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On September 8, 1903, in the northeastern part of North Korea, Cheongjin is an undeveloped fishing port with few foreign ships anchored, about 220 kilometers (about 120 nautical miles) from Vladivostok (Vladivostok).

The twilight washes and the sun sets, and on this day, there are no fishing boats in the harbor and no fishermen on the shore.

A North Korean garrison cordoned off the entire fishing village and occupied all nearby heights overlooking the harbor, and there was tension in the air with a patrol of wolfdogs.

In the opinion of Vice Admiral Lin Taizeng, the commander of the Combined Fleet, such secrecy was not enough, and he was extremely suspicious that the Russians had discovered their huge fleet and were very likely to be prepared, and the purpose of the surprise attack seemed difficult to achieve, but he had to take risks.

At this time, Lin Taizeng was standing on the command platform of the flagship of the Combined Fleet, "Ruixiang", supporting the tarpaulin, and looked around.

In the wide bay of Kiangjin, the main forces of the Combined Fleet are gathered:

The first team of battleships: "Ruixiang", "Ruiji",

Battleship 2nd Squadron: "Flying Lightning", "Shock",

The third team of battleships: "Thunderbolt", "Cloud Lightning", a total of six battleships.

The 1st squadron of armored cruisers: "Suzhou", "Hangzhou",

Armored cruiser 2nd squadron: "Blowing Clouds", "Treasure Clouds",

Armored cruiser 3rd squadron: "Lingyun", "Caiyun",

Armored cruisers 4th squadron: "Baiyun", "Xiangyun",

The 1st squadron of Japanese armored cruisers: "Fuji", "Izumo", a total of ten armored cruisers.

The 1st squadron of light cruisers: "Dragon Sword", "Tiger Sword", "Treasure Sword", "Wind Sword",

The 3rd squadron of light cruisers: "Spring Rain", "Autumn Rain", "Valley Rain", "Fog Rain",

The 4th Light Cruiser Squadron: "Summer Rain", "Heavy Rain", "Thunderstorm", "Mountain Rain", a total of 12 light cruisers (the 1st Japanese Light Cruiser Squadron "Asahi", "Kasuga", "Nisshin", and "Nisshin", which were originally attached to the Combined Fleet, were sent to the Tsugaru Strait to participate in the attack on the port of Hakodate).

Destroyer 1st Sento: "White Snow", "Flying Snow", "Pine Snow", "Forest Snow", "Deep Snow", "Twilight Snow", "Mountain Snow", "Falling Snow",

The third squadron of destroyers: "Haoyue", "Xueyue", "Songyue", "Water Moon", "Jiangyue", "Lake Moon", "Sea Moon", "Guiyue",

Destroyer 4th Sentai Squadron: "Rain and Snow", "Frost Snow", "Snowy Snow", "Misty Snow", "Wind Snow", "Cloud Snow", "Light Snow", "Showers",

The Fifth Destroyer Squadron: "Ning Yue", "Jing Yue", "Qing Yue", "Ping Yue", "Ming Yue", "Ting Yue", "Ling Yue", "Xingyue", a total of 32 destroyers.

In addition, part of the forces of the 3rd Mobile Fleet was also anchored at the port of Cheongjin on this day, temporarily under the command of the Combined Fleet, including:

The third team of torpedo boats: torpedo boat carrier "Big Whale", ten 70-ton torpedo boats;

The fourth team of torpedo boats: torpedo boat carrier "Wave Whale", ten 30-ton torpedo boats;

The Fifth Torpedo Boat Team: 480-ton water-class large torpedo boats "Hanshui", "Jiangshui", "Heshui", "Weishui", "Liaoshui", "Lishui", "Xiangshui", "Yongshui", "Huaishui", "Ganshui"; A total of thirty torpedo boats.

"Ten years ago, how could it have been imagined that a man like me could command such a large force to fight the enemy? The world is unpredictable, but is it really appropriate to go to war with Russia now? ”

Lin Tai once thought, turned around, and saw his adjutant Ye Fei running up on the gangway, standing in front of him and saluting: "Report to the commander, the staff officers and the captains of each battle have arrived!" ”

"Yes, I'll come now."

Lin Tai once responded, glanced at the blood-red sunset that was about to fall into the hill on the shore, followed Ye Fei down the gangway, turned a few corners, and entered the conference room, which was full of people, the long conference table was already full of people, and there were also people sitting in the corner far away from the table, only one chair placed at the head of the conference table was still empty. As soon as they saw him, everyone stood up and saluted, Lin Tai nodded to everyone, and the officers in all snow-white military uniforms sat down neatly.

Lin Tai had walked steadily to the chair, took off his large-brimmed military hat and put it on the table, and sat down slowly, everyone's eyes were on him, as if he was everything here, but he didn't feel those special gazes, he didn't need to feel them.

Lin Taizeng had in front of him a special map of the Sea of Japan and Vladivostok, which was so large that it could be seen by Rear Admiral Sa Zhenbing, chief of staff of the Combined Fleet, and the commanders above the brigadier general of each battle team, when Lieutenant Colonel Ye Fei came over with a stack of maps in his hand and gave everyone present—from the general to the commander of the captain-class detachment commanding the two destroyers—a map of the Vladivostok anchorage and harbor, which detailed the mooring places of the Russian fleet and the location of each ship.

Lin Taizeng paused and cut straight to the point: "Ladies and gentlemen, I have received an order to attack the main fleet in the port of Vladivostok of Russia this afternoon, now you should carefully take a look at the drawings sent to you, the contents of which have been strictly verified by intelligence, and are the basis for our operation." ”

Everyone immediately lowered their heads and figured out what was on the map.

After a while, Lin Taizeng spoke again: "Everyone has seen clearly, and now the chief of staff will state the method of attack." ”

Sa Zhenbing nodded to everyone, stood up, hunched his waist, and pointed on the map: "The command plans to send destroyers and torpedo boat units first, and take advantage of the night to launch a torpedo attack on the Russian capital ships in the harbor mooring, and after dawn, the capital ship forces will approach the harbor and shell the Russian ships, so they plan to send Captain Wang Zhijie's 3rd and Captain Jiang Tao's 4th torpedo boat team to attack, with Major Chen Xuan's 5th torpedo boat team and Major Shu Shide's 1st destroyer team as cover forces, Colonel Yang Tianzhi's 1st Light Cruiser Squadron was the backup, and the commander personally led his own team to sit in the rear. Since the tonnage of the 3rd and 4th Torpedo Boat Squadrons was too small to ensure the safety of long-range raids, it was decided that the warships of the above two squadrons would be towed by the large torpedo boats of the 5th Torpedo Boat Squadron and the Xue destroyer of the 1st Destroyer Squadron in a one-on-one manner, and then move separately when they approached 15 nautical miles outside the harbor......

Everyone listened and took notes, and after a while, Sa Zhenbing finished stating the battle plan, which was clear and clear. In fact, raiding a well-prepared harbor is one of the main elements of the Imperial Navy's annual exercises, and all the commanders and commanders present have participated in such exercises, so even without explaining in detail, everyone can understand the specific methods of attacking harbors.

The commander of the Combined Fleet, Lin Taizeng, then issued the following order: "I have decided to lead the whole fleet to the Sea of Japan now to attack the enemy ships anchored in Vladivostok. The torpedo boat unit was dispatched in accordance with the method just stated by the chief of staff, and attacked the enemy's ships in the mooring ground at night, and the whole fleet planned to launch an attack on the enemy the next day, and the designated successor commander was Brigadier General Dai Bokang, commander of the 2nd Battleship Squadron. ”

The meeting ended immediately, and the commanders returned to their flagships with the information maps they had been sent to them, and called a meeting of the captains under their command to convey the commander's orders, and sent the information maps to each captain.

Lin Taizeng returned to the command platform, with Adjutant Ye Fei and Chief of Staff Sa Zhenbing by his side.

"Commander, may I ask a question?"

Ye Fei said cautiously.

Lin Taizeng nodded, his face serene.

"Is the goal of this operation to inflict heavy damage on the Russian fleet......"

"It's hard to say," Lin Tai quickly interrupted him, putting his hand on the railing in front of the command platform, "it is impossible to predict the outcome, because there are many unknowable things that prevent us from forming a determination, and since it is unpredictable, even if the goal is set in form, it is only a formal goal." ”

"But ......"

Lin Tai once raised a hand, signaling that Ye Fei didn't have to say any more.

"Young man, we all want victory, the kind of victory in which the enemy is crushed in a battle and our army is devastated. But victory does not come from human hope, victory is a kind of thing that arises from the collision of strength and opportunity, the combination of soldiers and weapons in the army is strength, these forces are placed under the leadership of what people, what forces, and in what place, what weather, what support is there to fight, or the unpredictable occurrence in the battle, for example, the situation when the commander of a certain side is killed, these are all opportunities. I can tell you clearly that, as far as I know, the Russian fleet at Vladivostok is slightly weaker than ours in terms of the strength of its capital ships, but if they rely on the defenses of the harbor to fight their operations, they will nullify our little superiority, and in this way, our operations will be greatly influenced by the unknowable factor. I do not intend to underestimate the leadership of the Russian government and army, and given the geographical and support advantages of the opposing side, it will be difficult to achieve a crucial outcome in this battle, not to mention that the situation in the empire does not allow us to make a life-or-death bet with the fleet. As I said, the crux of the problem is on land, once the Russians lose their military ports, their fleet will not be able to gain a foothold in the Far East, so let's rely on the strength of the army to solve it, we just need to find a way to make it impossible for the Russian fleet to play the role of a maritime presence. Blocking them, not exterminating them, is our main task. ”

"Blockade ......"

Ye Fei groaned.

Sa Zhenbing patted him on the shoulder: "Young man, let's go through some more things, look a little farther, this war can't decide everything, and the days are still long." ”

"Toot-"

The whistle of the battleship "Ruixiang" crossed the dim sky over the harbor, and the navigation lights and searchlights of each ship were turned on at the same time, reflecting the vicinity of the harbor. At 18:30 a.m. on 8 September, the Combined Fleet began to leave port with the large Torpedo Boat Shui and the destroyer Xue in towing small torpedo boats.

The night slowly opened.

In the sky over Vladivostok that night, with low gray clouds and no stars or moons, in the Far Eastern Governor's Palace, located in the center of the city, Governor Alekseev was holding a rare emergency meeting with the military and political dignitaries of the Far Eastern Governorate - even after the Hylan Pao massacre and the invasion of Jiangdong 64tun, a meeting was held two years ago after two Cossacks had drunk and killed one of the governor's servants.

"Well, everyone," said the fat Alekseev, pinching his beard and straightening up in a serious manner, "the telegram we have just received today shows that we have severed diplomatic relations with China, which means that there is likely to be a war, and please note that there will be a war, it may be two days later, it may be a week, and we must be ready." ”

"Your Excellency the Governor, I think the enemy will come tonight."

Vice Admiral Makarov, commander of the Pacific Fleet, who has two loose, long, teardrop-shaped gray beards, said.

"Tonight? Well, it's possible, yes, why isn't it tonight? But will it really come tonight? It's too early, it's too early. ”

Alekseev replied vaguely, as if agreeing with Makarov's statement, but at the same time seemed to deny it.

"What is that guy talking about?" Makarov thought and decided not to bother with him.

Rear Admiral Wittgeft, Chief of Staff of the Detachment Fleet, made a suggestion: "Your Excellency the Governor, we must order the installation of a floating fence in the military port, so that the warships can lower the barrier net, that signal posts should be placed on the hill near the military port, and that the shore artillery should also be put on alert......"

"Yes, that's it, why not? Yes, shore artillery, and obstacle nets, what else? Yes, this is also necessary, yes, it must be done, the war is approaching, but do the Chinese really have the courage to do it? Those yellow dogs, it will make people feel troublesome......"

Alekseev agreed to one thing at once, and then immediately made a gesture of opposition, sweat on his forehead - although the weather was not very hot, he was perhaps a little nervous, but he had a calm expression on his face, which he could not understand, so that no one wanted to speak, he spoke alone for a while, and then made some decisions, he ordered the commander of the fortress to test fire the shore guns in the middle of the night, and sent troops to the hills near the military port and on Russky Island in Peter the Great Bay to set up signal observation posts, Then the warships were ordered to lower the mine barrier nets, but only after midnight to lay them.

Rear Admiral Starke, deputy commander of the fleet, objected: "I think it is better not to use the barrier net, which has only six armored ships and four cruisers, and it will delay the operation of the detachment when it is necessary to set sail urgently, and it may ...... It could lead to an even more dangerous accident - the thruster was entangled in a net......"

Makarov was about to refute him, but he heard Alekseev already use his clumsy vocal organ to say: "That's so, it's really dangerous, that's right, then don't put it down, the enemy will send armored ships to attack, then, today's meeting will end here, the time is not early, everyone hurry back and arrange, the war is approaching, Chinese?" Well, gentlemen, see you tomorrow. ”

With that, Alekseev stood up and left the conference room.

Makarov roared at Stark from there: "Your Excellency, Deputy Commander, you don't even think about the damage caused by the attack of the enemy destroyer, but only worry about the waste of time when lifting the anchor, and the obstacle net will entangle the propeller?!" Rear Admiral, get back to your ship and urge the captain to put down the obstacle net! Go quickly, we all have to go back, the Chinese are not yellow dogs, they themselves will make torpedoes, torpedoes that can penetrate our battleships! ”

Stark walked away with a stiff face, and Makarov exhaled, called the chief of staff, Wittgeft, and went to the flagship of the fleet in the harbor, the Petropavlovsk.

That night, the anchorage in the port of Vladivostok was moored as usual with eighteen warships of the Pacific Fleet. They are the fleet armored ships "Petropavlovsk", "Poltava", "Sevastopol", "Dawn", "Letvizhan", "Victory", "Chaisharevich"; cruisers of the first rank "Rulik", "Thunderbolt", "Parada", "Diana", "Askold"; cruisers of the second class "Novik", "Pauillin", "Knight", "Hercules"; The gunboat "Manghan" and the transport ship "Angara". The ships were arranged in three columns, with a distance of 2 chains.

As soon as Makarov stepped on the deck of the flagship "Petropavlovsk", he ordered all warships equipped with anti-mine barrier nets to lower the barrier nets, and ordered the officers on duty to report on the alert situation inside and outside the harbor, and learned that the fleet destroyers "Dreadnought" and "Astute" were patrolling the open sea. The gunboat "Kilyak" is dropping anchor outside the harbor, waiting to change shifts with the gunboat "Beaver" on patrol. The cruisers "Askold" and "Diana" on duty were ready to fire as required, while the armored ship "Letvizhan" and the cruiser "Parata" were constantly illuminating the mooring site with searchlights. All the personnel of the detachment remained on the ship as ordered, and in order to guard against the enemy's mine attack, some of the ship's guns except the turret guns were loaded with shells, and the gunners and torpedo men took turns to be on duty in the battle positions.

Makarov took out the silver-plated pocket watch from his pocket and glanced through the faint track lights on the deck, it was nearly midnight.

He walked up to the command platform, looked left and right, and saw that the warships in the mooring yard were all lit with front anchor lights and track lights, and the "Diana," "Poltava," and "Victory" on the inner side of the mooring yard were loading coal and lighting bright chandeliers.

Anchor lights, track lights, large chandeliers, plus lighthouse lights at the entrance of the harbor, may become a good navigation beacon for Chinese destroyers.

With this in mind, Makarov summoned the adjutant and prepared to give the order.

Maybe he should have given the order earlier.

At about 23:30, the Russian destroyers "Dreadnought" and "Astute" were ten nautical miles south of Vladivostok, and they shone their searchlights into the distance, and did not notice the small Chinese torpedo boats approaching the harbor by night, but thus revealed their position.

At 23 o'clock, the 3rd and 4th torpedo boat squadrons, which had separated from the towed ships, were approaching the port of Vladivostok at a speed of 20 knots, and the commander of the 3rd squadron, Captain Wang Zhijie, was very shrewd to measure the course and speed of the opponent from the searchlight issued by the Russian destroyers, and ordered the squadron to speed up to the 28th knots in order to enter the berth before the Russian destroyers approached. The Chinese torpedo boats approached the Russian detachment on course corrected according to the lighthouse and the lights of the Russian ships, and the crews of the boats, with the tacit understanding reached through long-term and arduous training, smoothly dispersed into an attack formation at a distance of 1,000 yards and fired torpedoes at a distance of 300 to 500 yards, without the use of light communications and no means of wireless communication.

With a low muffled sound, the fire gas in the torpedo tube pushed the 406 mm Type 99 torpedo into the sea, and the propeller of the thruster turned rapidly, pushing the torpedo to cut through the dark sea water and speed towards the mooring yard.

At that time, the torpedo boats that were able to successfully launch torpedoes included eight boats of the 3rd Torpedo Boat Squadron, including the Flash 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, and 12 boats of the 3rd Torpedo Boat Squadron, and the 9 boats of the 4th Torpedo Boat Squadron, the Electric 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 11th, 13th, and 14th boats, which fired a total of 25 torpedoes, but many torpedoes plunged headlong into the lightning barrier net that the Russian ship had just lowered, and only two of them hit the target.

At 05:00, just as Makarov called his adjutant and ordered the whole fleet to implement secondary light control, there was a sound of raising from the armored ship "Chashalevich" (meaning "Prince"), which failed to successfully lower the barrier net, and then there was a violent explosion on the cruiser "Parada", and all the cannons on the port side of the two ships immediately opened fire on the Chinese torpedo boats, and the searchlights of the armored ship "Retvizhan" quickly turned to the sea surface where the Chinese torpedo boats might attack. Just as it covered the command boat of the Chinese 3rd Torpedo Boat Squadron, the "Shen II," which was turning and detaching, all the rapid-fire artillery fire on the port side of the "Retvizhan" immediately concentrated on the "Shen II," which was smashed into a honeycomb within two minutes and suddenly sank over, and none of the 24 people on the boat, including Captain Wang Zhijie, commander of the squadron, survived.

The rest of the Chinese torpedo boats immediately drove their speed to more than 30 knots and frantically fled out of the harbor, and the artillery fire of the Russian fleet hit a dense column of water around them, and the "Shan-7" of the 3rd Torpedo Boat Squadron and the "Dian-9" of the 4th Torpedo Boat Squadron were seriously injured by the Russian ship's artillery fire during the escape, and they were forced to abandon their boats after barely escaping to the open sea, and five other torpedo boats were shot and wounded. But the heavy night covered the Chinese torpedo boats, and the Russian cruisers and destroyers, who had set sail urgently, launched a pursuit, but found nothing.

Captain Wang Tao, commander of the 4th Torpedo Boat Squadron, who had been hit in the shoulder by shrapnel, led the remaining 17 torpedo boats of the two squadrons and the 5th Torpedo Boat Squadron and the 1st Destroyer Squadron that rushed to support them, and were towed back to the Kiyojin berth by the large torpedo boats and destroyers of these two squadrons, and the wounded torpedo boats were then transferred to Sasebo Port for repairs. A total of 43 people were killed and 45 wounded that night.

After the war, Wang Tao, then the commander of the 4th Torpedo Boat Squadron, recalled: "...... We released the torpedoes, and then immediately turned around, increased to the highest speed, and the Russian artillery fire followed, and when I looked back, I thought that all the Russian ships were exploding and burning, but when I saw clearly, it was their guns firing, such a bright and huge flash, constantly appearing and dissipating, it was terrifying...... We ran desperately for it, and I was hit twice by bullets in my boat, a piece of shrapnel the size of a fingernail that pierced my right shoulder, killing two sailors...... Eleven of our team were killed and twenty-one wounded that night......"

After the attack, the Russian side found out that a hole had been blown open in the port side mine compartment of the "Chaisharevich," and two compartments were flooded, but it could still be operated, and the ship immediately sailed to the newly built 10,000-ton dry dock for repairs. A torpedo hit the area between the 65th and 72nd ribs on the port side of the "Parada", blew up a 75-mm gun, set fire to the battery deck and the officer's quarters, made it impossible to sail, and was towed to the old dockyard of the 6,000-ton class for repairs. A total of 28 people were killed and 63 wounded.

In the early hours of 9 September, the remaining six armored ships and eight cruisers of the Russian detachment were ready to fight the enemy ships.

Makarov believed that after the Chinese weakened the Russian detachment with night attacks, their main fleet would inevitably move towards Vladivostok in order to expand the results of the war.

He was absolutely right.

The night sky in Vladivostok is getting brighter.