December 27, 1903.
"Russians did not respond to our reasonable demands. The Russian diplomats are stalling for time, which will only become more and more beneficial to Russia's war preparations. Russian troops are coming from Europe to Asia. If we do not respond, we will not only be unable to penetrate into the Far East Empire's territory, but will even lose the Korean colony. After I return, I will state Russia's attitude to His Majesty the Japanese Emperor. War is inevitable."
At the end of 1903, after the negotiations between Japan and Russia broke down again, Hirobumi Ito said angrily to his entourage.
In the face of Russia's aggressiveness, Japanese Government is currently mainly adopting a tolerant attitude. After all, anyone with a discerning eye knows that Japan and Russia are not countries of the same size. Even if Russia's power in the Far East is relatively weak, it is only for Russia itself. In the eyes of neighboring countries, Russia's military power in the Far East is very powerful.
Japanese Government Although they like to be gamblers, they are not stupid, so their attitude towards launching a war with Russia is relatively positive.
Therefore, in the early diplomatic negotiations with Russia, Japan did not expect to expel Russian forces in a short time, but hoped that Russia would guarantee Japan's interests and status in North Korea. However, Russia not only rejected Japanese Government's "reasonable" demands, but also opposed Japan's request to use North Korean territory for military purposes. This is obviously unacceptable to Japanese Government.
Negotiations between the two countries began at the end of last year. After a year-long negotiation, Japanese Government's patience was exhausted. Of course, Japan's weak performance in the negotiations does not mean that Japan loves peace. The reason is very simple. Russia needs time, and the same goes for Japan.
After a year of delayed negotiations, it is difficult to say whether Russia is ready. Japan's navy expansion has basically been completed.
After the negotiations broke down in December, the Japanese Emperor government finally made up its mind to strike first.
Lushun.
Time flies to 1904. Port Arthur, the most important port in the northeastern region of the Far Eastern Empire, is now illegally occupied by the Russians.
Now this is one of the important bases of Russian Pacific Fleet. The number of warships has been maintained at more than 40 all year round, and supporting Lüshun Fortress has been built. While tens of thousands of troops are stationed, it is equipped with more than a hundred shore defense artillery. Lushun under this specification should be considered impregnable to Russia.
On the night of January 3rd, Lushun was extremely calm tonight. The Russian sailors were sleeping, and the warships were parked in the port without any warning, but they did not know that the disaster was quietly approaching.
"It is now 12:30 at midnight, and the Russian warships are in front of us. The rise of the empire depends on this battle. We must annihilate all Russian Far East Fleet here!" Kodaira Hachitaro said to his subordinates.
As a rare all-year-round ice-free port in the northern Far East, Lushun's geographical location is very favorable, which also allows Imperial Japanese Navy to achieve its purpose and take a risky night voyage to reach nearby waters. This also shows from the side that Japan is fully prepared.
At 1:13 in the morning, Japanese army was basically in place. The mine commander of the "Baiyun" heard a knocking sound coming from the receiver.
",", , . "Prepare the torpedoes!" the mine leader shouted in a low voice.
The torpedo crew immediately started to move. They skillfully unscrewed the tail bolt of the launch tube, filled the charge package and connected the firing circuit. Then they turned the safety on the torpedo head, while the mine commander himself worked hard to adjust the sight and use the flickering lights to estimate the distance of the surrounding Russian ships.
At this time, Russian patrols identified at least seven Japanese warshipss on the dark sea and quickly reported them. During this gap, Imperial Japanese Navy launched an attack.
"Boom..."
"?" Intelligence officer Lyles of the East African National Security Bureau who was lurking in Lushun was awakened by the sound of artillery.
The sound of artillery did not stop, but continued to sound. Lyles hurriedly got up and came to the window. Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw blazing fire in Port Arthur.
"Has it started yet?"
At this time Lyles did not dare to confirm his guess. He picked up the telescope placed on the window sill and began to observe carefully. With the faint light, he could vaguely see the body of the warship floating on the sea. The source of the cannonballs was that it was unclear which country they belonged to.
However, thinking of the instructions from the superiors, Lyles did not dare to neglect, did not bother to get dressed, turned on the light, and started to operate the telegraph machine in the room.
Lyles checked the time and then began to report, "At 1:20 in the morning on January 4, 1904, the Port of Lushun in Russia was attacked by unknown armed warships. Many Russian Army warships in the Port of Lushun were bombed. The specific casualties are unknown..."
Soon East African mainland also received the message and called back, "Continue to investigate the specific situation and provide timely feedback."
Rhine City.
Under the focus of East African government, the news of Japan's sneak attack on Port Arthur was quickly fed back to East African mainland, and Ernst held a special meeting for this purpose.
"According to the Intelligence Department, just yesterday afternoon (East African Time), Japan launched an attack on Russia in an undeclared war. Russian Far East Fleet suffered heavy losses, and Japan blocked Port Arthur. Now it is basically certain that Russo-Japanese War has officially broken out."
The news of Ernst can be said to have stirred up waves with one stone. Although East African government had already predicted it, in the face of the sudden outbreak of war and Japan's ungrateful way of fighting, it still aroused intense discussion among East African government officials.
Russian Far East Fleet should not be underestimated, its strength can even be said to be very powerful. This Far East Fleet has "Knyaz Suvorov", "Borodino", "" Lietuva", "Peresvet", "Victory", "Poltava", and "Sevastopol" have a total of seven battleships, all with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons, as well as a large number of cruisers and other combat ships.
Even East African Navy didn't dare to say it was a sure thing in front of Russian Far East Fleet. As a result, this huge Russian Far East Fleet lost its combat effectiveness overnight, which is simply unimaginable.
I have to lament that Russian navy has a strong family background. Although Russian navy's combat effectiveness is easily questioned, before Russo-Japanese War, Russian navy ranked third in the world in terms of scale all year round, second only to British Royal Navy and French Navy.
The total tonnage of Russian navy is as high as 500,000 tons, while British Royal Navy is only about one million tons at this time. From this point of view alone, Russian navy is nearly three times that of East African Navy.
Although East African Navy has not participated in the naval military competition, its current total tonnage has reached nearly 200,000 tons. This is mainly due to the construction of more battleships and submarines in recent years, which is similar to the lightly armed Imperial Japanese Navy.
The total tonnage of Imperial Japanese Navy is about 200,000 tons, which is slightly higher than East African Navy. After all, Japan has been desperately expanding its navy. Most of the national funds have been invested in the bottomless pit of naval construction, while East Africa has fully entered the economic development stage.
"Now keep an eye on Russian government's actions. They will definitely ask for help from us. At this time, if Russia wants to avoid losing the war, it can only draw from the Baltic Sea or Black Sea Fleet. To mobilize troops and go to the Far East to participate in the war, Black Sea Fleet can be excluded. After all, it is impossible for the British to let Russian warships pass through Dardanelles Strait under the control of the Ottoman Empire."
"Even if Russia takes the risk and passes through Dardanelles Strait, it will be blocked by Britain at Suez Canal. Therefore, Russia can only mobilize Baltic Fleet, and Baltic Fleet will most likely pass through our country's East and West Coasts. This is a bargaining chip for us to further negotiate with Russia."
"At the same time, we will definitely not be able to participate in the war between the two countries in the Far East. We will only do the first half of the preparations and provide certain services to Russian navy. As for the direction of the war, it is impossible to change because of this slight change."