There is a saying that there is no tiger in the mountains, and the monkey is called the king.? This sentence could not be more correct to describe the present maritime situation in the Far East, after a major battle, the Russians lost more than a third of their strength. And the Beiyang Fleet was also forced to go back to rest because of battle damage and long overseas operations. For a time, the two most powerful forces in the Far Eastern Ocean died down. Both sides huddled in their own harbors for repairs and rearmaments. And at this time, the Japanese Navy, which has been recuperating, finally has a chance to perform! Two armored cruisers with a vote of auxiliary cruisers improved by civilian ships slaughtered into the Sea of Japan!

That's right, you read that right, it's a battleship improved with civilian ships. The Japanese Navy followed the example of the Americans in the Spanish-American War who made extensive improvements to merchant ships. Of course, Japan's industrial and financial resources cannot be compared with those of the United States. Not to mention the armor and 8-inch heavy guns, plus a couple of 12-pounder guns, up to 120 rapid-fire guns would be good. Even radio is not available on every ship.

"These ships are consumables, and transports that can deal with the Russians will do it." Mayuki Akiyama wrote in the report. And these camouflaged assault ships, improved from merchant ships, really played a huge role in the beginning. The ships were painted almost identically to those of Russian merchant ships, with all weapons hidden behind reinforced portholes, waiting for the enemy to approach before pushing out the guns. It's similar to the warships of the sail era. Some warships even used the banner of the warships of the Russian Far East Fleet to deceive Russian transport ships that did not know the real image. Some of these improvised Russian ships did not sail in the Far East at all, but after the war came, they stopped in the Far East and were requisitioned along the way! These crew members had no idea what was going on in the Far East, and they didn't know that they were about to face the most murderous Japanese!

If at the beginning when the Russian Pacific Fleet was still there, the Japanese did not dare to move, but when the Russian Pacific Fleet was all lying in the port of Muroran. Japanese naval assault ships roam the waters around Hokkaido like demons flying out of Pandora's box!

The first attack took place on the third day after the end of the war, when a Russian transport ship named Catherine was stopped about 100 nautical miles northeast of the Kautsu Strait by a Russian-flagged gunboat. The other party asked the boat to stop and inspect it, and after approaching. In Russian, the ship was asked to replenish the Russian gunboat with coal. The Russian captain was also puzzled, and had seen someone asking for help, but not a request for refueling less than 200 km from the coast. But doubts are doubts. The Russian transports still did not dare to resist the decision of the other side. The flying St. Andrew's flag and the dark muzzle of the guns made the Russians on the transport ship immediately recognize the situation!

The Russians were busy loading anti-collision rubber pads on the side of the ship to prevent collisions, and with the help of the first mate, preparing the hoisting equipment to add coal to the other side. But just when the two sides were close to about 10 meters. A machine gun suddenly appeared on the watchtower of the opposing side. The vast majority of Russians only heard a click, and as soon as they subconsciously looked up, bullets rained down from the mast! Seven or eight Russian sailors were killed by a rain of bullets before they could react! The Japanese who then rushed out of the cabin completely made the Russians understand the situation and face these vicious sneak attackers. These Russian sailors, who had never been on the battlefield, let alone killed anyone, obediently raised their hands.

What followed was a big surprise for the Russians. The Japanese after leaving behind several soldiers and navigators. They left the sea, and under the coercion of Japanese officers, the merchant ship carrying grain for the Russian troops in Japan was taken hostage to a port under Japanese control. And the Japanese camouflaged cruiser, which pretended to be a Russian gunboat, went in search of new targets.

Of course, not all Japanese camouflage raid ships can have such luck, and not all Russian merchant ships are soft persimmons! For example, a transport ship named Rover dealt a big blow to a Japanese raider named Awa Maru. The transport ship was originally planned to transport a batch of 75 rapid-fire guns and a batch of war horses for the Russian army, which was fighting on the front line. The horses were sent into the cabins, and the guns had to be placed on the deck of the ship, then fixed and covered with tarps.

The transport ship, which was full on deck, tragically ran into the Awa Maru. As a ship equipped 4. The 7-inch rapid-fire gun "first-class camouflage assault ship", the Awa Maru even saved camouflage, directly raised the Rising Sun Flag to identify himself, and then fired two shots at the Wanderer with a 3-pounder gun. The meaning is very clear, surrender quickly, otherwise you will bear the consequences!

Soon the Japanese saw the Russians running up on the deck, they lifted the tarps and busied themselves on something. "They're going to push supplies out into the sea! Stop them! The Japanese captain was stunned at first, and then suddenly seemed to understand something, and immediately ordered. The Awa Maru rushed towards the Wanderer like a wolf that had spotted a fat sheep. When the distance between the two sides was close to 1km, the French M1897 rapid-fire gun with the tarp removed made the dazed Japanese can't help but fight a cold war!

After all, the Awa Maru was also converted from a merchant ship. The so-called armor protection has nothing else except 10+ hull plates, and if you are hit by a picric acid high-explosive bomb, you don't want to go back! "Turn, get away! Get ready for battle! "Just while the Japanese were running on deck. The 8 75 rapid-fire guns on the Rover have spewed orange flames! Accompanied by the screeching sound of cannonballs in the air, a bright yellow flame mixed with green smoke rose up on the deck of the Awa Maru!

The battle was fierce and at the same time short-lived! Awamaru said that even if the brother is bad, but the brother's 4. The 7-inch gun is the real deal! And the Rover is a transport ship in its own right. Loading the 75 guns above is again land artillery, on a bumpy sea. The precision can be imagined. The first hit was more of a blind shot than aiming! Moreover, due to the exposed gun position, the gunners, who did not have the slightest protection, were quickly killed and wounded under the blows of the opponent's high-explosive shells and rapid-fire guns. In addition, it is a civilian ship, and the watertightness and damage management cannot be compared with that of a regular warship, coupled with serious overloading, so the result can be imagined! After lighting a few fires on the Awa Maru, this brave rebel finally ushered in destruction, two 120 rapid-fire guns and several 57 rapid-fire guns swept the rain of cannonballs onto the opponent's hull, ten minutes later, the starboard side of the Rover was beaten into a honeycomb, the sea water quickly poured into the inside of the hull, the watertight compartment on the side chord was useless under the blow of the cannon and the impact of the seawater, after half an hour of firefighting, the entire transport ship turned into a burning torch, and the Russians, supplies and war horses on it slowly sank to the bottom of the sea. No one survived!

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