Chapter 398 Torpedo Night
George could not say what direct connection there was between the collapse of the Yenisei River Bridge and the deterioration of Japan-Russia relations.
But the collapse of the Yenisey River Bridge caused the interruption of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which will definitely affect the Russian Empire's preparations for war.
Since the construction work of the Trans-Siberian Railway is now in charge of George, Witte immediately sent a telegram to George, hoping that George would organize manpower and material resources as soon as possible to restore the smooth flow of the Trans-Siberian Railway.
George just remembered at this moment that Witte also served as the Minister of Transportation of the Russian Empire.
George is naturally responsible for ensuring the smooth flow of the Trans-Siberian Railway.
But George was unable to ensure the safety of the Trans-Siberian Railway.
It is easier to destroy than to build.
Not to mention how much it costs to build a bridge over the Yenisey River, the time alone takes a year and a half.
It only takes a few dozen kilograms of explosives to destroy the Yenisei River Bridge.
George had actually been prepared for this kind of thing.
There are no oil paper bags next to the sewers built by the Germans.
Next to the Yenisei River Bridge are the steel structure spare parts that were not used when the bridge was built.
It takes about a week to replace spare parts.
But if it is damaged again, it will take at least 3 months to prepare spare parts from Amur and send them to the Yenisei River.
In order to prevent similar incidents from happening again, George sent a telegram to Witte, hoping that Witte, in the name of Minister of Transport, would ask the governors of various regions to strengthen security on the Trans-Siberian Railway.
Everyone understands the efficiency of the Russian Empire.
Before the governors of various regions had time to strengthen security, another accident occurred on the Trans-Siberian Railway.
This time a huge boulder rolled down the hillside and damaged the railroad track.
George has nothing to say, continue repairing——
Anyway, the cost of maintenance is paid by the Imperial Ministry of Transport.
George is busy building the railway, and the Russo-Japanese War is about to break out.
On the night when Japan recalled its minister to St. Petersburg, Commander-in-Chief Togo Heihachiro of the Combined Fleet led the fleet to leave Sasebo Naval Port and sail to the Nagayama Islands.
Togo Heihachiro's mission is to destroy the Pacific Fleet.
Otou unfortunately said that when Togo Heihachiro was ordered to go to sea, Japan really did not declare war on the Russian Empire.
At this time, Japanese diplomats were still trying their best to spread smoke bombs to the media in Europe, saying that the negotiations between Japan and the Russian Empire had not yet broken down and were still ongoing, and Japan was still working hard to maintain peace.
However, behind the scenes, the Japanese Minister to the UK, Mr. Lin, has confessed to the British Foreign Secretary, Lansdowne, that war is inevitable and may break out at any time.
Lansdown notified the situation to the American Minister in Britain and the French Minister in Britain respectively.
The American minister to Britain favored war.
The French Minister to the UK hopes that Britain, the United States and France will be consistent.
The Russian Empire had no idea at this time.
When Biendorf, the Russian Minister to Britain, approached the French Minister to spy on him, the French shamefully betrayed the Russian Empire at the most critical moment and did not tell Biendorf about this situation.
Edward VII must have known about this situation at this time.
Edward VII did not remind Nicholas.
Like the Second Boer War, the whole world is waiting to see the excitement of the Russian Empire.
Although Togo Heihachiro left the port late at night, St. Petersburg still learned this information through special channels. On February 8, Nikolai sent a telegram to Alexeyev, reminding Alexeyev that it was best to let the Japanese launch military operations first.
But at the same time, if the Japanese combined fleet crosses the 38° north latitude line, then the Pacific Fleet can fire first.
February 8th coincides with the traditional "Candlemas Day" of the Russian Empire. It is also the birthday of the wife of Lieutenant General Stark, commander of the Russian Empire's Pacific Fleet and commander of Arthur (Port Arthur) Naval Base.
Since a British merchant ship arrived in Dalini during the day on February 8th to evacuate overseas Chinese, Starck believed that the Japanese army would not launch an attack on February 8th.
On the night of February 8, Stark held a dance on the Pacific Fleet flagship "Petopavlovsk" to celebrate "Candlemas" and his wife's birthday. Alexeyev was also invited to the scene.
At this time, the Pacific Fleet was still in a state of peace, and the squadron was parked in Arthur Outer Harbor. Although the headquarters had issued combat orders, it would not enter combat readiness until February 10th.
So the warship did not open the mine protection net at night, and the entrance to the inner harbor was brightly lit.
Before the dance began, Fleet Chief of Staff Withoeft also confirmed to Alexeyev: "The war cannot be fought."
The dance starts at 7pm.
At 8:05, a raid fleet composed of 19 Japanese destroyers broke into Dalini Naval Port and Arthur Military Port respectively, looking for battleships and cruisers of the Pacific Fleet.
The Japanese destroyer fleet came to nothing at the Dalini naval port.
At 0:28, Shojiro Asai led the First Destroyer Fleet to attack the Pacific Fleet parked in Port Arthur.
The first to attack was the "Baiyun". The torpedo it launched hit the protected cruiser "Pallas" of the Pacific Fleet.
Subsequently, the "Asashio" and "Kasumi" launched attacks on the "Peresvet" and "Letvizan" battleships respectively.
Japanese torpedoes are too unreliable.
The torpedoes launched by the "Asashio" and "Kasumi" either missed when they were very close, or they hit without exploding and had no results.
At 0:35, the torpedo launched by the "Akatsuki" hit the battleship "Letvizan".
At 1:45, a torpedo launched by the destroyer "Ozuki" hit the battleship "Crown Prince".
Although the Pacific Fleet only lost one cruiser and two battleships on the torpedo night on February 8, these two battleships were the two best battleships in the Pacific Fleet.
In 1898, in order to cope with the challenge of the Japanese Navy, the Russian Navy had to order battleships from the United States and France respectively.
The two battleships are "Letvizan" and "Crown Prince".
"Letvizan" is considered to be the most outstanding warship in the Pacific Fleet.
The "Crown Prince" is the prototype of the "Borodino" class battleship, and its performance is also very outstanding.
The Japanese are really lucky.
The war has not yet begun, at the minimum cost -
No cost.
Although within five minutes of the Japanese destroyer fleet's attack, the Pacific Navy launched a counterattack.
However, all the Japanese destroyers involved in the sneak attack retreated, and the Pacific Fleet had no results.
The amazing thing is that after the Japanese navy launched the attack, Starck, who was holding a dance on the "Petopavlovsk", asked what happened. The officer on duty reported that it was live fire, but the headquarters did not ask any questions. , Starck did not follow up.
It was not until dawn that Starck discovered that the two most powerful battleships of the Pacific Fleet had been seriously damaged and stranded.
At this time, the main fleet led by Togo Heihachiro finally arrived at the sea off Arthur.
(End of this chapter)