"The Rurik gave the signal to us to take the lead ship of the formation and then continue close to the Japanese coast. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ”

"Execute the order." Cal. Petrovich. Admiral Jessen nodded, then turned his head away, pretending not to see the worry in the first mate's eyes: two hours earlier, as the fleet had passed through the northern entrance to the Shimonoseki Strait, the observation post had spotted a Japanese cruiser on a guard mission. In other words, the Japanese had already spotted traces of this fleet consisting of the armored cruisers "Rurik", "Russia" and "Grombowie" of the Vladivostok detachment, and, if they reacted quickly enough, certainly sent warships to intercept them.

Continuing closer to the shores of Japan was probably no longer a good idea, many officers of the fleet thought so. However, Jessen thought that their fears were unnecessary, both of the Japanese armored cruisers were sunk, yes, they would still send warships to intercept them, but they had to face the situation that the Japanese warships, which were faster than the armored cruisers, were inferior in firepower and armor, and the Japanese warships, which surpassed the armored cruisers in firepower and armor, were too slow.

Even in the worst-case scenario, a dozen or more Japanese warships are surrounded from all sides, and the fleet can slip away from the Japanese, so there is nothing to worry about.

However, Admiral Jessen was not without any concerns: since the fleet's traces had leaked, the Japanese Navy and the Port Authority would have warned the westbound cargo ships and ordered them to take refuge in the nearest port. Of course, not every ship would be alerted - Jessen turned his gaze to the rear, and the first prey caught by the fleet, a Japanese cargo ship laden with soybeans, was burning and sinking - but the prey was certainly drastically reduced.

It's going to be a tough hunt.

"Ordered the lookout post to carefully search the sea, I don't want to miss anything." Jessen made a gesture to the first mate.

However, his wish was frustrated: after twenty minutes of fruitless sailing, the fleet broke into a thick fog and was unable to leave it for nearly two hours. In such a terrible environment, the lookout post could not find any prey, not even a small fishing boat that was not worth wasting ammunition at all. The few officers on the warship who were still expecting the hunt gradually became impatient.

"Hell, when are we going to get out of this damn fog?" One of the officers cursed under his breath, half to himself.

His complaint was unanimously agreed.

"Calm down, gentlemen. Anyway, things are a little better now than they were at the beginning. Jessen reassured, even though he himself was tired of the mist. But it's really a little better than it started, isn't it? In the beginning, visibility was only 300 meters, but now it has doubled.

The admiral's optimistic prediction: "Maybe the fleet will soon be ......" His voice suddenly stopped: a Japanese-flagged mail ship came into his sight without warning, right in front of the cruiser.

Then he heard the shouts of the lookout. "Discover the target, distance the three chains!"

"It's a big fish, Captain." The first mate stared at the ship for a few seconds, and then declared, "I think it's 6,000 tons." ”

Yes, big fish, the fleet has not yet met such a large prey. Jessen thought, wasting no time, and ordered: "Give a signal to order that cruise ship to stop moving forward and prepare for inspection by the Imperial Russian Navy......"

He stopped again: "Big Fish" was making a U-turn.

"It's trying to escape!" The Colonel's voice was tinged with palpable excitement. The movement of the mail ship meant only one thing: it was carrying not ordinary prohibited materials, but things that were directly used for military purposes, troops, weapons or ammunition - the kind of targets that the fleet had always wanted to encounter and destroy.

"Warning shot, stop it!" He shouted.

The officers around him sprang into action and began to convey his latest orders, but the gunners reacted more quickly, and as soon as the admiral's words fell, two columns of water rose on either side of the bow of the mail ship.

The warning fire did not work as expected, the mail ship was still turning around, and it began to increase its speed. And that's not the only thing its crew and passengers do. The colonel heard the sound of rifle gunfire, faintly, but still able to make out it.

The Japanese returned fire.

"The captain of that ship and its passengers must be very brave men who tried to stop our cruiser with their rifles." The Colonel turned to the officers beside him, smiled at them, and asked, "Who can read Japanese writing?" I'm trying to figure out the name of that ship...... Oh no, forget about my questions. Jessen shook his right hand as if he were driving away a pesky fly that buzzed next to his ear, and then made another gesture, "There's no need to waste time and blast it off." ”

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Suddenly, there was a chaotic sound of footsteps outside, and then, the door of the office was pushed open, and Tachibana Kogoro rushed in without grace, and before his head could say a syllable, he shouted to him: "Something's wrong, Your Excellency, Director!" ”

"Please pay attention to your image, and there should be etiquette, Tachibana-kun!" Kuroshima Ren frowned, "What's the matter?" ”

He had a bad feeling that there weren't many things that could make Tachibana Kogoro so flustered that he forgot his manners.

"The mail ship 'Hitachi Maru' requisitioned by the Army has been sunk [Note 2]!"

"Huh?" Kuroshima raised an eyebrow. "Hitachi Maru"? He remembered that the ship, the first steel mail ship built in Japan, was seen as a symbol of Japan's industrial modernization—but even so, even if it was a transport ship requisitioned by the Army, what was the big deal if it was sunk?

Kuroshima Ren was a little careless, but he didn't stay in that mood for long.

"Wing Commander Commander Genjiro Nakasa, the headquarters of the 1st Reserve Guards Infantry Wing and the 2nd Brigade under the 'Hitachi Maru' totaled more than 1,000 people...... All of them were killed. ”

"What! All of them are killed! Kuroshima jumped up, and his voice suddenly increased by a few tens of decibels—no matter what he was emphasizing to Tachibana Kogoro just now, he couldn't keep that stuff anymore.

However, this is not the only bad news he gets. Tachibana Kogoro lowered his head and whispered, "The same ship lost eight 28-caliber centimeter heavy siege guns......

Kuroshima's face became a little distorted. A wing of the Guards Infantry Wing and a full infantry brigade, as well as eight 28-centimeter heavy siege guns, which could have played an important, even decisive role, in the ensuing ground war - especially in the storming of the fortress of Arthur - were now slaughtered like chickens on a mail ship. Although he was not an army officer, this result was still unacceptable to Kuroshima.

"When did this happen? Where is it? He asked, not without exasperation.

"Nine hours ago, in the ......," Tachibana Kogoro hesitated, "...... In the northwest of the Shimonoseki Strait, about twenty nautical miles.

"What the hell are the navy's red deer doing! How could they allow the Lucia to slip off the coast of Japan? And where are the escort ships? "Kuroshima's volume was amazing, and again raised a few decibels.

Another wave of hesitation. "The Navy has not arranged for warships to escort the 'Hitachi Maru' or other transport ships. Vice Admiral Hikonojo Uemura of the Second Fleet[note 3] did not believe that the Lucians would venture into this area. ”

"Really?" Kuroshima snorted, "I thought he would learn his lesson after the attack on Wonsan Port and raise his alert and defense level. ”

After a pause, he added, "He'll be unlucky for this." ”

Because of the inaction of the Second Fleet, Lucia's fleet launched such a bold attack in the waters so close to Japan, Kuroshima Ren can bet anyone that once this news is made public, it will definitely cause an uproar in the country. If the Second Fleet can catch Lucia's fleet and destroy it, or sink a few of its ships, then Uemura can breathe a sigh of relief, otherwise the enraged citizens will definitely do something to him.

Maybe no one stabbed him while shouting the slogan "Heaven punishes the thief", but people will definitely do something. Kuroshima imagined with malice.

Tachibana Kogoro glanced up at him, then lowered his head again, and lowered his voice even further. "One more news, Your Excellency...... Vice Admiral Uemura's private residence has been smashed by angry citizens. ”

"Oh, his private house was destroyed?" Kuroshima was stunned for a moment. "Has the news been made public?"

"The Navy tried to cover up the information, but the Army immediately informed the British Embassy and the press when it learned of the sinking of the Hitachi Maru."

Of course, the Army will definitely make the information public, and it will also make a big propaganda -- even if it is not the Army's troops and siege artillery that sank with the "Hitachi Maru", but only because of the contradiction between the Army and the Navy, the Army will do so, and it will react instinctively.

And the Army would have claimed that it had exercised sufficient restraint: it did not poke out the news of the sinking of two armored cruisers. So, in order to avoid further trouble, the Navy will not be too concerned about this matter and the problems that will arise with it, and will not immediately launch a counterattack on the Army.

But the Navy will definitely fight back.

Kuroshima shook his head secretly, and then asked, "Why did you notify the British Embassy?" ”

"Because the captain, chief engineer, and helmsman of the 'Hitachi Maru' are all British, Your Excellency."

Three Britons? It seemed that they could use their plight to stir up a wave of opposition to Lucia in England, and of course to call for greater enthusiasm among the British to buy Japan's war bonds, which, if nothing else happened, should have been a sure success. Kuroshima thought about it, and felt like he had a plan that wasn't so good—but after a few minutes, he realized it wasn't that good.

It doesn't do him any good. On the one hand, the bureaucrats of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will certainly be able to think of the same plan, and on the other hand, even if he is the only one who thinks of it, it will certainly be handed over to other departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in the end, the credit will still belong to someone else, not him.

The corners of Kuroshima's mouth twitched. Then he sat down again, poured a glass of sake, and handed it to Kogoro Tachibana. "Sit down, Tachibana-kun." "Let's talk about what's next for the Navy," he said. ”

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Note 1: Karl. Petrovich Jessen, commander of the Vladivostok detachment of the Pacific Fleet in 1904, was the captain of the armored cruiser "Grombowie" in 1899-1902

Note 2: The "Hitachi Maru" was sunk on June 15, 1904, and none of the 1,000 people carrying the headquarters of the 1st Guards Infantry Wing and the 2nd Brigade (owed to the 8th Squadron) survived, becoming known as the "Hitachi Maru Incident" (Uemura's private residence was indeed destroyed as a result)

Note 3: Hikonojo Uemura was promoted to rear admiral in 1899 and vice admiral in 1903

PS: This chapter is the ...... of the 13th I actually forgot to "publish the article" again...... (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )