Chapter 151 Battle of the Yellow Sea

Last year, I started from the Baltic Sea, ran from the North Atlantic to the South Atlantic, then bypassed Africa to the Arabian Sea, then crossed the Indian Ocean through Malacca, and finally went north along the South China Sea.

After arriving at the spell Indochina, the Second Pacific Fleet of the Russian Navy, which bypassed more than half of the earth, finally took a short rest in Jinlan Bay, Vietnam and waited for the Pacific Third Fleet from the Baltic Sea.

In this so-called largest and farthest fleet expedition in human history, the Germans and French have made a lot of effort from it. The Germans have won over all countries that oppose Britain, so they provided the Russian navy with 70 or 80 coal carriers along the way, otherwise the huge fleet of the Russian navy can I can't come to the Far East.

As for France, it also attracted Russia, and many colonial ports were provided along the way as rest bases for the Russian navy.

The Second Fleet of the Russian Navy actually arrived in French Jinlan Bay in April, and after arriving, it was replenished and rested for almost a full month.

That is to say, in fact, the situation of the Pacific Second Fleet is not as bad as later people thought, but the navigation of the ship has decreased after a long voyage, and Jinlan Bay lacks a large shipyard to maintain it, so the condition of the ship is not very good, but this is not good or bad. It affects the main combat effectiveness of the Second Pacific Fleet of the Russian Navy.

In terms of more critical personnel and supplies, the second fleet is actually in good condition. The sailors have rested in Jinlan Bay for more than a month, and the officers even held several dances at the French base on the shore. More importantly, Lushun has not yet fallen.

This is very important for the Russian navy. If Lushun is captured by the Japanese army, the Russian navy reinforced will lose the foothold of Lushun and can only be forced to go to Vladivostok. In this way, it needs to cross the extremely dangerous Strait of Tsushima. However, now Lushun has not been lost, so the Japanese navy wants to If you intercept the Russian naval reinforcement fleet on the periphery, it can only be in the Taiwan Strait, the Luzon Strait or the Miyako Strait.

The environment of these straits is not as suitable for ambush and interception as the Tsushima Straits. In these hundreds of kilometers or even hundreds of kilometers of straits, relying on the current sea surface to search for distance, let alone ambush, whether they can find the Russian naval fleet passing through these Straits is still said.

If the peripheral interception is not carried out in the above three places, the Japanese navy can only gather the main force to the sea off Lushun or intercept the Strait.

However, there is a problem. If the Japanese navy brings the main force to the sea off Lushun, the Russians will not be fools and will not directly bump into it. If they do not go to Lushun but go through the Strait to Vladivostok, the Japanese navy will be dumbfounded.

In the same way, if the Japanese navy gathers the main force in the Tsushima Strait, if the Russians go straight to the journey, Japan will be dumbfounded.

The capital ships of the Japanese navy are limited, even much less than the three Pacific fleets of the Russian navy, so it can't run around and must defeat the main force of the Russian navy with one blow.

So for the Japanese navy, how to catch the main force of the Russian navy is the key, and for the Russian navy, how to avoid the interception of the Japanese navy and successfully reach Lushun or Vladivostok is the key.

In addition, there is another problem for the Japanese navy, that is, although the first fleet of the Russian navy, which remains in the port of Lushun, has been greatly damaged and has been blocked in the port of Lushun for a long time, due to the breakout in August as in history, and in the past year, The plug has still not been contributed, so there is more or less a little power.

It is naturally impossible to take the initiative to fight against the Japanese navy, but if the Japanese navy leaves the sea off Lushun, the remaining warships in the first fleet can leave the port and then attack the Japanese maritime transportation line in the Yellow Sea. There is no need to run out one or two cruisers at will, and the Japanese navy will You have to vomit blood.

Therefore, the Japanese navy has always maintained a certain scale of fleet blockade in the sea off Lushun, which has led to many shortcomings in the Japanese navy's preparation for the Russian navy.

On May 15, Heihachiro of the Japanese Combined Fleet concluded that the Russian navy would pass through the Taiwan Strait, so he led a well-equipped joint fleet south to Taiwan and was ready to launch an interception operation at any time.

On May 22, the second and third fleets of the Russian navy in the Pacific Ocean have arrived in the southern waters of Taiwan. Due to concerns about the interception of the Japanese navy, they sent advance reconnaissance cruisers to the Taiwan Strait and the Luzon Strait respectively, while the main fleet is ready to enter the Taiwan Strait or the Luzon Strait at any time. .

In the afternoon, one of the two Russian cruisers entering the Taiwan Strait found the Japanese Combined Fleet that ambushed the Taiwan Strait in advance, and sent the news back to the rear main fleet by radio in time. Then, although the Russian cruiser wanted to escape with increased its horsepower, it was still caught up. On the coming day, the combined fleet sank.

However, at this time, the Russian navy already knew that the Japanese navy was ambushed in front of it, and then did not hesitate to choose to enter the Luzon Strait and continue north along the eastern waters of Taiwan.

Heihachiro of the Japanese Combined Fleet looked at the wreckage of the Russian cruiser on the sea. With a black face, he quickly ordered to go north and sent a telegram requesting assistance to China. In order to find the Russian naval fleet that had entered the eastern Pacific Ocean of Taiwan, countless Japanese fishing boats and passenger ships were heading towards Hundreds of kilometers of wide waters around the Miyako Strait

"As long as we find them, we can still stop them!" Dongxiang Pinghalang said to his group of subordinates like this.

However, time passed little by little, but no one found the trace of the Russian navy!

Two days later, Heihachiro Dongxiang, who still could not find the trace of the Russian navy, made another choice: "Go north to Lushun at full speed!"

He is also making a choice this time. He judged that the Russian navy is going to Lushun, not Vladivostok. The reason is very simple. Although the Russian navy can get safety when it goes to Vladivostok, the Russian navy can not be dangerous to the sea supply line in the Yellow Sea, as long as the joint fleet goes to the sea off Vladivostok. One block is basically a repeat of Lushun.

But if the Russian navy goes to Lushun to meet with the First Fleet, the combined fleet will not have much advantage after increasing its strength, and with the nail of Lushun, the Russian navy in Lushun can come out at any time to threaten Japan's maritime supply line in the Yellow Sea. At that time, unless the combined fleet of the Japanese navy can not rest or supply supplies to block outside the port of Lushun for many years, the day of war would have been lost.

Based on the above factors and the so-called military intuition, Heihachiro Higashigo judged that the Russian navy would go straight to Lushun, so he also ordered the fleet to gallop to Lushun at full speed.

On May 25, a Japanese fishing boat finally informed the nearby Japanese naval ship that he found a huge fleet in northeast and northwest Ryukyu half a day ago.

"There is no doubt that this fleet is the main fleet of the Russians. According to their route, they should have avoided the eastern waters of Taiwan and the waters near Miyako, but chose to cross directly through the southern waters of Ryukyu and go straight to Lushun!" In the huge combat conference room, Higashigo Heihachiro and a group of high-ranking generals of the Japanese navy sat together.

These senior generals of the Japanese navy, dressed in navy uniforms and golden belts, were constantly looking at or calculating on the charts with magnifying glasses, while others put their hands flat on their legs and sat in the most standard sitting posture.

Suo Shimamura, the commander of the 2nd team, continued: "It can be seen that our previous prediction is correct. The enemy's destination is Lushun!"

At this time, Chief of Staff Tozaburō Kato said, "Now the Russian Navy's route is to Lushun, what if they change to Vladivostok on the way?"

At this time, the head of Dongxiang Pinghachiro said with a heavy face, "If the Russian army does not go to Lushun, it is not a good thing for us!"

Indeed, if Russia goes to Vladivostok, at least for a short time, the Japanese army will not worry that the supply line of the Yellow Sea will be cut off. When the combined fleet rests and goes straight to Vladivostok, as long as they are blocked in the port of Vladivostok, it will still be a victory for the Japanese navy.

If you go to Lushun now, even if the Japanese navy arrives in the sea off Lushun in advance by relying on the advantages of distance and speed, it is impossible to get any supplies and rest time, that is to say, the situation of the Japanese joint fleet will not be much better than that of the Russian navy starting from Jinlan Bay.

Not to mention that the Russian First Fleet in Lushun Port will definitely come out to respond, so what the Japanese Combined Fleet needs to face at that time is the remaining First Fleet in Lushun Port and all the forces of the Russian Pacific Second Fleet and Third Fleet reinforced.

At that time, the number of enemies and us will be obvious, and whether we can still win is a question worth considering.

On May 28, a Japanese navy cruiser once again found the Russian fleet in the Yellow Sea. That night, the Japanese navy gathered a group of lightning ships and launched two * night attacks on the Russian naval fleet. Unfortunately, the results were not great, but only injured a Russian armored ship.

However, several faster Japanese destroyers have been following the Russian navy and reporting the movements of the Russian navy to the joint fleet.

At 10 a.m. on May 29, the Second Pacific Fleet of the Russian Navy arrived 100 miles away from Lushun, which is directly east of Shandong, China. At the same time, in the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet in the northeast of the Russian Navy, Heihachiro Higashigo ordered the 'full fleet attack'.

An hour later, at 11:15 a.m., Japan's advance cruiser fleet and the Russian naval fleet tested the fire.

At the same time, the First Fleet of the Russian Navy, which was preparing to leave the port for a few days ago, officially rushed out of the sea after half a day of fire and adjustment.

In order to receive the reinforcement fleet, its remaining first fleet even dragged out the scarred warships, but then had an exchange of fire with the Japanese navy that was left to block Lushun Port. The Japanese left-behind fleet, which lacked the main ship, launched the so-called 'day* assault battle', with several destroyers and more than a dozen* The boat launched an almost suicidal * attack.

While the First Fleet of the Russian Navy and the Japanese Navy's Left-behind Fleet, the battle between the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet and the Russian Pacific Second Fleet and Third Fleet 80 nautical miles away also entered **!

The Great Battle of the Yellow Sea, which really determines the outcome of the Russo-Japanese War, has broken out!