My Italy

While Japan was actively preparing for war, there were two factions in Russia on the issue of war with Japan.

One group was represented by Finance Minister Witte and Foreign Minister Ramsdorf. Seeing Russia's difficulties both domestically and internationally (including in Europe and the Far East), they suggested not to launch a war against Japan easily but to make certain concessions. At the same time, we will strengthen the economic plunder and war preparations for the Northeast. When the Trans-Siberian Railway is fully opened to traffic, the transportation capacity is improved, and Lushun and its peripheral fortresses are completed, we will wait for the opportunity for a decisive battle.

The other faction was represented by the Imperial Minister Alexander Bezobrazov, the Minister of Internal Affairs Vyacheslav Plevi, the Governor of the Far East Alexeyev and others.

This is a group of fanatical chauvinists and imperialist adventurers. They despised Japan's power and believed that it was a small country that was vulnerable to a single blow.

"You can crush it by throwing a hat", "Russia needs a small victorious war in order to stop the revolution", "Only by making Japan understand unambiguously that Russia is ready to defend its interests in Manchuria, if necessary, that is Only by resorting to force can we hope for success in negotiations," and so on, thus advocating a tough stance against Japan.

In addition, the closer the revolutionary climax in Russia is approaching, the more this group of people want to find a way out of the war.

As for Tsar Nicholas II himself, he hated Japan very much. Because when he was the crown prince, he visited Japan and was assassinated. For this, he even got so angry that he cursed in Russian in the hospital: Damn Japanese apes, barbaric dwarfs!

Of course, the assassination alone was unforgettable for Nicholas, not to mention that this Japanese dwarf actually dared the great Russia to compete for the Northeast region.

However, although Nicholas II was dissatisfied with Japan, he had two views on the timing of launching a war.

He knew that Russia was ill-prepared and hoped to postpone the war, believing that "time is Russia's best ally" and "every year will strengthen our strength." However, he was convinced that the best way to postpone the war was to adopt a hard-line policy, and that "concessions always beget new concessions." His thoughts actually supported the hard-line ideas of Bezobrazov's group.

Before this, Russia was actually not ready for war, because it only had more than 98,000 regular army troops (148 guns, 78 machine guns) in the Far East. At the same time, the Russian Navy had more than 200 warships, including the Pacific Squadron. It has more than 60 combat ships (more than 192,000 tons).

As for its opponents, the Japanese Navy has about 80 warships (more than 260,000 tons). Most of the main warships are new ships built in the UK, with good performance and uniform specifications. The total strength of the Army is 245,000 (1,170 guns), of which 210,000 can be used for operations outside Japan.

Judging from the paper data, the Russian army in the Far East is completely at a disadvantage, but the arrogant Russian government believes that the Japanese do not dare to offend the great Russian Empire.

As for Japan, on May 2, 1903, Japan decided to break off diplomatic relations with Russia, and at the same time the Japanese government instructed that military operations could begin. The commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Togo Heihachiro, summoned his subordinate commanders on May 3 to convey the government's instructions and ordered the entire fleet to sail to the Yellow Sea to attack the Russian ships anchored in Port Arthur and Inchon.

At this critical moment, Russian officers and soldiers were still in a state of peaceful paralysis. The Pacific Squadron is anchored in the outer port of Lushun, and the warship alert is still in accordance with the usual regulations. It has been decided to take supplementary measures to strengthen the alert, but it has not been implemented yet. The mine protection net was not opened at night, but the searchlights on the warships illuminated the entrances and exits of the inner harbor.

Governor Alexeyev and his cronies knew about the breakdown of Japan-Russia negotiations, but did not take contingency measures. Until a few hours before the Japanese attack on Port Arthur, Fleet Chief of Staff General Witthoft said that "the war cannot be fought."

At this time, the Russian Pacific Fleet was divided into three parts. The main force was anchored at Port Arthur under the command of Admiral Stark. In addition, there is a squadron commanded by Rear Admiral Essen in Vladivostok, with two cruisers "Diana" and "Bocadier" and several destroyers. In North Korea's Incheon Port, two Russian cruisers, the "Varyag" and the "Korean" are moored.

Togo Heihachiro sent Vice Admiral Uemura Hikonosei to lead the second detachment to the north to prepare for the attack of the Russian Vladivostok fleet. He sent Vice Admiral Ha Shigehara to lead the third detachment to take charge of the response near the Korean coast. He sent Vice Admiral Kuao Gaiyoshi to command six cruisers to arrive. Incheon attacked "Varyag" and "Korea", and the rest of the main force of the combined fleet, personally commanded by Togo Heihachiro, went to Port Arthur for a sneak attack.

At 9:30 pm on May 4, the Japanese fleet arrived outside Lushun Port. At this time, the Russian Pacific Fleet was defenseless. In fact, the diplomatic negotiations between Japan and Russia have officially broken down, and the Japanese have begun to evacuate their nationals from Lushun.

Faced with so many obvious signs of war, Alexeyev, the Governor of the Russian Far East, and Stark, the Commander of the Pacific Fleet, turned a blind eye, did not take them to heart at all, and did not take any measures to strengthen combat readiness.

At midnight, a group of Japanese torpedo boats sneaked into Lushun Port. The battleship Perthwaite, anchored outside the port, first noticed something was wrong and immediately turned on its searchlight to search. When the Japanese torpedo boat saw that it had been discovered, it immediately fired its torpedoes. As a result, the battleship Perthveite and the nearby cruiser Parada were both hit. The fleet's flagship, the Crown Prince, was also unfortunately hit by a torpedo.

The roar of torpedoes and the indiscriminate firing of Russian warships reached the shore. General Stark and others were confused. Some said it was a warship firing a salute, while others said it was a warship conducting a drill. Until someone came to report Everyone was shocked when the Japanese ship attacked, and General Stark was stunned.

After dawn, Togo Heihachiro commanded the main force of the fleet in an attempt to rush in and annihilate the Russian fleet in one fell swoop. However, the fortress at Port Arthur had been repaired by the Qing Dynasty and the Russians and was extremely strong after all. The forts on the shore opened fire quickly, and the Russian warships also opened fire to meet the attack. Seeing that they could not get any advantage, the Japanese fleet had to leave in anger.

The battle in Inchon, North Korea was an overwhelming victory. The two Russian warships were no match for the Japanese warships. They were eventually forced to sink themselves into the sea.

Regarding the news that their fleet was attacked by the Japanese, many senior Russian officials were quite angry, especially Nicholas II.

As for Foreign Minister Ramsdorf, he felt as if he had eaten a fly the next day when he received a declaration of war from Japanese Ambassador Iwase Kazuo. Regarding Iwase Kazuo's explanation that the telegraph machine was broken, which delayed the delivery of the declaration of war, Ramsdorf said with contempt. Your country's shameless remarks are quite disgusting, and we will make your country pay the price.

At this point, the Russo-Japanese War broke out.