Lushun is located at the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula, although it is the south of the Kanto region, but it is still windy and cold, it is almost evening, and the sunset shines on the Lushun mouth and the hills around Lushun. A breeze blew from the sea, not much but with a biting chill, sweeping the snow on the ground and eaves.

The biting cold wind swept through the ground, and there was still a chill on the body. Compared with the new urban area built by the Russians, the old urban area of Lushun is much more dilapidated, and it is also more deserted, at this time, although the street lights are on, but the street is like a dead street, except for the dog barking from time to time, no other human voices can be heard, the compound in the narrow street is simple because of the simple houses, although it is simple but has already been connected to electricity, but there are not many people who make electricity, most of them are some shops, rich gentry will use electricity.

Although the medical shop with the sign of "Qing Xiangrui" was hung on the door panel, there was some orange light in the crack of the door panel, and as usual, when Zha Zhi finished counting the medicines in the clinic, it was already about eight o'clock in the evening, and after counting the medicines, as always, Zha Zhiqing took a newspaper from the counter.

The headline of the newspaper is the news that "the negotiations with Russia are deadlocked, and I am afraid that the war will not start", this is not news, at least in the past few days, the large and small newspapers in Kanto Prefecture are talking about this, and even many rich gentry in Lushun City have seen the newspaper report that the negotiations between Russia and Russia have fallen back into Wa, and they fled from Lushun as soon as possible, can you still escape? Everyone knows that the Oriental little nose loves to fight undeclared, and the once lively old city is so deserted.

However, others can escape, but Zha Zhiqing can't escape, sighing in his heart This sudden tense situation, annoyed by the dog-eat-dog battle between the powers on Chinese soil, Zha Zhiqing casually extinguished the electric light, and then walked from the front consultation room to the backyard.

Walking into the courtyard, I looked up at the sky, the dark blue sky dome was like a vast cauldron, the dense and uncertain stars were faintly shining and flickering, and the thick elm tree in the courtyard had a pale blue trunk standing high in the sky, blurry and melted in the dark night, and the branches and leaves could not be seen clearly.

In recent months, until now, he still feels a little trance, from the introduction of a friend to Whampoa, after graduating from Whampoa School, and then into the second detective department, after staying in the capital for half a year, he came to Lushun to open a small clinic, half a year ago, when he was in the capital, he was still a polite newspaper editor, but now he is just this Lushunkou old city street, just a doctor, all the experience seems to be as dreamlike as unreal.

As a spy officer, the variety of experiences is perhaps the most characteristic of the profession.

After wandering around the courtyard for a while, thinking about everything that had happened recently, and thinking that someone was going to say goodbye to his little doctor, Zha Zhiqing couldn't help but sigh again, and went back to the room with a deep breath, and did not turn on the light, and lay on the bed with clothes looking at the roof of the room.

"Maybe there will be a fight in the near future!"

Zha Zhiqing thought so in his heart, sometimes frowning, he received an order not to withdraw from Lushun, in other words, before receiving further orders, he had to stay in this place, even if it was a fire here!

Otherwise, it won't open tomorrow, first use ash and steel bars to strengthen the basement, in the three-meter-deep underground of the next house, when Zha Zhiqing first came half a year ago, he dug a basement by himself, although the basement is deep, but if it is really to avoid artillery fire, it is because of this, yesterday he went to buy three barrels of ash and a car of stones and steel bars to strengthen the basement.

"Well, that's it tomorrow!"

I thought about closing my eyes and fell asleep after a while.

Compared with the deserted old urban area, Lushun New Town, a Russian industrial city established by Russia after leasing Lushun, is more lively today than usual, and there are occasional "Mustang cars" spewing the breath of "modern civilization" in the horse workshops running around the streets, but these carriages and cars are heading to only one destination, that is, the officers' club of the Russian Pacific Fleet.

Today, the civil and military officials in the Governor's Mansion of the Kwantung Prefecture of the Russian Empire rushed to Lushun to participate in the name of Maria, the wife of Stark, the commander of the Pacific Fleet.

As is customary, the officers of the Pacific Fleet prepared a grand ball for Mrs. Maria to celebrate, and not only the ordinary army and navy officers and civilian officers of the Kwantung region, but also Alekseev, the uncle of the emperor of the Governor-General of the Far East, personally led the officers of the command in splendid dresses to this ball.

At nine o'clock in the evening, the guests had arrived at the Navy Club, first the young Army and Navy Lieutenants and their female companions, and then the Cadets of all ranks, who entered the Club with their wives in their splendid naval dresses, and the distinction of rank was reflected in this, the Captains greeted the Captains with applause, and when Commander Stark and his wife arrived, all of them to the warmest applause.

The ballroom, which could accommodate thousands of people, was soon filled with people, and the band played a cheerful dance, and it was Lieutenant Tukrsky, the adjutant of the commander of the fleet, who came forward to propose that the male guests invite the ladies to dance, and the ball began.

Lady Maria sat there, gazing with admiration at the dancing pairs of men and women, and occasionally the ladies who were around commented on the dancing of the men, saying that at this moment the officer on duty had gone up to the commander to report.

"The Governor has arrived!"

When Stark heard that the Governor was coming, he hurriedly walked with his wife to the porch to meet the Governor.

Although his face was covered by a long beard, Alekseev could see that he was full of joy, and as soon as he walked up to Mrs. Stark, he bowed and took Maria's hand and kissed him.

"Happy Birthday, Maria!"

Then he took Maria's hand with his right hand and walked with her into the ballroom.

As soon as they entered the back ballroom, the music suddenly stopped, the people in the hall stopped dancing, and bowed to the governor, and Akseev greeted the band, then bowed to the people in the hall, and finally asked them to continue dancing. After the music began, a couple of men and women swirled in the ballroom again.

Two days ago, he received a telegram severing diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, and for various reasons, he did not announce the contents of the telegram to anyone, and today, the Dalian Consulate and the overseas Chinese have left on a British merchant ship, and the evacuation of the consulate is expected, but the evacuation of the overseas Chinese is a strange signal.

The news that haunted Alekseev's mind always made him feel uneasy, especially when he thought of his own order yesterday that "there is no need to lay mine nets for the time being in the warships parked at the outer anchorage."

Although the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ramsdorf, sent a comforting telegram, in which he firmly denied the possibility of war, and specifically reminded that "if Ben had begun to occupy Korea instead of taking military action with the navy, Russia would have decided not to consider it the beginning of military action, even if its troops reached the border of Manchuria."

Ramsdorf could talk about "what Ben may do in the near future" and "what he doesn't think is war" in St. Petersburg, but Alekseev could not help but think about this, and his inner worries still made Alekseev feel a little discouraged, especially at this time, when he was waiting for further instructions from St. Petersburg. Almost before he came to the club headquarters, almost after receiving instructions from His Majesty agreeing to exercise mobilization in the Far East at his own discretion, he sent a request for mobilization to the Tsar, whose consent did not mean that he could mobilize directly. Today, the reason for refusing to return to Arthur the cruiser "Varyag" and the gunboat "Korean" along the coast of the DPRK was also to allow the two ships to reconnoiter the movements of the troops along the coast of the DPRK, but no news came from the two ships.

"I hope ......"

While Alekseev was anxiously pondering all sorts of unusual signals, Pranson, the representative of the Foreign Ministry in the Governor's Palace, seemed more calm than usual, and he was just chatting with the generals of the fleet. Slowly in the sound of music, Alekseev's mood gradually calmed down, and then he became happy, and in the cheerful music, the atmosphere of the ball reached its best.

Alekseev got up and invited Mrs. Stark to dance, and the two of them stood at the front of the dance team, and the music was together, Alekseev's fat body danced lightly with his dance partner, and the whole audience looked at the pair, and when it was the turn of the pas de deux, Alekseev bent his feet, knelt in front of Mrs. Maria, and led her with one hand and rotated around him.

Suddenly, there was a burst of cannon fire, and even the stained glass on the window shook, and countless flashes of fire could be seen from the window, and the sound of the cannon roared in the air. Applause rang out in the officers' club, one was to praise the dancing skills of the distinguished dance partners, and the other was to praise the unexpected salute given by the fleet so coincidentally, even Alekseev forgot his original inner worries, and warmly thanked Stark for the sudden salute of the fleet.

In Alekseev's thanks, Stark, who was the commander of the fleet, was also surprised by the gunfire, but he concluded in his heart that it was arranged by the adjutant in advance.

"Lieutenant Tukriski, thank you for the careful arrangement!"

And Lieutenant Tukriski accepted the commander's thanks with peace of mind, and the smile on the commander's face made him believe that tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow, he would become Captain Tukrisky.

At this time, the people in the club's ballroom were even more excited, and they danced more cheerfully under the ensemble of cannons and music, and the sound of music and cannons only pushed the atmosphere of the ball to the climax.

For the whole day, the armored cruiser "Zhishen" was loading coal, because it was to set out the next day to patrol the coastal areas of Yubon and Korea, and all the officers who had nothing to do on the ship, in order to avoid getting rid of coal ash, went to the shore early in the morning, leaving only a few officers on duty and Second Lieutenant Yazhinfiev, the chief of mines on duty.

Hundreds of tons of coal were not finished until it was dark, and under the orders of Second Lieutenant Yazhinfeev, the sailors washed the soot on the ship by the light of the starlight, and after so-so cleaning the deck, the sailors who got the soot went to the ship's bathroom to take a bath, and when the last sailor climbed into his hammock, it was already twelve o'clock in the evening, leaving only a few sailors on duty to pace around the deck.

On the shore of the Tiger Peninsula, seven battleships of more than 10,000 tons were berthed in a line, like a continuous hill, six cruisers were parked in the inner bay mooring area, and the mine-striking ships on duty were parked at both ends of the fleet.

"Bell, bell, bell......"

The crisp bell of the ship sounded on the flagship of the battlefleet "Petropavlovsk", which rang simultaneously on all ships, and this bell pleased the sailors on duty.

"It's time for a shift change!"

The sailor, who had stood in the open air for two hours, said a word, and his hand took out the cigarette paper and tobacco box from his pocket, and it was time to roll a cigarette and smoke.

At night, Second Lieutenant Lebeev, the officer on duty on the "Zhishen," looked towards the entrance of the harbor, but saw several light-struck ships at the entrance of Lushunkou, with lights on on on the ships, heading towards the inner harbor of Lushunkou. He picked up his binoculars and looked at the lightning ship that was getting closer.

These are just a few ordinary mine-striking ships, each with four chimneys, and a boiler cover in the middle, and there are more than a dozen such mine-striking ships in the mouth of Arthur, and these mine-striking ships did not slow down in the port, but rushed straight towards the "Zhishen", which only made Lebeev feel a little panicked.

"Yumi," Lebiev shouted to the signal signal in his hand. "Ask them for a signal!"

"Yes, ask them for a signal!"

The signal replied, and then moved to signal the inquiry.

When these mine-striking ships approached a place one or two chains long from the "Zhishen," they dispersed, two headed toward the front of the fleet, and the rest headed toward the rear of the fleet.

On the bridge, you can clearly see the flashes of torpedo firing, and when the muffled sound of torpedo firing kits is heard, several shiny torpedoes appear in the dim sea water in the early morning and rush towards the "Zhishen".

"Torpedo!"

When the sailors were shouting in horror, and when Lebeev was shouting and sounding the alarm, he heard bursts of cheers from the mine-striking ship that fired the torpedoes, and then several explosions rang out one after another, and the cruiser "Zhishen" shook violently several times, and when the column of water raised by the explosion rushed to the deck and knocked people down, the hull began to tilt to the right.

The sound of explosions and violent concussions woke the sailors and officers, who rushed to the deck before they had time to get dressed, and no one knew what was going on, all of them reacted instinctively.

"Ready, ready to fight!"

Second Lieutenant Lebeev on duty shouted loudly, but the people did not listen to his command, although the gunners did not receive orders, but they ran to the cannon on their own, and the cannon sounded, and shells were scattered at any suspicious target in the sea, and some sailors hurriedly lowered their lifeboats into the water and prepared to leave the wrecked warship, and in the fleet, more people were desperately trying to save the warship, and some sailors ran to the boiler room, because some people shouted that the coal tank was on fire.

Lieutenant Gryaznov, the gunner, who was in the mix, appeared on the deck, and as soon as the gunners saw their officers, they immediately fell silent, and the gunners reported the situation to the officers, and the originally chaotic gunfire stopped. While Lieutenant Gryaznov directed the gunners to attack suspicious targets on the water, Lebeev and the boatswain were in the cabin directing the damage pipe plugging work, and several officers and mechanics led the fire brigade to the bilge.

The initial chaos returned to normal in only a few minutes, and when the crew of the "Zhishen" rescued their fleet under the command of the officers, the mine-striking ships attacked the battleships parked at the stern of the fleet, and the battleships "Letvizan" and "Prince" were hit.

All the warships indiscriminately attacked the fleeing enemy ships with small and medium-caliber rapid-fire guns, and the shells scattered in the air, almost threatening to hit the warships of the previous side, and even the 305 cannons of the battleships roared in the end, and the rumbling cannon echoed in the air.

Almost as soon as he was awakened by the sound of cannons, Zha Zhiqing jumped up from the bed violently.

"It's a fight!"

With his heart screaming, he hurriedly climbed the ladder, entered the attic on the second floor, went up to the wall pavilion, and looked towards the port through the small window, which was the reason why Cha Zhiqing rented this place, from which he could see Port Arthur.

At this time, the mouth of Arthur has been boiling, the sound of artillery seems to be the only sound in the weather, the orange cannon flame is spitting in Arthur Bay, in the sky illuminated by the cannon flame, the Russian [***] ships are constantly firing shells outside the harbor in the color of the mine strike ships to the inner anchorage mooring yard hidden, and a few warships are heading towards the shore port, there is a shoal, although not from the navy, but Zha Zhiqing still received some short training in naval knowledge when he was in school, this is the warship that was injured after the beach.

"What's going on?"

One battleship-like army was stranded on the shore of Tiger Tail, while the other was resting at the foot of the Golden Mountain on the opposite side, and a warship was resting next to the one below the Golden Mountain. It's just that at the very beginning, the Russians lost three warships.

When the cannon was roaring, Cha Zhiqing hurriedly went down the attic, left the bedroom and ran towards the next room, ran into the next room, first pulled out a piece of iron wire and hooked it to the wire by the window, and then climbed under the bed and pushed open the basement cover, and after entering the basement, a wireless telegraph machine was prominently placed on a wooden table in the basement.

With a ticking sound, radio waves were emitted along the tiled antennas in the attic.

(To be continued)