Section 107 Battle of Izu

Yantai Port became more prosperous during this time, and after the completion of the port, ships of more than 10,000 tons could be docked at will. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

But the prosperity of these days was brought by the Russians, and the German steamers rented by the Russians pulled boatloads of coke-made anthracite to Lushun, and the eggs and meat produced in Shandong were sent by ships.

The materials consumed by nearly 100,000 officers and soldiers on land and sea in Lushun are not a small amount, not to mention that most of the Russian officers are corrupt aristocrats.

In October, the Russian Navy bombarded several more Japanese ports, and even several cruisers bombarded the Sasebo military port, but they quickly retreated under the counterattack of Sasebo Kishiki artillery.

There were demonstrations in Japan against Togo Heihachi, but a large number of civilians began to silently donate their jewelry, gold and silver to the government.

The Russian army launched a counteroffensive in Liaoyang, this time the Japanese held out for ten days, still retreated, they retreated to Wafangdian this time, and the Japanese army that has been besieging here, but it also forced them to a dead end, more than 300,000 troops, crowded on the Liaodong Peninsula, there is no sea dominance, the Russians do not have to fight, they are trapped to death.

The Russian Navy also finally gave the order to attack.

The fleet was divided into two, one in Sasebo to monitor the main Japanese fleet, and the main fleet was in a mighty way to Tokyo.

The Russians did not keep it a secret this time, and the tsar frantically shouted, destroying the Japanese Navy in World War I, and destroying the Japanese Army in another battle, and then landing on the Japanese island.

The radio waves kept coming back, and Yang Chao couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat when he saw it.

"The Japanese won't be so ruthless, Tokyo can't do it!"

Yang Chao couldn't help but be shocked, because the telegram results showed that Japan's main fleet was in Sasebo and was not dispatched.

And the Russians only used a detachment of ships, less than a third of the warships, so that the Japanese did not dare to go to sea to meet the battle.

"If the Japanese are so ruthless, then the Russians are really doomed."

In Yang Chao's mind, there was a scene in which the Russians frantically and arrogantly hit all the shells to Tokyo, and then when they returned to sail, they were suddenly blocked by the Japanese Combined Fleet.

But Yang Chao guessed wrong.

When the main fleet of the Russian Navy sailed towards Tokyo, the detachment kept getting the news that the Japanese fleet had no change in Sasebo, and they sailed towards Tokyo with peace of mind.

In fact, Yang Chao didn't believe that the Russians could capture Tokyo at all, Tokyo was not Nagasaki, even if Nagasaki bombarded this place, it was not cost-effective, that shelling of Nagasaki, the Russians had more than a dozen warships but were injured by the defensive fire on the shore, Tokyo's shore fire defense is definitely ten times stronger than Nagasaki, and the Russians hit there just for a political significance.

When the news is sent, the whole world will once again look down on Japan, even if it is clear that Japan has already been seen as weak.

The Emperor of Japan had long since started eating only one meal a day, and all the money for the meal was donated to the navy, and the Japanese people also began to donate money.

The Tsar in St. Petersburg began to appear in public, and banquets were held in the Winter Palace for three days, diplomatic envoys from various countries, and dignitaries were all guests, and the Tsar talked about the destruction of Japan.

The British had been in frequent contact with the Russian government lately, so the British ambassador was bound to attend the Tsar's banquet and take every opportunity to consult with the Tsar.

The British repeatedly asked the Tsar how he would end the war, but the Tsar spoke in a serious tone, and he did not consider any way to end the war until he reached Tokyo.

However, in the last few days, he has softened his tone a little, and promised the British that if Japan agrees, disbanding its navy, maintaining its regular army at less than 100,000 men, leasing Hokkaido and the territories north of it to Russia, and opening up Japan's mining and investment rights to Russia, Russia can consider not attacking Japan.

The British submitted the proposal to Japan, which agreed to consider it and hoped to reach an agreement with Russia as soon as possible on the place of negotiation.

Even with such humiliation, the tsar still refused to let Tokyo go, and just today his fleet will shell Tokyo, and then he will negotiate with the Japanese in Petersburg.

It was another luxurious banquet, with a lot of traffic at the door, brilliant lights in the hall, celebrities and maids shuttling back and forth, and music and singing endlessly.

At this moment, a footstep hurried to the Tsar's side, and with a whisper, the Tsar immediately followed the man with a solemn face, threw down the full house, got into his splendid carriage, and left the palace.

And three hours ago, in Tokyo Bay, Japan, all the officers and men of the Combined Fleet, stood on the deck, their officers holding a tray with a glass of wine on it, a white cloth, and delivered the wine to everyone one by one, and then raised a glass:

"In today's battle, there is death and no life."

"There's Tokyo in the back, and the emperor is watching us!"

Togo Heihachi bowed, and in front of him were all the senior admirals of the navy.

Then all the Japanese sailors, with strips of white cloth wrapped around their heads, drank all their wine, smashed their glasses on the ground, and then they took their places, and all the captains returned to their respective command posts, and the ships began to light fires and anchor.

When the Russian fleet rushed to the Gulf of Tonkin, they found a whole fleet in front of them.

At this time, the Russians still didn't care, because all they saw was a battleship with less than ten ships, and most of them were cruisers, and the main force of the Japanese Combined Fleet, wasn't it all in Sasebo.

So the Russian Navy immediately raised its flag and fought, changed formation and approached the Japanese fleet, and the artillery battle began.

"Our army was intercepted by Japanese warships, lost three cruisers, and is currently retreating, and has notified the detachment to converge. After all the battleships converge, they will return directly to Arthur! ”

The Minister of the Navy answered the Tsar's questions one after another.

The tsar couldn't stop nodding, aren't things so bad, it's not surprising that a small Japanese fleet remained in Tokyo Bay.

The tsar did not wonder why the Japanese fleet was in the Gulf of Tonkin, while the Russians never found out.

The Tsar didn't even feel the need to care about this little thing, and wanted to return to the banquet, as if it was a bit rude for him to leave suddenly.

However, the Tsar's interest soon waned, because suddenly came the news that the Russian fleet was being intercepted by the Japanese navy during its retreat.

The telegram was ticking and ticking, and the news from the front kept coming.

The Tsar's face became more and more ugly.

On October 15, when the moon was full, Yang Chao was also eager to know the result of the Russo-Japanese naval battle, although he believed that the Russians would definitely lose this time, and bombarded the Tokyo coastal defense artillery for several hours, and fired tens of thousands of shells into the city of Tokyo at a heavy cost, killing and wounding countless Japanese, destroying countless houses, and then planning to retreat in style, encountering the Japanese Combined Fleet that was full of hatred and did not hesitate to die on the way.

But after the news came, Yang Chao was a little surprised, the Japanese did not encounter the combined fleet when retreating, they did not approach Tokyo at all, but at the entrance to Tokyo Bay encountered several Japanese ships to block, after the naval battle, they found that they suffered a lot under the bombardment of the Japanese shore-based batteries, so they planned to retreat.

But they encountered the main force of the Japanese navy in the Izu Islands, and the news ended here, and Japan and Russia are still fighting fiercely.

Soon it was night, and Yang Chao wanted to take an airship to watch the battle, but after thinking about it, he gave up.

The next day there was still a fierce battle, but there was news that the German battleship, which had been at anchor and rushed to Qingdao overnight after knowing the situation yesterday, had returned to Qingdao by radio.

The Japanese had been planning for a long time, and soon after the Russian warships withdrew from Tokyo Bay, they were blocked, and there was no escape at this time, so they could only fight, but the Japanese waited for work at ease, and had already seized the advantageous position of gaining the upper hand, and a naval battle broke out in a T-shaped formation.

After a day and a night of artillery battles, the Russian fleet suffered a crushing defeat and, having sunk a third of its battleships, began to force its way out.

It is no wonder that the Russians are undefeated, and the gunnery of the Japanese Navy at this time can be called the second in the world, and the first is of course the British.

The Russian gunners were far inferior to the Japanese, not only in aiming, but also in the speed of operation, with the result that they had more battleship guns than the Japanese and fired far fewer shells than the Japanese.

"The most important thing is the shells."

The Germans thought so, the warhead of the Japanese artillery shell was charged with picric acid, and they themselves became Shimose gunpowder, which was developed by an engineer named Masayoshi Shimose, and it was the most intense explosive at this time, even more explosive than the famous **.

This explosive is characterized by its extreme sensitivity and can explode when it touches small objects. When it explodes, it will emit yellow poisonous smoke, and at the same time it will ignite a flame of thousands of degrees, once it penetrates into the warship, it is extremely easy to cause a fire, and the Beiyang Fleet has suffered enough of this.

The Russians were apparently even less lucky, and at least three of their ships were directly hit by such bombs and their powder magazines exploded.

"And amazing courage!"

The second reason, in the opinion of the Germans.

The Japanese were not afraid of death, not only did the battleships here engage in artillery battles with the Russian army, but also the large and small torpedo boats, like earth dogs that broke into the lions, roared and braved the artillery fire of the double anti-dump, frantically pounced on the Russian fleet, and released fish at close range, this almost suicidal attack even sank three capital ships of the Russian army.

"The performance of the battleship is also better."

This is the third reason.

When the Russians broke through, the Japanese were in hot pursuit, and the Russian fleet could not get out for a long time.

When they finally fled from the Izu Sea, less than a third of the huge Russian fleet remained, so the Japanese refused to let them go, and also dispersed the pursuit, dividing half of the warships to pursue the Russians, and the other half of the warships sailed towards Sasebo, obviously the Japanese did not even want to let go of the Russian detachment.

"Hey, it's still not ruthless enough!"

Yang Chao couldn't help sighing, feeling that the Japanese let the Russians bombard Tokyo was the most cost-effective method of warfare.

After the Russians had used up most of their shells, they didn't even have a chance to engage in an artillery battle with the Japanese, and at that time they were blocking them in Tokyo Bay, and they could abuse them as much as they wanted, how could they let out a third of the warships as they do now.