My Italian: Chapter 485 Infighting
The siege of Lushun made this war in the Far East slide in a direction that was not conducive to Russia.
Because Lushun is too important, it is not only a military port, but also a strategic fulcrum of Russia in the northeast. As long as Lushun is still in the hands of the Russians, the Japanese army and navy need to leave a large number of troops and warships here to guard.
And more importantly, the task of annihilating the main force of the Russian Pacific Fleet will be difficult to achieve. As an island country, if Japan wants to win this war, it must ensure that it has command of the sea, otherwise it will be the same as the Sino-Japanese War. After losing command of the sea, no matter how hard the army works, it will be exhausted after the supply line is cut off no matter how many victories it wins.
So after encircling Lushun, the Japanese army began to prepare for an attack on it. For this reason, Japan formed a third army with 50,000 troops and more than 400 artillery pieces, which is the force that Japan is preparing to attack Lushun. On the Lushun side, there are 38,000 Russian troops stationed with 113 artillery pieces. However, because Lushun is a fortress, many Russian artillery are large-caliber coastal defense guns, and they are still new coastal defense guns that can turn 360 degrees.
In addition, the Russian army still has 51 Maxim machine guns in Lushun, and the fortress defenders of this murderous weapon are also equipped.
Of course, when the Japanese and Russian armies were preparing to fight around Lushun, the Russian fleet was not idle. After more than half a month of work, Lushun Port dredged a channel that could barely pass at high tide.
But at this time, Makarov, as the naval commander, was also clearly aware of the danger of the fleet in Lushun.
At this time, the armies of the two countries fought fiercely around Lushun. Relying on Lushun Fortress, the irresolute Lao Maozi inflicted huge damage on the attacking Japanese army. In just two days, the Japanese army suffered 3,000 casualties.
Although the casualties of the Japanese army were not small, in order to remove the nail of Lushun, the Japanese army continued to be fierce. Under the command of Nogi Xidian, the commander of the Third Army, the Japanese army successively launched attacks on Lushun.
When the offensive and defensive battle in Lushun was in full swing, Makarov sneaked out with his fleet. Unfortunately, this time he was not lucky and was discovered by the Japanese.
After receiving the news that the Russian fleet was coming out, Togo Heihachiro rushed over with the main force of the combined fleet. This time, in addition to bringing six battleships, he also took the risk of taking out two Garibaldi-class cruisers Kasuga and Nisshin.
On September 17, the two sides met unexpectedly on the Yellow Sea, 80 kilometers away from Lushun Port. At this time, Makarov only had six battleships in his hands, and some other auxiliary warships (the Victory was too damaged, and the shipyard in Lushun Port estimated that it would take at least five months to repair it). Among them, the Dauphin and the Perthwaite still have some hidden safety hazards, and their emergency repairs after being attacked by torpedoes also brought some hidden dangers.
As for the United Fleet, six battleships plus two Garibaldi-led United Fleet cheered even more after seeing the Russian fleet.
Because at this time, the combined fleet is basically a new ship, and its speed is relatively fast.
On the other hand, Russia, affected by the three Petropavlovsk-class battleships, can only reach a speed of 16 knots. Faced with this predicament, even a famous general like Makarov can only bite the bullet and fight first, and there is no escape.
So the two fleets were in the Yellow Sea, and a large-scale naval battle began. The naval battle started around 13:30 and lasted until around 16:45.
After the hard work of the naval officers and soldiers of the two sides, the joint fleet finally left the Russian fleet with the Persvet, Petropavlovsk, Sevastopol Three battleships. Of course, in addition to this, the small warships of the two sides also suffered damage.
Makarov deserves to be called a famous general. He was able to take away two battleships at the cost of three battleships when he was at a disadvantage, which was already very impressive.
It is worth mentioning that in this naval battle, the two Garibaldi-class battleships performed well. In addition to suppressing their opponents in the confrontation with the two Perthwaite-class battleships, they even held them back in the subsequent pursuit. In his footsteps, he made an outstanding contribution to the sinking of the Sevastopol.
Lieutenant General Makarov, who was defeated and returned to Lushun, now has only three battleships left in his hands, and each of them is wounded. Among them, the crown prince suffered the most serious injuries, because in the naval battle, it took most of the firepower. According to news from the shipyard, it will take at least four or five months to repair the Crown Prince. At this moment, Makarov had no choice but to ask for help from St. Petersburg with the remaining two usable warships in his hands.
Of course, the loss of two Fuji-class battleships by the United Fleet in this naval battle was also uncomfortable, so Commander Togo Heihachiro also asked Tokyo for help after returning. However, Togo Heihachiro's request for help was a little different. He hoped that the army could conquer Lushun as soon as possible and annihilate the main force of the Russian Pacific Fleet. The second is to prevent the Russians from acquiring the Italian fleet.
Faced with Makarov's request for help, Tsar Nicholas II immediately convened an imperial meeting, bringing together important ministers to discuss countermeasures. It is said to discuss countermeasures, but in fact it is more about the batch of warships that Italy wants to sell.
Because the Russian Navy currently does not have many warships available in Europe, only five Borodino-class battleships can be removed. However, only two Borodino-class battleships have been launched so far, Borodino and Alexander III. As for the other three ships, the Duke of Suvorov, the Eagle, and the Glory have not yet been completed.
This Borodino-class battleship is a new type of battleship developed by Russia after combining the technologies of Italian and French warships.
This class of warship is a forecastle ship, with dimensions of 114.6 meters (full length), 23.2 meters (breadth), 8 meters (draft) and a standard displacement of 13,500 tons. Equipped with 4 double-mounted 305mm main guns, 12 double-mounted 152mm secondary guns, and 20 75mm guns.
Steam from 20 coal-fired boilers drives two steam engines. The maximum power output of the main engine can reach 16,500 horsepower, so the maximum speed is 18 knots. At the same time, since it is designed to carry 2,000 tons of coal, it can sail as far as 8,500 nautical miles at a speed of 10 knots. Such a huge voyage has never been seen in previous Russian self-built warships. From this point alone, we can see the great ambitions of the Russian Empire for the high seas.
"Your Majesty, after our contact, the Italians asked for a very high price. They offered 110 million rubles (300 million lire) to sell all the warships in a package. However, according to my understanding, there is currently competition from Japan. Our country wants to take Italy away at this price. Human warships are simply impossible."
It was Ramsdorf, the Russian foreign minister who spoke, who was solely responsible for the purchase of the Italian warship.
After Nicholas II listened to the words of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he looked at the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Sergei Witte.
Werther, who was concerned by the tsar, of course knew what this person meant, so he spoke. "I have already discussed with the French ambassador. The French side is willing to provide our country with a loan of 150 million rubles, but it conveyed the attitude of the Paris side. This is the last war loan that France will provide to our country. Because the French government is under great pressure , Its people don't understand the loan to our country for the war in the Far East."
The Prime Minister's words made Nicholas II frowned, because this war would have been very difficult without a loan from France. You must know that Russia’s finances are not good~www.mtlnovel.com~ There have been many civil uprisings over the taxation issue over the years. If France no longer contributes, how will this battle of spending money be fought?
Regarding the tsar's thoughts, the former imperial minister Bezobrazov had already figured out what he was thinking when he saw His Majesty's silence. I saw him speak immediately. "Your Majesty, our country cannot afford to lose in this current war. If we lose to the Japanese monkeys, other countries will look down on our country, which is very detrimental to our prestige in the world."
Well, Bezobrazov’s words awakened Nicholas II a little bit. Russia really can’t afford to lose this war against the Japanese. If it loses, I don’t know how European monarchs will think of his rule. under the Russian Empire.
"The purchase of warships must be carried out. I think everyone has seen the telegram sent by Lieutenant General Makarov. As long as the navy wins, our family can hold the Japanese by the throat."
Now that the Tsar has spoken, there is nothing else to say, and the next step is to compete for the warships for sale in Italy.
It's annoying to say that the Italians don't sell ships alone, they sell them in bundles, they either buy them all or don't buy them all, and the price of the warships is very expensive, it's a steal.
Please remember the first domain name of this book: . :