Making an Example of the Ottoman Empire

The Japanese Empire Navy entered a period of rapid development after the First Sino-Japanese War.

During the First Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese defeated the Great Qing Empire and obtained a massive war indemnity from it.

These reparations were used not only for industrial development, but even more for expanding the military and preparing for war.

As for the better lives and higher living standards ordinary people in the Japanese Empire longed for, those were destined to remain an unattainable dream.

After defeating the Great Qing Empire, the Japanese, at the urging of the people of the Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets, turned their sights on the Tsarist Russian Empire. On top of that, the Tsarist Russian Empire had prevented the Japanese from occupying the Liaodong Peninsula. At the same time, it had contested the Korean Peninsula with the Japanese Empire, making the Japanese hate the Tsarist Russian Empire to the bone.

That was also why, once the Japanese Empire had completed its war preparations, it could not wait to go to war with the Tsarist Russian Empire.

At present, however, the Japanese Empire Navy was still very weak. Compared with the Tsarist Russian Empire Navy, it was not even in the same league.

The Japanese Empire Navy's main strength consisted of two Fuji-class battleships purchased from the Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets: the Fuji and the Yashima.

Both battleships had only returned home in the second half of the previous year.

As for the three Shikishima-class battleships, they were still under construction.

The same was true of the armored cruisers. The two Asama-class armored cruisers would not be completed and sent home until the following year. The armored cruisers that followed would take even longer.

As for protected cruisers, the Japanese Navy did have eleven. Quite a few had been mainstays during the First Sino-Japanese War, including the protected cruiser Yoshino.

The destroyers, meanwhile, would not begin entering service until the following year.

For example, the Japanese people's first destroyer design consisted of six Shinonome-class destroyers imported from the Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets. Only afterward would the Japanese begin building their own on a large scale.

It could be said that the Japanese people's current naval strength was simply nothing to look at before the Tsarist Russian Empire Navy.

Especially once the Tsarist Russian Empire Navy sent all its older warships to the Far East, including eleven ironclads, eight pre-dreadnoughts, six armored cruisers, nine protected cruisers, and large numbers of destroyers.

One could imagine how badly that would frighten the Japanese.

For all anyone knew, to contend with the powerful Tsarist Russian Navy Pacific Fleet, the Japanese would have no choice but to increase their naval spending still further.

Although this would make Japanese naval strength even greater, it would also divert a considerable amount of funding from national development.

Moreover, it would saddle the Japanese with enormous financial pressure.

Once war broke out in the future, it would also be easier to drag the Japanese down.

That would undoubtedly be highly advantageous to the Tsarist Russian Empire.

Vice Admiral Makarov, commander of the Black Sea Fleet, and Vice Admiral Nikolai Kopytov, commander of the Baltic Sea Fleet, had no objections either.

Although transferring large numbers of warships to the Far East would leave the Tsarist Russian Navy's strength in the Baltic Sea and Black Sea depleted,

the problem could be resolved once large numbers of new warships subsequently entered service.

Besides, in Europe, the Tsarist Russian Empire's true deterrent lay in its enormous army, not its navy.

Thus, any hope of the navy turning things around rested on these new warships.

The series of reforms Mikhail had implemented had inevitably thrown the Tsarist Russian Empire into turmoil.

This was especially true in Poland and along the Baltic coast, where the Poles and the Lithuanians, Latvians, and Estonians of the Baltic coast were still resisting Tsarist Russian rule.

But after Lieutenant General Paul von Plehwe took command of the Western Military District, the bloody suppression of these resisters had begun.

Large numbers of resisters were killed or arrested and sent to construction sites to perform hard labor.

Although this stirred up hostility among many Poles and Baltic peoples,

their hostility could accomplish nothing while the Tsarist Russian Empire remained strong.

Besides, the Tsarist Russian Empire's subsequent agricultural reforms also benefited these Poles and Baltic peoples. The people at the bottom in particular were no longer exploited and oppressed by landlords and bureaucrats. They could eat their fill and even live prosperous lives.

If that was the case, why would they resist?

Even if they drove out the Russians, they might not be able to live such lives.

In time, there would be fewer and fewer resisters. The vast majority of people would come to accept the status quo.

As for the hostile outside powers, the Germans and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, they quickly furled their banners and stilled their drums after seeing that the Tsarist Russian Empire had swiftly ended its civil war and displayed formidable military strength, and realizing there was nothing to be gained.

The Germans did not want a large-scale war with the Tsarist Russian Empire at this time. The German Empire was in a period of rapid development.

Once dragged into a protracted war, its development would inevitably be affected.

The German Empire's emperor, Wilhelm II, aimed to challenge the hegemony of the Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets, so naturally he was unwilling to be tied down by the Tsarist Russian Empire like this.

As for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it appeared powerful. In reality, however, it was nothing more than a loosely assembled empire.

Among the world's great powers, it could only be counted as a false great power.

Relying on its own strength alone, the Austro-Hungarian Empire simply did not dare provoke the Tsarist Russian Empire.

That left only the Japanese Empire and the Ottoman Empire as external enemies currently facing the Tsarist Russian Empire.

The Japanese Empire had reinforced its troops on the Korean Peninsula, forcing the Tsarist Russian Empire to abandon it.

But Mikhail believed that once the Tsarist Russian Empire Navy sent massive reinforcements to the Far East, it would surely scare the Japanese into wetting themselves. When that happened, the Tsarist Russian Empire could manipulate the Japanese however it pleased, bending them into whatever position it wanted.

The Ottoman Empire, meanwhile, was currently at war with the Tsarist Russian Empire.

Although the Ottomans had launched the invasion, they had gained little advantage in the war and had instead suffered heavy losses.

Even after the Ottomans carried out a large-scale mobilization, the two sides had traded blows.

That was only because the Tsarist Russian Empire had been in the midst of a civil war, and its generals at the front had exercised restraint.

Now that the civil war was over, the Tsarist Russian Empire had no worries at its back and could concentrate its strength to launch a large-scale counterattack against the Ottoman Empire.

Mikhail had only just ascended the throne as the new tsar, making it all the more important for him to win a thoroughly satisfying victory in a foreign war to rally the people of the Tsarist Russian Empire. At the same time, it could also deter the various hostile outside powers.

In other words, Mikhail intended to use the Ottoman Empire to establish his might, making it the chicken killed to scare the monkeys.

Although the Ottoman Empire had weakened, leaving this chicken rather lacking in weight,

as long as he could win the war and secure substantial gains, Mikhail would have something to show the people at home. The hostile outside powers, too, would have no choice but to rein themselves in somewhat.

This would also help the Tsarist Russian Empire make the most of its time, develop its own strength, and carry its various reforms through.