"How's the battle going outside?" Makarov sat in the cabin he had prepared for himself on the flagship battleship Petropavlov and asked the deputy commander Vitgeft.

After Port Arthur was attacked by the Japanese, Alekseyev, the Governor-General of the Far East, became the commander-in-chief of the Far East Army and Navy, so the Pacific Fleet was naturally attacked by others, so Vice Admiral Stark, the commander of the Pacific Fleet, was replaced. Makarov, as in history, was urgently transferred to the Far East as commander of the Pacific Fleet.

"Your Excellency, please don't worry, the Lushun Fortress is impregnable, and those yellow-skinned monkeys will definitely not be able to attack it." Wittgoft replied immediately, followed by a somewhat flattering inquiry: "Your Excellency, after your arrival, the officers and men of the fleet have all been freed from the frustration of being attacked before, and everyone is seriously preparing under your leadership, so something like the previous one will never happen a second time."

So why did you insist on staying on the Petropavlov, Your Excellency? Now it is not necessary for you to lead the fleet at any time, you can live on the shore, and His Excellency Alekseev has made several offers to prepare rooms for you in the Doge's Palace, but you have refused. ”

Wittgeft's compliment was not all sycophancy, as Makarov, Russia's most outstanding admiral, his arrival really changed the atmosphere of the Pacific Fleet, allowing the officers and men of the fleet to come out of the shadows of the past.

Although Makarov did not go out to fight the Japanese, as Koster said, he often sent small and medium-sized ships in the fleet out to provoke demonstrations. If the Japanese approached, then the ships that went out immediately turned around and took refuge under the cover of the shore guns, and if the Japanese did not react, then these ships simply fired a few shots in front of the Japanese.

Chasing and not chasing, not chasing the Russians to provoke there will affect morale very much, so the Japanese are very anxious to get angry.

And after Makarov took office. The Russian fleet had become empty, and the staff officer of the Combined Fleet, Masayuki Akiyama, had great admiration for Makarov and had studied Makarov's writings a lot. After receiving information that Makarov was the commander of the Russian Pacific Fleet, he realized that he wanted to deal with the Russian fleet. It can only rely on the army, as during the First Sino-Japanese War.

Therefore, the Japanese Combined Fleet did not do much, just blocked outside Port Arthur, and then often had to endure the feeling that Russian lightning ships or cruisers came out to find a sense of survival.

This action of the Russian fleet in front of the Japanese fleet made the officers and men of the navy feel a lot more guilty. In addition, Makarov did not hide his purpose, he believed that Port Arthur was difficult to conquer, and the time was on his own, so he could wait for reinforcements slowly, and there was no need for the navy to force an attack when the shape was unfavorable to him.

And Makarov did not understand that it was beneficial and harmless to go out and fight with the Japanese. However, he thought that the two strongest battleships in his hand were damaged, and it would take about 2 months to repair, and even if he wanted to fight, he would at least have to wait until the two battleships were back in strength, and then attack when the time was right......

Makarov's explanations and actions washed away the stigma that "the navy is a coward", and even the taverns in Port Arthur that had previously refused to serve naval soldiers began to resell vodka to sailors.

However, Makarov has been on the Petropavlov since he took office, rarely going ashore, and even if he does go ashore to attend meetings, he will basically return to the ship to rest, so Wittgert wants to care about his superiors.

"Although the port is safe for the time being. But the Navy may need to be dispatched at any time, and we are staying in the harbor because we are waiting for the right moment, but we can't let those yellow-skinned monkeys really seal us up in the harbor. In order to avoid this from happening, I had to command the fleet to be able to act at the first opportunity. Makarov replied.

"What Your Excellency said is that I have been taught." Wittgerft replied respectfully, and then continued to persuade: "However, the several attempts by those yellow-skinned monkeys to block the port have also ended in failure, so your Excellency can relax a little. ”

Because the sneak attack tactics failed, the Japanese could only come up with a second plan - blockade tactics, and the port of Port Arthur was very narrow, only 273 meters wide. The width of the deep-water channel that could satisfy the sailing of battleships was only 90 meters, so it was only necessary to allow one ship to sink there. The Pacific Fleet will immediately become a turtle in an urn.

However, this channel was not so easy to block, and was obstructed by the Russian shore artillery. The Japanese tried twice on February 24 and March 27, but both failed, and the sinking ship did not seal the 90-meter channel, so the Russians had to be very careful when sailing, but under the cover of shore guns, it was no problem to sail slowly out and then regroup.

"Thank you, but I still think being on a battleship will allow me to react faster." Makarov politely declined.

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency, because the Crown Prince and the Retvizan were damaged and needed to be repaired, otherwise they would be more suitable to be your flagships. The Retvizhan and the Crown Prince were superior to the Petropavlov in terms of firepower, armor and speed. "There is one more thing that Wittghoft did not say, and that is that the interior of the Crown Prince and Retvizan is more luxurious and comfortable.

However, this luxurious and comfortable decoration in the Russian warship also became the main culprit for the uncontrollable fire after the fire of the battleship in the future war.

"That's why we need to do our best to restore the Retvizan and the Crown Prince, let us do our best to restore our strength, and I don't plan to make too many moves until these two battleships are restored to their combat effectiveness." Makarov commanded.

"Yes, Your Excellency." Wittgeft immediately agreed.

"Also, is there any news of Nikolai?"

As in history, the Pacific Fleet cruiser fleet in Vladivostok, under the leadership of Essen, immediately used icebreakers to break through the ice, leading six armored cruisers Izmail, Kimborn, Grombowie, Bayan, Russians and Rurik (1st generation) to the sea for sabotage operations.

After the fleet set sail, due to the limitations of radio technology at this time, Essen could not transmit the information to Makarov, who was far away in Lushun, so Makarov only received a telegram from Essen before departure, and never received any news after that.

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency, I haven't heard from Nikolai yet, but judging from the fleet movements of those yellow-skinned monkeys outside Port Arthur, Nikolai should still be continuing his mission now." Wittgerft replied.

"Well, no news is the best news. The yellow-skinned monkeys transferred all their armored cruisers, presumably to search for Nikolai's fleet, as long as the yellow-skinned monkeys' armored cruisers did not return to the outside of Port Arthur, it means that Essen's fleet has not been defeated.

In the case that two of our battleships were damaged and could not take the initiative, it was hoped that the fleet in Essen would be victorious, and the news of victory would cheer up our naval officers. Makarov said.

"Nikolai has six of the most powerful armored cruisers in the Empire, and four of them are the world's strongest armored cruisers built by Germany, far better than those yellow-skinned monkeys, so as long as you wait patiently, you will definitely hear the news of victory from Nikolai." Wittgerft said confidently.

"I hope so." Makarov nodded. However, Makarov did not say that he still did not want to see Essen's armored cruisers go head-to-head with the Japanese.

Although the current ratio of the number of armored cruisers on both sides is 6:6, although there are two old ships on their side, the other four are top cutting-edge, so Essen's fleet is not inferior in terms of overall combat power.

But Makarov also understood that the time when the sabotage fleet could play its greatest role was when it was not caught by the enemy's fleet, and when it was engaged head-on with the Japanese armored cruisers, no matter what the victory or defeat, it would be difficult for the sabotage operation to continue, so the Japanese could concentrate on dealing with their own side.

Therefore, if Essen's fleet can continue to attack, then the pressure on its own side will be relatively small.

Just when Makarov had great expectations for Essen's sabotage fleet, the six armored cruisers led by Essen did turn the Japanese shipping lines upside down.

Essen, who has more cards in his hand than in history, is also more daring than in history, and this time after winning 2 times in the Sea of Japan, he directly set his sights on Tokyo Bay.

Moreover, this time Essen not only carried out a blatant robbery in front of the Japanese, but also led the fleet into the Uraga waterway before intercepting 16 ships of various types for five days in a row and preparing to run away.

A few inaccurate shells landed in the port area of Yokosuka and did not cause any huge damage, but the shock suffered by the Japanese was much greater than in history, "The Russian fleet is coming!" "The Russians are going to land in Tokyo Bay!" Such rumors were rampant, and for a time people were panicked, and even many residents along the coast of Japan began to move inward.

After the start of the war, the land battle did not go well, Port Arthur could not be attacked for a long time, the expected goal was not achieved in the naval battle, and the main force of the Russian Pacific Fleet was still alive and was slammed to the ground by the Essen fleet, which lost all face, and at the same time made the opposition to the war with Russia in China becoming louder and louder.

Therefore, it became a top priority for the Japanese Navy to deal with the rampant Russian cruisers. Faced with pressure from all sides, the Japanese Admiralty made a decision that later left them with heartache.

In order to search for Essen's fleet as much as possible, the Izumi, Chitose, Takasago, Kasaki, and Yoshino of the Third Fleet, which were carrying out blockade missions outside Port Arthur, and the Naniwa, Takachiho, Akashi, and Shintaka of Kuasang Waiyojiro, who had previously escorted the land to Incheon, were dispatched to search for the Russian fleet. (To be continued) R655