"It doesn't look like a lightning striker." Shichiro Kataoka put down the binoculars in his hand, "There is no mine pole in the bow of the ship, if it is a lightning strike ship, where will the mines be?" ”

"Will the mine struts be underwater? Like the 'Snow Wind' that the government Navy bought from the United States? Heihachiro Togo carefully observed the small Russian warship and asked again.

"If the mine strut is underwater, the bow of the ship should be the head of the French type of ramming, but the style of this ship is not the head of the ramming." Kataoka Shichiro shook his head, "Seeing that this ship only has a five-barreled machine cannon, the force is very weak, and the speed seems to be very fast, it seems to belong to the kind of high-speed notification ship built by Qianguo." ”

"I think it's more likely that a mine strikes the ship." Heihachiro Togo observed for a while and said, "Have you noticed, Kataoka-kun, its bow is fully enclosed, very similar to a pole mineboat, and the machine gun is mounted on the top of the conning tower, this is the style of a thunderbolt ship, and it is definitely not a high-speed notification ship." ”

"You're talking about it, Your Excellency, Commander." Shichiro Kataoka raised his binoculars again and looked at it, his expression becoming solemn, "I don't know what kind of lightning strike method they will use." ”

"Do you think they're going to attack us?" Heihachiro Togo put down his binoculars and asked again.

"This is the Ryukyu Sea, which belongs to the sphere of influence of the Qianguo Navy, and I don't think they dare to attack us." Shichiro Kataoka looked at this small warship with a displacement of about 400 tons and only one gun, and said contemptuously, "Besides, although the 'Mt. Fuji' is an old ship, the lion is old. The sharp teeth are also enough to shred a cunning little fox. ”

"It's better to be careful." Heihachiro Togo noticed that a young Russian naval officer had been added to the command tower of the Russian ship. Said. "Inform everyone to secretly prepare for war, whether it is in the sea controlled by the Qianguo Navy or on the high seas, as long as the other side launches an attack, we will not hesitate to sink it!"

"Yes!" Shichiro Kataoka solemnly agreed, and then gave the order to the officers around him to prepare for battle.

Heihachiro Togo looked at the young Russian officer, and somehow, there was a sense of déjà vu.

And on that small Russian warship, the "Demolition" mine-strike ship. Lieutenant Colonel Makarov was also keeping an eye on Heihachiro Togo on the bridge of the Satsuma warship.

"Are you sure that person is Heihachiro Togo? Sir? Makarov asked the captain of the ship, Captain Rysakov, but his eyes never took off Togo Heihachiro.

"That's right, it's him." "I've seen his portrait in the newspapers, and it's true that this man is right, and his flag is hoisting on this boat," Rysakov said. ”

Makarov turned his eyes and saw Togo Heihachiro's flag on the top of the mast of the "Mt. Fuji".

"That's good." Makarov nodded quietly.

"Sir, do you really ...... Are you going to kill him? Rysakov looked at the "Mt. Fuji", hesitated for a moment, and asked.

"Of course!" Makarov glanced at the captain. "What's the problem? Arkhangelich? ”

"This is the sea area controlled by the Qianguo Navy, once it is discovered by the Qianguo warship. I'm afraid it will cause a lot of trouble. Rysakov voiced his worries.

"Then we'll sink it on the high seas!" Makarov said categorically, "I'm going to make those Satsuma people pay for what they did for him!" ”

Makarov was transferred to the East at his own request after taking part in the operation against the Turkish Navy, and he was accompanied by the mine-strike ship "Demolition".

"Blasting" is a new ship launched two years ago, this warship has a displacement of 469 tons, the hull is long and narrow, using a vertical composite steam engine, twin propeller drive, the fastest speed can reach 13 knots, its most unique place, is its armament, it is equipped with a torpedo tube unique to the Russian Navy, is the first real lightning ship of the Russian Navy.

It was in command of this warship that in the Russian war against Turkey, Makarov created a glorious record of sinking the Turkish ironclad ship "Inchibach".

This time, he decided to recreate this splendor in the East.

Before coming to the East, Makarov made a detailed understanding of the situation of the Satsuma Navy, and after analyzing various aspects, he came to the conclusion that an important reason why the Russian army could not fight in Japan for a long time and suffered heavy losses but did not work to gain success was that the Russian Far East Fleet was tied hands and feet and could not participate in the war in the form of a "volunteer army," so that the Satsuma Navy was able to calmly defeat the Japanese government navy and gain sea supremacy. The Satsuma Navy's achievements were mainly achieved by the "God of the Navy" Heihachiro Togo, so Makarov planned to implement a bold plan: to take advantage of Heihachiro Togo's visit to the Ryukyus to participate in the trial of the International Maritime Tribunal, sink his ship, and kill him.

In Makarov's view, the victory of the Satsuma Navy was not only due to the relationship between the two ironclad ships, but also to the command of an excellent general with a European-style naval education. After analysis, Makarov also believed that even if the Russian Far East Fleet was not subject to public international law and could take action, it would have little chance of winning a battle against the Satsuma Navy with its current strength.

The lead ships of the Russian Far Eastern Navy (Siberian Fleet) are mainly "Knyaz? The "Bojarsky" ironclad and the cruiser "Migne" and the cruiser "Admiral", among which "Knyaz? "Bojarsky" has a displacement of 5,220 tons, the main armament is 8 228-mm guns, "Migne" has a displacement of 6,234 tons, the main armament is 4 203-mm guns and 12 152-mm guns, "Admiral" General has a displacement of 5,112 tons, the main armament is 6 203-mm guns and 2 152-mm guns, on paper it is very powerful, but in fact they are all old ships that have been in service for many years, the speed is very slow, and the shooting is slow. It's hard to say what it can look like, not to mention that the Satsuma Navy has many mine-strike ships, and there are generals like Togo Heihachiro who are good at commanding, so they really start to move. Victory or defeat is unpredictable.

In the opinion of Makarov, who is good at lightning strike tactics. It is the one who decides the victory or defeat of the sea. Not those old large ships, but such cutting-edge ships as the "Demolition"!

"Let's go back to the command cabin! Don't let these Satsuma people perceive our intentions! We can move away from enemy ships! Just follow them! Makarov, sensing that Heihachiro Togo, was also watching him, turned to Rysakov and said, "I'll go sleep for a while, and wake me up when I reach the open sea!" ”

"Okay!" Rysakov nodded in agreement.

Makarov glanced at Heihachiro Togo again, then turned and entered the cabin.

Makarov didn't know that he was actually going to fight to the death with Heihachiro Togo in another war on a much larger scale than the current one, just because of a relationship. History has changed dramatically, and the fates of him and Togo Heihachiro have all changed because of it.

On the "Mt. Fuji", Heihachiro Togo saw that the two Russians who were originally looking at him had entered the cabin, and after a while, the speed of the Russian ship seemed to slow down, and the distance from the "Mt. Fuji" was slightly widened, but it did not disappear.

"I'll go and rest, and call me again when I get to the open sea." Heihachiro Togo felt a little tired and said to Shichiro Kataoka, "You just work harder." Keep an eye on them! ”

"Yes! Sir, rest assured! I'll keep an eye on the Lucians! Shichiro Kataoka looked at Heihachiro Togo, who was haggard, and knew that he had been working very hard these days. I didn't have a good rest, and immediately replied loudly.

Heihachiro Togo nodded, then got off the flybridge and returned to his cabin.

Heihachiro Togo took off his coat and collapsed on the bed, probably because he was too tired, and he quickly fell asleep.

……

Heihachiro Togo in his dream found himself standing on another warship that was much larger than the "Mt. Fuji".

The waves were rolling, the wind was howling, and there were large snowflakes. But in such bad weather, he saw two small warships with a small tonnage flying high in the Japanese chapter flag going to sea in the wind and waves.

"There is no other way but to block the battle!"

In the conference room, a young staff officer said to him.

Who is this person? Which country is this fighting again?

"You, Akiyama-kun, probably know this tactic best." Someone said.

"Yes, during the Spanish-American War, I witnessed the entire blockade of the port of San Diego as a military attaché and wrote a scientific report that the Navy Department took very seriously." The staff officer named Akiyama replied.

"Yes, anyway, Akiyama-kun knows a lot about blocking tactics." An older officer said, "Actually, this may be one of the small reasons why you, Akiyama-kun, were promoted to fleet staff officer. The war with Lucia, the first phase of the Imperial Navy's operation was, of course, the battle in Port Arthur. Blockade tactics have long appeared in the operational plan of the Military Command Department. Therefore, this battle plan should be approved by the Military Command Department. ”

"That's great!" Someone said happily.

"But don't be too optimistic, because Port Arthur is not the port of San Diego after all." The officer named Akiyama added, "Our aim is to sink old ships at the mouth of Arthur to block the exit, so that Lucia's fleet in the harbor will not be able to move. But the port of Lushun is too narrow, about 273 meters wide, and the seabed on both sides is very shallow, so the width of the middle is only about 91 meters for large warships to pass through. Our goal was to sink five or six old ships transversely there. ”

"There's only one way." Said another staff officer.

"It was possible to do it in San Diego, but now it's a completely different situation in Lushun. The firepower of Lucia's army was a thousand times stronger than that of the port of Santiago, and the fleet in the port was not a small Spanish fleet, but a large fleet of Lucia. If such an operation were to be carried out, all the combatants would surely die. ”

"Akiyama-kun, you usually say that 'the battle with the least bloodshed is the best battle', but in the current situation, it may only be a blockage of this road." The older officer said.

"There's nothing more terrifying than this kind of battle, Arima-kun." Akiyama said, "This kind of battle, which relies on luck and sacrifices a large number of soldiers, does not need us fighters. ”

"Since I made the plan, wouldn't it be okay for me to be the captain and die when the time comes? This makes sense, right? The older officer named Arima said with some dissatisfaction.

"No, Arima-kun, I'm worried about everyone's safety. Such an operation. The element of luck is too big. Whether it's you or anyone else, I hope they come back safely. Akiyama said, "If you are spotted on the way and are under heavy fire from enemy ships, you should withdraw first!" ”

"No! Absolutely not! You can't withdraw it! An officer, who was not a staff officer, stood up abruptly and said loudly, "This operation must be carried out boldly!" As long as you rush forward bravely. The demons will make way for us, too! What enemy heavy fire? The enemy, of course, will shoot fiercely! Only with the determination to break the bones and keep rushing forward can it be possible to succeed! If you say something like Akiyama-kun, you won't succeed in coming a few times! ”

The staff officer named Akiyama was silent.

"Akiyama-kun is kind, we get it, Hirose-kun." Arima waved his hand and signaled to the officer who told Hirose not to get excited, "But the battle must go on, and there must be no fear of retreating." ”

"Sir, isn't that so?" He finished. Turned his gaze to Heihachiro Togo.

Somehow, Heihachiro Togo listened to their conversation. He didn't know what kind of battle was going on, but the words of these men who seemed to be his own men made his heart burn like a flame.

"Whether to continue or retreat is up to the commanders to decide according to the situation!" In the end, Togo made a decision that was somewhere in between.

"To carry out the rescue, send a motorboat and a torpedo boat to follow you! I arranged for a few more torpedo boats to stand by near the port. Togo Heihachiro didn't know how he could say such a thing.

The plan for the blockade operation was thus decided. It was scheduled to sink five steamboats in the harbor. Each ship will carry fourteen or fifteen people. Sixty-seven people are needed for the entire crew, in addition to the commander and the mechanic. As a result, the whole fleet began to recruit volunteers below the rank of non-commissioned officer, and immediately 2,000 people signed up, including those who wrote a blood letter to sign up.

"We can win this time!" Hirose said to Heihachiro Togo. In Togo Heihachiro's view, the officers under his command have had such a volunteer since they were children, they have always been courteous, and have always been for the purpose of serving the country with the death of the war, and those soldiers are not professional soldiers. Even their positive response to such a volunteer statement shows that this war is a national war.

"If you don't climb the mountain, you don't know the height of the mountain; Not near the deep stream, I don't know the thickness of the ground" ("Xunzi. Persuasion of Learning)

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"Knowing that it cannot be done" is only a preliminary judgment made on the basis of experience, which is not necessarily accurate, nor is it an actual "impossible to do", whether it can be done or not, only by notifying practice to verify, that is, to "do it", that is, practice is the only criterion for testing the truth.

If you know that you can't do it, you don't do it, it is equivalent to admitting that you don't need to insist on everything, just give up when you encounter difficulties, resign yourself to fate, and be at peace with what happens. Then there will be no situation where the situation will be forcefully turned around, the situation will be reversed, the evil will be turned into good, the danger will be turned into safety, and there will be divine help. There is a proverb in English: God helps those who help themselves, and this is the truth. In Yao Ming's words, it is: hard work will not necessarily succeed, but if you don't work hard, you will definitely not succeed.

Two, it's a kind of spiritual folding

"Knowing that it cannot be done", this summary of Confucius is really profound and profound. Obviously, this person guarding the city gate is not an idle person, but a great hermit with a high level of cultivation but hidden in the city. Going back to the phrase "know you can't do it" itself, this is an idealistic image.

A person who knows that what he is doing is expected to succeed, so he persists in doing it, and finally succeeds, he is certainly a successful person, but it is not particularly remarkable.

He did everything he could, and he got his fate. Destiny refers to the Mandate of Heaven, that is, the command or will of Heaven, which is seen as a purposeful force. However, later Confucianism regarded life only as the condition and power of all the existence of the entire universe. Our activities, to achieve external success, always require the cooperation of these conditions. But this coordination, as a whole, is beyond our control. So what we can do is to do what we know we should do wholeheartedly, regardless of success or failure. To do so is to "know your fate".

In the process of scientific experiments, scientific research, artistic creation, academic exploration, and the formation of a new theoretical system, there are countless examples of making oneself a stepping stone, a stone to pave the way, and a prelude to an epoch-making breakthrough. You must have the spirit of knowing that it cannot be done, and you must have the determination and courage not to be afraid of hitting a wall, not afraid of failure, not afraid of risk, not afraid of paying, and not afraid of investment while pursuing success, pursuit of excellence, and pursuit of high realm. (To be continued......)