Although it has been four years since the name change, many of the Russian Imperial "Japanese people" and even foreign sailors still habitually call it "Tokyo Bay", and there is perhaps no better harbor in East Asia, surrounded by the two peninsulas of Miura (west) and Bosso (east), leaving only a small opening into the Pacific Ocean from the Uraga waterway. The Port www.biquge.info of Yokohama, the Port of Tokyo, and the Port of Yokosuka are all located in Tokyo Bay.

Perhaps the most important port for Russia is the port of Yokosuka, which was once owned by the former Japanese Navy. Yokosuka Port is blessed with all the conditions required for a naval base in terms of berthing facilities, ship repair capabilities, oil and ammunition storage facilities, and personnel rest facilities, and has been known as the first military port in the East for its open waters, slow depth, and lack of dredging almost from the day it opened. It can be said that it is one of the few natural harbors on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean.

The Port of Yokosuka was once the largest and most functional naval base of the former Japanese Navy, serving as a naval base of the former Imperial Japan, and also included Western-style buildings such as the capital of Yokosuka, the naval yard, the Marine Corps, and the school. The predecessor of the base was the first shipyard "Yokosuka Works" established by the Edo shogunate in 1865, and in 1872, it was transferred to the Ministry of the Navy by the Meiji government at that time, and the prototype of the naval base was formed.

It is precisely for this reason that the Admiralty of the Russian Empire, as soon as it occupied Japan, moved the Pacific Ship Command from Vladivostok, which had shown the drawbacks of the winter closure during the "Russo-Japanese War", to Yokosuka, which was even better than the military port of Vladivostok.

Although the port of Yokosuka was completely received, it was evaluated as "the largest and best naval base in the Far East of the Russian Empire". But Russia immediately ambitiously expanded the base. After four years of investment. The shipbuilding capacity of the naval factory of the base has been greatly improved, and it has initially possessed the ability to build cruisers, battleships and other capital ships at that time.

"For the first time, the Russian Empire had a real navy in the East!"

For Vice Admiral Makarov, who had just completed his second circumnavigation of the globe, almost the warship sailed into Yokosuka, no, it should have been the time of the Konstantin naval base, facing a wide bay and excellent facilities, even Kronstadt, which had a hundred days of ice.

"For the first time, the riding boots of the Russian Empire finally reached into the warm Pacific Ocean!"

Makarov's agitation. Makes the deputy captain of the ship next to him, Spantevich, quote the words of the late marshal.

"Konstantin? Until his death, Grand Duke Nikolayevich was concerned about this base, about Japan, and among the four military ports of the former Japanese Navy, the most important for Russia was Yokosuka! ”

Konstantin in the mouth of Spantevich? Grand Duke Nikolayevich, the second son of Tsar Nicholas I, was the Marshal of the Navy, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy and Governor of the Kingdom of Poland, and it was he who rebuilt a navy that had been damaged in the Crimean War into a modern and third-largest maritime power in the world.

Of course, the more important point is. In a sense, Konstantin? Grand Duke Nikolayevich is the true father of the Pacific Fleet, and it was under his plan that the Russian Pacific Fleet was built. Before it. There was never a Pacific detachment, in which Crown Prince Nikolai was assassinated, and in the face of the crisis of war, it was he who issued an "attack on Japan" and mobilized almost every cent of Russia's sea power to participate in this war.

It's just that he didn't see the victory of the war - before the victory of the war, Konstantin? Grand Duke Nikolayevich died of illness, and until his death, he was still concerned with Japan and the Pacific Fleet, which is why Yokosuka was renamed Konstantin as a memorial to him.

Over the past four years, his successors have pursued his idea of further strengthening Japan's shipbuilding industry as a whole in the service of Russia's Pacific strategy, expanding the Yokosuka-led naval base and, above all, upgrading its shipbuilding capabilities to enable it to build capital ships. The investment of tens of millions of rubles and the investment for a long time is worth it, and now the Constantine Naval Plant has the capacity to manufacture capital ships, and even now in the Constantine Naval Plant, a capital ship is already under construction.

"At the beginning, the reason why Russia was willing to bear heavy debts and seize Japan was to remove the shame of the Russian Empire and to let our Holy Father come out of the grief of losing his son, and the Eastern policy of the Russian Empire determined all this, but who would have thought that after getting Japan, Russia would not just get territorial expansion, but an unprecedented world that opened its doors to Russia!"

As a naval scholar, Makarov's voice was a little muffled, and the "gate" he meant by the sea.

"In the past, although we were proud to say that we had Europe and Asia, what about it? In Europe, our fleet is in the seemingly wide gulf of the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, but in the Pacific Ocean, our fleet is in the Sea of Japan, but now, when the fleet sails out of the port, it enters the Pacific Ocean, and the whole Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean are open to us, even with the British......"

The corners of his lips lifted slightly, and Makarov said in a mocking tone.

"For decades, they have wanted to maintain a two-power navy, equivalent to the second and second largest naval power in the world, but now, as we strengthen the Pacific Fleet, they are facing a dilemma, if they increase their maritime power in the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, it will inevitably weaken their power in Europe, and if they do not strengthen their maritime power in Asia, Russia's power in the Pacific Ocean will increase, which is undoubtedly a nightmare for them!"

Russia is not a friend of Britain, at least to some extent, in the whole of Europe, there has never been a friend of whom, even between Russia and Germany, but only "in some sense", and with Britain, it is more confrontation than cooperation.

Forty years ago. If there was no hindrance from the Anglo-French forces. Perhaps Russia has recovered Constantinople, the former capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. Liberate the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe from the enslavement of the Turks. Without the British, the Russian Empire would have occupied Iran and Afghanistan and washed the inland dirt from its riding boots in the warm Indian Ocean.

But it was the British who prevented all this, and even on the military occupation of Japan, the British still made irresponsible remarks, and if it were not for the loss of the crown prince and prince in Russia, perhaps the British would still stop Russia.

"yes. It turns out that Russia, after having Japan, is really a nightmare for the British! ”

Spantevich said in a triumphant tone.

"Who would have thought that in just four years, the Russian Empire would change like this, but four years ago, there were only five slipways in Russia that could build large battleships, because of its own limited shipbuilding capacity, it could only build five battleships at the same time. And they are all European. In the Baltic Gulf, in the Black Sea, in the Pacific Ocean. We can't even repair merchant ships of more than 5,000 tons, let alone merchant ships, and how could our warships maintain combat effectiveness if it weren't for the opening of their shipyards by the DPRK throughout the war? ”

Spantevich is telling the truth that the backward industrial base in the Far East once greatly troubled the Russian army and navy, but in the end it was all solved abroad, and Russia won despite the heavy price - hundreds of millions of rubles in spending.

"But now? Russia, however, has 8 slipways capable of building large battleships, in Konstantin and in Kure Harbor, and because of this, we have the ability to start building eight battleships at the same time! ”

The triumphant look was needless to say, and the construction of eight battleships began at the same time, part of the "Great Navy" plan drawn up by His Majesty Tsar Mikhail II, to strengthen the Black Sea and the Pacific Fleet, especially the latter, which had to face the vast Pacific Ocean.

"Times have changed!"

Makarov's face was overflowing with excitement, as if he was excited about the arrival of spring in the Russian Imperial Navy.

"You know, it's the spring of the Navy!"

Yes, that's right, this is the spring of the Navy. It's just that it's not just the Russian Navy that has ushered in its own spring. Almost as the cruiser sailed into the harbor, Makarov was surprised to see two warships—two British warships that were very different from the French-style warships of the Russian Empire.

"That's, Ivanovich......"

In addition to being surprised, Makarov set his eyes on the two somewhat unfamiliar warships, and the long voyage around the world made him seem to be somewhat out of the navy, of course, only to a certain extent, after all, from the naval yearbook, he can still learn the latest naval intelligence of various countries.

"Your Excellency, that's the Beiyang Fleet's battleship Hairong and the cruiser Haichen! ”

Ivanovich, who was in charge of leading the cruiser into the harbor, hurriedly replied respectfully.

"They came from Qingdao three days ago."

"Hairong ......"

Yu whispered about this battleship on his lips, and it took a while to react, it was the third ship of the "Haitian-class combat ship", which was once the most powerful combat ship in the Far East, and with the service of the "Zhenhai" combat ship, it was taken away from this crown, but the latter's strength is only the difference between the 40 times the 12-inch main gun and the 45 times the 12-inch main gun.

…… The standard displacement is 12,800 tons, the maximum power output of the main engine can reach 15,000 horsepower, and the maximum speed is 18 knots. Twin 12-inch 40x diameter main turret...... Recalling this seemingly powerful data, Makarov thought of a joke about the "Haitian-class combat ships" in the world's navies.

During the Russo-Japanese War, under the unprecedented pressure brought by Russia, the Qing State loaned millions of pounds as a special fund for the navy to strengthen the navy's armament, and the "Haitian-class combat ships" it purchased from Britain were designed in the prototype of the most advanced "Sovereign-class battleships" at that time, but the design of the new warships obviously took into account the actual conditions of the Beiyang Fleet's Lushun base. When the Qing Empire established this base, it was at a time when it was vigorously building a Westernization movement to develop its navy, and the dockyard built at Port Arthur at that time, although large enough to allow the once "extremely huge and magnificent" "Dingyuan-class" ironclad ships to be docked for maintenance, but in this era of rapid change in warship technology, it quickly became somewhat cramped and outdated.

In the Qing Dynasty's re-strengthening of maritime armaments, the dock of the Lushun base could only accommodate ships with an excess of no more than 118 meters and a displacement of no more than 14,000 tons for docking and maintenance, so the main warships designed by the Beiyang Fleet had to consider this terrible "actual situation" and even make sacrifices in design.

The "shrunken version" of the "Sovereign-class battleship" proposed by the British is based on its dock conditions, which seems to be nothing surprising, and even this is a problem that all countries in the world will face in building navies. However, when the Qing designed the new combat ships to obey the conditions of the base, they obviously overlooked one point - they would lose their harbor.

At the beginning, the Qing people obviously ignored that local rebellion would cause the Beiyang Fleet to lose its harbor, and it was precisely for this reason that it became a joke in the navy -- sacrificing the performance of the warship for the sake of the port, and when the warship was built, the harbor for which it sacrificed had already fallen into the hands of others, although the Beiyang Fleet now has a larger dock in Qingdao, but when they see the "Haitian"-class combat ships, people will always think of that joke, even Makarov, who is a foreigner.

"Now, does the Northern Fleet often visit Konstantin?"

Rather than a joke, looking at the four-horned dragon flag flying on the warship, Makarov thought of another problem - the mighty Beiyang Fleet, which was even relied on by the British to maintain the balance of power in the Far East.

Despite the frequent exchange of naval visits, Makarov remains wary of the Beiyang Fleet, as it is the only "potential adversary" capable of threatening the Pacific Fleet at sea, and its strength will remain much weaker than the Chinese, at least for the next few years, until the Pacific Fleet's new warships enter service.

"Yes, Your Excellency, Captain!"

Major Ivanovich replied respectfully.

"Now we have extremely frequent visits with the Beiyang Fleet, and the Navy Command believes that through frequent visits, it is possible to gain mutual trust between the two sides, which is extremely necessary for maintaining the situation in the Far East, and to obtain corresponding intelligence ......."

The major's answer made Makarov's brow furrow slightly.

"But don't forget, the other side is also getting to know us! Lieutenant General Ivanovich, in addition to the Beiyang Fleet, another Chinese fleet, communicates with us frequently? ”

The other Chinese fleet he was referring to was the Northeast Navy, which he had seen coming. Compared to Beiyang, what made him more curious was the fleet.

(Compared to history, the future Russian Pacific Fleet will only be stronger!) This may be a certain inevitability of historical development! Empire's Sunrise Reader Exchange Group: 150536833 welcome to join) (To be continued.) )