Grand Duke Mikhail
April 21, 1898. Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula, home port of the Black Sea Fleet.
Grand Duke Mikhail, commander of the Tsarist Russian Empire Navy's Black Sea Fleet, attended the commissioning ceremony for the protected cruiser Rostov along with the fleet's senior officers.
After a priest of the Eastern Orthodox Church recited a prayer, asking God to bless the Imperial Navy's officers and sailors with victory in every battle and a safe return, Grand Duke Mikhail smashed a bottle of champagne against the warship's bow.
Bang!
The champagne bottle struck the steel at the front of the warship and shattered, spilling wine and filling the air with its fragrance.
Clap, clap, clap!
The onlookers broke into applause.
"Officers and sailors of the Imperial Navy's Black Sea Fleet, congratulations. A powerful warship has officially entered service. Before the year is out, five more equally powerful warships will enter service with the Black Sea Fleet.
"The Black Sea Fleet will grow even stronger.
"I can promise you that, in the future, more and even more powerful warships will enter service with the Black Sea Fleet. The Black Sea Fleet will become the most powerful fleet in the Imperial Navy!"
Grand Duke Mikhail made this promise to the officers and sailors of the Black Sea Fleet.
The officers and sailors all burst into cheers. At that moment, everyone's self-esteem and confidence seemed to have been greatly bolstered.
In truth, the Black Sea Fleet's current situation was worrying.
Tsar Nicholas II had been withholding part of the Black Sea Fleet's funding for several months in a row.
Moreover, no new warships had entered service with the Black Sea Fleet for several years.
And the reason given sounded perfectly respectable.
After the Tsarist Russian Empire's defeat in the Crimean War, the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1856, had reiterated and confirmed the principle of closing the straits established by the London Straits Convention of 1841.
Put plainly, it prohibited warships of the Tsarist Russian Empire Navy from passing through the Dardanelles Strait and the Bosporus Strait.
Under such restrictions, the Tsarist Russian Empire Navy had no need to increase its investment in the Black Sea Fleet.
Gradually, the Black Sea Fleet had nearly been reduced to a coastal defense fleet.
Grand Duke Mikhail knew very well that the real reason Nicholas II was suppressing the Black Sea Fleet was that he was its commander.
This was despite the fact that Grand Duke Mikhail was only twenty years old and Nicholas II's own younger brother.
But Grand Duke Mikhail had been clever from childhood and was greatly favored by the old tsar, Alexander III.
There had even been rumors that Alexander III deeply regretted naming Nicholas II crown prince and preferred Mikhail instead.
When Grand Duke Mikhail was twelve, Alexander III had appointed him governor of the Don River, commander of the Caucasus Military District, and commander of the Black Sea Fleet.
He not only commanded the large number of troops in the Caucasus Military District but also controlled the Black Sea Fleet, one of the Tsarist Russian Empire's four great fleets.
The entire Don River basin and the vast lands south of the Don River, including the lower Volga River and stretching all the way to the Caucasus region, fell under Grand Duke Mikhail's jurisdiction.
This also made Nicholas II deeply wary.
Especially after Alexander III died and Nicholas II inherited the throne, all manner of measures to suppress Grand Duke Mikhail followed.
After Alexander III's death, Grand Duke Mikhail had decisively left Petersburg and moved to Volgograd.
At the time, Grand Duke Mikhail was only fourteen.
Everyone had originally thought Grand Duke Mikhail would never be able to rein in the proud soldiers and fierce generals under him.
But to their surprise, after a few years, both the Caucasus Military District and the Black Sea Fleet had come entirely under Grand Duke Mikhail's control.
At the same time, the entire Don River Governorate was flourishing.
What the others did not know was that the present Grand Duke Mikhail was no longer the same person.
Inside this young body lived a soul from a later age.
A military technology expert named Li Jun had died in the line of duty, but his soul had crossed over to this world and taken possession of Grand Duke Mikhail's body.
Over the course of more than a decade, Li Jun and Grand Duke Mikhail had completely fused together.
Or rather, a set of unfamiliar memories had suddenly appeared in Grand Duke Mikhail's soul, along with an intimate knowledge of the course of history over the next hundred years and more.
"Your Highness, the protected cruiser Rostov's performance is excellent.
"The officers and sailors who took part in the sea trials had nothing but praise for her.
"Once all six Rostov class protected cruisers enter service, the strength of the entire Black Sea Fleet will increase enormously.
"It might even be possible to take on the Ottoman Empire Navy head-on!"
Vice Admiral Makarov, deputy commander of the Black Sea Fleet, lavished praise on the new warship's performance.
Grand Duke Mikhail nodded.
Each Rostov class protected cruiser had cost as much as 400,000 pounds. Converted into rubles, that was 3.6 million rubles per ship.
Six had been built in total, at a combined cost of 21.6 million rubles.
After Nicholas II began his campaign of suppression, every shipbuilding plan submitted by the Black Sea Fleet had been rejected by the Navy Ministry.
On top of that, part of the Black Sea Fleet's funding had been withheld.
As a result, Mikhail had been forced to reach into his own pocket to subsidize the Black Sea Fleet.
It could be said that Grand Duke Mikhail had paid for all six Rostov class protected cruisers himself.
Of course, the Rostov class protected cruisers' performance was also highly advanced. They had a standard displacement of 7,500 tons and were powered by high-performance triple-expansion reciprocating steam engines purchased from the German Empire, giving them a top speed of 25 knots.
For armament, they carried three triple turrets of 45-caliber 152-millimeter naval guns, arranged in superfiring positions, two forward and one aft.
The secondary battery consisted of six twin mounts of 50-caliber 122-millimeter quick-firing guns.
In addition, they carried six 76.2-millimeter quick-firing guns, twelve 47-millimeter quick-firing guns, and two triple 457-millimeter torpedo tube mounts.
For armor, they also used the latest Krupp armor steel. The waterline armor was 120 millimeters thick, the deck armor 45 millimeters, the main gun turret armor 120 millimeters, and the conning tower armor 152 millimeters.
However, this armor steel had not been imported from the German Empire at a high price. It had been produced by Grand Duke Mikhail's own steelworks.
Having been a military technology expert in his previous life, Mikhail was also very familiar with the formula for Krupp armor steel.
After a few trials, he had developed it.
That way, there was no need to import it from the German Empire at a high price.
The first batch of Rostov class protected cruisers consisted of six ships: the lead ship Rostov, the second ship Cherkassk, the third Volgodonsk, the fourth Elista, the fifth Stavropol, and the sixth Krasnodar.
"Commander, I promise you that from now on, more new-model warships will enter service with the Black Sea Fleet in a steady stream. Before long, you will be able to lead a powerful Black Sea Fleet and command the entire Black Sea. You may even break through the Dardanelles Strait and the Bosporus Strait, enter the Mediterranean Sea, and roam the vast oceans!" Grand Duke Mikhail's face was resolute.
"Your Highness, I very much look forward to that day!" Vice Admiral Makarov's face was filled with anticipation.