"Preparation is a race, and while you're working towards victory, your opponents are also working hard. All you can do is try to run as fast as your enemies. - Deputy Admiral Lang Weili of Beiyang

At a time when the North Ocean Fleet and the Foreign Ocean Fleet were massively expanding their military strength, the construction of the Russian Far East Fleet had also entered a high-speed stage, and a large number of transport ships were transporting all kinds of materials and machinery from distant Europe to the port of Muroran. For this ice-free port through a sneak attack strategy, the Russians invested extraordinary energy! A lot of equipment that the Black Sea Fleet and the Baltic Fleet did not have were carefully transported here by the Russians. And more and more warships began to set sail from the Baltic Sea to the Far East.

In the eyes of the Russians, although the course of the war was very frustrating, the results were quite good! So far, the Russians have not only obtained the coveted ice-free port, but have also turned the Sea of Japan into their own inland sea! And occupied a large area of Japanese territory. In the eyes of Tsar Nicholas II, the port of Muroran would become a springboard for Russia's expansion in the Far East, and sooner or later Japan would become the territory of the Russians, and after full preparation, the northeast of the Qing Kingdom would also become "Yellow Russia". Of course, in order to realize this grand plan, he still has an important task to do, that is, to destroy the Beiyang system and the powerful Beiyang fleet!

To this end, the Russians made careful plans and arrangements for their operations in the Far East. Not only the port of Muroran, but even the whole of Hokkaido and Vladivostok were included in the naval combat system of the Far East, and in the plans drawn up by the Russian Navy, the main tasks of the Russian fleet were two. The first is to cooperate with the army to occupy the Japanese mainland at an appropriate time, and the second is to take the initiative to challenge the Beiyang Fleet when necessary to gain sea supremacy in the entire Far East.

As for the first point, the Russian Navy is full of confidence, and in any respect, the current Russian fleet is not at all capable of competing with the Japanese after the First Sino-Japanese War. The Russian Far East Fleet could cut off Japan's sea transport at any time without external interference. But for the second goal, the Russian Far Eastern Fleet in general felt a lot of pressure!

"In the next 5 years. We will not be able to gain an advantage in the strength of the Beiyang naval division and its auxiliary forces on the seas of the Far East, and the gap in the fleet is relatively small, and the gap in the quality of ports, logistics, and especially personnel. Let's not start a war against the Beiyang Fleet lightly. In one of the Admiralty's recollections in 1897, Vice Admiral Makanov bluntly stated.

Russian officials who accompanied Makanov in the Sino-Japanese War expressed support for Makanov's views, and Rozhdestvinsky also agreed with Makanov's views. But the approval of these people does not determine the plans of the Russian Navy! At least not completely. The vaunted Tsar Nicholas II refused to admit this fact.

"I can give the Far Eastern Fleet the best warships, the best sailors, and the best equipment and treatment, and give me the Beiyang Fleet to kill, and then, you will become the governor of Yellow Russia!" Nicholas II said this to Makanov. The Tsar's will was an order, and Makanov and others, who were helpless, began to strengthen the Russian Far East Fleet as much as possible and improve the relevant strategy in accordance with the Tsar's will.

In Makanov's view, if the Russian fleet has to defeat the Beiyang Fleet in 5 to 8 years, then the key is how long the fleet in Europe can rush to the Far East in the event of a war! Relying only on the Far Eastern Fleet, a fleet that does not even have a third of the strength of the Russian Navy, to fight the mighty Beiyang. That would be a death sentence, so Makanov meant that before the start of the war, the Russian fleet would be assembled. The reinforcement fleet from Europe and the Far Eastern Fleet had to converge. And then you can go to war.

However, in view of the international situation and the actual situation, this idea of assembling first and then going to war is somewhat too idealistic. It is very likely that Beiyang will take the initiative to choose before the Russian fleet has completed its assembly, and then attack the Russian Far Eastern Fleet! That is, the Russian Far Eastern Fleet must support the Beiyang Fleet for a period of time with a strong North Ocean Fleet, and if it can't hold on, then there is nothing to say, the naval part of this war is definitely lost! …,

"We have to link Vladivostok and Muroran as a whole. The port of Muroran will serve as a front line and become the first line of our navy in the battle with the Beiyang Fleet. The superior Beiyang Fleet will certainly come to the door at the first moment of war, and this action is likely to be supported by the Japanese government. Under the attack of the Beiyang Fleet and its subsidiary fleet, which has 2 battleships and 6 10,000-ton armored cruisers, the two battleships of the Far Eastern Fleet, Petropavlovsk, Poltava and Rurik, must stay in the harbor to assist in defense, otherwise once the minefield is cleared, the port of Muroran is very likely to fall, and the fall of the port of Muroran will directly lead to Hokkaido being under the attack of the Japanese army, so maintaining more than 3 capital ships will be the minimum need to defend the port of Muroran. Makanov wrote in the minutes.

"In addition to these three capital ships, we currently only have the Turquoise and the Pearl to see a battle, after the improvement, these two battleships will have some improvement in terms of protection, but it is clear that in the face of the Beiyang Guiyuan type battleships are still at a disadvantage, if the Beiyang Fleet can separate an armored cruiser with two Guiyuan class, then the situation of these two Azov cruisers will be extremely difficult! So we must strengthen the cruiser. And it would be better for this fleet to be stationed in Vladivostok at the beginning of the war, so that it would not be completely blocked in the harbor by the Beiyang Fleet. Take time for us to break the engagement and guerrilla warfare. Subsequently, Makanov also made a deployment to Vladivostok.

Then there was a big disagreement between the two sides over the issue of adding new warships to the Far Eastern Fleet. The Admiralty meant to add one more battleship, because the Northern Fleet was likely to continue to order a new Dante-class battleship after ordering two Dante-class battleships, so the Admiralty believed that the battleships could not be inferior to the Beiyang Fleet, and in terms of cruisers, the Admiralty said that it could only add up to 3 more cruisers, one of which was the perfect armored cruiser ordered by Russia in France, which was equipped with 274MM turret guns. As well as 4 8-inch guns and 8 6-inch guns 12 front-ton armored cruisers were named Russia by the Russian Navy. It is enough to see that the Russian Navy has high hopes for this battleship. The French are very confident that their battleships will definitely not be inferior to any armored cruiser of the first class, whether it is PISA or King! Gone are the days when Garibaldi and his descendants dominated the seas! And in addition to this striking battleship, all the Admiralty can offer are two improved versions of the Azov type, the Warrior and the Goddess! These two cruisers will be stationed in Vladivostok with two other original Azov-type cruisers in case of contingencies.

But Makanov demanded that the Far Eastern Fleet be equipped with two Russian-type armored cruisers, one battleship and two or more improved cruisers in the Sea of Azov. And such a high demand surprised the Admiralty! Even the tsar questioned: "Is Makanov planning to move the entire new ships of the Russian Navy over?" "Not to mention the cost of these battleships, even the production plan cannot be arranged, the Russian-class armored cruiser was built in France, and now there is only one on the slipway!

In this regard, Makanov explained, in his opinion, in the next 5 years, the Northern Fleet and the Foreign Fleet will eventually have 3 Dante-class cruisers, 3 King-class armored cruisers, 2 PISA-type armored cruisers and 2 Garibaldi-type armored cruisers, plus 5-6 Guiyuan and its modifications 5000-ton light armored cruisers! And what about the Russian Navy? Even if their plans are fully realized, there are only 3 Poltava-class battleships, these three battleships are not the opponents of the Dante-class at all, 2 Russian-type armored cruisers and 1 Rurik-type armored cruiser, these three can only tie with 3 King-class in the case of equal personnel quality, and then more than 4 Azov-type cruisers, and these 4 simply can't beat the 2 Garibaldi and 2 PISA-type armored cruisers on the side of the Beiyang Fleet, Not to mention the fact that there are 5-6 second-class armored cruisers on the Beiyang side and the Nanyang Fleet that may enter the war! Taking into account the gap in the quality of personnel, once the two fleets meet, the result is basically decided! Coupled with the fact that the opponent's speed was more than 20 knots, while the speed of the three battleships on his side was only about 16.5 knots, the difference in maneuverability was even more obvious. So this number can only be high, not low! That's the bottom line! …,

But such a huge demand has exceeded the maximum amount that the Russian fleet can allocate to the Far East. Especially the Russian-type armored cruiser that is a treasure, not to mention that you can add one! At least until 1901, don't even think about it! However, after a period of bargaining, His Royal Highness the Tsar agreed, and it can barely be said that the number of first-class armored cruisers on both sides has reached the same level as the Qing Beiyang Fleet and the Foreign Fleet. That is, 1 Rurik plus 1 Russia plus 3 new versions of the armored cruisers of the Sea of Azov, Warrior, Goddess and Parada. Together with the two original armored cruisers of the Sea of Azov, the number of first-class cruisers was barely increased to seven. Of course, if these 7 ships fight hard with the armored cruisers of the North and South Seas, the result will be very miserable, but at least the numbers look a lot better!

"Even if there are no new warships, it is always possible to supply the Far Eastern Fleet with some old warships, right?" When Makanov saw the approval of the Admiralty, he insisted on getting another auxiliary warship for the Far Eastern Fleet, after all, the Guiyuan warships of the Beiyang Fleet were not vegetarians. In addition, the tactical literacy of the Beiyang Fleet is much higher than that of the Russian fleet, and it is not known who will lose and who will win when the 5 Guiyuan and its improved version and 5 Azov Sea types will fight! So in line with the principle that no matter how small a fly is, it is meat, Makanov asked for a few more auxiliary warships!

"Then we will have to allocate the slow coastal gunboats and torpedo boats to the Far Eastern Fleet. You have already allocated almost all the armored cruisers of Russia to the Far East, and our doors to Europe are wide open! "In the face of Makanov's repeated demands, the Admiralty's patience has also reached the limit! And this also reflects the biggest problem of the Russian Navy, which is the inability to concentrate all its efforts on a certain strategic direction!

Thank you for the breeze tip~~. From the next chapter onwards, it will be the decisive stage of the Spanish-American War, and I hope you can enjoy it~~~. (Your support is my biggest motivation.) )