This is the soul of the Japanese nation! This is the Yamato soul! Heihachiro Togo sighed excitedly in his heart.

But when was this Japan?

Is there really such a history?

The moon was obscured by dark clouds, and the sea became dark. And the enemy's searchlights began to replace the moonlight. The searchlights of the fort on the hill swept across the ocean outside the harbor, as if not even a scrap of paper could be approached.

Heihachiro Togo felt as if he was in the air, watching what was about to happen.

The searchlights that strafed the surface of the sea suddenly concentrated in one place, where there was a large steamboat. The steamboat sailed quietly along the shore down the hill towards the harbor. Heihachiro Togo recognized it, and this steamboat was the "Tianjin Maru" that Arima staff officers were on.

Several searchlights caught the "Tianjin Maru", and all the enemy batteries sent shells to this sacrifice, and the "Tianjin Maru" was immediately surrounded by a rain of bullets and waves, and one by one the shells exploded on the ship, and the explosion of the enemy shells became a hell, and the searchlights illuminated the helmsman so that he could not open his eyes, and did not know where to drive the ship, so he did not reach the port, but drove the bow of the ship up the reef at the foot of the mountain far away. Arima staff jumped to his feet and shouted, but there was nothing he could do. Although he knew that there was no point in doing so, he could only order the blast.

The boat behind followed.

"To the right! Rightward! ”

Arima shouted from the ship to the following boats. Hirose's "Hokoku Maru" hit the right full rudder, and the "Incheon Maru" that followed behind also hit the right full rudder.

The artillery of the Russian fortress was still roaring, and this time the artillery fire was concentrated on the "Hokook Maru" and "Incheon Maru". Hirose's "Hokoku Maru" was the only one that managed to reach the port under the lighthouse. He ran aground there. However, it is far from the effect of blocking. The "Incheon Maru", which was following Hirose, shifted too far to the right. It lost its way in a short time. Finally, it sank slightly away from the harbor. The "Wuyang Maru" in the back insisted on moving forward in the rain of bullets. Suddenly, I saw a ship touching the reef in front of me. This is the "Tianjin Maru" at the front, and when it passes next to the "Tianjin Maru", the "Wushu Maru" at the back sways over. The "Takeshu Maru" was hit by an enemy shell and hit the steering gear, so it could not be controlled. However, it was unaware of this, and eventually blew itself up near the west side of the harbor because it could not control it. The "Wuyang Maru" drove to the side of the "Wushu Maru" and stopped the boat side by side, and then the people on board opened the valve and sank the ship to the bottom of the sea.

The first blockade was largely a failure, but was surprisingly minor in terms of casualties. This made Heihachiro Togo very pleased.

Arima and the others want to continue to do it. Through Chief of Staff Shimamura, they asked Heihachiro Togo for instructions, and after getting approval, they immediately set out to find a boat for blockage. The steamboats they found were originally scrapped boats, and they filled them with rocks, poured cement, and then installed blasting devices.

The second operation consisted of four ships, and the commander was the same as the previous one. The corporal officers are based on the principle of not going a second time if they go once, and the officers are still the same as the first time. The commander-in-chief is Arima, plus Hirose and others.

"The enemy should be prepared this time," Staff Officer Akiyama said to Hirose. "It's impossible to take advantage of it this time like the first time. And Lieutenant General Makarov should have already arrived in Arthur. The morale of the enemy army in Lushun may suddenly increase a lot. ”

Hearing Staff Officer Akiyama say Makarov's name, Heihachiro Togo's heart couldn't help but move.

Makarov?

Why does the name sound so familiar?

"O old man Makarov! I know him. Hirose said to Akiyama as if he was joking. Stepan? Ospovic? Vice Admiral Makarov is the treasure of the Russian Navy. He was a true Slav, and the only one in the Russian Navy who was not of aristocratic origin, but of civilian origin. He started as a sailor in the age of sailing, and he was not a simple pragmatist like the one who came out of the bottom, and even if you searched the entire European navy, you could not find a theorist like Makarov. He would extract theories from practice and then apply them to practice, and through such repeated operations, he formed a set of Makarov's theories, and his "Theory of Tactics" became a world masterpiece, and I read it several times over and over again for a while. Moreover, Makarov's writings were not limited to the realm of the navy, but he also had considerable attainments in oceanography and shipbuilding, so it can be said that he was one of the most capable scholars in Russia. Moreover, this scholar is still a man full of muscles, who can climb the mast faster than anyone else in his youth, who can do everything from a furnace worker to a commander, plus he is a commoner, so he has overwhelming support among the corporals and sailors. ”

"Then you should know that he came to Arthur on March 8 to take over Stark's position." Staff Officer Akiyama ignored Hirose's teasing, and said, "Makarov is a admiral who likes to act aggressively, and the morale of Lucia's fleet in Lushun has been refreshed since his arrival. If the enemy's artillery fire is too heavy, it is better to withdraw immediately. ”

He repeated what he had said before.

"You're always rambling like this!" Hirose responded with a smile, "The actual combat unit is different from you staff officers, after the battle begins, if you still want to come back alive, you can't do anything!" There's only one trick to success, and that's to move forward! ”

Staff Officer Akiyama was speechless, and then the second round of four blockage ships set off. They arrived at the south side of the mountain at two o'clock in the middle of the night, forming a one-line formation led by Chiyo Maru, followed by Fukui Maru, Yahiko Maru, and Yoneyama Maru, heading towards the port.

The night fog is a bit thick, and the moonlight also looks a little hazy in the fog color. , a good day to carry out the plugging operation. The boats kept moving forward. The searchlight of the Lushun fortress soon spotted the "Chiyo Maru" at the forefront. The sky and the sea were immediately surrounded by flashes and roars.

The Russians must have known several days ago that the enemy was coming. Therefore, two patrol ships were dispatched, and the batteries on the shore were in constant contact to monitor the situation in the outer ocean, and the searchlights of the batteries quickly spotted the shadow of the ship on the dark sea. They saw the "Chiyomaru" at the front. There were three other ships in the back, all of which were lined up at a distance in turn. Despite the heavy fire of the Russian army. The clogged flotilla remained in good order in the dark. The direction of travel is also very accurate. Soon after, the Russian batteries and ships began a fierce artillery attack on them. However, in Togo Heihachiro's opinion, it seems that they did not cause them a lot of damage, and they still maintain their previous route and move forward.

Arima's No. 1 ship, the Chiyo Maru, was dazzled by searchlights as it had been the previous time, and once again lost its direction to the port. From the point of view of the port, they skewed slightly to the right and came to the route near the coast below the Golden Mountain, after which the bow of the ship dropped anchor on the landing and sank.

Hirose, who was on the second ship "Fukui Maru", also thought that it was the port. They drove to the right side of the "Chiyo Maru" and wanted to anchor and stop the ship. At this time, the Russian warship drove over. Torpedoes were fired at them. The torpedo hit the bow of the ship, and after an explosion the bottom of the ship was blown up, and the sea water immediately rushed in, and the ship began to sink. However, there was plenty of time to get out of the boat, and the people on board laid down the boat according to the plan, and according to the plan, once the mission was over, all the people were to meet on the back deck.

Heihachiro Togo saw that Hirose had finally arrived at the meeting place after inspecting the various posts on the ship, and shouted in his cheerful and high-pitched voice, "Hey, hey! Is everyone coming? One more roll call! ”

By this time, someone had already boarded the dinghy. So everyone started to click again, and only a military cao named Sugino hadn't come yet. Sugino's post was supposed to be on the foredeck. Hirose walked to the front deck along with the others who were still on deck. They shouted, "Sugino! Sugino! At this time, the large and small shells fired by the Russian army exploded around them, and the searchlights also illuminated the vicinity, and the scene was very tragic.

Everyone returned to the back deck and continued their search, and Hirose asked them one by one, "Has anyone seen Sugino when he was at his post?" Only one person replied, "Sugino may have fallen overboard when our ship was torpedoed."

Hirose went looking for it again for the third time. He came to the foredeck alone and shouted Sugino's name. As his voice shouted farther and farther away, Heihachiro Togo became more and more worried about him.

Hirose didn't come back for a long time, and at this time the sea water had spread to people's ankles, and the ship was about to sink, and Heihachiro Togo was anxious for a while.

Hirose finally had to give up the search for Sugino, ordered the preparation of the blast, and the entire crew boarded the boat. A long blasting cable was pulled to the boat. The small boat was rowed away from the big boat, and as four or five hulls were rowed, Hirose pressed the button, and the rear of the boat exploded in response.

All that was needed was rowing, and Heihachiro Togo saw Hirose sitting at the back of the starboard side with a cape-like raincoat over his coat, and he encouraged the team members who were stiff with fear, but the light of the searchlight never left the boat. Shells and bullets fired by the Russian army fell nearby, and the sea was like boiling water.

At this moment, Hirose suddenly disappeared. He was knocked off by a large-caliber shell fired by the Russian army.

Togo Heihachiro saw Hirose's body explode instantly, turning into flying flesh and blood, splashing on the bodies of his companions, and there was a rain of blood, and many people screamed loudly in fright, and the sea water was stained red with blood.

"Nope! - "Heihachiro Togo hissed, but no one heard.

Everything around him gradually blurred and fell into darkness, and Heihachiro Togo realized that everything just now was a dream, but he didn't want to wake up from the dream.

What a sight he was touching!

Such people, such spirits and such battles can be called the soul of Yamato!

Just when Heihachiro Togo was excited, the surrounding scenery changed again.

Before his eyes appeared a military port, which was partly a castle on land. A convoy of warships is attacking the port.

Togo Heihachiro knew that this military port was the Lushun Port just mentioned.

But isn't Lushunkou a port of the Qianguo? Why is it now occupied by the Russians?

The warships flying the Japanese flag left white tracks outside the range of the guns, leading the large and small ships to cruise like a parade. Heihachiro Togo soon understood that the main purpose of the Japanese fleet was a blockade. The secondary purpose is provocation.

Previously, the Russian fleet had generally tried to avoid opening the gates (ports) of the sea fortresses and taking the initiative to attack. But now the Russian fleet is always open to the enemy. However, the Russian ship will not go far. They were protected by the range of the fortress guns. Artillery shelling of the Japanese fleet in a certain sea area. Only very rarely will it be out of range.

They were also provoking the Japanese fleet in the same way, and their purpose was obvious: to provoke the Japanese fleet, to make the Japanese fleet blindly pursue, to respond with tail guns while running, and then to attract them to the range of the Russian fortress guns. If the Japanese warships continued to pursue, the shells of the fortress guns that had already been aimed would rain down.

Such a close cooperation between land and sea was called "Makarov's breath" by the Akiyama staff officer.

For the name Makarov, Heihachiro Togo in addition to Hirose's pretentious introduction in the dream just now. The rest is unknown.

But now from the sea, the whole of Arthur seems to be breathing with Makarov's single will, although the Japanese fleet attacked in every possible way, but the Russian fleet was not fooled, and always maintained the range of the fortress artillery to meet the battle, because the defense of Arthur was like an iron wall, unshakable.

But that Akiyama staff officer seemed to be an important formulator of the Japanese fleet's battle plan, and he had been carefully observing the movements of the Russian army.

This time, at a military conference. As if he had discovered something, Akiyama said to everyone, "They will take the same route when they come out and when they go back. It's the same as people have certain habits when they exercise individually. The Lucia fleet also had this feature when it acted. ”

"Well, then, how about laying some mines at the point where they are sure to pass?" He proposed.

Apparently no one else thought it was a brilliant idea, because the position of the mines in the sea was fixed, and the enemy ships were to hit the mines entirely by chance, and the tactics set up in anticipation of chance could not be called excellent tactics. However, on the battlefield, there is no such thing as chance or necessity, and we must do everything possible to strike at the enemy. Even if the blockage operation had failed many times, and now they wanted to continue because there was no other good way, the Japanese fleet had once again mobilized twelve old steamboats, and now it was better to sink a few mines than nothing, so they decided to start the operation,

Not long after, on this night, it was drizzling on the sea outside the mouth of Arthur, and the sight was very poor, which was a good weather for the mine-laying ships to dive in. The searchlights on the Russian batteries did not work adequately in the drizzle. Moreover, the wind is not strong, the sea is calm, and it is an excellent weather for laying mines.

When the minelayer departed, all the Japanese ships gave a signal of "wishing success".

Minelayers and convoys marched forward under the lights. Late at night, the temperature also dropped, and the light rain turned into light snow. After approaching, the searchlights of the Russian army still flashed around as usual, strafing the sea, but because it was snowing, it could not shine far, but it provided convenience for the Japanese side to determine the position.

The minelayer sailed at low speed, quietly turning its bow in this dangerous sea. An officer stood on the deck directing the operation, his coat covered with snow.

"What a blessing from God!" Heihachiro Togo looked at this scene and sighed.

The snowflakes in the sky hid them like a white curtain. From time to time, searchlights swept through the night, but failed to catch the ship, which was carrying out a secret operation. The Japanese sailors also managed not to make a sound when they laid down the mines. Soon it was all over, and the minelayer increased its horsepower a little, tiptoed away from the sea like a thief, and disappeared into the sea.

The group of corvettes was kept at some distance from the site of the operation. However, the fleet did not leave, because after completing the escort mission, they also had to carry out daily patrol duties outside the harbor.

As they sailed on the dawn sea, they spotted a small Russian warship approaching the harbor to the east. Heihachiro Togo guessed that it was an enemy patrol ship cruising outside the harbor on Makarov's orders. The small warship was on its way back. It looks much smaller than its Japanese counterparts, and its speed is slow, making it look very weak.

The four Japanese warships quickly outflanked and opened fire on the enemy ships together. Although the enemy ship also fought back bravely, it was hit numerous times at once, and in a short time, the whole ship was surrounded by fire. In this short few minutes of fighting, he lost his ability to move and began to sink.

The sea has been lit up. The Russian warship was quickly sunk, but just then a large cruiser of the Russian Navy appeared.

It was a large cruiser with four chimneys, the largest and most chimney-ridden cruiser Togo Heihachiro had ever seen, and he estimated that the displacement of this cruiser was more than 7,000 tons, and the size of the warship in a naval battle was almost everything. Large warships have corresponding huge cannons, and the armor is much thicker, so in Togo Heihachiro's opinion, it is impossible for a small warship with only a small cannon to challenge a large ship.

The appearance of this large Russian cruiser instantly changed the situation of the battlefield, and its majestic body and powerful power made it impossible to take advantage of these four small Japanese warships, no matter how much they tried to cooperate tactically. There is only one tactic that Japanese ships can use now, and that is to escape. (To be continued......)

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