It was early in the morning, the morning glow was brilliant, and a brilliant red sun rose from the sky far away in the east, exuding a warm glow to the world. The blue sky is as clean as a wash, and the white clouds are surging, a pleasant morning scene.

The port of Westside in St. Petersburg was already crowded with people, and countless Russian citizens rushed to the busy docks that stretched for miles, just to get a glimpse of the strength of their own fleet. On the open surface of the harbor, the behemoths like floating islands in the sea are neatly arranged one after another; The bridge is like a mountain, and the heavy artillery is like a forest. Countless blue-and-white St. Andrew's naval battle flags were raised to the top of the mast, inspiring and fluttering in the howling sea breeze.

On top of a huge ship stacked with large-caliber guns, the imposing-looking Vice Admiral Rozhdestvensky was standing on the flybridge above the command tower; Although the dock not far away was crowded with people, and countless Russians were cheering for his fleet, his face was always gloomy and cold, and he did not show a trace of proud joy.

More than half a year has passed since the day the tsar decided to send the Baltic Fleet to the Far East for reinforcements. In order to carry out the whimsical order of the Tsar, who slapped him on the thigh, Rozhdestvensky, the hapless man who was named to the general, worked tirelessly and exhaustively during this time, and the extent of his toil is simply beyond words. The urging of the construction progress of warships, the recruitment of retired sailors and farmers in the fields, the training of personnel, the collection of ammunition, the procurement of mechanical parts, and the dispatch of logistics materials...... All kinds of affairs were pressed on the head of Rozhdestvensky alone, making him scrambled and anxious; The Russian bureaucracy was notoriously inefficient, often delaying or blaming each other, making the lieutenant general's job even more difficult. Although the Tsar had given him considerable power in the preparation of the fleet expedition, there were so many scoundrels that the people below could use to fool the fleet commander who was a complete layman except for the navy, but he had no way to take drastic measures against these rotten bureaucrats with backgrounds. During the preparation time before the departure of the fleet, the roar full of anger has become an indispensable part of Vice Admiral Ro's daily life.

With all his own efforts, the expeditionary fleet finally gathered like a mass of scattered parts and assembled into a fairly coincidental overall silhouette, barely able to make it out. However, Rozhdestvensky's mind is still the same as the busy season of a few months ago, full of inexplicable anxiety and restlessness about the future. For no other reason, today's integration of the fleet is only the beginning of his suffering, and the next voyage across half the world is the hellish journey that can really torture people to death!

Due to the limited navigability of the Suez Canal, it could not carry ships of more than 10,000 tons, which meant that the main fleet, including all the battleships, could only make a detour through the Cape of Good Hope, the southernmost point of Africa, except for some miscellaneous fish. The irascible and perverse Lieutenant General Luo Ri felt a strong urge to tear the charts in front of him to shreds when he thought of this desperately distant journey. Although both France and Germany acquiesced in allowing the Russian fleet to anchor in their African colonial ports, which could solve a lot of trouble for the Russian fleet, there were only a handful of colonial ports that could really serve the Russian fleet, and the Russians had to survive by their own efforts for the rest of the long journey. As a result, the problems that Lieutenant General Luo Ri was most unwilling to face followed.

First and foremost is the issue of fuel. The range of Russian capital ships is generally just over 4,000 nautical miles, and the range of old ironclads and destroyers is even more meagre, but the journey around the Cape of Good Hope to the Far East is at least 18,000 nautical miles, and the ship's coal consumption will increase dramatically in the event of bad weather such as storms and waves. Although the Admiralty had negotiated with the German side and leased a large number of coal carriers from a German shipping company to ensure the supply of coal, the Russian fleet, which had few ports to berth, was forced to refuel at sea most of the time, which undoubtedly greatly increased the difficulty of coordinating and refueling the rendezvous between the two sides. After all, there were too many uncertainties at sea, and there was no guarantee that the Russian fleet and German transports would be dispatched according to a strict schedule like an army movement. Moreover, the sea-borne refueling must only be carried out under calm conditions, which will make it difficult to carry out the refueling work, and the difference in freeboard between the coal carrier and the Russian warship will greatly hinder the normal progress of the refueling operation.

In addition, it is also extremely difficult to establish a complete set of logistics support. The daily consumption of tens of thousands of officers and men is undoubtedly a rather staggering figure, and fresh water, food, and medicine must be replenished in a timely and effective manner, which is particularly important for a lone army sailing on the ocean. It would be a great disaster for the expeditionary fleet if the inefficient bureaucrats in charge of logistics did not send the transport ships to the country, or if they did anything unthinkable. Lieutenant General Rozh's worries are not groundless, in the previous land campaign in the Far East, the Russian front-line troops who suffered huge losses and urgently needed to replenish artillery shells had the absurd experience of receiving boxes of god statues; And in history, when the Russian expeditionary fleet passed through the equator and the soldiers were tormented by the heat, the Russian transport ships that caught up from the rear carried thousands of sets of winter clothes!

The last and most worrying point for Lieutenant General Luo Ri is the loss of combat effectiveness that will occur during the voyage. The 32,000-kilometer journey to the Far East, which can cross almost the entire globe, will undoubtedly be an extremely severe test for the various types of machinery on the Russian warships. It is important to know that even if a warship only operates in the ordinary coastal area, the power machinery on board needs frequent maintenance and repair: if it is left unchecked, the parts of the steam engine will wear out, the water pipes of the boiler will be fouled, the speed of the propeller will be reduced, and the bottom of the ship will grow thick marine floats...... As a result, the speed of the warship dropped dramatically, and the consumption of coal increased dramatically. Generally, under certain conditions, warships have to enter the harbor every other month for maintenance to make up for the loss of 1 to 1.5 knots due to various wear and tear, and the Russian fleet will have a 4-month journey to the Far East, to say the least! Vice Admiral Luo Ri had never had the experience of keeping a battleship on continuous sail for such a long time, and God knows what would happen to the power machinery after nearly 3,000 hours of continuous work? A reduction of 3 to 4 knots in speed is already the most ideal situation, and it is not surprising that there are various faults and repairs and stops; However, if the power unit is damaged beyond repair at sea and a complete strike is declared, then the fun is great!

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On the side of his ears, the long sound of a whistle and the faint sound of a high-powered loudspeaker in the distance echoed in his ears, and Rozhdestvensky knew that this was a propaganda campaign deliberately carried out by his government for his expedition. Since the defeat of the Russian army on the Liaoyang front, the reputation of the tsarist government at home and abroad has suffered a serious setback, and people are shocked to find that this behemoth, which has made the whole of Europe shudder and terrify, is not as terrifying as expected, but just an ordinary beast in the skin of a vicious bear! Come to think of it, even a country like Japan, which can't get on the table at all, can defeat the Russian Army, so what is there to fear about Russia? For a time, Austria-Hungary in the west and the Ottomans in the south began to move, and the ethnic minorities enslaved by Russia in the Balkans, the Caucasus and Afghanistan also rekindled the flames of rebellion.

Under these circumstances, it is absolutely necessary for the Russian government to make a big splash for this expedition of the Second Pacific Fleet, so as to relieve the pressure from all sides at home and abroad; The Tsar was even more anxious to let the cannibals of Africa know that this unprecedentedly powerful Russian fleet was about to go on a campaign and would use their swords to plow the Far Eastern territories belonging to St. Andrew. His Majesty the Tsar, who knew nothing about the navy, and the common people had high hopes for the expedition of this fleet, believing that the combined forces of the two Russian Pacific Fleets would sweep away the present unfavorable situation in the Far East, open up territory for the great Russian Empire, and add new splendor and glory to the dazzling crown of the Tsar.

Merely...... Will the final ending really be as smooth and beautiful as imagined?

The sun is shining, bright and warm, shining warmly on people, and the autumn moon in St. Petersburg is so rare. The blue waves crashed, the waves swayed, and the overwhelming majesty stood proudly in the harbor of the imperial capital, reflecting the black and sharp luster of the morning light, a symbol of hope. The docks were full of hunting and flying flags of the Russian Empire and the Navy; The majestic Russian march is still in my ears, and the first verse of this imposing piece composed by the German Crown Prince Ettel for Russian friendship can be faintly discerned:

"Our Russia will punish the world, crossing the Neva River from Europe to the Far East, and everywhere on the land will sing: St. Petersburg, the Volga, our Russian giant bear!"

Rozhdestvensky listened quietly, but there was a faint throbbing in his heart.