounter with the Japanese fleet.

During this time, the Pacific Fleet has been hiding in the harbor, until the wounded warships have basically been repaired, and now there are still 6 battleships, the flagship of which is the Crown Prince, 4 cruisers, 16 destroyers and 1 hospital ship. Wittgoft decided to leave only 4 destroyers to share the defense of the port, and all the remaining warships to participate in the breakout operation.